More Tilly

Lynn finally meets her Corgi. For years she has wanted one and I protested. As you can see, I caved.
And I have to admit, she is freaking cute. Just working with her much larger sisters on how to handle a puppy the size of a shoe, lol.

Newest addition to the family

Meet Heulwen Mathilda.  She is an 8-week old, Pembroke Welsh Corgi. Heulwen is her Welsh name, meaning “sunshine”, but we will call her Tilly.

She is on her way home with Nora and our friend, Lorna, from Vermont as I write this.  I can't wait to meet her!  More photos to follow....

Pumpkin time

So we decided to carve the pumpkins we grew tonight. I will roast the seeds later on. Love pumpkin seeds with a ton of salt.

Lynn's creation

And in honor of Game of Thrones or what I like to call "Lack of Dragons", here's mine

Dramatic sky tonight

It's that time of year again

And Lynn is having a ball.

Don't even think of booing me ya little freak

Is that traction? Time to change chiropractors dude.

That's all I  the pics I am sharing this year. But rest assured there are screaming rats, skeletons, chopped and gagged heads, tarantulas, bats, hands, and skulls abound. Happy Halloween. If you're into that sort of thing. :)

Another good-bye

We had to say good-bye to our beloved ferret, Louie, yesterday.  And although very sad, we're thrilled that he lived out his full life (typical life span tends to be 4-7 years, and he made it past 7). He was the last remaining ferret out of a group of 4 that we adopted 7 years ago.  When the last of his siblings passed, he made a new friend in Wilma.  Every morning, I would let Louie out of his pen and he would have freedom to run around the house.  When it was time to bring him back to his room, Wilma would follow us upstairs and the two of them would wander around for a bit more, with Wilma gently (most times) nudging him with her huge head when she wanted him to go in certain direction.  Then I would pick him up, she would give him a Wilma kiss (think kissing a cow or manatee), and he would get his morning treat and go back to sleep.  She was quite lost this morning, searching high and low for him.  I wish I could explain it to her.

I have owned ferrets off and on (mostly on) since my junior year in college.  Out of those years, I went for a 4 year period without after the death of my first ferret, Maverick.  Nora started the cycle again by surprising me with a new ferret, Ripley, smuggled into California (where they are illegal - don't ask, stupid law) from Oregon by friends of ours.  There was another 2 year respite after Ripley's untimely death from cancer (he was 2), but since then we have enjoyed life with another 7 ferrets -- each of them with their own unique personalities, and some full of "piss and vinegar" as Nora would say.  Oh, the stories we could tell.

But the time has come to shut the door on the ferret era.  Good-bye Little Man.

A duckling no more

One of them has entered into womanhood and is officially a duck. No idea who laid the egg but it is exciting nonetheless.

Note the dark color. Apparently, this will lighten up as she keeps laying. Interesting that it is a little smaller than the chicken egg but this is her first one so size may increase over time. Sad that my little one grew up so fast. I had no idea she was laying. I will pay close attention tomorrow to see if there is some laying behavior similar to chickens.

I abhore trends

In fact, if the "masses" have latched onto something, I run as quickly as possible in the opposite direction.  I pride myself on my ignorance of pop culture, and my shunning of all that is "in."  One of my primary goals in life has been to find comfort and satisfaction in my own skin, to move to the beat of my own drum, and to hell with anyone who doesn't like it.

So imagine my shock (and dare I say, horror) when I discovered in reading this year's gardening magazines (some of my favorites being The English Garden and Gardens Illustrated) that my style (not sure I can really call it a style, so much as a preference) of gardening is the "in" thing!  I refer to what the gardening hoity-toitys call "prairie gardening" (use of native plants in a free-flowing, meadow-like style) and "naturalistic gardening" (this is not a new concept, merely recycled; the idea of a natural garden was first developed in England by William Robinson in the late 1800s, spurning the formal Victorian gardens popular at that time).  Don't misunderstand me; I'm delighted that prairie gardening has developed and that natural gardens are making a come-back.  In another 4-5 years, I want my gardens to scream "controlled chaos" (a concept borrowed from Mirabel Osler who wrote A Gentle Plea for Chaos), when folks walk through them.  It is the appearance of rampant wildness and seemingly unplanned disorder that I love about the English country garden.

I read alot about gardening, and have perused many books by some of the English masters -- Rosemary Verey (Barnsley House), Gertrude Jekyll (Munstead Wood), and Christopher Lloyd (Great Dixter) to name a few.  I have taken ideas and learned much from each of them.  But when it comes to pure aesthetics, I return every time to an American gardener, Tasha Tudor.  Children's book author and illustrator by trade - and a wonderfully eccentric person (see this previous post for more info) -- she was also an avid, cold-climate gardener who worked her magic in the challenging mountains of Vermont.  I return time after time to mull over any article or book that mentions her garden, and will Google search "Tasha Tudor garden" just to get my visual fix.  I admit it.  I'm a Tasha Tudor junkie. I even drove to her home outside of Marlborough, Vermont (she passed away in 2008 at the age of 92 - still gardening until the end) with a friend, Lorna, to tour her homestead and gardens last June. Unfortunately, between the estate battle among her children which kept everyone off the property for 2 years, and her heirs' less ambitious and less talented gardening skills, the gardens were a mere ghost of what they once were -- but you could still see the bones and catch glimpses of Tasha's vision.  She reportedly told her son, just months before her death, that if the gardens were left unattended for more than 6 months, they were lost. Sadly, she was right.

But I digress...below are some glimpses of Tasha's gardens, many of these photos taken while Tasha was in her 70s and 80s by photographer, Richard Brown (Tasha Tudor's Garden).  Witness controlled chaos at its finest.

"Winter Interest"

"Winter Interest" is a term used among gardeners to describe the effort to plant trees, shrubs and perennials that will not only lend interest (i.e., bones or structure) to the late fall/winter garden, but that will also provide some nourishment and/or shelter for the wildlife.

My gardens are very young - three years old this summer -- and have far to go before they come close to the vision in my mind's eye.  By September of the second year, I realized that I had inadvertently created a garden that was a bit heavy on late summer/fall perennials.  Although I also had a fleeting flash of color in early to late spring when the tulips,daffodils, lilacs and fruit trees bloomed, June was woefully underwhelming. So last fall and winter, I began planning and ordering perennials, vines and shrubs that are in bloom by June. I was moderately successful.

Geraniums (Cranesbill), Lady's Mantle, catmint, tea roses, shasta daises and heliopsis all blooming with Japanese Willows standing sentry. By next summer, I hope to see the circle garden so densely planted that no mulch will be visible from June into the fall.

One of the shade gardens with dianthus (aka "pinks") and astilbe in bloom

But what to do for the winter months when the leaves have dropped or browned in the frost, and the garden gradually becomes blanketed by snow?  I think cold-climate gardeners fall into two camps: those that cut back all perennials before the first snow flies to eliminate some chores in the spring rush, and those that selectively prune and cut-back leaving certain perennials standing if they provide "winter interest."  I fall into the latter camp.  I don't want to look out into the winter garden and see a flat, featureless landscape.  So I leave select perennials standing, specifically those that provide seeds for birds and other wildlife.  I have selected certain crab apple varieties and planted them along the wood line because they provide fruit for the deer.  I have planted swathes of winterberry to provide berries for the birds, but also because I find the bright red berries against a sea of white snow visually stunning.  I also began to add yews and dwarf spruce to the garden last year to add a touch of green and structure, but also because I love the look of the soft mounds they create in the snow.

Coneflower seed heads will remain intact until the spring

Winterberry

Ornamental crab apple

Each year has been a learning experience, and I now try to be a bit more selective when choosing plants, shrubs and trees to add to the garden.  Every decision takes into account seasonal interest, color scheme, foliage, height, spread, and soil and light requirements.  Part of what I love about gardening is that is it never stagnant; there is no "end" or "completion" for a garden.  It is forever evolving and changing, sometimes based on the gardener's whim, but also simply as a result of nature -- trees and shrubs grow taller and spread wider than anticipated and need to be removed or relocated, borders become over-crowded by pushy and aggressively-spreading perennials, and every winter brings some losses due to cold or snow/ice damage. Gardening is an on-going dance with a mercurial partner; exhilarating, never dull, and requiring bold action for the best results.

Grateful

We had a marvelous time on the cruise and we both fell in love with Quebec City and Bar Harbor, ME - each for different reasons.  But as Nora and I walked around our property this morning, I had one of those moments when I felt as though I'm exactly where I want to be at this stage of my life.  

Autumn has returned to the North Country after a brief bout with warm temperatures.  It smelled like fall as we walked around to the accompaniment of a ballet of twirling leaves, grazing sheep, and foraging hens and ducks.  Although there are days when we bemoan the seemingly never-ending chores to maintain the gardens, orchard and animals, as I looked around this morning I was reminded, once again, that every sore muscle, every moment spent with hands in the soil, every poo pile shoveled is well worth the effort for the joy our animals and our land bring us.

Here are a few photos from this morning's walk.

The sheep barn viewed from the front yard

Our photogenic ducklings enjoying a watery respite at the bird bath

A row of blueberries in their fall glory

Blueberry leaves -- I love the intensity of these colors

Family time in the orchard; the sheep are grazing in there right now since the grass is much greener than that in their pasture.  They seem fascinated by the ducks, who could obviously care less

Scarlet runner bean and nasturtium intertwined

The simple beauty of wild grasses

Fall garden

My quest for a real bagel

Like many bagel-loving people I am always up for a good bagel. I grew up in Connecticut about 2 hours outside of New York City. Both of my parents were New Yorkers so they introduced me to a real bagel. Crispy on the outside, dense as a rock,(slight exaggeration) and chewy on the inside. My favorite, the salt bagel toasted with butter.
I have not been able to find that bagel again since we left CT as a family in the late seventies. For years I thought it was the result of living in the West. While it would seem as though our western friends wouldn't know a good bagel if it hit them in the head(and a real bagel would render them unconscious from the blow), there really wasn't a good one to be found in CT years later when I returned. And the times I would visit the city, none to be found. I have heard rumor there are still good bagels in the New York area. I have had people, mostly from Long Island, insist that good bagels are still being produced there.
Regardless, I decided to take matters into my own hands. About a month ago I was perusing a bread book I gave Lynn last Christmas to see if there was a bagel recipe. The book is "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" Sure enough there was a recipe in there. More importantly, a introduction written by the author on this bagel. He referenced the bagel of yore, the blight of the non-bagel in this country, so I had hope and tried the recipe.
Our friend Michele was visiting and I thought it would be a fun project for the two of us. I was right. The process takes two days. The fist day you mix the dough and actually form the bagels, the second day you boil and bake them. We decided on three different toppings; salt(of course), everything(I used an everything topping I purchased on the King Arthur's web site), and sesame.
The bagels turned out to be better than anything we had purchased throughout the country in the last 30 years. And while I was happy with the result as were all of our friends who ate them, it was still not the bagel of yore. I will more than likely be trying different recipes in the coming months to land that perfect bagel.

Michele kneading the dough

Formed bagels ready to rest in the fridge overnight

Ready to be devoured

Landlubbers once again

Howdy. We are back from our cruise and happy to be home. We had a great time. We met some fun folks, ate some good food, drank plenty of booze, and visited some terrific places. I will not be getting into detail on the trip here but will show some pics of Bar Harbor, Maine. This place was simply stunning!!

port of Bar Harbor

I took this atop Cadillac Mountain

Lynn reclining on our balcony as the anchor was being hoisted in preparation to leave

harbor view 

just a pretty shot

Cruise like a Norwegian

And that is just what Lynn and I plan to do over the course of the next week. Tomorrow we begin our journey via train to Quebec City to meet one of the most beautiful women in the world, Dawn.

She is 965 feet long, 14 stories high and carries over 2300 passengers. She is equipped with 13 restaurants and 10 bars and I plan to visit every one of them. I cannot wait to meet her. (Technically we will not meet her until Friday)It has been too many years since I have sailed on a ship. And it has been too long since Lynn and I have been on a real getaway.
Here is the itinerary in case you are interested.

Day	Cruise Ports	Arrive	Depart
Fri	Quebec City, Quebec (EMBARK)	---	Overnight
Sat	Quebec City, Quebec	---	6:00 pm
Sun	At Sea	---	---
Mon	Sydney, Nova Scotia	8:00 am	5:00 pm
Tue	Halifax, Nova Scotia	8:00 am	5:00 pm
Wed	Saint John, Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick	10:00 am	7:30 pm
Thu	Bar Harbor, Maine	8:00 am	5:00 pm
Fri	Boston, Massachusetts (DISEMBARK)	8:00 am	---

I really look forward to seeing the foliage along the way whilst on our balcony sipping coffee or a martini. Also, we have never been to any of the ports except for Boston so it will all be new. 

Needless to say we will not be posting during this time. I do plan on taking pictures and perhaps we will post a little something about it. I hope you enjoy your week ahead. I know I will. 

More on lambs

Lynn posted yesterday that we were fortunate enough to have visited our friend Sandy's farm to meet two male lambs born in the last week. This was a first for me. I have never had the wonderful opportunity to see a lamb in person let alone hold one. Another reason to love North Country for me. Sandy has about 20 sheep and one very busy ram pictured below.(very last pic) He is beautiful. Also pictured are the two Maremmas responsible for guarding the flock.