Author: louisaenright

I am passionate about whole, nutrient-dense foods, developing local markets, and strengthening communities.

Turkey Tracks: My Design Wall is Crazy

Turkey Tracks:  June 10, 2016

My Design Wall is Crazy

…or I am…

My goodness!!

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Have you ever?

Mina’s quilt is on the long arm as well.

The top quilt is working as a leader/ender project using the red/neutral four-patch blocks from summer before last.

The left project is Amy Friend’s “Tell Me A Story” quilt.

The far right project blocks are the “quilt-lets.”  I’ve almost caught up now.

The middle are scrappy, funky blocks for the group of four making blocks for each others’ attempts at a Jen Kingwell kind of scrappy, modern, “evolving” quilt–see earlier posts on this project.  But, we are each making multiples of four to share with each other.

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The sacks pinned to the left side of the wall are filled with blocks in various stages for the group project–we’re going to give each other our blocks in late summer some time–and with parts of blocks for the “Wild and Goosey” foundation piecing project for my youngest granddaughter.  (That one will take some time to finish.)

What you can’t see is the bedroom bed on this floor covered with piles of fabrics, the hexie quilt waiting for its borders, the blue/neutral quilt waiting for two more rows, and supplies for the Farmer’s Wife and Katja Marek blocks.

Oh my goodness!!  It’s bedlam for sure.

But, I am having fun.

Turkey Tracks: Salt Water Bays and Alewives

Turkey Tracks:  June 10, 2016

Salt Water Bays and Alewives

I made a run down to Alewives Quilting in Damariscotta Mills, Maine, on Thursday.  Mary Sue Bishop went with me.

Mary had never been the back way into Damariscotta Mills that skirts around the edges of the salt water bay that rises up to meet Damariscotta Lake.  Here’s where folks built a fish ladder that now lets the alewives get into the lake to spawn.

It was a gorgeous day, and the fields were filled with flowers:  buttercups, white Marguerite Daisies, lupine in shades that range from purple to pinks to whites, are among spring’s offerings.

I stopped and took this little video.  Note how the wind is blowing the grass.  Truman Capote called this effect “the grass harp.”

Here are some still pics:

Mary riding shotgun.  We ran into each other in town on Wednesday, and we both had on spring green sweaters.  Today we both had on turquoise.  It’s funny the way friends can do this kind of thing.  We laughed over it.

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I forget every spring how gorgeous the lupines are and how many of them are along the roadsides.

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Turkey Tracks: Friday Garden Day

Turkey Tracks:  June 10, 2016

Friday Garden Day

It’s once again time to mow.  I also weed-whacked and blew off the porch.  The latter is not easy for me as the blower is heavy and cumbersome.  And, the oak tassels were sticking in the spaces between the back deck planks.  But, the porch is so pretty when it is all ready for summer.

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Some really good sitting, reading, eating, and visiting takes place on this porch every summer.

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The flower pots are filling out now…

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The violas are loving our cool June nights.

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I found this poor creature when blowing near the table.  I have a hummer feeder on this back deck.

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His feathers glowed iridescent in the sun.

They are so, so tiny.

Did he run into the window?

I don’t have so many this summer.  Not like years past…

I worked for some time in the veggie garden before I got hot and hungry.  I’m ready to plant the warm weather crops now, but our nights have been so cool yet.  We dipped down into the high 40s last night.

Interesting Informaiton: “Your Medicine is in Your Pantry”

Interesting Information:  June 6, 2016

“Your Medicine is in Your Pantry”

Here’s a really nice piece by Karta Purkh Khalsa that walks one through common herbs that are also quite medicinal–especially if you know when to use them.

Here’s a quote:

Food has been the medicine of humanity since the dawn of time. Many herbs that we associate only with seasoning our food are, in fact, potent herbal medicines.

Enjoy!

Source: Your Medicine is in Your Pantry | GreenMedInfo | Blog Entry

Turkey Tracks: Pea Soup Fog and Rain

Turkey Tracks:  June 6, 2016

Pea Soup Fog and Rain

We had pea soup fog yesterday…

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I love the grass when it gets this high.  Soon it will by cut and made into hay.

Note that you cannot see the woods beyond the barn.

I love these “soft” days.

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And in the night, a drenching and must-needed rain.  We are hoping for more tonight.

I dashed up to Belfast for groceries and dog food.  Then, I sewed.

Mina’s quilt is half done–on the long arm.

I finished a quilt-let.  This one”sings” to me.  Look at that pieced center!!!

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Very cool to work on these blocks…

And I finished another Farmer’s Wife block.  No. 42.  This one was actually pretty easy.  Six more to do for this month.

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Interesting Information: Video: The Dark Side of Pet Vaccination

Interesting Information:  June 5, 2016

Video:  The Dark Side of Pet Vaccination

We love our pets so much.

We want to do the best we can for them.

As with our own health, since health care is now an industry, we must be careful to whom we listen.  We must research.

This video shows the problems and links to a web site with information.

I could also point you to Ted Kerasote’s book PUKKA’S PROMISE, in which he discusses his considerable research on how to make the best decisions for your beloved pet.  There are blog entries here on this book

I can also tell you that when I was little, the house dogs ate table scraps as dried dog food had not been invented, did not have vaccines beyond rabies, and lived to ripe and healthy old ages.

Here’s a blurb that begins to describe the video:

Allergies, skin problems, behavior changes, autoimmune disease, seizures, injection-site cancers — these are just a few of the well-documented adverse vaccine reactions in dogs and cats. Pet vaccination is much more harmful than most people underastand.

Source: The Dark Side of Pet Vaccination

Interesting Information: “On Being Right and Eating Animals”

Interesting Information:  June 5, 2016

“On Being Right and Eating Animals”:  Dr. Kelly Brogan

Here’s a lovely piece:  food for thought, for sure…

If it is one thing the discovery of the microbiome is revealing, it’s that we all have very different workings inside, depending upon the health of our microbiome and the chemistry of each of our particular systems at the moment.

There is no ONE SIZE FITS ALL way to eat as a result.

So, what’s behind the attempt to control what everyone else eats?  Fear, maybe, fear of not being in good health, of loss of control in other areas of life, of risk of something new, etc.

I personally believe there are some foods that fuel most of us in healthy ways, but I also recognize that the healthy food spectrum that works best for individuals is long and wide.  And I believe that fake foods, tainted foods, and sugar-based foods will cause disease.

Dr. Kelly Brogan is someone to whom I pay attention.  Here’s the start to her very thoughtful piece:

“Too many of us blindly put faith into different authorities, but when it comes to personal health and diet, your self knowledge and gut intuition should be your guide.”

Source: On Being Right and Eating Animals | GreenMedInfo | Blog Entry

Turkey Tracks: Alewives Quilting Visit

Turkey Tracks:  June 4, 2016

Alewives Quilting Visit

I made a run to Alewives on Friday.

And I fell in love with this sample quilt:

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I love everything about it.  The color palette, a way to use small pieces of fabrics (my crumbs, my crumbs), the quilting, the graphic nature of the quilt.  I could go on…

There’s a pattern, of course.  You can see it pinned to the quilt.  And Alewives is easy to contact, and they ship.

Maybe I have to go back…

I finished another “quilt-let.”  (Katja Marek’s quilt-along project–and I am slowly catching up.)  There is a hexagon at the center of this one.  I’m wishing I’d done it in the lime green of the fabric…  Oh well.

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Here’s block 41 of the Farmer’s Wives blocks.  I’m trying to keep the pace of two a week going.  So, I need to make another one for this week, and I’ve almost finished it.  this one is called “Granny” I think.  Simple, but complex too.  That’s a good Granny.

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I wish that I could send you the perfume that is filling my yard.  Lilac, petunia, and much more that is fragrant.  It’s a spectacular lilac year this year.

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Spectacular.

Interesting Information: “What History Teaches Us About Walls”

Interesting Information:  June 4, 2016

What History Teaches Us About Walls

Whenever I hear Donald Trump say he is going to build a wall between the US and Mexico, my mind jumps to the Maginot Line in France.

That “wall” didn’t work so well.

Nor did the Great Wall of China.

Nor did, really, the Berlin Wall.

People find ways around walls…

How many human efforts to create literal walls have worked?

Of course, there is a history of walls out there.  (History isn’t Donald Trump’s long suit.  Inciting peoples’ anger is.)

There are some really pretty pictures in this article.  Of walls…

Source: What History Teaches Us About Walls – The New York Times

Turkey Tracks: Saturday Breakfast

Turkey Tracks:  June 4, 2016

Saturday Breakfast

We are (again) being promised rain for later tonight and tomorrow.

So far, my rain dances have not worked.  Maybe this time.

Anyway, I mowed last Friday, so I knew I had to mow before we got soaking rain that might take several days.  Often, that means a third day for my grass to dry out enough to mow.

So…

Yep.  I needed to mow TODAY.

At first we had overcast cool, then, suddenly, in the way weather happens in Maine, the skies cleared and the sun came out and it started getting warm enough to dry up the morning dew.

First though, I fixed myself a “Saturday Breakfast.”  Normally I don’t get hungry until nearly noon.  But today I needed to be mowing around noon, AND I am having dinner early evening with friends at Chez Michel’s in Lincolnville, Maine–just up the road from Camden and across from Lincolnville beach.  Somehow, I’ve never been to this restaurant, so when friends discovered I had not, an outing was organized.  (I have great friends.)  

Over a cup of tea, I pondered what to eat for breakfast.

My tea:  I get the most extraordinary Irish tea from our local coops.  It’s from a Vermont company and comes in little grains.  It makes a “bold” cup of tea.

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I heat the water in my copper kettle, and say what you will, water heated in that kettle tastes gorgeous–very unlike water heated in another pot.  I’ve had it for 25 or so years now and love it to pieces.

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I pour hot water over the loose tea through a basket thingy

that fits over my cup.

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This tea can take a second pour over too, which I usually do sometime during the day.

Of course I add LOCAL raw WHOLE milk from Jersey cows (Milkhouse milk) and about a tablespoon of raw, UNHEATED local honey–which I get in big jars once a year from my local beekeeper, Sparky’s Honey.  I take him the jars, and he fills them.

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On the refill, I don’t add the honey.

OK, chives are in full bloom, so I snipped some and brought in one of the lavender chive blooms to crumble into my eggs.

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Over the years, the chives have spread in my garden.  And look at the stand of tarragon to the right of the big clump of chives.  Along this path I have several types of sage, several types of thyme, my grandmother’s mint (which I’ve had for over 40 years), some garlic chive (blooms in August), lavender, and some rosemary.  I LOVE it when I have herbs in the garden.

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I recently learned that one can trim the chives back to to or three inches in mid-summer, and they will grow back up and, often, bloom again.

I put a big pat of local raw butter in the pan and heated it until it sizzled.  Threw in the chives and dropped in two eggs.  While they set a bit, I hit them with local sea salt and some black pepper.

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I just take a fork and run it through eggs to scramble them.  If I were to add cheese, it would be just as they are broken but still runny.

I had some gluten-free bread from HootinTootin bakery out of, I think, Belfast.  I get it at the Belfast Coop.   AND some homemade blackberry jam.  (This year will be a blackberry year.  Last year the patch had to be cut down to allow it to regenerate without so many weeds.)

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Delicious!  And the mowing seemed really easy after this good start.