Yesterday, in the rain, I visted the gardens of Melanie and Ray Poudrier and paid special attention to their collection of heaths and heathers. These two evergreen shrubby plants are often mentioned together in the same breath, but I never really knew how to tell them apart until Melanie made me look at the foliage closely. Heaths and heathers are both members of the Ericaceae family, but heath of the genus Erica has needle-like foliage. The foliage of…
The Conway Festival of the Hills is a grand autumnal event in our region. This year I got to share tent space with other authors like Marie Betts Bartlett (left in blue) who brought her book The (true) Story of The Little Yellow Trolley Car and Heidi Stemple (right oogling the baby. Heidi is the daughter of and co-author with Jane Yolen of many books, true, mysterious and delicious. In the center is Jessica, owner of The World…
In yesterday's NY Times Mark Bittman asked the question, Is Junk Food Really Cheaper? Can you really feed a family for less at McDonalds than at your own table filled with home cooked food. In spite of the protestations that a bag of chips is cheaper than a head of broccoli and other such, the answer is NO! A meal for a family of four at McDonald's will come to between $23 and $28. How many groceries can…
Artist Glenn Ridler says his Little Big House is a major work of his career, playfully and artfully shifting proportions to build his living space and the Little Big House Gallery. The house is set amid beautiful gardens that were the setting for his daughter's wedding in June. I have known Glenn and his wife Christine Baronas for many years, but I do not often get to visit up on their Shelburne hill. A shed I had not…
I can't drink alcohol so I can't blame too much wine for the lack of focus, but I wanted to suggest the festive air in the Party Barn where the Heath Gourmet Club celebrated 30 Years of Serving Ourselves! Thirty July Fourths ago, Sheila, Catherine and I stood in front of a spinning wheel at the Heath Museum and bemoaned the lack of good restaurants anywhere closer than 30 miles, and our lack of money to afford a…
Paul Hicks has been farming in Charlemont just about since the day he was born 54 years ago, following in his father’s and grandfather’s steps. Now grandsons Tucker and Brody (aged four and two) are out in the barn and advising their father on how to drive the oxen. Of course, the farm has changed over the years. Paul’s father Richard and his uncle Walter had dairy herds. My husband and I got to know them because they…
The Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls survived storm and flood. More Wordlessness is to be found here.
It has been exactly a week since I wrote about our experience of Irene here. Since then towns across the region have been busy picking up the pieces. Governor Deval Patrick made his third trip to Heath (the first governor in history to pay so much attention to Heath) and on Wednesday he met with town officials. Here he is looking at a map of damaged road with Mike Smith in his Fire Chief uniform, but he is…
This morning dawned cool and misty. A walk through the garden was so quiet and peaceful. A glorious morning indeed. And we look forward to a glorious day at the Heath Fair. Yesterday was all energetic activity. We had scores of boxes of books to bring to the Fair for the Annual Friends of the Heath Free Public Library book sale. $1 for hardcovers! This is our big fundraiser for the year. After loading up the books, we…
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…