The Downside of Christmas

Is it just here or is anyone else's house, um, trashed?????

Christmas clutter on top of normal day clutter on top of...more stuff. Sheesh!

It's a mess here.

I don't want to clean up. I don't want to argue with my family about cleaning up.

But really. This has gotten out of hand!

Let the nagging begin.

*Sigh*

~Projects~ Rag Quilts, Bags, Koozies, Scarves, Sandwich/Snack Bags

Just a few of the projects I've been busy making!

No Excuses

Well, I guess Life is my excuse for not posting in forever. Because of that, you're going to have to suffer thru many many many pictures taken throughout the summer! I just looooove playing catch up.

Here it goes.

The Garden: August. Peas had been consumed (lg strip in front) and fall peas/carrots/beets/swiss chard had yet to be planted. They were planted mid-August and we've been eating plenty of beets, beet greens and chard for weeks now. Plenty of flowers on the peas...have picked a few. And will be working on the carrots soon. Just finished picking from the summer harvest plot. Spendid garden this year. In my freezer I have 26 cups of shredded zucchini, plenty of beans to last the winter, pickles, will be freezing carrots soon...and chard. I also have approx. 10 cups of pumpkin puree as well, with more sugar pumpkins to roast and process.

Will be posting more soon. I've been working on several sewing/knitting/crocheting projects!!!! Many pictures to come!

No Rain...No Rainbows

It's been non-stop raining for, what seems like, weeks. We've gotten at least 7-8" of rain in the past two weeks, with little sunshine. Overcast and dreary. I took these pictures on June 12th. The husband was gone on an annual fishing trip up north.

June 25th...Farrah Fawcett passed away (cancer) as did Michael Jackson (cardiac arrest, presumably because of prescription drugs). Non-stop coverage on tv.

Birdy Bird

Gabe calls this pretty thing, Birdy Bird. The bird house is on a tree near my apple tree and I need to pass it to get to the garden. Birdy Bird loves to swoop down and try to scare the heck out of me. I end up bobbing and weaving all the way to the garden for fear that she's going to dive bomb me. She's extremely protective.

Update: Birdy Bird had her babies sometime during the week of June 8th.

Of all the places to love...

Mama carried me on her shoulders before I could walk, through the meadows and hay fields. The cows watched us and the sheep scattered; the dogs ran ahead, looking back with sly smiles. When the grass was high, only their tails showed. My grandmother loved the river best of all the places to love. That sound, like a whisper, she said; gathering in pools where trout flashed like jewels in the sunlight. Grandmother sailed little bark boats downriver to me with messages. I love you Eli, one said.

One of my favorite all time Children's Books, All the Places to Love, by Patricia MacLachlan.

I took these pictures on the Fogg Road (same place where the Marston Cemetery resides).

Bittersweet Nightshade

I'm slowly trying to reclaim my rock wall...and now I know why. There is a variety of different vegetation, some I knew were there (native strawberries, grapevines) but I found these a couple of days ago. I noticed they were going to bloom into something but I really wasn't sure what. I just got back from my nightly walk and there they were. Beautiful purple and yellow flowers. LOVE them! I took pictures and sat down to try and figure out what they were. To the best of my knowledge they are bittersweet nightshade. Pretty!

Both the foliage and the berries of the nightshade are somewhat poisonous, the berries causing nausea; however in diluted form the berries were used by Native Americans to treat nervousness and diarrhea. The dried stems were used as a sedative, diuretic and hypnotic. The chewed roots had an initial bitter taste which became sweet as they continued to be chewed. This characteristic led to the name, bittersweet nightshade.

I guess I'll know for sure if they start getting berries on them. They're still pretty whatever they are!

Cemetery

The road right next to our house is beautiful. Rows of large maples, fields and a little cemetery. The Marston Cemetery. It is home to quite a few of the Jacobs relatives. I once did some research and found that some of the first settlers in Massachusettes were the Jacobs. Some of them were even tried for witchcraft and later executed because of it. That explains a lot. :) Anyway, the remaining Jacobs' ended up moving to a little town in Maine called Mount Vernon. Here they fought in the American Revolution, settled down and raised families. I love this cemetery, and if there was room, would be buried here as well. It's peaceful and serene. However, it does need some work. Some gravemarkers have been toppled due to the age and weather. I need to look into what needs to be done to fix them. I think it's a little creepy that my husbands name is on one of the gravestones. Wouldn't that be strange to see your name on a gravestone???? He thinks it is!

The Garden

Planted: (I'll note the varieties later...from left bottom to top, from right bottom to top)

Carrots, Zucchini, onions, lettuce, beans

Beans, Tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, pumpkins/gourds

Wood Pile

The pile...that I will soon be stacking...in my off-time. Fun. Probably about 7 cord to stack this year. Maybe more.

The grounds