A Trip To Maine
Light House , Cape Elizabeth Maine
The darkness of the night rides on the back of the New England mist, as it rolls in as a thick veil of fog. I can smell the cold rain that will soon fall from the darkened sky. But I am cozy inside. New England, gets inside of you. If you live here long enough, You will feel weather changes, coming, snow storms, thunder when the wind changes in the summer, the humidity and stillness, followed by small gusts of wind that pick up dragging thunderstorms in their wake…If you watch the leaves just before thunder starts, you will feel the wind picking up and raising the leaves upward, it really is a strange phenomina. You can feel it through every fiber of your being. Nowhere else on earth has ever affected me quite this way…. I don’t need the light of the day time sun, to see the mist, to know it is rising. I feel it in my bones.
Cape Elizabeth, Lobster traps by the winter sea.
I tell the children who stay here, that smell, weather it is the smell of snow, cold, rain, or fog, is the smell of the hills and dales of Fairyland, I tell them if they try, they might even be able to smell the Fairy Queen’s apple orchards… (I use this last bit only during apple season. Because this town is made up of farms and orchards. We are over run by the smell of orchards certain times of the year.) I believe in encouraging imagination. So many adventures that teach so much simply can’t be had any other way. This place inspires my own imagination, I enjoy sharing the gift.
New Friends in Cape Elizabeth Maine.
This winter has been alarmingly mild… Little snow…. Not enough cold. Just lots of damp and mild climate. So, my husband and I, decided to do what we have never before done in 12 years of marriage. We packed some stuff, found a weekend farm and dog sitter, and we started driving up the coast in search of the home of the cold north winter wind. And oh boy did we find it! We booked ourselves a spot at a farm not all that unsimilar to our own, located in Cape Elizabeth. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/3520366?source_impression_id=p3_1579909557_vYLmAPnf5O0a1H63
is where we stayed.
Someone else’s goats!
The people who run this farm are very nice, highly professional at what they do. The provide a beautiful clean space. This place checked all our boxes in the best ways possible. I am really glad we decided to try staying at a place similar to our own as guests. It isn’t often I view what I do and the magic I make for others, as one of those others. I got to do that here. We had a marvelous time. We met a pair of alpacas, and made a number of new goat friends, and hopefully some new people friends too. We really enjoyed our check in experience, when we met our host. We can’t possibly ever thank them enough. I think they are a great place to stay if ever you go to the Cape Elizabeth area of Maine. I highly recommend this place. Claw foot bath tub, super hot water…. I was in heaven, and not on call, working around the farm, or responsible for anyone’s welfare. For 1 whole weekend I got to kick back and remember who I was before I became a dog climbing structure, and a felon goat goatcatraz prison warden.
Sorry about the bit of mitten on the left side!
About a 10 minute drive was a beautiful, historic mill town, now a tourist attraction shopping area. We tried to walk through… But ummm, On the day we went here, Cape Elizabeth, had to be colder than Siberia! We sure did find the home of the north wind! The cold surpassed horrific landing somewhere around as we New Englanders say, “wicked.” It was so cold. So we weren’t out long. And most of our touring was done by car. But for a moment, winter was truly winter.
We went to the water. I took some photos of the ocean, and of a beautiful coastal lighthouse….
Cape Elizabeth, Maine.
Finally the cold sky got dark, we went back to our little spot…. It was bath time after all that freezing. We rested and hung out…. Got up the next morning, tried to leave it some semblance of how we found it. We hopped in the car and began the long trek back home to our own place, feeling very satisfied….. Around the area of York Beach, we made a detour to visit my favorite library on earth. Many of the books you can’t touch without gloves…… They are so so old…. About ancient philosophies and cultures and spiritual systems found all over the world…. Gathered in one beautiful private library that is the home of several mysteries….. But this adventure is one for another time.
Thank you for taking the time to read about the goings on of this little farm.
I hope it makes you dream and awakens your imagination….
We had a couple wonderful adventures.
Our grattitude to the airBnB we stayed at in Cape Elizabeth.
We will visit again!
Amanda of Wildflower Farm
Tags: acreage, agriculture, agro, airbnb, alpacas, B&B, back yard chickens, back yard goats, bed and breakfast, Cape Elizabeth, Cape Elizabeth Maine, chickens, farm, farm blog, farm wife, farm wife blog, farmer, farming, farmstead, goats, guest house, homestead, homestead blog, homestead farm, homestead wife, homestead wife blog, homesteader, homesteading, house wife, inn keeper, inn keeper's blog, inn keeping, lodging, Maine, Maine tourism, massachusetts, new england, New England Winter, old fashioned house wife, old fashioned living, simple living, Tourism, travel, vacation, wildflower farm
Wildflower Farm, is a small New England homestead, B&B and AirBnB, in the Baystate. We came out here 7 years ago, when we returned from the better part of 10 years as peripatetic aristotelian nomads, for my husband's post docs. Upon our return, we had a plan. We had a lovely home. Everything was so clear. Then, I got sick. Things I used to eat all the time during our travels elsewhere in the world and even here before I left almost 10 years earlier made me ill. It took a couple trips to the ER and a trip to specialist... It became clear, something had changed in the way food is processed in this country since last I lived here. Some off label things was inevitably going to be my demise.
My husband and I looked around to see the clear path we were on, had exploded in front of us. We decided we had to create a new path for ourselves. We put children on hold. We found a small piece of land with a house we loved in a rural suburb in a right to farm area. I began researching how to do it ourselves. Grow it ourselves, make it ourselves, survive on our own as much as possible. We bought the property, and began plotting a new course. One that didn't involve off label chemicals. Closer to nature, with a lot more DIY, gardens, and animals for the products they provide. We created a life we loved though it hasn't always been easy and has of course come with compromise with each other, and even with ourselves.
Our family thought we had lost our minds. What were we doing leaving the city? We had no idea how hard this would be. They thought we would be back in 6 months. That was over 7 years ago, now. We have been making it work. They were not wrong, it isn't easy. But has anything worth doing ever been easy? And for us, avoiding as much store bought food as possible was simply necessary so I could live given how sick I was getting.
Then Covid hit.... We were lucky to have this place. It has allowed us a lot less need for public use territories which has kept us a lot safer and spared us much of the risk others face daily. This place, has given us a privilege through this of great meaning to us. To be of use in a difficult time. We have been able to help friends family and even strangers in need when things couldn't be found on store shelves. Or money was tight due to not working, rent being due and a child at home, or some other draining situation. We are so very grateful to have been able to not be helpless like so much of society through this miserable time. Our families, got used to it some time ago, us being out here. They made peace with it the day there was no bread and they had to ask me for some. Or when fresh vegies were rotten due to supply chain issues but they could find plenty in my garden.
Wildflower Farm, was a place I dreamed of. One of those sweet pastoral dreams a city dweller grows up knowing will never come true, that became unavoidable when I became ill. I never expected to get to do this. I never thought I had what it takes to make this work. I have learned pacing myself is important, compromise is critical, hard work never ends, burn out is real so breaks are just a necessary evil.
We are not fully self sufficient, but we work hard in that direction as we create a new path through life for ourselves, always reaching to do even more ourselves and to get closer to the ideal we envision. We are however far more self sufficient than many in this world. 7 years in, we continue to learn and grow in this homesteading lifestyle. We welcome comments and advice and ideas and questions.
We welcome visitors from all over to our home with strict covid policies in place. We spend our time learning to live all over again in a more environmental and sustainable way though even there we are far from perfect always learning and growing doing better as we know better.
This little homestead farm is a magical place named for the New England wildflowers that grow all around. A place where a physicist, watches the night sky on clear nights with the aide of mirror and glass, and a woman, works endlessly in the gardens, the kitchen, and a variety of projects to create and to keep a very unique life style running and functioning. Wildflower Farm, has become so much more than simply a piece of land we can grow a few vegetables on. The longer I spend here, the more alive the land seems, the more I learn about it's function and the more meaning it has. My place in the universe and the next steps on our new path become ever more clear.
We welcome you on this journey with us.
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