So you want a woodstove…

Well I certainly did. As soon as we moved in and looked at the low narrow fireplace with it’s ostentatious marble hearth extension clashing with the painted brick mantel, under-tall and over deep fire box waiting to suck the heat out of the house. Out of scale with the room, lopsided and awkward looking, a…

A prayer by the fire at the end of the year.

The second week of running my new-to-me woodstove after years of intermittent installation is quiet. After starting the coffee maker I inspect the remains of last night’s fire and find a small pile of coal with glowing specks covered in ash. A younger me would have spent half an hour trying to get the stove…

Cider pressing

With the help of friends and children, I press the cider from the orchard. I make no effort to mix the juice so it varies from very sweet to pretty tart bottle to bottle. The day is beautiful and my only regret that covid keeps more people from sharing the sun is glows, the wind…

The Burning West

The week started out well enough; Monday I set out on on my latest hobby, climbing hills on a bicycle. Fifty miles and 2,600 feet of elevation in the clear early autumn sun. Two stops, one tire change later I returned home showered and, unusually for me, napped. The day was warm for this time…

If only

He had followed the police instructions, She had worn a longer dress, That child stayed on the sidewalk, The protesters been more Christ-like. These lies we tell ourselves to sooth the ugly truth; Flowers on another grave, A life of promise altered, torn A set of new shoes never worn. If only the victim had…

Garden Surprise.

Well it has been awhile since I have written. It has also been awhile since I spent some quality time in the Garden. For weeks it has been quick forays to harvest kale, and more kale. So much kale. That and harvest another crop of tomato leaves and look at green tomatoes by the dozens…

Judge Not.

I was writing a post about life here on the farm as the news rolled in. It is peaceful here but my heart troubled. So today the blog rolls of the farm and into the rest of the world. But first a little history. Many years ago when my oldest was a baby I apparently…

Imperfectly.

Yesterday for the first time in forever I loaded the younger kids up and headed to the “Big Town” for a bike ride. While we have been on our own rural bike ways many times I figured they (and I) could use a change of scenery and we could social distance well enough. So along…

Spring rituals

Now entering the Groundhog Day phase of the shutdown I sit talking to my dog while drinking coffee in the early morning. The valley is gray and the spring rains have returned. The lettuce thrives and the tomatoes droop. Yesterday was placing pipe in the trench dug Friday. Today I eat to soften the ibuprofen…

The smell of summer.

The cats are curious why I insist on picking them up and sniffing them before the letting them in the house. The night before while introducing my daughter to Indiana Jones with all the windows open the smell of skunk came powerfully through the house. We closed the windows but I wondered “who is having…