the life I picked

a bushel of gumption, an ounce of grace

time, Einstein, elasticity

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Speaking with a friend over the weekend, the issue of not having enough time came up. He doesn’t have enough, can’t find enough. He is indeed really, really busy, with a demanding work schedule and at times unforeseeable hours. He feels like he pretty much ricochets from one thing to the next with not as much agency as he’d like….

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les collines at midwinter

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Almost halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, we were back in our new Hillsdale space producing two flavors from spring and one from fall. On an early February day that could easily have been pulled from late April at nearly 60 degrees, funnily enough frozen Kinderhook rhubarb– our first fruit of spring– was onIMG_2226 the stove in two forms. Juice, for beautiful pint jars of jelly, and chopped stalks, for our preserve with vanilla bean and Harney Earl Grey Supreme tea. And, the near-last of autumn’s garnet crabapple juice.

The pint jars of rhubarb jelly were destined for the Vischer Ferry General Store in southern Saratoga County, where chef Anouk Booneman will be using the jelly in her creations there. The jelly is our only flavor that has proved to be somewhat ephemeral, losing color and flavor over time. It begins as a lovely pale guava color, then fades to a sort of light golden. Perhaps, on this weekend of valentines, a bit like capricious love. Best to savor when fresh xo

snow, deep cold, slow cooking

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The snow finally came, two delayed school openings in a row– that’s more a function of the timing than the amount, but still. Snow, finally.

The deep cold is on its way, highs this weekend forecast in the single digits. Whoa, cold. More wood on the way. Time to get some slow cooking happening….

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early February, snowfall

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Yesterday I posted about the early appearance of bluebirds; today winter is back, with a light snowfall that began early this afternoon and continues still.

This is the kind of snow that for some reason always reminds me of Joyce’s Dubliners “The Dead:” his line, raptly sorrowful, about snow being general over Ireland…

IMG_2248Here for the moment it is lovely and soft, the light of dusk and dawn especially magical with snow.

If it lasts, another snow poem sure to follow. And Mississippi roast in the wings xo

early February, bluebirds

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Bluebirds are among the sweetest of birds to me: their extraordinary, unusual (in these climes) color, the shape of their body, their flight movement, their song. Their reappearance in early- to mid-March signals spring, and I am always sad to see them depart, usually sometime in November….

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whoa, back in the saddle

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Well, January was not the ideal month to aim for daily (ah, ok, near-daily) posts, as I had scheduled site support for the life I picked that would preclude me, for a few days here and there, from actually being on the site…small scheduling detail that I overlooked.  …

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les collines in Hillsdale

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Hello, Hillsdale!

We have moved our production from Craryville to Hillsdale. Officially just before Christmas, but our first full production day was this past week. Seems a fitting spot to land, as our name, after all, means hills….

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January bitters and a wolf moon

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In a strange weather twist, the blizzard of 2016 bypassed upstate NY completely. The winter of no snow continues, while meantime two hours south Central Park has two feet and further south D.C. is buried. Here we have crispy grass and areas where my hardworking dogs manage to make mud between their warm snouts, their desire for tunneling rodents, and the sadly naked frozen earth.January 2016 cute dog photo

Not anxious to shovel (no garage, no snowblowers chez moi) I nonetheless miss the blanket of white that softens and brightens the world when the thermometer hovers low. And gives respite for a month or two from the mud….

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