gardening
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Hedge of Thorns
When I was a little kid, I used to wonder about the magical hedge of thorns that protected Sleeping Beauty for a hundred years. Now that I am a grownup, it doesn’t seem so magical. In fact, I wonder how, after an entire century, the thorny hedge hadn’t taken over the entire castle and Sleeping… Continue reading
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Irish Inspiration to Tame My Jungle
Irish third cousins are on my mind as I grab my little hedge-trimmer and venture out into the yard. Newly retired and fresh from a trip to County Donegal, I face the neglect of my little version of Wild America. It is daunting. Saplings push their way where they do not belong—popping up in flower… Continue reading
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Violet Unicorn Jelly
The best way to pick wild violets is sitting in the grass with a granddaughter on a sunny Sunday morning. The best reason to pick wild violets is to make violet jelly. And the best thing to do with violet jelly is to have a fairy tea party with lady finger sandwiches. So far, I… Continue reading
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Sleeping Beauty Gets Power Tools
Thanks to the miracle of 20 volt rechargeable lithium batteries, I now have my own weed whacker and hedge trimmer. It’s high time. After 17 years in this house, the woods are reclaiming the property. We’re close to the Sleeping Beauty scenario in which I (the Beauty) fall under a magic spell (my bed) and… Continue reading
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The Ghosts of Vegetables Past
This is not a refrigerator story. It’s a tribute to the dead mutant pumpkin on our front porch … …and a reflection on why white blobs embalmed in red liquid creep me out.The dead mutant is one of three giant pumpkins produced in the garden this year, grown from giant pumpkin seeds. One of them–a white pumpkin– cracked… Continue reading
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Not to the Store Blackberry Sauce
Not a picture of blackberry sauce I almost went to the store yesterday. There is nothing unusual in almost going to the store. Many days I almost go to the store. Many more days I refuse to go to the store. I hate going to the store. Yesterday, however, I had an urge to go… Continue reading
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In summer we gather, but we don’t gather chocolate
My daughter asked her two year old for dinner ideas because she was, yes, that desperate for help. “Emily, what would you like for dinner?” “Chocolate!” If it were the middle of the hectic teaching year instead of the middle of summer, my daughter might have gone along with it. Ah, but it is summer.… Continue reading
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I’m Gonna Get Squashed
On a fishing pier Saturday with my mom, watching the waves roll to shore beneath us, I said, “Pretend it’s a tsunami and you have to outrun it.” Right. The great-grandmother to my grandkids had already walked close to twenty miles with me during our week at the beach. Running was not going to happen.… Continue reading
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Berries and Bugs
It took a couple of weeks for the Japanese beetles to discover the blueberries. For those couple of weeks I blissfully picked a daily supply of berries, rejoicing in the amazing abundance of them. After three years of waiting, the bushes were loaded with fruit and every day or so just enough of them ripened… Continue reading
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Busy as…
With the school year heading into its final stretch, I’m feeling as busy as a bee. And I’m feeling about as productive as the honeybees in our yard. Oh wait, we don’t have any honeybees in our yard. The 44,000 bees we ordered from Georgia haven’t arrived yet. We have carpenter bees in droves, doing their destructive thing and… Continue reading
Slightly Off the Grid 