Newsflash

It's the first day of Spring !

Wow

Look what was hiding under 6 inches of snow ! Isn't nature amazing ?

The Philadelphia Flower Show

We managed to slip and slide our way down the driveway through the snow drifts to attend this year's Philadelphia Flower Show. It's the country's oldest ( and largest ) flower show and Philadelphia is justly proud of it, as can be seen by this mural .


This year's theme is Bella Italia and was illustrated by many columns topped with abbondanza-style flower arrangements.

But what we liked best of all was the green roof mock-up which showed a huge green roof constructed by PECO in Philadelphia. Why did we like it best of all, you ask ?

Because the sedums are grown entirely on our very own green roof media, that's why !! Isn't it handsome ?

Green roofs were all the rage - here's one on a birdhouse . And what's not to like about a green roof ? It retains storm water which would normally run off the roof , it keeps the building at a steady temperature, neither too hot nor too cold, it provides a safe habitat for all kinds of flora and fauna and it ameliorates global warming - not bad for a little bit of dirt and a few plants on the roof .

And, yes, there were other exhibits and lots of wonderful flowers there, too.

But here at home on the farm we have our very own little flower show going on and I almost think it's the best flower show of all. What do you think ?

A scary day

We had a chimney fire today and five of these huge fire engines responded to the call I made. Eighteen men in full firefighter regalia swarmed into the house, checking it from top to bottom.


The rest were outside, attempting to scale the roof to look inside the big center chimney. Despite the frigid temperature and the fierce wind, they went up the ladder and on the roof. The wind and the pitch of the roof was so bad, that one man slid down the roof and was just caught by the gutter and his comrade who was on top of the ladder, as you can see in the above picture.

They brought another ladder as an extension and were able to get up to the chimney. I don't know how they managed all this wearing their heavy suits and carrying lots of equipment and also wearing great big clunky boots.

The short version of the story is that there was no injury or loss from the fire and all ended well. Words absolutely fail me right now to express my gratitude and admiration for these brave men who came so quickly and worked under such awful conditions to save a house for someone they didn't even know.

A heartfelt THANK YOU to all the brave guys of the Level Volunteer Fire Company !

Ice Capades

Tried to call Ms. RFD on the phone lately ? If you have, you know the phone has been out of order for months. I finally went outside to test for a dial tone in the phone box on the side of the house and saw mountains of ice ! The water had not been turned off and the garden hose froze, split, and shot a fine stream of water on to the side of the house for many weeks of freezing weather, which resulted in the spectacular ice formations above.

The phone box was underneath all that ice, of course. Tried to break it all up with a hammer, but the ice was way too thick. Try calling me after the spring thaw - until then, send messages by carrier pigeon or pony express.

A Celebration

Happy Birthday, dear Virginia !

This lovely picture is from The Atlantic's January/February issue where Alison Light's new book Mrs. Woolf and the Servants is reviewed.

Yesterday, January 25, was Virginia Woolf''s 127th birthday . It was celebrated by all of us who have loved her books and have admired her courageous and sometimes heartbreaking struggle to tell the truth about the world the way she saw it . Her writing is so imaginative, so delicate yet tough, funny, touching and piercing , but above all honest, it takes the reader's breath away even now 100 or so years later.

Thank you , Virginia - we are thinking about you on your birthday with love and affection and gratitude for your courage to open yourself in your writing , letting all of us share in your vision of life and beauty and truth.

Private Yoga Class

Yesterday I taught a great private yoga class to a bunch of lovely ladies in NYC. They get together every couple of months to treat themselves to a private class and then eat lunch. I really enjoy teaching small groups because everyone can get some individual attention and the class feels more like a workshop. Isn't it impressive that we fit four students and one teacher all into someone's NYC living room?