Boston Area Shaker Study Group Film Festival

Donna and Sheila recently spent a wonderful Saturday at the Boston Area Shaker Study Group Film Festival at the Tower Hill Botanical Gardens. They spent the afternoon watching documentaries about the Sabbathday Lake Shaker community. They toured the conservatory that features fruit trees and flowers. Donna and Sheila appeared in one of the films that recently ran on Bob Abernethy's PBS Religion and Ethics series. They were filmed singing Simple Gifts at Sunday meeting during the Friends of the Shakers weekend.

The Bronte Family Sitting Room

Forgive us for not posting for a while. Sheila recovered from bronchitis and has had laryngitis for 3 weeks, and Sherrill is now ill with pneumonia. (Mom, too, is recovering from bronchitis!) We'll both be up and about soon, hunting for treasures and bringing those wonderful finds to you. To quote one of our dear friends, our house sounds like the "Bronte Family sitting room."

Hawthorne Peabody Murphy

Our darling peke-a-poo, Hawthorne, was recently diagnosed with a melanoma on his lip! He is getting great care from our Vet and the staff at the Gardner Animal Care Center, and is receiving specialized cancer treatment at Tufts Animal Hospital. We are praying to St. Francis for the "little heartbeat at our feet" and hope that you will too!!



As we posted earlier, Hawthie was drawn to the beautiful Raphael Madonna print that we won. We still haven't hung it, as Hawthie sleeps next to it (in a spot he has never slept before) every day. Even now, our darling little boy is sleeping while Mary watches over him. Blessings for our dear Hawthorne Peabody Murphy!

Friend's Work Day Sabbathday Lake Maine Shaker Village

Donna and Sheila went to Sabbathday Lake, Maine to The Shaker Village for Friend's Work Day. The Friends of the Shakers gather together each Spring and Fall to help the Shakers prepare for the coming season. Tasks at hand were sorting herbs in the herb room, planting spring bulbs along the Shaker Cemetery stone wall, picking pears and pumpkins, cleaning floors and windows and general tidying up and buttoning down! Sheila chose to strip summer savory and pluck bright orange calendula petals,(to be made into tea and potpourri), while others ground basil. The herb room smelled delicious enough to eat. Donna planted over 500 tulip bulbs, that will remain lovely secrets under the snow until early Spring!!
We visited the sheep that we had not seen since Summertime, and they had grown. Surprise and Oh No were the spring lambs born in April. The Shakers were given three Icelandic sheep this year from a farmer who no longer wanted them. One of the sheep, who was not thought to be pregnant went into labor. When the lamb was born the Shakers named her Surprise! Then the next day the other sheep went into labor. When they told Sister Frances she cried out, "Oh No!" And so she received her name. Oh no loves people and spent most of the Summer escaping from her pen to follow Brother Arnold and visitors to the Village. The lot of Icelandic sheep broke out of their pen(Surprise and Oh No included) and ate their way through the herb garden! They smelled lovely, like a pantry where somenone has just opened herb tins to prepare a feast! They also gorged themselves in the apple orchard on apples the October winds had brought down to sheep level!! Of course when the theivery had been discovered everyone shouted Oh NO, who looked as innocent as only a lamb can, tilted her head and appeared to query, "Who me? Well don't forget to shout out Surprise!

Lovely Autumn

After the nor'ester blew through yesterday with high winds and a cold driving rain, we emerged today ready to seek out not only the perfect pumpkin but the perfect pumpkin muffin!(and of course a mug of mulled cider to warm us!) Our peke-a-poo Hawthorne has been helping us pick pumpkins for years now.(He turned 19 on October 10 and was feted with a new chew toy in the shape of a duckling and a mound of hamburger with a candle tucked in). We love Sunday afternoons in autumn in New England. They were just made for leaf peeping and long walks with our darling dog! When we returned home, Hawthorne decided to curl up in front of Raphael's Madonna, who appears to be holding him in her gentle gaze.(We won the painting in our Church raffle and had just brought it home when Hawth decided to nestle in front of her!