Month: April 2017

P is for Pike’s Original Maine Garden Hod | Practical and beautiful.

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When we bought our home it came with three raised garden beds which of course meant I immediately envisioned summers with endless supplies of fresh herbs, vegetables and wild flowers without truly understanding the time and energy needed to achieve these results. Somehow, even with my lack of gardening skills, we did manage a couple of seasons with a good supply of herbs and wild flowers. We never managed the vegetables beyond a few tomatoes and one or two anemic bean poles.

Even with our limited success, as each new spring approaches I’m ready to dive in again but I’ve accepted that we probably won’t be feeding ourselves anytime soon. So one of my bucket list items for the year was to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and we’re about to check this one off our list. We bought a half-share of the organic vegetable CSA from Frith Farm in Scarborough.

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O is for October Fields | Finding my zen with clean burning soy candles.

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One of my favorite quotes is from Gretchen Rubin, “The days are long, but the years are short.”  I think it’s just a great way to sum up our intensely busy lives and the importance in finding joy in the moments. Some weeks can seem to last forever, but then suddenly you’re into a new season. While I do try to appreciate all the moments, even the ones that are crazy busy, any time I can take a moment to breathe and slow things down is a good one.

One Friday night activity that allows me to slow the pace is staying up late, snuggled under a blanket, binge watching a favorite show on Netflix. To add to this peaceful vibe, I love to turn off all the lights and light one or two candles to add to the atmosphere. Candles really help set a mood and, at least for me, help to quiet down the chaos. We use them a lot at my house.

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N is for Northwoods Gourmet Girl | The special joy of a Blueberry Dessert Sauce.

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I’m sure it’s no surprise that blueberries would come up in my A to Z posts. As my previous blog post shared, Maine is the largest producer of wild blueberries in the world. And, there are some great local business incorporating blueberries into their product lines.

I stumbled upon Northwoods Gourmet Girl Blueberry & Green Tea Dessert Sauce randomly while shopping at Bow Street Market in Freeport. I was intrigued as even though I’ve eating blueberries all my life, I’d never had them in a dessert sauce.

I’m sure this will date me, but I pulled out my “Cooking with Friends” (as in the TV show) cookbook. When my husband and I bought our first house, we hosted a housewarming party and asked guests to bring either a bottle of wine or a cookbook. I know it’s a little greedy to ask guests to bring something so specific, but we do have an amazing collection of cookbooks now. The wine however is long gone.

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M is for Might & Main | A design firm that understands my passion for Maine.

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When I was younger and developing my decorating style, I loved the classics and was especially drawn to English country design. My first house was a Colonial style and while it had a few colonial touches, like framed antique prints of Martha and George Washington, I never fully executed the look probably because I had two young children, zero money and even less time.

About five years ago, we went through an extensive home renovation on our home in Maine. It was a major undertaking where we took our house down to the foundation and started from scratch. Because we live on a lake, and there are a multitude of rules and environmental regulations that need to be followed, we hired an architect to design our new home and help navigate the process. He was wonderful to work with and helped guide us through the chaotic experience with ease.

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L is for LooHoo | Add some fun to your laundry routine with Wool Dryer Balls.

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I long ago gave up using dryer sheets. There seemed to be too many environmental reasons as to why they’re not a good choice. Plus, I really never liked the smell. They were too overly fragrant for my taste.

I didn’t substitute anything for them. I dried my clothes without them. This worked fine most of the time, but occasionally static would cause some things to stick together when I would take out my clothes. Nothing big, just a minor nuisance.

I started seeing wool dryer balls popping up about five years ago, but as I wasn’t feeling that negatively impacted by my dryer sheet free laundry routine, I didn’t do follow up until recently when I learned that there was a manufacturer right here in Maine – LooHoo Wool Dryer Balls. Who doesn’t want to support a local company named after Cindy Lou Who of Dr. Seuss fame?

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