* { Berry Merriment } *

Shine Upon My Hour

2008-02-26T20:28:00.001-05:00

In the deep hours of night, I am awoken by gentle moonlight falling, soft and luminous, upon my face and hair. I silently greet this moon rising into the quiet night sky before falling asleep once more. I have a special fondness for the wild beauty of the waning moon. I do not know why.

Past my window, the moon continues to rise, sharing its bounty, glimmering upon the river water and illuminating the surrounding hills. Above them, fine clouds have become lustrous platinum the light of which fills the land so that it seems a fairyland I do not know. Instead of my own small realm which I know so well.

In the morning I will see that we have had visitors: fresh footprints are made by small creatures that walk silently upon the soft earth overnight. Who they are I cannot say, for in this place nearly anything is possible. But I observe very little outside in the cool Winter night, even under this beautiful moon, because my bed is so warm and sleep is so delicious here.

Snow blankets the woods, the skies are vast and quiet, the earth remains serene. What lovely peace this is.

Poem

2007-10-08T21:09:00.000-04:00

Too lazy to be ambitious,
I let the world take care of itself.
Ten days' worth of rice in my bag;
a bundle of twigs by the fireplace.
Why chatter about delusion and enlightenment?
Listening to the night rain on my roof,
I sit comfortably, with both legs stretched out.

~ Ryokan

The Fragrant Mountain

2007-09-14T18:13:00.000-04:00

As I walked home after work this afternoon, I noticed a rich, earthy fragrance lingering here in the woods. It was a heavy scent that I associate with Autumn. It seems as though every season lends its own perfume to this river, these hills. I then thought of the Poet of the Fragrant Mountain, Bai Juyi... from there my mind went to one of his poems, written in 833 A.D. It is one of my favorites, and it reminds me of my own little home, so much beloved.

The Sky-Blue Yurt

The finest felt from a flock of a thousand sheep, stretched over a frame shaped like the extended bows of a hundred soldiers.
Ribs of the healthiest willow, its color dyed to saturation with the freshest indigo.
When the typhoon blows it does not shake, when a storm pours it gets even stronger.
With a roof that is highest at the center, it is a four-sided circle without corners.
With its side door open wide, the air inside remains warm.
Though it casts a lonely shadow during nights brilliantly illuminated by the moon, its value doubles in years when the winter is bitterly cold.
Softness and warmth envelop the felt hangings and rugs; the tinkling of jade enfolds the sounds of pipes and strings.
It is most convenient after the earth has been covered with frost, and it is the best match when snow fills the sky.
Positioned at an angle is the low chair for singing, evenly disposed are the small mats for dancing.
When I have leisure time I lift open the curtain and enter the yurt, and when I am drunk I wrap myself up in a cover and sleep there.
Behind me an iron lamp-stand that bears a candle; a silver incense censer that flames is suspended from the ceiling.
Kept deep within is the flame that lasts till dawn; stored inside is the fragrant smoke that lasts till evening.
When the animal-shaped charcoal is close by, fox furs can be cast aside.
When the ink-stone is warm it melts the frozen ink and when the pitcher is heated it becomes a stream in springtime.
An orchid canopy will barely attract a hermit and a thatched hut is inferior for meditating.
(But invited to my yurt) an impoverished monk responds with praise, and a threadbare scholar stays in place, unwilling to leave.
Guests are greeted with it, descendants will hand it down to posterity.
The Wang family boasts of their antiques, but they have nothing to equal this Sky-Blue Yurt.

The First Chill of Autumn

2007-09-12T11:39:00.000-04:00

Awaking this morning, I knew that cool Autumn had arrived in the night. I drew the windows of the house shut with a touch of wistfulness, knowing that they will not likely be opened again until Spring. For breakfast we had steaming rye porridge. Then, when I ventured outside, I could see my breath suspended in the air....

It is growing chill quickly and I am not the only one who notices. The animals are clearly readying themselves for the long Winter. Flocks of wild geese and ducks fly frequently over the house now, following the river southward. Huge gatherings of birds are also visible: great numbers of white egrets and black crows may be seen by the river and songbirds of all kind are visiting our woods. A few days ago my husband spotted a vast flock of pelicans on the river, a thousand or more swimming! I saw pelicans again today, flying overhead in the September sky, dazzling white against the blue, illumined by the clear Autumn sunshine.

Perhaps because of the cool weather, I have been in very much the mood to cook. In the last couple of days I have made a number of soups and stocks. Chicken soup with noodles and matzoh balls was delicious, as was a vegetable potage brimming with scrumptious late Summer vegetables. I also made wild mushroom and shallot polenta, curried yoghurt green bean salad, and fennel-beet risotto. Tomorrow I am cooking pasta sauce with wild rice meatballs, planning for plenty extra to freeze for when I have little time to cook. Lucky me that my husband loves pasta!

Just now I took pecan sandies from the oven. Maybe I am cooking because the stove warms the cottage so. I dream of a cast iron cooker that would warm little Orchard House all through the cool months... which is to say most of the year here. I think this is only a dream, though. Laugh if you will, but: our cottage kitchen is only 68 square foot!

Olives arrived at market this week; I bought some green ones and set about curing them in brine. I have not done this before, but my cookbooks make it look easy-peasy. We shall see in a few weeks!

Peek-a-boo

2007-09-10T19:37:00.000-04:00

Our little Orchard House is in there, just a-ways behind the apple tree. Trust me, it is. But it is a bit shy, and the trees in Summer are protective of it.

This photo shows Little Orchard House around Midsummer. I will take another at Autumntide so we can see how the cottage is growing up when leaves are falling down!

Busy Days

2007-08-27T19:09:00.000-04:00

There is much hustle-bustle at Little Orchard House as my in-laws are coming for a visit next week. From the Great Plains they are travelling north, north, all the way North to this beloved wintry land of ours.

They have not yet seen our new house (we moved in only last November) and I am very busy with trying to make the realm tidy and very spiffy so it will show how truly beautiful it is. I love our Little Orchard House so much that I want all to see it at its best.

I have scant time for words but, for the sake of Tara and her blackberries, I include this recipe for berry flummery!

And how good it is to have just a few moments' rest.

Cinderella by Edmund Dulac

Blackberry Flummery
with Cornmeal Dumplings

1 quart blackberries
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar (add an additional 1/4 cup if you like things sweeter)
2 Tablespoons butter

1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
3 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup milk
3 Tablespoons butter, melted

- In a large saucepan, combine berries, water, sugar and butter. Heat to boiling over a high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer mixture for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.

- To make the dumplings, combine dry ingredients and sift them into a large bowl. Add milk and melted butter; stir until flour is moistened.

- Drop dumpling mixture in heaping teaspoons into boiling blackberry mixture. Cook 5 minutes, then cover and continue to simmer until dumplings are firm, about 10 minutes longer. Cool slightly before serving.

4 to 6 servings
(Adapted from Abundantly Wild by Teresa Marrone)

The Rise of Autumn

2007-08-22T16:12:00.000-04:00

In August, there comes a day when one feels that Summer’s hold is waning and Autumn waits in the wings, gathering strength. Often this may be observed in the first bloom of the asters or the quickening of apples’ ripening. A restlessness among animals may be noticed, and flocks of birds gathering. Always by August the trees and meadows seem tired to me as if they are ready for rest. But there is a change in the wind and in the quality of sunlight also. When I feel this, even if I have observed nothing, even if it is still quite warm, I know that Autumn is coming.

This year it was the tenth of the month when I knew that Autumn was near. Just ten days later, Autumn has all but arrived. The weather has become cool and rainy, the leaves are beginning to fall from the trees; the woods surrounding Little Orchard House has that cool, humid smell to it, richly fragrant of damp trees.

The old Chinese calendar I find most intriguing. The second week of this month brings a little season known as the Rise of Autumn followed, two weeks later, by another short season, the Suppression of Heat. It hold true even here, so many miles away: Autumn approaches.

Last week, I saw the first flock of wild geese fly overhead in a small 'v'. Last weekend before dawn, we were awoken by the sound of another flock flying low over the house, calling their endearing goose cries. Suddenly I understood that our home upon the river bluffs is within a great corridor for flocks of migrating birds. What a blessing! The dissonant harmony of wild geese honking is one of the greatest riches in this place. When I hear them flying by, calling down from high in the skies above as they pass through this land, my heart feels heavy and lightened at the same time.

Something Special via Fairypost

2007-08-19T11:32:00.000-04:00

It was a good mail day!

An absolutely delightful parcel arrived as part of the Society of Secret Fairies Summer Tea. It was from Gretel from the Middle of Nowhere and filled with wonderful little things. Just look!

Oh, happy day! Plentiful little things tied with pretty papers and ribbons!

Aren’t these delightful? Organic peppermint tea produced by Prince Charles’ estate, little orange jam-filled cakes for teatime and a swell reviving foot tea for soaking swollen feet.

There was also one of Gretel’s Red Flannel Elephant cards, a charming tea cloth embroidered with cheerful flowers and a tiny china teapot and cup. So sweet!

Of course, I happily made tea at once and, of course, it was delicious. How could it not be when a secret fairy put so much care into it? Thank you very, very much, Gretel.

Lazy Days

2007-08-14T16:21:00.000-04:00

The dog days of Summer are here. In this humid heat, working in the garden is out of the question. Working around the house isn’t much fun either. Thus, I have decided to loaf for a while.

Since my mother learned that I enjoy reading detective stories (her very favorite), she now sends boxfuls of them; a new parcel arrives every few weeks of her gleanings from the shelves of used bookstores and friends-of-the-library sales. This is very nice, as I tend to be a rapacious reader. I just read The Death-Cap Dancers by Gladys Mitchell, The Rose Rent by Ellis Peters and have just now finished Dorothy Sayers’ The Nine Tailors, which was wholly satisfying. Next on the pile is Ellis Peters’ The Holy Thief, a tale which begins ‘In the height of a hot summer, in late August of 1144....’ This I can certainly empathize with at present.

On a related note, my Brother Cadfael rosebush is headed for the compost heap, the poor thing. What happened? Well, first that pest Raccoon roughed it up, digging at its roots before abandoning it overnight as I slept. I replanted the little bush, but... then the Bunnies got to it.

Bunnies. So soft. So winsome. So fearfully hungry. Despairing, I purchased garden fencing, cobbling up our handsome woods with wire mesh ‘round the roses. My rosebush, however, never really recovered from the attacks.

Animals gardening by Molly Brett

Harumph! Helpful garden animals, my foot! Bunnies do not help me to trim the lawn...

Well, not with a push-mower anyway.

On a happier note, this morning I made a delicious lazy-day breakfast: blackberry flummery with cornmeal dumplings. We found so many wild blackberries that I was able to put up quite a few for Winter in addition to having my copper pot filled with blackberry porridge today.

What a good morning it will be when I again taste the wonderful tartness of blackberry preserves in a time when all the world around us is covered in snow. In fact, though it feels as hot as a pot right now, before long Winter will arrive again and not depart for a good long while. Such is life here in Hemiborea.

Thunk!

2007-08-05T12:15:00.000-04:00

The busy season has begun for the squirrels, as acorns are now ripe enough to fall. Our cottage is in an oak grove, beneath the rambling boughs of one enormous old oak. Now that August is here, all through the night we hear soft thuds of acorns falling upon the roof and, as soon as day breaks, the squirrels awaken and scamper about, gathering and hiding the nuts. There is a continual din of little claws upon bark as creatures ascend and descend the trees and, oh!, the indignant chattering cries as the squirrels quarrel over nuts!

Illustration from Ocke, Nutte och Pillerill (1939) by Elsa Beskow

There seems to me be to be plenty of acorns for all. Every day I sweep our front steps of the pried-open shells of fallen acorns and dropped nuts. And the lower roof of the cottage, which I swept only the day before yesterday, is already covered in oak leaves and twigs and many, many nuts.

My sister is coming for a visit this evening. So I have an afternoon before me of baking and washing. There is laundry to be folded. I am going to take a walk through the woods and look for wildflowers for the kitchen table. And I guess I will sweep the front steps again.

August Ephemera Forecast

2007-08-01T08:34:00.000-04:00

This month’s Forecast is sponsored by Grass. Growing tall or trimmed short, soft grass is the perfect location for your next Summer picnic!

Bounty of the Skies

+ The new moon rises first on Saturday, the 12th of August.

The full moon rises on Monday, the 27th.

This is the Grain Moon, so called for the many grains which have ripened by August. It is also called the Corn Moon, for the reaping of the sweet corn this month. The Native Peoples of the region name August’s moon the Sturgeon Moon, for the great freshwater fish of the North which is said to be more readily caught now.

+ Now is the season for our annual encounter with the Perseids! This star shower may be seen from now until near month’s end, though the best days for viewing are just around August 12th. This so happens to be at the rising of the new moon. Without a visible moon to shed light into the night sky, there should be a fine show of many falling stars. How fortunate for the starstruck!

Look a little while after dark, or a bit before dawn, toward the constellation Perseus in the Northeastern sky to see the splendor of the show.

Bounty of the Earth

+ In August, the gathering from gardens of marvelous fresh produce continues, and it is difficult not to be dazzled by the selection of vegetables and fruits.

This is the season to enjoy fresh greens such as lettuces, kale, spinach and chard. Moreover, green and yellow beans, Summer squashes, red and green cabbages, onions carrots, cauliflower and broccoli, potatoes, and root vegetables are field-fresh this month.

+ Amid the many Summer fruits, juicy cantaloupes and melons of various kinds are at market in August.

+ What grains may be harvested by the light of the Grain Moon? Here it is wheat, oats, corn, soybeans, green peas and sunflower as well as rye, barley, buckwheat, spelt, amaranth and others. The harvest continues into next month as well.

+ Among the great many goods harvested in late Summer is one which should not be overlooked, for this is the season for the gathering of honey. How many bee-hours it must take to produce a single teaspoon’s worth of this sweet and golden elixir! And in this age the bees face such great difficulties that every thriving hive which sends forth its bees to pollinate plants, gather nectar and make honey should evoke gratitude from we who are its beneficiaries.

I appreciate all sorts of honey: honey from linden trees, honey from fireweed, honey from flowering lavender and thyme, orange blossom honey, alfalfa and buckwheat and sweet clover honey, honey from the blooms of elderflowers. In Summer, my favorite breakfast is fresh yoghurt stirred with honey or bee pollen, pecans and blueberries. Mmm!

Seasonal Recipe

I love to cook... and yet my affections for the stove wane in Summer’s heat. On steamy days, I would by far rather assemble dishes such as a meal of bread with fresh vegetables, cheeses, olives, and a bit of sausage perhaps. Or chilled soup. Or salads crafted from diverse ingredients that do not leave me too full.

This falls by the wayside, however, when the new corn comes in. For I will gladly fire up my stove for the plump ears of sweet corn, plucked from the fields then hauled to market in bushel after bushel. One does not even need to travel to market: fresh corn may be bought along roadsides from temporary stands or out of the back of pickup trucks parked at road's edge and filled to overflowing with fresh sweet corn in the husk. I find even organic corn in this way.

My husband likes corn-on-the-cob right from the hull, uncooked. I prefer to make corn fritters and pancakes. These are so simple to prepare that I don’t have a recipe. I just slice corn from the cob, add flour, eggs, baking powder and salt; then I fry them in butter. You can eat these with more butter, plain (as I do) or with maple syrup or jam (as my husband does). They may be made with all sorts of fresh vegetables in every season. I can hardly get enough of them.

Holidays at Little Orchard House

+ Yet another thing that I love about our church is the marvelous sense of time manifest in the rhythm of days and seasons, the cycle of fasts and feasts. I thought I would include some of my favorite holidays of August.

+ August 6th is the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, commemorating a day when, upon Mount Tabor, Christ was illumined with Uncreated Light before the eyes of His disciples.

+ August 15th commemorates the passing from this world to the next of Mary, the Mother of the Lord.

+ August 29th commemorates the beheading and passing from this world to the next of Saint John the Baptist.

These events mark the end of the liturgical year in the Orthodox Church.

Evening Bells (1892) by Isaak Levitan

Summer projects

2007-07-18T22:03:00.000-04:00

They say that the living is easy in summertime, but to me there seems more than ever to do now!

We have so many Summer projects going on to put our little Orchard House back into tip-top shape. (Well, tipper-topper shape anyway. Little Orchard House has need of owners with lots of love. And time. And money.)

This week’s project was to dig stones from an neglected old garden near the cottage, a garden wholly overgrown. We took turns digging and digging and at last my husband hauled away sixty or seventy stones with the help of the tractor, lining the rocks up beneath the honey locust. I called him my rock star!

Many of the stones were the local sandstone from which our river valley’s hills are made. But there were all kinds of rocks buried there... chunks of marble and granite, lots of cobblestones, porphyries and pieces of basalt, large slabs of slate, and others. There are old bricks here, too, from the early brick factories of our area. Those could certainly be useful.

Some of the stones are quite lovely with beautiful striations and coloring. Other have dappled lichens or mosses growing upon them. I find mosses unaccountably charming. They seem like tiny forest worlds to me.

This rock has what must be a drill hole through it. Was it blasted from the hills here when the county road was made?

One larger piece of the beautiful burgundy sandstone that is ubiquitous around here is even carved. I wonder what is its history?

Our little Orchard House is full of wonders. And our work to make it more wonderful goes on.

Poem

2007-07-17T22:04:00.000-04:00

Orchards in July

Water from cold springs
and glittering minerals
tirelessly wander.
Patient, unceasing,
they overcome granite, layers
of hungry gravel, iridescent
precincts of clay. If they abandon
themselves to the black
roots it’s only to go
up, as high as possible
through wells hidden
under the bark of fruit trees. Through
the green touched with gray, of leaves,
fallen petals of white
flowers with rosy edges,
apples heavy with sweet redness
and their bitterish seeds.
O, waters from cold
springs and glittering
minerals! You are awaited
by a cirrus with a fluid,
sunny outline
and by an abyss of blue
which has been rinsed
by the just wind.

~ Zbigniew Machej

Poem

2007-07-14T10:29:00.000-04:00

The night is fresh and cool,
Staff in hand I walk through the gate.
Wisteria and ivy grow together along the winding mountain path;
Birds sing quietly in their nests and a monkey howls nearby.
As I reach a high peak a village appears in the distance.
The old pines are full of poems;
I bend down for a drink of pure spring water.
There is a gentle breeze, and the round moon hangs overhead.
Standing by a deserted building,
I pretend to be a crane softly floating among the clouds.

~ Ryokan

Berry Merriment at little Orchard House

2007-07-09T09:32:00.000-04:00

It is a very happy day at little Orchard House. The first of our black raspberries have ripened full!

These berries are from wild canes or canes planted long ago, perhaps. I did plant a few red raspberries early this Spring but they are, of course, not bearing yet.

About a month or so ago, I discovered a mulberry bush on the property. We ate some of the luscious purple gems that were in abundance and the rest I put up for wintertime when we are berry-poor. The very highest branches we left alone for the birds' supper.

Besides the raspberries and mulberries here, there is a cherry tree, a crab apple and a apple tree. We have a tiny elderberry thicket, too.

Late last year when we bought this property, I had visions of a great many fruit trees, bushes and canes. Thoughout the long Winter, I dreamt of the blessings of fruits showering down upon us in this place... strawberries in Spring, raspberries all the Summer long and apples and pears at Autumntide.

Now that it is high Summer and the boughs of our trees are full of leaves, I can see that there is less sun in the garden than I thought at first. The great trees take much of the sunlight for themselves, though they do share some of it, dappling it in hues of greengold through their branches and leaves. I love our woods and begrudge not the trees their days in the sun. But I have to think more carefully about how to add to our home orchard.

But little Orchard House is well named, truly. I am so grateful for the the old fruit trees and bushes here. And already our lives have become more fruitful in this place, in ways that I did not foresee. What a wonderful place this is!

Today for breakfast I am enjoying yoghurt with pecans, bee pollen and raspberries fresh from our berry patch... Hurrah!

July Ephemera Forecast

2007-07-01T20:26:00.000-04:00

This month's Forecast is sponsored by the Sun. With over four billion years dependably providing heat and light for our world, the Sun is a star you can more than wish upon... you can count on it!

Bounty of the Skies

+ The new moon of July rises on Saturday, the 14th. The full moon rises on Sunday, the 29th.

The July moon is called by many names, the Thunder Moon and the Hay Moon among them. I so hope that the month does indeed bring cooling Summer storms and showers, with some stirringly fierce and spectacular!

+ A particular glory of this season’s night sky is prominent now. The Summer Triangle is comprised of three stars: Vega, Deneb, and Altair. After nightfall, I look to the East and overhead to see the extraordinary radiance of this constellation.

Bounty of the Earth

+ In the North where I live, the growing season is not long. All the more, then, do I appreciate the delicious things that ripen here, a bit belatedly, but still wholeheartedly.

My basket in July is as a cornucopia overflowing with fresh delights!

Up from gardens and farm fields come summer squashes of many kinds, ripe zucchini, peppers sweet and hot, fresh garlic, fennel and eggplant, tangy-sweet tomatoes, crunchy cucumbers and beans of all sorts. There are also many fresh lettuces and cabbages and other greens available now. They cannot be saved well, so enjoy them today while they are brimming with Summer flavor and vitality and nutrition.

+ Plentiful, too, in this season are a great variety of fragrant, sun-ripened herbs: basil and chervil, lavender, tarragon and sage, cilantro, dill, parsley and mint! The fragrance of fresh thyme and rosemary perfuming Summer's breezes is a special delight, to be sure.

+ In July arrive the first stone fruits of our region: peaches and plums and nectarines and cherries. Not to mention the beautiful round melons and cantaloupes and to keep us cool beneath the constance of the sun. And the berries, oh my happy heart, the many berries!

Seasonal Recipe

Yoghurt Green Bean Salad
Serves 4-6

From Patricia Wells’ At Home in Provence, a cookbook to which I often refer for inspiration as well as instruction, this delectable dish nourishes and refreshes on sultry Summer days.

3 tablespoons plain, whole milk yoghurt
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Sea salt
3 tablespoons cream
2 teaspoons curry powder, or to taste
1 pound (500 g) young, tender green beans
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves, snipped with a scissors (optional)

- Bring 3 quarts (3 l) water to a boil.

- In a small bowl, whisk together the yoghurt, lemon juice, salt and cream. Slowly add the curry powder and blend well. Taste for seasoning.

- Rinse beans, trim both ends, and cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) lengths.

- Prepare a large bowl of ice water.

- When the water is boiling, add 2 tablespoons (30 g) of sea salt and the beans. Boil, uncovered, until beans are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Immediately drain beans and plunge into ice water. Remove beans as soon as they are cooled, about 1-2 minutes. Transfer beans to a colander, drain and wrap in a thick towel to dry. (The beans may be cooked up to 2 hours in advance and refrigerated in the towel.)

- If the beans are refrigerated, bring them to room temperature before serving. To serve, toss the beans and dressing to coat evenly. Taste for seasoning. Add minced tarragon and toss again. Taste for seasoning. Serve!

It is worth note that certified organic dairy products are made from the milk of cows not treated with growth hormones nor antibiotics. From the fresh milk of a local organic dairy, I make our yoghurt. We like it better than any from the store. I credit the quality of the yoghurt mainly to the milk, which is from pasture-fed, free-ranging dairy cows. I think that they are happy cows.

Holidays at Orchard House

+ July 4th is Independence Day in the USA. How do we celebrate? With family and friends and neighbors, grilling and barbecuing meals outside homes and cabins and in parks. We have parades and picnics, tell stories to one another, and enjoy the warmth of the long, long day. When nighttime falls, there are displays of fireworks in nearly every town, I think. I once took a flight on the night of July 4th and watched from the window of the plane the hundreds and hundreds of fireworks displays in towns and cities far below.

Not satisfied with limiting their celebrating to a single day, many folks continue to set off their own firecrackers for a while after the holiday. Some of the unofficial displays are quite remarkable, with generous usage of wheels and fountains, roman candles, bottle rockets, snakes and sparklers, smoke balls and snaps and spinners, flares and mines. Really most anything that explodes with a fine sound and lovely colors is enjoyed in this season!

Of course we hang up the flag at home. These days I see a lot of bunting hanging beneath the windows of houses, or along front porches. I am a great fan of bunting of all sorts, especially patriotic bunting. Yes, I am definitely a flag waver!

"May the sun in his course visit no land more free, more happy, more lovely, than this our own country!"

~ Daniel Webster

A merry season of Summer's delights to you!

Summer wreath

2007-06-21T10:47:00.000-04:00

This morning I finished a Summer wreath for the front door.

I am pleased with how it turned out... fresh and light, I think, and jaunty, too! Rather like this beautiful Midsummer day.

To trim the wreath I used new ribbons and old millinery, including some of my favorites: organdy daisies with velvet centers, ceramic strawberries, velvet and satin leaves, and spun-cotton mushrooms. I get giddy among fine old millinery! And red and white polka-dot mushrooms are something I find most delightful.

A happy Midsummer to you!

Midsummer Evensong

2007-06-20T18:35:00.000-04:00

At Midsummer, evening endures well into belated hours. Indeed, in the North where I live, the warm sun of gold lingers deliciously, giving way only slowly to blue eventide.

If the day is fair, my husband and I take supper on the porch. Dining on soup and fresh bread, or some other light Summer fare, we watch wild rabbits loafing in the cool grasses of the meadow. Often I tell the bunnies to please help themselves to grasses, but not to nibble my roses. Though they watch me lecturing with their wide, dark eyes, I can see in the morning that they have still enjoyed a munch or two of roseleaves.

The crickets sweet sonata is lively in this season. They make their steadfast music all through the long Summer night. Nearby, peepers may be faintly heard. At times I also hear loons or wild geese singing at evenfall from the river’s banks.

The swallows enjoy the Summer evening with us. There are so many tasty bugs to be caught and no one, no one, flies with mastery more than the swallows! To watch them is to be filled with wonderment and delight.

Soon after, we are joined by bats who fly down from their high homes in the old oaks. I like bats. Did you know they are a symbol of good fortune in Chinese lore? I read in a book that the pronounciation of the word for bat is the same as that of the word for good luck. How lucky for bats!

Deeper and more richly indigo the sky becomes until, at last, it is inky black and today is almost tomorrow. Then the little creatures of the night come out. In the gathering darkness, I can hear them walking the woods as the wind sings gently through the soft boughs of the trees.

When at last we turn from the loveliness of blue eventide to again enter our little cottage, I often find myself returning to the open windows. For, beyond them, fireflies illumine the gloaming with their soft luminescence. With their wandering flight and temporal light, night pictures are revealed that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Midsummer Eve (1908) by Edward Hughes

May you find delight in the plentiful riches of Midsummer!

Poem

2007-06-12T10:08:00.000-04:00

On a road outreaching the white clouds,
By a spring outrunning the bluest river,
Petals come drifting on the wind
And the brook is sweet with them all the way.
My quiet gate is a mountain-trail,
And the willow-trees about my cottage
Sift on my sleeve, through the shadowy noon,
Distillations of the sun.

~ Liu Jixu

To Market, to Market...

2007-06-08T16:43:00.000-04:00

Each week I spend a few hours working at our local natural foods cooperative. My job there is specifically with the preparations and products that aid in healing a person inside and out. Natural remedies and their lore, the mystery of healing, and the wholeness of the person are of abiding interest for me.

Although my work at the co-op primarily concerns nutritional supplements, restorative elixirs, holistic skin care and the like, my first recommendation to people who are seeking a general improvement in their health nearly always is to send them around to the splendorous displays of fresh, organic produce... the dairy cooler filled with milk and butter from the region’s pasture-raised cows... our freshly baked whole-grain breads... the organic, free-range poultry and many other wonderful foods that are now in season from our local farmers. In my thought, an investment in wholesome food for home-cooked meals is a foundation to good health that no bottle of vitamins or healthy snack bar could ever match.

Fresh, whole foods contain the most uncompromised nutrients, and eating a variety of foods helps to ensure a balance of these nutrients in the diet. Consuming local, organically-grown food in season whenever possible seems to me to be of great and indisputable benefit. I am so glad to trade a few hours of my time each week for in exchange for a cornucopia of fresh wares at the market. It is nice to meet and talk with people shopping at the co-op, and it makes my heart glad to arrive home after work, a bit tired, but with my market basket containing new ingredients for our evening’s supper.

This is what I received for my labors this morning.

Today’s market basket also contains a small loaf of bread for tomorrow morning’s french toast, new maple syrup and thimbleberry jam to serve with it, sorrel fresh from the fields, and juicy strawberries for a strawberry shortcake. I also brought home a handful of foraged morels which are now drying upon a string in the kitchen, filling the house with their dusky perfume.

Though I check our woods for edible mushrooms after each rainstorm, I have found none yet. And yet I still look. But until the day when I find our first morel here, I am so glad to have our co-op where I can trade my time for some of the most fresh and beautiful produce I have seen from the farmers and smallholders around here. What a blessing, for we have no vegetable garden of our own as yet.

And now I am going to make sorrel soup for supper!

At the Well

2007-06-05T17:39:00.000-04:00

There is a well at little Orchard House but it has not been used for a while now.

There is a cistern here, too, but it has also fallen into disuse in recent years.

Of course there is no outdoor faucet from the plumbing of the cottage!

Each morning I fill my watering can and a bucket from the faucet in the bathtub, then carry them outside to water the gardens before returning inside again to refill my buckets. I do this a dozen times, being a raincloud to the tender plants and seedlings of the realm. I have, however, a bit of hope for the end of this particular chore. My father has said that when he visits at the end of the month, he will install an outdoor faucet for me. Hurrah for Dad!

Until then, I keep on with my folly. Because even the morning sun in June is warm... and the berries and roses need a little help from a raincloud.

June Ephemera Forecast

2007-06-01T10:34:00.000-04:00

This month’s Forecast is sponsored by strawberries. Strawberries: fresh from the forest to your basket, plump June strawberries will not disappoint!

Bounty of the Skies

The new moon of June rises on Friday, the 15th. The full moon rises on Friday, the 29th.

The June moon is called by a variety of names: the Moon of Roses, the Strawberry Moon, the Moon of Flowers and the Honey Moon.

The Summer solstice will occur on Thursday, June 21st. Following the year's zenith of light, the hours of day begin subtly to wane, and the hours of night begin slowly to grow. Even as we experience the world in its full ripeness, already beginning is its inward-turning once more.

Bounty of the Earth

What delights are in our market basket in June?

Spinach, watercress and invigorating bitter greens, herbs and lettuces, scallions and shallots, leeks, green garlic, fresh chives, spring peas, strawberries and mulberries, red currants, tender shoots of asparagus, and don’t forget fresh wild mushrooms after the rains!

Seasonal Recipe

Dovga, a Fresh Herb Soup with Sorrel
Serves 6

A delicious dish from Azerbaijan, dovga may be served chilled or hot from the soup pot!

If you wish, you may substitute spinach for one of the cups of sorrel. Be sure to pull the leaves from the stems of the sorrel or spinach as this will improve the texture of the soup.

1 quart chicken or vegetable stock

2 cups yoghurt

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

3 cups sorrel leaves, packed full

3 scallions, white and pale green parts only, finely chopped

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro

3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint

a pinch of cayenne pepper

salt and pepper, to taste

chopped dill or chives for garnish

- Bring the chicken broth to a simmer in a soup pot.

- Whisk yoghurt and flour together until smooth.

- Chop sorrel leaves into small shreds.

- Whisk a cup of the simmering broth into the yoghurt mixture and then return yoghurt mixture to the soup.

- Add remaining ingredients and simmer 1 minute. Garnish with dill or scallions, if desired.

(From a recipe in James Peterson's Splendid Soups.)

Lore & Miscellanea

"A swarm of bees in May is worth a cow and a bundle of hay;

a swarm of bees in June is worth a silver spoon;

a swarm in July is not worth a fly."

This folk saying reminds us that bees which swarm earlier are more valuable in honey-making. Even if you have no special affection for honey, remember that without bees there would be far fewer flowers. I so like to watch bees at their chores... from the least little wild bee zipping past my nose to the great fuzzy bumblebees climbing into roses, dancing from bloom to bloom beneath the warm Summer sun!

Midsommardans (1897) by Anders Zorn

A beautiful Midsummer to you!

Rainstorm

2007-05-28T11:26:00.000-04:00

First a blue jay flew overhead, screaming. I knew then that a storm would be coming.

Soon the wind picked up, so I gathered my garden tools, put them away in the shed, took off my straw sunhat and went inside to make tea.

The tempest that followed was the keenest we have yet had this Spring. It poured rain all afternoon, soaking the garden and the soil, drenching the green grasses and flowers and weedlings. I sat on the porch with my teacup for a while, watching the fervent storm with appreciation for the fragrance of rain and the surpassing beauty of the wet woods. Then I went inside to sweep the house because, rain or shine, there is my work to do

In bed at night, lying beneath our feather-stuffed quilt, the melody of the rain on the roof and through the leaves of the trees was a sound most sublime. I like to imagine: from where has the rain come... through which places did it travel... to where is it going...?

In the morning, I awoke to the continuing sound of raindrops. I thought of my happy roses and threw open the windows. The fresh rainy perfume filled the cottage. In the silvery light outside, the leaves of the trees were soaking wet, glistening in soft verdant hues. The bark of the trees was deeply colored in russet browns, ochres, fawn and roan shades. Some trunks of saplings seemed pale shades of plum and magenta; others were quite green, almost chartreuse. Have you noticed that many things appear more beautiful when wet? Certainly this is true with stones and shells; I consider it to be true of trees as well. Even though the rain may sometimes be inconsiderate of blossoms and blooms, how kind it is to a tree!

The rainshower inspired me to work on my own watercolor painting... though I could never create anything as lovely as a tree in the rain.

Cheery Spring Colors

2007-05-23T10:45:00.000-04:00

This is a gift I made for a pen pal in Finland. It is made from Noro Silk Garden yarn and has a antique, scribed mother-of-pearl button for a clasp. I found a few of these buttons in irridescent shades of lilac and wine hues a couple of years ago at a notions shop. I have a few of them yet, as I hoard them while waiting for the perfect project on which to use them.

I love these cheerful colors, rather like pansies and johnny-jump-ups in the Spring sunshine. The yarn is silk and mohair; when knitted, the texture is soft and nubby with curled silk threads that work their way out of the ply. Always I enjoy working with silk.

The little purse, opened:

And more colors on the back!

And now it is ready to be mailed!

Be Nice to Nettles Week

2007-05-22T14:23:00.000-04:00

The annual celebration of nettles has arrived once again. While nettles are considered by many to be, well, nettlesome, this is not wholly justified. There are really many reasons to be appreciative of nettles.

As a food, nettles are very rich in iron, calcium and potassium as well as vitamins A C & D, and a wide spectrum of trace minerals. They have plenty of chlorophyll in them, too. As a tea, they are recommended to treat anemia and fatigue, reduce stress and augment fertility. They are highly regarded for their for their ability to nourish hair growth and even help with hair loss.

I often enjoy a cup of nettles tea. It has a full ‘green’ flavor that I find tasty and vitalizing. (And don’t even ask how long my hair is.)

Nettles are good for your garden, too: brimming with nutrients and nitrogen to keep your plants growing strong and healthy.

Perhaps it is time to grasp the nettle!

Wishing Well

2007-05-21T10:10:00.000-04:00

Our 1939 cottage began as the garden house for the nearby house up the hill. After WWII, a returning soldier and his wife asked to purchase the cottage for their home. They worked on renovations, as did successive owners over the years, until the three room cottage was expanded to a thousand square foot home.

Our builder friend says that the house is ‘a bunch of shoeboxes put together’. Truly so, though this suggests that the place was thought by previous owners to be charming enough to renovate and build upon rather than having the whole place pulled down to start afresh.

When my husband and I saw the house late last Summer, it was in a state of decline. Our modest bid was slightly higher than that of an offer to buy the property for development and knock down the little cottage. When I browsed the property, I could feel the house pleading through its walls that it would be a delightful house for us if only we would care for it. (It is a wily and charming cottage!)

In the end, we bought our little Orchard House and the near-acre of trees and meadows upon which it rests. The cottage is up in the hills, overlooking the river valley through the woods where birds sing and animals play. We dearly love it. Now we just have to take care of it.

My husband says our home is a wishing well. We throw our money in and make a wish.