Anna's Little Farm

Scenes from NH

2012-07-17T15:30:00.000-04:00

Fields and the sand pit in Henniker...

Fishermen in the Contoocook, lilies, and dinner on the deck, all in my back yard...

Goffstown Coffee Shop in the old rail station...

Uncanoonuc Mountain Perennials...

And just so you don't think it's all so perfectly perfect, after installing a special lightbulb that was supposed to NOT attract bugs, I found two of these outside my back door...

YIKES! That lightbulb came out and the bugs were gone the following morning. I did notice far fewer moths, but honestly, I'd take 100 moths over two of whatever those bugs were!!!

Weeding Irises

2012-07-09T19:22:00.000-04:00

This was my reward for weeding a neglected bed of irises in the sun and 90+ degree heat on the Fourth of July...

Do you see him? Right in the center of the photo is a tiny, one-inch long praying mantis!

Equally cute is Little Miss Anna this past weekend, beaming when she saw that Grandpop drove down to PA with me to surprise her at the Rock School.

It was a whirlwind weekend of moving Anna into a single (roommate issues, don't ask), taking her out to eat, painting pottery (one of her favorite ways to unwind - unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the creative process), and swimming!

She was rested and relaxed when we left late Sunday afternoon. We won't see her again until the final Rock School performances at the end of July (sad face here) but I know she's happiest when she's dancing, so I'm happy too!

Another Weekend in Philly

2012-06-30T20:25:00.000-04:00

Last weekend was the start of Little Miss Anna's summer ballet intensive at the Rock School. It was a long drive from NH to PA on Saturday, which was complicated by the fact that (1) Anna was taking a ballet intensive in Concord with Tatiana Tchernova from Canada's National Ballet School until 7:30 each evening (Anna loved her classes with Tatiana and Tatiana loved Anna!)

and (2) the elderflowers were in full bloom right before we left, and are only in flower for about a week, so the night before the big trip down, we were canning elderflower cordial until 10 pm!

We started packing after canning, got in bed after midnight and finished packing in the morning, resulting in quite a late start. The drive was especially long because we stopped in MA to see Michael, and stopped in NJ to see Grandmom and Grandpop. Anna checked into the dorm on Sunday. Here she is settling in...

and with her roommate, Sarah... They are two very sweet girls (they both got lucky!)

Which brings me to this weekend - back in Philly because Anna is sick and it's hard to be sick without your mom around. I was worried that my presence would be a distraction, but Anna insisted it would "help" her ballet! She did seem a little more rested and relaxed after a night at the hotel, a swim in the pool, a soak in the hot tub and some food that wasn't from the dining hall. Sarah came with us and stayed overnight at the hotel, too, which was nice company for Anna and a welcome break from the dorm for Sarah. I have taken no photos of the sick girl at her request (she still looks pale and tired), but I can definitely say she is on the mend. She went to ballet today (yes, they have class on Saturday, but it's a short day - they get out at 4:00!) and she chose to stay at the dorm tonight to watch a movie with friends. Maybe she will be in the photographic mood tomorrow, but for now, here are some cute shots from Grandpop's Father's Day party at Joelle's house 2 weeks ago...

I love this last one. She is all leg!

New Kitchen

2012-06-19T18:33:00.004-04:00

Because we have gotten so many emails and questions about the new house, and because the kitchen is the only room that is completely clean and put away, here are a few photos of the new kitchen...

Ok, so maybe I forgot to clean the windows. At least this half of the dining room looks ship shape...

We'll post more photos of other rooms soon, although, especially at this time of the year, the river is the best feature of the house.

Happenings Since England

2012-06-07T21:43:00.001-04:00

I finally got around to making a proper birthday cake for Anna: three layers of sponge, with whipped cream, strawberries and blueberries. Anna couldn't resist putting it together herself.

We got the rest of our plants in: San Marzano tomatoes, 3 varieties of peppers (2 hot, 1 sweet), 2 more varieties of basil, more annual flowers and seeds, chard, cippollini onions, and maybe others that I am forgetting. We bought haricot vert seeds, which will soon replace the broccoli rabe. And we harvested our first batch of chamomile.

In other plant news, the orchids are multiplying, the catmint had aphids (unusual - generally you can't get rid of catmint and one of the plants was sucked dry before I realized it), and there has been no sign of powdery mildew this year, although I preemptively got rid of a lot of rudbeckia since that was the weak link last year.

Memorial Day dinner could not have been less traditional: the squid tubes looked great at Whole Foods the day before, so I made fried salt and pepper squid and Anna made four delicious dipping sauces to go with. We rounded out the anti-cookout with artichokes and elderflower cordial (opened the last jar from last year's canning effort) to drink.

Last weekend I moved from my apartment in Concord to a little house in Henniker. Right on the Contoocook River. I don't know how I ever lived without the constant sound of rushing water and a view like this from my back door. Can't wait to get my kayak up to NH.

Speaking of NH, I took this photo of Nick's Restaurant in Winchester...

Oh, the irony that just one short month ago I was taking photos of beautiful medieval buildings and a cathedral in Winchester England, and now I'm taking photos of an enormous blow-up crab on top of a building in Winchester New Hampshire!

Our Last Day - Day 10

2012-05-24T18:57:00.000-04:00

***which was actually Friday May 11. Wow, I'm really late going through photos for this last post on Anna's birthday trip to England...

Stourhead Garden - my favorite of all the English gardens I studied while in grad school. We were so close, but didn't quite make it. We could have stopped by on the way to the airport if we got up and out early-ish, but we wanted to savor our last morning in our beautiful surroundings.

Eileen brought us eggs from her chickens for breakfast (delicious - tasted just like our fresh Massachusetts eggs!) and we spent time walking around the cottage grounds, visiting with the animals (Anna took another round of photos of the sheep), petting the dogs and cats, and chatting with Eileen. The hours went by so pleasantly and so fast!

I realized that I never took photos of the parish church in Norton sub Hamden, its dovecote and the spectacular trees in the churchyard, even though we had explored the church and grounds fairly thoroughly. It was now or never (at least during this trip) for photographs.

One thing we noticed on the recent gravestones, and there were surprisingly many from the past 10 years, was that all the people who died were well into their 90's. Must be the good English country living.

I also now realize that I have never actually posted any photos of Norton sub Hamden, the village proper, which is, in my opinion, the most beautiful village I have ever seen. I love the yellow Ham Stone, which is only found on Ham Hill and used everywhere throughout the immediate region.

I love the close feeling of the houses, the thatched roofs and the tight roads.

I love the water which winds it's way through the town and around the houses.

One day while admiring some of the houses, a woman stopped and asked if I was lost. I said no, just looking around and thinking that this the most beautiful place in the world. She simply said "Yes, it is."

We took one last drive to Crewkerne. Stopped at Anna's favorite antique shop, where she had been eyeing a petite ruby ring since the first time we went into the shop. Had a snack - Anna's last cup of hot chocolate with real English whipped cream.

On our ride out A303 to toward Heathrow, we stopped to see Stonehenge. Eh. Interesting as a monument of human endeavor - heavy stones brought long distances and set in place without the aid of heavy equipment a long, long time ago. But I'm used to cathedrals. At least carve or decorate the stones in some way. Sheesh.

Well, it was actually a little more impressive the closer we got. The stones are very big!

In addition to prehistoric stone monuments, there were fresh English strawberries available along the road, so we pulled off and bought a quart. Delicious. You know Anna feels comfortable somewhere if she can buy produce off a motorway from a stranger. Or maybe she was just desperate for the first fresh strawberries of the season!

The rest of the trip was uneventful - drive to the airport, drop off rental car, check in at British Airways, board, eat, sleep, not the smoothest landing, customs at Logan, 2 hour drive home. And that was that.

Sherborne - Day 9

2012-05-14T21:27:00.003-04:00

***Note: We are officially back in the normal swing of things in the US. We arrived home very early Saturday morning. Anna made it to ballet for a 9:30 class (true dedication). I drove back to Concord on Sunday. The first day back to work after a long break is always rough, but I've been looking forward to going through photos to finish my blog postings for our last 2 days in England.

There are always bunnies in this part of the field.

Today we were feeling, right from the morning, that our beautiful vacation is coming to an end. There were so many things we wanted to see and do, but of course we knew we wouldn't be able to fit in everything. Anna was feeling like she didn't get enough shopping in while at Bath yesterday. I was feeling like I haven't been able to relax and enjoy the immediate area enough. Michael was feeling like the decision of what to do today would best be left to me and Anna.

We picked Sherborne, another medieval market town located about 20 minutes away from the cottage. It is bigger than Crewkerne (which has been described by Eileen, the owner of the cottage, as a "one horse town," which might be a fair assessment, but I do love its charms), and has a reputation for good shops and antiques. There is also an abbey and a castle that was built by (for) Sir Walter Raleigh.

It was market day, so local vendors were set up along the high street. Anna and I bought some hot cross buns, while Michael looked longingly at the local meats, knowing they wouldn't keep in the car all day. There was a steady drizzle, which made it imperative that we stop in each shop along the street to keep dry on the way to the abbey. We found another hat shop, this one more expensive than the one in Bath.

We also stopped for the best lunch we've had yet - fish pie with mashed potatoes and cheese on top for me, steak and ale for Michael, and more eggs, bacon and potatoes for Anna, with her usual hot chocolate and whipped cream (she's in a rut!) It was again the best whipped cream Anna has ever tasted! I couldn't even wait to take a bite before I took this photo...

Sherborne Abbey was so beautiful - Anna said it was her favorite church. There were sections of the Saxon structure, medieval stained glass, and the nave was stunning and colorful.

There were also some colorful stories associated with the abbey. When it became a Benedictine Abbey, the monks built a separate but attached structure for the villagers to worship in and kicked them out of the abbey proper. The baptismal font which had been used by the villagers for generations was still located in the abbey, so whenever there was a child to be baptized, the villagers had to request of the monks permission to use it. The villagers didn't like this, so they carved their own font and began using that. The monks didn't like this, so they smashed the villagers' font. In retaliation, the villagers shot flaming arrows into the abbey, where the ceiling was being renovated. The scaffolding caught on fire and the flames permanently stained some of the stone red.

We stayed at the abbey all afternoon, and didn't make it to Sherborne Castle before it closed for the day. With a little extra time on our hands, we took the back way home to the cottage, driving up Ham Hill to take in the view of our village and the surrounding countryside.

We got home early and had a relaxing evening. Anna and I went over to the farmhouse to chat with Eileen and a couple other guests. We talked about the Royals, and Anna got quite an education about the naughty behavior of some of the members of the Royal family! She still loves the idea of having a queen, though, and we both regret not being able to be in England for the Diamond Jubilee in June.

Bath and Cheddar - Day 8

2012-05-12T19:17:00.003-04:00

We’ve been going to Crewkerne every day since we arrived for bread and essentials, but today, Anna and I went early for a traditional English breakfast at Bilby’s and then a little shopping while Michael caught up on his work. Well, Little Miss Anna had the big breakfast - runny eggs on a sandwich with bacon and mushrooms (changed out from sausage - yes, the special was actually eggs, bacon AND sausage!), potatoes and a dressed salad, and her usual hot chocolate with whipped cream ("English whipped cream is the best whipped cream I've ever had in my life" - we've heard that a lot). My roots are clearly continental because I prefer a cup of tea and a bit of bread or other baked good in the morning.

As always, the drive into town was gorgeous (and grey!)

When we got back, Michael was still working, but we soon left to spend the rest of the day in Bath, which is a beautiful city.

We saw Bath Abbey and the Roman Baths, which are located right next to each other in an interesting architectural and religious juxtaposition. You can see the Abbey peaking out over the Baths in the photo below. (I'll spare you interior photos of another church!)

One of our main reasons for going to Bath was to visit the Makery. Unfortunately they didn't have any workshops during our time in England (we just missed the knicker workshop), but we spent a good long time picking out some crafty items and fabrics at the shop. And to make it up to Michael, we had an early dinner at the pub right next door, which bills itself as the tiniest pub in Bath. That seems likely.

We also spent some time in a hat shop. Anna is really embracing British culture! And it looks so good on her.

On the drive back, we took a detour through Cheddar Gorge. Cheddar cheese was first produced there, with the numerous caves in the gorge used to cure the cheese. It was raining and getting dark, but the gorge was spectacular.

What a long and busy day with a lot of driving. Tomorrow we should pare down our list - maybe pick only one place to go - and try to have a more relaxing day.

Dorset Coast - Day 7

2012-05-12T10:41:00.001-04:00

The weather was even more beautiful today than yesterday. It was the perfect day to spend time at the coast. We got an early start, stopped in Crewkerne to buy some new shoes for Anna (beautiful, expensive German shoes to provide support for her ballet arches - she left her sneakers outside overnight and it rained - I think she did it on purpose!) and some bread for lunch (to go with all the magnificent British cheese!) and then drove south to Durdle Door, an arch worn by the sea through the rock. There are many superlatives I could use to describe the coast, but I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

The walk down was not for the faint of heart, but it was warm on the pebble beach, which was protected from the wind by the chalk cliffs. Anna sketched, I rested and we all walked along the water - it was cold, but still not as cold as the ocean at Hampton Beach, NH in the summer!

We drove to Lyme Regis for dinner. Driving through the back roads of the countryside is a pleasure. "It is just so beautiful." (I put that in quotes because Anna and Michael have been teasing me about saying that particular phrase constantly.) But it is my favorite part of out trip to be able to see beautiful little villages and parish churches that are off the beaten path.

Along the way to Lyme Regis, we came upon this ancient church in Whitcombe, no longer in use. I had a nice conversation with Ian, the caretaker, who was cutting the grass, and we found we had many things in common. We both have a 13-year old daughter who is home-educated, we are both very skeptical of genetically modified foods and animal feeds and consider it important to live in an area that produces good food, and we both keep chickens and had similar bad experiences with roosters (or, as Ian called them, cockerels). We also talked about the differences in the agricultural landscapes of England and New England. (In case you are wondering, there is more agricultural land, and the grazing lands and farm fields are vast and undulating in the south of England, whereas in Western Massachusetts, there is much more forest land (85% of the landscape), the fields are much smaller, and at higher elevations the land becomes rocky glacial till unsuitable for farming, although fine for sheep as Anna’s Little Farm can attest.) It was a pleasure speaking with Ian and seeing that we are all the same.

We arrived at Lyme Regis fairly late and had dinner at a local pub - fish and chips for me, baked whole dab for Michael, and a vegetarian mushroom, spinach, cranberry and brie Wellington for Anna. They were all excellent.

Such a very pretty seaside town, isn't it? And just an hour's drive from Bagnell Cottage.

South Somerset - Day 6

2012-05-11T04:00:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday Anna! We woke up to the sound of baa-ing lambs. Also raindrops. It has been grey every day, with a few breaks of sun and a few periods of misty rain, but this is the first real rain we’ve seen.

We had a leisurely morning cup of tea in the conservatory (you can see Anna is all attitude now that she is a teenager!), and as the rain subsided, we started to explore the gardens around our cottage. The setting is spectacular. The cottage is set within old stone retaining walls on two sides, and there are stone steps and terraces beautifully planted all around.

Anna standing in front of our cottage, with the main farmhouse to the right

Anna wanted to spend her birthday at the sea, but once we started walking around, she decided to stay here. We explored the cottage gardens and the fields beyond. There were chickens, sheep and cows - perfect for Little Miss Anna!

We drove to Crewkerne, which is an old medieval market town about 5 miles away. It was a bank holiday, so very few stores were open, but there were many people walking around enjoying the day, and the town looked lovely with flags and buntings strung on the buildings. We found out that it was to celebrate the visit of the Queen just 4 days ago, as part of the Diamond Jubilee. It was the first time in 400 years that a king or queen has visited Crewkerne.

The Birthday Girl in front of a garden in Crewkerne

We picked up a few essentials at the food co-op, mostly local dairy products, along with some bread, local meats and fresh eggs (with a few feathers stuck to them - just like at home) to make a late breakfast feast for Anna, followed by more tea and cake in the conservatory.

Then we were off to view the countryside. The sun broke out and it was the most glorious day of our trip. We walked to Montacute House, a beautiful 400-year-old residence with formal gardens. It was supposed to take about 30 minutes, but we took a leisurely 2 hours to get there.

The public footpath to Montacute (among other places) is right outside our door. The path goes through active grazing land, so we had to go through gates and over fences. I felt like Elizabeth Bennet walking to Netherfield.

Looking back toward the farms near our cottage

Some of the old hedgerows have been in the same location for 800 years, I’m told. The older the hedgerow, the deeper and steeper the bank, enclosing old roads and fields. It is an art to lay a hedge, which requires cutting through the stem of the plant forming the hedge almost all the way through and then bending it over and weaving it between wooden stakes.

We took the path up the center of Whitcombe Valley, an ancient iron-age landscape with terraced slopes, and enjoyed the frolicking lambs grazing with their moms. Even though we have our own sheep, we never get tired of looking at lambs. We saw some sheep that looked like they could be the English version of Border Leicesters (our breed), but with the typically English ears, which are larger and more erect (I’m talking about sheep, not people).

We got caught in a little shower, but it passed quickly and no one got too wet even though we didn’t bring an umbrella.

At the top of the hill, we could see Montacute in the distance, but since the bluebells are in bloom, so we took a short detour through the wood to see the wildflowers, before getting back on Hollow Lane. The name is certainly appropriate.

Montacute, a National Trust property, was impressive. Most of the structure is 400 years old, with later additions and changes. It was well-furnished and contained Tudor and Jacobean portraits from the National Portrait Gallery.

If this looks vaguely familiar to you, it might be because Tottington Hall in Wallace and Gromit's Curse of the Were-rabbit was modeled after Montacute House.

We didn’t have as much time as we would have liked to explore the interior before it closed because of our extended walk, but we made up for it in the formal gardens.

South Somerset is the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen. We took it all in slowly again on the return walk and barely made it back to the cottage before dark. We’ll have Anna’s official birthday dinner tomorrow.

Winchester and West - Day 5

2012-05-10T04:00:00.001-04:00

Today is the day I’ve been waiting for. We left London this morning and headed west to the South Somerset countryside, to a little cottage on the outskirts of Norton Sub Hamdon. But I’m getting ahead of myself. We spent the majority of the day driving west, with a long stop at Winchester, only arriving at Bagnell Cottage after dark.

Driving on the left was interesting, and not especially difficult to get used to. There were no scary moments. Part of the reason for the smooth transition was the car we rented. It is a Vaux Hall, which truly has the worst visibility out the windows of any car I have ever driven, but it is an automatic - no thinking required. It would be a different story if we had to shift with the left hand rather than the right, AND remember to stay on the wrong side of the street!

Winchester was a spectacular, ancient city, the capital of England before London. Below is the entry arch from both sides.

We really enjoyed Winchester Cathedral. Two sections of the cathedral are Norman, dating from the late 11th to early 12th centuries, and it is possible to see the juxtaposition of the later gothic additions and the Norman sections, both on the exterior and inside the cathedral.

Jane Austen was buried in Winchester Cathedral. Apparently there were excellent doctors in Winchester during her day, and when she was ill, her sister took her to Winchester. Six weeks later, she never left.

The churchyard contains huge old yews, the traditional tree planted in cemeteries, and the Close Garden was intimate and well planted.

Anna loved the rosemary

View of the Cathedral from the Close

We also visited the Great Hall, with King Arthur’s Round Table hanging from the wall. Carbon dating dates it to the 12th century, so it was not actually King Arthur’s, but a very early replica from the time of the construction of the Hall. The Hall was huge, open and very tall - I can only imagine how cold it must have been in the winter.

The City was a great place to walk around, although the weather was grey as usual. Much of the old part is closed to vehicles, and everything is accessible to curious tourists.

We had a traditional lunch of Cornish pasties - fortunately there were vegetarian options. This is not the type of meal one can eat every day. I think it will still be sitting in my stomach tomorrow, maybe even the next day.

After our long visit and a quick cup of tea and a snack, we were on our way further west to Somerset. We arrived after dark, driving down a long farm road, but I could see the little stone cottage was surrounded by gardens, and I could hear the baa-ing of sheep further in the distance.

London - Day 4

2012-05-09T04:07:00.000-04:00

Anna and I were on our own for much of today, as Michael had to work (the internet is both a blessing and a curse).

Our first stop of the day was back to the Royal Opera House. The Royal Ballet gift shop was closed when we arrived for the ballet last night, and Anna had been saving all her money specifically for this. I don’t want to say how long we spent there, or how much we spent there, but it was definitely the shopping high point from Anna’s perspective. And we got photos of cute little mini-tutus...

After lunch at M&S in Covent Garden, we took the tube to St. Paul’s Cathedral, where we happened upon a wedding just as the wedding party and guests were leaving the cathedral. We spent an enjoyable time watching and snapping photos of hats from a distance!

Anna and I also took many photos of St. Paul’s. Again, no photos allowed inside, but given our success yesterday at Westminster Abbey...

St. Paul’s was designed by Christopher Wren after the original St. Paul’s burned in the 1660’s. It is classical and stunningly beautiful.

Then I looked at my watch and realized we were going to be late meeting Michael at the British Museum. This was high on Anna’s list because of the Rosetta Stone and the excellent collection of Egyptian funerary items, specifically the cat and kitten mummies, although I think she also rather enjoyed the tiny fish mummy, which you can see in its wooden fish case at the left of the photo. The girl has her priorities!

Outside the British Museum

And one of Michael’s priorities was to eat Indian food in London, which is how we wrapped up our day.

London - Day 3

2012-05-09T03:43:00.002-04:00

*** Note: As you have probably noticed, I’m a few days behind on my blog posting. Like Anna, I’ve been writing a little about each day before bedtime, but the photos - downloading, selecting and resizing - is the weak link in the operation. That, along with wifi only available in the common area, has caused a backup of posts. And really, what’s a post from England without photos? So, let’s get back to Friday...

Today was an especially long day, beginning with a trip to Westminster Abbey and ending with Anna’s official birthday present (three days early), a performance of La Fille Mal Gardee at the Royal Ballet. Anna and I also managed to get in a little shopping in Sloane Square while Michael was back at the hotel. We loved the fact that the Peter Lewis department store had a “knitting wool” section and were especially impressed by the number and range of throw pillows in the home section - racks and racks of them. It was hard to resist the owl and union jack pillows, but we ultimately bought only 2 cookbooks which would easily fit into our carry-ons.

At this point, Anna is quite comfortable taking the tube everywhere. She has commented more than once that London is nothing like NYC! Everyone is very friendly and helpful, and quiet, just like Anna. There have actually been a couple loud, unruly kids, and a few adults that didn’t have a good sense of their own personal space. What did they have in common? They were French.

We passed by Parliament and Big Ben on the way to Westminster Abbey. Anna was especially proud of capturing the flag flying over parliament.

I love the way the British are loathe to cut down their old trees...

We took some rogue photos within Westminster Abbey (where no photos are allowed). I was not struck down, so I think someone above also feels that if you pay nearly $50 for family admission to a church, you should be able to take a few photos. The Abbey is truly awe-inspiring. William the Conqueror was crowned here in 1066, and it is the burial place for Kings and Queens of the last thousand years. We walked next to the ancient tombs, and were able to touch the stone.

The stained glass windows and the ceiling of Henry VII’s Lady Chapel were so delicate and lovely...

Contrasted with the nave (not the best quality, but I did what I could from my coat pocket)...

We were allowed to take photos in the Cloisters...

Anna and I then walked to Buckingham Palace, stopping at the Royal Mews, which is the cleanest stable I have ever seen. There was also an impressive collection of carriages. The Royal Mews was interesting in that it is a little village. Above the stables and the carriage rooms are apartments, where everyone who works with the horses and tack, as well as the chauffeurs, live. Anna is always very happy around horses!

But not quite as happy as she is doing ballet, and going to the ballet!

The performance was excellent (to be expected), and it was nice to see this particular ballet because it was a Sir Frederick Ashton ballet originally choreographed for the Royal Ballet. It’s one of our favorite ballets (actually the first ballet we saw at Boston Ballet when Anna was just 5 years old), and I don’t think any other company can perform it quite so well or so true to the original choreography.

London - Day 2

2012-05-05T05:52:00.000-04:00

Today could best be described as the Tower Bridge Day, although, ironically, we didn't actually go there.

The Tower Bridge was on a short list of things planned for the day, but we ended up spending the entire day at the Tower of London, where Anna took photos of the Tower Bridge from a distance and at every possible angle. (It seems clear that we are not going to visit all the sites we intended during this trip!)

The Tower of London with a new skyscraper "the Shard" nearing completion in the background

Inside the Tower of London

The Tower of London is actually an old village consisting of many towers, which were often used as prisons, although they weren't originally intended as such.

Anna in front of the Queen's House and the Tower Green

Also within the Tower we saw the Queen's House (meaning Anne Boleyn), shown above, a chapel that has been in continuous use for over 500 years, ramparts, old Roman foundations, a medieval palace which was the Royal Residence, the royal ravens kept by the monarchy for good luck, the Tower Green, which was the prime execution location when that sort of thing was popular family fun, and numerous residences currently in use by various heads of State. And of course, there are the crown jewels (no photos allowed). Most of the photos (and this is just a tiny selection) were taken by Anna, who I think is developing a good eye for photography. See how many images of the Tower Bridge or parts thereof you see (there are 5 below)!

On the walk home, I couldn't resist taking a photo of this beautiful espaliered magnolia tree just around the corner from our hotel. It is incredible!

And Little Miss Anna has been very good about wrapping up her days by writing in her journal.

London - Day 1

2012-05-03T15:32:00.000-04:00

Little Miss Anna's first glimpse of England from her window seat...

"The tea just tastes so much better in England. The cookies are good, too." -Anna, whilst relaxing in the hotel after the flight over

After another cup of tea, we left for a leisurely afternoon at the Victoria and Albert Museum. It is walking distance, and the walk could not have been more pleasant, passing beautiful old apartment blocks and gardens with plants I can only dream could grow in New England.

This garden is directly across the street from our hotel...

Speaking of dreams, we also stopped at an Aga showroom...

After just one afternoon in London, Anna has decided that the Royal Ballet is the company she aspires to.

Window Insulation New Hampshire Style

2012-04-16T22:50:00.000-04:00

Classic New Hampshire...

We watched our neighbor a block down the street seal up his windows before winter. It was almost 90 degrees today. Just wondering when he's going to remove all that duct tape and let the fresh spring air in.

Weekend Gardening 1

2012-04-05T20:12:00.000-04:00

Seeds planted:

Spinach (two varieties)

Broccoli Raab

Sweet Peas

Seeds almost planted:

Sugar Snap Peas (forgot to soak them overnight)

Seeds started:

Sugar Pie Pumpkins

Alyssum (two varieties)

Basil

Johnny Jump Ups

Cumin (we also ate some of the cumin seeds!)

Seedlings transplanted:

Chamomile

Quality time with the animals:

A LOT

And there is always time for a little baking, in this case, strawberry semolina muffins:

All in all a great weekend, although it started (not surprisingly) with sheep trouble. Saturday morning I spied a little patch of nettles coming up. As soon as I finished saying to Michael that I was going to pick them and we'd have nettles and potatoes for dinner, Bunny trotted over, pushed her head through the fence and began eating them! Unbelievable.

That wasn't the only trouble with sheep. Baa Baa broke through the fence and into our garden. The other sheep, sensing a weakness in the perimeter, immediately gathered on their side of the breach and tried to push in. Michael stood guard and Anna lured them back to their shed with grain. We were able to get Baa Baa out without any damage. In fact, he ate down some overgrown grass, so it turned out to be a win-win situation, although a little tense at first considering the amount of destruction that can be caused in a matter of minutes by a single large sheep.

Crash couldn't get enough of the new bed that Michael was prepping and settled in for the afternoon, forcing Michael to call it quits early. I sense a little collusion between the boys!

Anna was a busy bee, as usual, but always finds time to be a friend to her animals. Look at Lucy's face as Anna is scratching her. Pure bliss! The sheep and chickens really love Anna.

4 Flavors of Ice Cream

2012-04-02T19:07:00.000-04:00

All in the freezer at one time. And Anna and I are not even big ice cream eaters. Let me explain. It all started with Anna saying how much she loves creamsicles. Then the conversation went something like this:

We can make our own creamsicles with vanilla ice cream and orange sherbet.

Let's go to the co-op and get some.

(No orange sherbet)

Let's get vanilla and raspberry sorbet. That would be a great combination.

(Bought them and were walking back to the apartment)

I'm surprised you didn't just get the coconut. It's your favorite and it would be great with raspberry.

It would be, but so would the belgian chocolate. And we've been meaning to try that.

Mmmm. Chocolate and raspberry. That would be great with the vanilla too.

Actually it would be really great with coconut.

(Back to the co-op for chocolate and coconut)

A Tale of Two Weekends

2012-03-30T17:30:00.000-04:00

And how different they were. A few weekends ago I decided, mostly for Anna's sake but also for my own, that I needed to make a real effort to get back into our normal, "old" life routine - more home time, more baking, more gardening (the weather has really been that nice!), more time with the animals, and maybe even a few blog postings here and there.

Of course this will all have to be packed into our weekend time, but we were off to a good start with a trip to the sugar shack and the bulb show at Smith College - two of our favorite harbingers of spring. Spring and the start of the growing season seem the right time to make that kind of resolution - moreso than the start of the new calendar year.

Anna took about a hundred photos of her favorite spring bulbs and other plants as we walked through the greenhouses. There was talk of our own gardens and thoughts of starting seeds.

Last weekend, I made good on my intentions and we really got down to the business of being home and focusing on the enjoyment of doing all our home work together. Oh, there were the usual problems with sheep breaking into the house, but the weather was great and we accomplished a lot.

And usually the sheep are good helpers, and not too naughty (except maybe Bunny).

The daffodils were starting to pop up and we noticed that many of them were under branches that had broken off during that devastating snowstorm in October, so we did a comprehensive cleanup of all the storm remnants and made a scary-big burn pile. We might be separating it into smaller piles for safety reasons.

We strolled around the yard and assessed the garden situation, planted some of our indoor bulbs for next year (the green parts of our spent tete-a-tetes looked tasty to Miss Fudge), found a little curled up wooly worm and put him under one of the butterfly bushes away from hooves, prepped all the containers on the porch for planting, looked through our saved seeds to determine what new seeds need to be purchased (not many) and planned this year's beds.

As you can see below, garden planning is a serious process involving analysis, organization and documentation, using not one, but two laptops. Anna has also set up an excellent, ongoing gardening journal (great homeschool project!) listing all our ornamental plants and fruit trees, information about their location, cultural requirements, how well they grow from year to year, and photographs of each one.

But a girl can only work so long without a break for baked goods. In anticipation of our annual hot cross bun baking extravaganza (every weekend throughout the Easter season - we were a little late starting this year - or maybe Easter is just a little early!), we made a huge supply of candied orange peel. I wish I had some photos of the peel cooling in the pot - it was the most beautiful, rich, glossy, deep orange color - but I was very busy trying to keep Michael and Anna from eating too much of it. It was an excellent batch - even better than last year's, I'm told.

Anna enjoyed making the hot cross buns - she put together the mixed spice with a lot of freshly grated nutmeg, and she is the best kneeder, only once distracted from her task by a squirrel trying to get into the squirrel-proof feeder at our kitchen window. Poor guy. We threw some black oil sunflower seeds on the porch floor for him for his effort.

We make our buns with a cross scored into the top before baking rather than an icing cross, but the buns do benefit from a sugar glaze when they are hot out of the oven.

They are irresistible, especially eaten in the sunshine on the porch with a cup of tea. Crashy was relaxing just inside the door, close to us but out of the sun. Such a handsome old man, isn't he?

Being in the cooking mode, we also made Michael a traditional Irish dinner for St. Patrick's Day. Potatoes featured prominently in each dish. And we weren't shy with the cabbage either!

By the end of the weekend, I was feeling great and thinking that splitting my time between two states could really work as long as I had this time at home on the weekends to focus on the important things.

And then there was this past weekend. I drove over 900 miles (seriously). It all started with a trip on Thursday to Children's Hospital in Boston for a follow-up for Little Miss Anna's ankle. She is in pretty good shape - one ligament is completely healed, the other is still a little frayed and damaged, but she is on the mend. She has been on pointe again for 4 weeks with no real problems other than a little soreness from not having used certain muscles for so long. We don't have to go back for 5 months - great news! And the weather was gorgeous and the cherry trees and magnolias were in bloom. In Boston. In March.

Friday we drove to Philadelphia for a ballet summer intensive audition. We didn't stop off at home as originally planned, but met Michael for a quick lunch in Noho and then headed straight to our B&B. It was a nice night to walk around the city but not for too long because Anna needed a good night sleep. We came across this garden built of broken china and glass - beautiful with the night lights shining off every surface.

And here she is the next morning, ready to walk to the Rock School for her audition.

We had already emailed the three required audition photos (taken during my lunch hour in the community center behind City Hall - all that physical therapy for her ankle did wonders for her legs too!), so the only thing left for Anna to do was to wow them with her beautiful dancing. It went very well - the director said they would "love" to have her this summer.

Unfortunately, our plans for walking around the old part of the city and seeing the Liberty Bell were ruined by the ever-increasing rainfall. I offered to drive Anna around so she could at least get the windshield tour, but her response was "Let's just go to Grandmom and Grandpop's. I got what I came for." She is all business when it comes to ballet - don't let that smile fool you!

We spent a great 24 hours with G.mom and G.pop, and then drove home. Michael made us dinner, Anna snuggled her Tiger, I gave Crashy puppy treats, and then, 2 hours after we arrived, we left for NH. So much for settling in at home last weekend, but I'm looking forward to a quiet, busy-at-home weekend with my girl beginning in 2 hours, after my drive home.

Primary Day in NH

2012-01-10T13:29:00.000-05:00

Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Massachusetts any more...

Yuck, I feel dirty just knowing that's right outside City Hall!

A Couple Days in Boston...

2011-12-14T23:21:00.000-05:00

courtesy of the EPA (thank you to all the federal tax payers out there) which provided the members of the New England Municipal Sustainability Network with lodging at the Marriott, conveniently located across from the aquarium. Obviously Michael and Anna joined me on this business trip. I worked on climate adaptation planning issues, they spent quality time with the penguins, jellyfish and octopus, we all had dinner at Faneuil Hall, and Anna made good use of the pool by doing a ballet class. The view of Boston Harbor from our room was just beautiful.

It was a nice little trip for all of us!

Catching Up

2011-11-18T09:52:00.000-05:00

The last three weeks have been a whirlwind of tying up loose ends, weather events, new faces and places, meetings, illness (Little Miss Anna), and a lot of driving. Let's start on October 27, the date of our first snow of the year.

It looked magical at night when the snow first started and by the time the sun came up the next morning, there was an inch or so of wet snow. I though Anna would be thrilled (Crash was, running around licking the snow), but she said "Eh," knowing that more snow was on the way. And we had plans to go to our favorite ballet store in Newton. Definitely more interesting than a touch of snow.

New pointe shoe ribbons were sewn, Nutcracker rehearsals were attended, and we were ready to leave for Concord directly from ballet on Saturday afternoon, even though the snow had started. After we passed the third car off the road, as well as a police cruiser being towed out of a ditch, we decided to head home to Leverett instead, scrapping all plans of cleaning the apartment from top to bottom before the start of my new job and hitting the outlet shops for some new work clothes (Planning Departments have significantly higher standards of dress than construction companies!)

The power went off at around 8:30 pm. No big deal, we have candles, the house was warm enough to last through the night, and we had already eaten dinner, so there was no need to open the fridge. Sunday morning, there was well over a foot of really heavy, wet snow and about a dozen trees and/or large limbs down, many on our sheep fencing, three in our driveway, but fortunately nothing fell on the house, sheep shed or our cars. And the power was still out.

After enjoying some play time in the snow, marveling at both the beauty and the destructive power of nature and assuming everything would be back to normal soon enough, Anna and I left (again) for Concord. It became very clear, very quickly from driving on the roads - there were definitely some scary moments driving under trees and power lines - that there wouldn't be power in our area for days.

Michael drove up to Concord to take me out to dinner on my first day at the new job, but had to head back to MA the same night to hold down the fort and bring water from UMass to our animals every day since our well pump had run out of water the night before. UMass also opened one of the gyms so people without power could take showers. Rashonda joined us in Concord the next day, sick and tired of having to drive around in her car from time to time to warm up and charge her iPhone. Power was finally restored after 6 long, cold days. Well, cold for Michael.

My first week at my new job in Concord was busy. Meetings every day and some evenings. Having Rashonda and Anna unexpectedly with me all week made the transition easier and much more lively. Anna tried out a back-up ballet school for when she's with me in Concord, which uses the same ballet syllabus (Vaganova) that Rose and Charles use. Consistency is important and the girls in her classes were so friendly and kind. Homeschooling fell by the wayside. There's always next week...

Not so. Anna had been feeling mildly under the weather for a couple weeks, and after driving home, spending the weekend cleaning up after the storm, driving back to Concord, doing a little cleaning at the apartment (still not done), I went to work, attended many, many meetings and by Tuesday morning Anna was burning up and could barely get out of bed. Seventh day on the job and I left early to drive Anna back to MA to our usual doctor's office, not wanting to have to pick a doctor in the Concord area under these circumstances. She had an ear infection and strep. That would explain why she was feeling so miserable.

Two days of rest at home with her Tiger to snuggle, plus amoxicillin, and Little Miss Anna was feeling much better. So much better that when I got back home for the weekend we were able to clean the sheep shed and the chicken coop, scrub all the water and food buckets, finish stripping lavender for sachets (yes Joelle, that's the lavender we picked at your house a couple months ago!), clean and organize the utility room, get out the Christmas decorations, and, most importantly, celebrate Rashonda's birthday.

I'm just winding up my third week at my new job, still feeling very unsettled because we haven't been able to fall into a regular schedule of time at home and time in Concord, and really looking forward to heading back to Leverett for what will be the official start (a very late start, for us) of the Christmas Decorating with Anna.

R.I.P. Buttercup

2011-10-06T10:37:00.000-04:00

Buttercup, the last of our three runner ducks, died on Monday morning. She was the sweetest of all our pets.

We Heart Ducks (Buttercup is behind Jemima)

Anna, Natasha and the Ducks

Baby Ducks

Duck Girl

Looking a Bit Skeptical

Among Her Chicken Friends

Yum, freshly planted flowers!

Taking a Dip

Always on the Move

Enjoying a Warm Shower

Best Buddies

Eating Peaches

Sweetest Duck in the World

I Write My Blog

2011-08-17T09:13:00.000-04:00

Awesome video by my dear friend Gideon, a gifted cellist and non-blogger with a great sense of humor...

Maybe I should be offended? But I crack up every time I watch it!

Garden Woes and Beechnuts

2011-08-16T08:52:00.000-04:00

This has not been the best year for plants. The beginning of the growing season was cool and wet. Then nearly 3 weeks with no rain and very high temps. Then wet, wet weather again. We have battled powdery mildew on our Rudbeckia - cutting out the worst stems, spraying with neem oil every week. It spread to our tomatoes, although now I'm wondering if they don't also have a wilt. Then we noticed that something was defoliating and eating the fruit on some of our pepper plants. Now, we have always had excellent luck with peppers, even getting a second flowering and fruiting by potting up the plants and bringing them inside just before the first frost, so this was especially demoralizing. The culprit? Tobacco hornworm.

This one was 4 inches long. I didn't measure his juicy girth. I looked at those pepper plants so many times over the past week, it's hard to believe I missed something this big and disgusting. Actually, as I described it over dinner, beyond disgusting. Anna's friend Natasha, who is visiting from Portland, OR, said there must be a word for "beyond disgusting" and came up with revolting. That about sums it up. Thanks Natasha!

Michael and I then inspected out tomato plants and removed about a dozen hornworms - as if the poor tomatoes haven't been stressed enough this year. None were as big as the one eating our peppers, but it was just as satisfying to hear the plop as they dropped into our bucket of soapy water to meet their demise. We found one hornworm with parasitic wasp eggs on it's back. We left it to hatch out the wasps, which will ultimately kill the hornworm and hopefully lay more eggs on any other hornworms around.

Revolting, right? The girls were correspondingly unwilling to help in the hornworm search, although they are plant lovers as I am. After a broken ankle follow-up a few days ago, we walked through Durfee Conservatory at UMass (it was on the way to the car, really), lingered at the koi pond, and spent the rest of the sunny afternoon in Durfee Gardens.

The girls ate some under-ripe apples from the espaliered apple trees (no upset tummies later - I think that's an old wives tale) and found some lemon sorrel to nibble, but the biggest draw was this huge beech tree and it's nut-laden branches. It's a little early for beechnuts, but we spent a good hour looking for partially opened nuts on the tree. We were able to open the husks with some difficulty and then get the two tiny nutmeats out of their skins. They tasted green, not quite ripe, but in the aftertaste you could start to sense the sweet beechnut flavor developing. Of course, they were made all the sweeter by the work it took to get at them.