Bird sounds at Lago Atitlan

The first tortilla of the visit! RICO!

Nancy and I have walked down to the lake for me to see how things look for this year. There is plenty of damage from the storm Agatha earlier this year and then again in September during some more horribly heavy rains. I wish nature would let up a little bit on this beautiful place! However, it is surprising cleaned up and as lovely as ever.

This morning was all about getting things set up here, phone card, groceries and just looking around to see what has and has not changed. We're having some yerba Mora for dinner tonight, it was exceptionally fresh at the market this morning, also a broccoli that I bought off the back of a pickup truck, 2Q for the head which is about $.25! The bridge is all repaired (again since it was rebuilt after hurricane Stan) but the little tienda at the edge of Jucanya as you can see is dangling over the edge of where the river washed out.

I had my first delicious latte at Crossroads just in the nick of time because the shop was inundated with a large group. I beat a hasty retreat.

I've been trying to load on a video for the last 3 hours so I give up. I'll try again in the morning and make a new post. here is the video

Halloween in my Maine

Today is Hallowe'en, a brisk and windy day, a sample of what's to come. I've been studying my spanish each morning in preparation for my upcoming trip. This is my study nest. The morning tea and sun pouring in through the oaks.

Pulled the beets and made pickled beets today and a batch of green tomato mincemeat, which will be yummy baked into a pie later this winter. As it simmered for hours the whole house has the scent of vinegar from the beets and spices from the mincemeat. These tomatoes being chopped up were so beautiful and here's the simmering pot of sweetness. Now you can almost get a whiff: If you want the recipe I can post it tomorrow!


The colors are so amazing right now, it can make you weep for the fleeting beauty. This is our old friend, Euonymus alatus, now on the invasive species list, but I mean, just look at these colors. Leaves in the woods range from the palest pink to this deep red with these seeds (the evil culprits) in flaming orange red with deep burgundy wings, an exuberant ball gown for the autumn.
We've also had a flock of turkeys roaming the shop where I head each day to keep a look on the current experiment in organic hydroponics, looks and tastes good! What is the drift? There were so many industrious things to do today I never got to Hallowe'en.

A rare blooming.

A rare treat and I am late in reporting it but it was lovely. This is one of 2 plants raised as seedlings that are now 3 years old. The vines graced my dooryard all summer and put on a wonderful show, starting with the lovely silver green leaves and robust twining vine stems. And then gracing my home with several lovely blooms in September. This is Argyrea nervosa in bloom in MAINE!!! (aka: Hawaiian baby wood rose) I took the picture just before bringing it into the greenhouse for the winter.

The shipping season

Hi to all my imaginary friends that I think are reading this blog since no one posts any comments!!!! That means YOU! Early morning and we have been shipping plants out like crazy, still maybe one week to go. Arms are sore, fingers scratched up, Oh and the finger I slammed in the car door last week during the heat wave, it is fine - if a bit bruised. That is when I know I am over the edge when I start getting injuries. Spring shipping is like a 4 week marathon, everything has to be in a fine rhythm. Starting with food, rest, vitamins and a positive mental attitude. The breakfast of choice has been a smoothie packed with goodies: nuts, yogurt, banana, fruit of the day (pineapple, blueberries frozen last summer, strawberries), a stalk of celery, 1-2 leaves of dinosaur kale, golden flax seed meal, flax oil, maca and sometimes ginger and lots of filtered water. Now the combo with pineapple is particularly pretty because the kale green carries the color. This is good fuel for 4-5 hours!

The plants are looking really good this year, despite the losses in fuchsia land ( the freeze night was also very windy and the remay blew off!) I now have a foolproof system to hold it down but that will be for next year, sigh.

I have been expanding my herbal studies and also my perfume studies. A good friend just went to Longwood Gardens and visited the making scents display, rave reviews. It is definitely on my field trip list for this summer.

I will have some exciting news to break later this month as soon as things are in place, I don't want to jinx it! It is growing related and fun!

That's it, off to be a "hose jockey" for a few hours.

Time for beautiful weather.

What a beautiful week we had, the weather warm and sunny, just what was needed to recover from the extreme storms we've been having. The plants are all growing happily now. I had a wonderful brunch with friends at my favorite restaurant, Tulsi . What a spread and it was all delicious. Brunch is served every Sunday from 11:30 to 3:00. Check it out, you will be glad you did. We are going to be growing some plants for the restaurant garden. It is a small garden but enough for edible flowers for garnish, greens, tomatoes, herbs and bitter gourd. Oh, and of course, tulsi the holy basil after which the restaurant is named. You can tell that food is always a theme for me!

Another new direction is the raw food thing, one of my co workers got me excited about it, now I am not rabid but when I eat this way I feel so good. Tonight I am making some "crackers" and breakfast snacks for the busy week. The base is soaked whole oat groats that get blended to a smooth paste and then I split it up and add to the different batters. For the basic cracker it is oats, sage, a dash of flax oil, a dab of onion and soy sauce . For the breakfast bars I pulse in the food processor walnuts, dry cranberry, sunflower seed, apple and raw ginger. Then I add that to the plain ground oats and add cinnamon to taste. The two batters are then dotted onto wax paper about 1 tablespoon each and spread out a bit (this part is challenging) then the whole deal goes into a food dehydrator for overnight to "cook". I know, sounds weird, but they are tasty and nutritious! REALLY. I will post a picture of the finished product.

Earlier this month I took the weaving from my Guatemalan friends to show and tell at the meeting of the Southern Maine Guild of Spinners and Weavers. It was fascinating to see what is going on in the world of spinning and weaving.
They were also working on a color project and many fantastic textile projects were shown by the group. This image is a scarf that was spun, dyed and woven to depict the similar colors in the photographic image, stunning! hey, gotta go make those crackers, more later! Leave a comment if you are out there reading!

The Big Wind Storm

What a fortunate set of circumstances surrounded the latest offering from Mother Nature! I was ready with the generators but never imagined it would be for so long.

This is the neighbor's house about 3 houses up with an uprooted, gigantic spruce on their roof. Luckily no one was harmed, it came down around 11:30 and it is a miracle they were not upstairs in their bedrooms!

The large oak out front is still standing and that is a miracle!

The night was warm (ish, this is New England after all.) I was waiting expectantly for the automated alarm call from the other greenhouses but it never came. I thought that was amazing but great luck! Also great luck that a friend was visiting and offering moral support. Then at midnight as I was filling the generator here for the night I decided I should go up there and check. That was when all the fire trucks and police were flashing up the street so we abandoned the trip. Good thing I didn't go out because further up the street was another huge white pine down in the road with lots of wires, another tree on a car, etc etc.

After a fitful night of sleep I went to Eliot to check and the power and phone lines had been down probably at the same time as the damage on our street. The good news is that it was warm enough for a greenhouse full of cold crop spring material and the wind didn't damage the un-inflated plastic! We grow in double wall hoop houses with air pumped (by electric motor) into the sandwiched layers. My storage shed did get a new look however ,this is minor!

So Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday making runs to Eliot fuel the generator every 6 hours
and the set up at home, one generator on the greenhouse and apartment and one for the house I feel fortunate to be so well set up. The weather did get much worse, rain, snow, wind, inevitably at midnight when I was driving to fill the tank. The sun didn't come out, which was lucky because no pumps for water either!

Back to plants here are some lovelies plucked while sticking cuttings: Vigna caracalla with it's exquisite snail shaped bloom, and Mannetia flowers that are like little glowing fireflies! The plants are as happy as I am to have the power back on, little details like water, air fanning from the horizontal air flow and a grower, after a few naps and a good night sleep, who can see again to take care!

Post Valentines, Phew

At long last a new post, having gone into a paralyzed depression and now back out the other side. Coming back to January in Maine was painful, snow, ice, wind, and that pesky work! The pansies are now transplanted and growing happily. We have been having great weather and they will be in bud and bloom in 4 weeks.


Meanwhile taking cuttings and getting all the rooting going resulted in this scrumptious collection of flowering abutilon:
That is a bowl of Abutilon: dark red is Nabob, Big Pink & Apricot Belle.

Cuttings on the bench at present, all the Pelargoniums, Lavenders, Abutilons, all of the fuchsia and many of the tropicals:
So far, very happy. Critters are under control and the sun has been adding just enough during the day to keep things growing.


We got a big snowstorm the other day and it was lovely and thankfully the worst of it has already melted away. I can feel OK about it now that spring is in sight, my hands and shoulders however were not too impressed. That's what happens when you get out of shape. No snow to shovel most of January and February keeps mama happy. This was the lovely version, a white frosting on everything and then enough breeze to dislodge it before it takes the electrical wires down! These are the things we think about here.

I will have to indulge in a dog photo opportunity because they have been so darn cute lately. These are the sunbathers at lunch time.

did I mention Valentines? No? Well, lets just say if you have ever been thinking of splitting up with your spouse, don't do it on Valentines day because it makes all the subsequent valentines days kinda suck for the one that got ditched. just saying. And that's why I prefer dogs!