Christmas Joys and . . .

Son Philip, me, grandaugher Tracy with her daughters Lola and Bella

What is any big family celebration without a few tears. Alas, although Bella loves looking at photos of herself, she does not like knowing the camera is pointed at her. It is not often we get four generations together. What a gift. Tears and all.

Great Granny and Bella

Reading Aloud is one of my great pleasures – on any day of the year. I was happy to introduce Bella, oblivious to the camera now, to one of the great children’s book authors and illustrators in Massachusetts – Jan Brett. We had a good time looking at the wonderfully detailed illustrations in Daisy Comes Home.

We were thrilled that granddaughter Tracy and her family were visiting from Florida, and that they will be moving back to our area this year. The best gift of all.

Yesterday’s extravaganza was Chapter Two of Christmas 2011. We spent Christmas Eve with dear friends, Christmas Day with son Chris and his lady Michelle, and Chapter Three is scheduled for Thursday when we go east to celebrate with our two daughters, their children, and even a reprise of Philip’s branch.  I hope your Christmas cheer is lingering, too.

My Ornamented Life – Part 1

My Christmas tree holds the history of my family, and I am sure that is true of many family Christmas trees. I gained  boxes of my early history after my mother died. My two brothers and I went to her house or organize and clear out and found a surprise. Although she did not tell any of us, my mother actually knew that her health was failing and had done a lot of clearing out and organizing herself before she collapsed and died on the golf course, after getting off a good shot down the fairway.

We worked our way through the house and into the garage which included a large storage closet. In the back of that closet we found boxes and boxes of Christmas ornaments dating back to my childhood in the 1940s. We split up the ornaments and now an array appear on our tree every year.  I am particularly fond of the two patriotic ornaments above. One is more clearly patriotic but the second is red, white and blue as well. You just can’t see all the colors at once. The gold ball in the background is also from her collection with a worn white design of candy canes and ribbon.

The ceramic hand and heart ornament was made by a local potter, and I think it is a good symbol of loving helpfulness, perfect for display next to my mother’s ornaments.

Gratitude

My Family July 2010

This Thanksgiving I am looking over the past year, which was such a trial in many ways with storms and floods and unexpected fluctuations in temperature, I have  many reasons to give thanks. First there is my beautiful family. It is hard to get everyone together for a photo, but we made a special effort at last year’s Larson family reunion. My brother and his wife bookend my crew. This year the  five grandsons were all in their teens, and voices are dropping at an alarming rate. We all stayed whole and healthy.

Heavy Snow on November 17

I am grateful to live here in a rural area where I am surrounded by such beautiful landscapes, hills, streams and rivers. Who cares if we get two feet of snow on Halloween. Quoting the Bard I often say that in Heath “there is no enemy but winter and rough weather.”

Seattle Fling July 2011

I’m grateful I was able to attend the Garden Bloggers Seattle Fling and get to see my blogging friends face to face, and enjoy some fabulous gardens and meals with them. Friendships were an unexpected blessing that has come from blogging which I began nearly four years ago.

I am grateful for the chance to meet so many wonderful people like Rose Deskavitch who educated me about Adaptive Gardening. My column and this blog have given me the opportunity to learn from other gardeners, museum staff, herbalists, horticulturists, farmers, landscape designers, ecologists. The garden path has led me to so many friends and adventures.

Greenfield Farmers Market

I am grateful for the growth of farmers markets, farm stands and the increasing availability of all kinds of local food, vegetables, fruit, meat, fish and dairy products. All delicious.

Blossom Brigade

I am grateful to be a part of the committee that supports and maintains the Bridge of Flowers, a joy for all who cross the Bridge every day, some coming from halfway around the world to do so, and a Classroom to the Community.

I am grateful for all the help I had writing and finishing my book, The Roses at the End of the Road. My husband did the illustrations, Carol Purington was First Reader and encourager, and my son Chris Reilley designed the book and whipped it into shape for lulu.com.

And I am grateful for all those readers of the Commonweeder, who comment, commiserate and celebrate with me all year long. Thank you all.

A Marital Discussion

American beech

This fall I mentioned to my husband that I was amazed at how many beeches there seemed to be in the woods all of a sudden. How had I not noticed all these beeches before when so many of them grew right along the roadside and still retained their leaves when most of the other deciduous trees were bare. I knew that beeches kept many of their leaves until the old leaves were pushed off by new leaves in the spring. I wrote about beeches here last year.

My husband felt the trees I thought were beeches had simply not lost their leaves yet. Other trees that still had foliage, like the young oak trees along the roadside. He said I needed to pay attention to bark and leaf shape.

Young oak

It is true that there are young oaks along the road, but I KNEW all those other trees were beeches.  What do do? I had to prove my point. I remembered a very nice man I had met at the Conway School of Landscape Design last year, John O’Keefe, newly retired from the Harvard Forest in the eastern part of the state and a part of Harvard University. Just the expert to teach me about beeches. He said I was correct and that the beeches I saw growing in grove-like groups were probably caused by root suckers. A few years ago many beeches were afflicted by beech bark disease. The damage done to the tree caused it to produce these root suckers. He said the only tree that looked anything like the American beech (Fagus grandifolia) was the chestnut and we do not have any of those in our area.

American beech leaf and bud

John O’Keefe also said that the pointed bud is distinctive and an easy and positive identifier. The reason the trees don’t lose their leaves in fall is because they are immature, and it takes the action of a special hormone that tells a tree it is time to let the leaves go.  He said the young oaks are holding on to their leaves for the same reason. They are not mature enough to have the necessary hormones.

In my husband’s defense I have to say that halfway through our discussion I began to realize that he was thinking of the European beech (Fagus sylvatica), a magnificent tree that is the tree used for landscape purposes. We used to dine at the Copper Beech Inn and always admired the glorious tree in front of the restaurant.

I’m glad we straightened that issue out to everyone’s satisfaction.

Yes, You Can!

Our area is still picking itself up after Irene left her gifts of washed out roads and bridges, flooded basements and houses. We have been fortunate here at the End of the Road because we never lost power and the water that ran into our dirt floored basement, ran out politely without making a fuss. We thought our only problem was hoping the popcorn supply would last through Sunday afternoon while we read our books.

In fact we thought we had gotten through the storm with no damage at all – until a neighbor called to warn us that Rowe Road was washed out and that Henry would not be going to work on Monday. We were stranded.

We are country people and do not let the family larder get too low, because you never know what could happen. Power outages, blizzards, hurricanes. Mother Nature can throw any number of gifts at us and we know we should be prepared.

When people checked in with us, the first question was do you have enough food. Yes, we did. We have a freezer full of meat, fruit, vegetables, bread, and even butter. The pantry has soup and pasta from the store, but also homemade jars of pickles, jams and peaches, not all of which were made in my kitchen.

As more and more people are trying to produce a little more of their own food and cut down on food-miles, the issue of preserving the harvest comes up pretty quick. Even a small garden can produce too many tomatoes to eat all at once, and they will not keep long. What to do?

Daniel Gasteiger has come to the rescue with his new book, “Yes, You Can! And Freeze and Dry It, Too: The Modern Step-By-Step Guide to Preserving Food” ($19.95) published by Cool Springs Press. I have my old stand-bys on my shelf, Putting Food By and the Farm Journal Book of Freezing and Canning, but Gasteiger’s book can take an inexperienced reader step-by-photographed-step through a whole range of food preservation techniques.

Grandson Rory making pickles

This summer my 15 year old grandson used ”Yes, You Can!” to make bread and butter pickles to enter in the Heath Fair. The two of us read the recipe and looked at the pictures and discussed the process, but of course, since these were to be entered in the Fair, I could not help any more than that. Rory followed the directions, slicing, salting, soaking, draining, cooking, packing and canning. He won First Prize! And I can attest that the pickles are crisp and delicious.

Gasteiger gives general directions for canning quick pickles, low acid and high acid foods, hot water baths and pressure canning and includes a few recipes. Jams, jellies, syrups and candied fruits get their own canning chapter.

I mostly use my freezer, so the chapter on freezing was familiar material, although he and I disagree about freezer jams. He likes canned jam, and I like freezer jam, but that is just a matter of taste.

I have a neighbor who does a lot of drying and I was interested to see her electric dehydrator recently. Between the ease of using that counter top machine and Gasteiger’s directions for making Tangy Tomato Treats I am tempted to invest. Instant mashed potatoes, dried herbs, dried fruits, yummmm. Very tempting.

Gasteiger talks about cold storage, too. When we bought our house in Maine there was a fenced off root cellar area in the basement. We noticed rat traps in there as well as a couple of wooden boxes. I asked my Vermont farmer uncle what to do about rats. He said, “Reset the traps.” Gasteiger does mention that rodents are something to consider if you set up a root cellar. Then he lists the basic requirements for an effective root cellar, temperatures, humidity and what different crops require.

As he goes through each kind of food preservation from root cellars and fermentation to freezing, Gasteiger gives information about necessary equipment and basic techniques like blanching. The clear photographs of equipment, techniques, and individual processes are very useful to the novice.

I consider myself pretty experienced in the kitchen, but I admit I have never frozen fruit pies, or thought about putting together a real meal for the freezer. Gasteiger seems to have thought of everything, including the advice not to reheat frozen meals in their plastic containers because of concerns about toxic chemicals that might be released from hot plastic.

The organization of each section is logical, the photographs are useful and the text is clear and encouraging. This book is everything a gardener new to food preservation could need, and even someone more experienced will find new information and inspiration.

Don’t forget. The Sunflower Contest, co-sponsored by The Recorder and The Greenfield Garden Club will be held on Saturday, September 17 at the Energy Park on Miles Street in conjunction with the John Putnam Fiddler’s Reunion.  Entries will be accepted from noon until 2 p.m. at the Energy Park. The contest is divided into two groups:  15 and younger and 16 and older. The categories are tallest, most blooms on one plant, heaviest head, largest head and best arrangement, which must contain mostly sunflowers. Additionally, judges reserve the right to create a special category should that prove necessary. Winners will be announced from The Station in the park, once the judging is complete. Contest winners get bragging rights, a nifty ribbon and a bag of local apples. Everyone who enters gets their picture in the following week’s Life & Times section. ###

Between the Rows   September 3, 2011

Fair Anxiety

The week before the Heath Fair is full of activity and anxiety. Rory wanted to enter pickles this year – as he did last year. Last year we somehow got the sugar and the salt mixed up, but the good news is that the judges don’t taste the pickles, they just look at the jars. Consistency is paramount.  It takes a lot of slicing to make bread and butter pickles. Fortunately, I was once given a really fancy mandoline.

Onions also go into the pickle mix. Thank heaven for food processors.

Any entry has to be totally prepared by the one entering. Five hours later, after slicing, soaking, draining, cooking and mixing it was time to put the pickles into jars and give them a hot water bath.  All went well until one of the jars fell apart in the canner. “It happens,” said my neighbor who does a lot of canning. “The jar gets old and the bottom just falls out.” Fortunately, we did still have two pint jars that were the same. Consistency is all. Same jar, same lid, same labelling.

Rory’s brother Tynan made a cat sculpture at the Art Garden earlier this summer. It looked great, but the tail broke off. Now it is standing on its head so that the sifter can hold the glued tail in place. Anxiety!  Will it hold? Will it win? Are we looking for glory? Or just participation in a community event?

We’ll be participating with great energy this afternoon when we move a ton of books to the Friends of the Library Book Sale Tent. That’s where I’ll be signing copies of my book, The Roses at the End of the Road, Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

Monday Report August 7, 2011

The weather has been hot and dry. Our Texas grandsons Anthony and Drew were glad to take a dip in Rowe Pond near-by this past week. They are excellent swimmers after several years on their local swim teams. We left the Pond when we heard thunder, but we never did get the longed for rain.

When Kate returned to Heath after tending to other family responsibilities in the eastern part of the state she did a little touring with the  boys. We made sure they signed the guest book at the Bridge of Flowers. They all loved those fabulous Crocosmia.

We had a good visit with this branch of the family, but Dad was waiting impatiently back in Texas. Before they left yesterday the boys did a good job of stacking winter firewood.  Maybe we’ll get some more help from visitors to the Heath Fair. Only two more weeks.

You can see the other big project that we have been working on over the past few weeks – getting my book The Roses at the End of the Road ready for publication. We sent the electronic files off to lulu.com and now we wait for a proof. Do you think we will have copies for sale at the Heath Fair? We hope so!  Click on the button to the right for more information.

Beehive and Worms

If one grandson visits the beehive charcoal kiln in Hawley, others will demand the same opportunity.

Anthony documented everything for his vlog. That’s V for video. He’s way ahead of me. Drew is just astounded.

We stopped at Avery’s General Store to pick up a couple of things for supper, but we could have bought boots, or plumbing fixtures, or paint, or a slow cooker – or anything!

After supper we went out to check the worms. I had to hold them because Anthony and Drew were doing the documenting. Actually, they had no desire to handle the worms. I wore gloves.

Sculpture at Chesterwood

We saw cows on our travels but none of them looked like these at Chesterwood yesterday. The sculpture which is flat actually works better as a photo than in person, especially in this setting.

A New Pair

Its been a busy weekend with our Annual Family Meeting on Sunday. There was so much talk that I never even thought about the camera until we were half way home with a new pair of grandsons, Anthony and birthday boy Drew (13!) from Texas.

Pearl Fryar

Then, yesterday while ‘The Major’ organized the boys to set up the blueberry frame, mow the lawn, and relax in the Cottage Ornee, a friend and I drove over to The Mount, Edith Wharton’s home, in Lenox. It is always a pleasure to visit this beautiful house and restored gardens, but the draw this time was the appearance of Pearl Fryar, the man who sculpts trees. He gave a talk which was not only about how how he creates topiary, but about the advice he give to young people: “Success is work. . . . Use what you’ve got. . . what you were given . . . your talent . . . and contribute that to the community.” I wrote about Pearl earlier here.

A big crowd came to watch Pearl turn four trees into topiary over the course of the day. Those trees and many other items were to be auctioned off to raise money for scholarships.

Pearl did explain that working with a tree this size was different from working with a small tree and pruning it for five years, but he said he would do what he could.

He gave a lecture about using a good chain saw with reciprocating blades. And said that the blade had to be kept at an angle while he tried to make swirl.

Topiary finished

Ta-da!  All done in about 15 minutes.  You can see the beginning of the swirl reveals the multiple stems. This would not happen if he had started with a young tree.

Lilies at The Mount

Of course my friend Cheryl and I had to take a turn around the gardens.  Lots of bloom. Lily season is just starting.

The Secret Garden at the Mount

After touring the house and the wonderful exhibit about Wharton and WWI we cooled ourselves in the shady Secret Garden. And then it was off to our next stop, Chesterwood with its outdoor sculpture exhibit.

Bear Walking 2009 by Richard Rothschild

This sculpture of Walking Bear 2009 by Richard Rothschild was one of my favorites.

When I got home I did cook up a mess of pasta, peas and bacon, ‘The Best Meal Ever’ for the birthday boy.

We closed the evening with a few hands of Hearts, my new favorite game.  That’s Drew with an ace. Both boys are aces with me.

Tynan’s Typical Day

Ty and Misty

We enjoyed our 13 year old granson’s company all last week – a very busy week. There was canoeing, dinner parties, cake baking, mowing lawns, feeding chickens and all manner of End of the Road activities.  One day we returned to Birch Glen Stables which is practically around the corner for his second riding lesson. The first was last year, but he had not forgotten how to groom and put on the saddle.

This year the lesson was held in the outdoor ring where, after a quick review,  he soon progressed from walking, to trotting and even did a ‘lope’ for a minute or two.

He was so comfortable and assured that he even took Misty out of the ring and out of sight (briefly) of the instructor.

After lunch and a an hour long reading and digesting session we were off to The Art Garden where Ty could make a sculpture to enter in the Heath Fair.

I cannot be in The Art Garden without doing some art myself. The other artists occasionally came over to watch and encourage me. There is a wonderful atmosphere in the open studio presided over by Jane Wegscheider.  You may recall that the common weed, dandelion, is my ‘logo.’

But the day was not over and my neighbor’s goats were waiting for their supper.

The kids get their mothers’ milk, but it has to come from a bottle.

Ty thought Cinnamon looked sleepy after eating and thought he would rock her to sleep.

We didn’t rock Ty to sleep,  but after he fininished reading Crispin, Cross of Lead by Avi, his assigned summer reading which he found riveting (he is trying to broaden his vocabulary by not using awesome all the time) he listened to the Major (grandpa) read another chapter of Monkey King, and took the book with him to read in bed. Another day done.