The 2020 decision to sell Starlight Farm

Last month we sold our family home in Vermont. It was something I never thought we would ever do. I envisioned keeping our wonderful home forever and giving our children parcels of the 16 acres to build their own little individually styled guest homes. I envisioned weddings and grandchildren, Christmases, and Easter egg hunts. Maybe we would build a screened-in sleeping porch down by the waterfall. Maybe we would plant fruit trees. For sure our family would have a geographically ideal plot of land should global warming continue at the pace it is now.

Stitching near the waterfall.

My magnificent view from our master bath.

Mama bear looking to borrow a cup of sugar.

The changes the world went through with Covid-19 redirected many of my visions. In a year when we found ourselves closed in our homes I looked closely at our living situations. In a year when we stopped going to stores and stopped dressing for social events, I realized we needed so much less. In a year when I was cleaning out closets, the basement, and a large storage room, I realized we just over all, in every single way, needed less than what we had. I began to think about simplifying and purging. In the spring of 2020 when we were all quarantined at home, I began to rethink how we lived. With 6 of our 7 children very far away, quarantined in their own homes… I began to change my dreams. My dreams involved going to them rather than trying to get them to Vermont.

My favorite morning view.

My husband and I are very enthusiastic travelers. We love nothing more than setting out on adventures together and we were looking forward to taking our now adult children with us. I am a studied packer. I am one of those weirdos who has 225 pins saved on my Pinterest account with ideas on minimalist packing and traveling the world with a small suitcase. When we travel I love to challenge myself to bring as little as possible. I aim to blend in, feel comfortable, and travel light. I love it. I love living out of a suitcase with a neutral wardrobe and a few fab necklaces or scarves for a splash of joyful and chic colors. I do not love managing stuff and the reality is….I’m not good at it. In fact, I am actually really terrible at managing stuff. I may lack the “put it away” gene, and I am a master ostrich who would rather bury her head in the sand than clean out my closet or look under my bed. I am very good at putting things in piles to go upstairs or downstairs. I just really lack the fortitude to actually get those piles up the stairs.

Important words to think about as we went into lockdown. LOVE JOY HEALTH FAMILY FRIENDS PEACE MOTHER EARTH GRATITUDE

In the past year I have not been to any stores to buy clothes. I ordered one pair of fabulous Ugg slippers during the first month of lockdown when we arrived in snowy Vermont, I bought the most fabulous (and unfortunately expensive) Australian organic facial moisturizer, and a couple pairs of sneakers. For the past year my already owned beautiful clothes and shoes have gone unworn and my jewelry has not seen the light of day or left the safety deposit box. Why would I ever need more, when I don’t use what I have?

Little kitchen suppers when we were a small group.

My fabulous fine china collections have sat untouched. Tablecloths hanging in the closet, still in their dry cleaning bags from two years ago. My house felt more like a museum of a previous life, one we all hope to return to.

Chili dinner in the kitchen. Tulips from the Dorset Union Store brighten up the table.

In the meantime, there were certain items in our house that became the wonderfully loved treasures they deserved to be. I restarted my love affair with the kitchen equipment and utensils I had been collecting since my early twenties. We cooked glorious meals 3 times a day. I scoured my vast collection of cookbooks and we signed up for meals that were delivered to our doorstep. Hello Fresh and Marley’s Spoon arrived twice a week filled with ingredients and recipes. We learned how to make totally new meals while avoiding shopping while quarantined. We signed up with a fabulous food co-op that was gathering farm fresh food from our treasured Vermont farmers. We also found dog eared recipes and made long ago favorites. We each once again fell in love with favorite pots, we fought over favorite knives, and we dug out potato peelers, lemon squeezers, cheese graters, egg slicers, and meat thermometers. My egg poaching pan remains a favorite and I’m still waiting for my husband to fulfill a promise he made to bring back the soufflés he wooed me with when we were dating!

After driving from Florida to Vermont we quarantined and didn’t leave our house for fourteen days. Meals delivered to our doorstep helped make that possible.

Northshire Grown food boxes filled with specialities from Vermont Farms became our weekly treat!

We embraced “dressing down.” I said goodbye to “hard pants”; this phrase still makes me laugh hysterically and think of my niece Rachel, who was the first I heard use it. Sweatpants, tee shirt, and the boys’ discarded worn flannel shirts became the staples of my wardrobe. That pair of Ugg slippers became my all time favorite footwear and I wore old sweaters until they had so many holes in them that they were delegated to the precious pile of “nightgown sweaters”. (For those of you who don’t know what nightgown sweaters are…. they are fabulous old cashmere sweaters which are so old and holey yet still so wonderfully comfortable… completely inappropriate for public viewing yet absolutely wonderful over your nightgown.)

We also pulled out the games. We played games by the fire. No TV, just roaring fire, and family laughter, arguments, and smack talk. I loved every minute of it. Our youngest daughter got her fill of this time. We treasured having her and missed our older children dearly.

color sudoku

Frank Lloyd Wright puzzle from the wonderful Northshire Bookstore

There are only two other collections that I remained devoted to and used regularly….our library of books and my needlepoint collection. All of those design books I have been been hoarding over the years became my regular textbooks…as I studied every photo time and time again. I admired, critiqued, and learned from every square inch of each text. My needlepoint was my sanity savior. I have said this numerous times over the past many decades, there is nothing like filling in a flower, an area of background, or finishing one particular color to make you feel like you have accomplished something huge in your day. I needlepointed a great deal during 2020, finishing over 35 projects. It was my meditation and I loved every minute of it.

A belt I painted for my friend Eric Holch. I don’t usually do customs but I couldn’t resist the offer to collaborate with my favorite Nantucket artist! He designed it and I painted it for him.

As we ended a full year of living at home, our suitcases left untouched, our closets full of unworn clothes…this very important year in the history of our planet, as we coped with a global pandemic, things changed for everyone around the world. As families across the globe lost loved ones (including our own family, losing one of our most loved)…we realized we needed less, we needed less square footage to store all the things we never used, we needed less land we never walked upon. For the first time, instead of actively seeking our next adventures outside of the home…we just needed to be home. Home was safe, staying home kept others safe. We were on the team trying to help stop the spread of the virus. We needed less house, less stuff, and maybe that looked a little different than all the visions we had for so long.

A customized needlepoint pillow shows the location in which it was stitched.

So we find ourselves in a new home that checked off new boxes of things we needed and wanted, a couple thousand miles away. We have less rooms, less land, less closets, less storage areas, and less stuff. We sold two homes and the furnishings in them. We had a massive (Covid friendly) estate sale and sold all the treasures we had collected over the years. We brought with us our kitchen equipment, sweatpants, games, books, and needlepoint. There are even a few hard pants around here somewhere, which I am 99% sure I no longer fit into. We brought our favorite art, much of it made by our children. My husband brought his musical instruments and I brought my paints. Only one Ugg slipper made it in the boxes as the other has been buried in the backyard of Starlight Farm by my little furry friend. The remaining slipper will need to be disposed of soon. That’s okay, I am fairly certain I don’t need warm fuzzy slippers here amongst the palm trees.

2021 begins the year of less for us, with less material stuff and less responsibilities for stuff. With less things we don’t need….I am confident there will also be something more. What that will be, we will have to see. I will be sure to let you know!

Traveling in the time of Covid- Summer 2020

I have just arrived in Michigan and am taking an enormous, deep, breathy sigh. I have finally made it to our family summer cottage on the lake after three weeks of extensive zig-zagging cross-country travel. As luck would have it, I arrived on the eve of our eldest child’s 28th birthday, for which I am so grateful. I was delighted to be able to participate in the celebration of our family big brother!

I arrived just in time to see my crew playing lawn Yatzee!

I have found traveling during Covid both extremely stressful (real legitimate and frightening virus concerns) and extremely poignant (deeply important time with adult children). I walked away from this experience thinking every parent and their twenty-something child should do such a drive and spend so much time together talking and talking while on the road. However, I stumbled into this adventure and came to this conclusion after this unique situation presented itself with children number 6 and 7. I highly suspect children 1-5 are hugely relieved they escaped such torture!

This crazy zig-zagging extravaganza was completely unplanned. Each step was an unexpected chapter in the unfolding story of this crazy summer of Covid 2020. It began out of necessity. Our youngest daughter Birdie had transferred into CU Boulder last January after a life changing semester with NOLS in Tanzania - which included hiking across the beautiful African nation, sleeping under the stars (while at times avoiding lions!), living with a homestay family, climbing Kilimanjaro with neither a sherpa nor a guide, and a celebratory trip to Zanzibar with her now forever NOLS pals. Transferring into a winter community in January, living in an isolated dorm, and being sent home again in March due to COVID does not make for solid roots in a new University. It was absolutely not as fun and exciting as her dreamy and magical fall semester. She has been stuck with her parents since March, and like most college kids, she is excited to return to campus. Three weeks ago my youngest and I decided she needed a “do over” and we flew to Boulder to visit the now sunny, warm campus and find housing. Luck would be on our side for not only did she find wonderful housing in a great location, she magically stumbled upon fabulous housemates as well!

After flying earlier in the summer on a nearly empty Delta flight through the extremely empty Albany Airport and a deserted Detroit airport I was optimistic for a similar experience. I was very wrong. While Albany airport remains very vacant, our Southwest flight to Dever was not. Every row had 2 people per side and the stumbling around finding seats - which I usually love, felt exposing. The Denver airport was packed and unnerving. It was not the experience I hoped for or expected.

Upon our return to Vermont we packed up my car and my baby and I headed to Colorado. Two chatty gals in a vehicle for our college student and with a line up of both riveting and timely Audible books, we hit the road. My very accomplished driver gave mom many breaks and I had the time to get in some great needlepointing while listening to and discussing both best selling Untammed by Glennon Doyle and Caste by Isabel Wilkerson (Oprah’s latest riveting book club choice). We travelled state to state discussing many pertinent and timely topics including feminism, life choices, and our heartbreaking and unacceptable race problems in this country. We arrived new women, for sure! The needlepoint project I am working on is a beautiful and modern blue and white geometric design from Lycette in Palm Beach. There are 9 unique blue columns running through the canvas. The drive from Vermont to Colorado includes 9 states, a fortuitous coincidence creating a treasured heirloom to mark this particular time in our family and global history.

My wonderful canvas from Lycette. Pepperpot fibers and small scissors are kept in this fab India Amory bag for easy travel.

During this long drive Birdie and I needed breaks. Huge fans of Drew Barrymore, we searched aisles of Walmarts in Ohio and Iowa for products Drew was recommending and demonstrating on her Instagram account in celebration of Beauty Week. Drew has been a fabulous breath of fresh air for us during the pandemic with great blog posts, interesting IGTV videos, and fun little video posts. Her unsolicited demonstrations of her favorite face wash and Crest whitening toothpaste are darling, hilarious, and so humble. I laughed when she said Crest might want her to stop talking about their products! As if! These videos piqued our curiosity and started us on a hilarious beauty product hunt during our breaks from hours and hours of driving. We added a search for our favorite lip glosses to our road trip entertainment. I discovered two I am particularly fond of, they are Lancôme’s Juicy Tube in Magic Spell (found at Ulta) and Drew’s Flower -Petal Pout in Sangria (found at King Soopers in Fort Collins, Co.)

The hunt for the best lip gloss entertained us during driving breaks. My two favorites are from Lancomê and Flower!

The second drive to Colorado was also completely unplanned. While in the midst of Colorado Drive 1.0, I decided to tackle Colorado Drive 2.0.. Youngest son Scotty decided wisely to join his siblings and move to Colorado. His crazy mother hatched a plan to make this happen. My father used to call me Patton when I was a young mother moving 5 small children back and forth between Houston where we lived, and his home in Bronxville. My dearest Daddy had driven an ambulance in WWII under Patton and he meant this knickname as the highest and funniest compliment. He would say to me “You can move an an army like nobody’s business.” Ha! Well this time, I did it on steroids. I wish he was here to see it and laugh with me. This was not the act of a high achieving dedicated mother! Hell no! This was the act of a desperate frazzled gray-haired gal during a global fucking pandemic! ! I was a woman on a mission. On a mission to GO ON VACATION!! My wonderfully darling and romantic husband and I had planned a vacation to his family cottage on Lake Michigan. I wanted to sit on the deck overlooking this gorgeous Great Lake, needlepoint, drink wine and eat white fish dip from Leland for God’s sake. I was on a time table to get these kids out of my hair! (And they were determined to get away from me!! Their tolerance for quarantining with the grey haired boring parents had long expired.) I say this in jest, but damn it, the two trips were really magical! At least for me!

And thus began “Tricia’s moving company, the one that is running on pure crazy” chapter of The Summer of 2020. I flew home on another crowded plane through a crowded airport (YUCK!). Rented a minivan, drove to Vermont, did one load of laundry and repacked my suitcase, fell fast asleep, and got up the next morning to a packed minivan and hit the road again for my second drive to Colorado in 7 days. I had our barely 23 year old son, his 22 year old fiancé and their gorgeous Dr Suess-like pup Otis. While my first drive included a cooler and an expert sandwich maker by my side, this trip was fueled on gas station food, particularly candy and Diet Coke. While I will be detoxing for months from the chemicals and sugar I ingested, my heart will be full forever from the three days I had my son in the co-pilot seat. There were no books on tape or music on this trip. This will forever be known as “Mother and son do not shut up for one fricking second for three days.” (As I type this I think of my older children reading this thinking “Holy Hell!! Thank God I was not trapped in a car with mom for three days!”) Scotty’s fiancé Miranda somehow survived this blabber mouthing and at one point played a couple true crime podcasts for us.

Otis the beautiful Dr Suess like rescue waits patiently in the front seat for his parents’ to return at the rest stop.

Two child school enrollments were completed, housing was both secured and outfitted, and a few fabulous dinners were had with my gang. This whole experience filled my heart. Target has all my money. My two youngest children live half a mile apart. Two wonderful brothers are in close proximity and mama got out of dodge. It was all so damn good!

My final departure from Denver airport was complete. My wonderful spaced out seat on United was a pleasure and I made it safely to Traverse City. It is here, in a cottage built by my mother and father-in-law in the early 60s that I begin my quarantine for the umpteenth time. The turquoise waves are rolling rapidly and loudly towards the beach. The wind is blowing and I sigh. 12 days more days of quarantining until I feel like this trip was truly a success.

I’d like to share with you some non-factual and purely opinionated travel tips I have.

1. Some airports are deserted and feel super safe. Some airports are crowded as hell and you have to ride jammed in windowless trains to your gate. Some security lines are empty and some are like Studio 54 and have you winding through paths of people with everyone well within 6 feet of you on every side.

2. Some travelers are very cautious and avoid you like the plague, literally. Some do not believe in science and boundaries or covering their mouths when they cough. It’s like Lord of the Flies meets Darwinism. You try to keep yourself safe amongst people who don’t believe there is a virus. (insert eye roll.)

3. Some states have mask requirements. In some states you will not see a mask at all. (We found the later to be shocking and unnerving.) It’s worth doing research on state mandates if you care about this stuff before you travel.

4. Most restaurants in highway rest stops are closed. A cooler full of great bread and cold cuts is a dream during road travel. A creative sandwich maker like my girl Birdie will make you realize sandwiches with Thousand Island dressing and pickles really are THAT good!

5. We found the roadways to be rather quiet, hotels to be at minimum capacity, and precautions like no daily housekeeping comforting. With the exception of one state, all hotel workers were in masks, behind screens, wearing gloves, and really welcoming to weary travelers. A special shoutout to the Hotel Boulderado which made me feel particularly safe on all three trips to Boulder!

6. Outdoor dining is great. Outdoor dining where mask-less people walk by close to the table on the sidewalks, not so great. Try to choose tables that don’t border the walkways.

7. Many of the shops and restaurants in some airports are closed. Airlines are not serving their normal fare. Bring snacks and other comforts and entertainment with you.

8. Over all, I am personally more comfortable with road over air travel at the moment. I have been in 3 empty airports. I have also been in a very busy airport 3 times.

9. If you find yourself needing a rental car bring a variety of chargers and a phone holder that pops into the fan vents. I have found myself numerous times without CarPlay in rental cars, only cigarette lighter charger outlet, and phones with maps falling on the floor while trying to drive. I found what I needed in gas stations along the way and it made my driving long distances so much more simple.

Best wishes to your own families as you navigate the new normal!

Looking forward to a few days doing this, and doing it right here next to this beautiful lake..

Waking Up In Michigan

Snoozing away to the sound of waves crashing outside our window, with doggies safely in the hands of their favorite pet sitter in Vermont, I have been back to my old ways of fabulous deep morning sleep ins. While Don jumps out of bed for sunrise swims in his childhood lake, I cuddle up with my baby pillow I have brought here with me in my carry-on luggage. My dreams have been rather dramatic during this time of Covid. I often wake with a start, with my heart racing, talking myself down from some crazy nocturnal adventure or unrest. The Wall of Moms being tear gassed, insane tweets from the Oval Office, and a deadly disease out of control in the U.S. that keeps me from crossing borders to countries where my children live is survivable in daylight hours. In the night, it all plays on my soul.

This morning I was the first one up. Wide awake at 5:30 a.m.. This time it was I who jumped from the bed. I moved to the living room overlooking the lake. With my hot cup of tea, the view of dreams, and my old friend Kevin Kwan I have begun my day. Several years ago I arrived at this Wes Andersonesque family cottage by the sea as I always do, with a few clothes, lots of books, and more needlepoint than I can possible finish.

I had with me a brand new book I had read about in a magazine; with a gorgeous cover and a shocking title, Crazy Rich Asians caught everyone’s eye. Nose deep in this beautiful book, birthing my obsession with Singapore and Mah Jong, I tuned out all family activities and delighted in this amazing tale. With my highest compliments I passed this book around the family. Long after we left I received texts from others who read the book and shared my joy. Each year I brought back the next installment to awaiting fans. My eldest daughter walked in the house one day to find Rich People Problems sitting on the kitchen counter and was appalled to say the least. Even when I explained that the book was fiction, she still could not shake the title. I finally managed to get her to read the series, and although she loved them dearly, I suspect she probably covered the third in the trilogy in brown paper!

The family cottage is quiet this year. 2020 has even managed to affect this remote spot with the magical view. Family members usually gather together and fill every bed in every nook and cranny. Large gatherings at 5:00 for cocktails and “fish butter” (named by little great niece Willow) are now rather small and tame. Bustling dinners and late night poker games are dearly missed this year. We have arrived as Heaton: Party of 5. And we so miss the other Heatons who will stagger their time here or stay at home this year due to the virus.

Some things are the same. The beautiful view of sea and sky which dazzles us with dancing shades of blue, green, pink, purple, and orange. Old needlepoint pillows stitched by my beloved mother-in-law Mame, gorgeous pottery, including topless mermaids created by my ceramicist father-in-law, and Kevin Kwan’s latest juicy summer read. While 2020 brought the cancelation of a Greek and Italian travel adventure for my husband and I, Sex and Vanity has taken me to the Amalfi Coast for a tour of the most beautiful estates, gardens, and hotels. I have gained a new cast of characters in my list of favorite friends. They have stolen my heart. I am here, early this morning, devoted again to the adventures of wedding guests as they celebrate in glorious Capri. Thank you Keven Kwan for bringing some much appreciated summer joy this very unusual year.

Quarantine Journal- Part 2: Things I Have Re Fallen in Love With

10 simple pleasures I have fallen in love with during the time in self quarantine.

1. Taking time for tea. As someone who has never had a cup of coffee in my life, I am particularly in love with tea. I have different favorites, but I always prefer a black tea without flowery or perfumey flavors. My usuals are Irish Breakfast, PG tips, Darjeeling, Orange Pekoe, and Prince of Wales. My current favorite tea in stock is Taylors of Harrogate: English Breakfast. I have in quarantine taken the time to use lovely sugar bowls and creamers to hold half and half or heavy cream.

2. Lots of lovely old clean dishtowels. My wonderful stepmother always collected tea towels when we would travel. I remember her enthusiasm when we were on trips when I was a child to Bermuda, Ireland, and England. She was thrilled purchasing fun printed dish towels with designs that reflected the destinations. I have continued this tradition. Let’s face it, I never met a dish towel I didn’t like and have a vast collection of colorful, fun, and soft worn treasures. We have stopped using paper towels and every morning I thoroughly enjoy throwing yesterday’s towels in the laundry and selecting new ones for the day. I also love lovely country style knit dish rags for the sink. They are a little dingy in color but they are soft and smell fabulous when I put them out each morning.

3. Giving the dogs a treat. This has always been my favorite part of the day and one I overzealously have used to create nudgey pups who know they have a softy at their disposal. With time moving at a slower pace, I find myself spending more and more time in the pantry talking to the dogs as I give them treats. Daisy is particularly interested in pantry conversations. Finn really just wants me to get to the point. The treat.

4. Bleaching the sink. We have a big 3 bay white porcelain farmer’s sink. It is almost the width of our double window overlooking the waterfall out back. I have recently purchased some fantastic Bleach Alternative from The Laundress and my favorite household job has become bleaching the beautiful old sink.

5. Clean sheets and the smell of clean pillow cases. As a child I attending Camp Avalon, a girls’ sailing camp in Chatham, Massachusetts. Our chore every Sunday was to change our sheets and send the dirty ones off to the local laundry service. (Lucky girls!!) To this day I love changing my sheets. I love getting into clean sheets on that first night, and I particularly love the feeling and smell of clean pillow cases. I am a pillow girl. Clean pillows are the best.

6. Books. I am a book collector. I have my grandmother’s history books, my father’s childhood classics (including a first edition Winnie the Pooh) and a vast collection of cookbooks. As a single mother I worked numerous jobs at a time to keep my children and I afloat. One of my favorite jobs was working at our local independent bookstore. I made myself a little promise that with each paycheck I would purchase one art book. Reality took over wishes, but over the course of 7 years I did acquire an amazing art book collection. There are decades of novels collected over the years, and over the past 20 years I have collected shelves and shelves of interior designs and architecture books. My husband joined our marriage with his own large collection of books. A Buddhist and meditation guru, Don has collected rows and rows of spiritual books. Also known as Doctor Doolittle and Indiana Jones in our house, my outdoors enthusiast has a vast collection of bird and animal field guides. Golf and garden books are a regular gift for my guy. Together we have added a vast collection of travel guides and travel lit gems. When we bought Starlight Farm it came with a fabulous little library surrounded on two sides with floor to ceiling sturdy built-in bookcases. We have filled every inch of shelf space. Don and Courteney and I are loving rereading and exploring our own library.

7. Morning Fires. Starlight Farm has two fireplaces. Our living room has a tall brick architecturally unique and interesting structure. Our kitchen has a fireplace which I think looks Southwestern with its white stucco exterior and rustic wood mantle. In the winters when the house is full of revelers we have the fireplace going at all times. Our soon to be son-in-law and my great girlfriends Amy and Kari are the house fireplace stokers when they are in our nest. In the car heading from Florida to Vermont I began my mental “checklist of Hugge”. What were we going to need to feel really at home for weeks on end? Needless to say we called our favorite wood source and had a half quart of cord dry wood delivered in our driveway for our arrival. Morning fires are a luxury in chilly April, one I treasure greatly. Something so simple brings me such joy.

8. Everything old. I am a magpie. (Insert my entire family rolling their eyes.) I collect oddities. As the youngest children in both of our families both Don and I each entered our marriage with a collection of beautiful family hand-me-downs and treasures. This includes Don’s gorgeous thin narrow red hutch which has become the family trophy cases and houses all of our children’s beloved childhood clay projects. In our dining room sits my family’s dining room sideboard from Bronxville, an English Antique my mother bought with her friend and interior designer Jane Mitchell in the early 1970s. Other family treasures include lamps, side tables, gorgeous desks, piles of dishes, candlesticks, andirons, fireplace screens and tools, and a great deal of art. I have added to these treasures over the years with things like a wall size Union Jack, antique toy horses, a child’s saddle, a life size carved Indian head, and a very large wooden bear. Tag sales and consignment shops have been my source for midcentury dining room chairs, mixed matched 3 Bears style kitchen chairs, the most comfortable Swedish living room chairs on the planet, and old games to hang on the walls. I really like the quality of old pieces, I love the pantina and the uniqueness of the items. And the prices can be fantastic! For me the hunt for these items is a big part of the pleasure. I have had great joy over the past few weeks cleaning old wooden tables, fluffing cushions, rearranging basically everything in my house, remembering loved ones that acquired them, and reimagining how to you use old pieces in new places. Last week Courteney painted our powder room and Don and I moved his grandparents’ gorgeous ornate antique gold mirror into this simple space. My favorite piece in our house now adorns the smallest space.

9. Cooking. I can cook. I’ve always been able to cook and do it well. I haven’t always chosen to do it. I have over the years gone from making delicacies to mess hall cook for a family of 9. Our eldest son Jasper is an incredible cook and when he’s in the house I happily step aside or work as his sous chef. The past few years Don and I have really gotten into eating out and can often be found at the Pink Elephant on our favorite tiny island. Over the past few weeks acquiring groceries has been a bit of a challenge, and I have reclaimed my title as head chef. I do not like going on the grocery store and exposing myself to the other shoppers. I have come up with some routines to bring regular and varied groceries into our home. We have joined a CSA, arranged for occasional curbside pickup at our small independent health food stores and at times visited our small independent country stores for items like butter. Last week we added our first ever meal delivery boxes and are currently testing and comparing Martha Stewart’s Marley’s Spoon and Hello Fresh. Although this seems like a lot when I write it, it’s not. When you are navigating 3 meals a day for 3 people, it’s just about perfect. My cooking journey is joyful, nutritious, and another creative outlet. I was absolutely delighted when our youngest son called and asked for some of my recipes. I’m thinking of creating a cookbook for our children.

10. Inner Clock. I was a big night owl as a child. My parents would put me to bed and I would play, talk to myself, and entertain myself for hours upon hours in my nursery off their master bedroom. When baby sitting me, my teenage older sister used to go to bed long for before her charge. Boarding school and college were a night owl’s dream. Motherhood of school age children and being a teacher was a huge sleep struggle. Nothing like an early morning school routine to buzz stomp a night owl life. I find myself thriving in the world without days of the week and clocks. I literally have to make myself go to bed between 2 and 4 am. Our friends in Barcelona would be so thrilled to see my ditch my American schedule. I have graduated to someone who can eat very late dinners and thrive.

What simple joys have you refound during this time? Please feel free to include them in the comment section.

Kitchen cleaning has become more fun with sink bleaching.

My favorite art in my house!

I’ve raised the bar in cleaning and laundry with products from The Laundress.

Browning Couscous

First CSA box arrives to an enthusiastic household.

Working on a daily vegetable sauté to use during the day to enhance our menu and nutrition.

My poached egg pan is one of my all time favorites. You fill the bottom with water and each egg has it’s own little cup.

Starlight Farm breakfast special.

Don participates in the Heaton family pop tart making party on zoom.

Some of the wood delivery is stacked at the left. The burch logs were found on the side of the road two years ago and are getting used as well.

Kitchen fire set at 7:30 this morning.

A Giant Thank You to All of You Kenyan Water Warriors!

I write this on Thanksgiving morning as I fly from Vermont to Boulder for a celebration with our children. I’ve never been to Colorado and I am so looking forward to taking it all in, while most importantly celebrating the gratitude I have for our family. 

While I am obviously grateful for the many gifts I have (of which I count frequently in a Gratitude Journal I carry in my purse), never in my wildest dreams could I have predicted the source of one of my biggest joys to date.  For this year, not only am I grateful for all of you, those who have followed my dream on this wonderful needlepoint journey….but also those who have followed the journey across the globe to Africa with me.

Last June I attended the annual Spring Fling event for the Kenya Drylands Education Fund AKA  KDEF (pronounced Kay-Def). Although I have a been a big admirer of the organization since meeting my dear and remarkable friend Sarah Hadden, I seemed to be one of the few in our town who had not yet met Ahmed Kura. I knew many people who knew Kura, as he is called, and spoke so highly of him but I had yet to have the opportunity to meet him myself. Don and I had already signed up to join the nine day KDEF Safari trip planned for October. I was anxious to meet the man who would introduce us to his country I had heard so much about. Like all great meetings, I had no idea the joyful turn this introduction would take.

During the luncheon event Kura addressed the crowd and spoke about his experience growing up in the very rural part of Northern Kenya known as Korr. For fear of butchering the factual and inspiring story I will give you the very brief gist. After a parental death and a remarriage custom, Kura, the youngest of a very large family, found himself as a child without a home or parental support. Growing up in Northern Kenya, in a pastoral community Kura was unable to attend school beyond the government-run free elementary school. I have since learned from our mutual friend Sarah that Kura was absolutely devastated that he didn’t have the fees to attend secondary school and that he at one point tried to sneak into the private high school classes to learn anyway. Sadly, the school administrators would not let him stay without paying the school fees. Pause here please, and imagine a 9th grade boy in rural Kenya trying to sneak into a cinderblock classroom to learn and being told to leave. How devastating that must have been! Long story short, an older more established in-law eventually found Kura an American sponsor, a professor from Georgetown University, who paid Kura’s high school fees. This man Kura is very wise, speaks more languages than you can count on one hand, and has world class social skills. He could easily have a very lucrative career anywhere in the world. What he has done instead is dedicate his life to his people, to help create an organization in his homeland which supports education for those in need, provides mentor programs to ensure student success, and delivers feminine hygiene products for school girls so they don’t miss any days and can reach their maximum potential without marrying at a very young age. That day in June when I met Kura, he was in Vermont telling a very interested group about these fabulous initiatives. His whole career is about making life better for his people. This ADD luncheon guest was distracted, I got sidetracked by a detail in the presentation. Did someone say something about clean drinking water? Was there a need? Do they not have clean drinking water in Northern Kenya? Was there a drought? What was that little snippet I just heard? Who needs water?

A few days later during a dinner party I asked Kura what the water situation was like in the North and “How much does a truck load of water cost in Africa?” I learned that a truck load of water costs $350.

As I mulled over what to do with this information I learned that Kura had returned to Kenya to discover that Marsabit County in the Northern Drylands was in dire straights. There was no water and the pastoralists were in severe medical danger. Lives were in jeopardy. Women and children were walking 10 kilometers to get drinking water. Children, pregnant and nursing mothers, and the elderly were the most vulnerable.

I offered to help, Sarah Hadden and Kura, the co-directors of KDEF decided that in order to do their wonderful work,  their recipients and their communities needed water. I started blabbing all over about this, on Instagram, on Facebook, and through email, I blabbed about the water crisis to anyone who would listen. We also planned a party at our home in Vermont where we could raise awareness and some funds. This was not an organized effort, there was no Go-Fund Me, there were no publications, nor a formal ask, it was just word of mouth by the town crier. Do you remember that scene in the first Harry Potter movie where the Dursleys were trying to keep Harry from getting his invitation from Hogwarts and the wizards send thousands of them into the house? We had some serious Harry Potter Owl Post magic happening too. Checks started coming. And coming. And coming. They came from old friends, new friends, instagram friends, friends of friends. Needlepoint shops collected and sent funds. Checks came from a little island in the Gulf of Mexico, and from all over Vermont. People just kept handing me checks, mailing checks, and contributing online. Every one of our family members jumped in.  EVERYONE WANTED TO HELP!!  I am seriously tearful after typing that sentence. I can not thank you all enough. As friends and family in America shared their resources and Sarah was managing the influx, Kura was driving all over Northern Kenya evaluating the drought situation. The farther he got into the more rural areas, he was finding village after village in deep despair. As fast as KDEF was finding need, money was flowing. I would tearfully send Kura messages that simply said “I found you some more water”.  Sarah Hadden and I frequently looked at each other in shock and with tears in our eyes. Water started flowing immediately when the first checks arrived. 100 percent of the over $22,000 raised went directly to water in Marsabit County. In most villages it was water truck deliveries, a temporary solution until the rainy season came. In two villages water wells or catchments were repaired so that those villages had a permanent solution. In both cases, local workers were hired for the repairs to keep the money in the community where the water was needed. 

In October Don and I joined seven other Vermont friends on a trip to Kenya. There is no question the highlight of my trip was visiting all the villages you provided water for. In village after village, the community came out to greet us. There was dancing and singing which brought me to tears every single time. Village elders spoke to us in ceremonial celebrations sharing their deepest gratitude to all of you who sent the water to their desperate villages. In one village a local Kenyan Government official came to pay his respects. In that same village the Chief said “The world has forgotten us but you did not.” Each village happily allowed me to take photos knowing they were being shared with the amazing people who sent them water. I had the most wonderful conversation with the driver of the water truck. I thanked him profusely for the many, many hours each week he left his family and drove around the drought area delivering water. He thanked us all in return, he said he had the best job in the world. I also spoke with the mason who spearheaded the well and water catchment system, he too felt it was a honor to join this team providing drinking water.

Thank you one and all for your generous donations. Fifteen thousand people got water for five months, two villages have long term solutions. Many lives were saved. The people of Marsabit County thank you!! I am just lucky enough to be the messenger.

We get ready to leave Sumburu and head up north to the drylands.

We traveled in a caravan.

Local Villagers were waiting for our arrival. Pictured here are Sarah Hadden, myself, and Kura with our welcoming dancers. The woman on the right in the striped dress is the assistant Chief.

This well was rehabilitated. I have a dream that some day my grandchildren will pilgrimage to this special spot and see my name and date on this well.

Kura presents a special surprise

Opening this well was my greatest honor. I was so excited about the whole experience that I didn’t even realize it was Halloween until I read the sign.

Kura translates information between the Vermonters and this beautiful community.

American co-founder of the Kenya Drylands Education Fund (KDEF) Sarah Hadden turns on the fresh clean water

Two miles of pipe had been installed underground to ensure this water was carried to the village. These woman will no longer have to walk 10 kilometers for drinking water for their families.

Beautiful dancing and singing

Local children are so fascinated to see their visitors from across the globe.

Kura, a Kenyan government official, and the town Chief talk to us about the amazing impact this new well has on the community.

I absolutely loved his outfit. Grateful elderly men came to the event.

KDEF Co- Founder Sarah Hadden and board members Ellen Baer, and Pam Art enjoying this beautiful day.

These are herding/pastoral communities. Animals are their financial resource. Without water, their animals will die.

In another village the community shows up to meet us and collect water from the KDEF water truck. Everyone is excited to see Kura who provides help to their communities in many ways..

More gatherings of joyful water recipients in each village.

We were all invited to sing and dance with the villagers, our Deb enthusiastically always jumps in!!

In these communities gathering water is the job of the women and children. In the background you can see one of the village homes.

The children are both excited and mesmerized by their American visitors. I was mesmerized by the young children carrying their little siblings on their backs.

Tom greets the children.

In another village we met the whole community outside of the school. I was most excited to see the woman on the right with the red necklace. I had seen her in one of the videos the first day the water truck drove into her village. She addressed us all during the town meeting and asked that we send her sincere thank you to all of the donors. The older children wear their green and white school uniforms. Thanks to a new donor these younger children will have uniforms when they begin school again in January. Each school uniform costs $6.

Deb plays with the kids. Deb is an orthopedic surgeon so it was not uncommon for people to ask medical questions when they knew her profession.

A second classroom, an outhouse, and two hand washing stations are new additions to this school. A large fence was donated and installed to keep animals from running through the school yard and harming children.

This is the brand new classroom built at the school. The wall behind me is painted with black paint as a chalkboard.

Don says hello to all the women who came to meet us.

This smile made my day.

villagers come and line up their water cans.

This beautiful water truck was donated by a family from Vermont.

This sweet boy supervises water delivery.