shifting

6 am.

49 degrees in the breezeway.

i gulp up the changes.

and smile.

non-numerical accounting

+fabric for a new tablecloth for the dining area.

+walking on the road by the light of the full moon.

+a very busy clothesline.

+(and related to that), the practice of hospitality.

 +wendell berry poetry to start the day.

+the pleasure of drinking ice water.

+more blueberries.

+spotting a pair of eastern kingbirds.

+greenhorns buttons.

+remembering that "at this very moment"

is all we know for sure.

life

four little pots by four little children...

nestled on a shelf at "a bit of earth".

each similar, yet different,

with little fingerprints in the clay.

and this month they are (temporarily) in far flung places, 

stewart in new mexico,

lindsey in guatemala,

hannah in italy and germany

and gretta just an hour down the road here in vermont).

doing their grown up work.

just as it should be.

xoxoxoxxo

sugar shack, for making maple syrup!

Suz and Jane, you both crack me up!

(See yesterday's comments).

Actually, this is a mighty fine sugar shack,

built by a group of teens and their counselors, 

who came up from camp for a few days.

They pitched their tents and set to work,

using mostly salvaged, recycled and repurposed supplies.   

Wood storage is on the left,  the evaporator (a big old pan)

and fire box is on the right.

(Modest operation, to be sure, but that's all we need)!

Despite some mighty severe thunderstorms, 

alternating with some more heat and humidity,

they managed to build this in just a few days.

(They also enjoyed a dip in the chilly river down in the valley

and an afternoon trip to the Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory).

I loved the energy and spirit around here.

And my friend Terry, from Connecticut, 

who was here for a few days

was a really good sport, she jumped right into the fray.

This place just gathers so many people up and works its magic.

(gratitude!)

what's this?

can you guess what was built up here

"a bit of earth"

this week?
(hint: it's not an outhouse)

sum sum summertime!

ADMIRING

our friend ellen's daylily gardens.

APPRECIATING!

happy 92nd birthday mr. nelson mandela!

HARVESTING!

gretta and the garlic.

5 quarts of blueberries.

bundles of catnip, drying in the woodshed.

PLAYING!

inspired by the darby house graduation party...

"a bit of earth" has a homemade, hoosier

corn hole game.
(yeah for collaboration, batman!
xoxoxxo)

coming out of my stupor

i am so not a summer girl.

it has been hot and humid for two weeks here in vermont.

no ambition, no gumption, no enthusiasm.

nada.

so in between the very necessary chores of life, i've been READING (the library is air conditioned).

•  The Listening Field, Poems of Vermont by Kristina Von Tassel (Stillwater Graphics)
• Hands on the Land, a History of the Vermont Landscape by Jan Albers
• Rehearsing With Gods, Photographs and Essays on the Bread and Puppet Theater by Ronald T. Simon and Marc Estrin.     

and i've been WATCHING (two my very favorites)...Hallmark Hall of Fame's Sarah Plain and Tall and Skylark starring Glenn Close and Christopher Walken.

our meyer lemon really likes this weather and is very fragrant in the bay window.

this morning was the first time in ages that i felt like heating up the oven.

these berries went from the bushes to the batter in minutes.

hot, blueberry buttermilk muffins and a mug of tea for breakfast.

and a drier, breezier day in the forecast.

O.K. that's more like it! 

what have you been up to this summer?