Bracing

January 22, 2014January 22, 2014 / handmadebyjo / Leave a comment

brac·ing

adjective

adjective: bracing

1. fresh and invigorating.

Yesterday afternoon my sister told me she had gone out for a chilly run, followed by a cold hike. I commented on how much I hated the weather when it was in single digits and the wind was blowing. She told me it was bracing. I laughed out loud when I read the word.

Fast forward to this morning. We didn’t get the predicted 3 to 6 inches of snow but it’s a little after 9 o’clock and the temperature is 5 degrees with the wind blowing what little snow we had. Last time I checked it’s about minus 14. The snow that fell was so fine it was like dust. When you are outdoors and the wind whips it up it feels like you are being blasted with sand, very cold sand. Suffice it to say it is painful to be outdoors today for any time longer than walking to your car parked next to the door.

The real burning question I have is why do your dogs have to spend an inordinately long period of time outdoors when it’s below zero and you have to walk them one by one on a leash? For them it’s bracing, for me it was frostbite.

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.

Little Thief

January 13, 2014January 13, 2014 / handmadebyjo / 2 Comments

The finches love this seed sock filled with a combination of nyjer seed and sunflower chips. They flock to it in droves.

It was hung on an S hook on a line going across the patio in full view of the kitchen window. I would drink my coffee with camera waiting. Well, last week we had snow, then rain and ice. What was on the roof came down and the feeders on the line were bounced off when the snow came to the ground. Yeah, yeah, not the best plan for hanging feeders but hey, live and learn. I arrived to all the still hanging feeders empty and went out to gather them in to clean and refill. The sock was nowhere to be found – gone. The S hook was laying on the ground. There were telltale tracks though and I thought it was the little red squirrel that I had seen the previous week.

I filled the feeders and brought out the fruit and nut mix for the top of the pine stump. The jays really love it there and it keeps them from bugging the other birds on the feeders. Once they were all filled and hung back up the birds returned. All the time I’m out by the feeders you can hear them singing, just waiting for me to get far enough away to feel safe. The chickadees don’t wait long.

Back indoors I made the usual cup of coffee and sat by the window. Guess what I saw?

Yup, and so innocent looking too. I don’t usually see gray squirrels here. I know they are around but they aren’t the huge, pesky hoard I have in Enfield.

So now I know who the culprit is and I’ve ordered another sock that I will attach to the line in a different way. I will also put it up as high as I can.

A Year in Review

December 31, 2013December 31, 2013 / handmadebyjo / 1 Comment

January was spent trying to finish my thousand cranes – a resolution I make every year and never quite finish. I figure a couple more years and they will be done. I do recommend this to any and everyone. It’s simple to do and is one of the most meditative things I have ever done.

The weather was wintry and exquisitely beautiful. Each and every storm left behind a landscape that screamed to be walked through on snowshoes and photographed. The quiet that goes along with weather is restorative and I always look forward to a snowstorms aftermath.

St. Patrick’s Day will be one of the most important days of the calendar year to me now, not because I’m Irish but because it was the day I talked to Scott for the first time. Given up for adoption in 1972 I had come to regard this moment as something that may never happen. I had left information on a website and through a convoluted chain of events was contacted through an intermediary. The rest of this year has been spent with each of us getting to know our new family members, a blessing in so, so many ways.

Sugaring this year was amazing although the snow was rather deep in the beginning. A lot of work gathering those buckets without the aid of snowshoes. It makes up for it when we boil and smell that hot maple goodness wafting through the sugar house.

Spring came in its normal time this year, no hot spells or odd cold snaps and the pear tree was happy.

I made my first overshot throw in wool and discovered a passion for weaving that far and away exceeds any other handwork I have ever done. My grandfather had wanted me to weave I think, I have a faint recollection of receiving a small, plastic kids loom when I was very young but without someone to teach me. This has been a special journey with a connection to just about every member of my family.

Every morning the weather cooperates this is what I look at as I drink my first cup of coffee. There is nothing like walking out the door in your pajamas and sitting in an Adirondack chair overlooking your land. Day to day the view is different, each having its own beauty. I feel very, very blessed to have this be such a big part of my life. It’s grounding.

The end of summer brings with it the fairs. I took full advantage this year. Heath Fair is one of my favorites with something for everyone. I also had some validation with winning a blue ribbon for my weaving.

Wood, wood, wood, we cut and split a lot of wood. It’s best when it’s like this – family all gathered to make it all go quicker and easier. It’s also more fun. Everyone pitched in and Chester thought is was awesome.

Chester started swimming this summer. He is a very hot dog when the weather is warm but loves playing fetch more than anything. This was the perfect solution. He was a bit of a panic swimmer the first day but after that he looked forward to coming to this spot each and every day we were in Rowe, sometimes twice a day. He is an amazing animal.

My garden had its issues this year but my popcorn, the experiment of the year was a complete success. There is no better feeling than finding out there is something new you can grow that’s beautiful and functional.

I went to Belfast, Maine to Fiber College this year and spent quality time with old and new friends and ate lobster every day. It was a fiber weekend for some but for me it was more about photography. I need to be alone to do my best work and I came away with images that were everything I wanted them to be. It was also a time to reminisce about childhood, we spent many summers up this way while I was growing up and I hadn’t been here in a good 30 years.

This autumn the foliage was more beautiful than I had seen it in years. So many of my friends shared exquisite images of scenes right out their front doors that were breathtaking. Photography slows me down and forces me to look at the details. The photograph above of the red tree was taken almost at dark. I drove by it in the center of town, said wow to myself and kept driving. By the time I got to the bottom of the hill I turned around to capture this. In my head I initially said “Oh, just take it tomorrow” but a few hundred feet down the road I realized that it wouldn’t be there. Those are the best photographs, the ones that catch that fleeting moment.

This fall I saw some of the most amazing sunsets ever. Enfield never looked so good under these vibrant skies. This particular evening it seemed that everyone I knew posted a photograph from a different place. It was like the sky made everyone stop whatever they were doing to watch. It’s comforting to know that the people I love were all looking at the sky at almost the same time and then sending what they saw to others.

Thanksgiving weekend was about family, our immediate family. What is usually a crowd was just Bill, me and the two girls, our nuclear family. It was the first time in so many years that it was just us and it was wonderful. It’s probably the most difficult thing to experience – the loss of your children to adulthood. The best time of our lives was raising our girls and they have both turned into amazing, remarkable women. It was good to have the opportunity to have them all to ourselves. For a treat Bill built an amazing bonfire to share with them and a couple of their cousins.

Christmas has come and gone, although the remnants are still in the house. A few decorations will return to their boxes in a week or so and life will begin its new cycle. There aren’t any resolutions this year for me other than to absorb the gifts around me. The time seems to go by so fast each year it leaves me breathless. I will spend the winter months planning the garden, weaving and cooking for the people I love. I will follow in the rhythm of the seasons and work the way I do for each year. It may seem a little dull but planning my life around what’s growing or the weather is the most comfortable way for me to live at this moment in time, you just roll with it. I take every moment spent with the people I love and savor it like a fine wine. Those times of love and laughter are what sustains me through any other trials that come along. The simplicity of it is all I need.

A Finch Obsession

December 28, 2013December 28, 2013 / handmadebyjo / 1 Comment

Okay, this has become a bit of an obsession. Honestly, who can blame me? Look at how beautiful the light is shining through their wings.

I have been adding to the feeder array to attract more birds – I was thinking different types of birds but the early morning visitors are the finches. The woodpecker was on the feeder very early this morning and the jays come and go. When the finches come it’s a crowd. They all tussle for a spot on any one of the four feeders that are out there now.

Photographing them like this allows me to watch their interactions frozen in time. It’s as close as I can get to examining them without looking at a dead bird. It also is great seeing them stopped in flight.

Of course we now have a new visitor. He’s just scavenging around the base of the feeders so far. I’ll throw him some seed on the stump today and hope that’s where he continues to eat.

Little Treasures of Christmas

December 17, 2013December 17, 2013 / handmadebyjo / Leave a comment

The tree is up in the living room awaiting decoration. I have to drag them out of the closet this weekend. I love taking them out because it feels like I’m visiting old friends.

I have a collection of bristle animal ornaments that vary in size and shape that I’ve collected over the years. The vintage balls, a couple of handmade ornaments and the animals go on the tree along with glass icicles that were made by my brother-in-law. I know when the tree comes down I’ll drag my feet in packing these animals away. I’ll set them up on the window sills in little herds of like species thinking they’d like to spend a little time together before going back into their storage box. The farm animals in one group, the forest creatures in another, the giraffes and elephants along with the zebras. We have our own little petting zoo.

Once January is over they will go back into the closet to wait for next year when I will take them out once again and smile at them in the light of day.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

December 13, 2013December 13, 2013 / handmadebyjo / Leave a comment

With any luck these babies will be seeing some action on Sunday. The forecast is for 8 to 10 inches and I have to tell you if that doesn’t happen I will be a little disappointed.

The first good snowstorm of the year – especially right before Christmas – motivates me like nothing else. The snow will be coming down outdoors and I will be baking up a storm inside. Nothing says cookies to me like bad weather. It also makes me want to get out the decorations, light the fires in the fireplaces and make the house as warm as possible both literally and figuratively.

In years past Christmas Eve has always made the Martha Stewart come out it me. I work hard on setting the mood. I want my guests to look forward to it year after year. The first year we had it in Rowe I took it as a challenge. The living room was at the end of its renovation and I used the invitation to the holiday to give that little push to get things done. MOST STRESSFUL CHRISTMAS EVE EVER.

We took the plastic up off of the floor the day before, there were big holes in the walls where sconces were supposed to go, the panel that goes over the mantel covering the chimney was drying on sawhorses the week before – unpainted and more than 20 people had RSVP’d. The girls were awesome at helping to clean up the mess. I decided we would do more of an 1830’s theme and took my Old Sturbridge Village and City Stage theater skills to new heights. Everything was by candlelight. Redware was on the table, the menu was traditional beef and root vegatables. There was mulled cider and potted cheese. It was wonderful, it was an event and it was all theater. There is a lot you can hide in the dark.

So in addition to baking I will be finalizing my dinner theme ideas and making my lists. And when all of that is done I may throw in a little weaving.

If You Feed Them They Will Come

December 12, 2013 / handmadebyjo / 2 Comments

I’ve posted an older, warmer photograph today because this is really where this starts – feeding the birds. Each year I try to be mindful of what I’m planting to bring the birds and butterflies to my veggie garden. I always plant sunflowers because the finches always seem to know they are there and wouldn’t frequent my yard much without the food to entice them.

I don’t feed the birds otherwise until winter hits – and it has. I hadn’t put feeders out in a few years because of the bear population and their affinity for bird feeders. I heard somewhere that anytime after December 1st in our area it’s safe to put feeders out so I put out a small one the weekend after Thanksgiving. I was surprised at the number of birds that were on it only 3 days later and at the number of different kinds of birds that were all vying for the seed of this one feeder. I was thrilled.

Last weekend saw flocks of birds at the feeder at most hours of the day. A surprising number of woodpeckers were visiting as well including two Red Bellied Woodpeckers. They are the real stunners so far – large and flashy. They are there everyday so now we just wait to see them. It’s quite the colorful group as well – House Finches looking so rosy and Bluejays on the ground mixed in with the Goldfinches, Juncos and Chickadees. It seems like they all visit at different times of the day, each species taking its own turn.

Last night I decided to make something special for the woodpeckers to eat and proceeded to process suet, peanut butter and a nutty, fruity mix into self hanging feeders. I mixed the ingredients warm, packed them into large paper cups that I had threaded a looped and knotted piece of twine through the bottom. Once filled I put them in the freezer overnight. This morning I peeled away the paper from the cup and hung one out on the hook next to the feeder. We’ll see how this goes. I’m also looking at other types of feeders and seed to try and cut down on the congestion at the one little feeder.

Cornell has a wonderful bird guide on line if you decide to feed the birds in your yard this year. It’s a fun activity that brings life into your yard through the doldrums of winter.

So my camera is ready, the food is set out and all I need a little time to just sit and watch.

Too Cold Too Early

November 25, 2013November 25, 2013 / handmadebyjo / 3 Comments

This past weekend was one of the coldest November weekends I can remember. Having snow is not surprising but having temperatures below 20 degrees with the windchill making it below zero is quite another.

We went out to eat on Saturday night and returned in what I thought was a squall but Rowe was covered in a good few inches of snow by Sunday morning. I woke up to the sound of the plow going up the road.

We were toasty in the house with the wood stove blazing away but there were things that needed to be done outside before the day was over. I kept putting them off looking out the window at the snow swirling around the field and the trees being whipped about by the wind. I kept hoping it would die down and warm just a bit. Didn’t happen.

I went out and removed the pumpkins that were decorating the grounds (and now looking a little like a Salvador Dali painting melting over the edges of steps). They were all frozen solid to whatever they’d been placed on, the pots of Kale as well. With a little kick they were released from their perches and flung over banks or thrown into mulch piles. A couple I tossed near one of the perennial gardens. This was done in an effort to see if anything will grow in the spring. I also picked up most of my solar lamps decorating some of the gardens.

I finished up what needed to be done in about 20 minutes but I’m telling you it felt like it was taking forever out in that wind. When I got back into the house it took a while to thaw.

You know it’s too cold to go out when Chester looks at you as you bundle up and appears to say “No thanks” and returns to his daylong nap in front of a fire.

Cold End and Start

November 21, 2013November 21, 2013 / handmadebyjo / 5 Comments

This time of year it’s always a more difficult decision to go to Rowe for an overnight and come home. It’s not that I don’t relish the quiet and solitude, I just have to relish it in a dark, freezing cold house. That’s always part of the thinking process – do I really want to freeze for an hour when I get there?

Yesterday I decided to go. I wanted to see how long it would take to heat the kitchen when starting with a cold wood stove and then see how long I could keep the temperature up in the house using the stove through the night. You know they tell you all kinds of things in advertising, I just wanted to see if it was true.

Chester and I arrived at about 4:30, the sun was down and it was getting dark fast. Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike this time of year – for that reason – the days are too short. I grabbed an armload of wood on my way through the shed and proceeded to build a little fire in the stove. It wasn’t as easy a task as I had anticipated but finally kicked in. Within an hour it was cranking and three hours from arrival the kitchen was over 70 degrees. I had bought a kinetic fan that is placed on top of the stove and that was blowing the heat towards the other rooms (and it’s fun to watch – who needs electricity?).

When I had walked into the kitchen with my load of wood it was below 50 in the kitchen and the furnace was running. It was just below freezing outdoors. Without the stove I would have been listening to the furnace kick on and off all night and the temperature in the room would never have been above 62 or so, no matter how high you turn up the thermostat. I had all of the other thermostats turned to 64. The furnace didn’t come on until around 4:00 this morning. I got up to make my coffee around 6:30 and the little fan was still moving, a testament to the heat still in the stove. I threw a piece of wood on the remaining coals and poof!, roaring fire. It’s a good feeling when you know that a major investment of time and sweat is going to pay off.

I spent the evening twisting fringe on a throw that will be a Christmas present and thinking about how many other things I can make and have ready for the holidays. Chester spent his evening on the floor in front of the stove.

With the payoff in the stove experiment fresh in my mind I took Chester out for the morning walk about and was soo glad I had come up. It may have been cold (19 degrees) but it certainly was beautiful.

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