Thursday, May 6, 2010

Spring is here!




I guess once you cut your lawn for the first time of the season it has to be spring. I cut my lawn for the first time last Saturday with the new Honda lawn mower I bought. All I can say is the lawn mower is wicked nice and my lawn seems wicked big. It’s looking nice after I made the cut and raked up all the twigs and thatch in the lawn. No sooner did I finish that and about 200 dandelions popped up out of the lawn two days later. Some people consider dandelions weeds but I actually like them. I think they look beautiful with their bright round yellow heads in contrast against a dark green lawn. I don’t intend to purposely get rid of them except when I mow them down next time. But I won’t dig them up or put weed killer on them. Give me dandelions any day just take my bamboo.
So new events since the last time I wrote would be; I paid my taxes so now I’m broke, our neighbor caught a raccoon that was rummaging around our barn in a Hav-a-Hart trap and relocated it for us, and we now know we have a Porcupine that comes into the barn because I’ve found two quills recently where it seems it has a fondness for the wood which is part of the stairs. It just chews away on the wood. We joined the Bethel Historical Society and attended a talk there two weeks ago.
We also joined the CSA at Middle Intervale Farm in Bethel. If you don’t know, a C.S.A stands for Community Supported Agriculture and what it really does is build a relationship between you and the farmer who grows the food you put in your mouth. When I go to the “supermarket” I have no idea who grew the lettuce, tomatoes, and asparagus or raised the beef I bought to eat. At the CSA I do know. Cynthia Flores and her helpers grow the veggies and John Carter raises the Angus cattle for the beef. The other benefit is the food we purchase here will only travel 3 miles back to my house before I eat it and not a few hundred or a few thousand miles. So with the CSA you pay them some upfront money and commit that you’ll be a customer and for that they give you a dividend of extra food. For example $150 will buy us $160.50 worth of food so it’s equal to a 7% dividend. This farm has a wonderful farm stand where it’s done on the honor system. You select your items, write down your name and amount and leave the cash in the cookie tin unless you’re a CSA member where you just log your purchase. Lauren and I went there yesterday because they just opened for the season. We bought some fiddleheads and some Angus T-bone steaks for the grill and had a feast. Yum!
We finally went to Massachusetts on Monday to pick up Dusty our cat that was staying with Amber, Tommie and the in-laws. It’s been two nights in Maine and I think she likes it. She has new places to explore, new smells to smell and maybe she even missed me and Lauren.
Today a young deer crossed over our lawn and then went across the street to the brook and golf course but Dusty missed that sighting. Finally the picture of the Turkey above Lauren took on Monday in front of Rite-Aid which is the busiest intersection in Bethel…..not that we have a lot of busy intersections to choose from. We’re enjoying spring and hope all of you are too!

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