A Big Day!

 Today is Ulani's TENTH birthday!  

 She wouldn't smile near the Lenten roses.  

I guess she feels there's a certain dignity attached to double digits.

Even her birthday portrait is serious.  

There are a lot of big thoughts in that dog mind.

Maybe she's just exercising her gravitas?

(Even back at her sixth birthday, in this photo, 

she had a certain regal presence!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ULANI MY DEAR!

On Mothers Day

Saturday afternoon I discovered this birds nest has a direct exit to the outdoors.  I thought all the nests in the barn were accessed from indoors.  Using the telephoto lens, I explored a little further and discovered...

Someone always needs a mother!

Happy Mothers Day!

The Easter Bunny Story

On Friday morning I was walking around the place, photographing the widespread frost.  It's pretty while it's frozen.  The danger comes when the frost melts.  Have the cells burst, will the tissue turn to mush as it warms?

This part of my property is wide open to the weather.  I wondered how the front garden, enclosed in a privacy fence, had fared.  I called Ulani and we went through the house to the other side.

The front is where the Oskar memorial tree is planted, as well as a huge old maple tree, and related shade garden.  I suppose due to the tall fence, no frost covered the grass there.  The birds sang loudly and I decided to sit down with my coffee for a few peaceful minutes.

As I sat back, Ulani made the rounds, investigating each tulip, Lenten rose and blade of grass.  Then suddenly I sensed her tense up.  I looked over to see her at the base of the maple tree sniffing heavily, then she began digging.  And then I saw them scatter.

Bunnies.

Two of them raced out of the nest into the grass and froze.  The third was not so lucky.  Ulani caught it.

Now I must digress a moment.  Rabbits are a scourge here.  They devastate leafy greens in the garden.  And they are not bright.  We rarely see a squirrel, but this time of year the rabbits make their shallow grass nests everywhere, and that old expression that I won't put here in case of young readers must be true!  Every year some stupid bunny makes its nest inside the dog fence, sacrificing its young to the Great Huntress Ulani.  Every year!  You might remember my birthday a couple of years ago.  So Ulani has a strong history of reinforcement in catching rabbits.

So back to Friday morning.  I jumped from my peaceful chair yelling "drop it!  Drop it!"  Predictably, she did not.  I raced over to her, and with only a moment's pause I grabbed her snout, squeezing her cheeks and saying "Drop It!"  She did.  (Squeezing the cheeks kind of forces the jaws open.  I don't think this was compliant behavior.)  Then I grabbed Ulani's collar and pulled her into the house.

Now what to do about the bunnies?  I decided to scoop them up and return them to the nest area.  But I had no gloves or boxes nearby, so I just used my hands.

The poor buns used their only defense.  They stayed perfectly still.  Basically useless once you see them.

I gathered them up, placed them at the base of the tree, then took the unlucky one out to a final resting place under a bush, near a tulip, where The Great Huntress does not go.

So on this Easter morning, say a little prayer that your Easter Bunny goes to your house first.  Because he'll never get away from Busy Solitude Farm.

Birthday kisses!

Yes, it's my birthday and I am not shy about it.  My close friends know I love to celebrate another year's passing and if it means stretching out the birthday visits over weeks, that's all good.

Regular visitors to Life at Busy Solitude Farm know I try to celebrate here, too.  Just last year every member of the BSF gang was featured.  And in 2010, Oskar and Ulani brought me a special present.  2009 had a revealing post!  I guess in 2008 I wasn't yet really mentioning myself much in my posts, but I always liked this post, so let's call it my 2008 birthday post!

Of course birthdays do bring some reflection, and I think all of you know that so many of the BSF friends seen in these past posts are no longer with us.  So a moment of reflection on their happy lives here, and how much they meant to me.

--

And now, the 2012 celebrating gets under way!  I hope that each and every reader will take a moment today to think about all of the great things we have in our lives -- friends, health, laughter.  Do that, and it will the best gift I could imagine.

Gingerbread army

My kitchen has been taken over by these fresh little men!

(OK, maybe I feel just a little Christmas spirit coming on.  We'll see what happens!  Merry Christmas to you!)

Angels

 

Long ago and far away, I believed in Santa Claus.  My mother, who also made those kicky curtains you can see behind her left shoulder, told me all about him.  To be fair, she also told me about Jesus, who slept perpetually in the tiny manger of the creche you see over my right shoulder.  

Come to think of it, none of what my mother told me about Christmas turned out to be true.  But that's another story.

When my older sister and I were wee ones, my parents longed for an opportunity to sleep in on a Sunday.  So my mother would set out craft projects on the coffee table before she went to bed on Saturday, and then we would keep ourselves busy creating until Mom and Dad got up on Sunday.

The project I remember better than any was the clothespin angels.  It was so simple:  glue together a red triangle for the dress, a pink circle on the front of one point as the face, a half paper doily on the back for wings, and a silver or gold circle behind the pink circle for the halo.  I don't remember what we did for hair, but we always had yarn and pipe cleaners around.  

The magic of the craft came in the decorating.  Glitter.  Sequins.  Crayons, colored pencils, markers.  Our house was craft supply heaven, and our imaginations knew no limits.  Mom had assembled one sample.  The rest was up to us.

Do angels have buttons?  Ours did.  Or do they wear stripes or plaid?  Maybe one angel's dress had a scalloped hem, accentuated with a piece of rick-rack.  Our angels smiled.  Or had round, singing mouths.  Some sported rouge.

Once the glue dried, each angel was stuck to a clothespin and attached to the tree.  As the days of Christmas wore on in the dry heat of the early '60s, the glue would crack and pieces of the angels fell to the floor.  Only a few angels endured the season to be packed up with the heartier ornaments and brought out again the next year.

But we remembered how to make them, year after year.  Later, in my adult life, I took Polaroid photos of all of my colleagues, cut their heads out and created clothespin angels with their faces.  It was a spectacular tree.  Even Oskar was on that tree.

But my best clothespin angel memories come from that first year, working quietly next to my sister while Mom and Dad slept in.

Winter Solstice

And now the days begin to become longer and brighter.

Holiday spirit

I haven't had much Christmas spirit this season.  Probably not having had much snow at all is part of it.  Another part is the hens haven't been laying, so I didn't plan an eggnog party.

I did manage to put some lights on the front fence, along with a wreath.

When you look over the gate, you can see my beautiful front door wreath, too.

That's all nice, but I was still lagging on spirit.  So I told Ulani "let's get in the car and see what other people are doing for Christmas lights!"  Always game for a road trip, Ulani jumped right in and off we went.

Down one country road I saw a light high above a big working farm.  What would that be?

A simple star mounted on the top of the tallest grain building.  Such a simple representation of the season, shining bright on a clear night.  I admire these tasteful displays.

We drove on.  My friend Charley had featured a different sort of display on his blog, Vector Charley, and I wanted to see it myself.

Coming around a bend in a dark country road, I saw tail lights ahead.  A number of them, actually, and I knew I'd found it.

It has wishes for a merry Christmas and a happy new year from the family.

It has a choir and a church.

Of course the reindeer were there...

...and a gingerbread house.  In fact, it has everything

except maybe the kitchen sink.  But I couldn't swear to that!

There are about two acres of lights.  Honestly.  I don't know if this family puts on such a show every year, or if this is something new.  Maybe a reader can shed some light on that?  (Ugh, sorry for the pun!)

Seeing this display took me back to my childhood, when our family would pile into the station wagon after dinner and drive around to see the lights.  Dad would have scouted out some major set-ups on his way home from work, so we often went beyond our own neighborhood to see the latest and greatest.  For years my favorite lights were on a huge pine tree.  The family had it covered in lights, and the lights would change colors, slowly blending from green to blue to red to gold.  

After driving around for an hour or so, we'd get back home and have hot chocolate with marshmallows floating in it, then go to bed and dream of all the wonders of Christmas.

Well, my spirit's not back to 100%, but I'd say it's rising!  And we have something else to celebrate now -- this is the 300th post on Life at Busy Solitude Farm!  300 posts in three years!  I'd never have anticipated reaching this milestone!

I hope that your Christmas spirit (no matter what your religion, you're allowed to have some) is warm and cheery this year.  And my wish for all of us this holiday season is for...

Independence Day

Independence Day.  The Fourth of July.  A day for picnics and fireworks, family and friends.

I remember as a youngster that we would take blankets and bug spray to the field at Lakewood School to watch fireworks.  There would be snacks, maybe a transistor radio.  In those days we did not live in that community, so while we might see a friend or two, it was not like a party for us.  We were there for the show.  As the sun's light faded, the "test bombs" would go off.  Bang!  Pow!  We knew the show was close!

And then the first sparkly, abstract explosion of color would burst in the sky.  Oooh!  Aahh!  In those days the color palette was limited; there were no circles or hearts.  It was simply fantastic sparkliness in the sky.  The most excitingly special fireworks were the ones with whistles -- burst up in the sky, then the high pitched "whhooooooooo" as the color trails extended to the ground.  Oooh!  Aahh!

My sister and I hated the cherry bombs -- their sharp report hurt our ears.  But we'd only duck under the blanket for a minute, because then there would be another Oohh!  Aahh! moment.

In our little community, most of the fireworks were small ones, and they were set off one - at - a - time...  You'd hear the fuse, pfffft, see the trail race up into the sky, then bang!  Just a few of the fireworks were what we called chrysanthemums -- filling the entire sky.  Oooh!  Aahh!

Fireworks came but once a year.  Not on New Year's Day, not for weddings.  The show was on the fourth of July.  So as the show progressed from a golden sparkle, to red, and very rarely sort of blue, we felt already the emptiness that would fill the next 364 days.  Oh, don't let the show end!

But the finale -- oh the finale!  As the recorded music played "Stars and Stripes Forever" (and we giggled and sang "Be kind to your web footed friends, for a duck may be somebody's mother..."!), the sky glowed with white, gold, red, green, bang! bang! bang! bang!  The crowd was on its feet, Oooh!  Aahh!  Hooray!

After the show, exhaustion set in.  Some years we might stop at Baskin Robbins on the way home, waiting in line for half an hour to get a chocolate mint chip cake cone, barely keeping our eyes open to the last crunch.  And always in the car was the heated discussion -- what was your favorite firework?


(I took the photo of the American Bald Eagle at an event presented by the World Bird Sanctuary of St. Louis, and Chikaming Open Lands.)

More decorating!

I've noticed that many of my neighbors had outdoor lights up at Thanksgiving! How organized they are! My problem was that I really wanted to improve on the barn wreath I used the first few years I lived here. It was nice, with white lights and a red bow, but it wasn't really large enough. What I need is 5 or 6 feet in diameter. Then I found out how much that would cost. No way! So I thought about building a form. Cut it out of plywood? Form it with PVC? Time was a-wastin', snow was coming.

I decided to skip the wreath this year and go for lights on my little NeBoShone pine.

It sits to the mound side of the barn, a nice distance from the house for viewing. Coming up the road you catch a quick peek of it between the trees, but mostly it's my private holiday sight.

Originally I wanted white lights, but colors were what I had available, so colors it is.

We got a dusting of snow overnight, adding to the soft look of these needles.

As the sky began to lighten this morning, the warm colors of my little NBS pine cheered the yard. Next: the indoor tree!

Let the Decorating Begin!

Welcome to December, 2009! The year held so many dark times, I intend to brighten this final month with lights and color. I've only just begun...

XO-XO-XO

Please won't you be my Valentine?
Our friendship makes life oh-so fine!
I've made you a cookie
in place of some nookie...
But you must enjoy it online!

Roses are red, cookies are crumby,
you can't eat this so I will...yummy!

Have a very sweet Valentine's Day!
xo, Johanna et al

The children were nestled all snug in their bed!

Envision a sweet 2009! Wish best wishes from Busy Solitude Farm -- Johanna, Oskar, Ulani, Luke, Abe and all the chickens!

Nummy Nog!

Please, won't you join me in a nummy nog? Use the absolute freshest ingredients -- I only use today's eggs.

To make a single large or two regular sized nogs, use

1 egg, separated yolk and white
1/8 cup sugar
3-4 oz. milk (any strength)
3-4 oz. half and half
enough whipping cream to daub on top
spiker of choice (I prefer dark rum)
nutmeg, orange rind

Whip the cream and set aside. Rinse beaters.
Whip the egg white and set aside.

Mix the egg yolk and sugar until blended. Slowly pour in the milk and half and half to blend. Fold in the beaten egg white to fluff everything up. Spike with rum, cognac, whiskey, brandy, whatever you prefer, if desired. Float the whipped cream on top, grate some nutmeg and/or orange rind on top.

Serve in a beautiful glass. Don't be afraid to use your finger to get every last fluffy drop!

(Adapted from Martha Stewart's recipe. The painting in the photo is by Debra Henderson.)

Cheers!

Thank god for serious science!