8/5 12:05pm Returning after a long break from blogging, I’m glad to see all is well on Main Street. The last six weeks have been mostly dedicated to finishing a manuscript that was finally submitted a few days ago. Although it’s not set in Lumby, I love it just as much, and will share the details as soon as I’m given the okay to do so. But I now have time to say hello and get caught up.

So, what’s been happening at Lazy Goose? A lot. Where to begin? We had a fantastic Garden and Studio Tour in July. The weather could not have been nicer for about a hundred folks who swung by, many spending most of the afternoon walking between our vegetable and flower beds, or just visiting with us in the studio. As always, it was wonderful to once again say hello to some die-hard Lumby fans who had traveled from both Boston and Virginia to see us. It was great day with a lot of laughter.
Primarily because of the Garden Tour, at the beginning of the month Art and I took on some major projects preparing our grounds – many back burner to-do’s got moved to the front burner, leaving Art, our crew and me exhausted for a week. When all was said and done, though, the property looked well-landscaped, and it’s something we now enjoy every day.

Unfortunately, our construction wasn’t quite on schedule, but at least the front porch and pergola were completed for the Tour. With luck, the guys should be wrapped up tomorrow having built five decks and one screened in porch. (As many of you know, Lazy Goose is a work in progress – our “outdoors living” is the last phase of the main house.) The outside furniture should be arriving from North Carolina tomorrow and a commercial grill arrives Saturday. With any luck, we should be enjoying buffalo burgers, grilled corn and blueberry margarita on our new porch day after tomorrow.

But no tomatoes quite yet. The heirloom plants are about eight feet tall filled with huge green tomatoes that just need another week to ripen. But the two cherry plants are producing ample sweet yellow and reds for our salads. The peppers, on the other hand, are turning out to be an interesting and not totally successful experiment. First lesson learned: they hate temperatures under 70° which is quite problematic for upstate New York when three nights ago, the temp dipped down to 58 (great sleeping weather, though).

The bees are doing well, although one colony split yesterday, with a swarm of about 30,000 leaving for greener pastures. What an amazing sight and sound that was! It looked like small black tornado moving between the fruit trees. Arrivederci, bees, live well and be safe. So, this morning, I looked into the hives to ensure there were no problems, which there were: the bees had run out of space in three hives (thus explaining why half the colony of one hive moved out yesterday). I quickly added two new supers per hive, almost doubling their space. That should keep them happy for the rest of the summer.

Other than that, same old same old, at Lazy Goose. We’re just working hard and enjoying the summer.

I wanted to send a huge thank you to all the blog reviewers who wrote such generously kind words about Lumby, and to my readers who are spreading the word by personally recommending the series to friends and family! Thanks very much, and I’m so glad many of you enjoyed reading Lumby on the Air.

6/17 3:35pm I see that my short June 2 post didn’t quite make it the orchard…hmmm. Sorry about that, but you didn’t miss much. So, now there’s just that much more catching up to do.

A few weeks ago, Art and I decided to finally tackle the second phase of the main house: adding on the decks and porches which were minimally addressed when we built our home three years ago. So, our trusted general contractor is back extending roofs, raising pergolas and building a handful of decks and one screened porch. While the hammers fly, Art and I have been busy selecting outdoor furniture, grills, hammocks and just about anything else that would accommodate, facilitate or best support a relaxed evening of blueberry margaritas. I don’t know if all of the projects will be completed by the tour on 7/11, but we’re going to try.

At the same time, our excavator has been having a dandy time on his dozer, cutting more Huey trails on the right side of the property. As it turns out, we have a cliff in the back…who’d have guessed? And he’s extended our front yard…looking great, but now there’s more grass to mow.

Most of the gardens are growing nicely. The tomatoes are looking strong but the peppers are struggling...I'm assuming it's because of this abnormally cool weather we’ve been having (48 a few nights ago), but I'm not exactly sure since I just don't know that much about the art of growing chili peppers. I’m hoping they'll recover when the days finally get into the 80s. And, oh my gosh, we’ve never seen so many berries in our lives! The honeybees have done an outstanding job pollinating this year. And, to our delight, all four colonies have decided to hang around for a while.

Let’s see…the dogs are well, as are Camille, Boot’s and Pachabel. Sadly, we haven’t seen Lilly or Sneakers for several weeks, but who knows? Barn cats come and go and come again, weeks or months later. It will be a nice reunion when they make their way back to Lazy Goose.

The only other significant change is that we poured a cement floor in the upper barn yesterday. Somehow, Art and I got the exercise bug, so we decided take some of that unused space and turn it into a small gym. Too funny. In addition to several large, imposing and intimidating pieces of weight-lifting and cardio equipment, one of our friends, who teaches yoga, will be coming over to help get our bodies and minds aligned. I wonder how painful that will be. This weekend’s chore is to buy a couple of mats and three cases of bengay, just in case.

But, the main reason for my absence is that I’ve been very focused on a new novel that I’m writing. It’s been an amazing experience – very different, very challenging and a lot of fun, and I should have it wrapped up in about three weeks…just in time for the release of Lumby on the Air.

Hope everyone is having a great summer thus far.

5/16 10:42am It’s been an unusually busy spring, and several weeks have passed since my last blog. So, in no particular order, let’s get caught up:

1. We picked up three new colonies of bees at Better Bee yesterday morning, and with the generous help of a good friend, relocated them to their new peach, yellow and lavender hives. It looking very Martha Stewart’ish out in the orchard these days. The three-second showstopper came while driving home with 15,000 Italian honeybees in the back of my SUV, as well as a few rogues just flying about. Gerry (who has one of the most tranquil, gentle spirits I have ever known) says in her sing-song voice, “Oh, did I tell you I’m allergic to bees?” Nooooo, she didn’t, otherwise I would have been holding an EpiPen next to her thigh. But the bees left her alone, even when one got trapped under her netting. I, on the other hand, got stung three times. In retrospect, I’m absolutely convinced that the bees sensed her calm and my nervousness, and reacted accordingly. Isn’t that so true in life?

2. Last week, another friend forwarded to me the Belief-O-Matic questionnaire from beliefnet.com. First, I absolutely LOVE the name, Belief-O-Matic…it reminds me of the Vegi-Matic…just throw in a whole bunch of ingredients (in this case, your religious ideas) and turn it on. Second, it actually turned out to be really interesting. (http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx) So, we shared it with others and have since had great fun comparing all of our results. As there are no “right” or “wrong” answers, it’s totally nonthreatening and turned out to be a launching point for several great theological discussions.

3. So, what am I reading? The Tao of Inner Peace (not directly related to the Belief-O-Matic, but as it turns out, not that far off the mark, either) and Dava Sobel’s Longitude, for research for a book I’m writing. Neither is a grab-you-by-the-collar page-turner, but they’re both wonderful, highly recommended books for their own reasons. And, being the total math and science geek that I am, I’m learning more about quarks and qwiffs in 50 Physics Ideas. I’m glad to report that Lumby still does not abide the basic laws of nature.

4. And finally, after a week of freezing and near-freezing temperatures at night, tomorrow I’ll be taking the day off and planting my tomato and pepper plants which I have been diligently putting out and sunning during the day since their arrival from Cross Country Nurseries. This afternoon, I’m getting prepared by mounting the PlantCam that will take six pics a day until harvest time. Should be fun.

And, did everyone get the May issue of Simply Lumby? If not, just email me a note and be sure add your name to our mailing list by clicking the appropriate button on my home page.

4/27 11:52am The buzz about town today is Stephen Hawking’s warning about a visit from ET. (See the article below.) I, for one, find it a little disconcerting that one of our preeminent astrophysicists is strongly recommending that we keep our galactic whereabouts a secret for fear of catching the attention of some wayward, less-than-friendly aliens. And, he’s deadly (sorry, wrong word) serious.

So, what are we suppose to do with this new image of an angry universe and its angrier residents? (Boy, wouldn’t Orwell and Huxley go nuts right about now?) And are there no Lumby’s on Alpha Centauri? (Yes, I know it’s a star, but you get my drift.)

Is it Zen that purports that we always carry exactly 64 worries with us, no matter how peaceful or chaotic our lives are? The premise is that when one gets resolved, another automatically fills its space. So, I’m wondering if I should deliberately slip this new fear in between lower priority angsts…perhaps it should go after my concern about over-fertilizing the lawn, but before me fear of bacteria growing in the four-day old milk carton that’s been pushed to the back of the refrigerator. So many worries, so little time. And now…mean aliens.

But then again, perhaps there’s really no need to be concerned. After all, NASA says they’re ready to protect us. But with what? A $4,000 toilet bowl?

Where is Drew Barrymore when you really need her?

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Hawking: Don’t alert aliens to our presence
By Elizabeth Weise USA TODAY

Even as astrobiologists gathered outside Dallas to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the beginnings of the search for extraterrestrial life, British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking says humans need to “think very carefully” about whether we want to broadcast our existence to a potentially hostile universe.

Hawking, 68, airs his concerns in a documentary, Into the Universe, he made with the Discovery Channel. The first part aired Sunday night; the final two hours air May 2.

He seems to make the case that it may be best to imagine we’re in a less-than-savory neighborhood where it’s a good idea to avoid the attentions of thuggish passersby. Telling the rest of the galaxy we’re here “might be just a little too risky,” Hawking says.

“We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet,” he says.

Any alien species might burn through the resources of its home planet and search for new areas to exploit. “Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonize whatever planets they can reach,” Hawking says.

Far from being a benign visit by benevolent aliens, it might be more like Christopher Columbus’ first trip to America, “which didn’t turn out every well for the native Americans,” he says.

Astrobiologists, who are meeting in League City, Texas, have historically been more concerned about humans inadvertently destroying a rare Martian slime mold by introducing an Earth organism into its habitat than by rampaging aliens stealing power from our sun.

The duty to protect the galaxy from Earth bugs is even written into the 1967 United Nations treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space.

NASA’s Office of Planetary Protection has always been equally concerned about what a non-Earth organism might do in our environment. But its “prudent precautions” have generally concerned proper quarantine of off-world materials being brought back to Earth, not fleets of spaceships to fight off alien invasions.

NASA is ready to “protect Earth and our species,” says Jim Green of NASA’s Planetary Science Division in Washington.

No one is officially beaming news of our presence out into space, says Margaret Race, an astrobiologist with the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., which focuses on the search of extraterrestrial intelligence: “If an individual wanted to go home and do it, they could.”

4/14 12:15pm Even though my past is speckled with a few wild adventures, I’ve always considered myself to be conservative by nature – relatively cautious and firmly steadfast in both my beliefs and my actions. But I’ve noticed a recent tendency to deliberately take the safer of two roads, and give less consideration to higher risk exploits. Now, ‘living on the edge’ means skipping a night of dental flossing.

And I often wonder where that road split…where I deliberately stepped off the “let’s hang glide from that cliff” road and began to carefully weigh the risks of my action against an ever lowering threshold of acceptability. Maybe the change came from the realization that life, and all of its good fortunes, are profoundly tenuous at best.

But I do worry about becoming Boring…capitol B. My hang glider has long since been sold and the space it would have filled in the barn is now used for my kayak…no, not a sleek, fast, whitewater rapids kayak, but a 14-foot, wide-based fly-fishing model that’s nearly impossible to roll. In truth, it looks like a miniature version of the QE2…totally unsinkable. And there’s even a small compartment perfectly sized for a chilled bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. Booorrrring.

So, is this what happens to us? One minute we’re elatedly hanging by a thread, flying two hundred feet above the ground gazing out at the world, and the next, we’re sipping a nice white wine in a long orange plastic lifeboat that’s safely anchored in our 7’ deep pond at Lazy Goose? If that’s what the future holds – bring it on...I love it.

3/31 2:16pm For those who followed my one and only adventure on ebay when I bought that ludicrously enormous and surprisingly expensive grindstone for my husband (to which we can put our noses when there’s a deadline), here’s the next chapter in my e-purchase chronicle.

I have, for years, wanted a typewriter. But not just any typewriter, I’ve wanted a real typewriter - a typewriter that was being used before the world changed so quickly and so permanently. I’ve wanted a typewriter that had a history of creating sentences on parchment that was dimpled from the letter head striking the page with too much force.

I vaguely remember an old Underwood that sat in the corner of my parents’ attic for decades, partially obscured by a yellowing thick plastic cover that followed the contours of the machine. I was told that it had been my grandfathers, the grandfather who was the sole employee of the Western Union office in Eugene, Oregon. But that typewriter is now gone, as are my parents and my grandparents. And I’ve always regretted taking my eye off it just long enough to let that ribbon of my ancestry slip through my fingers.

So, I’ve been thinking more and more about buying an old typewriter. But I always felt that it would be like other precious things that have found their way into my life; it would come to me when the time was right. As it turns out, that time was a few days ago when I serendipitously found an 1895 Underwood Series 5 for sale on ebay (I had gone there only to look at an unrelated purchase a friend had made). But it was love at first sight, and not wanting to risk losing it, I bought it right then and there.

When it arrived two days later, I was stunned…it was not as I expected, it was so much better than I ever hoped for. It’s in wonderful condition with all of its keys intact and working. The only repair that’s needed is for a loose platen (the black roller) that’s not sitting as it should. But that will be fixed in time.

And the name that I have given my typewriter? Earnest. It couldn’t be more perfect.

To have an old typewriter in my office is oddly reassuring – it anchors me in my writing and allows me to hold onto a part of our past that disappeared too quickly. It’s such a delight that I've decided to begin to collect wonderful old typewriters that come across my path, looking for a home. And each one will be given an appropriate name: F Scott, James, William (Faulkner, not Shakespeare), JD, Saul, Herman...you get the idea. Maybe if I acquire one that's heartwrenchingly broken beyond repair, I'll sadly call her Sylvia. But Earnest will always be my first and my most treasured. That is being earnest.

3/19 3:22pm Although I’ve managed our three hives in the orchard for several years now, I’m constantly amazed by how much I don’t know about honeybees. This afternoon was the perfect case in point.

My tale of stinging woe began this morning when I took a break from writing and went out with the dogs to inspect the fruit trees. To my utter delight, in addition to seeing small buds, I heard “the buzz” and realized that they’re back...our bees had returned. Of course, I’m assuming that “they” are my very same Italian honeybees that swarmed and left the hives last fall. But wow…they’re now back! How lucky are we?

I was so energized by their reappearance that I jumped in the car and headed down to Better Bee (our local supply store), where I bought two more hives and two colonies of about 5,000 bees each, that will be arriving mid-May. While there, one of the workers made mention that, given the warm weather we’re having, I might want to feed my prodigal charges. What a great idea! It will be a welcome home party of sorts!

So, as soon as I got back to Lazy Goose, I grabbed one of the feeders from the barn and made some sugar water and headed out to the orchard. I didn’t bother with the smoker or any netting…why should I? My reasoning:

1. The bees would still be lethargic from the winter months (although I didn’t actually see any of the flying upside down or just sunning themselves on a fence post, they’re groggy)
2. There couldn’t be very many of them - I saw only ten or twenty at the entrance
3. Although the hive is quite tall (well over four feet), the bees would be hanging out in the lower supers, and
4. They would be as delighted to see me as I was to see them

This is where the story takes a nasty turn. Oh, I was sooo wrong with each and every one of those assumptions, and unfortunately I didn’t realize the error of my thinking until after I lifted the hive cover. Believe me when I say that they were soooo not happy to see me. I got stung twice before I even realized just how pissed off they were, and then several more bees chased me across the orchard, through the house and stung me in the garage.

But I was determined to feed the little ingrates. So, I licked my wounds, and I did what I was suppose to do first time round: wear protective gear and smoke the crap out of the hive before going in. Second time round worked like a charm with no mishaps. No doubt they’re now on a sugar high, and with luck, they’ll stick around long enough to pollinate our fruit blossoms.

Welcome home!

3/17 4:56pm A delightful surprise this afternoon, but first, some background to the story. Four years ago, when Art and I purchased the land that became Lazy Goose, we asked our excavator to blaze a few trails through the woods and up to the top of our small mountain after he finished working on “the driveway” (think more like a one-third mile furrow). Over the following two days, we cut a network of 8-foot wide trails that, if put end to end, probably would total about two miles in length.

About that same time, we ventured up to Salem Farm Supply and bought Bertha (a seriously big, orange Kubota L2800 tractor) and Huey (a cute will-go-anywhere orange Kubota ATV). Being kindred spirits (they’re both orange, did I mentioned that?) they’re parked side by side in the pole barn.

So, skipping forward to today. After lunch, Art and I decided to take advantage of the stunning spectacular weather – it’s 64 degrees with brilliant blue skies – and take our ceremonial first-ride-of-the-year around the property. I think we were more into the idea than Huey, which was cold to start and made an absolute racket while warming up. But the “Huey-trails,” as we call them, were calling us.

Our first stop was to the barn (not the pole barn, but the “cat” barn next to the cottage), where we grabbed an ax, a chainsaw, a hand saw and a good amount of heavy rope, and then placed bets as to how far we thought we would get to the top. Although it hasn’t been a hard winter, 50 mile-an-hour winds blew through here last week, so we assumed that, at best, we would make it only half way to the back of the property before running into a fallen tree that was too big for us to handle.

But, no! To our totally surprise, other than for a few small trees that Art moved out of the way, we zipped around all the paths in the back of the property and made it to the top of the ridge with no trouble, where we were delighted to see that our Adirondack chairs hadn’t blown over to Vermont.

The path that follows the stream was a different story, though - a huge old oak had fallen by the waterfall, blocking our trail. Clearly, that will be one of Allan’s first tasks when he resumes caretaking in a few weeks.

But how cool is that? It was wonderful to see and smell the woods again. Greens are just beginning to break through the soil, and a few very pregnant deer are herding by the northwest stone wall. And good old Huey came though like he always does, and gave us one more memorable start to the spring season.

3/8 4:14 After four consecutive days of gorgeous Spring-like weather, when the thermometer finally reached 51 degrees this afternoon, I was more than a little tempted to retire my knee-high Arctic Muck Boots to the back of the closet. But…something is wrong….those tried and true indicators are screaming in my ear, telling me not to jump the gun as I have been known to do in early March.

And those indicators are more telling than any date on a calendar: First, I’ve only seen Scott (our winter caretaker who, among other chores, ensures the long road to Lazy Goose is driveable) four times since November. There have been no fallen trees to cut or snow to plow – in other words, we haven’t quite paid our dues for the warm weather that’s in store. And I’m sure he must have some recent photos of his 2-month old son to be ogled over…we need a little bit more ogling time. Finally, Art, he and I haven't had our impromptu “when spring comes” chat as we do at the end of each winter, when we somehow know the last of the snow is behind us. If the truth be known, I haven’t even given any thought to what we will be doing in the spring...hope Art is a little more forward thinking than I am right now.

Second, the animals are not yet prepared: the dogs’ coats are still thick, and the fuzz balls from shedding hair aren’t wafting in each corner of my office as they will be as soon as they begin to blow their coats. The gold finches are as mud-brown as they were in January, the fish have not yet surfaced and the turtles remain buried deep in the banks of the pond.

So, I know that one final blast of frigid air is coming, and I’m waiting in anticipation. Next week or the week after, a cold front from Canada will slam into northern New England and New York, and with it, 18” inches of snow that will bring Scott to Lazy Goose once again. And then our dues will be paid for the next seven months.

Turning inward, for those who have not yet ventured over to the home page, please take a look. We just loaded many more photos of Lazy Goose last night, and new endorsements, blurbs and reader blog reviews are being added every few days, posted under Rave Reviews as well as Media and Author events. New blurbs that you’ll see:

"If Gail Fraser's little town of Lumby could escape the confines of her imagination and be put on the proverbial map, I'd move there in a moment. Until then, I'll have to be content with my vicarious visitations. What an agreeable world she's created!" --- Philip Gulley, Author of the Harmony series. (What a great guy - thanks Phil!)

“You’ll find yourself and a sizable portion of your own whacky relatives attending this hysterical family reunion filled with food, fun and familiar truths. Pull up a chair, turn up the volume on your radio, hike to the monastery or haul yourself over to the county fair. Every which way you turn, you’ll find a Lumby laugh and a sideways quirky glance at you and yours.” ---Charlene Ann Baumbich, author of the Dearest Dorothy series, Stray Affections and Divine Appointments (She's a sweetheart who is becoming a good friend.)

“Carries the reader through a rich venue of interwoven storylines and memorable characters set against the backdrop of small town life…Grab a hot cup of cocoa, snuggle under a favorite quilt and enjoy! --- Katherine Valentine, award winning author of the Dorsetville series and the Haunted Rectory. (Thanks Kate!)

"Gail Fraser's Mitford-esque settings and engaging characters will charm readers of all ages. Lumby On the Air continues the fun as family reunions and eccentric relatives make life interesting for Mark and Pam. Pack this thoroughly enjoyable novel in your beach bag this summer -- you won't want to miss this amusing adventure!" --- ChristianBookPreviews (a wonderful group of folks)

2/28 6:25pm Today's lesson learned: What happens when

1. A new issue of Simply Lumby is sent out to a few thousand on our mailing list, and then forwarded several hundred more times AND
2. There's a lull in the Olympics AND
3. Everyone decides to check out lumbybooks.com at the same time?

Crash! Ooops. Sorry about that, folks. I suppose we're just not a small, unknown site (or town) any longer. Anyway, it's 6:30pm and we're back up. Hopefully that won't happen again any time soon.