Even when Mayday came limping toward her end the fall before last, Harriet gave me a clue to her deep connection to her friend. As Mayday prepared to leave us, I found Harriet beside Mayday’s bed, day after day, as if sitting vigil. Could she know? At last, when we returned from that final visit […]
As long as I’ve had livestock, no matter how cozy, how dry and warm, how peaceful the atmosphere inside, some part of my awareness stays out on the range. I feel this especially in late spring when the lambs are out on pasture, and in the dead of night, a coyote yowls half a mile […]
Heat & Water: The Elms is heated by three boilers. During an average heating season, the mansion uses 8,000 gallons of oil; even the closets are heated via small grates. The estate uses 7,000 gallons of water per month today. Originally, a water-tank room served as a back-up supply (early municipal systems were unreliable); each […]
Millions of dollars from foreign investors are pouring into Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. What that means for the region is anyone’s guess—except that it will never be the same.
Born and raised in California, Alyson Horrocks moved to New England with her husband and four children in 2005. She connected instantly with the history, beauty, and rich atmosphere of the region and has never looked back. When Alyson began writing her blog, New England Living, in 2007, her intent was to use it as […]
Learn more about Hartford Denim Company, where everything from denim clutches to jeans, are produced on restored industrial sewing machines.
Sinsibuckwat was the name local Micmac Indians gave to the end of February. The term translated to “the melting of the snow” and “to draw from wood” since it was the time of year when it warmed up just enough for the sap to begin flowing (especially in Connecticut where tapping begins earlier than in […]
Lacking a thermometer, I gauge how cold it is by icy calligraphy on the living room windows: a little rime means we’re nosing zero, but once designs like down feathers and fractals show up—oh boy, we’re trolling in the negatives. This morning: a whole pane of paisleys, which the town website confirms is -17. To […]
In the 1860s a cross between a White English Terrier (now extinct) and an English Bulldog resulted in a dog named Hooper’s Judge—considered the granddaddy from which all of today’s Boston Terriers are descended. Then, the breed was larger and often used in fighting matches. As the dog was bred down in size, it became […]
When the family of artist Oliver Balf combed through a lifetime of paintings, they discovered truths about the artist’s passion, and themselves. October 2010: I remember his being tired but relieved after a long day of international travel. The spare kibbutz “guest house” that we arrived at in advance of a family wedding amused us […]
It’s startling—you see it and think: What the heck is that? On a back road in Brownington, Vermont, a five story granite building looms all by itself on a plateau. It’s not a barn, it’s not a mansion—though it is an ample enclosure of space. And there’s nothing else like it around for miles. The […]
“Skaters on the Canal,” a watercolor by Susan Davis.
