Favorite Places

I’ve visited a lot of greenhouses in my day, small mom and pop places that specialize in rare plants propagated right on the farm and giant super store type places with so many plants you could never see every single one.  Back in Ohio I have my favorite spots to visit each year, I have yet to visit a lot of greenhouses in Maine, but I’m working on it.  I did visit Snug Harbor last year and I went again earlier this week.



This place is wonderful, it’s small and yet there are so many wonderful things nestled into the space. There are dovecots, chicken coops, peacocks, greenhouses, espaliered trees, hedges, ponies and so many wonderful succulents.

There’s also this lovely birdbath there that I keep eyeing whenever I get to visit. I have no idea where I could put it in my not yet organized garden so I haven’t purchased it yet. Though I must admit, I was tempted to get it earlier this week.

This place is just my kind of place, it’s exactly the kind of garden I want, not too formal, not too messy – perfectly imperfect. This place is an inspiration to me, I get so many ideas whenever I visit.

Do you have a place you like to visit to get inspiration for your garden?

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Maple Goodness

Yesterday, my neighbor BJ and her twins and I all loaded up in her car and headed out for Maine Maple Sundays. We visited three sugar houses, the first one was our favorite. It was Simmons & Daughters Sugar House, awesome, usually it’s so-and-so and sons – but he had four daughters.













We weren’t as impressed with the other two places we visited, one was maple syrup on an industrial scale and the other one was just not as quaint and friendly as this one. Of course I didn’t buy any maple syrup as I’m making my own right now. After finishing up this current batch of sap I should have about a gallon and a half. I probably won’t get the 5 gallons I was hoping for, but I may get lucky and get 3 gallons. That will provide me with all the sweetener I need this year.

What’s your favorite natural sweetener?

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Friday Favorite: Great Companies

I love doing business with great companies, the kind you know you can expect service from in the future should a product be defective or wear out before it should.  L.L. Bean is one of those companies.  I purchased these lovely knee high shearling lined boots about a year ago.  I wore them for a few months and then they were retired for the summer.

When I went to put them on yesterday the zipper broke – ACK.  I contacted L.L. Bean and they’re going to send me a new pair – YAY.

This is why I purchased these boots instead of other options out there. My parents have been buying from this L.L. Bean since I was a little kid and they’ve always stood behind their products.

Do you have any great companies that you love doing business with?

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Celebrating Sweetness

It’s no secret that Mr Chiots and I LOVE maple syrup. Typically we make our own, sugaring is one of our favorite activities. This year it wasn’t in the cards, with the move, travel and lots of work, we just didn’t have the time. Not to worry though, we got our fix of sugaring this past Sunday on Maine Maple Sunday.

We visited two different sugar houses with our neighbors. One that usually makes around 80 gallons of syrup and one that makes around 600.   The difference in the two operations was amazing. Here is what maple sugaring is all about in Maine.



















Around here, maple syrup is our main sweetener. I use it in just about everything from pumpkin pie to hot cocoa.

What’s your favorite way to enjoy maple syrup?

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