June 5th to July 11 book of the month, The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side by Agatha Christie
The Winter Hearth. Ms. Marple was an avid knitter, perhaps more a knitter untangling a yarn than a detective.
Agatha Christie was an interesting lady. At one point she disappeared and turned up sometime later going by her husband’s mistress’s name at a hotel. She had a really interesting life one the club encourages everyone to look into. One thing she loved was literature. She enjoyed poetry as she used poems by Tennyson at least twice in her writing career to name her novels and as themes. This book is one of them.
The mirror cracked from side to side,
The curse has come upon me cried
The lady of Shalott.
-The Lady of Shalott by Tennyson
In my opinion one of my favorite of his works. I love this poem. It might be prudent to look it up if you plan to join us and have a read through before and or after you read Agatha’s book.
This is a Ms. Marple mystery, one of Agatha’s later works (often considered to be the period when she wrote her lesser works, but personal opinion is everything on an issue like that.) Anyway, it takes place on the british country side in an old victorian mansion. An early film star of the black and white era and her husband have purchased and fixed up the place. They hold a party to show the updates they have made off as well as to raise money for the ambulance in the area. Well wouldn’t you know, the famous film star hands a guest a Daiquiri, and the guest dies. This brings about many questions including the age old who done it? But also who was the intended victim? and a wide variety of other fabulous questions. Ms. Marple of course can untangle any ball of knitting yarn…. With the help of her nephew, the local doctor and information from witnesses.
We have been riding along with Ms. Marple this month. On the 11th at noon for a stylish british country tea brunch here at Wildflower, we will be gathering for a daiquiri, some potluck yums, and a discussion of this wonderful read and we will be spending the last few minutes setting the scene for our next adventure into murder mystery land by introducing the next book, In the Woods by Tana French.
If you wish to attend join us on meetup https://www.meetup.com/wildflower-farm-book/
or bookclubz https://bookclubz.com/clubs/34227/join/7fda1d/
Or even on facebook https://www.facebook.com/Wildflowerfarmbookclub
Anyone will do and RSVP. We try to limit our meetings to a max of 12. It is possible but presently unlikely that you could end up on our waiting list, for after covid is truly and fully dead when we can expand the group beyond 12, or till someone who joined us decides they aren’t interested in further meetings and we have a space open within our 12 person limit. Remember at least for now, proof of vaccination is required for attendance so either present it ahead of time or bring it with you to meeting because checking that will be the first order of business.
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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