gardening and enjoying life in Salem, Massachusetts
The packing is almost done and it’s time for our big family road trip!
I’ll back for the fourth of July.
(Wait till you see the fourth of July in Salem!)
I’ll have some great gardens and other sights to share with you
and hours and hours in the car to think about post ideas.
It could be a little scary!
Thank you all for all of your support over the past month or so!
Be Back Soon!
Love, Michele
Summer vacation is here!
I had a few happy faces on the way out this morning. I wish they were this chipper every day..
That little guy of mine is so ready!!
So is this little girl.
Bye bus! One last time..
Summer seems endless today, let the adventure begin!
Before we know it I’ll be posting back to school photos, won’t I?
I’ve been making these chocolate chip cookies for many years and I have to say they really are delicious! Their also extremely easy, no mixer or sifting needed. You can make them anywhere. We often double this since there are so many of us and they go fast.
The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 ½ Sticks of Butter (melted)
1 Cup of Brown Sugar
½ Cup of Granulated Sugar
1 Egg + 1 Egg Yolk
2 Teaspoons Vanilla
2 Cup + 2 Tablespoons Flour
½ Teaspoon Salt
½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 or 2 Cups Chocolate Chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine dry ingredients and put to side. Melt Butter in large bowl then stir in sugars, eggs and vanilla by hand. Add dry ingredients mixing until just blended. Do not overmix! Stir in chips.
Gently form into balls (you can make small, kid sized cookies, or the larger Dunkin Donuts size if you’d like) and place on baking sheet. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes.
Enjoy!!
Changing photos to sepia is fun (and easy with I-Photo)
Here’s a photo I took at the Common last week:
Same photo, changed to Sepia. Isn’t this timeless? It looks like it could have been taken a hundred years ago.
Here’s another one, the cars kind of give it away. I should crop them out.
This was our Christmas Picture a few years ago. My kids have grown up so much since then. I wish we could slow that down a little bit.
and this one really is old… Isn’t she beautiful? I have her hanging over my fireplace. It’s a photo that we found in my Dad’s things. My sister and I think it could be our grandmother. Unfortunately we don’t have any known photos of her. If anyone recognizes this lady please let me know! I call her Rose.
We’ve been wondering for a few years now…
Anyway, Happy Monday! I’m off to prepare for our big family road trip later this week.
Enjoy Everything!
Michele
Our cars are always clean.
We have everything we need.
He goes on all the scary rides.
Occasionally (very occasionally), he’ll attempt to stop and relax
He is the reason that we are able to live the wonderful and amazing life that we have.
and I am so grateful for him, every single day.
Happy Father’s Day!
Love, Michele
So, last night at 10:00 just as I was about to take my shower and get my jammies on Michael said “come on outside, it’s time to move the chickens”… of course my immediate response was ” really? seriously? you want to do that now? do we have to? how about tomorrow night?” Please!!
He said, “nope, no way, their getting too big for the tractor, let’s go!”
(meanie!)
So off we went, with a flashlight, in the dark, to the far corner of my back yard.. One by one we dug them out of their little house in the chicken tractor and gingerly placed them, two together, in the nesting boxes in the coop with with big girls.. trying hard not to step on poop or anything else that might be out there.
Doing this meant that I slept lightly, worried about what today would bring. We’ve moved babies up quite a few times and there’s still that mother part of me that worries about what’s going to happen to them out there. I raced out at 6am with my little guy to check. It’s his job to feed them in the morning and I was concerned that he might encounter an unpleasant situation. Well, they were all in a tizzy but everyone was alive and well. The big girls were outside squawking because their territory had been invaded and they wanted to be fed their treats (have I mentioned that their a bit spoiled). The babies were hopping around the inside of the coop, kind of upset and disoriented but busy exploring their new home. I went out to check again a few minutes ago and they were all outside in the run together.. at opposite ends but definitely sharing the space.
Before we know it we’ll have a really healthy and beautiful flock of egg layers out there!
Mission accomplished!! Whew!
This statue has become a landmark in Salem. Can you tell who it is?
Here’s a closeup of her face
Of course, it’s the late Elizabeth Montgomery portraying Samantha Stevens on the Bewitched TV show!
What child of the sixties doesn’t remember watching Samantha and all of her adventures? In June of 2005 this statue was installed and dedicated here in Salem. It was donated to the city by the TV Land Network. There was quite a bit of controversy in the days leading up to the unveiling. Only two Bewitched episodes were said to be filmed here, so it’s relevance to our city’s history was widely questioned. Some felt that it took away from the seriousness and tragedy of the witch trials.
There was lots of excitement on the day of the reveal. I didn’t attend, possibly because my fifth child was three months old and the thought of taking five children under the age of eleven downtown to see a statue unveiled compromised my ability to breathe properly. I believe that members of the cast were here, including the actress who played Tabitha. It was a big event!
It seems that Samantha has settled in comfortably. She’s become a landmark in the center of a long row of wonderful restaurants. Salem’s downtown is hopping these days, and while Samantha doesn’t exactly represent the serious side of Salem, she definitely adds a whimsical element to a city that is well-known for fun and whimsy.
First of all, thank you, thank you for all of your wonderful suggestions yesterday about what to do with the Green Monster! I’m newly energized and I’m working hard on pulling that area together. I was feeling quite overwhelmed before I asked for your help. Hopefully I’ll be able to share a photo of our progress soon. It’s such a shady, private spot. I love to sit there for a minute first thing in the morning or when we take a break during the day. It’s going to be a little oasis in our oasis.
Here’s an update on how things are going out in the garden this week:
The sweet peas are almost ready!
Here’s a beautiful post about sweet peas that AmySue at A Healthy Life for Me wrote last week
http://ahealthylifeforme.com/2012/06/05/peas-peas-everywhere/
Her recipes and photos are wonderful!
The basil and tomatoes are coming along (notice that the bunny food/poop grass is still trying to surface). I decided to try salt marsh hay as mulch this year to retain moisture and keep weeds and wilt away. We’ll see how it goes. I’d better get cages around those tomato plants soon.
I planted few red cabbage plants in this extra space and we’re enjoying the lettuce. Better get it while we can because lettuce is happiest in cool weather, once it gets hot it will bolt and be gone! The zucchini has settled in nicely and I planted a treat just beyond the lettuce… zinnias to cut and enjoy in August
Lemon balm, thyme and lavender…
And here’s our first purple coneflower blossom of the season! There will be many more to come..
It’s very rainy here but it’s supposed to clear up over the next few days. Perfect weather for growing everything!
Thanks for stopping!
Enjoy Everything today!
Michele
No, It’s not Fenway Park… It’s my house. I have my very own Green Monster here in Salem It’s what Michael is calling this wall outside our back door that we painted a few weeks ago…
What should we hang on it or decorate with? Any thoughts or ideas are welcome! Yes I did go kind of bright with the paint color but we wanted it to be cheery and welcoming.. it’s always been a very dark space full of clutter, but it has such a nice view of the yard. We wanted to brighten it up a little and make a nice place to sit for a few minutes.
I know that there are a few wonderful designers out there who might be reading…. share your thoughts please! Comment away!
Early Sunday morning I went out to find my little guy taking care of the chickens. He’s heading over to tend to the babies, poop scraper in hand!
Here he is hard at work, but if you look closely to the left you’ll notice an escape is underway.
Uh oh! We have church soon and they can’t be left to wander safely yet.
Winnie the Wonderdog wants to help!
This photo doesn’t exactly fit in to the story but my son enhanced it himself, and it’s a cute shot, so here it is! I think he did a great job!
Getting back to what was happening… here’s little sister to the rescue!
She’ll help round them up again!
“Where should we go? How do we get back in there?”
“I’ll save you!”
She’s a great little chicken handler!
On to the big girls… it’s a tough life for these urban chicken kids!
Enjoy Everything!
The Salem Garden 
