The Fair

Mark and I went to the Common Ground Fair this weekend with Mom and Dad, while Isaac spent a few days in New York, staying with Zoë in her luxurious suite (Max was there too). There's never enough time to see everything we want to see, taste all we want to taste (a patient Lulu waited at home for our return), and we swore that next year we'd get a dog sitter so we can spend more hours wandering through exhibit tents and watching border collies show off and eating the best fair food on the planet.

Could the day have been more perfect? Yes, it could've been ten degrees cooler. But it was lovely anyway, and we drank iced chai and ate potato chip fries and admired border collies with Jason and Amanda.

I always leave the fair with dreams of planting vegetables, raising chickens, building things, camping, keeping bees, knitting, buying a CSA share, seeing more of Maine, milking goats, and (mostly) bringing friends and family members* back with me next year.

I just talked to Zoë, and we realized that it'll be September, 2014 before she can come with us again (she'll be abroad all next year). Weird! She would've loved the farmers from Songbird Farm, and so would Max: they had a bicycle-powered corn grinder setup, an adorable sign, huge smiles on their faces, and at one point they all picked up musical instruments and started singing in harmony. We bought some pickled beets from them, of course.

Yay! Bees!

Puppy countdown: TWELVE days.

*Holly would love the fiber tents, the alpacas and angora rabbits and spinning demonstrations. Jonah would love the chickens. Oona would love the border collies. Ben and Stella would probably want to climb inside Hobbit Holes and slide down muddy hills on cardboard. My bruddies would both love it. Actually, I can hardly think of anyone who shouldn't put it on his or her calendar for next year.

Be Wild of Tongue

Isaac is off on a North Carolinian adventure this week, so Mark and Minnow and I left the empty nest and took a day trip to my favorite peninsula yesterday. First we stopped in Belfast, where we got tasty baked goods and coffee at Chase's Daily (Minnow got lots of compliments, too, despite the fact that he stood outside crying pitifully until Mark emerged).

Minnow was looking good all day long, in fact! People in Hancock county, Maine, were fans of this guy.

In Blue Hill, we walked around town and down to the water, where we enviously watched people setting out on kayaks into the peaceful bay.

And we went to Brooklin, the town where E.B. White lived and wrote and gentleman-farmed. The air was cool and piney here, the houses were shingled and weather-blown. The coast made me want to cry, it was so beautiful.

We had lunch at El El Frijoles in Sargentville (get it? get it?), delicious fresh Mexican food, homemade tortillas and horchata and agua fresca, tucked back in the woods. So good.

We drove down to Cape Rosier, and stumbled on the Good Life Center, where the Nearings built their home and farm. The friendly couple who are the current stewards of the Center (meaning they live there all summer, tend the garden, show people around when they randomly show up) gave us a tour of the gardens and greenhouse and home. When we went inside, they took Minnow's leash and walked around with him while he cried like a toddler being left at daycare, and we watched a short video about the Nearings. It was funny handing our dog over, but sort of sweet somehow. My favorite things were the stone wall all around the (gorgeous) vegetable garden, all the poppies mixed in with the beans and tomatoes, and the view over the water.

I am glad Mark made me get out of the car there (I get shy, okay?!). Also, I appreciate his appreciation for town landings and public boat launches. We probably checked out a dozen of the sweetest, most peaceful little docks on this trip. This one in Brooksville was one of my favorites.

“I would really rather feel bad in Maine than feel good anywhere else,” said my friend E.B. White. He also said, "Be wild of tongue in a way we can understand!" We have to go back soon, because we neglected to hike up Blue Hill, go to the book shop there, or check out this cheese/chocolate/coffee place. Plus lots more.

my indian girl

i chatted online with this girl today! she and max have been farming near karkala for about two weeks now, and they are doing well but they are hot. i want to let her tell her own stories, when they get a chance (i.e. a reliable internet connection) to update their blogs, but i have to mention two animal tales she told me. first, the sad one: their neighbor's dog killed a monkey, and they had to bury it. she said, "its mouth was full of eggplant, which it had just been eating."

in happier animal news: "there is an adorable lizard that lives in this house. it's huge and it's so, so cute. i like it so much."

apple acres

it's that apple acres time of year again. zoë and i took advantage of the beautiful weather yesterday (midway in a rainy week) and drove to south hiram for some hot cider and macouns. we sat there a long time just listening to the wind rustling the leaves and looking out at the rolling hills. then we drove home with a half dozen apple cider donuts for mark and isaac.*

*his boat arrived on schedule, and his movie screening went beautifully. my dad even made the drive from cambridge for a slice of otto pizza and the film festival! mark is now returning isaac to the morning boat.

common ground

we spent yesterday in unity, maine at the common ground fair. it only took us twelve years to make it there -- every september since 1999 we've mulled it over, and we've either had some legitimate conflict or the thought of driving up there and parking and dealing with the crowd was too overwhelming. i'm so happy that we finally did it (the crowd, the parking, the drive: easy). jason came with us, and he introduced us to the concept of the pie cone.

there were also lots of variations on fried potatoes (all of the potatoes involved were organic at this fair!).

friends at the fair, strolling through our favorite area, where there were fires being built in holes in the ground and donuts being fried over campfires. also, there was a canvas tent whose floor was lined with pine branches. it smelled so good, we all wanted to move in.

one of many many animals i wanted to bring home with me:

we ran into all of our farmer friends -- mary ellen and austin from green spark, and mary and john from little falls farm. there were border collies doing tricks, beautiful handmade things for sale, wool being spun, delicious indian food to eat, kids sledding down hills on cardboard and hammering nails into boards, banjos being played... i would seriously not mind living there.

chard bouquet

one of the ways zoë's keeping herself sane during this fast food interval in her life is by volunteering once a week at green spark farm in cape elizabeth. she gets to the farm at seven a.m. and works until twelve thirty, all before starting her eight hour shift at work. i am so inspired by this girl.

the second best thing about it is that she brings home gorgeous produce for us to try (last week, fabulous striped beets and heirloom potatoes, and this week incredible chard that she picked, washed, cooked, and ate all in the space of about an hour). the best thing about it, though, is seeing her come through the door covered in dirt and smiling.

birthday goats

"what about the goats?" you ask? "i was told there'd be pictures of goats!" you say?
























never fear, we met plenty of goats on sunday (open creamery day in maine). first we meandered up to tourmaline hill farm in greenwood, where we met about twenty noisy goats including emily, pictured above. there were also ducks, pigs, and many lovely chickens.
























after that, we drove down to harrison, which is about an hour northwest of portland, and visited little falls farm. which was gorgeous - kind of my idea of a perfect little farm, actually, down a long meandering dirt road, beside a winding creek, nestled in these beautiful trees. the house is a charming old farm house with some shingled additions and a row of solar panels alongside.



















there's a huge hay field with moveable "chicken tractors" that allow the chickens to roam pretty much free as they fertilize the field and happily eat bugs and grass and stuff. the goats are really affectionate. m befriended one in particular, and for a while i was imagining loading her into our little car and bringing her back to portland with us.



















except for the general omnivorousness going on around this farm (for example, i asked where the chickens go in the winter time, and the answer was basically "in the soup pot"), it is my country living dream.* mary and john grow ninety percent of what they eat - including asparagus and beans and more - and are mofga certified organic. everything on the farm connects to everything else, and nothing is wasted.
























the goats don't have their horns removed, which is a pretty common practice.

















and they give birth on their own, with no interventions at all, often finding a quiet spot way back in the woods to do it, something they wouldn't be able to do on most farms.

















after we left the farm, we passed this building and paused to admire it. it looks like an old school house, or maybe a church. we all four briefly imagined buying it and fixing it up and living in it. and buying some goats. and then we drove home to portland.




















*although, to be precise, i only have this country living dream about two months out of the year. the rest of the time, i'm a devoted city girl. but those backyard chickens are sounding better and better to me.