by Susan | Mar 20, 2014 | On My Mind
I had visions of the first day of spring – time sitting on the porch letting the sun’s warmth nourish me. Truth be told, I think only the ducks were happy about the reality of the this first day of spring. They found joy in the puddles.
by Susan | Mar 16, 2014 | Garden, On My Mind
The ground may be frozen and snowy, but spring arrived in my mailbox yesterday. Given my gardening history, I may have been just a little optimistic when ordering seeds – 32 varieties!?A typical spring involves me starting seeds, killing the seedlings at some...
by Susan | Mar 9, 2014 | On My Mind
Yesterday, the temps were warm and the sap was running. I caught a little spring fever, threw open a window for some fresh air and proceeded to tackle washing the windows inside and out. I ventured out in gym shorts and Muck boots to check the sap containers. It was...
by Susan | Feb 20, 2014 | On My Mind
It’s snowed on five of the last seven days. I went to sleep last night with the sound of snow gently “thumping” as it fell off the steel roof. This morning I rose to five fresh inches of heavy snow blanketing the landscape. As I waded through the...
by Susan | Feb 17, 2014 | On My Mind
It seems that every third day we’ve got another round of wintery weather at our doorstep. If it weren’t for the January and February thaws between storms, we’d be buried in snow by now. We built our home with a steel roof. If you don’t have...
by Susan | Feb 10, 2014 | On My Mind
This time of year I suffer with dry, chapped, itchy skin. Life in the country means I?m outdoors a lot. Hiking, snowshoeing, tending to critters for hours and cutting wood leave me exposed to the elements. The wind and cold paired with my penchant for a hot bath at...
by Susan | Jan 17, 2014 | On My Mind
It’s been a few years now that we’ve been a one car family. Our 8-year-old Prius has been a workhorse, but is becoming less reliable. Only recently have we felt we could swing adding a second car. After two months of research and test driving we brought...
by Susan | Jan 12, 2014 | On My Mind
Do you have lonely socks? I have lots of lonely socks. Before I had a cat, I blamed lonely socks on the dryer. These days I blame Purfessor Snape, aka Boo. Boo has a sock fetish. He’ll steal matched sets out of the sock drawer if you leave it open even a crack....
by Susan | Jan 3, 2014 | On My Mind
The bad news? We had another storm last night with bitter temps and high winds. The good news? We didn’t lose power! The bad news? When I sipped my first cup of coffee this morning the temp was -11 degrees. The good news? Despite some issues with the wood boiler, we...
by Susan | Dec 25, 2013 | On My Mind
Christmas morning 2014 dawned bright and COLD. We are blessed to have this day together, cozy and warm in the comfort of our home. Many of our friends in the community are still without power following three crazy storms – the latest dropping freezing rain on us...
by Susan | Dec 24, 2013 | Family, On My Mind
My grandmother’s aunt, Elizabeth Stroble, created this beautiful linoleum block print when she was an art teacher at Central High School in St.Paul, Minnesota (1940s-1950s). Carved with the help of her students, she sent these to family and friends as her...
by Susan | Dec 23, 2013 | On My Mind
When I ventured outdoors this morning, I couldn’t help but admire the chickadees as they flitted in and out of the icy branches. Here in Maine, the are my most faithful visitors. The freezing rain started up again as I admired the view from my porch. Here, my...
by Susan | Dec 22, 2013 | On My Mind
We woke this morning to no power. No happy smell of coffee. No happy smoke coming from the wood boiler out the window. Our entire world was covered in a layer of ice. Curiously, exactly one year ago we also woke to no power – the result of a windstorm that time....
by Susan | Dec 15, 2013 | Family, On My Mind
This is the view from our bedroom window. The first thing we do every morning is peak out and see if there is “happy smoke.” Happy smoke from the chimney means that all is working well, we didn’t run out of wood overnight, and the house is toasty...
by Susan | Dec 9, 2013 | On My Mind
December is here and the holiday festivities have begun, but the Christmas Spirit hasn’t quite settled in yet. Maybe it’s my crazy schedule or something else, but I find myself searching for that essence of Joy. We made a concerted effort this weekend to...
by Susan | Dec 6, 2013 | On My Mind
I created this Owl Be Home For Christmas tree (pictured far right) for the Women’s Health Resource Library’s Christmas Tree Auction & Festival. For weeks I worked on these owls in snippets of stolen time here and there. When I delivered my finished tree to the...
by Susan | Dec 2, 2013 | Family, On My Mind
Her first high school basketball game. Funny, I thought I was done with basketball bleacher warming after elementary school. Not so. Tonight she was a Narraguagus Lady Knight on the JV team. She was nervous and excited and so proud to wear her uniform. So here’s...
by Susan | Nov 28, 2013 | On My Mind
The turkey is roasting and the pie has been baked. I sit here at my spot on the sofa, reflecting on this Thanksgiving afternoon, my family enjoying a quiet day beside me. It’s been a busy couple of weeks and I’m liking this sojourn together. I appreciate...
by Susan | Nov 26, 2013 | On My Mind
I have created this Owl Be Home for Christmas Tree for an auction that will benefit a local non-profit group. This 3′ tall table-top Christmas tree features ten of my original felt owl ornaments. Each ornament is double-sided with feet fashioned from wire and...
by Susan | Nov 20, 2013 | Family, On My Mind
Hannah’s excitement of the day was catching this moose with her iPod camera. I envision every kid on the school bus crammed over to one side with their iPods and phones pressed to the bus windows!
