stitching and listening...

yesterday i made this day of the dead tribute to our old kitty "calico", 

who died about a year and a half ago.

we loved her.

for the last five years of her life, 

i gave her insulin shots twice a day.

(never doubt my devotion to those i love!)

this little piece now hangs next to the one i did
for our late labrador, phoebe.

our dia de los muertos gallery, which has art from 

santa fe, mexico, boston, portland and elin waterston
continues to grow.

last night we escaped the election results
by seeing the INDIGO GIRLS live.
what a show.
lucy wainwright roche opened for them,
and she was joined onstage by her mom, suzzy roche.
wowza!

my brother doug, a musician himself recently wrote that
"live music is evidence that humans have a pretty good thing going".

advice for today...
when in doubt,
turn to a needle and thread and some music!

for those who have gone on before us

sometimes,

out of nowhere

there is...

a gesture,

a scent,

a scrap of music,

a memory,

that reminds us 

of both your presence

and absence.

love transcends all. 

Samhain

The Pumpkin Tide

I saw thousands of pumpkins last night

come floating in on the tide,

bumping up against the rocks and

rolling up on the beaches;

it must be Halloween in the sea.

-Richard Brautigan

see here

simple joy

flurries!

living the good life

this was the view from our "bit of earth" this morning.
i was imagining setting out on a barge into the mists of avalon...

and down the road a piece, if you looked toward the east,

this magical view could drive you to distraction.

batman has been building new garden beds.

he treated them with linseed oil,

 and installed them yesterday.

this morning we drove the truck up to montpelier,

and bought a square yard of soil from

vermont compost.

we came home and laid layers of newspaper down on the lawn

in the new beds, hosed them down with water,

and shoveled and raked the mulched soil into the beds.

this is a modified "lasagna" gardening method.

by spring planting, we hope the turf will have died back,

allowing us to plant crops with shallow roots.

we've essentially doubled our planting space!
yippee!

supper last night...
fresh butternut and pumpkin ravioli
topped with onions and fresh sage sizzled in olive oil.
broiled baby bok choy, drizzled with olive oil
 and sprinkled with sesame seeds.
big green salad.
yum!

soaking in more of the best season

there's been a rustle, rustle in the neighborhood.

my birch friends, all quiet and autumnal.

here's a bunch of happy nubians.

we met them at trevin farms b&b,

where we took a goat cheese making workshop this morning

(thanks to lindsey's holiday gift).
kevin walked us through the process and convinced
us that raw milk is the way to go...
and had us thinking that maybe gretta IS right...
maybe we really DO need goats someday...

our rural "tool box" grows!

watching

the robins are flocking and feasting on the last of the crabapples.

the landscape is full...

of edges and layers,

 of stark patterns and muted hues 

and the play of light and weather.

the foggy air is so full that it glistens on the boughs.

today,

the orange tipped plow markers have been installed along the road

and the last of the corn stalks are being harvested.

it is oddly warm.

folks are saying, "snow, come friday"...