It's been a busy season.

 I don't know if I have blogged about it or not yet, but we officially went crazy this spring and summer and raised pigs. Yup - two big old girls named Hamlet and Kevin. Yes they were both girls with men's names. Hamlet seems clear enough that you can figure it out, but Kevin she was the special one. Kevin Bacon is now in our freezer and she was some pig! Here's a little photo essay of their time here on our homestead.

Kevin is home and in the freezer

That's a lot of pork!!

Bringing up a boy

Teaching him how to gnaw on a bone.

Good boy!

Bring it on Winter! We are ready!

Nice entrance June!

It's 95 degrees in the shade!

Red Neck I spy

This is embarrassing.

Preparing the way of the....

Pigs :)

Happiness is...

Toes in freshly tilled garden soil!

Spring has sprung

Three wonderful signs of spring: the hammock is hung, the buds are bursting, and SP is tilling the garden. I love Tillulah our tiller. Go check her out at this link. She's a beauty and my first Mother's Day presents after we moved to Maine.

While I was away...

SP did play! (At least in the garage!)
Yea for him - he's been wanting a work bench for a long time!

Sand bottles

I got this idea from Pinterest of course.
I am in love! Each bottle tells several stories. This is a lovely idea in sustainability.
Bottle two has begun and will contain some very exciting adventures!

Trout is a local food!

I love that my husband likes to fish!

First Herbs of the season

I used these to make a cucumber relish to accompany the fresh trout! Yum!

Strange things we see at Hannaford

One day in the refrigerated section....

And no... the list is not mine.

Our three trees

I have discovered a problem with working full time. My problem is that I have no time to blog, so I end up over 5 months after a particular event and I am slowly getting to blog about it. Like this fine example: I had three different Christmas trees this year. Yes three different trips out to find our perfect trees. I lie, one was a rescue mission after a slight trim to the bottom turned out perfect Christmas tree























into a pathetic Charlie Brown version that had to live on the porch.

















  
Our third and  smallest tree is proudly referred to as the bird tree.

We try to do it every year, but many years we don't have the time and skip it. I am really happy we did it again this year. It adds a springtime contemplation to my dining room. 

My Favorite Bridge

Can you name this bridge?

Vitamin D for the stomach bug

Sick kids make me sad, but the beautiful day Mother Earth provided meant lots of sunshine soaked in through the skin.

Sonnental Dairy

Another local cheese has stunned me and made my life complete. I just wish that Sonnental Dairy had a website so I could give it a much deserved shout out for its raw milk tomme that was perfect for my bruschetta.

Local Salsa

One of my favorite local products has had a packaging make over so drastic I almost missed it! Has there been a buy out of sorts? I wonder...
You can find them here.They even have their own recipes section.

Ruby's washcloth

Now that I have run into a gauge issue with her hoodie, I have moved into something productive.

Now that it is done I am absolutely in love with this pattern. It was such fun to make! Thank you winter storm Nemo for the time to be a shut in.

Homemade laundry detergent

Thanks so much to my friend Heather! It is even HE safe! Recipe to follow.