A Fine Gin and Tonic

Summer is here, and while the weather is not hazy hot and humid, all this rain is certainly making it a bit muggy and hence the season of Gin and Tonics is upon us. SP, on his way home from his most recent northern wind power project, found a bottle of local gin for us to enjoy. Unlike my usual Tangueray, this gin has an enjoyable taste of juniper berries. I really enjoyed the added hint of spice. Made on Sweetgrass Farm in Union Maine, I am pleased to see that along with this gin, they craft and sell an assortment of other locally made wines and spirits.

Sorrel Salad

Sorrel grows all over my property. Last fall, Amos brought this wonderful local edible to my attention. The sorrel leaf tastes like lemon adding zest to your salads. All winter, I couldn't wait until I could eat it again, and craft some wonderful pestos and salads around it. I am currently working on a recipe I am going to call Sustainable Salad. It was a brain child of two wild edibles and my abundant radish crop!

A couple of my Flowers

Chives and Peony

An attic full of Glaucomys sabrinus

It's been a while since my last blog. Things have been busy here at our abode. The early spring gave me a healthy head start on the garden. But today, trying to neaten things up inside while SP repaired some outdoor window trim, I heard the unmistakable sound of scratching in the attic over Puckstopper's bedroom. A month or so ago, Puckstopper asked me what the sound in the attic was. I said, "Oh that's nothing dear - it's just the cats in the garage!" Until today, when I heard the noise that was distinctly overhead, did I actually go into the garage to see if my earlier hypothesis could have been correct. I couldn't have been further from correct. The garage comes no where near the ceiling of Puckstopper's room. So, in near panic, I wandered out to the front yard to get SP's attention on the roof.
The funny thing is about 3 years ago to date, I had done a similar thing, pacing like a lone wolf at the foot of his 3 story scaffolding, while SP was building our chimney, waiting for the "right moment" to tell him "the news". The news? Yes, the news that I was pregnant with Baby. His response upon seeing me pacing was a blunt, "What the hell is wrong now!?" Nice way to break the news, eh? Well today, he saw panic and his response was exactly the same. "SP there is something in the attic and I need you to help me get it out NOW!"
Thankfully for our well insulated attic, our house stays very cool in the summer, but today our attic was a sweltering 110 degrees, at least. Following carefully along the beams of the attic, we found the corner that the noise was coming from, but all we saw was undisturbed insulation. SP and both thought, "Hmm... there's nothing there and it is far to hot for anything to WANT to be up here!" but decided that taking a look under the insulation was warranted. Sure enough, with the first piece we pulled back we saw an awesome furry fat grey tail slink away under the insulation. "Aw crap" was the least we said, and proceeded to pull back more, sending the cutest flying squirrel scurrying toward my feet. Fortunately I had a good hold of the rafters and pulled my feet up, and watched it move past me, run the length of the attic, launch itself up into the rafters, and out a hole in the far corner. A hole in the far corner? Did I mention that that chimney project is still not done? That's next weekend's project. Well, one squirrel down, how many more to go? Back to the insulation. We uncovered 2 more squirrels, one quickly squirreled it's way off into the soffit, and the other we managed to get into a box and out to the kids for an exciting Sunday afternoon show and tell in the front yard. After it tried to bite SP and he flung it, we actually got to see it fly. It's nap time now, but we'll be back at the squirrel eradication in a few hours I am sure. Oh the life of being a homeowner in rural Maine.
Isn't he cute? Here's lookin' at you babe!