Birds, Bees and and bit of Screech

Well this past week had a bit of everything.

Friends (baby due in January 19th!!)


A birthday (yes, the head wear says 'Party Girl' - the present opening was followed shortly after by a round of mimosas...or two)


Some turkey


A new addition to the family (not the guy on the right - he's been around for a while)


A bit of cheer (note the lobster stirry item on the left - Go Maine!)


The most stupendous turn at darts ever witnessed (M+M 2, Melvin 2 - the tie breaker to be played at a time and location to be announced)


A bit of family beekeeping


But not enough family time

Home Sweet Home

Try as we might, we couldn't avoid the paparazzi. Here they are greeting us at the Portland International Jetport on Sunday afternoon as we tried to sneak home for a quick visit. Where's Leslinka when you need her. That gal can spot the photogs from a mile away.

Bye, Bye Farm

Had my last day at the farm just over a week ago. Contrary to what we were expecting, it was a fairly mellow day - we were even finished before sundown. Perhaps not surprisingly, four months of farm work afforded me plenty of time to ponder my priorities. What I found most revealing is that even my longest 14+ hour days at the farm felt shorter than pretty much any 8ish hour work day I've had in the recent past, even at a fraction of my former paycheck. I have this realization, along with love and encouragement from Kevin, to thank for the fact that I now find myself a week into a new job that I'm loving. I'm working for great people. I'm biking to and from work, about 5 1/2 miles each way. I get to spend time talking and reading and learning about my craft. I'm finally relaxed and happy. Funny how things work out.

I leave you with my favorite view from the upper field.

Planting the Garlic and Shallots

Our Garden Plot began to take shape today. We planted three, four foot rows of garlic and three, three foot rows of shallots.


The wish list of what we'd like to plant come next year is a bit larger than the garden can hold, but so far looks something like this:

Garlic - check
Shallots - check
Spinach
Lettuce
Cucumbers - probably little leaf and lemon
Heirloom tomatoes - various
Cherry tomatoes
Green beans of some sort
Yellow and green zucchini
Scallions
Red torpedo onions
Leeks
Beets - red and golden
Fingerling potatoes
Carrots
Genovese basil
Corn
Sunflowers
Hakurai turnips
Sunchokes
Sorrel
Dill
Rosemary
Mustard
Parsley
Chives - check
Oregano - check
Thyme - maybe check

We plan to install a drip irrigation system in the spring to minimize our use of water. Our soil seems to have a bit of clay as it holds water well considering how little water falls around here.

What Happened to Halloween?

Did someone cancel Halloween? I mean seriously, we live in a big neighborhood, blocks from an elementary school, and we had not one trick-or-treater wander down our street. This, of course, means lots of leftovers for us, but it was a bit of a downer. At least the weather was nice (and the company even nicer).

The night started out well enough, though perhaps not from the pumpkin's point of view.


But soon our jack-o-lantern began to take shape.


We headed out to our front stoop to set up camp, bucket full of candy, mugs full of hot chai. Kevin did an excellent impersonation of the jack-o-lantern.


I spent a bit of time explaining the whole caterpillar to butterfly thing to the jack-o-lantern, who was still lamenting the loss of his innards, and soon we were fast friends. I decided that it was best not to mention that we roasted his brains and sprinkled them with a bit of salt for a tasty treat.