Archive for the ‘life’ Category

Happy Groundhog Day!

February 2, 2012

Groundhog Day is my favorite holiday, marking Imbolc, the halfway point between Solstice and Equinox.  By Saturday, Maine will see 10 hours of sunlight, increasing daily ’till June.

Normally, I’m not a fan of the garden-devouring little rodents, but on Groundhog Day, I set my animosity aside and make a temporary peace, despite Phil’s  many   past crimes.

Or maybe not.  Now that I think about it, I don’t think I can forgive him for eating to the ground the flowers I so carefully planted and tended for my wedding the year we came to Henbogle.  The ravenous, evil little rodent.

Nonetheless, spring is in sight.  Bring it on!

LC the adventurous chicken

January 30, 2012

LC, a hen from New Gloucester, Maine, has become a regular at the New Gloucester Village Market.  Since first wandering into the store one day, she has become a regular customer, and is now posing for ads and is regularly featured on the market’s Facebook page.  Perhaps I’ve found some work for my aging hen, Bea, who is not pulling her weight in the egg department?

I hope LC comes to no harm crossing the road on her way to the market.

Dwindling seed diversity

January 26, 2012

As part of an article entitled Food Ark, National Geographic Magazine produced this great graphic demonstrating how hybridization is reducing the varieties of food crops.  A 1983 survey showed that since 1903 there has been a huge loss, of with over 93% of the 66 varieties in the survey now extinct.  The article highlights efforts to preserve genetic diversity in the seed supply, and is well worth a look.

A sunny start to 2012

January 1, 2012

After a dreary freezing rain and drizzle yesterday which spoiled our travel plans, today dawned bright and sunny.  Dan and I decided we needed a breath of fresh air to start the year, so we headed for the coast to let the salt air and sea breeze blow away the cobwebs of 2011.

The sun shone, the temps in the upper 40s were warm enough that I abandoned my fleece jacket.  We clambered about the rocks, and I played a bit with my splendid new camera.  It was a nice day, and the parks were pretty busy with people out enjoying the weather.  I was so busy enjoying the coast and the company I didn’t actually take many photos, but here’s a couple.

Isn’t he cute? I just love that smile.

Trying out the self time feature.  Two seconds is NOT enough time.  Look at that blue sky!

I made it, but no Dan.  The exposure is a little off, but I haven’t learned how to adjust that feature yet.  Fortunately, Dan managed to snap the one of the two of us I used in the header file.

We enjoyed a nice seafood lunch, and then made our way back to Henbogle. We’ve been puttering about this week, working on our travel plans.  I ordered travel information from our primary destination states, and we joined AAA and ordered some maps and travel info from them, and this afternoon, we created a travel planning center from an as yet un-restored bookcase.

The stack of travel mags on the left of the center shelf includes Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana and South Dakota.  The stack on the right is all Oregon.  Oregon must have a very large travel and tourism budget.  For some reason, I forgot to order Washington state materials.  I’ll be fixing that right quick.

I think we’ll have enough maps.

Tomorrow we are working on New Years’ Resolution #1 — cleaning up the barn, getting ready for a project.  No before pictures to avoid self-incrimination.

A white Christmas

December 23, 2011

Much to the dismay of the hens, we’ll be having a white Christmas at Henbogle!

 

 

Caught by the undertoad*

December 11, 2011

The tide swept in and washed over me, leaving me bobbing in the surf occasionally making it to the surface for air.  It now seems to be receding a bit, leaving me enough oxygen to write a post, something long on my list, but un-accomplished.

Despite a series of rainy weekends, we’ve been enjoying the long mild fall, which was only briefly interrupted by 10 inches of snow over Thanksgiving.  Yes, 10 inches, all gone now, which is a good thing as we still have not finished all the outside chores!  Here’s what we’ve been doing, in no particular order.

I made a delicious batch of soup featuring garden veggies and the fall kale.  Yum.

We picked all the Brussels sprouts in the garden the day before the snow — we got over 4 lbs of sprouts, and had them for Thanksgiving dinner.

We put out the birdfeeders for the winter.  I think it is appreciated.

Had our first snow to shovel on November 23. Thanksgiving Day itself was warm and sunny.

We gave the girls a special treat on Thanksgiving Day. At first, they weren’t sure what to make of the funky-colored kale.

But they figured it out.

I love this garland, filled with bird ornaments.

Had the usual massive pre-holiday cleaning and decorating, just in time to host friends for brunch, and a week later, four of my students.  (Having hens makes brunch an excellent party option, don’t you think?)  I must mention that I am especially proud of the student volunteers from our campus volunteer center, who raised $10,000 in 30 days from the local homeless shelter’s building campaign.  They collected over 400 donations, most less than $25!  They also got a matching donation from our campus this week for their efforts to reduce dorm damage during that month, adding another $5,000 to the total for a total donation to the shelter of over $15,000.  Incredible.

Did some shopping for a new pair of boots after the cheap ones I got at Tractor Supply cracked in less than a year.  Considering I wear them for about 10 minutes a day most days to tend to the hens, I wasn’t pleased, grrr.  The new boots are genuine rubber wellies from LL. Bean. I hope they last.  I think they look especially stylish with my kitty pajamas.

Today’s project is to finish modifications to the hendome, which will now be known as the Winter Palace.  Stay tuned.

*Does anyone remember that expression from The World According to Garp?

Steve Jobs

October 6, 2011

Yesterday, the world lost a genius with Steve Jobs’ death.  He more than any other technology guru changed the way we communicate and connect with each other and our world.  At only 56, he was probably just reaching his peak, and who knows what we will miss out on with his death.  It is a sad day indeed.

A big adventure

September 26, 2011


As the gardening season is winding down, Dan and I are getting into planning for next summer’s garden.  It will look a lot different than this summer, because we will be absent gardeners.  We are planning a Big Adventure next year, a summer-long road trip across the US, sea to shining sea, looping through as many of the beautiful and interesting places we’ve dreamed about as we can in 6 weeks of travel.

This does not mean the end of Henbogle (although during our trip it will be on hiatus).  We plan on continuing with the usual Henbogle content and as we approach departure, posting about our efforts to plan and plant a vegetable garden which will thrive on a summer of neglect.

We are still in the beginning stages of planning, and this is where we hope our friends across the land will help out.  What are the magical, beautiful, quirky, interesting places we should see on this great American road trip?  The more we look at this atlas, the more difficult it is to plan!  The Bitterroot Range through Idaho, or the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier?  Bryce Canyon or Arches?  Hell’s Canyon or Angel Falls?  We are asking you good people to tell us where to go –the chance of a lifetime!  To make it easier to tell us exactly where to go, please visit our new blog, Every Day is A Winding Road, where we’ll be planning and mapping our big adventure.  If we happen to be traveling through your general area, we would love to plan a meet-up.  Thanks for your help in planning our adventure.  I REALLY hope you will join us!

Good reading ahead

September 23, 2011

Last fall, I contacted gardener/writer Henry Homeyer to invite him to speak to our Master Gardener class.  Unfortunately, Henry was on his way to France and couldn’t attend, but we had a nice conversation, and he asked if he could contact me again and possibly write about my garden in his column.  I said yes, and promptly forgot about it until a few weeks ago, Henry called me and we had a nice chat about gardens and gardening, and producing food in a small garden.

At the end of our thoroughly enjoyable chat, (which may result in Henbogle garden being featured in his column), Henry offered me a review copy of his new book.  As I’ve read his column in our local paper for years, and enjoyed his earlier book, Notes from the Garden: Reflections and Observations of an Organic Gardener, I jumped at the chance.

Henry promptly sent it out and it arrived the other day.  I haven’t had a chance to delve in, yet, but am looking forward to reading it and sharing my thoughts here on Henbogle.  Thanks, Henry!

Crisp over pie, Bittman? I don’t think so!

September 12, 2011

I enjoy reading Mark Bittman’s column in the NY Times, and I’ve learned a lot from Bittman, but he disses pie in favor of crisp in his most recent column, saying “It’s that pie crust adds little to a fruit dessert apart from heft and calories.”  WRONG!

First, don’t you know how to make a good crust yet?  A good pie crust sets the stage and allows the fruit to shine with a beautiful and delicious vehicle to carry it from plate to mouth.  Second, all that cinnamon, and oats and nuts in a crisp distracts from the fruit, the supposed star.  No star likes to be upstaged, especially by some nut.

And by the way, Bittman, cornstarch is a bad choice to thicken fruit desserts (or much of anything in my opinion).  First of all, it is too gloppy when it does thicken, (recalling the horrors of cafeteria desserts) and it doesn’t consistently thicken due to the varying acidity in fruit.  Tapioca is a much better choice, and flour is terrific in some pies, such as apple.  Harumphh.

Show me a streusel-topped crisp that is as mouth-wateringly appealing as any of these pies, and I’ll reconsider my stance.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.


Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.