54

  Today I am 54 years old. Fifty four.  Five four.  54.  Wow. Seems like yesterday I was a lot younger.   Time flies, my friends.

      I will continue to cherish every day and hopefully every year I am allotted on this earth and I will take a lesson from my aging Dane, Ben.  He's a cardiac and arthritis patient at this point - has his good days and bad.  Dogs have the great gift of not knowing their mortality. They only know the good days and the bad days.  They celebrate the good by just being, doing, enjoying the moment, whether it's a good meal, a warm fire,   a romp in the tall grass or  splash in the beach waves with the warm sun on their back.  Bad day?  Rest.   No worries for them about the future or mistakes of the past or even relationship or finance woes.  They just live in the day, and make the best of it without a thought for the rest of it.   Wouldn't it be grand to have the freedom to do just that.  We CAN do some of that if we allow ourselves - and so I will. 

    So I missed being a leprechaun by mere hours. My mom made my favorite birthday dinner last night - the traditional St. Patrick's Day meal... It was divine.  And while I may not look it,  I have some Irish in me. On this day it's all in.  🍀

 L-R - Mom, Rex, Daughter K,  Son's GF and my other girlie, M, and  Me

    I hope you had a good day yesterday and wore a little green, celebrated  with some merry in your step and perhaps your mug too.   May we all take a lesson from dogs and find more ways to enjoy life, less ways to fret over it.

 My favorite Irish blessing - 

Till soon, friends  xo

- Karen

About that Window

   It's been 9 years since we put This Old House back together - and the most admired item  by blog readers and visitors in this whole project has been the big window at the back of the house in the family room.  There isn't a day I walk into that room that I don't admire that window myself - even though the cold does seep in  on those chilling New England nights and we have had to board it up with plywood during hurricane and tropical storm events, hoping it wouldn't come crashing in.

 If you look real close you'll see Sally's nose smudges on the bottom panes...  and the sun setting over the hill. 

   The big window often reflects glorious sunsets as the fireball itself melts over and behind the hill....

Our sunsets lately, when the rain clouds lifted on the rare occasion...

have been glorious.  

This one below was taken last week by a professional photographer

in our cove where Stella resides... 

with the Thimble islands off in the distance. 

He captures some remarkable scenes and wildlife.

      We finally have seasonal temps, sometimes in the teens at night.  Oddly, no real snow falls, and while I love the beauty of it, I don't like the work it makes for my guys and even myself as I make paths up to the barn and coop and make a bathroom path for the dogs out in their yard.  

       The whole family came for dinner the other night, the moms and the kids and their significant others.  Mom was wearing a  necklace that caught my eye immediately... take a look...

   I asked her what it was, exactly....  it's a pendant that represents the Glass Ceiling - sold at Uncommon Goods..  in support of women's achievements everywhere - I just love it. 

   Meanwhile. up at the barn, I'm missing my Opie, he's left a hole. The other horses still look for him... and just a few days ago at feed time a sound on the wind made Max think it was Opie calling... (may have been a neighbor horse, but I can't hear so don't ask me) ....  he looked up and started pacing his paddock fence, and began calling all over again for his missing buddy.  Broke my heart, tears were flowing aplenty.  Ugh. 

    Some happy news at the BIG barn one town over - K and Miss Leah are getting along fabulously - gearing up for another show season this Spring.   Leah is from Texas, and she's let us know this cold is for the birds!   She's double blanketed when not being ridden.   

     We often have the ring to ourselves in the early evening. K works during the day, so this is the time we can set aside for practice.  I go with her when no one will be around - smart horsemanship - never ride alone.   It's chilly and quiet but time spent in the company of a good horse is never a waste and good for the soul.

      I hope all is well in your neck o'the woods -  I peek at the news now and again,  wondering how many shoes have to drop before 45 is held accountable.  This piece below?   I'll share it again and again and again.

  

  

Time well spent

     In my last post I shared with you our glorious fall weather down at our cottage by the sea.  Back here on the farm  I've been walking our little trail system with the dogs almost daily.  The sweet scent of fallen  decaying leaves is just as intoxicating up here.  ( jeez, you just can't use that word "decay" in any way that it doesn't sound like death.)   Anyway! ...  The trail may not be a super long one, but it has monster hills - a good workout indeed.  This weekend my kids were around - My daughter to ride the horses and my son worked on his lot up over the hill where he will some day build his home.  When they were done with their "stuff", they came to sit by the fire with mom and dad and the dogs, and then we went for a woods walk to work off those grilled smoked Gruyere cheese, tomato and thin sliced deli ham sandwiches.  We had calories to burn (damn it) ! 

 

This is a very large tree down at the edge of  my son's lot - it's twisted and split,

and depending on a much thinner tree to remain standing. 

  Bailey doesn't come on my long walks, as she's older and would have a hard time keeping up. I warned my son that this was the case, but he wanted her along (she was his dog from the start, and they still adore each other all these years later)  and so he ended up  carrying her a third of the time. At one point she belly flopped right into the stream, that's when we knew she needed a rest.

 Now... 

and 

Many moons ago... 

     There is a thin stream running through the little valley at the back of our property, where the old spring is located. The farmers who lived here before used to  bring water up to the house and barn from this stream and spring.  The water runs cold and clear, and we do find the occasional fish, although it's a rare occurrence. The stream dries out if we have a very dry summer.

Today I watered and fertilized the houseplants. This isn't exciting, of course, but  tucked among my christmas cactus (beginning to bloom) and the too-big-for-it's-pot Violet,  sits the lone geranium I brought home from Stella by the Sea.  This little gem isn't aware the seasons have turned and she should be brown and shriveled. Pink pedals stretch and leafy stems reach out to touch the warm rays of the sun through the windows.  She's content enough to bloom where she's planted. 

  

      Instead of discussing the election (Voters showed up in record numbers to the polls!  More than 100 women elected to congress!  The House brings back some balance... woohooooo!) and  instead of regurgitating the most recent false news rants and diplomatic failures of the twitterer in chief, I'm going to share this simple image. It caught my eye for my age old love of the characters  and the action depicted.... and it's powerful message  in these simplest words. 

    Till soon, friends...... 

Woodstock, VT 2018

   We just spent a few glorious days in Woodstock, Vermont, staying at the Woodstock Inn.  This is our fourth visit and much of the same staff were in attendance. You know a place treats it's employees well when they stay on year after year.  

   We also spent some time just up the road at the Billings Farm and Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Park, touring the original estate mansion.  (the main large home you'll see in the photos below).  We stopped briefly at The Vermont Country Store- do you get the catalog?  So fun to browse the old fashioned clothes, soaps, candies, flannels, pj's, blankets, dishwear, natural remedies of days gone by (that still work!) 

  I'll let the pictures do the talking. 

Vermont Country Store, Rockingham, VT

   

Jenne Farm, Reading, VT - the most photographed farm in the country - google it! 

The Woodstock Inn

Town of Woodstock

The Billings Farm

Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller Mansion Tour  and Grounds

 Ladybird Johnson slept in this room when visiting, having been a friend of the Billings-Rockefellers at the time. 

The pool house, with greenhouses behind it. 

   It was a wonderful, peaceful, easy-going kind of weekend.  We consumed ridiculous amounts of really good food, (good thing we did a lot of walking)  some good hearty laughter and some drink, enjoyed fantastic fall weather and good company, mom and our son and future DIL having joined us.   It's a beautiful thing.  

 I hope all is well in your part of the world -  thank you for stopping by. 🍂🍁