The lunar eclipse was very clear up here on our Massachusetts hill. We have perfect conditions for star - and moon - gazing because there is no light pollution. The skies are dark, but brilliant with a splash of the Milky Way and the host of heroes and gods from the Greek and Roman mythologies including Selene, the goddess of the moon whose chariot is pulled by two white cows whose horns are symbols of the crescent moon.Of…

Over the past 24 hours another five inches of snow has fallen already blanketed fields. The snow has fallen wet and deep, laying heavily on the pine trees, and even on each twiggy branch of the bent birches, like lace tutus on bowing ballerinas. Snow began falling again this morning on my way home from church. The wind picked up, blowing snow across the road, and knocking it off the trees. Between the falling and blowing snow, and…

You can get alfalfa sprouts at every salad bar, and you can even buy them in little plastic boxes at the supermarket. If you spout seeds at home you can use a mix of flavorful seeds - radish, broccoli, clover, lentil and others inaddition to alfalfa.I used to have some plastic screened lids that were intended to be used on canning jars for sprouting, but I have been told that in order to give sprouting seeds proper air…

The Wolf Moon, the January full moon, shone over our house this week. According to country wisdom you should still have half your firewood left when the Wolf Moon is full. We do! The wood pile is ornamented with snow and ice, but there is plenty to get us through the winter, and those cool, damp spring evenings.The freezer also contains a good ration of our blueberries and strawberries, as well as the chickens that we raise for…

The United States Postal Service honored pollinators this year with a beautiful set of stamps showing bees, butterflies, bats and hummingbirds going about their vital duty, turning lovely flowers into seeds, fruits, berries and vegetables. Of course, those are just a few of the pollinators that play such an essential part in providing food for us humans and other animals. Did you know that bats alone pollinate more than 300 kinds of plants that humans use?I was browsing…

My friend, B J Roche says she is too busy to blog, but she maintains a website for her journalism students at the University of Massachusetts, and all the rest of us who want to read what she has to say in a whole variety of publications including the Boston Globe and Commonwealth Magazine. However, she is not strictly speaking the truth. Her website includes a link to her chicken blog, The Chicken Whisperer, "because let's face it,…

Snow on snow. And still snowing. Last week we had lots of snow, then heavy rain, then warm days, but there was still a lot of snow on the ground. We had our white Christmas but the roads were clear for travelling to grandchildren. Snow began falling late last night and we woke to a silent white world. The snow continues to fall, as does the silence. The plow hasn't made it to the End of the Road…

Such fame as my Massachusetts garden has is our collection of 60+ hardy roses, rugosas, gallicas and albas. My daughter Kate, who was married amidst our roses 13 years ago, and her family now live in Missouri City, just outside Houston, where hardiness of a different kind is required. Roses there need to be able to survive hot hot summers and heavy gumbo soil. When we visited in mid-April we went nursery shoppping and bought lots of star…

My friend Helen Opie, who now lives in Nova Scotia, sent this handrawn computer drawing (using the Paint program) as my Christmas greeting. It is only appropriate that she chose the life giving sun to celebrate the season.Helen has a sunny nature, and was one of the bright spots in my difficult year of teaching sixth grade. Her very smart, imaginative and creative daughter Jenny was in my class, and the link that brought us together. From there…

Peace on earth to all of good will!