getingrid

blueberries in the summer

I was so happy to find two important ingredients for a happy life this summer: a new friend and local u-pick orchards.  I can't help but compare blueberry picking in Southern Illinois to blueberry picking in Oregon.  The blueberries in Oregon were amazing.  The bushes were smaller and more contained, and the berries themselves were large.  Oh, and they were so very, very delicious.

fall photos

My family is beginning to dread that one weekend every fall where I make everybody dress up in outfits decidedly not fit for a Saturday and pose for family photos.  They hate sitting and smiling and when they begin to grimace they know the lecture is coming, the one where I remind them that they're smiling for all of our friends and family who will be receiving a Christmas card from us and do they want everyone to see what a sour grapes they were being for our photo.  They always reluctantly answer no and continue grimacing.  Thank goodness the children have a fun dad who ends up cracking a joke and injecting the whole painful procedure with a little fun.  Once the sitting and smiling photo quota has been filled, I ask them to play and jump and run and that's when I begin to enjoy taking the photos too.

season for fish

I don't know why we wear crazy outfits.  I think it has something to do with the fact that almost nobody can see us.  Anyway, my game plan is to catch up on the blog posts I shot photos for over these past 10 months and then catch up to the upstairs bedroom and bath renovations. Today's photos are from last October, meaning October 2014.

kids and more kids

If there is one thing that has surprised me about having goats, it's how easy and enjoyable they are.  They are so small and require little space, are the cleanest of the livestock, and interact more like a pet instead of the typical stand-offish ruminant.  I love my goats much more than I ever imagined.

winter at hadleigh grange (and a letter from the coop)

Thank goodness I can refer to winter in the past tense!  And, here it is, the name for our farm!  After lengthy deliberations I'm happy with this name.  It's old and, in that tradition, its name is a definition.  It was important to name it for how it feels to be here, for the images it evokes in my mind.  Thank you for all the suggestions you commented with!  It helped to set my gears working on the right track.

(Incidentally, my daughter's egg business is ready for orders!)

gone fishing

 

Once upon a time, long ago, it used to be summer and the days were long and slow.  The grass was green and all the world rejoiced, fed and grew fat off the bounty of the land, including the fish.  I fiercely miss those days.

metropolitan museum of art

Hello, Athena, goddess of war and wisdom.  Or is that Artemis, goddess of the hunt and archery?  Did I mention we did a brisk speedwalk through the museum???  Does anyone know who this is?

city that never sleeps

Back in February, my husband needed to be at a one day training conference in New York.  As in New York, New York.  Not one to be left behind when there's a party happening somewhere in the world, I tagged along.  I love tagalong trips and it was my first time ever in New York.

mostly words and photos

Where to begin?  I'm sure those of you who have been checking out my blog since I started writing over three years ago have been wondering what on earth happened here.  This used to be full of anectdotes and advice about chickens, recipes (both the gourmet and the quick and dirty), and lots of little projects.  And now...it sort of meanders here and there, sometimes a story but mostly a photo.  That looks very much like a photo from the same time last year.  Because my life, everyone's life, cycles that way.

cape lookout

Oh, Oregon!  We are going to miss so much about you!  Having lived here, I understand so much better why people would want to go all anti-establishment and build themselves some underground hidden bunker in the mountains, or wherever, in a remote corner.  It kind of sounds awesome now that I know how dreamy camping is here.  I'm making no promises, but if I ever go anti-establishment camp-style in the wilds of Oregon, I'll post it all in a blog.  (Is it weird I'm a little excited about the idea?)