Quote of the Day: E.B. White
“Although winter is still in possession of the land, the days are perceptibly longer. Skating on the frog pond under an early rising moon, I am conscious of the promise of pollywogs under my runners, and my thoughts turn to seeds and the germinal prospect. Snow, which came with a bang at Thanksgiving, is an old story to the little boy now; winter’s charms fade slowly out like the picture of Charlie McCarthy on the back of his sweatshirt. Sear’s Roebuck’s midwinter catalog is shelved in favor of seed catalogs.”
-E.B White – from January 1939 in One Man’s Meat
It’s so true how the seasons are exciting when they are fresh and new, then their newness fades and is soon replaced by excitement for the season to come. While I love winter and have not grown weary of it’s beauty, I’m certainly starting to shift my focus to spring. My gardens are starting to come together in my mind, where I will plant trees and hedges.
It can be hard at times to sit back and truly enjoy this moment in time, it seems as humans we are constantly focused on what lay ahead the possibilities that await. There’s still a lot of winter left and I must restrain my excitement for spring lest it ruin the rest of my peaceful winter!
Are you finding the charm of the current season fading?
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Quote of the Day: Carol Deppe
“One of the most joyous things we can do is to find our place, the land we fit into, the land where we belong. Having found our place, we snuggle into it, learn about it, adapt to it, and accept it fully. We love and honor it. We rejoice in it. We cherish it. We become native to the land of our living.”
Carol Deppe (The Resilient Gardener)
I was thinking about the quote the other day as Mr Chiots and I were doing something outside. We have pretty much settled into this new place. It’s starting to feel like home, more of that will come with some painting and a few other projects.
We are firmly planting ourselves into this new landscape and community. Every Monday afternoon we head down to our neighbor’s for coffee. A New Year’s party was hosted at our home. Another neighbor came for Christmas dinner. We’ve been curling, gone to farm party’s, visited farms, talked to people and have made many new friends. Maine suits us perfectly, I certainly hope the feeling is mutual because we’re here to stay.
How many different places have you become native to?
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Friday Favorite: Das Boots
I’ve been needing a pair of winter boots for a long time. My favorite Keen rubber boots just don’t cut it when there’s snow on the ground or the a chill in the air. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve almost broken my neck when wearing them up the chicken coop or I come back in with frosty toes (even with thick wool socks on). After much research, I decided I to buy a pair of L.L.Bean shearling lined boots.
For one, they’ll last forever; for two, they’re lined with all natural shearling; for three, they’re leather. No thinsulate, nylon, or other stuff that’s going to wear out in a year or two. The shearling lining and the leather exterior on these beauties will last for a LONG time and it’s super warm.
The zip-up style was also a must, taking time to lace up boots several times a day was not something I wanted to do. These aren’t as convenient as my slip-on rubber boots, but they only take a few seconds to get on. The knee high version was also a must, the snow I have to wade to on the way to the compost pile is at times almost over the top of these.
They’re pretty pricey though, so I waited patiently for a sale. With the sale and some saved coupons I ended up getting them for almost 50% off. Low-and-behold, it happened back in mid-December. Somehow, they were accidentally shipped to Ohio; thank goodness for great neighbors who will package them up and forward them to you along with some wonderful homemade soap.
I couldn’t be happier with this purchase, they have been wonderful for all my outdoor chores (as you can see they’ve already lost their shine). The addition of ice stabilizers and I’m able to head outside without fear of falling on my face and dropping the eggs.
Have you found any new favorite garden tools recently?
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It’s Puzzling
Mr Chiots and I love working on puzzles. Perhaps I should say that I love puzzles and Mr Chiots helps out. Usually I clear off the table and put out a puzzle at Christmas, this year we had guests so we waited until last Saturday.
This year, I found a nice puzzle at our local game store, it’s the White Mountain Puzzles Best of Maine. When it comes to puzzles, I find it’s rather difficult to find ones that aren’t cheesy or strange. I’m not sure why puzzles are like that. I have a few in my collection that we redo over and over again. Monet’s Waterlillies is one of my favorites. Last year I got the 2000 piece Springbok seed packet puzzle that was HUGE and loads of fun, I can’t wait to do this one again in a few years.
The Ravensburger Road Trip USA 1000 Piece Puzzle is also on of my favorites that we’ve completed a few different times. There are also a few others on my list of puzzles to add to our collection. While I love redoing puzzles we’ve done in the past, it’s still fun to get a new one every now and then!
There’s nothing better than having a puzzle spread out on the table to put a few pieces in when you walk by. It’s always a lovely way to spend an evening with your loved ones. Puzzles can be a great way to entertain yourselves while still allowing for good conversation! Mr Chiots and I really enjoy spending winter evenings working on them.
What’s your favorite way to spend an evening with family?
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A Dream Come True
On Sunday afternoon, Mr Chiots had a dream come true. Many years ago, Mr Chiots discovered the sport of curling and fell in love. Ever since then, he’s been watching it on the internet, during the Olympics and talking about playing some day. Back in Ohio, the closest curling club was pretty far away. While we were researching our move to Maine he discovered the Belfast Curling Club (the only curling club in Maine).
Lucky for us, it’s only about 25 minutes away. We’ve been driving by it every week when we head in to town and kept saying that we need to check out their schedule so we can go watch. Mr Chiots checked their website last week and they were having “Learn to Curl” classes on Sunday. We called to sign up and grew ever more excited about the possibility.
It just so happened that there were two classes scheduled for Sunday. The first was one full, but they told us they might be able to squeeze us in. If not, they told us we’d be in the second class. Since we were recording our podcast, we ended up heading down just for the second class. It just so happened that no one else came to that class so it was just us. We got a private curling lesson then we were throw into a game with a few members. All-in-all, we curled for three hours on Sunday.
Mr Chiots is a natural at the sport. If we weren’t heading out of the country for a few weeks this spring, he’d be playing on a team this season. He is excited about the fall and will certainly be on a team! I’m not sure if I’ll be on a team quite yet, I need some time to think about it and hone my skills before jumping in that quickly. I’m quite happy that Mr Chiots fulfilled a dream this week!
Have you been able to fulfill any dreams recently?
