Spring clean up

April 30th is the last day for burning here in Lincoln so we went for it today.  Last winter's storms brought down a lot of branches so we took this opportunity to gather them up from all over the property and have one more fire this year. I will admit that we want the place to look its best for all the out of town wedding guests who will be here Friday night.

I love to burn brush and branches and crackling evergreen boughs. And I love the fire when it has died down to ashes with a small stream of smoke curling up out of the grey pile. We went to check on it after dark tonight under a half moon and a sky full of stars. We could see the orange glow and couldn't bare to douse it with the hose. We left it to smolder until morning, going against the strict rules of having it out by 4 pm.  The wind has died down. It will be a quiet night. Even with wind those coals aren't going anywhere.

Shower

 Aunt Joellen reading her "women's wisdom" piece

 Opening present from Aunt Ruth. Of course her wisdom is folded up in an origami bird.

 Present wrapped in hand made paper!  We know you made that with mom in an art class  in Ashland, Oregon!

 Thanks, Aunt Susie. Of course the gift is decorated with characteristic flare. Someone commented on all the artists we have in our family. True enough!

 Katie, Tim's sister and Sarah are bride's maids.

 Marimekko is back! A few of us shared stories of our marimekko dresses from the 1970's.

 Katie drove up from Connecticut for this event. She will also be a bride's maid.

Barbara O'Neil,  mother of the bride and  Barbara O'Brien, mother of the groom who drove up from Long Island for this event and Page, the best party giver in the world.

                                                          Irene and Kay

 Aunt Roz drove down from Maine for the event and stayed to wash dishes with us (of course!)  before heading back.
Pam is next to her.

A shower gift for each of us by Katie O'Brien, Tim's sister. Antique tea cups with a card saying
"Love is brewing. Carrie and Tim, May 19, 2012."
 Older brother Tim was said to have commented on this gift as only an older brother can... "it is already brewed."

One of the amazing things about giving a wedding is the way friends and family have reached out to help in so many ways. Reached out to help and showed up to celebrate. Page gave a lovely party for Carrie. Everyone brought a favorite recipe to be put in a book we compiled for her along with a gift for her kitchen.

In the invitation Page also suggested people offer their own thoughts and wisdom about marriage and relationships. Many of us read them out loud and this sharing added a depth to a party that is often about just things. We all left having had a wonderful time.

Thank you, Page for this gift to all of us. I mean everyone who came. Look at the faces in the photos!
Love was all around. It was good practice for Carrie to just receive the out pouring of support which is not a thing that happens in life that much.  Weddings bring this out in people I am finding.

Portland, Maine

David and I spent a night in Portland with Eliza.  We went up to share a birthday (mine) dinner with her at Street and Company, a restaurant on Commercial Street that has become a favorite of ours over the last few years. The next day we had brunch at Hot Suppa! another popular site in the city. Portland has great food, art, buildings and people. A fun place to spend the weekend. We didn't mind the rain today. We are  grateful for rain, it has been a dry spring. Above, a few snapshots.

spring garden and birds

                    Stella keeps an eye on the chickens.

                                        Birds in the greenhouse

                                           Birds on the table

Robin invited a few of us over to fold origami birds in preparation for Carrie's wedding. We are all doing our part to reach 1000 cranes. As the number of days to the wedding decreases, the number of cranes increases. We are getting there! Thanks, Robin, for corralling us to fold and serving us coffee, strawberries and blueberry muffins.

Otis had no interest in our paper birds.

Best of all I got to wander through Robin's garden. Everything is budding and pushing up out of the ground. Birds flew from tree to bush to fence post. This is what we wait for in New England.

Birds arrive from Davis, California

Thank you Sylvia, Alden and Cody!

chapter 5 New Home

The turn into the driveway was tricky.

Settling down on a bed of gravel.

Done.

Chapter 4

Maybe some readers have seen where I am going with this story. Yes, the truck is gone, the barn is built so what is to become of the shed? We have considered this question for years and this year decided to get rid of it. But not into a dumpster if we could possibly manage it. This old building still has some life in it.

A neighbor with two teenage boys who work on cars, go carts, bikes, and other stuff was looking for a place to house all the contraptions that had been gathering in her driveway. She said she would love to have the shed. So after two moves on our property, it came time to move it again. This time it had to go on the road. Good bye shed.

Down our driveway, just fitting through the stone wall

Turning onto Moccasin Hill

A left on Laurel Drive

Keeping within the speed limit

Squeaking under two sets of power lines. A right turn into the neighbor's driveway.

Back home here is what it looks like without the shed.

Moving a building was really a thrill and we didn't pass one car, hit one power line, knock off any tree branches or lose the building entirely around a corner. Three vehicles, five men, a lot of strategizing and a lot of fun. We all felt victorious. How's that for recycling?

A Story, Part 3

The garage or shed as it came to be called served many purposes over the years. Before the barn was complete, it served as David's workshop. He had many admiring visitors who worked on projects there. (remember the beeswax candle making?)

But with the barn came a chance to move in and spread out and eventually the shed went back to it's original use; a place to store the truck. At some point during one of the two moves, the green doors with the windows were lost.

The Willys engine faltered and it sat for many years in the shed unused except as a home for mice and raccoons. A few years ago we decided to sell the truck. An ad in Craig's list attracted the attention of two high school seniors from the Putney School in Vermont who drove down, reached into pockets, handed us a wad of bills and towed the truck away with plans to refurbish it for their senior project. We liked knowing that there would be a new life for this old friend that had once hauled brush, trees, and little girls to swimming parties at Valley Pond.

Jump starting the truck one last time.

A Story, Part 2

Concrete floor! yeah! (but I am jumping ahead)

So the house construction project was completed, the garage watched from the side and baby Eliza arrived. Or more accurately, baby Eliza came and the house got done....eventually. The garage was too close now, so we moved it down the hill in the spring. Imagine moving a building! I was in awe of this.

Carrie helped.

We had to move it to make room for the new barn. Doesn't everyone need a barn? Framers came down from Vermont and stayed with us for three days and put up the timber frame that David had designed. For the next few years, David and occasionally helpers worked on it, putting on siding, roof, and installing windows and doors.

What did the old garage think of all this? Things had sure changed since the day the little house and garage sat side by side.

Here's the family standing in front of the old garage.

Now there are three building and four people in the family.

More to come in the next installment.