anyone there?

Yeah, I know – you should’ve seen the cobwebs I had to drag down to get back in here. Wow, that was a lengthy absence. And I do have the feeling that I might be talking to myself in this echo-ey virtual box, but I’m going to give it a try anyway.

First and most important, a big hug and hello to my dear and dearly-missed friends in Holland. Heidi, ever generous and talented to a fault – if such a thing is possible – gifted me with this stunning WIP roll (which I fully intend to display year-round!). I know that Heidi struggles with some serious health issues, yet despite her own discomfort, she is always there for everyone else. She’s a true role model to me and when I find myself feeling snappish, I try to channel the grace and humor that she always embodies. Thank you for a lovely piece of yourself to treasure, Heidi!  And thanks to Rachael, I recently re-established contact with Annemarie and it was lovely to get an email from her. Back when we were all in Europe, we had the opportunity to all get together (with Harmien as well!). Although I haven’t mentioned Conny, I hope she knows how much I miss our cheery afternoons together.

from Heidi with love

I’ve made wonderful new friends, here, too. What’s that saying about friends of silver and gold? Recently Dawn was doing a clear-out and gifted me with some lovely stash. I am especially enamored of these wool squares – in my head, I’ve already made them into the most darling penny rug centerpiece. I’ve shown them on top of a pattern I recently purchased – need I say I’ve mentally stitched it up and picked the perfect frame and mat, and have it hung on my sampler wall?

Sadly, mental stitching is the only kind I’ve engaged in. There has been a great deal of stash-fondling however, as I begin packing for our move late this spring. If you have a horror of messes, turn away because the next photo shows the disaster that is our library and my stitching corner. Gasp!

chaos reigns!

When not stitching and making horrifying messes, I’ve been busy on the farm. Our buck bunnies somehow managed to make contact with the ladies despite being separated by cages and we have a dozen unplanned baby bunnies, including four absolute beauties from Mary Margaret and Arthur.

sleeping darlings

it’s bunny love

We had seven baby goats born on the farm this winter – six of them within a 24 hour period! – which kept us busy for a long time. All of the ones intended for sale have now gone to their forever homes, and I’ve met some wonderful new goat people. The day the last baby goats left, the chicks began hatching. Fingers and toes crossed for a successful hatching season this year. The first five Icelandic chicks have already been picked up and taken to their new homes. Two of the Muscovy ducklings that Mrs M surprised us with as winter set in also went to their happy new home today.

Muscovy love

Our barn family now consists of two Silver Fox bucks and two Silver Fox does for outdoor rabbits (plus two lovely foster bunnies we’re taking care of for the rabbit shelter in Lamoine); Muscovy and Pekin ducks (with a couple of ladies who are neither but are part of the family); the Pilgrim geese; about 8 breeds of rare or heritage chickens; 3 buck goats (Nigerian Dwarf, Myotonic, and Spanish/Cashgora) and 8 doe goats (3 Nigerian Dwarf, 3 Myotonic, 1 Nubian, and 1 Nigerian/Spanish-Cashgora). I hope to pick up a couple of lambs and I have bought myself a birthday gift of a mini llama (yes, Niek knows, LOL!). The llama will not join the family until after our move to prevent undue stress (for all of us, not just him!) Here’s a bit of a family portrait, though many are missing from this lineup:

barn family

Don’t think less of me for mentioning the animals before the human children, okay? The non-feathered/furred kids are doing great and boy are they busy! Some days, I have no idea how we keep up with it. Niek made the joke to a fellow baseball parent that he’d turned into a soccer mom, which I found screamingly funny but the other parent was utterly bewildered. We enjoyed a cold but exciting Easter with plenty of eggs thanks to that aforementioned barn family, and the kids also set up a number of hunts and activities for Niek & I to enjoy. It was a weekend that I wished could go on for much longer – we all lamented the fact that the USA does not have a “tweede paasdag” like Holland does. You’ll notice that Arden is not as eager to pose for pictures – our littlest boy is growing up! He’s as jolly as ever, with an extra does of mischievousness now. LOL.

the most beautiful eggs – and girl – to be found

egg hunt!

hero of the falls!

When there’s no family fun,  mess-making, or animal husbandry going on, there is my new job. Not only am I learning so much that sometimes it seems my head must actually expand to fit it all in, but I also have the dubious pleasure of travelling – two days a week, I rack up over 200 miles each day. On the bright side, I’ve been to some lovely parts of Maine that I’d never before seen. And of course we must always look on the bright side, right?

small island off Fletcher’s Landing Twp

amazing trees in a pasture

harbor at Stonington

To make sure I don’t get bored, I’ll be starting grad school in June. My first set of classes includes statistics, which I always swore I would not take again. On the one hand, I’m terrified but on the other hand, at least it will be behind me after this summer. LOL!

There’s been a little bit of baking and cooking, including some totally new-to-me stuff like this in my free time:

roast lamb shoulder

And so dear friends, if you’re still out there, we’re still here and we are really & truly living life to the fullest. Wherever you are, I hope the same is true for you. Best wishes, and thank you so much for visiting despite my lengthy absence!

bidding farewell to 2012

It’s been an interesting year. I read 21 or so books, which is far less than usual. I know I gave Salt the highest score, but looking back over my reading list, it’s Stephen King’s book On Writing that seems to have made more of an impact (but I’ve also read it more recently so that may not be fair). Stitching went into a serious slump. I did manage to complete 25 projects, but nothing at all was stitched for both May and June, and only one project for both July and August. Thankfully, when Christmas loomed on the horizon, I found my mojo. I’m enjoying working on The Flood – and I’m loving how enthusiastic Arden gets whenever I pull it out: “That’s for me, right? That’s going to be mine, right Mama?” Also in 2012, Niek and I watched all episodes – in order! – of Dr Who (from the 9th doctor onward) on Netflix.  I love Netflix, though I do complain a fair amount about them. Commercial-free viewing is all I can stand – the incessant ads on cable TV have me reaching for the remote to shut it off fast than you can say ‘mareseatoatsanddoeseatoats’. Also in 2012, I decided it was time to act on my long-standing interest in mental health, so I took a few classes at the local university which led to a job in crisis services, and I’m now awaiting notification of whether or not I’ve been accepted to graduate school where I intend to pursue a master’s degree in counseling. With the kids getting older, it seems a bit of personal enrichment/career re-direction can be allowed. If all goes well, I’ll be finishing my graduate studies just as it’s time for Max to go to college, Nick and Ro to start high school, and Arden to … do whatever wonderful things he gets up to. Speaking of those amazing kids, here’s a pic I stole from myself, from my first year of blogging at about this same time of year:

Well, Niek’s building a fire in the woodstove to take the chill off. I’ve got a ham & bean soup to make for tonight’s gathering of friends, and a squash and couscous vegetarian dish for the non-carnivores among us. Niek will soon get busy with the preparation of his Dutch delights: zalmsalade, oliebollen, apelflappen … and maybe a surprise or two thrown in. Our friends and their kids will brave the still-snowy roads to say goodbye to the old year and hello to the new one together with us, celebrating the bonds that keep us strong and enrich our lives so much. Wishing one and all peace, happiness, and good health in all endeavors!

 

PS: I feel like I should mention my favorite stitching project of the year, having mentioned favorite books, TV shows, etc … but it’s not really possible to choose a single favorite.  I loved making the BOAF series into treat bags for the kids at the beginning of 2012. I was thrilled by Ro’s reaction to the La D Da “Old Crow” modification I made for her for Christmas. I loved the teeny Chartmakers series – with which I gifted dear friend (such an insufficient word for her!) Sara (pictured below). I had so much fun with Wash Day by CHS and Little Sampler by The Goode Huswife that I wound up keeping them instead of sending them along to others as gifts – oh, am I bad?! I was chuffed by how well my Sudberry box turned out for my father Jim and his wonderful wife Gaby (shown below).And I love that my Dad has a bright and cheery “Good Morning” wish (also below) straight from my heart to his eyes every morning when he has his first sip of coffee. I love how stitching brings us all closer, one little x at a time.

 

 

i really miss my old photo editor

PicMonkey has a lot of the features of picnik but it doesn’t tie in with flickr for storage, it requires about a thousand more keystrokes, and it just isn’t as good. There, I’ve said it! And being unable to edit my photos in a timely fashion and have them come out looking good enough that they’re worth the effort has had disastrous effects on my already poor blogging habits. These pics are clickable for a larger image if you’re so inclined. And now, on to the point of this blog post…

We’ve had some fun this past month (where does the time go?) celebrating the ending of summer and the beginning of autumn. We made a trip over to Blue Hill for the agricultural fair there – it was our first time as a family, and we all loved it. Even though it rained the day we went, we had a blast and everyone is looking forward to going again next year.

 

We’ve taken a few other trips, like a day at a waterpark-amusement place that had go-carts and mini-golfing. Wow, that stuff is so exhausting for the adults, but so fun for the kids. I don’t think I could handle more than one trip a year, LOL! The kids have also had a great time amusing themselves with games they’ve created out of their awe-inspiring imaginations. And the weather this summer was beyond gorgeous – every day seemed even finer than the day before.

 

Grownups also got a little outing – Niek and I and best friends Tigger and Rachael went to the last show of The Last Summer On Earth Tour with Barenaked Ladies, Blues Traveller, Big Head Todd & the Monsters, and Cracker. LOVED it!!

I’ve been gardening, although my gardening companion has lately been pointing out that I haven’t been active enough. It’s a lot of work, but I’ve loved it. With grad school next summer, it’s unlikely I’ll be able to participate, but I’ve loved it this year.

 

Just this week, with the kids going back to school and the weather cooling off, I’ve begun to bake again. I was afraid I might’ve forgotten how, but the Chaos Crew assures me that I haven’t lost all of my skills. These are some sourdough pumpernickel baguettes I just pulled out of the oven.

 

Everyone is growing up and getting older and I guess that includes Niek, who just celebrated a birthday. Each year, I seem to go wrong in my selection of a gift, so this year I decided to just have fun and go extremely “wrong” in my choices and the kids followed suit. Two stellar gifts, IMHO, were a DIY worm farm (a baggie full of live worms) and a package full of wood shavings from Rowen’s hamster that we are pretty sure had not already been used.

 

In between it all, I occasionally manage to put needle to linen. Right now I’m working on an Easter table runner with some Danish designs. It doesn’t look like much now but it will … someday.

And I’ve received some stitchy goodies in the mail, too. I bought a few small things on Ebay and Cathy surprised me with a lovely Maine chart – thank you so much, Cathy! Lots of stitching plans in my head … now to eke out a bit of time in the slower-paced (ha ha ha!!) winter months.

 

I’ll disappear back into Chateau Chaos now. Lots of plans for the day, including some time in the garden, some stitching, and perhaps a little more baking. Take care and thanks so much for visiting with me today!

little pretties

It’s been a gorgeous day – sunshine, good friends, interesting conversations. I hope yours has been wonderful, too.

The other day the postman brought me a surprise package from Dianne that contained this sweet little turkey and a print of a beautiful antique sampler. I have a number of Wade figures saved from tea boxes when I was a child, so the turkey is in good company – and you know how much I love old samplers.  Sorry for the rather terrible lighting….

I finished the goose doodle that I started at the half-day workshop. It’s a family portrait of Hobart, Pip, Priscilla and their daughter Peepers. Since I started it, a second female gosling has hatched – Niek insists we call her Hooters. I’ll have to stitch her, too, but till then here she is IRL.

The mailman also brought me a lucky BOAF win from eBay. Surprisingly, the bidding stayed low and I could purchase this absolutely guilt-free.

I’ve already told the kids I’m stitching this for myself. Can you believe they laughed at me?

it’s not a golden egg

Yesterday, either Pip or Priscilla laid her first egg – which is also sort of my first (goose) egg. So even if this isn’t golden, it’s pretty darn special. Our geese are Pilgrim geese which are listed in critical status on the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy and I hope to do my small part in expanding their numbers.

Are you asking why it’s dirty? If you’re going to incubate eggs, you must not wash them first. Waterfowl lay their eggs on the ground without the benefit of making a nest (my ducks will actually bury their eggs in the straw bedding, no matter how dirty it is). Obviously I wash any eggs that we’re going to eat or sell.

I started Hooked Rabbit Pincushion last week and have picked away at it in the evening, but it’s not getting anywhere very fast, as you can see. The swirly fill between the rabbit and the diamond border is to blame. I don’t do swirls very well.

So I’ve set it aside today to pick up Primitive 6 by Dames of the Needle. How’s that for a catchy title? LOL. I picked this little darling up during the sale at Wydham Needleworks. Unfortunately most of the rest of my order wasn’t in stock (ABC Stitch, I love your system and wish all ONS would implement it!). Most sadly, the tiny “America” chart by The Goode Huswife was gone … I really wanted that for Independence day. But this is a cutie and shouldn’t take me too long.

This wrinkly thing is my take-along project. The filling is endless and brainless, so I stuff the project bag into whatever other bag I’m taking when I head off someplace and put in 20 minutes here or there. Eventually, it’ll be done. The colors are much nicer IRL but every picture I’ve taken of this, the colors look flat.

I’ve saved the best for last. On Saturday, the mailman delivered a little surprise for me from BeckySC that I was not expecting. In her card, she said she’d found this at a little shop and thought of me. I LOVE it and it’s hanging in the kitchen near the big poster of a Plymouth Barred Rock rooster. Becky, you’re so sweet. It was wonderful to feel spoiled and special. Thank you!!

And that’s about it from me for today. I’m sorry to neglect blogging a bit, but it’s a busy time of year (as opposed to all the other busy times of year, LOL!) and although I’m not around as much, you can rest assured that I’m having a grand time. I hope you are, too!

in which i must admit to being nothing but a large, wobbly pudding

Shh. Please don’t tell my doctor but we seem to all have the flu. Just very, very mild cases, mind you. But I actually got into an argument with her about flu vaccines – I refused to allow her to administer them because I think minor illnesses actually play an important part in keeping us healthy by testing (and improving upon) our immune systems. But for a week now, we’ve been snuffling and hacking and looking at the world through rather bleary eyes. Arden, being youngest, has been hit hardest. He’s had a fever and a very stubborn cough. And I’ve had night duty, so I’m shambling around like a prize-fighter who stayed in the ring too long. Niek’s dashing about making meals, washing dishes, cleaning litter boxes, doing laundry, and taking kids to sporting events. And that’s just what he’s doing today!

I did see Patti in Belfast yesterday, apologizing in advance if I came across a little loopy from sleep deprivation. It was lovely to get out and be a grown up with another grownup that I like very much. And doing pretty much anything at the Belfast Co-op is fun; it just has the greatest vibe. Patti surprised me with all three charts in this series, which I’d been drooling over while she was working on them (you should visit her blog and see her finished version!) and I hopefully did not surprise her with any germs. Still healthy, Patti?

I pulled out this mind-numbingly simple but adorable design to work on. I figured I couldn’t mess it up too badly, LOL. And seeing as how I bought it to make for Arden’s room, I really should finish it before he goes off to college. I didn’t get too far, and I did actually make a mistake, but I don’t think anyone will see it unless they have the pattern in front of them. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.) The colors aren’t showing up well in this photo, but here goes.

Once both of my eyes are focusing on the same spot at the same time, I’ll finish up the chicken and horse design I showed you earlier. I need to pick the right shade of blue for the wording at the end, and of course that’ll require some natural sunlight. Mother Nature, that ball is in your court. Today was so overcast and I was feeling so wonky that I thought it must be approaching dinnertime, but when I checked the clock it was only 12:30! I spent most of the day cuddled on the sofa with Arden – he watched TV and snoozed while I read Connie Willis’ Blackout on the Kindle.

For the most part, we’ve been enjoying the chilly weather cuddled up near the wood stove in the kitchen. Here are a couple of snaps I took on Friday. (Arden was watching Dora the Explorer on my laptop behind my stitching.)

And back to tonight, Niek’s dinner worked some kind of magic on Arden, who actually began playing after dinner. That bodes well for a decent night’s sleep, doesn’t it?

day six – reality check

I woke up, late, from a dream that I was visiting a friend who committed suicide several months ago. I felt weird and unsettled … and rushed. I couldn’t get my clothes on right-side-out and had to turn on the light, which made me feel irritable. I got downstairs and realized I didn’t have time to do my barnyard chores and get breakfast made and get lunches packed so I felt more rushed and irritable. Nicky tried to help, but kept getting in the way and I was having a hard time not letting my irritation show. I doubt I was successful in that. Eventually we were all at the table and had a few minutes of strained togetherness before I got up to do the undone chores, the kids got busy with tooth-brushing and backpack-packing, and Niek walked the dogs. It was raining and I had more chores than usual because it was time to haul down new grain bags. The inside of the barn was as muddy as the ground outside. Even hanging out with the animals didn’t curb my foul mood. When I came back in the house, Arden was being sweet and funny and Niek had made hot coffee and I tried to let go of the negativity that had been building up inside me. Then Arden and I walked to school, and we bumped into two friends who were also walking a little boy to school so we all walked and laughed and talked together. At Arden’s school, I came across another friend and we made a date to get together next week. The simple joy of talking to friends … that was something I missed so desperately in Holland, where although I had friends, they lived in other parts of the country. It was rare to just bump into someone and have a conversation, make a date, shoot the breeze, etc. I thought about that while walking back from Arden’s school. I found a few late-season apples that had fallen off my neighbor’s tree and landed close enough to the road that it didn’t feel like stealing to pick them up and bring them home for the animals, who were very grateful for the treat. I found a warm brown egg under one of the hens. Emily gave me ‘breathing therapy’ – insisting on being nose-to-nose for much longer than usual today. When I came inside to check my email, I stumbled across this blog post and it said everything that I want – that I want to say and do and leave behind when my days are over – that I have to share it with you.

***

Tuesday is market day – I take in the eggs the girls have gifted us with, and pick up a variety of locally-grown goodness. It’s always exciting to see what’s in the offering, and meal-planning becomes especially interesting for a couple of days while I experiment with things new to me or simply enjoy old favorites. This week will include a bit of both because I came home with a gigantic blue hubbard squash (we all love it) and a small array of fermented foods that includes kimchi and ruby kraut. Niek and I are very partial to sauerkraut so I’m sure we’ll like these more adventurous additions. If the kids also like it, I’ll invest in the supplies necessary to begin fermenting foods here at home. I’m amazed at the nutritional benefits and it’s yet another way to stretch summer’s goodness through the year.  I also came home laden with milk, cream and butter produced in Lubec and Edmunds, both just a piece up the road as my grandparents might say. I’m amazed by the diversity available in our diets once we look outside the box a little bit. Eating locally in the winter months is getting a whole lot more interesting! And brings me to today’s ‘thing of beauty’. Am I the only one who thinks that fresh peeled beets are utterly amazing? I could look at them for hours, I think. It’s like psychedelia without the substances. But they are very hard to photograph, especially when your family is looking at you like you’ve finally lost it.

***

After my marketing, I found that Niek had forgotten to empty the mailbox and our envelopes were well on their way to disintegrating. He’s forgiven though – he took me out for lunch today, simply to brighten an otherwise dull, rainy day. After I helped the cards out of their soggy jackets, I found a wonderful card and gift from Ruth that I want to thank her for right away. I love the snowy bird (it reminds me of my Charley Harper charts!) and the GAST colors of Geranium and Piney Woods are absolutely perfect.

***

There has even been a bit of stitching today! I’ve started The Goode Huswife’s Primitive Bird for my neighbors, who are held hostage to the sometimes very noisy chatter of my ducks, geese, Guineas and chickens (particularly the roosters!). I thought the verse might hit home: “Don’t the little birds set their tongues in motion as soon as the day has dawned. They never stop their thanks.”  It’s an early start, but at least it is stitching.

And thank you so much for your kind words about yesterday’s exciting accomplishments. I don’t think I’ll top that for awhile, but I hope you’ll keep visiting me as I count down these days till Christmas in a mindful manner.

Halloween at Chateau Chaos

We love this time of ghosts and goblins … And as you can see, the adults love it as much as the kids! Here are Niek, Nick and Rowen about to set off trick or treating.

Rowen’s ‘hag face’ was really quite effective!

But perhaps mine was even more frightening.

I pulled out my favorite stitched goodies for a festive display. I so love taking these out and thinking of the friends who made them!

And although a different holiday is represented by today’s mail goodness, I want to share with you what Riona made for me when I won her blog giveaway a little while ago. She asked what holiday I’d prefer, and I said I’d really enjoy a patriotic design because of course we never celebrated Independence Day in Holland. Ta-da! Didn’t she do a wonderful job?! Riona, thank you so much!!

You probably won’t hear from me for the rest of the week. Not due to chickens, baby goats, or new ducks – but this time, my brother is coming for a visit with his daughter. It’s been years & years since I last saw him, and I’ve never met my niece, so I think I’ll stay away from the computer and just enjoy him while it’s possible to do so. Take care, and thank you for visiting!

boo!

Which is scarier – that I’m updating my blog or that All Hallow’s Eve is nearly upon us? My apologies for the longish absence … there are just so many (mostly wonderful) things that fill up the days and weeks, and my poor little cyber niche gets neglected.

As mentioned, it is nearly Halloween. How wonderful to be able to celebrate this wonderful holiday! The kids, of course, love it. Our downtown business people are pretty generous in supporting daytime trick-or-treating, too. This year, it was on the Friday before Halloween and the kids were nearly wild with excitement. My Mom had purchased costumes for everyone, and then the kids adapted them to suit their own personalities. Nick was a tap-dancing Ninja, Rowen was a “beautifully ugly” (her words) witch, and Arden opted to be a zombie puppy (LOL!!). I did what I could with face-painting and the kids did the rest.

On Saturday, we had a Halloween party here at the house. Both Nick and Rowen invited three of their best friends and we had a ghoulishly good time from 10 to 2.  I won’t post pics of the guest ghouls because (1) I was usually too busy to take decent pictures, and (2) I don’t want to violate anyone’s privacy. Among other things, we bobbed for apples and ate donuts off strings (while blindfolded! no hands!). There were crafts and other games and lots of food as well.

But in my opinion, the very best happening on Saturday was when our post arrived. Would you look at what Jenna sent us? These amazing finishes are absolutely perfect in every way. I am just AMAZED – and very thankful to have Jenna for a friend. I’m looking forward to starting the rooster and we’ve already made a serious dent in the chocolate. The kids are wild for their gifts. Thank you so much, Jenna!!!

i love it!!

The cooler weather has arrived and it feels great! The kids have begun school – even Arden goes to the local Montessori school 3 days a week – and having a quiet house feels very strange … but in a good way. There are a lot of exciting things going on as autumn wraps around us – I’ll be teaching a bread-making class, Niek will have a birthday, we’ll see BB King in concert, and we’ll almost certainly welcome our first baby goats (and that’s just the first 10 days of the month!). I prefer being busy to being idle, and even being too busy is better than not feeling productive enough.

On an artistic level, autumn always makes me feel very jazzed-up. I love the colors and smells and that feeling of promise in the air. I love knowing that the short, slow days of winter aren’t far away. Autumnal cross stitch designs seriously rock, too! Look at what Pokua sent me today. (The design is by Primitive Betty, and didn’t Pokua do a fabulous job with it?!) I love the goodies she included (not shown in the picture is the pattern for Jenny Bean’s Pin Tuffet because I’m an airhead).

I told Niek the other day that spring cleaning has never made sense to me. I want to be outside as soon as winter has let go of us – who wants to stay inside and clean?? But autumn cleaning – now that seems sensible. And I guess I have to admit it was also desperately needed here at Chateau Chaos. I never take ‘before’ photos because you guys will know what a disaster zone this really is, but I bit the bullet this time. Here’s our library, which had become a dumping ground for anything not nailed down. Scary, huh?

And here it is after a day’s attention.

But what really took the time was organizing my floss, which had gotten completely out of hand. Actually, after organizing it, I may have to reluctantly concede the point that I may, just possibly, have rather too much. Maybe. Anyway, it’s all bagged up and sorted out and really quite lovely again now.

Autumn also sparks those creative parts of my brain. When I saw Ickle Pickle, the weird light turquoise silk in this set, I just had to have it. It must feature in something, and soon! (You can just ignore that bit above where I said I had too much floss. I mean, I didn’t have this color, right?)

So as September flies by, which it will, you can picture me conducting an orderly, civilized sort of existence in my tidy and well-organized household. I will remember to brush my hair every day. I will not be covered in barnyard muck. I’ll set reasonable goals and work in logical manners to achieve them, rather than going off all willy nilly and accomplishing tons of things I didn’t mean to do while the task I started sits undone.

Oh heck, who am I fooling?