Henrietta’s Hillside Retreat for Mature Hens

What did people who kept hens for eggs, do when their hens got too old to lay? Welcome to Henrietta’s Hillside Retreat for Mature Hens (Henrietta is the brown and cream colored one in the front).

The Zen of Needlework

My mother made sure I knew how to sew, embroider, and knit. I have done all three extensively over the years, but my favorite is knitting. When her church group was knitting squares to make blankets for soldiers from the Korean War, it looked like fun and I wanted to do it too. I was seven years old.

The Year in the Vineyard: Winter

The wintering vineyard is an army of brawny wooden posts parading up and down the hillside, in tight row formation. The silhouetted trunks and canes, strikingly skeletal, are all that remain from a season of profuse activity.