Vacation for Real!

Ah...Fall...so...well...dazzling!  It is a pleasure to live in the country and lift your head from ones work and find beauty all around.  But, a body needs a rest now and again, beyond those moments of head lifting.  If you know us or follow this blog regularly you have probably become aware of the fact that DH & I, just, might be workaholics.  I am not a real fan of that term but, I will admit that we need a bit more R & R in our lives (Rest & Relaxation for my foreign friends)  Just as we scheme the latest project we also scheme for ways to have more fun.  Three or four years ago we had a very wet year and the gardens drowned.  I gave in and called it a bust year for vegetables.  It turned out to be one of the most fun summers ever.  We started going out in on our canoe almost every weekend!  At the time we had an 18 foot lake tracking trekking canoe.  Before we had our son (& gardens) taking week long canoe trips was a big part of our summers but those days seem to have passed.  So we got the bright idea of selling our big canoe and downsizing thinking that it would be much simpler to transport a smaller canoe in our truck for a quick day trip.  Well, we got the smaller canoe, an Old Town 13 footer.  But the next couple years were busy garden and building years.  Last year we never went out once and this year it nearly didn't happen.  We analyzed the problem.  The conclusion was at the end of a day or even the second half of the weekend were just plain pooped.  Solution::: small, quiet, electric motor!

We bought ourselves a Minn Kota Motor for vacation instead of a camping trip.  The maiden voyage was in our own pond.  DH loves it!  I stood and watched him go around and around as long as I could take it.  I had canning to do..... 

A few days later we went to a local lake that is only 15 minutes from our home, Branch Pond.  Maine is blessed with many lakes.  There are quite a few we can explore with in 45 minute drive from our home.  I made a sandwich and grabbed a couple of water bottles and away we went.  Branch Pond is long, narrow, and shallow.  It has only a few homes and camps on it's shores.  It is beautiful and quiet.  Lots of wildlife around.  We saw and Osprey this day.  I didn't get a photo of the Osprey but, here is some of the autumnal splendor we experienced on this day.

Love those hipster sunglasses!  Matching the life jacket was NOT by design! ;)

This is the old mill at the end of the pond.  It was a, totally, lovely ride!  We paddled a bit but, mostly, we let the Minn Kota do the driving for us.  Definitely, a relaxing afternoon.  Packed the canoe away for the winter now.  But next year things should be different!  DH is even threatening to get a fishing license!  This could be a whole new chapter in our lives!

Yes, we have matching hats...too cute!  

Mine is the original..after years of hat envy he got himself one too!

Vacation?

Three weeks ago from today my DH started a 2 week "vacation".  I use quotes because we both had pretty long to-do lists.  I always joke that I am either always on vacation or never on vacation.  I, definitely, feel like I need a vacation after my husbands time at home!  So to keep things from being to workie I made a Fun List for the time off.  We got everything except the 3rd lake checked off our fun list.  DH finished his work list...I am still trying to get mine done...never on vacation?

The next couple of blogs I will share bits of our mostly stay-cation.  We did go out a few times but never further than a 45 minute drive.  These will be photo rich blogs...We have a lot of far flung family and my blog has been a great way for them to keep up with our lives.  Very efficient too!

I did some more canning, dehydrating, and giving away of tomatoes.  Finally, I had enough and pulled the plants.  8 hours to plant them ~ 6 hours to clean up the patch. Final Tomato Tally still to come...

I pulled a lot of stuff and my DH hauled it away for me.

As a matter of fact, DH spent a lot of time working with his tractor.  I lovingly call it his Tonka Toy.  It's real name is Agent Orange...when he first got the thing he had a bit of buyers remorse and didn't really want to use it...or get it dirty?  So I called it Secret Agent Orange waiting for his mission...the name stuck and DH got over the getting it dirty thing.  One of the jobs he got done was brush cutting our fields. He does this every couple of years.  We just want to keep the fields, fields.  It is amazing how quickly open land wants to turn to forest here in Maine.

A work and play thing we did was to go down to DH's folks lake place.  They didn't make it up this year so we have been checking on the place and mowing the lawn.  They have a year round house on the land but, we decided to have a sleep over in the old camp part of the property.  It is right down by the water with a view of the lake from the bed.  Pretty sweet!  I packed a picnic dinner and a couple of bottles of wine.  Runa came with us...we left Vern and the Ducks at home!

We had an evening paddle...

A misty morning~~~ I took a swim...very quick swim!

We had a nice old campfire at our place.  We cooked dinner on the fire and ate outside.  We would have had another fire but the weather became hot...in the 80s!  Crazy!

A rare moment when DH grabbed the camera and caught me in the act of having some fun!  He made me this swing at my request last Mother's Day.  It is a wonderful way to release stress and strain.  I find it to be a nice stretch after doing something like digging carrots.

That's enough for today...more to come...I hope to be back tomorrow.  Time now for me to finish the Garden Beet Borscht I am making for dinner.  Until~~~

~~~Gratitude~~~

Ah me, I so wanted to make this Gratitude post yesterday.  Well, a standing computer desk has its drawbacks....like being too tired to stand after 2 days of work!  I have wanted to blog more...lots of stories dance in my head as I go about my work.  Reflecting back to the beginning of this blog I realized I started it on October 30th a year ago.  That was after my garden sabbatical summer.  So I guess I will cut my self a break!  (Also~~~distracted by a visit from UMO boy this weekend!  Very nice bit of family time...when he wasn't visiting his girl friend ;)

It has/is being an amazingly mild autumn so far.  We have only had the lightest of frosts.  This will be the latest frost since I have been keeping records here which started in 1991!  Could let things stay outside but at some point one just has to go for it and get a big bunch of work done.  We really like to have most of the outside work finished before the local fashion statement is HUNTER orange.  So this is what we did this weekend....

Before

After

Beets, Leeks, and Rutabagas are in the cold room.  I still need to harvest my carrots but I like to pack them in leaves.  The leaves are still on the trees!  Got going on the Garlic planting today...hope to finish tomorrow...then giving the boyo a ride back up North.  The thought of North makes me long for winter winds and snow....I am grateful that most of the fall tasks are complete.  I am grateful that I love winter.

Mary Oliver (1935 - Present)

Fall Song

Another year gone, leaving everywhere
its rich spiced residues: vines, leaves,

the uneaten fruits crumbling damply
in the shadows, unmattering back

from the particular island
of this summer, this NOW, that now is nowhere

except underfoot, moldering
in that black subterranean castle

of unobservable mysteries - roots and sealed seeds
and the wanderings of water. This

I try to remember when time's measure
painfully chafes, for instance when autumn

flares out at the last, boisterous and like us longing
to stay - how everything lives, shifting

from one bright vision to another, forever
in these momentary pastures.

It is my intention, each Sunday, to share something that fills me with Gratitude. 

I write ~~~Gratitude~~~ with the wavy lines to represent the gratitude ENERGY~~~~~! 

I hope you will join me and share your gratitude moments. 

~~~Amen, Blessed Be, Namaste'~~~

Shadows

Now is the time of shadows.  The summer fades and winter is at our doorstep.  So funny how the mind works.  I do not realize how fully present I am until I reminisce.  This how my garden is now...

  

Spring, did it ever really happen?

So neat and tidy...full of potential...

and growth...

just a shadowy reflections in my mind

Leaf golden orange,
Fell slowly and lightly down,
Shadows hug, let go.

Copyright 2013 Brenda Davis Harsham

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