Review 2015

December 31, 2015December 31, 2015 / handmadebyjo / 3 Comments

Every year I post a year in review that is largely visual in nature. It seems that this year may prove to be different. There have been so many profound changes that the photographs would only just scratch the surface. I’ll throw a few in for good measure though, I can’t resist.

After living with my father for a year and a half I put him back into assisted living. It was a huge learning curve for me – but I learned that I cannot live with negativity day in and day out. Living under a black cloud only drags you into that black abyss and it becomes more and more difficult to climb your way out. In my heart I know it was the right thing to do for everyone involved yet on some level it feels like failure. I’m working on getting over that in ways that feed my soul.

Living here helped me maintain my sanity. The close proximity to nature was a balm many times during each and every day. Being able to see magnificent sunrises so many mornings began my days in a positive way. It was a summer of rainbows – every day it seemed . Hiking trails at the park, new trails in old familiar places brought discovery and appreciation anew. Let’s face it, it’s quiet here, it smells good and nobody bugs you. What more could the introvert in me want?

Then there were weddings, lots of them. My favorite was the marriage of my daughter – here. Ten people, surrounded by my gardens in full bloom. My favorite moment – the family humming Pachelbel’s Canon in D while Amanda and her father walked down the little makeshift aisle, thanks Cait for getting it rolling. Although Amanda and Yusuf have been together for 9 years and we all knew this was coming it still felt like we were giving her away. It was a line for me, both joyous and sad.

As if all of this wasn’t enough November 11th was the birth of our first grandchild. A boy who dear husband Bill never thought he was going to see (and now has big plans for). Another shift in my life – from mother to grandmother. I’m not sure how it affects other people but the generational shift has always been a profound one for me. When Amanda was born it took me a while to wrap my head around going from daughter to mother, I’m still getting use to the idea of going from mom to grandma. He is wonderful and I’m enjoying watching them grow into a loving family.

All through this the constant has been craft. The ability to make and do things with my hands is the thread. It feeds me – no, it is a necessity. If I wasn’t able to create something, on a daily basis, I would have sunk into that deep, dark hole long ago. It sustains me. It seems odd to me in some ways to admit this. I have been a crafter all of my life. My modus operandi is to learn a new craft, work it to what I deem the best I am capable of (more of a plateau really) and move on to the next craft. This year was all about weaving – again. It was the realization that I’ve been searching my entire life for what my hands knew how to do. Weaving has connected me to my past, to people I remember and loved the most. It is something that will probably take the rest of my life to move towards perfection. Meanwhile it calms me and helps me to reflect on daily life, meditation. Something we all need and I daresay find in little things we do. We just need to recognize it.

The new year is promising in so many ways. Growth is what it’s all about. I’ll keep on sharing my skills and insights. I’ll watch my family and friends embrace the changes in their lives and hold them all close because really, that’s what it’s all about.

End of Season

September 2, 2015September 2, 2015 / handmadebyjo / 4 Comments

The summer season is winding down. With all of the pressure to prepare for winter it is still my favorite time of year. Maybe it’s that sense of urgency, the knowledge that every single day will have to be packed full of projects because that cold, snowy weather is right around the corner.

It’s so subtle, it sneaks up on you really. Mid August you begin to notice it getting darker so much earlier and the day doesn’t begin with the sunrise until after 5:00 AM. The birdsong is changing. The insects you encounter are different as well. You’re listening to crickets, huge grasshoppers leap in front of you on that afternoon walk about. Huge caterpillars are making themselves known with their size and color.

The leaves are changing to my favorite palette. Gone are the bright, cheery greens of spring, the steadfast greens of summer. Now comes the olives, golds and rusts.

The photo above shows the reality of my vegetable garden. It was so beautifully taken care of until August when I went on a week-long vacation. It got away from me and at this point there’s no going back. It hasn’t stopped producing. The blogs I read show immaculately kept gardens but in the back of my mind this is how I imagine they really are. The realities of doing anything agriculturally – especially by yourself – is that things are not as tidy as you wish them to be. So you pick your battles.

The fall party this year has turned into a family baby shower. I will be holding my first grand baby in my arms around the beginning of November. The grounds will be as tidy as they can be – Bill takes great pride in his lawn. The messiness of the chickens and that overgrown garden will be here in all of their glory as well as a building flattened and not yet moved and a back forty full of goldenrod taller than I am.

But you know. The goldenrod is in full bloom and it is the loveliest shade of yellow.

Another One Bites the Dust

December 30, 2014December 30, 2014 / handmadebyjo / 5 Comments

The road in front of the house in Rowe was lined with trees for hundreds of years – hundreds. These stately sugar maples provided shade from the western sun in the summer keeping the house quite cool. They provided places for hammocks and swings and places for children to climb. Big birds also nested and fed themselves from those trees – pileated woodpeckers and barred owls plus all of the usual smaller birds and squirrels. When you looked out of the upstairs bedrooms you felt as though you were in a treehouse. It was a great view.

It’s been 10 or 15 years since the last one came down in front of the house. The rooms upstairs are hot in the summer. There are a lot of trees across the road but they are all beginning to go as well. Early this morning another was cut down. It needed to come down, there were very few branches that had leaves any more. One of its neighbors had fallen not more than 6 months ago.

The video doesn’t do the act of cutting down a tree this size justice. The snap and shudder, the crashing to the ground, the silence. The house shook like witnessing a small explosion.

There are trees all around that I want to cut down, to improve the view or let more sun into my garden. Those decisions don’t come lightly though. I always consider what will be lost with the removal of any tree, also what will be gained. When it’s weighed out the decision is made. Some take very little consideration but others, the maples, are more difficult to cut down. They are beautiful in every season, they are strong, stately. They belong.

There is one such maple along the side of the garden. It’s grown quite large over the past 10 years my garden has been in that spot and now shades a good part of it for most of the morning. The vegetables aren’t fond of that much shade. We have cut everything around it and in doing so it has thrived. That wasn’t the intention, it was on the list to go.

After watching the old maple go down today I’ve decided I will move a good deal of my garden this year. I want it to stand there shading the yard for a good long time to come. A place for the orioles and bluebird to perch on the way to the feeder and bird bath. Barred owls perch there at night and talk to their mates and chicks. Those are things I’m not willing to give up and it really is an easy decision.

Fleeting Fall

October 10, 2014October 10, 2014 / handmadebyjo / 2 Comments

I hear on the news just now that people should take their fill of the leaves this weekend (a long one here), they are at their peak. With all of the rain and wind the past few days the leaves here are on their way out. There are still enough to photograph but not in the wide panoramas that other years have offered.

This has to be one of my favorite spots in autumn. I love the color of the pears as well as the leaves. That chair is the perfect spot to overlook a large swath of the property, especially the parts newly cleared. The bonus is it faces west so you can sit there in the late afternoon and have the sun warm you, breathing in the smell of fall. Little gifts.

The Volunteers

August 9, 2014August 9, 2014 / handmadebyjo / 4 Comments

I have a large mulch pile where I throw a lot of stuff over the course of the seasons. I usually turn it over a number of times throughout the year with the tractor. This year there were recognizable plants growing in the spring so I just left it.

There are now potatoes in blossom and the biggest squash plant I have ever grown. I think it is actually a long pie pumpkin. There were blossoms in profusion (and still are) earlier in the summer but no fruit. Yesterday I took a closer look and there it was. Looks like a giant zucchini but will ripen off of the vine to a wonderful, orange, thick skinned pumpkin. An excellent keeper and awesome pie pumpkin.

Every year there are volunteers in my garden. This year there were potato plants which I expect since I don’t always get all of the potatoes when I dig them. There are also a couple of tomatoes and sunflowers. It always amazes me that something grows, I till the plot multiple times before it’s planted each year.

It’s the mulch pile stuff that always fascinates me. Things that are rotten and intentionally cast off grow and bloom into something more spectacular than is ever grown in the garden. Maybe next year I’ll just toss my seeds over the bank and hope for the best, it certainly is working this year.

Birds, Bees and Butterflies

July 29, 2014 / handmadebyjo / 9 Comments

This garden was one we put in about 3 years ago (time all melds together at this point – maybe it was four years, maybe two). It is pretty spectacular this year. All of the plants have matured and I put in a few annuals that Bill brought up. The best part about this garden is its attraction to hummingbirds, bees and butterflies.

If you are within sight of this garden you can see it is a hub of activity.

I was thrilled to see honey bees on a lot of my flowering plants this year, it’s been a while.

There is always something to watch.

I originally planted this for the color it would give our view of the back forty. When I sit in the Adirondack chairs and look over this garden I realize I planted the perfect wildlife garden. There’s a hummingbird feeder that I have to fill every few days and I have seen finches in and out of it all day long.

There are also a critters that I could do without – chipmunks, red squirrels and woodchucks. Although, truth be told, I love watching them too. They don’t really bother anything, they do dig holes all over the place. If and when they get into the vegetable garden I might have a change of heart but for now I’ll share this beautiful space with anyone that wants to visit.

Morning Walkabout

June 27, 2014 / handmadebyjo / 3 Comments

This will be a photo heavy post today – just to give you a glimpse of the place right now. It also serves as a record for me.

Each morning starts with picking up my handy bug zapper. It’s deer fly season and this has proven itself to be a necessity.

The patio garden – to my right as I cross the driveway heading for the back forty. This is an old garden, a friendship garden with almost all of the plants coming from people we know. My mother worked on this from the summer we moved in, 1967. It’s going to be renewed this summer since the lawn is really creeping in at this point and things are really crowded.

Towards the back of the garage there is the newest perennial garden and in the foreground is the raspberry patch. The raspberries are in their third year and are just starting to fill in.

We take the road to the back forty, we being me and the dogs. They know the drill and love being out there. On the right is the sawdust building for the sawmill. I don’t think it’s a crooked as it looks in the photo but you never know.

As I walk around what used to be the back pasture the dogs spend their time sniffing whatever went on the night before.

From the same spot (more or less) looking towards a road that goes back into the wood lot. There’s a branch that goes to a stump dump where I’ve taken some very nice compost for the garden over the years. Everything about gardening is waiting – years not months.

The tete-a-tete chair my father made is up there and it overlooks the pasture back up towards the house. It’s the perfect spot to drink a morning cup of coffee or that martini in the afternoon.

As I walk the perimeter I check on the berries, deciding what I will net this year so I get more of a harvest than the birds. These are blackberries and the birds pretty much get all of them – they probably scope them out more often than I do.

This is the view from the back of the pasture – the table was too worn out for the patio but too solid to burn so there it sits. Just one more thing to weed whack.

From the same spot if you turn around you look into the woods towards the wood lot – there are also some old, empty beaver ponds back there as well.

Back up into the driveway I noticed that this summer is the summer of potted plants for me. I love the way they look and I’m here to take care of them now. This is the well by the driveway. Years ago we replaced the wood cover with stone fearing our kids would climb up on top of it and fall in. I think it might be usable in an emergency but I wouldn’t want to drink out of it now.

This is the view from the patio, it overlooks the vegetable garden, the new garden and the raspberries towards the back forty. I have annuals in pots as well and tomatoes and cucumbers.

Yes, cucumbers. I was skeptical at first. Bill brought two pots of these up that he got from the plant gypsy we have come to the shop in Enfield. I told him they would never grow. How wrong I was. Now I’m looking for the seeds for next year.

Across from the patio is another perennial garden that has morphed into all kinds of things over the years. It’s now overgrown as well but I love having the pots for color. It is also a place for the birds that we can watch from the table in the kitchen.

Another crazy potted plant. Its in a pedestal pot so I guess I could take the hanger off of it now huh?

Heading for the front yard and looking back over the gardens – this is the relaxation spot for every part of the day. I swear people that drive by only do when we are sitting in those chairs. I figure they think that’s all we do.

This is the vegetable garden from the chairs. It’s slow but steady this year, about a week to 10 days behind last years. It’s been quite cool.

But the potatoes are doing great!

This is what I look at every morning (even if it rains). I check my plants, take a walk, play with the dogs all in about 20 minutes time. It gives me time to plan my day. Look around at what needs doing and try not to get overwhelmed by the list. Prioritize. Breathe in the fresh air, stand in the sunshine, hug a tree, center.

Abundance

June 17, 2014 / handmadebyjo / 4 Comments

I walk the perimeter of the back forty a couple of times a day with the dogs. It’s far enough away from any distractions to make the walk enjoyable for me as well as them. One of our dogs, now elderly, is hard of hearing with bad eyesight and tends to wander in the road. There are usually only a handful of cars that pass the house on any given day but this way I don’t have to worry and he can spend quality time sniffing whatever dogs with dementia sniff.

I’m constantly amazed at the things that grow back there. Blackberries in abundance. I never really get to harvest many of them because there are also birds in abundance – fruit is a big food source for them and I take whatever is leftover.

Blueberries are everywhere around the edges of the mowing. There is one large bush in the open that I net every year and it gives me a good supply of berries to freeze. There is nothing like those wild blueberries in muffins on a cold, snowy morning in January I have to tell you. There are bushes all over but this particular bush I reserve for myself. It sometimes seems as if the birds are waiting when I go down to pick them thinking they’ll just help themselves while I pick. It’s a quiet interlude I look forward to every summer just to spend time in birdsong.

Then there is the pear tree. The lone survivor of a number of plantings on a long ago Father’s Day. This tree has come into its own in the past few years. It’s spectacular in bloom and there have been years where I thought all of the branches would break under the weight of the fruit. This, of all the “free” food that surrounds me, stresses me the most. There is SO much of it. Pears are picky about when they are harvested and ripened and the frost freeze cycle of the end of season can mess you up in the timing of it all. Did I mention there is SO much of it? The past few years there have been enough pears to fill the bucket of the tractor three times over. That’s a LOT of pears folks. I can them, I eat them, I give a lot away. I even used them as place markers on my Thanksgiving table with over 40 guests. There is not enough creativity in the world to deal with this kind of harvest. Hmmmm, pear cider . . .

Being surrounded by the bounty of nature (and perhaps the forethought of many now gone) is really a wonderful thing. In the past couple of years that is how I’ve begun to think about the food I grow. There is always the huge vegetable garden but I planted asparagus last year knowing full well that I would not be eating any of it until the third year. The glory in it is the bed can be good for over thirty years. It’s nice to know that someone will be eating that lovely vegetable in 2040 because I planted it. To me THAT is food security even if it’s only for three weeks out of the year.

Sunday Morning Bird Watch

March 16, 2014March 16, 2014 / handmadebyjo / 1 Comment

Okay, not just birds.

I’m going to miss the feeders – if spring ever arrives.

Snow

January 20, 2014January 20, 2014 / handmadebyjo / 1 Comment

Saturday we had the most amazing snowstorm. I have been whining lately about our January thaw. Mud season is my least favorite time of the year and I felt like we were in it last week. Everything was brown and ugly, not what I want to look at out my windows. Walking was a difficult slog.

This storm started suddenly. It was fairly warm out and the snow came down hard with huge flakes. Bill and I spent most of the day outdoors just enjoying its exquisite beauty. There is nothing the dogs like more than us being outdoors in the snow. Snow makes everything a whole new game.

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