Fall

We’ve had a busy start to the Fall. We had book reviews to complete, conference abstracts to submit, and grant applications to write. And classes started. On time. As usual. Oh, well. We knew summer couldn’t last.

Every Columbus Day, the Fenway Arts Alliance opens up all of the museums in the Fenway arts district. So we joined our good friends Ms D and Mr J for lunch and a day of Little E activities. It was probably the third or fourth time this year we went to the Museum of Fine Arts, although we didn’t stay very long since the boy wanted to go get a pumpkin, paint flags and fly a kite.

Can you find him?

In all of the pictures of Little E, he is nothing but a blur.

In mid-October we went to Montreal for the annual NESTVAL conference. One of the Good Mr. Dr.’s students presented the preliminary work on a project they just started. The Good Mrs. Dr. also presented on the kinds of projects she does in her classes.

Here's to all of you who complain you don't see enough pictures of me. Now, quit your complainin'.

At the end of the conference, we both went on the Radical Montreal walking tour. We learned about the history of civil rights activism in Montreal and even saw it in action as we passed by strikers in front of McGill University protesting really unfair changes in their pay and pensions. We ended the tour by joining the start of the Occupy Montreal march and protest.

We are the 99%! (Or however you would say it in French)

Later that evening, we went to Winnies, which is located in the Sir Winston Churchill Pub Complex. Here we had the best gin and tonics we’ve ever been served and heard Jam Avenue, the best live music since we left L.A. It was great fun.

The Geography Department at Salem chartered a bus to get us all (faculty, their spouses, students, their parents) to Montreal safely and together. It was smooth riding into Canada. There was a small hiccup because one of the international students did not have some form that he would need to get back into the US. But the Fearless Leaders of the Geography Department managed to get a copy over the weekend. The only thing we were worried about was whether the Border Patrol were going to hassle this kid.

It was smooth riding out of Canada right until we were pulling into the border patrol station. There were two busses in front of us. The way it works, everyone has to get out of the bus so that it can inspected. Everyone on the bus has to have their papers inspected. It took an hour to get to the front of the line. Just before we were supposed to go through the radiation detectors and pull into the station, an air valve under the bus just died. We were dead in the lane. It was three hours before a mechanic could get there. It would be another two hours before the bus was fixed.

The pipe never left his mouth.

We have no idea what he's doing.

Not yet suffering from bus fever.

We stayed in good spirits the entire time. Some of the students tried to do somersaults in the grassy area in front of the station but were told by a very stern Border Patrol officer that somersaults were not allowed. At first, we were feeling lucky that no other busses had come through while we were broken down. This border station has only one bus lane. But of course our little bit of luck did not last. About 45 minutes before the repair was complete, five busses pulled in right behind us. And they had to wait.

Oh no!

But, eventually the bus was fixed. We did not have stay in Canada, although I don’t think that some of us would have minded going back to Winnies. We were starving by the time we finally crossed the border and even I ended up eating McDonald’s french fries. Although this McDonald’s was right next to a supermarket, so I was able to get freshly fried chicken from the deli and some trail mix for the Good Mr. Dr.

Despite the 5 hour delay, we made it home in time to get some sleep before getting right back to work the next day. It was a memorable weekend to say the least.

That’s all for now. You can see the pictures, if you haven't already, by clicking on the gallery link above. The next update should include Halloween. And maybe Christmas.

Summer

This was one of those wonderful summers. The weather was good for almost the entire summer (Hurricane Irene being the one hiccup). The Good Mr. Dr. spent the early part of the summer tending to the vegetable beds. He planted a ton of veggie and it shows.

August 2011

The east bed

This is the first summer where we raised so much of our own fruits and veggies. Here’s what we learned:

• Lettuce of any kind (we planted mesclun) is the gift that does not stop giving. We were harvesting this well into July.
• Brussels sprouts are 1) huge and 2) picky. They did not like the cherries tomatoes and literally leaned over the middle part of the beds in order to get away from them.
• When it comes to cucumbers, eggplants, and pumpkins – you win some and you lose some.
• Both sugar snap peas and cherry tomatoes need at least a 5 foot trellis.
• Blueberries do not come in every year.
• If the grapes survive, they can get very sweet.

At the beginning of fall, we filled the car with the perennial flowers. We need to plant these before we plant the bulbs.

Yep. The hatchback was a good choice.

The southern flower bed

The northern flower bed

The western border

As the summer plants in the front began to die back, we planted some red mums to brighten things up. The climbing rose didn’t produce after that first flowering, but it is definitely growing.

The end of summer brought Hurricane Irene. We were very lucky that it didn’t hit us head on. We got significant amounts of rain and wind, but for the most part, we were very lucky.



We were much luckier than our neighbors to the west and northwest. There are towns in Vermont that became cut off from the rest of the world because their roads were literally washed away. The poor folks in Western Massachusetts experienced the worst weather all year. Earlier in the year there were tornadoes that destroyed parts of small towns and entire farms in Central and Western Massachusetts. Even the City of Springfield was affected. We made our annual pilgrimage to the Brimfield Antiques Fair, where we bought some door knobs and other door parts. On the way we could see the damage the tornados wrought on the farms and woodlands around Brimfield. It definitely made us count our blessings.

We drove past this area on our way to the antiques fair. You can see the tornado's path really clearly.
Click here for more pictures.

As happens every year, summer came to an end. We were able to spend almost a month doing almost nothing but reading and gardening. We also worked, but the reading and gardening were what we remember the most. You can't really ask for a better summer.

Winter to Spring

It's been a while and much has happened since Thanksgiving. I will try to summarize the most essential points.

Christmas

As you all know, we spent Christmas at home. We were able to get a deal at the Snowy Owl Inn in Waterville, NH and spent a few days there. It is located in the White Mountain National Forest.

It is normally a ski resort but we were there before the start of the ski season. It was clean and comfortable. Because it was off season, it was also blessedly quiet.

Our room is the one right above the entrance, with the circular window.

The White Mountains are real mountains.

We also ate at one of the best restaurants ever. If you are ever in the area, you must eat at the Wild Coyote Grill. I had the fish (because I always will order the salmon or trout if I can) but the Good Mr. Dr. had buffalo steaks, both of which were just awesome.

He's hardly started and he's already in heaven.

We don't ski but we did manage to get in a winter hike on the Lincoln Falls Trail. It hadn't snowed much yet, so snow shoes were not required. We never made it to the falls, but it was a nice hike nonetheless.

The trail kept going and going and going.

The Pemigewasset River

While we were near Lincoln, we decided to do some Christmas shopping. Here is little Maddy, one of our grand-nieces, modeling her New Hampshire jammies.

Apparently it fit just right. And will last all of one winter. Until we are blessed with a new grand-niece or nephew. ;)

We received about 80 inches of snow, according to the Boston Globe's Shaq-o-meter. It started a few days after Christmas.

This was the first 22 inches on December 28.

We basically had a major snow storm at least every other week, sometimes every week, until sometime in March.

This was pretty much what the garden looked like until the end of March.

As usual, you can look at our other winter photos by clicking on the gallery link above.

Spring

For us, spring is the busiest time of year. It is the busiest semester and it is the start of gardening season. This spring I decided to see if I could match the Good Mr. Dr. and taught four classes. I learned that I am definitely his equal, but I don't think I want to do that again.

In March, we organized our first fundraiser for Alternatives for Community and Environment. Neither of us are very comfortable with asking people for money, even for causes we care about as deeply as this. But we do know how to throw a party, so we decided to have a wine tasting. As it happens, we know an amateur wine enthusiast who knew his wines and was really generous when he poured. It was a lot of fun and we will definitely do this again. And next time, aspirin will be given away as party favors.

The lineup.

Spring is also when we usually go to the Association of American Geographers conference. This year it was held in Seattle, which allowed us to see two of our favorite people in the whole world who graciously shared their home with us for the entire week.

The Lovely Couple

They toured us around Seattle, which is a funky place. There are recycling and compost bins everywhere! And lots of public art. Seattle is definitely a place that knows how to do "public."

The Fremont Troll under the Aurora Avenue Bridge

A former gas works turned into a public park

Graffiti on the Great Graffiti Wall just outside of the Pike Place Market

While in Seattle:

• We ate well. All of the time. Most especially in the home of The Lovely Couple.
  
• We saw a lot of scantily clad young women being photographed in the many public places around. We aren't sure why.
• We were cold the entire time. We actually went into a tourist shop (gasp!) and bought Seattle, WA hoodies to wear over our suits during the conference.
  

We highly recommend visiting Seattle. We look forward to going back. Next time, with our thermals and my new sheepskin hat.

The Garden

This year we decided to build raised beds to grow vegetables in the far back. This required some serious pruning of both trees in order to ensure that the beds would get full sun.

Of course, tree pruning is best done at the end of winter.

This is the dogwood pruned back to the stumps.

And the pussy willow. It still needs to be cut back some more, but that will have to wait for next year.

The aftermath

We decided to build two so that we could experiment. I spent at least an hour and half every day for a little over a week painting them. We put them together and placed them in their spot just before we left for Seattle. When we returned, the Good Mr. Dr., with the generous help of Mr. J, got 2 cubic yards of soil to fill it. But it was still April and it was too early to plant things, which was just as well because we had to plan this out. And when I say we, I mean, the Good Mr. Dr.

We decided to use the square foot gardening method, because it was recommended by the Food Project. Since the Good Mr. Dr. is on the board of the Food Project, it seemed like a good idea to take their advice. After much thought, planning, and preparation we decided to plant the following fruits and vegetables in either the raised beds or in pots:

Brussels Sprouts, Long Island Improved	Brassica oleracea var. gemmifera
Spinach Tyee	Spinacia oleracea
Red Giant Mustard	Brassica juncea 'Red Giant'
Nasturtium, tall single blend	Tropaeolum majus
Sorrel	Rumex acetosa
Aunt Molly's Ground Cherries	Physalis pruinosa
Cilantro sabor	Coriandrum sativum
Nasturtium, jewel mixed	Tropaeolum majus
Florence Fennel	Foeniculum vulgare var. azoricum
Mesclun lettuce	Lactuca sativa 'Mesclun Mix'
Curled Green Mustard	Brassica juncea 'Southern Giant Curled'
Super Sugar Snap Pea	Pisum sativum 'Super Sugar Snap'
Common Chives	Allium schoenoprasum
Chinese Garlic Chives	Allium tuberosum
Jumbo Garlic, California softneck	Allium sativum
French Marigolds	Tagetes patula
Mammoth Sunflowers	Helianthus annuus 'Mammoth'
Connecticut Field Pumpkins	Cucurbita pepo
Hot 'n Spicey Oregano	Origanum vulgaure
Bush Cucumber	Cucumis sativus
Black Beauty Zucchini Squash	Cucurbita pepo 'Black Beauty'
Thai Basil	Ocimum basilicum 'Horapha'
Spicey Globe Basil	Ocimum basilicum 'Minimum'
Sweet Million Cherry Tomatoes	Lycopersicon lycopersicum 'Sweet Million'
California Wonder Green Bell Pepper	Capsicum annuum 'California Wonder'
Black Beauty Eggplant	Solanum melongena var. esculentum 'Black Beauty'
Cherry Hot Peppers
Red Beauty Bell Peppers	Capsicum annuum 'Red Beauty'
Ozark Beauty Strawberry	Fragaria x ananassa 'Ozark Beauty'
Sequoia Strawberry	Fragaria x ananassa 'Sequoia'
Quinault Strawberry	Fragaria x ananassa 'Quinault'
Pink Panda Strawberry	Fragaria x ananassa 'Pink Panda'

Planting the cold weather plants at the end of April. The beds are oriented almost exactly due south for the best sun exposure.

You have to plant the cold weather plants first. These are things like lettuce, mustard, and spinach. We harvested our first crop of spinach at the end of May.

The first salad. Those flowers are Johnny Jump-Ups, a type of pansy, which are beautiful and edible.

The Red Giant Mustard in mid-June. This is a very proud gardener about to make a very good dinner.

The East Bed

The front of the West Bed

The back of the West Bed

A few lessons learned thus far:

• Give brussels sprouts lots of room. Those giant leaves you see in the front of the beds are the brussels sprouts and they make good shade, which isn't so good for the tomatoes or peppers that are planted behind them.
  
• Lettuce is the gift that keeps on giving. At least so far this spring it has.
• It pays to keep your fences repaired. We've had no problems so far with mammals. Except squirrels who don't eat anything but who just like to dig and make a mess.
• A five by six foot raised bed is just a tad bit too big. Next time, five by five or six by four.
• Nothing tastes as good as when it comes from your own garden.
  

The one thing that we wish we had planted but didn't was garlic. The good thing is, there is always next year.

Finally, there were two hardscaping projects that we decided to do this year. The first was in the front. The winter was rough not only on our own psyche but also on our front walk. By the time the snow melted, we found that the sidewalk work that we were hoping to get to in maybe 3 or 5 years needed to be done this year. It was a hazard and liability. Neither of us wanted small children to get hurt and we also did not want to test our house insurance.

So we took the opportunity to do something similar to our neighbor, the architect, and have a planter built. Having learned many lessons on hiring contractors, we started the process in March. We obtained at least a half dozen proposals and thoroughly vetted two finalists. We even spent an entire Saturday afternoon driving around the region looking at the work they did on previous projects. We settled on Bautista Masonry. These guys were simply awesome. Once they started, they worked from morning until the end of the day. They were clean and quiet, which isn't easy to do when you are breaking up a sidewalk. They repaired our front walk, including a sagging front stone that we weren't even aware was split right down the middle and was ready to fall right into our basement. Which would not have been a good thing. And just as important, they removed the ugly blue paint that some previous owner had painted over the original granite.

This is where you step before entering into the house. It is now braced from underneath and is safe to walk on.


This is the completed project. We don't have any before pictures but if you do, please let us know.

This is the planter with plants. We did the planting ourselves. We even made the potting soil. Cause we rock like that.

We also asked them to repair the brick in the space where the oil tank used to be and dry lay brick on the floor. Now we have the wine cellar that we've been wanting since moving in. If you are in the Boston area, we highly recommend this company.

The back wall is the foundation, which was also repointed and repaired.

The other hardscaping project was basically to finish The Garden. We managed to build two sitting spaces last year (again, with the generous assistance of Mr. J). But we also wanted to put in pathways and formalize the planting areas. After much heavy lifting, digging, uprooting of unwanted plants (including a few dead grape vines trunks), and even more heavy lifting and digging, this is the final product:

And now, we've got to decide what to plant where. :D

We went to our favorite hardscaping place, Ashland Landscape Supply for the bluestones. All of the brick was recycled from our old chimneys that were rebuilt last year. Some of the other stones, like the brownstone on the right at the entrance to the path in the picture above, was unearthed while digging up the soil. Oh, the many things we found while digging up the soil. Including quite a number of decorative stones that are used in indoor vases and things like that. I suppose we should take this as a blessing. Those are dozens of decorative stone that we don't have to buy. The soil gave them to us.

So I think that now brings us up to date. What are we doing for the rest of summer? Same thing we always do. Work, read, garden, read, garden, work, write, garden, work, watch Masterpiece Mystery, read, garden, travel, work, read, garden. You know. The usual.

As usual, you can see the other photos by clicking on the gallery link above.