Month: May 2013

Turkey Tracks: Pea Soup Fog

Turkey Tracks:  May 13, 2013

Pea Soup Fog

Friend and old neighbor (Falls Church, VA,where I lived for nearly 40 years) Gina Caceci visited this weekend.  It was so great to see her.  And I let her get out of here without getting one single picture of her.  But, I think we talked nonstop for three days.  And did a little driving around to see the sights.

We had “soft” days while she was here–and they were badly needed.  It has been soooo dry here, with fire warnings and “no burning” allowed for weeks now.

May and June can be quite foggy on the coast, and we’ve had a fog bank sitting on the coast for about a week now.  I have always been fascinated with how the fog can move in and out, like a slowly flapping curtain in the wind.   Sometimes as you are driving along the coast road, the fog will start to come across the road, moving in with long, white fingers.  And sometimes it’s really dense, so that visibility is only a hundred feet or so.  That would be called a “pea soup” fog, and that’s what we’ve had off and on for two weeks now.

I tried to get some pictures.  Here’s Camden Harbor–can you see the island at the mouth of the harbor?  Beyond is a solid white bank where you can’t see a thing.  And there are islands and boats all out there in the white.

Camden Harbor, Pea Soup Fog

To contrast, here’s a picture I took of Rockland Harbor one day last week.  There is nothing so blue as Maine water when the sun is shining.  See the light house at the end of the breakwater?  That breakwater is a mile long, and people walk it for fun.  The white balls in the water are boat moorings, so you can see that boats are not yet back in the water in any force.

Rockland harbor and lighthouse

Here’s a video of Rockport harbor in the pea soup fog:

And, here’s another, which features lobster traps being staged for use.  I love the lone dorry (I think that’s right) tied up to the float.

I love the “soft” days of spring.  I don’t know how to describe our Maine woods in spring except to say that tree tops look “fluffy” and soft with the emerging green leaves–that spring green that is probably my favorite color.  I didn’t get a good picture this year of a lone tree with the green leaves against the blue sky.  Those leaves are like lace clusters.  And, I suspect, the moment has passed for the year.

Here’s a picture of a budding tree draping over the Camden Library amphitheater entrance.  The picture I took of the library itself came out wonky.  I probably had a wrong setting by accident.  I’ll get one soon.  Our library is gorgeous and has gorgeous views of the harbor.

Camden Library Ampitheater Entrance

This picture of our Main Street, taken from the northern end of town, just below the library, is nice.  See the church steeple and the trees of the village green at the south end of the street.  Camden is a beautiful little New England town.  But we are surrounded by little towns that are each beautiful and special.

Main Street from the library

 So, happy spring everyone!

Turkey Tracks: “Blossom,” the wedding quilt

Turkey Tracks:  May 13, 2013

“Blossom,” the wedding quilt

Daughter-in-law Tamara Kelly Enright and I wanted to make bride Ashley Malphrus (now White) a wedding quilt.  The wedding was April 21, 2013, and it was gorgeous.  The ceremony was held with one of the low country rivers as a backdrop–green lawns, big house, big white tent.  It was lovely.  Ashley and her mother, Allison Malphrus, had thought of so many thoughtful, sweet touches all during the wedding.  I’m always in awe of that kind of thoughtfulness as I’m not good at it.

Last Thanksgiving, Tami and I picked out contemporary, colorful Kaffe Fasset fabrics–and Mainely Quilting shopowner Marge Hallowell cut us a big array of the Kaffe Fasset prints.  With a “layer cake” design, one starts with a 10-inch square (in our case), cuts off four borders, which leaves a central square.   Different borders are put onto different squares, and the result–after using these bright modern prints–is a very contemporary, colorful quilt.

I finished hand sewing the binding just before the wedding and mailed the quilt to Tami.  It’s BIG, and I didn’t want to carry it on the plane.  Tami and I delivered it the Friday before the wedding, as I didn’t want to have it at the wedding tent.  I also wanted to explain that the quilt is an heirloom quilt, to be used and loved, but also to be cherished in the way of being a little careful with it.

Here’s “Blossom”–and it’s not a great picture of it.  But you can see how big it is.

Blossom 1

Here’s some blocks close up.  I quilted it with a bright pink thread, and that is wonderful on both the back and the front.   I used a “Sweet Pea” pantograph, but both sides are busy enough that you don’t really see the pattern.  It will catch Ashley, some day, when the light falls just right on the quilt.  I did the best job ever on the quilting.

Blossom block

Here’s the backing and binding–so you can see how they play with the blocks:

Blossom backing and binding 2

And here’s what “Blossom” might look like folded on the foot of a bed:

Blossom at foot of bed 2

The name “Blossom” describes the quilt, yes, but it’s also meant to wish, for Ashley, that she blossoms with her marriage, that her marriage blossoms, that the blossoming creates fruit, that in turn, blossoms, and on and on and on…

Interesting Information: Bees, Bees, Bees

Interesting Information:  May 8, 2013

Bees, Bees, Bees

April in Charleston, SC, where my two sons live with their families, is a very busy month for bees.

Tamara Kelly Enright is a beekeeper.

She has two hives in her yard and is teaching her children how to care for them.  She helps manage ten other hives with Tara Derr Webb at Deux Peuces Farm in Awendaw, SC.  And she supervises two hives at a local school for rescued children, where learning how to care for bees is part of their emotional development via a deep connection to nature.  She is deeply involved in placing demonstration bee hives into local schools–a practice started and funded by the Savannah Bee Company.

Tami and Kelly suited up one sunny Sunday afternoon to check the two bee hives in her yard.

Here are the hives, tucked into a corner of the yard.  Tami has planted jasmine on the lattices behind the hives, which the bees are going to love.

Bees, Two Hives

Here’s a video of Tami and Kelly telling you what they are going to do:

Here are Tami and Kelly opening the bee hive.  They have to break the insert loose–it is sealed by the bees with a waxy substance called propolis–which has amazing healing properties.

Bees, opening the hive

Here’s a close-up of one of the inserts.  You can see the waxed cells and the “brood,” which are the cells holding baby bees and developing bees in the foreground.  The second picture shows the brood even better.

bees up close

You can see the cells with baby bees hatching in the center front of this picture.

bees up close 2

Here’s another video up close so you can see what it feels like to work inside the hive and its panels:

During the time I was in Charleston, Tami rescued two swarms of bees.  One swarm came from one of the demonstration hives in Talula and Mina’s school.  The school staff sent out a call for help to local beekeepers, and Tami went and rescued the hive.  She brought it home and used it to repopulate one of the ten hives on Deux Peuces Farm–which had lost three queens–rendering three of the hives inoperable.

The second swarm Tami rescued landed up next to a local pool.  The pool people were going to call an exterminator, but agreed to let Tami come at night and get the swarm, which she did.

A friend told me today that he just heard that America alone has lost over 43% of their bee population.  I don’t know if that figure is correct, but I do know that it is a very serious problem for our food supply.  Yet we continue to allow chemicals to be used that kill bees.  The European Union, while I was in Charleston, banned one of the greatest offender chemicals for two years to see if it helped preserve the bees.

Turkey Tracks: Chickens Gone

I am back from Charleston, SC.  I tried to post to the blog on the ipad from there, and the interface was just too clunky.  Friend Giovanna McCarthy told me there was an app for “WordPress,” so I downloaded that a few days ago, but have not yet tried it out.  I LOVE the ipad.  It’s so easy and light when traveling.  So, the blog below was written on April 26, just before I came home on the 29th. 

 

Turkey Tracks:  April 26, 2013

Chickens Gone

I’m in Charleston celebrating the arrival of a new granddaughter, a family wedding, and visiting with my children and grandchildren.

I left the chickens free-ranging and unfenced–as I have for the past few springs.  They had such a long, hard winter this year.

Just got word that FOX has eaten all of my chickens but one black hen, who is now locked up in the coop and cage.

 

May 8, 2013

Update:  the surviving black chicken was Rosie, the purebred Maran hen.  What a lovely surprise.  Now if I can find another Maran rooster…

My dear friend Rose Thomas has gifted me with three of her hens–all in the Americauna line.  They are very busy laying the most beautiful eggs.  Pictures will follow when they’ve settled down. 

Right now they think I’m the devil since I had to dust them all and coat their legs with vaseline to halt any of the lice-like bugs that get under the scales of their legs.  Dusting involves holding them upside down by their legs, and it scared them to death.  Of course.  In a large flock like Rose has, it’s really hard to organically control lice and mites in the flock.  I am tempting them each day with many treats so they begin to associate me with nice things.

***

I am sorry not to have posted on this blog sooner, but I have been so busy “catching up” here.  Today David Hannan came and we worked from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. when I quit for the day.   He kept working until 3.  I am so grateful to him for coming to help me with the spring tasks.  David picked up the winter boardwalk that Mike put down last fall.  And, together (but mostly David), we brought out all the lawn furniture and pot stands and wind chimes and hummingbird feeders and temporary fencing from the top of the garage and put all in their spaces on the three porches and in the yard.  We put up the summer chicken fence and fenced the garden with the new green metal rods I bought this week.  Part of this fence will become permanent.  And, David showed me how to use a crow bar to dig a hole–which he did–to sink the pea poles deeper into the ground.  David did more clean-up, like the path to the meadow and odd raking back of stones that have slid around over the winter.  And he blew off all the stones and grit from the driveway so that when it rains tonight and tomorrow, the driveway will get all clean.

He has promised to come next week to help me pot up and plant all the flower containers and to carry the pots to their places around the porches.  One more day should finish up the spring clean-up.  I will mow the lawn as soon as the rain stops.

YEAH!!!!  So many really hard tasks completed today!!!!  And it is always fun

 

Turkey Tracks: The Kiddos’ Quilts in Charleston

Hello Everyone!

I am back from Charleston, SC.  I tried to post to the blog on the ipad from there, and the interface was just too clunky.  Friend Giovanna McCarthy told me there was an app for “WordPress,” so I downloaded that a few days ago, but have not yet tried it out.  I LOVE the ipad.  It’s so easy and light when traveling.  So, the blog below was written on April 23.

 

 

Turkey Tracks:  April 23, 2013

The Kiddos’ Quilts in Charleston

I make them.

Than most of them I give away.

The grandchildren have quite a few of them.  There were the baby quilts.  Then the “big bed” quilts.  And, in a few cases, a wall quilt.

Imagine my delight to see some of the quilts in use in a bedroom that can sleep four of the kiddos in bunks, freeing up a bedroom for a guest–like me!

image

I love both of those wall quilts and had such fun making them.  Both came from now-famous patterns.  The one on the left is called “Over By the Pond” if I’m not mistaken.  The “jar” block is pretty standard, but I’m sure I bought this pattern as a kit that came with the buggy fabrics.  I wanted my kiddos to be deeply connected to nature, and I love and am fascinated with bugs.

The little blue churn dash quilt was made for my first grandchild, Bowen.  It has some Maine blueberry fabrics in it.

The red-bound quilt was also Bowen’s, his “big bed” quilt.  All these children have special quilts, not just Bowen.

Here’s a better view of “Over By The Pond.”

image