Spring Things

Hello Colorful Friends,

It’s May already! Where does the year go? I wanted to wish all of you - mother or not - a Happy Mother’s Day Weekend. But then things got busy and the newsletter got shelved until now. If you are Mom or a Mom-figure, I hope you had a nice day last Sunday.

Okay, that’s done with…. Let’s move on to what’s going on here at our farm. The daffodils were amazing this year. Not sure why but oh my….. what a show. They went on and on and on. Over the years, I have planted lots of different varieties but I never wrote down the names. I just know them as yellow or white or pink center, double or single, frilled or not frilled. That is good enough for me. I have mostly ordered them through VanEngelen. They never disappoint. With the recent pandemic inspired increase in those who are interested in gardening, it is best that you place an order early as VanEngelen will sell out of many varieties.

My family and I were featured on the Local Hero Spotlight on our local radio station WRSI speaking about our sheep farm Leyden Glen Farm. You can listen to the spot here. This spot is sponsored by CISA - Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture - of which we are members.

Our abandoned apple orchard is blooming. It is such an amazing sight with the sheep grazing below the blooming trees. The bees are buzzing and there are many flower branches for bouquets. This orchard was planted in the 70’s and the trees are Delicious and Macintosh apples. It has reverted to blooming and producing every other year. The sheep eat the apples when they drop in the fall and we have gazillions to do something with.

The Amherst Farmers Market has begun again. I’m there on the beautiful Amherst Common every Saturday from 8 - 1:30 selling our farm raised lamb, my tea towels and my pottery. Here’s what our little booth looks like.

Now that folks are moving around more, perhaps you might like to plan a drive to western Massachusetts and come to the market to say hi. Every Saturday until Thanksgiving. Email me if you have any questions and to check to see if I will be there —- just in case I get a chance for a quick vacation trip.

Speaking of lamb, my rhubarb is growing like crazy after a big application of chicken manure last fall. I’m going to make this Persian Lamb and Rhubarb Stew for this weekend. It is really delicious. I wrote more about it here on my old blog. The other thing I like to make with rhubarb is Rhubarb Ginger Syrup. It is delicious with seltzer.

I’ve been working a lot on my ceramics. I finally got some test tiles fired that are samples of my underglaze colors. On the left, you can see the colors before they are fired. On the right, you can see the same tiles after putting a glossy glaze on them. To get the very saturated colors, I have to apply each color 3 times. I am going to continue experimenting with new mixes of underglazes.

LOVELY LINKS I’ve stumbled upon that you might enjoy too…..

• How Make a Bathroom Vanity with a sink from an antique chest HERE. I’d definitely do this if I was redoing a house now.

• Evidently Embroidery on Knitting is now a trend. Let’s just say that there really is nothing new under the sun. If you have followed me for years, you know what I am talking about.

• This sealed bottle garden has only been watered once and has been going for 40 years. Amazing.

• Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine is offering FREE Artist Talks ONLINE. Check out all the offerings HERE. I have never attended Haystack but I really would like to one day. Have you been fortunate to go there?

• Have you heard of Ice Dyeing? I hadn’t until I saw it HERE. Looks like a very fun summer project and it could be done with kids with supervision.

• In food, I’d like to try this Caesar Salad recipe here. I made this recipe for Pork Wontons with Sesame Sauce and they were a big hit.

• Flank Farm has an interesting series of British farming videos. Sarah is a several generation farmer and her son Rufus is a videographer and tech guy. A couple years ago, “Ru”, as Sarah calls him, began filming his Mom and her sheep, cows, and pigs to create videos to tell the story of family farming in the UK. You can see all their videos on their YouTube channel HERE. They are very well done and Sarah is hilarious. The video embedded below is a long one (50 minutes) and it tells their farm’s Spring Story. The other videos are shorter.

• When I am painting my ceramics, I frequently “watch” videos on YouTube that help to keep me inspired creatively. The one below is a great one on Henri Matisse. I think you might enjoy it. Matisse is one of my favorite artists and his long career is fascinating.

That’s it for today. I hope this note finds you enjoying the spring season if you are in the northern hemisphere. It is so fleeting. Several years ago, I thought about spring and how lush and gorgeous and full of new life and growth it is. I want to be outside experiencing it as much as I can because I really don’t know how many springs I have left. It’s an odd way to end this note but just a thought. Take advantage of every spring…..

Colorfully yours,

Kristin Nicholas

p.s. You can follow me on Instagram here.

p.p.s. I do hope to have some ceramics listed on my website sometime soon.