Christie...

One of my biggest treats is when my niece Christie visits.  She brings youth, energy, and enthusiasm.  This trip she asked me to teach her to spin.  It took her about an hour to get the knack of it and two evenings to complete two skiens of yarn.  Hurry back Christie; I miss you already.

Black Magic...

I was wandering around in the dark last night looking for my "magic" when I spotted this foxglove.  I have taken pictures of these wildflowers before but always in the daytime.  It struck me that this is the difference between day and night.  How many times have we heard that saying?

Stone Walls...

The old stone walls of Vermont, they separate our property from our neighbor's.  I always wonder who put the stones in place.  Even in my youth I would not have been able to accomplish this task.  It's against the law to remove these stones thus assuring this will always be a part of our landscape. 

Family Reunions....

My first thought when the invitation arrived early in the year was, oh boy, that will be a long day.  It always is.

We travel from Vermont to Rehoboth, MA, (via Canton to pick up Pop and his girlfriend, Barbara), then back again the same day.  That puts us in motion for around 16 hours.  Sometimes we can spend the night but this year finds us way too busy to stay.

Our family reunion is held every two years.  This means that we always lose some of the old folks that were there for the last one.  Pop and his brother, Bob, are now the oldest which launches me into both sad and happy memories of other years and those who have passed.  Their parents had 18 children at the beginning of the last century and these two remain.  I hate to say it but when they go, we will be the "old folks."

Laughing and talking with family and friends was worth my tired bones today.  It always is.

    

Big Storm...

It rained so hard that I had to pull off the road twice on my way home from Manchester.  Cars were pulling off in front of me but they weren't off all the way.  I pulled over for fear of hitting someone.  And then...there is after the rain.  We forget.

Fleeting Moments...

 They are here and gone.

The Bounty...

And then there was Jam, 27 jars of jam.  Does anybody want some?  Every year I make approximately a hundred jars of various fruit jams.  Most of the berries are free for the picking in the surrounding countryside.  Tom will pick raspberries at the Historical Society, blackberries along the road and in our backyard.  We have blueberry bushes, gooseberries, and elderberries.  Its no wonder I just can't stop!  Is there a ten-step program? 

Strawberry Fields Forever...

My honey was up at the crack of dawn again today and in the fields by 7.  I asked for two quarts, maybe four for a double batch of jam.  Fifty four dollars later, does anybody want to guess how many he picked?

Today is two things.  It is Sunday and it is Father's Day.  Our message at church this morning was about the prodigal son.  Everyone knows the story.  The youngest son asked for his inheritance early, fled, and squandered it away.  When he was at his lowest point, he went back home hoping his father would let him be his servant.  Instead, his father called for a celebration and killed the fatest calf.  The oldest son resented every bit of this A to Z.  He felt that because he stayed home and worked in his father's fields he was entitled to more attention than he ever got.  His father had never even so much as killed a goat for him to celebrate with his friends.  He felt entitled.  Then our pastor expanded her discussion to entitlement.

This brings me to Father's Day.  I think Father's Day is a bigger minefield than Mother's Day.  My father left our family of five when I was four.  We never saw him again.  I didn't grow up feeling entitled.  This spills over into adulthood.  I don't feel entitled to anything today, in the present, and I'm not sure that's a good thing.  From my perspective, the oldest son missed the point.  He had his father by his side everyday his whole life.  That's what his young brother missed out on and the fact that the oldest brother doesn't know this is the greatest tragedy of all.  His brother can't get that time back.  Its not always about money.     

Herbs That Love Rain...

Calamint is a member of the mint family, with variegated, fragrant foliage and larger flowers. This particular variety blooms almost continuously throughout the warm weather. With its tolerance for light shade, it will keep blooming even if the weather is cloudy for an extended period of time. If anything, it seems to thrive on rainy, cool weather.  So, if you live in Vermont, this is your plant!  My new favorite summer drink is iced green tea with mint.

First Rose...

This morning I woke up to the first rose of the season.  It is an old variety and quite fragrant.

Still Raining...

It's still raining and we are wandering around anyway.  The gardens in Weston, VT are beautiful.  We came upon a greenhouse full of orchids at The Weston Inn.  What are the chances of finding such

 a treasure in the rain? 

Raindrops....

This little guy is not necessarily a good thing.  He is actually quite a pest.  I try to grow strawberries every year and he eats all of them.  Yes, all of them.  He doesn't leave me a single berry. 

My Beautiful Baby Girl...

She was born on June 10, 1963 and was to be my only daughter.  One was enough, she is that special.  Initially, I didn't realize how lucky I was but when she was followed by three boys, it became quite apparent.   How precious to have a daughter.  I have always been thankful for our time together, our like interests, my joy when I hear her laugh.  Even better when I make her laugh.  She is a wife, mom, noni, sister, aunt, and friend to all who know her.  She is a very creative writer, sews, knits, paints, and gardens.  She has a dog, a cat, and chickens in her backyard.  I am describing one Hell of an interesting person and I am both proud of the person she has become and priviledged to know her and call her my friend.  I love you, Laurie.  Happy Birthday.       

The Aroma of Spring...

I opened the windows on my porch this morning for the first time this spring.  Does anybody want to guess how happy this made me?

The Continuing Saga

Future Peppers...

The continuing saga of Bevy Brat, November 2002

Oh dear...Bevy's in trouble...she has been painting all day.  And Tommy is working his butt off.  He rushes around, fixing people's furnaces, doing everything for everyone in Brewster until he collapses in a pitiful heap at the end of the day. 

We bought a house last week.  That was a good idea.  The roof is half off, the roof is half on; the half that was half off blew away.  The ceiling is coming down next, then some walls, lets move the bathroom over there.  We are very energenic for people our age.  Our duckies are scattered all over the place, some are in Brewster, some are in South Dennis and my Tweety is too tired to find me at the end of the day. 

And every time Bevy Brat gets frustrated, she buys more yarn.  Yesterday she want right off the deep end and bought nine jars of paint, and today, instead of cleaning her house or packing some of her endless balls of yarn in a box to be moved next week, she painted a basket of flowers.  What did she do that for?

Rainey Days and Sundays...

It is raining.  It was raining when I woke up, it was raining when I went to church, and it was still raining when I took this picture. 

On this day of rain, Tom and I decided to clean out our file cabinet.  We found some pretty funny notes that I wrote to him 18 years ago, back when the IBM Selectric typewriter was my main mode of communication with myself and others.

Going back, February, 1992

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived in Brewster, Massachusetts.  Her name was Bevy Brat.  One day when she least expected it, she met a wonderful prince-charming type of soul named Tommy Too-Tall Tweety.  And what do you think happened.  Those two fools decided to go on a long, long journey to a very big city and before anybody could figure out the sense of this sillyness, it was too late.  They tied the knot.  And Too-Tall Tweety has been running around in circles ever since trying to figure out where to put Bevy Brat and all of their too many tweety peeps.  "If I sell this house, keep that house, buy two more houses, will all my peeps be happy and can I keep all of my duckies too, the ones that are all in a row?  Tune in tomorrow for this wonderful, continuing saga unless you think it is all too silly to be told......

Strawberries...

One of the best parts of life is looking forward to something.  These little beauties will soon be covered with the sweetest, wild strawberries you ever tasted.  I consider these just one more of God's gifts to each of us. 

Lunch...

                                              Toss some seeds in a pot, wait a few weeks, and up pops lunch!