Singing the Praises of Warm Fall Weather

November 6, 2015 / handmadebyjo / 1 Comment

When I opened my eyes this morning, still toasty under the blankets, the room was aglow with a warm, radiant light. Recognizing the signs I jumped out of bed (no easy feat with these achy joints) to be treated to another breathtaking sunrise.

Autumn through spring these are expected but every single one starts the day as a huge gift. I never see them as predictors of the weather, I see them as the beginning of a string of little gifts for the day. It reminds me to look for them.

Minutes later the fog was there and the sky had dramatically changed. The most amazing part was it being so warm outdoors that I could throw on my Mucks and go out in my bathrobe to photograph the changing sky. I seem to recall there being snow on the ground by now last year or at least so cold I would have considered getting dressed first.

The weather has been unusually warm for this time of year with it predicted to last through next week. Thank goodness, there is so much garden work to do. The cold doesn’t usually stop me but it definitely slows me down. Fires have to be lit – physically and mentally in order to get going in the morning. This blessed warm weather keeps the heating costs down.

There are a million things I should be doing indoors, this is usually the time of year when the cold weather projects come out. I look forward to it – the weaving, rug hooking, quilting but it looks like all of it will be put off until after dark at least. My carrots and rutabagas are still in the ground, the perennial gardens need cleaning out. More wood needs to be cut and split. The coop needs to be moved, buildings buttoned up for the winter. Yeah, time to get moving and mentally sing the praises of warm fall weather.

No Place for Old Men

September 20, 2015September 20, 2015 / handmadebyjo / 3 Comments

There are projects around here and then there are the PROJECTS. The jobs that require a lot of planning and thinking and some hesitation to start because you know they are going to turn into something unexpected halfway through.

All of the buildings on the property seem to slide in an easterly direction toward the wetter area of the pasture, a slight decline in the topography of the area. For years we just referred to it as “heading for the swamp”. The building that houses our woodshop has been heading that way for a good number of years. It has a dry stone foundation that has collapsed in some areas to the inside of the building leaving it to rest on corners with big, gaping holes looking underneath.

The plan was to do this project last year but time got away from us (and there was no small amount of trepidation at the thought of how much work this was going to be). You have to do a lot of thinking when it comes to these things. Bill and Mike made plans to begin yesterday and now we’re in deep.

The land here is nothing but stones (huge ones) and it’s a known fact going in that digging is going to be a problem. These two guys attacked the under side of the foundation with shovels early on in the morning and quickly realized they were going to need a little help. Up the road one of our neighbors is one of the best backhoe operators I have ever known. In his 70’s now he is still working his magic with the famed piece of equipment. A quick trip up the road brought him down to start digging, saving hours of back breaking work and he left with a dozen eggs.

With the corner dug out raising the building was the next thing on the agenda. Blocking and jacks were put in place.

This is the sort of thing you need to ponder – think through all of the ramifications. There was the possibility of an avalanche of stone with the raising of the building.

They raised it just enough to push the stone through and pull it out from the other side.

Back breaking work.

I am surprised at how smoothly this went. Of course I wasn’t the one moving stone.

And the work for the day ended with pondering the next phase. Making mental lists of the order of things.

A good portion of the sill will have to be replaced, there will be footings poured, some blocks brought in. The stone foundation will be rebuilt. Blocking was put in later in the day to stabilize the corner where a hydraulic jack was used. Materials were purchased and everything readied for Monday.

These old post and beam buildings are so amazingly strong. Even if the jacking in the corner let go I doubt that it would have much of a consequence unless left over time. The best part of seeing this unfold was going into the shop and immediately noticing the difference – things were straight, no more floor sagging to the northwest. Ahhhh.

The other thing is watching New England men, of an older generation, thinking, pondering, discussing each step as they went along. You don’t want to rush into any of this. I think by doing so they also prevent injury – taking the pace slow, drinking lots of water, moving a little at a time. Slow and steady.

Old House Responsibilities

September 3, 2015September 3, 2015 / handmadebyjo / 5 Comments

Owning an old house comes with certain responsibilities, at least I’ve always felt that way. We are currently responsible for two, each in a vastly different time period. The newest one was built in 1840. As you know the house at Fort Pelham Farm was built around 1800.

Over the years I’ve done research about its past occupants – more or less a genealogy since it remained in the same family until 1941 with the sale of the house. It’s easy to make assumptions about why the house left the family. Olive was the last child of a long line of occupants and with no children of her own the ownership would eventually leave the family anyway.

Olives parents had moved away from farming for the most part by the time the property went up for sale. They were taking in borders who enjoyed the summers in Rowe and were also feeding people their chicken dinners – a sign for that remains in the museum.

Olive died in 2001 and two of her photo albums made their way back to Rowe. I scanned each page that she had lovingly put together and it was easy to tell what a loss the sale of the property had been to her. There was such great pride at being part of that family history. She had marked almost every photograph and written her family history on the back of one.

As anyone who has owned a house of this age knows the upkeep on a house this age can be overwhelming at times. For me one of the biggest challenges is how to keep the historical aspects of the house while maintaining its livability. No easy feat. More often than not the only thing you have to go on is research on other homes built around the same time period, some old photographs and the knowledge of historians that have gone about the restoration of other properties like yours. For me there have been a few aha moments – one of which was the albums resurfacing.

There were a number of photographs taken of the interior of the house showing various furnishings and how they were set in the living room.

After looking at these it kind of sent me on a mission to find similar pieces into order to fill this room as we renovated it.

Any reader out there that is remotely engaged with antiques will readily recognize that without an unlimited budget this was never going to happen.

A few weeks ago there was a message on my answering machine from a man who told me he had furnishings that originally belonged to Pardon Haynes family. When I called he explained he was the nephew of Olive’s through her husband and had inherited her furniture when she passed away. He felt the furniture and other belongings should make their way back here thinking that Fort Pelham Farm was part of the Rowe Historical Society. He was having them appraised and then would donate them for the tax write off. I told him I would pass the info along to those who could help him. When I did I found that he had already contacted someone at the museum. I was relieved.

In talking with a couple of members of the society the excitement about this donation was palpable. I cannot wait to see and touch these things. I feel like there would be some sort of unseen connection to the past. The spirits of this house lived with those things, used them, treasured them, passed them down. I know they are inanimate objects but having lived in this house I know it’s the way it is because of the people who have lived here.

I do know that space is tight at the museum and offered to keep furnishings in the house they originated in – willing to insure and keep the house open to anyone that wanted to view and study them. One woman said the museum could always sell them.

Uhm . . .

So at this point I just hope someone will let me know if and when they arrive so I get a chance to photograph and study them. And touch and imagine what they might have looked like in the very room I’m writing in now.

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.

Gifts of the Garden

July 29, 2015July 29, 2015 / handmadebyjo / 4 Comments

When we first started clearing the property here in Rowe the trees were encroaching on the buildings closest to the house. The side field had been maintained but the pasture was all but lost. Our girls were probably in their early teens.

I had been photographing weddings for years before my children were born and they were brought up knowing that the back yard wedding was their only option. They would look at the backyard here and roll their eyes not being able to see the vision Bill and I had. I would tell them that someday they would be married here and it would be beautiful.

This past Sunday my oldest married the love of her life in a very intimate ceremony in one of the gardens. Their being married was something we believed would happen for over 8 years now but being cautious sorts they waited. Amanda is one who hates to be the center of attention in any situation and they told me about 3 months ago that they were just going to city hall in Boston and getting married there. The horror.

With much, much cajoling we convinced them to be married here with parents and siblings only. That was almost too much for them really, the nerves were palpable on Sunday. For what was to be one of the smallest weddings ever we did everything we could to make it a beautiful occasion and it certainly was. From Amanda walking down the “aisle” with her father to the tune of her family humming Pachelbel’s Canon to eating al fresco in the field next to the garden it was as perfect a day as it could be for them. It also allowed all of us to have a very intimate involvement in preparing for those vows to be said.

Bill and I built a rustic arbor out of trees we cut across the field a couple of weeks before the ceremony and set it up at the beginning of a stone path. It was a little wonky but fit the bill with our “rustic chic” theme. I ordered baby’s breath and lemon leaves from my niece’s flower shop to augment the flowers in my garden and picked some at my sister-in-law’s the day before. They were a huge help in the quick planning of this.

Draped and decorated.

I tried to put flowers everywhere and took a lot of photographs. Day lilies are so beautiful and fleeting and I knew once the sun set the flowers would be gone too. Sort of temporary art.

I had also picked some “weeds” along the power line and in the back forty. Queen Anne’s Lace and Joe Pye Weed. Places were set with sprigs of herbs that smelled heavenly – pineapple sage, rosemary, lavender, thistle.

A garden riot of flowers on the table.

Lemon Raspberry cake made with garden fruit. Molly Cantor made a cake stand just for the occasion.

Weddings are monumental occasions in people’s lives. They represent a new chapter for those getting married but also for the parents of the bride and groom. It doesn’t matter how long your child has been out of the house or how old they are when they marry. As monumental as this ceremony is it’s just a fleeting moment. In the span of a few hours my world shifted a little, in a wonderful, beautiful way. I did what I could to make it a beautiful memory in a place where more memories will be made.

Everything is now gone but the undecorated arbor and the flowers from the day. They are taking their time in wilting away, a little gift in a way. A reminder of an occasion but also of how much beauty is constantly around me that can be pulled together and shared.

Volunteers

June 5, 2015June 5, 2015 / handmadebyjo / 3 Comments

My circumstances haven’t allowed me to garden at the house in Enfield at all for almost 2 years. It’s just one of those things I’ve had to let go (to some extent). The gardens all need to be dug up, cleaned up, replanted – not unlike what happened in Rowe last year.

There is a perennial bed as you drive up our driveway into the back yard that is divided down the middle with a chain link fence. More than a dozen years ago my elderly neighbor, Lucille, tended a perennial garden on the other side of the fence. Her gardening style was very similar to mine and we would spend time almost every day working in our gardens and swapping war stories over the fence. We each grew different things but in the summer our gardens melded together into a huge, beautiful space.

A couple of years into our shared garden experience Lucille passed away during the winter. It was a sad time anticipating what spring would mean for a gardener whose other gardening half would be missing. The space was so large I knew that I would just have to let it go. Her daughter was not a gardener. She appreciated the beauty of the garden but did not have the patience or the knowledge to maintain what was there.

That spring, about this time the weeds were running rampant on the other side of the fence but in my garden columbine was blossoming all over the place. I’d never planted them, they’d volunteered. Lucille’s had jumped the fence and decided it was where it wanted to be. We all know this happens in perennial beds, plants seem to move themselves around until they are comfortable where they are.

I was in Enfield this past Tuesday. My perennial bed sort of looks like Lucille’s did the year after her death. Overgrown, saplings of all sorts springing up everywhere. I got out my lopping shears and cut them all down – knee-deep in familiar but overshadowed plants. I piled high the remains of my clippings to be moved to our mulching space, such as it is, next to the barn. I gathered the piles and walked to the mulch pile and was delighted to see Lucille’s columbine blossoming away on the edge of the pile. It’s been over 12 years since Lucille saw her columbine.

I give a lot of things away from my garden, and have over many years. I don’t remember who I’ve given things to. It always seems like an act of desperation finding homes for things that are overgrown but I know to be beautiful. I love the plants in some of my gardens because they remind me of the people I have received them from – today I realized there are people who probably think of me when things bloom. How nice.

Projects Ending and Beginning

May 29, 2015May 29, 2015 / handmadebyjo / 5 Comments

I just realized how very long it’s been since I’ve been here. Life is full.

The room renovation is almost complete – crown moulding needs to go up and to do that I need to learn to cope. Fortunately there are only really the four corners to worry about. We’ll see how that goes. The room is so much better. The bad juju has all but disappeared. Funny what a lot of paint will do.

My latest krokbragd is off of the loom, I’m currently doing a woven edge. It’s slow going – more so because there are so many other things that need attention. First a couple of comments on this project. I used rug wool from Brassard in Canada for the weft in this. It worked up quickly but didn’t pack as well as the last krokbragd I wove using Harrisville Shetland. The heathered yarn in this is beautiful though. I thought I planned this project well as far as color was concerned. I had everything lined up and numbered, bobbins wound, I was proud of myself because I’m such a wing it kind of person. Well, none of it really went according to plan. The time came to change over to the next color and I would just pick something different. I’ve decided that these mats/rugs are to be woven in a more organic way. They evolve while on the loom. I planned on 8 colors, bought 11 colors from Brassard, then a third of the way into it picked up some rug yarn elsewhere to work in. Because of the weight of the yarn this is definitely something I can see on the floor. All in all it’s quite lovely – I can live with it. All of you creatives out there know what I’m talking about, that’s really high praise.

My tomatoes, cucumbers and squash plants are at the end of their hardening off period. I will probably till the garden for the second time tomorrow (around the rows of potatoes) and plant the beginning of next week. The weather here has been kind of crazy. Hot, no rain save a torrential downpour a couple of days ago. I hate to plant things and have to water them everyday. Other years it’s so wet and cold I’ve planted things multiple times. It’s never perfect. How dull life would be if it was.

A Fine Cup of Tea

May 14, 2015May 14, 2015 / handmadebyjo / 5 Comments

My life has become one of ritual – more of the slow motion type. These rituals center around the garden and putting food by. For years (and years) I have begun the canning season with rhubarb, always the first vegetable to make an appearance here. I planted my own patch of rhubarb on the property about 5 years ago. My mother always told me she couldn’t grow it here, she had tried for years.

Our real rhubarb ritual was to go to a friend’s house every spring and pick our fill there. Their patches of rhubarb are magnificent. This plant is showy and large. The rhubarb at this house fills large swathes around the back yard of the house as well as over by their vegetable garden. The woman with the gardens was also my mother’s best friend and I dare say picking rhubarb was an excuse to sit around a table with a cup of tea as well.

This ritual has gone on for more or less 55 years. The family became part of who we are. My mother passed away in 1989 but the ritual continued. The rhubarb gave me an excuse to visit, hear the stories of my childhood, catch up with a family I felt was my own.

I would be greeted at the door with a paper bag and a paring knife. Walking to the back yard I would pass a little flower garden where pansies were often planted. Little smiling faces in the sun not bothered by a little frost, first blooms. Once out back I would pull the stalks from the plants, cut the leaves and put them in a pile to mulch all the while remembering childhood sledding on the hill in the back. Recalling croquet games on the front lawn or swinging on the swing hung on the huge maple in the front yard. Overnight stays with crazy family dinners including homemade bread and the best tollhouse cookies. Laughter, always so much laughter and love beyond measure.

Once I had picked enough I would go into the house for that cuppa and chat. What should have taken a few minutes often turned into hours but this is what it was all about. Reminiscing and words of wisdom imparted across the kitchen table over a hot beverage. Most of all it was a reminder of how much we all loved each other and our families.

The most difficult part of life I think now is the shifting of generations. I am now of an age when all of our parents are leaving us. This year I will not go to pick rhubarb. The house is empty now and I am coming to terms with the fact that the matriarch is gone, left us a few days ago to join her beloved husband. I picture cups of tea being served all around in that great reunion. Walks around a warm, green verdant yard discussing kids and gardens. That is my vision of heaven really.

The shift is also to my own patch of rhubarb here. On hearing of her death I went out and picked some rhubarb and baked a cake to be eaten with a nice cup of tea while I remember. As I was in the garden I realized it wasn’t about rhubarb not growing on the property at all, it was about the ritual of visiting. Conscious or unconscious these women knew what they were doing.

Digging in the Dirt

May 2, 2015May 2, 2015 / handmadebyjo / 1 Comment

Finally. My sister commented the other day how she felt like she was coming out of a coma. I understand.

Last evening I did a walk about checking for signs of life. This the time of year when I’m anxious to see what made it through the winter. As everyone knows this past one was particularly cold but we had a pretty good snow cover so I’m hoping that insulation helped everything survive. It’s particularly concerning to me because I put in so many new gardens last summer. The waiting has only just begun, some plants won’t show signs of life for weeks.

At the end of my walk I saw the leaves popping out of the canes on the raspberries. My raspberry bed is in a sad state, overgrown with crabgrass (the bane of my existence). I started to pull things out – dead or alive. If it wasn’t a raspberry out it went. Being a spur of the moment weeding event I didn’t have gloves with me. The soil was the perfect texture – not too wet, not too dry and the perfect temperature. It’s been 7 long months since I’ve had my hands in the dirt – seven months!

There’s an article that my sister and I pass back and forth about digging in the dirt acting as an antidepressant. I don’t think I needed a scientific study to tell me this. All I needed was a long, cold, sleepless winter. After just an hour of digging in the dirt I slept like a baby. I’m addicted to dirt.

Signs of Spring

April 3, 2015April 3, 2015 / handmadebyjo / 2 Comments

Nothing says spring to me like the sound of a redwing blackbird. The past few days they have been in my yard by the hundreds

They’ve been cleaning up around the feeders.

Although there’s safety in numbers they are a cautious lot and spend much of their time landing and taking off.

The sight and sounds are amazing. Add it to a 60 degree day and I can almost breathe a sigh of relief but there’s still way too much snow. Mud season has only reached my driveway.

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