Friday, June 16, 2006



Ahhh, home sweet home!

Hey wait a minute, I don't have goats. What the heck is going on?

Oh yes, now I remember. On my way up the coast I stopped off to visit the brilliant and ballsy Linda Cortright in her native habitat. Linda raises cashmere goats (a brood? gaggle? coven? what do you say for cashmere goats anyway?) including the lovely ones you see here, recently de-cashmered for summer.

In her abundant spare time, Linda also publishes a wee little thing called Wild Fibers Magazine, which I love. We sat out on her Italian marble patio sipping mojitos and being fed grapes by her legions of servants while discussing plans for world domination.

(OK most of that is true except the part about the patio, the mojitos, the grapes, and the servants.)

The drive from Linda's house to mine was lined with legions of lupine standing at full attention. Nothing says Maine in June like the lupine.



When I finally got home, I was greeted by a garden of old friends.

First, and most gratifying: the peonies! In particular, this deep scarlet early-blooming peony that I missed last year because I had to be away. She's a stunning, gargantuan peony with the most heavenly sweet exotic scent. Here she is, in all her glory.


Next on the list... the delphiniums. Oh, how I absolutely adore my delphiniums. In fact delphiniums and peonies are the two reasons I moved back east in the first place. Here's a deep blue one that shot up in my absence.


And finally, summer in Maine wouldn't be complete without rugosa roses. I'm carefully nurturing a mixed hedge of them out front, and they also began to bloom while I was away.



Lest you think this blog is just about flower gardening, all I can say is... oh, how wrong you are. It's about VEGETABLES too! The aforementioned mesclun lettuce and radishes were ready for harvest. As soon as I unpacked the car, I headed out back to prepare...



...lunch!

While I sat at the kitchen table enjoying every delicate morsel of that salad, Casey sat by my side, imagining enjoying every delicate morsel of this bird.



Thank goodness for windows.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

That is the most beautiful peony I have ever seen!

L. said...

Casey sure looks interested and who wouldn't be when he's THAT close to a possible dinner? :) He's one cutie pie, for sure!

Anonymous said...

And the picture doesn't even show the full spirit of that peony. The fragrance... When you dip in to smell it, the heat of the sun radiates back from the peony... it's absolute heaven. And Laura, I'll tell Casey he has another admirer. Hopefully he won't let it go to his head!

Marfa's Mewsings said...

Ah, the flowers make me swoon. I love peonies too altho' I have only one - a pale pink (hmmm, who loves pink? hmmm, let me think about that for a moment) - & I adore it.
And I adore you, madam, & thank you for another post.
Re those goats - could it be a cashmerette of goats? A cashmereola of them?
OK, my corniness has run its course.
XOXO

Anonymous said...

Hey Miss Martha! A cashmerette it is! And I don't know WHO you could be talking about when you mention people who love pink...

Amie said...

Alert! Alert! Someone has taken over Clara's blog! Surely she didn't post twice in a month on her own!!!

STRANGER! STRANGER! YOU"RE NOT MY MOMMY!!!!!



(okay, so I panicked a little. nice pics though)

XOXOX

Unknown said...

I know... shocking, isn't it? You'd be amazed what procrastination will do for a gal.

Mary said...

Okay, I think I need to move to Maine, because, Delphiniums are my all-time favorite flower, and they're hard to grow in our Virginia heat. I'm so jealous that you grow them! Lovely pictures!