country life
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Gobble, gobble
There’s more gobbling going on at Maywood than just me eating up the Easter candy. It’s turkey hunting season. For the first time, Maywood Man is taking on the turkey. We’ve lived here for…gulp…twenty years and the first turkey John saw was last year. I was dumbfounded when I saw a couple of wild turkeys Continue reading
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Bees alive as glaciers recede at Maywood
It’s sunny and positively balmy with temps in the 50’s as we trudge through the snow to get to the bees. Some parts of the yard still measure six inches of snow. This snow is not uniformly melting so much as it is receding, like a slow moving glacier. Or, to think more positively towards Continue reading
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Snow Bees and Honey Butter
There’s a break in the weather. After a foot and a half of snow, Mr. Beekeeper trudges out to the tractor to plow before the next batch of snow comes in this evening. The “break” means that it is merely raining. “Merely raining” means that the foot and a half of snow is getting packed Continue reading
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Pioneer Chronicles or More Reasons Why I Don’t Do Camping
Never underestimate a snow storm. I should know this by now. Twenty years at Maywood. We survived the Winter of 1994 when the stream froze and the ground was white with snow and/or ice from Christmas until the first day of spring. We sledded groceries down to the house…when we could get out to get groceries. Continue reading
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Frozen Fog
Frozen fog? I’ve listened to a lot of weather reports over the years, but this morning’s was a first. Frozen fog was causing accidents all over Carroll County. The pre-caffeinated brain has trouble conceptualizing this. How can fog freeze? Isn’t that oxymoronic? Isn’t fog water suspended in the air? If it freezes, wouldn’t that make Continue reading
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In the bee’s midwinter
In the bee’s midwinter frosty winds made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone. Snow was falling, snow on snow, snow on snow In the bee’s midwinter not so long ago. Ok, so I changed a couple of words. Winter has hit hard with the New Year. Six inches of fresh snow blanket Continue reading
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Pioneers in the woods…or is it wood?
This week we hosted a Pioneer Day at Maywood for the new international students at school. The ESL history teacher had shown the students Colonial House and told them that I lived like that…sort of. Well, ok, yeah, I live like that except that I have indoor plumbing, electricity, 2 zoned heat and AC, high speed Continue reading
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Taming the beast: A tale of customer service
A very sweet student confessed last week, “Sometimes I wish I had a good reason to punch someone in the face. I think it would be really fun.” After an initial double-take on my part, we went on to discuss how we love those scenes in movies where the girl hauls off and slugs someone Continue reading
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Plodding and Stomping Toward Spring
The clocks are set forward and my sleep schedule is skewed. The delight of coming home to hours of sunlight will not have me springing forward into my day. I will be staying up too late for the next week and then feeling morose when the sunbeam that had finally started coming in my window to wake me delays Continue reading
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March mudness
Unless you’re into basketball, is there anything to like about March? St. Patrick’s Day, perhaps. You have to wonder, though, if St. Patrick’s day was really originally in March or if the Irish just wanted to bless us all with an official drinking holiday in this most dreary of months. Many people hate the month of Continue reading
Slightly Off the Grid 