new world

Last day of the growing/working season yesterday.  Today, we had a big solstice celebration at the farm.  Lots of delicious food, conversation, kids and indoor traffic jams.  Bryan and Anita, my bosses, slaughtered five roosters yesterday.  Anita roasted up the biggest one, an eight-pounder, for the party.  Bryan and the gaggle of kids got a bonfire going outside, and we sat around it.  Not going to lie, I spent a lot of the time coughing and choking when the (rather wild) wind blew smoke my way.  My hair still smells like woodsmoke.  It was a good night. 

On January 23rd, Claire and I leave for a month of backpacking around Maui and Kauai.  I can't think about it too much or I vibrate with excitement.

I'm gearing up for some major holiday cookery.  As usual, we're planning to have about a million people over for Christmas.  Should be a blast!  I've got lots of yummy ideas... 

After the holidays, I'm pretty much a free bird.  I want to spend January reading, skiing, catching some time with my busy and widespread family, writing and SLEEPING.  Definitely lots of sleeping.  No more early farm mornings for me!  The other day I slept in until 10:45AM.  It has honestly been years since I slept that late.  My battery is in dire need of recharging, and now is the time.  

I'm also 18 years old now!  18 and still groovy, like my sister said.  Life as an adult has so far been fairly similar to life as a minor, except for that I can now legally drive between the hours of 11pm and 5am.  I considered buying a pack of cigarettes just for kicks, but I decided it was too young & reckless for me.  I'm a senior citizen at heart.

No snow here yet, but I've got my fingers crossed.  Above is a picture I took after last year's October blizzard.  I'm using it to help me *visualize.*  

Happy Solstice, all-

Mada

late fall limbo

Happy December, all.  Tomorrow I turn eighteen years old.  Life is happy and sad and full of the good stuff.  The farm season is wrapping up.  Claire and I are working on travel plans.  I slept in until 9:45 this morning for the first time in nine months; must be December!

Love -
Mada



Pictured:

1. Camille and me in Burlington, VT for Thanksgiving.
2. The mini-est of snowmen, sculpted by Deidre.
3. Sunset over Claire's dashboard.
4. Fun in the snow with Deidre.
5. Claire curled up in my new bedroom.
6. The mini-est of Christmas trees, discovered by Deidre.  (Are you sensing a pattern?)
7. Declan, Deidre and me with a lethal weapon bow saw.
8. Took a little hike up Wolf Rock with Claire.
9. Happy.
10. Very happy.

september on the farm

The golden month.

1. clara, owen, chasey the chicken and bryan at lunch.  owen's last day.
2. owen and chasey.
3. claire, owen and lud in the flatbed on the drive to the other field.
4. me, clara.
5. claire, me, clara, lud and the vegetable haul.
6. praying mantis, dirty hand.
7. lud face.
8. claire in the truck.
9. clara.
10. the official farm picture- lud, clara, bryan, owen, chasey the chicken, claire, me, anita and amy.  (clockwise from bottom left)

summer food adventures

Claire's birthday dinner table.

This summer (and spring), I tried lots of foods for the first time.  Here is a fairly comprehensive list:

• Duck
• Lobster
• Sushi 
• Kohlrabi
• Lamb
• Ghee
• Dragonfruit
• Mussels
• Squid seviche
• Venison
• Rambutan
• Sheep's milk cheese
• Smoked bluefish
• Breadfruit
• Passionfruit
• Guava
• Grilled calamari
• Mung bean pasta

And more, I'm sure, that I'm not remembering.  This has been an expansive year for me, food-wise and beyond.  Before July, I had been a strict vegetarian for 5 years.  Clearly times have changed!  Here are some recent food pictures:

Lobster.

My pizza - buckwheat/coconut crust, sauteed onions and leeks, steamed summer squash, black olives and goat chevre.

Claire's pizza - the same except +steamed beets and -black olives.

The king of fruit!  Durian leftovers headed for the compost.

goodbye july

July was chock full.  Not a moment to spare.  And mostly hazy in my memory already.  Luckily, I have these photos (and many pages of journal entries).  

And now August!  I am positively thrumming with change.  For those of you who are familiar with tarot, my Tower is majorly falling right now.  For those of you who are familiar with astrology, I'm really feeling the mercury retrograde.  Just when I think I'm definitely at my limit now, another intense situation comes rolling on in.  Life is crazy.  Life is good.  The intensity helps me not take things for granted.  It clears away the unimportant stuff so I can be grateful for all these experiences.  And that's what I'm carrying with me into this month; gratitude.

In gratitude,

Mada

Pictures:

1. Claire on the beach in Charlestown, Rhode Island.  My father and his girlfriend rented a house right on the water for a week.
2. My beautiful sister Camille in RI.
3. Claire follows my dad's strict (and highly effective) sand removal regime.
4. Wildflowers for my love.
5. Claire at the kitchen table.
6. Our other cat, Sherlock, gets a closer look at the mechanics of my camera.
7. Amazing fresh burrito fixings- homemade buckwheat tortillas, local pork sausage, homemade salsa fresca, red leaf lettuce and perfectly ripe avocados.
8. And the final burrito!  
9. One of my favorite ways to spend an early morning; taking a quiet swim in the beautiful lake, then air-drying while I drink a mug of tea.
10. Wild carrot, wild grape and staghorn sumac at the dam.
11. Gorgeous kale from the farm.  I've been living on green smoothies.
12. Summer salad- salad greens and cukes from the farm, avocado, olive oil, salt.

poppy johnson: a story in photos

So there I was, trying to take a picture of my lovely morning mug of ginger tea.

Meet POPPY JOHNSON (aka Poppy Kit, Mini-baby, etc.), my sister Deidre's kitten.  She's adorable, aggressively friendly and, according to my dad, psychosocially dysfunctional.  We love her dearly.

swift saturday, sweet sunday, mellow monday

Saturday:

Worked 8-2 today, picking and washing for the afternoon market.  Kale, chard, parsley, basil, beets, carrots, mint, rosemary, cucumbers, summer squash, tomatoes, garlic, salad greens, fennel, scallions, baby leeks and probably more that I'm forgetting.  Ran everything through the tubs, packed it up and sent it off to the market.  Brought home kale and salad greens.  Pre-farm breakfast: green smoothie with kale, blackberries and watermelon; a green juice with celery, cucumber, lemon, ginger and stevia; and a mug of ginger tea.  Post-farm lunch (I was SO HUNGRY): simple salad, fresh basil pesto on blond cukes.  Currently making rosemary onion garlic chicken for dinner!  Yummm.  Busy summer day.



Sunday:

It has been a rough and busy week at la casa mia.  Lots of difficult news from various quarters.  An extra day at the farm.  People coming and going and milling around all week.  I feel like I've put 10,000 miles on my car.  Part of me feels like never driving again; part of me feels like going on a roadtrip.  Oh, dear.

But today is Sunday!  And I canceled my one plan, so now I have a free day.  I'm going to do some crafty things around the house, write, get film developed, possibly go grocery shopping and just relax.  I was even thinking about pulling out my typewriter.




Monday:

I took the day off work today.  Good decision.  I spent my morning swimming, picking flowers and writing/recording music.  What a great feeling.  Now I'm at Claire's house, relaxing until dinner.  Tomorrow, to the beach!  My father and his girlfriend are renting a house right on the water this week.  Very exciting.

I am grateful for the freedom and wherewithal to run my own beautiful life.  I am grateful for the lake.  I am grateful for abundance in all areas of my life.  I am grateful for the farm.  I am grateful for my car.  I am grateful for the kind people that surround me.  I am grateful for my camera.  I am grateful for summer.  I am grateful for easy sleep.  I am grateful for the goodness in every hard experience.  I am plain grateful.

In gratitude,
Madeleine



pictures: 
wildflowers in a tall mug i made a couple years ago,
claire's skirt hang-drying on the balcony, 
sun-bleached hair long enough to braid,
farm feet, 
breakfast, 
garlic harvest, 
claire after work, 
a recent altar.

France (May 2012)

After Italy, Claire and I flew to France.  We spent eight days there, half in a beautiful flat in Paris (where I recovered from being sick and Claire got sick), and half in a chateau in the unbelievably tiny village of Les Essards.  (Remember to click "read more" below.)