home and a song of spring

it is been so long since i posted little indoor vignettes of my home, it is  uncomfortable in an odd way to do so. i guess i have spent many days at home as of late, today i feel more at peace, perhaps the lack of drama or the sun and air that seems to be ringing in an early spring. i heard the song of a bird at  my window this morning, a new feathery friend in all its loveliness. last night as i fed the horses under a star filled sky an owl  made a wonderful sound as well, he did this often that is until i tried to imitate his call, he did not like it for his silence told me so. the hills  calendar is beginning to fill with so many that want to visit and my own calendar with work, workshop and holidays this is all good and needed. i have not seen k in two weeks, i miss him, soon he will be home and i will go for a long drive, yes that is what i will do.

oh one last thing, do you know if you cut up and use the greens from scallion, you can re grow them by putting the bulbs in water. the will start growing right away.

* my 86 year old neighbour loulie came over the other day to do laundry. i love folding dish towels and linens i brought her the basket the next day with a few eggs from the chickens

winter fireflies

this morning at around one am i woke to a crescent moon. the temperature outside was close to zero, very cold. i threw hay to the horses and looked out upon the fields, the moon reflected unto the frosted ground and it looked like hundreds of fireflies hand landed, unexpected magic. when i finally went to bed again i tucked myself warmly underneath the blankets then through the skylight the crescent moon came in, before i could stop the words from " i love you moon" slipped through my lips.

*pictures of scattered things in my home, hay on the floor too. i promised dear readers i will get back on track and post regularly soon.

Autumn and a visit.

dear friends i thought i would share some photographs of  autumn a small break from france but there is more to come from paris. 

just a few hours after my arrival from france, i picked up aran and her family, they were coming to vermont to enjoy fall  and it's colours. aran came with her parents, i had heard so much about them, it was very nice to finally meet them and spend a few days showing them a bit of vermont and the hill.  although they spoke basque and very little english, i felt as if we were able to comunicate well, what they had to say and their kindness touched me, i could have easily spent more time with them.  we went to different parts of vermont, visited farmers markets, pumpkin stands and patches, my friend's sheep farm and lakes and rivers. aran was shooting for her book and her father has a new found passion for photography it was great to see them shoot together and for her father to share his images. miren and jon  filled my house with joy, they are comfortable here and that makes me happy.  aran shared her time on the hill with kind words and gorgeous photographs in a post on her blog.

i do have a few paris post to come, a giveaway, time with my mum, montreal and my friend Juliana's stay at the farm. all that ahead. 

thank you dear readers for being here, thank you for always lifting my spirits, making me think and dream- your birthday comments and emails have been read many times over with appreciation 

thank you for it is all of you that are magnificent

just one hour please

as i  sit here and write this post, dylan sits on the table i want to write a story, so he does. elle reads from the book we bought at the library that was sitting on the shelf on our way out, wildflowers - what a score. the smell of pizza fills the house as it bakes in the oven, covered with the mozzarella that was made this morning and bought at the farmers market. it is almost quiet something that has been absent since the children got here. nearly impossible to get or ask for  but i have craved it so. the clouds have disappeared leaving behind humidity seldom found on the hill. after lunch we take a walk  behind the house to the top of the hill, a daily rituals. then we will tend to the tiniest garden ,weeds will be plucked neat rows will emerge, we will try to copy a trellis made out of discarded branches to define the little patch. then we will throw down grass seed, even though it is summer now on the bare patch so in the fall the ducks and chickens will have more to play with. when we come back inside, we will try for quiet time, just an hour of reading or napping, or writing this hour usually ends up being the loudest. one can only hope it works this time.

* elle in her new dress, how i wish they made it in my size.

morning on the hill

i was going to write a few things, but i if you do not mind i will share with you something from my journal about morning on the hill.

i shall get up any minute, get up i say to myself and i do. i look out the window above my bed across the pasture to the orchard and the writers cabin, no turkeys today. I run to the other window and there they are tolstoy and splash- we have made it through the night and we are all well. the dogs and i leave my bedroom the cats are outside the door and everyone is trying to make it down the stairs first as if we are secretly having a race. I turn  my espresso machine on as i pass the kitchen on my way to wash my face and brush my teeth. jeans, shirt muck shoes it is time to let everyone out, dogs first, sophie than grace. the chickens and ducks hear me now and they begin to make a racket. i fill all water buckets and feeders and i opened the door for my feathery friends who spill out like water, this scene always makes me laugh and yet it is beautiful. then off i got to feed the horse who are waiting patiently, drop the grain in the bucket and i stand between splash and tolstoy for splash likes to steal from tolstoy, i play with his mane and sing to him our morning song,( i love u and you love me) it is our  thing and he leans his cheek to my lips when i say with a big great kiss. i love this rituals and now i almost hear k laughing but he is miles a way in boston and thinks this singing stuff is funny. i have now carried this ritual  over to the ducks and chickens when i close them in for the night, i sing the same song, poor feathery friends they must endure my voice. i want a cello or a base i tell k. at  jazz night, he simply says perhaps you can play for the animals instead of sing.

before i head in for my mocha and book i pick dandelion greens for the chicken and ducks they love it so and i do it all day long.

* the pictures of sophie and K. are one my favorites i have taken here. k eat his coconut french toast and sophie who never begs, approaches him in a kind manner.

les oiseaux noir

i have not yet begun placing things in their right place, much work to do outside to protect les animaux.

i am trying to let the house tell me where things go. a craving for simplicity with well made things that come from times past and made with care and old world craftsmanship. 

it is saturday, i am listening to the Opera, it is very dark. aujourd'hui des grands oiseaux noir a pris un de mes canard- une tristesse qui me prend par le coeur. 

k will be home this evening and we plan to go out for dinner so he can watch the bruins play, i hoping for some where cozy but i never seen a television in indian restaurant have you:)

i hope you are well dear readers. 

monday wish

it is monday the sky is a pale grey, the air warm as soft rain falls. i do not have to many words today i am afraid except for wishing you a good day.

a moment to breathe

i hope you are all doing good. while perusing blogs i came across these words on the lovely sofias blog.

they have been by anthem of sort especially this week when things, many things are happening.

it is truly beautiful

"For the sake of a single verse, one must see many cities, men, and things. One must know the animals, one must feel how the birds fly and know the gesture with which the little flowers open in the morning. One must be able to think back to roads in unknown regions, to unexpected meetings and to partings one had long seen coming; to days of childhood that are still unexplained, to parents whom one had to hurt when they brought one some joy and did not grasp it (it was a joy for someone else); to childhood illnesses that so strangely begin with such a number of profound and grave transformations, to days in rooms withdrawn and quiet and to mornings by the sea, to the sea itself, to seas, to nights of travel that rushed along on high and flew with all the stars—and it is not yet enough if one may think of all this. One must have memories of many nights of love, none of which was like the others, of the screams of women in labor, and of light, white, sleeping women in childbed, closing again. But one must also have been beside the dying, must have sat beside the dead in the room with the open window and the fitful noises. And still it is not enough to have memories. One must be able to forget them when they are many, and one must have the great patience to wait until they come again.

For it is not yet the memories themselves. Not till they have turned to blood within us, to glance, and gesture, nameless, and no longer to be distinguished from ourselves—not till then can it happen that in a most rare hour the first word of a verse arises in their midst and goes forth from them."

Rainer Maria Rilke, The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, 1910

have a great weekend,  know i have  love for you.

on a personal note, to my family in egypt,  thank you. to my mother

i love you very much- 

it feels as if today i have shared tears with my grandmother and grandfather who are above

tears of joy, profound joy.

cravings

dear friends, i want to tell you so much. the stirring inside, a mix of doubt and the need for change.

but instead, can i just say how grateful i am that you are out there, not just commenting but sharing vignettes of you with me. i need inspiration more than ever and you know how to give it to me.

have a good weekend.

twelfth night

yesterday morning i woke up to snow and it was lovely. mid afternoon a conversation that made my heart hurt took place. then the horses got there hooves trimmed by the happy farrier. A friend asked me if i would like to go to a play with her, perfect timing i say. We arrived at the theatre an old gorgeous church, in the car i had asked what would the play be about she said well i am not sure of the name, there is fire, singing and dancing. arriving at the large church doors i was so happy to find out it was twelfth night, i instantly became young again, giddy and excited. it was beautiful done and the costumes were the loveliest, the church was packed and the spirit was great. there were nuns in the audience an they laughed so loudly , it made me happy to hear. then friends of a friend invited us to their home for "hors d'hoevres" but what we found instead was full blown esquisite traditional holiday dinner, the kids table was so beautiful, it made you want to be a kid again until you saw the the grown up table decorated with twelfth night, holiday Crackers(poppers) and so on. It was so lovely there, as the fire roared and snow fell outside. each of us assigned a night, i the third night "three french hens" we sang all around the table adults and children a like. the best of times i had and too think it was all last minute. what a great way to end the holiday season( little christmas) and begin the quiet winter months.

 pictures from my day yesterday, unfortunately i did not have my camera last night.

a quiet morning after

yesterday k and i spent the day at the farm and mostly indoors after chores and the occasional hay feeding. we cleaned the house and re-arranged furniture before cooking thanksgiving dinner. we watched movies, glimpsed at dog shows, knitted and exchanged thanksgiving wishes via email to friends. we sat by candlelight and ate our meal( we got full too fast). then out we went under the dark sky and fed and tucked away the animals. came in made an apple crisp and watched another movie, then probably my favourite part of the day we lay quietly, with lights off on the couch.

this morning  i was supposed to go to a tea house with people i hardly know, but the warm air, soft rain and clean air made me want to stay home and sip tea while knitting some more. I am thinking about how to decorate, where to place our christmas tree and how to wrap presents this year, do i do it like the year before last or last year , nope something completely new  think.