Year: 2014

The Face of Poverty Has Changed! — ARE YOU paying attention?

The tragic situation in Ferguson, Missouri and a recent brunch Town Meeting with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders have reawakened my thoughts and concerns for the people suffering today in the current economic situation.

News reports on the Ferguson crisis concentrate too much on the racial divide, and while it exists, we need to take a deeper look at the economic divide.  In Ferguson, that appears to coincide with the racial divide.  Such is not the case everywhere, as you look closely around you, the economic disparities are huge!  It may be you, yourself? and I can guarantee that it is some of your extended family, some of your friends and some of your neighbors!  ARE YOU paying attention?

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, tweeted a startling statistic  on July 22, 2012: “Today the Walton family of Walmart own more wealth than the bottom 40 percent of America.” It hasn’t improved in the last two years! The top 1% have received 93% of the income growth as our economy supposedly improves!  Improved for whom?  Certainly not for you or for me or for most of the people we know! ARE YOU paying attention?

You are not hearing about it on the news!

Most of the so called “news” is worthless fluff and misinformation

I am going to violate my New England Yankee upbringing and talk about my/our situation.  NOT because I want you thinking or worrying about us!  I don’t – BELIEVE ME! I do want you thinking and worrying about the people close by and around you! –   I want you to open your eyes and take a close look at your family, your friends and your neighbors!  I want you to open your eyes, pay attention and help those you can at whatever level you can!

I use our situation ONLY to open your eyes and to show you how easily it can appear that no difficulties exist when they really do. 90-95% of the people of the world would trade places with us in a heart beat AND I KNOW THAT.

Those of us who worked in the decades prior to 2000 and the economic downfall that resulted in the devastating economic crash in 2008 had the opportunity to acquire nice homes and to live relatively comfortable lives. That facade remains as our savings and retirement funds were wiped out.  I won’t tell you what I lost but I will tell you it was substantial as I was better employed then many and was putting 30% of my salary away –   ALL WIPED OUT  and I was too old and too near retirement to recover any of it. All the cushion intended for now – gone!

So, I am a perfect example of all the people living in nice homes, struggling to survive as the world drives by and thinks all is well!

I am a perfect example of someone who struggles to pay the annually increasing taxes on the roof over our head.

I am a perfect example of someone who can’t afford to replace/repair the non-working furnace and hot water heater (thanks to an early subzero freeze in December 2013). I made it through last winter and I will make it through this winter!

I am a perfect example of someone struggling to afford wood for this winter’s “hunker down”. I will manage to have a warm corner, somewhere, somehow — If I can’t get the nine cord of wood I need, I can burn biobricks, pallets, cardboard or huddle in the corner by the pellet stove in the Shop. (buying in small amounts as I go)

I will be fine!  I don’t want you worrying about me! I want you to open your eyes and take a close look at your family, your friends and your neighbors!  

Remember how deceiving the facade can be as you look around!

The Face of Poverty Has Changed! — ARE YOU paying attention?

We have actually had people question why we opened the Shop when things are so tight! We opened the Shops at Fayrehale because we had planned it for years and after the financial crash in ’08, I put my 30% retirement contribution in to inventory for this very Shop!

We opened it because we needed to take steps to generate an income stream that will in time make it easier to pay the taxes and buy our winter fuel.

We opened it because we are New England Yankees and we take what steps we can to survive.

I don’t want you worrying about us! I want you to open your eyes and take a close look at your family, your friends and your neighbors! 

One of the worst things for me in all of this, is that we are no longer able to have loads of firewood and pallets of pellets dropped off at the homes of neighbors and friends in need!

That bothers me more than the possibility of struggling to stay warm myself this winter!

SO!, I ask you not to think or worry about us. We will be fine.

I ask you to PLEASE open your eyes and take a careful look at your family, your friends and your neighbors!  Look beyond the facade — look behind the pride that may be cloaking reality! LOOK!  and help at what ever level you can IF YOU ARE ABLE.

That is All I Ask! 

That is All I Want!

If Not For June,

My memories of Winter in December…
With a wish to witness,
The freshness of Spring March would bring…
Would not still remain so vivid.
As if only yesterday visited.
If not for June.

If not for June,
My eyesight would not be teased…
By the freedom felt in Summer,
With hopes that linger of those things I could do,
Under clear skies showing bright Sun.
And seeing the fun shared by nearly everyone,
If not for June.

And if not for June I would not be able to reminisce,
From so many experiences I could pick.
June seems to be the month I can do this.
With a thankfulness I am still in the midst,
Of a year that appears to have just begun.
With so much left to offer before it is done.
And for me this happens only when June comes.

                                                 Lawrence S. Pertillar

Lilac, Lilac, thy sweet odour fills the room!

I look back at my last post and notice how drab our world was on April 21st when I posted Spring is Springing.  Suddenly the leaves appeared and the Lilacs gave their grandest display in years!  We have over 40 different lilacs, along with the old fashion purples that line Route 5 and the enormous old fashion white that was behind the house when we purchased this property.  For over two weeks now the yard has been perfumed. The memories of the harsh winter are starting to fade. One feels alive again and excited about the months ahead. We still have the Canadian Lilacs to bloom and extend the season.

We have been busy.  Shops At Fayrehale did not make our hoped for Memorial Day opening.  Illness both with us and our carpenter slowed us down as did wet cold weather that interfered with painting.  We are okay with that and rolled with life’s events. Currently on schedule for July 4th opening and this looks doable.

A small amount of touching up and second coating will have the Antiques At Fayrehale shop area (shown above) ready to fill with inventory. I can work away at this as I continue to finish painting the back area and right side where Christmas and Gift areas will be.  Things are moving quickly now. It is exciting to see it coming together.  We have been doing more regular updates at our Shops At Fayrehale  facebook page.  Later when time permits, I will update the transformation of the barn to shop on this site.

I am just back from a three day visit to Star Island where I volunteer for the Shops on Star and continue to work with the New Hampshire Artist who paints porcelain in the style of Celia Thaxter.  Tom held down the home front and took care of all the poultry.

Gardens are about to be planted.  Have been waiting for the soil to warm.  Some new raised beds created with old Borders Books and Music shelving units will be the first planted.

These will be in the area near the shop entrance and customers will be welcome to help themselves to some fresh beans or salad greens.  We plan an umbrella table and chairs with WiFi available for members of a party not interested in the Shop.  We want them to be comfortable and occupied while others shop.

The chicks continue to hatch and we ship around the country.  We have stopped taking orders for Icelandics this year while we concentrate on building our own flock. We continue to hatch Chanteclers.

I am fortunate to have this special place we call home!  It has a peaceful beauty that embraces nature and a powerfully positive energy that connects to the Universe.

Some keep the Sabbath going to Church –

I keep it, staying at Home –

With a Bobolink for a Chorister –

And an Orchard, for a Dome-

Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice

I just wear my Wings –

And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church,

Our little Sexton-sings.

 

God preaches, a noted Clergyman –

And the sermon is never long,

So instead of getting to heaven, at last –

I’m going, all along.

Emily Dickinson

  

HELLO  April !  —–  PLEASE Do Not Fool Us !

It has been a winter whose time has come to end!  A winter with way too many nights of  extreme, cold, subzero temperatures.  A winter determined to make us welcome Spring with open arms and big smiles.

April arrived  and I waited patiently and silently to get through April 1st —  quietly wondering if Mother Nature was going to fool us!  So far so good:)

    

  

On March 31st, you could not see the stainless steel fence around the pallet garden in the front yard, you could not see the two half barrel planters along the road that hold the egg signs three seasons of the year AND the annual flooding of the lower southwest corner of the property had not started!

The pictures above were snapped April 2nd. Two days of sunny weather in the high 40s saw the snow start a dramatic retreat.  Here’s hoping it continues. PLEASE do not fool us Mother Nature!

As Spring approaches, I look at the list of what has to be accomplished and set priorities.  The incubator is humming away here on the table next to me.  Full of eggs that hopefully will hatch and start providing the chicks that we send around the country.

I am SO ready to see boxes like this ready to go to people wanting to start their own flock of  Chantecler  and/or Icelandic chickens. In 2013 we were already shipping by this time.  I have been waiting for fairer weather as it is not just Vermont that has suffered this winter, it is the entire Country.  I refuse to send newly hatched chicks out until I know it is safe.

The first potential hatch is Sunday, April 13th and then we should be on track for something to hatch every Sunday.  The first one is questionable. I put 16 dozen eggs in and a week later candled them down to 12 dozen.  The 4 dozen I pulled were obviously duds. This week I will candle again, two weeks in and see what is going on.  These eggs were gathered during extreme cold so anything that hatches is an early gift.  Unless there is a surprisingly miraculous large hatch, which I am not expecting, we will keep this batch here at Fayrehale.  They will grow out here, some will provide older birds for sexed pullet requests later in the season and some will feed us next winter.

Hopefully the 12 dozen I added last Sunday will be in better shape as the weather had started to become slightly more moderate!  They too will be candled this weekend and the obvious duds pulled.

Longing to get the gardens going!

The gardens are still under 12-18inches of settled snow.  Seeds need to be started. With living conditions as they are this season, I have very limited time and space to start seeds.  This is when one welcomes an offer to barter and I have a friend who will be starting seeds for me in return for older, sexed Chantecler pullets.  What perfect timing and the needs of both are easily met.

Lots to do before opening Shops at Fayrehale the end of May!

We provided some updates in an earlier post.

Winter made it impractical to heat the barn to painting warmth.  We did paint shelf units in the kitchen and the last two are in here now.  Soon, hopefully, we can break out the paint, do some touch up second coating and finish the unpainted areas in the barn.  Not as bad as it may look to someone who isn’t visualizing the finished project.

Winter has also been used to find and connect with local Artisans to purchase inventory for the Christmas and Gifts sections of  Shops at Fayrehale: Antiques, Christmas, Gifts

We have made some awesome connections and are well on our way to offering green, local, Artisan made items along with the antiques.

There have been personal challenges this winter!

The snow, I can handle. The ridiculously long, like all winter!, periods of extreme cold, not so much:)  In addition I have have to deal with radiation fibrosis  and I had to eliminate some inner anger left from an intended act of kindness!

The radiation fibrosis is the result of radiation I had 30 years ago after my cancer surgery. It is not life threatening and thus is an irritant that I will have to live with for the rest of this life.  A small price to pay for 30 years of post cancer life to date and how ever many more years lie ahead as I turn 66 next week:)

Radiation fibrosis takes 20 plus years to appear.  I was on schedule as I lived with the cyst, then three cysts for 7 years or so. Last fall they became red and irritated from pant belts and seat belts.  I went to Dartmouth Medical and had them removed on November 14th.  Then the fun began. The two smaller ones healed. The larger one that was directly on and in the surgery scar has yet to heal.  The Doctor’s can not tell me with 100% certainty that the perpetual draining will stop!  We are working on it and each visit they cauterize that “wound”.  I do believe it is helping.  Hopefully not wishful thinking on my part! Next cauterization is April 14th.

IF, I am to drain for ever more! I will design an elastic wrap w/ velcro that holds either washable pads or feminine pads!  It would also be nice if there was a good use for the fluid that drains so i could collect it and sell it!!!  As I said, regardless of the eventual outcome it is a small price to pay for life!  The other changes, red, thickening, creasing skin are limited to the 3″ x 4″ radiation port and can easily be airbrushed out or my scantly clad modeling photos:)

I did have to quell some inner anger left from an intended act of kindness.  It wasn’t as easy as it should have been!  I still have to stifle small doses at times.  They will be less likely to bubble as winter ceases!  Many of you know that we openly and willingly housed a convicted sex offender that had been friends with Tom at Colgate eons ago.  He was locked up for thirty years.  We opened our home and our lives for 18 months and then his inner evil bubbled and his manipulative, vindictive, horrible true nature reared its ugly head and there was a messy departure in which he attempted to do as much damage as possible to various social and personal relationships!  He succeeded at varying degrees.  That has not generated the feelings that I had to fight!  Karma will deal with that behavior and he has no good ahead in this life and will hopefully do a better job when he returns for the next one.

The inner battle I had to fight was the large financial burden he was. Thousands with a BIG “s” that would have been available to quickly fix the furnace and hot water heater that were knocked out last December by a burst pipe.  Now I lived adequately with the wood stove making a warm kitchen and through the floor register a warm bedroom. I had cold running water  and I quickly learned how to thaw the ice in the toilet bowl! Still better than a walk out back to the outhouse:) The Majority of the people currently living on this earth would jump at the opportunity to switch places with me.

Still, during some of those bitter cold spells, the anger would start to bubble.  Not proud of it. It was not right nor was it good!  It just was.  As I said, choices had to be made and the priority had to be getting the shop open so it would start generating some income and not pouring very limited funds down the “cellar drain”.  The breaking weather is helping!  It soon will be totally eradicated!

Life is good. Life is moving on. On April 1st I ordered myself a gift!  I bought Paradise Lot: Two Plant Geeks, One-Tenth of an Acre, and the Making of an Edible Garden Oasis in the City.

Next I will gift myself with Ben Falks’s The Resilient Farm and Homestead: An Innovative Permaculture and Whole Systems Design Approach

Ben Falk is a Vermont Treasure.

Permaculture is the subject I must study this season. 

As Spring arrives I am revitalized and looking forward to moving back into the tent! (later than usual), getting the gardens planted, the chicks going to new flock owners and Shops At Fayrehale open.  If you are in the area this summer, stop and say hello.

Life is Good !