September and the Start of Fall

September and the Start of Fall

in the North Country.

There now, Tommy aka Napoleon has downloaded his picture which was

complicated by having to rotate 45 degrees and saving to a file God knows where. He likes to sit on Fred's lap while Fred is online. Like most pets he likes the smell of fresh worn sneakers.MMMM!

We got 12 bags of corn 2 cups each from our corn patch. Was better than we anticipated and all the raccoons are gone. No electric fence needed.

Business is slow on the farmstand. Traffic has been extraordinarily light and we hope if we cut back the gas prices will drop. Still waiting...

The Leaves are Turning

The weather a delight. One of such a few rare days that we recall with smells and feelings of cool mist and big fluffy clouds and long rays of sunshine making orange streaks across red leaves and green remains of spring. Great flocks of blackbirds whirring through the sky flying with one mind, one purpose, one life and together they talk without singing and see with their noses and forget the summer's work behind. Summer's work a tale of rearing and feeding and flying in that order and in rapid succession (to our mortal human concept of time)

The Start of Fall begins the travel beyond the flying to the flying with others, Like our lives beginning as children to when we fly along, the birds grow and then make their own nests here or there and start all over again. Each stage of the journey looks to be planned and I believe it is.

Hope you enjoy your fall flocks and the transition to cooler weather.

Mary

Tags: Birds, Fall

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Farmstand is Open

Our Farmstand is now open in NW Monkton. Now you can self serve a variety of vegetables and some zinnias.

And we renovated it a little, put some red roofing on it and fixed the sides and back. I think it does look nice.

We sell surplus vegetables and we can or freeze or dry or recycle the rest.

This year's varieties: Goliath tomatoes which have some blight but we picked them yellow, and

Zuchini->Raven is delightful and disciplined. We had

some slug damage but were mostly perfect.

Potatoes: Kennebec, Red Pontiac and Bintje.

Our plastic rows really help but the weeds, diseases and bugs work 24/7.

When we are done in the garden and exhausted from the sun and weeding and picking we come in and see our mischevious cat Napoleon aka Tommy aka many other names.

I tried to insert a photo of him but it was too hard today. I can try again when my patience for Vista and kodak and etc programs resumes.

Have a great night in your corner of the world.

Tags: Farmstand

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Martian Waters an expected mystery

The Red Planet

is now more desirable because they just found

Water

and now the real estate futures marketeers are studying how to lay out the subdivisions and lakes and infrastructures of the yet to be exploited

red planet

What is an expected mystery?

What is the meaning of water on Mars? It becomes clearer when you know for sure. But then, I've always known for sure that Mars must have water, a sister planet to Earth our present house.

Isn't it great the Nasa equipment on Mars didn't break down? Not like the stuff we buy on Earth. I wish it would start when we want it to and there's always something breaking down.

This is the last day of July and that puts me into a blissful August panic. The beans would come soon and then everything will start ripening and the animals, bugs and diseases will try to eat some of our bounty. I was fortunate to weed the beans last weekend although it forced me to hit the pillow early that night.

Don't hold your breath waiting for the real estate guide to mars.

But think about how in your lifetime perhaps there will be such a website and people will travel to the red planet and vacation by some of the pooled water under a solar canopy and fish for exotic species and good old fashioned ice cream made from synthetic proteins and maple syrup from Vermont.

 

A few things just can't be replicated.

May you discover an expected mystery of your dreams.

mary (the martian by zodiac sign)

 

 

Tags: mars, red planet, water

Tractors and subsidies

TRACTORS and Subsidies

We actually felt OK when the old tractor Ed drove the most went rolling down the hill pushed by the new owners, the 3 generations. Grandpa, Dad and son.

How else could we feel? It was just right to do. We agonized and pondered and finally decided neither one of us has that as either one of ours or even our dream. I got my picture snapped on the old tractor which was a challenge to climb up on. I had to use an old bucket and some twisting and wondered how Ed did it all those years. Fred drove it too and he told me stories more valuable than what is left of that poor worn tractor.

Someday the young boy will recall to a young boy his going out to the farm one sunny day and pushing the tractor down the hill with his Dad and Grandad. How do they not deserve it? I think Ed would have approved. If he could have he would have sold it too.

Now the next area will point you to a site for identifying farm subsidies

 

mulchblog.com

Check it out and put your favorite megafarm in and wonder how they got 100's of Thousands of our hard earned money and still hire (illegals) foreign manual labor?

Why are farms allowed to be subsidized when they are huge and eat up all the small farms?

If I saw some poor schmuck on the list I might have felt differently.

The garden is growing and the weeds and bugs competing. Now 2 young deer stopped by the garden tonight. Fresh worries.

Went to the mailbox and my farm subsidy wasn't there. We couldn't even get a farmer loan. They didn't think we were serious about growing switchgrass for fuel.

Have a great day where ever you are. Hope you get the tractor you dreamed about.

 

 

 

Tags: Tractors and Subsidies

Solar and other alternatives to paying the middle man

The Sun is the topic of today's brief entry.

Carol even gave the sun credit for improving Mom's mood after surgery. I agree. A powerful healer.

How Warm it is and how Powerful.

How we miss it when the clouds keep it away like this week.

off and on with brilliant Sunshine which led to tall fluffy clouds and black bands of showers.

We we glad to hear from Mary Sue and a flash update. 27 trips around the Sun, our solar friend, and another pops up out of the blogosphere. Welcome, Mary Sue, back to know us, although we are not as young and no, things cannot be defined as the same as we remember them. Even photos have a different meaning over the years. An Enlightenment so to speak. Kind of bold but I believe true. Seeing the valley where we live in fresh LIGHT. Not better or worse or warmer or colder (although with menopause feeling a little warmer these days). Not greener but seeming so. So, Mary Sue, since I cannot write to you directly, take this as an invitation to see the valley in your new Light. And when you close your eyes you will see the cows in the valley and smell the warm Sun and hear the quiet and peace we still harbor here.

And in the theme of the SUN. here is a link to Frank's Bakery website, the solar powered one.

fathersunmotherearth.org

He also has a link to his bakery web site near 9N in Crown Point, NY. We spent Sunday am marveling at his solar bakery, his container grown food plants, and learning native americancustoms.

This all leads to the end where I go to sleep on this side of the planet and wake up in a different spin/direction so to speak. Hope your place in the universe is peaceful and lit by our father sun. mary

Tags: Father Sun

A Tear and a Smile (or two)

A Tear and a Smile (or two)

This past few weeks brought Hunter to daylight and he is a healthy beautiful boy. Such a smile he has already.

It also took our dear friend Firmin and with it an eerie emptiness already as we planted the garden and hauled away the old International Truck without our familiar Sunday visitor. We shed tears with friends on Friday the 13th.

Then from the past a voice from MarySue my first roommate in VT commented on my blog. What a strange connection from years of spinning around and I now live accross the road from our old apartment which is now a horsebarn.

So I had wanted to say more but will leave it for now as a tear and a smile now two. I wish you peace and that you might make a connection every time you lose one.

Au Revoir Firmin

Tags: A Tear and a Smile or two

May Recap

May Recap

I know recapping a little early but also has been 5 weeks since I entered any thoughts and I fell my complacency directly proportional to our recent travel and catching up since combined with spring garden yard panic and wonderful cool weather that has teased us and caused us to all dread the summer. Vermont has a finite number of gorgeous beautiful days. Which makes them so precious to us.

Likewise the superstitious among us feel too many good days will lead to monsoon or other weather extremes.

When people first move to Vermont like I did so long ago, after a spring warm spell they often ask, "It must get warm now?...It is time to plant the tomatoes?" These questions worded as a statement with a question mark as an afterthought, knowing deep down the bad weather real never goes far.

one thing that happened this month was

us going to Illinois to see the parental units and siblings and their aufspringen.

The town I grew up in just doen't look much like it used to. I missed going to the old neighborhood this time. Memories stronger than the sights I saw there. Deep memories and people long dead.

If I had to give you one message I learned in our journey to the flatland,

I would tell you what Dad said about working longer. He would have worked longer. I would say going blind and deaf really is one of the worst robbers. Somehow losing touch by phone was made up with one touch of the hand.

I hoped his tactile sensation made up for not being able to see me as more than a vague circle of blur or hear my voice like he used to clear and loud.

My Mom would give me a lesson that says don't try this at home. The pain is too great and the pills don't work or they knock me into a haze and make my head spin. Makes me pray for a cure for arthritis.

Dad with senses diminishing and Mom with pain intensifying.

Sensual imbalances deficits and excesses.

Me trying to make some senseof it all and make it all better.

Frustrated by my inability.

And now back home to the familiar scenes.

The highlight of the trip for us was my Brother Dan's Edwardsville introduction to the Tim-Tam Slam, an Australian original pasttime.

It seems his boss is Aussie and passed on the well guarded secret in a Dallas undisclosed location.

We then did the Tim Tam as a Fam..ily and laughed and smiled like none of us had any of the problems we do and did.

The Tim Tam Slam gave us a great break and brought the Tim Tam close to the 90th meridian.

Then this week, The Tim Tam Slam was performed I believe for the very first time in a public building when I introduced the subterranean obsession to my office co workers as it was my turn to celebrate the next birthday in the office.

Everyone either watched or participated or both.

Once again the Tim Tam traveled a bit farther, to Vermont now.

And we all found a few minutes to laugh and forget our troubles.

May you find the Tim Tam to take your troubles away even for a minute.

Say a prayer for Hunter and Mom and Dad for safe arrival hoefully before May's end.

mary

Tags: May Recap and Tim Tam goes halfway around the world