chasing february out the door

boosting the immune system while embracing citrus season.

march will require fortitude.

checking on the snow melt.

batman, an amateur astronomer, 

says that according to the meteorological seasons

march 1 is the first day of spring.

spring is his favorite season.

working on our march calendar,

with henry's help.

do you think march will come in like a lion or a lamb?

catching up with an old friend

He's missing an eye and his right side seam is frayed,

but my heart skipped a beat when I found him in a box.

This vintage Steiff  hand puppet was 

a dear friend of mine many (50?) years ago. 

Well loved, he will find his way to our

bit of earth, you can be sure.

Have you re-discovered any treasures recently?

a bunting in february (and the oscars)

palladian blue

Benjamin Moore HC-144

I've been missing my sewing machine. I've not been at her side for days and days. Chucking the punch list for a few hours, I made a bunting for one of the bedrooms. It was fun remembering some of the projects I had made with the fabrics.

The contrast of the aquas and greens with the fresh white trim is spiffy.

 wedgewood gray

Benjamin Moore HC-146

We used Wedgewood Gray in the kitchen, and like most colors, it changes as the sun moves through the day. One of my favorite watercolor paintings has found a new home, "Laundry" by Maine artist Anne Kilham.

The maple cupboards seem pretty happy next to this quiet blue/gray. I'm also really liking the uncluttered, clean look the house is taking on as we continue to purge and pack. Less is more.

The weekend will be busy with more projects, but we'll be taking a break on Sunday night to look for my brother Nelson on the red carpet in LA!!!  (A wee bit of family pride there, I confess).

irresistible inspiration

View from the Davis Center on the campus of the

University of Vermont, 5:15PM on Saturday.

This weekend Gretta and I attended the 

31st Annual Winter Conference of the 

Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont.

This year's theme was Generations of Innovation.

Just a person with a dream in her heart, I was swept into the rich and diverse community of commercial growers, gardeners, homesteaders and organic consumers that is NOFA-VT. A finer crowd you could not find. I've come away with such inspiration and hope and renewal. Some of the best highlights of the weekend...

-Following tradition at NOFA-VT conferences, the morning session included a song. Nearly nine hundred people singing  Lean on Me, together, with no accompaniment...can you say goosebumps?

-Organic farming guru Eliot Coleman introduced his daughter Clara Coleman, the keynote speaker on Saturday morning. Now there's a few generations of innovation!

-Discovering the work of Ben Falk and the work he does to create homestead resiliency. 

-Spoken word poet Laura Brown-Lavoie at the TEDtalk format presentations on Sunday morning. Listen to a sample of her work here, The City Soil Speaks.

-A workshop on growing and processing oats (processing them is a big pain in the butt) and one on apitherapy (therapeutic bee products).

-Sen Patrick Leahy, Governor Peter Shumlin, and VT Secretary of Agriculture Peter Ross, speaking at Saturday's lunch, singing the praises of Vermont's organic farmers.

-Attending a workshop with Gretta on starting a commercial goat dairy. (We haven't told Batman yet).

-Watching a community art project come together over the two days, with the encouragement of Bonnie Acker.

this is one of the panels...a bit out of focus, but can you 

see the black faced sheep, the bee hives and all the beans?

Oh, and the woman sitting in front of me in one of the workshops had a tiny knife and fork tattooed behind her ear.

  

now she's counting the days

Gretta on the chilly shore of Lake Champlain at Shelburne Farms.

The Breeding Barn.

 The Farm Barn.

Today we took a sneak peek.

A girl, her dreams and a magical place.

It's a love match.

Oh, that we all could be so lucky.

:-)

always...

fresh paint

misted green 2138-50

Benjamin Moore

Hello.

I 'm back.

So happy to have been here.

And to make it safely back, despite the blizzard. 

coventry gray HC-169

Benjamin Moore

We were happy to have Tony and his crew

come in to paint a few rooms.

Life is complicated right now and we

are running out of both steam and time.

We needed help.

Breathing.

In and out.

discipline

Discipline is just choosing

between what you want now

and what you want most.

-unknown

(via Cory Booker)

doing vs. fretting

Interrupt your thoughts of

"I should"

with your action of doing.

-Steve Marboli