Red Sky at Dawning …

January 24, 2013 / handmadebyjo / 1 Comment

I’m not sure there is any weather on the way but the sunrise this morning was beyond compare. Sometimes a photo can’t do justice to the scene. It is COLD. The kind of cold that makes your face hurt as soon as you open the door. The dogs stay out just long enough to do what they have to do. It is so still the only thing you can hear is you electric meter running. When you walk the snow crunches beneath your feet. This is winter, it seems like I haven’t seen it for sometime. It feels restorative to me this year – quiet, restful. In another month we will be gearing up for spring and be thankful for this time of rest.

Outbuilding

January 18, 2013 / handmadebyjo / Leave a comment

out·build·ing – (outbldng)

n. A building separate from but associated with a main building.

There are a few outbuildings on Fort Pelham Farm. Some were there when we arrived in 1967, some were put up after we got there. The interesting part about some of these buildings is the reason they are there. The buildings in the photograph were built by my father to house a Chase Sawmill that he purchased in the early ’70’s from Gerald Truesdell.

My father has always been a tinkerer and collector of large machinery – especially if it could be run on steam. His big dream was to own a locomotive and have tracks running around the property – it didn’t happen. Along those lines though he amassed collection of very large machines. I remember it starting with the sawmill. He built the original building to house it and set it up to run with the diesel power unit that came with it. It took a while to work the bugs out of it. I remember on one of the first runs the carriage running off of its tracks and firing through the building wall – he kept it open for a while after that. He ran it quite often and did it all by himself.

Shortly after getting the mill he purchased a small steam engine to power it. I remember him buying a boiler that had once been in a laundry in Shelburne Falls. I was working at Lamson & Goodnow at the time and spent the better part of a morning upstairs in one of the buildings there watching the riggers pull it out of the roof of a building across the river. I think I was really wondering how he was going to get that huge thing into his mill. I can’t recall if this particular piece of equipment was put in by riggers or if he managed to get it in himself.

One of the amazing things about my Dad was his ability to move huge, heavy things by himself. He was a master of block and tackle. He worked on this project for a long time, fabricating the things he needed to get this steam engine running. This all was happening during the Carter years when there was a huge interest in renewable energy and he got a grant to help pay for some of the materials he needed. When he decided to do something there wasn’t anything that was going to get in his way. The mill was glorious to watch run on steam once he had it set up. The only real sound was the saw blade cutting through the wood.

He built the building that is currently there after snow collapsed the original one. The boards on the outside were ones he sawed himself as well as the ones on the garage. The mill currently sits idle but with a little effort it will be running again only with a diesel power unit this time. We look forward to cutting some of our own boards for use in other projects around the place. There is a lot to be said for having this capability. Just being able to replace siding on this outbuilding from your own woodlot is a win. Not to mention the satisfaction of knowing that everything you’ve used has come from your property.

1978 Running the Mill

The Story of Chester, Part One

January 16, 2013 / handmadebyjo / Leave a comment

Chester came to us in a rather round about way. Yes, we adopted him but we didn’t go to a shelter or read about him in the paper. We took him because Nadia ( in the photograph) couldn’t keep him anymore. I asked her to tell me about Chester so it could be the beginning of his story.

Nadia picked up Oreo (his name then) on June 24, 2011 after seeing his photograph in a Craigslist listing for northern VT. The people that had him were about to move and couldn’t take him with them. When Nadia called them they told her they were leaving that day and they were just going to leave him at the house they were moving out of.

They were abandoning him.

Nadia arrived at their house as they were leaving with their Uhaul. She brought him home to live with her and her then boyfriend. She loved him, he was her baby. How could you not?

I first heard about this puppy in July. Daughter Amanda and her boyfriend, Yusuf were wondering about the wisdom of getting a puppy when you’re starting college in the fall. Nadia is Yusuf’s sister. Towards the middle of August I got a text from Amanda telling me that Oreo needed a forever home and did I know anyone that would take him?

Nadia had had a falling out with her boyfriend and came to stay with Amanda and Yusuf with the pup in tow. At some point she decided she was going back but couldn’t bring the dog and wanted to make sure he went to a good home. She really didn’t want to let go but I think she was trying to protect him from an abusive situation, I don’t know, we haven’t talked about it.

Amanda sent me this photograph on her phone with the message, “Isn’t he cute?”.

Sigh.

On August 13 we went boating with Amanda and Nadia who brought Oreo so we could meet him. That night Bill and I talked about how much we like this dog. He was the perfect size and was very sweet but . . . we had two other dogs, did we really want to contribute to the madness we already had?

On August 19th we brought him home.

I’ve had dogs for over 30 years, only one other did I rescue and I lived to regret it. I believe that every animal comes to us for a reason, they have a job to do although we are never privy to what that is. Chester moved through two lives before he came to us. I honestly think he came to Nadia to force her onto another path.

He still loves Nadia. She came to dinner for Thanksgiving this year. Chester was pretty excited about all of the company in the house and all of the potential ball throwers that were gathered in one spot so he didn’t really notice Nadia right away. When he did he practically leaped into her lap wagging his tail in a frantic, crazy way and licked her face. He was soooooo happy to see her.

It always amazes me that they remember so much. I think we dismiss them too readily, we don’t give them credit for how deeply they feel things. People write them off as “just” a dog. I think in some respects they carry around as much baggage as we do but they are much more willing to move on and away from the ills that have befallen them in the past. In some respects they are quite simple, if you love them they will love you back. I have found that just loving a dog can help change a lot of bad things. I think we can all learn a lesson from this behavior. Live for right now, the past made you somewhat who you are but the present can be what you make of it – let the crap go.

Chasing Balls in the Snow

January 14, 2013January 14, 2013 / handmadebyjo / 1 Comment

There is a lot of snow in Rowe, even with the January thaw we’ve been having. Chester has had to retool his tennis ball games because of it. His new game is to hunt for the ball once it disappears into the snowy white unknown. When we toss the ball he keeps his eyes on where he thinks it’s going to land and runs out to find it.

He will root around in the snow until he comes up with the ball.

Then he gleefully returns it and waits for the next toss. He never tires of this game. I’ve seen him go outdoors by himself with a tennis ball, drop it into a snowbank and dig and dig until he “finds” it. If he loses a ball he will stay out looking for it for hours and will not take a new ball. You throw him another one and he ignores it.

Bill may have changed the game a little for him yesterday by accident. He was tossing the ball and with his last toss it landed in the snow on top of the garage roof. Chester looked for that ball for a good 3 hours. Bill tried the substitution but it was a no go. That dog actually came into the house to warm up and went out again to look for that ball. Poor Chester. It looks like an OCD to me.

Nature’s Easter Eggs

January 9, 2013 / handmadebyjo / 3 Comments

Sue brought up some fresh eggs for me last night, her hens have just started laying. She has Araucanas, Barred Rocks and Buff Orpingtons as well as the mystery rooster. He oversees all 26 hens. He’s a busy boy.

I had two of them for breakfast this morning. I always find it delightful to see that egg stay contained, tightly held together as a fresh egg will. They were delicious. They were also beautiful. The brown eggs are all different shades that tend to the pink side and the Araucanas’ eggs are just a delightful green. I think I want to paint a room one of these colors.

Genealogy Rabbit Hole

January 7, 2013 / handmadebyjo / Leave a comment

I’ve just spent the better part of this morning down a rabbit hole of genealogy which I have to admit happens quite often. It all started out with a thought about sugaring. I figured I’d do a little research on what sugaring was like on Fort Pelham Farm in the mid to late 1800’s. I will still do that but that thought led me on a little adventure.

This photograph was taken in the late 1890’s to early 1900’s. I decided to try and figure out who the people in the photo were as best I could. I have a number of other photographs with the names of people on them so I figured I’d just have to do some comparisons and maybe I could have an idea of who each person was.

The man farthest to the left is most likely Henry Wright, the next older gentlemen is Edward Wright. The woman next holding the bucket is Charlotte Mills. I think the man kneeling down is Lucius Wright but I could be wrong on that one. The last one I know is Daisy who is second from the right.

In dating old photographs one of the clues is in the clothing they were wearing. Daisy’s jacket is really of early 1890’s vintage. The rest of their clothes could be anywhere from 1890 to 1910 so we can probably assume that residents of Rowe were not on the cutting edge of fashion. I figured I’d look at the marriage date for Henry and Daisy Wright since they are together on the farm during sugar season. January 1, 1903 they were married. Then it happened. I opened the 1900 census for Daisy Negus and find her living with her aunt and uncle as a servant. Hmmm, now how are J. Frank and Mary E. Brown related to her. I search their family trees to find that they lived in the house next door to Fort Pelham Farm and Mary was Daisy’s mother’s sister. In addition to finding out they were neighbors I read on to find out that J. Frank and Mary were killed in a railroad accident in Zoar on December 21, 1903. Wow.

None of this really had anything to do with my quest to identify people in the photograph but these little searches sometimes do enlighten you about circumstances that you may never have known about. Daisy was Wright’s neighbor for a number of years as she was listed as a servant for her aunt and uncle who rented out rooms next door in the census. She was born in Readsboro, VT so I often wondered how they came to know one another. Mystery solved. That left a lingering question for me – how did they all feel on that tragic day in December 1903? It’s something I can only imagine.

The Weaving Adventure Continues

January 4, 2013 / handmadebyjo / Leave a comment

Over the holiday break I spent two days warping the loom that sits in the library at the house in Rowe. I learned a lot.

I first went out to the wood shop and made myself a raddle and a thread cone holder. It cost about $4 in materials, saved me about $70 more or less.

I wound a warp of various colors for the first time. Everything went along beautifully until I slayed the reed and realized that the left side of the warp threads were a good 2 inches shorter than the right. Uh oh. I figured I would just see what it would do since I hadn’t used this loom before and figured if nothing else I’d find out what kind of issues it has (there are sure to be some right?). After tying the warp to the front I opened one of the sheds to find that the tension on the left side was too loose and it barely opened.

This was a long warp so I’m thinking it may not have been beamed tight enough or I wound it unevenly. Honestly I think the the loom was not square as well as sitting on an extraordinarily crooked floor. After looking at the problem and stepping back from the loom I could see that the front left corner was lower than the rest so the whole loom was twisted. Hmmmmm. I walked away.

I know I have to rewarp the loom. I also have to replace the harness cables. The ones on the loom now are leather, dried out and all different lengths, those will be ordered this week. When they arrive I will replace them and rework the whole loom to make sure it is square. Then I will move it into another room where the floor is more level and start over again.

I have to say that this is really one of my favorite parts of the whole weaving thing. So many things can go wrong but it all has to do with the mechanics. If I can get the machine to do what it’s supposed to do then the only problems I will have will be my own doing – miscount, tension, or a hundred other mistakes that I don’t know about yet. This is quite the adventure.

More Dogs in Snow

January 3, 2013 / handmadebyjo / Leave a comment

There is nothing that makes our dogs happier than snow, even when it’s too deep to walk in.

Dogs and Snow

January 2, 2013January 2, 2013 / handmadebyjo / Leave a comment

Sophie loves snow more than anything. You’d think she’d hate the cold, or the snow balls that stick to her fur, or the fact that the snow is too deep to walk in. Her favorite game is Bill throwing snow with the shovel into the air and she leaps into it. In the first photo she knows what’s coming. She wants to make sure she’s there before Chester (who is clueless about this game).

Success! A few more shovels full and she’d had enough. Went into the house and stood in front of a fire to melt the snow.

Reflections on 2012

December 21, 2012December 21, 2012 / handmadebyjo / Leave a comment

With the last day of days upon us and the end of the calendar year here as well I thought I would make a list of things that were important to me this year. Then I thought I would post them with photos.

1. Daughter Caitlyn graduated from Springfield College with her Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.

2. Helped my father transition into assisted living.

3. Took over the care and feeding of Fort Pelham Farm.

4. Learned to hook rugs.

5. Learned to weave.

6. Gardened and canned in competition with sister Sue.

7. Loved my dogs.

8. Watched loons in a sunset on Lake Winnipesaukee.

9. Began blogging more about the past and present.

10. Got a little more serious about eating local food. If I didn’t grow it much of it came from local farms.

The year has been a stressful one but out of that stress good things have come. I have learned a lot of things this year.

I’ve made an effort to learn new crafts and along the way I have met some truly amazing people. Pottery was not mentioned in the list but I have to say that class taught me one thing I really needed to know. I am not a potter, I will never be a potter, move on. I spent great time with my sister this year including the aforementioned pottery class. I laughed a lot. I found out that there are a lot of crafts I know how to do but there are many things that I should stay away from. Textiles are good for me, so is woodworking (your very basic kind). Anything that you can measure and keep square works. Pottery is so . . . uncontrolled.

I have learned that life is too short to have the past get in the way of renewing old friendships. I have been reminded about this over and over and over again. What’s done is done, move on.

I’ve learned that digging in the dirt will clear your head faster than anything else I can think of, plus you end up with something good to eat.

Sometimes you just have to ignore all of the noise. Rowe is the best place in the world for that. No cell service. We do have wifi and currently tv but I think after the first of the year the tv will go. There are always the DVDs.

The next 11 days will be spent disconnected from work, internet, the outside world. What I’m really afraid of is not wanting to come back.

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