Porch Flowers

The porch bouquets get crazier and crazier as the summer winds down. Today we have a mix of dahlias, garlic chives, a sunflower ( planted by the birds under the bird feeder ,) poke weed, zinnias, a wild grape vine, butterfly bush, phlox... and the kitchen sink.

Smells a little crazy too -all I'm saying is garlic and sweet butterfly bush.

I'm Back !

Due to popular demand, this blog will resume on a ( somewhat ) regular basis. Please check in once in a while and see what's new here on the farm and in our lives.

The new season

A lovely corner at the Common Ground Fair in Maine to remind us that fall is here !

December

Yikes - Thanksgiving has flown by and it's already the first week of Advent. As you can see by the picture on the right, I have a new Advent calendar this year - it's a culinary one and each door will open with a recipe from a German food blogger. Yum ! I can't wait to start baking .

November

There has been no hard frost yet and the garden is still going strong - we're still picking Swiss chard, peppers,arugula, beets, carrots and lots and lots of potatoes. In the background cilantro has self-seeded and now covers a huge area - yum !!

The dahlias love the cool nights and the more I cut them for bouquets for the house, the more blossoms seem to open. This beautiful fall just doesn't seem to have an end !

Trick or Treat

Billy goats, queens and pussy cats - even Sarah Palin promoting her new book - came out last night to celebrate Halloween.

and just look at all those treats they got to choose from !

Maine !

We spent the night in a delightful Bed & Breakfast called LeVatout in Waldoboro. It's run by a German ( ! ) writer and an American photographer and gardener extraordinaire. The two of them have created an incredible garden filled with an amazing array of plants, all of them tucked in many garden rooms and secret corners. There are places to sit and relax, a fire pit, a vegetable garden, a little building with a stage for workshops and lots more. All of this on less than an acre, but it feels like the garden is at least 5 acres in size.

Inside, the house is just as wonderful as the garden with lots of rooms and corners to explore. Just look at our room, it had a wonderful bookshelf with lots of books by and about Virginia Woolf among other authors. Someone loves books and loves to read !!

And best of all, the writer is also a fabulous cook . We enjoyed her shrimp and egg breakfast tremendously in her huge kitchen which is in the center of the house - truly the heart of this home. The gardener came in and joined our breakfast conversation and when I admired the bank of blooming streptocarpus in the window, she gave me two of her plants which are about to flower. I was so blown away by her generosity. Here they are on the balcony of our hotel room enjoying the view of the ocean.

We spent the day poking up and down some of the peninsulas near Waldoboro, enjoying the glorious fall weather, the ocean, the woods which already are changing color and the fine old buildings you can glimpse on small country roads and in the little villages as well.The old boat builders had not only high standards for the boats they made, but their houses as well. The architectural details and the craftsmanship are probably unique in their excellence and artistry.

The day concluded with the obligatory lobster dinner. Totally delish - 'nuff said.