Calm before the Storm

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Plow in Back Forty

 

Anyone who lives outside of the New England I’m sure has no idea there is a life altering event about to descend upon us.  Snowpocalypse, snowmageddon, call it what you will but the entire region is abuzz with anticipation of the upcoming Nor’easter.  The weather projections look pretty impressive.  I went to the local farm to get milk this morning, farmer Smyth told me that his two farmers markets had cancelled for this weekend.  These are the only two he has this time of year so that means his largest source of income is gone for the week.  I filled my tank with gas – no one was at the station when I went which I thought was odd.

What I really think is happening is the media has cried wolf so many times that the population of CT just ignores them. We’ve had some pretty mild winter weather for the past two years so people think it’ll probably blow over.  The grocery stores will be packed today with everyone buying their milk and bread.  The gsa stations will be jammed from around 4:00 on with commuters stopping for their fill on their way home.  By the 11:00 news tonight you will start to see school cancellations coming in.  Tomorrow morning it will just be a few little flurries so people will think they’ll just drive to work and leave early.  Of course they think that their all weather tires are the only way to go until they are driving in 6+ inches of snow.  Did I mention that people in CT don’t know how to drive in the snow?  Or that it appears they believe that when it snows you do not have to obey the rules of the road including stopping at red lights.  As my brother always said, “More idiots than ice.”  Seems to hold true every storm.

So here’s my quandary – stay in Enfield and ride it out or drive to Rowe in the early a.m. and watch it happen there.  I could rebind my snowshoes in eager anticipation of Sunday with mounds of new snow.  The dogs could just run around in it instead of me taking them out on leashes.  I could park my car in the garage and wait to get plowed out.  Could knit, hook, read a good book.  I’m sure I will be without internet and tv since both are on satellite but who cares?  Doesn’t seem like it should be a difficult decision does it?  We’ll see how it all falls out.

 

Quiet Beauty

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It seems as if it snows every day in Rowe.  Last night we had maybe a half an inch of light, fluffy snow.  It settles on the trees and shrubs and waits for a breeze to come along and blow it to the ground.  There is such quiet beauty here.  The sun came up this morning competing with the low clouds shrouding everything in a pink glow, wonderful.

Little Dog Syndrome

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Chester in Buddiy's bed

 

Poor Chester doesn’t know he isn’t a little dog.  He’s taken to sleeping in what once was Buddy’s bed.  It’s maybe 26″ across.  He squishes himself into it and will stay there for hours.  I found this out a couple of weeks ago when I was carrying the bed home in the back of my sister’s car intending to have it at the house in Enfield for Bud to snooze in.  Chester was in the car for a couple of hours sleeping in that bed.  He normally has the whole back of my hatchback but thought this was much cozier.

Young dogs always learn a lot from the older dogs around them, unfortunately for Chester (or me) he’s only been around Miniature Schnauzers.  He doesn’t understand why Sophie and Buddy can sit in our laps and he can’t.  On the occasion when someone has picked him up his tail wags like it’s one of the most momentous occasions of his life.  You know he’s been feeling neglected because the little dogs get that snuggle time and he doesn’t.  Every morning he gets onto the loveseat where I’m sitting, drinking my coffee, and leans against me.  It’s sort of a hug.  Mind you I also have at least one other dog sitting in my lap, usually Sophie. It’s cute but he’s large and doesn’t realize it.  He thinks he’s doing what he’s supposed to do.

He and Sophie have become fast friends.  It took over a year for her to warm up to him but in the past few months they have started to play – a lot.  There is nothing funnier that watching them go at it.  When Sophie is on her hind legs  she comes up to his shoulder.  They play tug of war or just wrestle around on the floor.  Chester knows all the tricks to get her to let go of the toy.  He just realized that if he can find the squeaker she will let go – she hates any toy with a squeaker.

All in all it’s fun having a dog with size confusion issues.  He makes me laugh every day.  Most of my dogs have made me laugh intentionally but I think Chester just thinks he’s being a normal little dog.

Not the Usual Light Fare

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Peony (2)

 

Ok, so I’m just going to put this out there.  I own a handgun.  A Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm.  I’ve had it for a few years now.  Let me tell you why.

I’m what they call a “plinker” – a target shooter.  I went to a class at Smith & Wesson years ago called First Shots.  Their description is as follows – “First Shots has helped ranges across the country introduce thousands of individuals to shooting and firearm safety. Developed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation and hosted by independent shooting facilities, the program provides participants with a comprehensive introduction to shooting by qualified range operators and instructors that includes firearm safety, local ownership requirements, shooting fundamentals, hands-on instruction and how and where to continue.”  At that class we spent a little over 2 hours in a class room and took 10 shots from a 22 revolver.  I took it because shooting a gun was on my bucket list.  I am a very good shot.  I was hooked.

Maybe 2 months later I took the CT pistol permit course and then applied for a permit.  That took another 2 months.  I have to tell you that Bill and I did think twice about all of the information that was required – background checks, fingerprinting but most intrusive an interview with town policeman who also had the contact information for at least 3 of our neighbors.

After we purchased our handguns we began target shooting on a semi regular basis.  We are both very competitive and have fun seeing who’s the best shot.

There is so much going on with the debate about guns I just wanted to add my two cents worth.  I don’t think I ever thought of owning a gun for any other reason than to shoot targets.  For me, having a weapon in my possession I see as an awesome responsibility.  Awesome as in a little scary, not in awesome that’s cool.  Guns are dangerous, life threatening dangerous.  I don’t believe in killing anything so using it for that purpose has never really entered my mind.  But knowing that also builds a hefty amount of respect.  I like target shooting because I know it’s something I am really pretty good at, something that I can continue to improve upon.  Years of photography gave me a very steady hand and I understand how to breathe to get the best result.  I also know that one bad move and someone (or myself) is hurt or dead.

Something happened last week that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck though.  Since the Newtown shooting the rhetoric about gun control has been off of the charts.  There are so many “plans” out there for what to do about it.  Since the shooting Bill and I both said we should probably go get more ammunition because word had it there were places that were just out of it.  I’d read on websites about it being difficult to get and I hadn’t been shooting that much recently anyway.  Friday night we took a trip to our local gun shop.  Let me preface this all by saying this is not a small gun shop – they had guns, a lot of guns.  Many handguns but hundreds of long arms.  When we got out of the truck in the parking lot my heart sank – there wasn’t a single long gun in the entire store.  There were very few pistols and almost all of the ammunition was gone.  We’re talking a place that had aisles of ammunition.  Everything that had been in that shop had been sold – everything – bare walls, racks, display cases.

At that moment I realized just how scary this whole gun thing is.  These are all firearms that were purchased legally.  In the state of CT you don’t need a permit to buy a rifle or a shotgun (I’m pretty sure that’s the way it is in most states).The real question that comes to mind is what can we do about all of the illegal firearms that are floating around all over the country?  The time for gun control was probably 30 years ago before manufacturing geared up to make available multiple guns for every member of society.  Everything’s a business model.  The one thing the U.S. knows how to do is manufacture arms – we always have.

I have to say that I blame some the current situation on the media.  There is such a culture of fear now.  I listened to Lindsey Graham make a comment during the recent hearing in D.C. about an AR-15 being a better choice for those who wanted to protect themselves from the post-apocalyptic ‘marauding horde.’   Joe Biden thinks a shotgun would be a better bet.  WHAAATT?!?!?!?  Now I like post-apocalyptic dystopian literature as much as the next person but I see it as FICTION.  The CDC has been using Zombie Apocalypse as a catalyst for preparation – they have a poster that reads “If you’re ready for a zombie apocalypse then you’re ready for any emergency.”

So there it is.  We are living on a smaller and smaller planet with more and more guns while whipping the population into a frenzy about zombies and social collapse.  Brilliant, simply brilliant. . . . not.

 

Sunshine in Winter

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Today I will give you a little sunshine in winter, yes it’s still cold and windy.  I woke up to it snowing and drove on some deceptively slippery roads to get to work.  The sun is now shining but I’m longing for a hot, humid day with the goldfinches perched on my sunflowers.  Soon enough.

Equine Dreams

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720601 Jo with Hilliers on Jingles

 

For starters I can’t believe I’m actually putting this photograph on a post but I think it’s the only one I have of me and Jingles.  I think it’s one of maybe three that I have of that horse at all.  Before the age of digital photography you had to pay for each image you took. Not only that but it was more of a project.  Buy the film, expose the film, bring it to have it processed, wait a week or more, pick it up, throw half of them away . . . you get the idea.  My mother wasn’t the most sentimental of people and she was also quite frugal – photographs were not really in the budget (except for those school pictures, ugh). This photograph I believe was actually taken by Eunice Hillier at their house on Ford Hill Rd.  Her youngest John and Sarah are on the horse’s back.  As memory serves this must have been around 1968 or so.  I was 12 or 13 I think.

When my daughters were little we would spend weekends and summers in Rowe and I would tell them stories about the animals we had when I was growing up.  About the horses, cows, sheep, goats, pigs – everything except a dog.  They never believed me.  They would play in the back forty never knowing the number of animals that had happily grazed it for the years that I was growing up there.  In their minds I think it was just impossible to picture their mother with animals they only saw at Forest Park zoo.

I often dream about having another horse, I have a couple of friends that still have them but we are all more realistic these days.  We are much more aware of our physical limitations when it comes to riding.  I think back on the number of times I’ve fallen (or been thrown) from a horse and understand that if I took that kind of fall today I would likely end up with a hospital stay rather than walking it off like a teenager.  I thought maybe a small draft would be good but when I’m more rational in my thinking I know that having a horse is a distant memory.  Still that nagging desire to have something from the equine family is still there.  It probably never goes away.   Hmmmm, maybe a donkey or two.  Something that will be happy grazing the back forty and I can scratch its ears on a daily basis.

More About Chester

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110903 Chester and Bud

 

When Chester moved in with us he insinuated himself into every aspect of our lives.  Dogs are good at that, especially young dogs.  Chester was different in he honestly was the best behaved puppy I have ever owned.  I was fully prepared to take him off leash and have him take off into the woods and not see him for a couple of hours.  It didn’t happen.  He loves his people.  He made friends with the dogs at the houses on either side of us.  Jolie (his girlfriend) never leaves her yard.  The dogs on the other side of us have an invisible fence.  The bonus in this situation is that he never learned that he could run away, although I’m not sure he ever would.

Chester does have some true abandonment issues.  For the first year we could not leave him in a crate.  All of our dogs are trained to a crate, they sleep in them at night, in our bedroom.  They love their crates, it’s a safe spot for them.  It took a couple of weeks just to get Chester to go into a crate, a few more until he stopped crying.  If we left him alone in the room in his crate he lost his mind.  Consequently he went EVERYWHERE with me.  He became our shop dog at L&S Automotive.

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We put a gate up in my office space, got another crate with a cushy bed and brought him to work with us every day.  I would take him to the park a couple of miles away to run him mid afternoon and then he would nap.  In the photo he is lying with Malcolm, Amanda’s dog.  They have a love hate relationship to this day – in this particular photo they love each other.  I can gladly say that after a year and a half he is a little better adjusted to being left alone although you can see his anxiety level go up as you’re heading for the door.  He would sit in the car and happily wait for me all day if he had too, just because he knows he’s with me and hasn’t been left.

An interesting thing has happened with Chester at the shop.  He has become our official greeter.  He loves everyone (especially kids) and waits in the waiting area for people to come in.  I know he has shown more than one person that dogs don’t have to be scary.  He also has built quite a fan club, there are days when you’d swear that’s what he’s doing, building a fan club.  We have customers and parts delivery people that call to see how he is, that bring him treats, that play fetch with him out in back of the building while their cars are being repaired.  There are people that drop their keys in the drop box in an envelope with dog biscuits.  He’s added another dimension to customer service.

After a year and a half he has settled in and now takes advantage of as many situations as he can.  He’s a sofa dog but there has always been furniture he’s not allowed on.  Well, most of the time.

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Thinking Local

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Yarn

A couple of days ago I received an order for yarn from Green Mountain Spinnery.  Until I read the tag I had no idea that they were in Putney, VT which is about 45 miles from Rowe.  They are a co-op and spin the majority of their yarn from New England fleeces.  This is for a project I will be doing in a knit-along with Ruth Fischer-Ticknor.  You can read about it on her Counting Sheep blog.  It is a beautiful yarn.

As I was winding the skeins into balls I started thinking about having a garment made from wool that was processed so close to home.  I’ve gradually become more of a locavore in the past few years and have begun to see that mindset seep into everything I do.  I grow and preserve a lot of food from my garden every year.  I get all of my dairy from Smyth’s Trinity Farm in Enfield, CT where I can talk cheese making with someone who works with dairy on a larger scale. We buy a side of beef from Russell in Heath once a year – grass, sunshine, fresh water, nothing else goes into these cows. We also make our own maple syrup with him.  My eggs come from my sister next door where I’ve watched those hens from hatchlings.  Our sausages, bacon and other assorted smoked meats come from Pekarski’s in South Deerfield. Mike Pekarski is a very generous man and rightfully proud of his smokehouse – he will tell or show me how things are made, right there, with the help of his family.  In the summer there are a few farms that I frequent for pick your own produce that augments what I am putting up at the time. Although the farmers there don’t know me by name they instantly recognize me when I arrive.   I thought, until I started writing this, that it was more important to know how far my food had travelled but I now realize that I have friendships that have been built over time with all of the people who are raising much of my food.

Preparing and eating food that you trust gives you a peace of mind that is difficult to really describe.  There is nothing that makes me feel better than to prepare a meal where I know where everything came from, I’ve visited its source, I know who’s hands have been on it.  I know that if I didn’t grow it myself I have contributed to the livelihood of people that have become my friends or have been for a long time.  By doing that I am contributing to my local economy.  So I try to get what I need within the 100 mile radius that is often talked about.   Purchasing fiber that I needed for a project from less than 100 miles away made me feel that there are so many other ways I can think about being local.  I personally know at least 3 people that are raising fiber animals.  Although I didn’t buy their fiber I know that I am still contributing to their type of local economy as well.  Yes, things cost a little more but doesn’t it feel better when you know that the money you are spending is going directly into the pockets of people you know rather than some huge corporation with the farmer essentially getting paid just enough to keep going? It’s worth thinking about.

This is my 100th post!  Thank you so much to all who read, follow and comment on it.

Another Baking Adventure

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1267724021-22-(Small)This past weekend was an adventure in baking.  My niece, Meredith, had given me a book entitled “Crust: From Sourdough, Spelt and Rye Bread” saying she thought it was a little beyond her skill level. This is a wonderful book that really goes beyond your basic bread making.  His method of working dough is quite a departure from how I usually do things and I have to confess I read it and thought it was interesting and did it the way I always do.  The recipes are wonderful though so I decided to step out of my comfort zone and leap into laminated dough.  What do you ever really have to lose in doing this?  Maybe a few hours, but even if it’s a total fail you learn something, sometimes you learn a lot.

My oldest daughter spent some time in Ecuador a few years ago and smuggled back some chocolate croissants that she had eaten daily for breakfast while she was there.  They were wonderful.  I have to say that a yeasty, flaky pastry has always intimidated me a little.  I think because it is such a departure from making a loaf of white bread.   So Pain au Chocolat was what I decided to make.  This is something that takes a little more than 24 hours to make so a little planning is needed (but most of that time is waiting).

There are enough posts on the internet that tell you how to make laminated dough, suffice it to say that it is way easier than it looks and the results are more than worth the trouble.  It does represent more of a workout than I had anticipated (do you know how long it takes to roll a piece of dough that’s 8″x12″ to 12’x30″?).  The recipe made a total of 18 rolls, all light and flaky and quite delicious.

I have read recipes for Pain au Chocolat in many places, all a little different.  I decided on this one only because the pictures were pretty and self explanatory.  It was like taking a little class with no one watching what you were doing or judging the end result.  The judges were the company that devoured them on Sunday morning.

 

Dreaming

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I’m dreaming of warm weather. Of tilling the earth, the smell of it. Of a vegetable gardens surrounded by caution tape. The smell of fresh mowed grass. Fresh lettuce. Radishes. Chard. Beans. Longer days. It’s coming. A few short months away.