A Frog Plaque for our Coop

Have you ever found something that was so perfect for you that you couldn't believe your luck?  When we first built our chicken coop using Heather Ballards design, I spent some time online looking for an old agricultural plaque like she has hanging on her coop.  I thought it added a little charm to the coop but I really only wanted one if it had something to do with chickens, which, it turns out, is actually rather hard to find.  What initially drew me in to the idea was the beautiful bows that adorn many of the plaques (these were given as awards at agricultural shows, similar I imagine to our own 4H shows) as I am a well documented lover of bows.

After my initial look online I would occasionally spend a few mixtures here or there looking for the perfect one but always came up short.  As we started to build the duck's house, I was reminded of this treasure and searched anew and I found one with chickens,  in the shape of an egg, and a FROG!  You guys, what are the chances?  It took over two months to get here from France but it was so worth the wait.  It's small but so perfect for our coop!

Into The Woods

Almost every single day I take Rosie for a walk in our woods.  She loves it and I've found I also look forward to it as it's beautiful, calming and grounding.  Usually, at this time of year, I stop going in to the woods due to tick season.  However, this year I've continued to go as I'm loath to give it up.  I've so enjoyed watching the woods explode into green color.

I especially love finding natives like this Jack in the Pulpit.  We have so many invasives that it's refreshing to see something that should be on the floor of a healthy forest.  I've also noticed a lot more dogwood and viburnum trees than I've ever noticed before!

Recently, the wild phlox has been so beautiful!  Refreshing that the deer don't eat it!

I love this section of the creek, it looks good almost any time of year!  On our Mother's Day walk Grace took a picture of Bryce and I here.

And one of the children and I on Rosie's favorite fallen log.

I also had a very exciting discovery in our woods... ramps!  I'd read about ramps and even looked up how to buy and plant bulbs thinking that it would be fun to forage for.  One day, I went down to a part of the creek I don't frequent and found thousands of ramps!  It was fun finding recipes to use them in.

We also found morel mushrooms but not enough to pick and eat.  Maybe next year (though I don't think they look all that attractive).

I'm so appreciative that Bryce cut trails.  It makes it so much easier to walk and we don't have to be as worried about ticks (they still find a way).

How cute is this heart?

116 Hudson

As part of her course work this year, Grace was in a class called Senior Seminar.  In this class she and her classmates worked all year on writing three plays that they then cast and direct for the school's spring play.  It's a ton of work (her teacher called it AP Theater :)) but she loved every minute of it.  As you know, Grace loves to write and so this was an important and special thing to be a part of.

Grace began participating in the theater program her sophomore year and it quickly became a very important part of her high school experience.  Her friends and the teachers are like family and we are so thankful that she found such a home with them.

As you can imagine, when the school shut down due to the Pandemic, the future of the plays were in question (they had cast but not started rehearsal).  However, they managed to pull it off remotely using Zoom!  While the end of this year has been rough, this was such a bright spot and I'm amazed at what these teenagers were able to pull off.  While it would have been amazing to have it live and in the theater, this really taught the students to persevere, work hard and think outside the box.  The creativity and the grit they showed is something I"m certainly proud of and they should be too.  Bravo!

May Day

Yesterday was May Day and while in the past we've made "baskets" and left them at friends and neighbors, this year we just had a small flower focused appetizer board to mark the day and to celebrate Grace's last day of high school classes (with the exception of her AP courses).  Also, I made Coco a flower crown because why not?

Our app board consisted of rose petal brined grapes, goat cheese with flower petals, wildflower honey and several other cheeses.  The idea and inspiration came from the book, Platters and Boards by Shelley Westerhausen.

A reality check: while the board and the cat are lovely, I cannot tell you that everything felt celebratory.  It's been a hard week for Grace as she finishes up and is reminded of all that she's missing.  While she's been focusing on starting school in the fall it is becoming clear that it may or may not happen and that it will be different no matter what.  I am finding the depressing headlines and utter chaos to be overwhelming and edges are definitely starting to fray around here.

A dear friend sent this to me yesterday, “The Celts of the British Isles believed May 1 to be the most important day of the year, when the festival of Beltane was held. This May Day festival was thought to divide the year in half, between the light and the dark.”  I certainly hope that we are going to start to emerge from the dark!  Best to all of you!