November Hill farm journal, 109

 This is the first week it’s started to feel like autumn is here. The temps have been in the 70s each day, lows falling a bit lower each night, and we have color change in the dogwoods and sweet gums, which makes it much more apparent that we’re rolling toward my favorite season.

Today we have rain, thankfully a softly falling rain that the pastures and plant beds need, so I’m happy to have a day or two of this so everything gets a good soaking. I hope all in Sally’s path stay safe, especially those getting the brunt of the storm.

We’re making some progress in the clearing of invasive plants in Poplar Folly. My farm helper has been working on that, and my husband did some weed-eating in Arcadia to clear the grass around the hives. The goldenrod is in full bloom and the bees are extremely busy right now, taking full advantage of the last nectar flow before winter. Two copperheads were spotted down there, so it will be another few months before I’m willing to take the dogs down again. 

The wild muscadines are fully ripe, and plentiful, though many are too high for me to reach. They’re not as sweet this year, and given all that’s going on in the world, that seems fitting. 

In the potager, I thought we were done but for the basil and sweet potatoes, but I found three huge cucumbers all lined up in a very visible row two days ago, and had to wonder if the cucumber vines were proving a point. We had a delicious cucumber salad that night. These three vines have kept us fed most of the summer and now into the beginning of fall. I also had company while checking in that day I found the cucumbers. One of the resident black racers was there, and slid around as I worked, staying inside the fencing but with excellent distancing. 

The fig tree is loaded but as is its usual habit, the fruit set late and is not yet ripe. It’s now a race to see if the fruit can ripen before a first frost hits. I’m rooting for the figs!

I finally got a load of mulch, which seems like forever ago that I was first wanting it, and they ran out, and then I got busy with other things. This load will go to setting up my new pollinator bed, and I’ve already mulched the shade bed across the driveway. I’ve been working on the deep weeding the beds need right now, and as I clear out some weeds, will begin mulching for winter. The pollinator beds are, frankly, a mess, but the bees don’t mind, nor do the butterflies, and we still have several fall-blooming plants to come before the garden goes dormant. 

A few projects on the horizon: liming and overseeding the front pasture, doing a deep clean of the barn once the days are cool enough that they horses move to daytime turn-out, doing a couple of stall door projects + the barn aisle project, and installing new back deck railings and a wider set of steps. 

Inside, I’m still working on my green strip, waiting for the new sliding glass doors to arrive, and also waiting on new garage door panels (one needed repair and in the back and forth with Pella that ensued, they told me the custom panels we’d ordered were not what we got - I had no idea! - and they are replacing them with the right glass windows). 

Next week I’m going to get my old mailbox installed in the potager as a place to store some hand tools and my garden journal, and we’ll set up the compost bay in the corner of the pasture by the potager for easy access. 

The farm follows the seasons, and the rhythm of the seasons intimately affects my writing process. Fall has always been my busiest writing time, and suddenly I’ve been feeling the rumbling that usually precedes a burst of creative work. I’ve started a new novel, am doing edits in another novel, have about 10 essays and short stories out on submission, have one essay forthcoming at Minerva Rising, and am also working on a 6-part creative nonfiction flash series that I’m really excited about. 

There’s nothing I love more than having lots of books to read, projects to work on, and writing in progress as the season begins to turn. 

Decor note + a wild hair

 New mattress plus linens in the camper - have shams and new pillows to add to the mix but this is a quick look:

The back of the quilt is a beautiful light blue stripe that I love - meant to fold up a corner to show that, but I forgot. It looks so comfy I wanted to crawl in and take a little nap!

The company that made the mattress (it’s an odd size and also has one corner cut to fit the space) also made the mattress cover and an air-flow mat that goes beneath so the mattress isn’t sitting directly on the wooden base. It was all done very well and if you’re looking for something in a size that isn’t easy to find, or impossible to find, I highly recommend them. Tochta is the company I used. 

After writing weekend I found myself full of creative energy. We each read new work, got feedback from one another, and I also started a new novel. (Gasp!) It’s a project I’ve been holding off on because I have felt I needed to get some of my finished novels out the door before starting a new one, but this weekend I decided that in the midst of a pandemic, with so much in flux in our country, why the heck am I hoarding a novel I’ve been wanting to jump into? So I wrote the first chapter and read it too to my writing colleagues and they loved it. I’m so happy to be working on it, especially as fall is tiptoeing in and I love having a big new writing project this time of year.

Even all this didn’t use up the creative energy that a writing weekend generates. Yesterday afternoon I literally stood up from writing, got the can of paint left over from the new garret space, and started working on this strip that goes around the stairway in our house. 

This strip has always been a sort of mismatched color to the rest of the space around it, and the color did nothing to accentuate the lovely red oak. This bright botanical green is a really nice color in that respect and by the time I got the first coat on and the sun was beginning to set and glow through the upstairs windows, it looked amazing. I love it!

I’ll do a second coat today and then the first coat on the remainder that goes around that hexagonal shape. I may carry this into the dining room on a narrow strip that goes along the light panel. I could also carry it along the top wall in the kitchen. For now I’m taking one step at a time, but I’m glad I went for it when I had the sudden impulse. 

It’s Writing Weekend/ our monthly virtual retreat

 I’m not sure if I’ve written here about two of my very long-time writer friends and colleagues who I’ve been retreating with usually two times a year for 20 years. When Covid hit in March, we knew our time together would be seriously impacted, and I concocted the idea to have a monthly writing weekend where we meet virtually. 

Each month we pick a weekend, I select a location, choose a rental home, and send them photos with an elaborate and fantastical plan for how we’ll get there. It’s all make-believe, but it gives us something to look forward to. When the actual weekend happens, we meet via Zoom, doing the thing we usually do when on real writing retreat: gather for meals and discussion, write in between those times, and end with an after-dinner cocktail and critique session where we read work out loud to one another.

We’ve all come to treasure these weekends and I think we’ve all been surprised at how effective they are in terms of refocusing us on the writing work. We celebrate publications, discuss issues we’re struggling with, read out loud from what we’re writing, and hold one another accountable for meeting deadlines and digging out of stuck places. It’s wonderful.

So tonight I’ll be in the garret, sitting at my desk, with dinner and a glass of wine, ready to Zoom to Key West and a 3-bedroom, 2 bath houseboat. I’ll be sitting here:

But in spirit, we’ll be here:

November Hill farm journal, 108

We’ve had a lovely weekend with our family and some cooler weather. I shivered on the porch the past two mornings!

Our first guest run with the camper went very well. While the electrician is still looking for a part he needs to do our upgrade, we got a long heavy duty cord and ran it to the outdoor outlet on the back deck. It worked fine to power the camper and its AC unit. We hooked up the water and all went well with that. One thing I hadn’t thought of is that the new water hook up doesn’t run through our well filtration system. Boo! But I got a travel Berkey water filter tank and it will do the job nicely in the camper, for drinking water. 

Sadly the new mattress was delayed and is arriving today - after the guests have left - but at least I’ll have it set up for next visit. 

This is before:

And this is now:

When I find the right fabric, I’ll take down the mini-blinds and put up curtains. I’ll also be doing more work to open the space up, but for now, this has already made a big difference in the usefulness of this previously tight space.

This is before:

This is the sofa, folded down, with the fold-down desk the previous owners installed. (On the left, between the counter and the sofa) While it worked well when you were sitting down, it extended so far out it was a real hazard coming in the door, and I knew it wouldn’t work for us. I removed the desk and the really ugly mirror over the sofa, and the curtains and valences.

This is now:

For now, I’m using a comfy blanket to cover the sofa. Eventually I’d like to get/make a fitted cover for it that I can remove to wash as needed. The prints were inexpensive and add some color. The lamps on each side add a different quality of light than the overhead camper lights do. And with the curtains and valences removed, the whole feel is lighter and brighter. I’ll have curtains for these windows too once I find the perfect fabric!

This is before:

And now:

I’ve added an electric kettle so that it’s easy to make tea and French press coffee without turning on the propane stove. And of course, ditto the curtains and mini-blinds for the kitchen window. 

I forgot to take the after photo for the bedding, which is lovely! But I’ll do that for a future post, after I’ve got the new mattress in place and everything set up again.

There’s a lot more I have planned, but we’re happy to have a space for my son, daughter-in-law, and their Belgian Malinois Aria. And for me to go for some writing time. And of course for any other guests who come to November Hill once we’re able to entertain again!

In other news on the hill, the veggie garden is just about done with the summer produce. We still have a lot of basil, the odd cucumber, and the cherry tomatoes, as well as the sweet potatoes to harvest, but things are winding down out there. I signed on for an extra large share in our fall CSA, so I’m not sure I need to plant fall crops. I may just put a cover crop in the veggie beds for the winter.

I’m seeing a few trees starting to shift to fall color, which is exciting. The wild muscadines are ripe. I haven’t seen or heard any geese yet but that’s sure to come. In what has been a truly strange year, it’s a comfort to know that fall is on its way. 

Now that the heat is breaking, it’s time to do some dedicated weeding in all the beds and in Poplar Folly, so that’s going to be the focus this week and next. The projects never end, and I’m grateful for that!

In the barn: Cody had an itchy ear, a bout of hives, and an abscess brewing. All are better now, but Redford has a tender hoof. We’ll move through these things and I know every equine on the farm will be more than thrilled to see autumn hit full force. It’s been a particularly gnat-filled summer. 

I’m restored after getting to spend 5 days with my entire little family all together. In spite of everything, life is good. 

The very hungry caterpillars

 I planted bronze fennel in the potager specifically for the pollinators to enjoy, and while picking veggies yesterday evening, look what I found!

These were all up and down the fennel, in the process of munching away at the foliage. So happy to host them and if we’re lucky we’ll get to see cocoons!

Also, my mom had to go to the ER last night due to what turned out to be gastroenteritis. They ruled out stroke and other age-related things, and she is already back home. If you’re so inclined, please send her good thoughts and/or prayers - whatever you send I’m grateful for! She’s 87 this year and has been quarantining in her home where my brother takes amazing care of her. So grateful for him and the fact that she hasn’t needed to go into a rest or nursing home. 

Stay safe and healthy, all!