I live on a farm ... — country living

The night before last I asked my husband for his thoughts on what we should do to recognized September 11th. This would be our first year together on that date, and it seemed a good idea to put some conscious thought into what we would make of that date, what tradition we might set. We agreed extra prayers should be said, and that there should be quiet contemplation without morbid dwelling. And of course we agreed that the people who lost their lives and their loved ones deserve very much for people not to forget, not to push it to...

I have been awake since four this morning. My husband gets up every morning at four o'clock and gets to work by five. He works ten hours and gets home by three fifteen in the afternoon. I try to get all of my work completed by the time he gets home so we may spend the late afternoon and evening doing whatever we choose, together. Often "whatever we choose" is a responsibility of some kind such as mowing the lawn (a three-hour task), driving to another small town about an hour away to see his mother where she stays at...

Today has been overcast and quite cool all day. I know it is summer in many places, but it no longer seems like summer here. For so many years I cringed as summer approached (which always seemed to be happening) in Los Angeles. There, summer wasn't satisfied with bestowing its beating sunshine down on us three months out of the year. No, in Los Angeles summer came often, and throughout the year. That's wonderful and great for sun worshippers and movie makers, surfers and roller-blade maniacs. For me, however, there was a misery I dreamed of escaping ... one day....

Look what I found in my garden. I was taking the recycling container out to the street the other day when I spotted these beautiful mushrooms. I grabbed a large trash bag and got on it so I could get these up close and personal shots. Shortly afterward I was sitting out back waiting while Zero (my daughter's Beagle dog) was taking care of business when a story started forming in my mind. Inspired by mushrooms growing in the garden, I wrote a piece of "Knit Fiction" and have posted it this morning in case anyone would enjoy it. Ernesto...

Saturday morning, and we are waiting for the rain to hit from "Ernesto". He's still a bit south of us right now, but we are under flood watches today in our county. Our farm is in no danger of flooding, even though we live on a river. Our river is down some very steep banks, and my husband says there has never been a danger of flooding in all the years he has been here. This farm house is more than 200 years old, and in fact is of somewhat historical interest in the area. During Victorian times, when there...