mea culpa; apparently, i go dormant every winter. after the coldest winter probably since the apex of the last ice age, spring is finally nosing its way in the door finally in the mountains of vermont. on monday, it was 70ºF, the first time it's been that warm since October. The average temperature this past … Continue reading out of hibernation
do you know ello? unless you live under a larger rock than i do, you have probably heard about the start up of this new, simple, ad-free social media site. simple and ad-free are what i'm all about. part of my role as curmudgeon is to hate flashing, intrusive, obnoxious content that i didn't ask … Continue reading ello, haiku! and all goats go to heaven
this intrepid blogger, hereinafter dubbed mud maiden, has just returned from a two week family vacation to california. while i was gone, the three or four feet of snow melted, leaving behind the muddy brown landscape of early vermont spring, an endless carpet of matted soggy brown grass, earthy squishiness, and manure that takes a … Continue reading error: spring not found
winter drags on and on in the hinterlands of vermont. march is always a tough month, the last rugged slog before the promise of mud and, finally, spring. this is the toughest march i’ve ever known. people i think of stalwart, stoic, and completely unflappable by anything so unimportant as mere weather are making noises … Continue reading when blood is nipped and ways be foul/then nightly sings the staring owl
i find it interesting how many people i meet who are deathly afraid of the average hen. at first i was perplexed, but the longer i know chickens (and now ducks), the less i am chagrined at the monkeybrain twitch that causes people to read "poultry" as "thunderlizard" and do without, thank you very much … Continue reading chickenasaurus rex
it has been a cold, miserable winter in the northeast. our snowfalls have been negligible but, like most of the US, the windchills have been brutal. we've been burning through hay for horses and goats wicked fast, even with soni away. my yaktrax have been on my boots so long, i'm not sure they'll come … Continue reading polar bears trawling the back yard
yesterday's slimy storm is over, leaving a shallow layer of slippery snow over the solid ice that was there on sunday. navigating our long, twisty driveway is a matter of faith and four-wheel-drive on mornings like this. i had just pulled out onto the road when i noticed a dark fluttering ahead. crows, i assumed, … Continue reading raven morning
in between dashing around central vermont yesterday fetching teenagers and carting them hither and yon for the purposes of my daughter's filmmaking project, we moved soni to his new temporary home. i had best intentions to document it with pictures, but this didn't happen. it didn't happen because i got home late and my uncle … Continue reading pony boarding school, mark 3
it has been rifle season, so of course the horses have been getting out and wandering in the woods. this is courtesy of soni, who is undaunted by the electric fence and has been breaking it on a corner twice a day, every day for three days. they all go to the shed, help themselves … Continue reading animals amok!
i have this problem: i can't be lazy. oh, i try. and i'm a world-class procrastinator and amateur layabout, don't get me wrong. it's just that when i'm faced with a weekend, two blissful days of not-having-to-be-anywhere-or-do-anything, i can't do nothing. i talk big on friday afternoon "o HO! i see thou, weekend! i shall squander … Continue reading lazy sun days
the gumboot gumshoe 