Across The Fence                      
                  
                                          November 2001

Winter solitude is descending again on these wooded hills.  We welcome it, take pleasure in the shorter days, the star-filled nights.  Now will come the gentle comforts of a wood fire when returning from the out-of-doors.  It’s a season of winding down, a time for reflection, when chilly evenings draw you at last to the comfort of a soft bed under a down comforter. After a busy season, we now have more time… time for conversation, for the things both our guests and we enjoy.   There is even pleasure in bundling up on a brisk day, packing a thermos of hot chocolate in the wagon and hitching up “Mister Big” for a ride down the lane and county roads. 
       You may want to come and see if our hunch is correct:  Perhaps winter is be best season for relaxation, a time when the simple little experiences that pass though each day can be absorbed more slowly and appreciated.  We promise to return you more relaxed that when you arrive.

 Picture the season past.  We went wild with our digital camera this autumn.  We had an frenzy of picture taking as the color spread up the river valley an across the hills.  See more new fall photos we have posted on this web page:  http://www.rockeddy.com/Pictures2.htm  It will take a couple of minutes to load.

 We apologize to all those folks who called to schedule a getaway last fall only to discover that there were no cottages or cabins available.  Seems like folks book their visits to the farm well ahead in the fall season.  Take heart, however, our new availability calendar is up on our web site and working wonderfully.  Its great for planning ahead and shows available dates up into the next fall.  

 Off the grid is our plan for the old log cabin under construction.  We’re too dependent on the electric company now, we think.  So, after visiting hunting & fishing camps in northern Maine recently we got some ideas:  propane refrigerators, gas lights, gravity feeding water to the cabin from a reservoir.  The Maine cabins were quite comfortable, with the only thing that resembled “roughing it” being the walk to the privy, a la Line Camp Cabin.
        The experience in Maine had us digging out our copy of “The Non Electric Catalog” upon our return.  For those not familiar-- you will be astounded at the old-time things you can still buy from this source.  And, this Amish catalog is even on the internet!  Check it out at http://www.lehmans.com

October was international month at Rock Eddy Bluff Farm.  Both European innkeepers with whom we are exchanging stays were here (see photo). Left to right are: Your hosts, Tom & Kathy Corey;  Maureen and Gordon Strong who will be our hosts in Balqhuidder, Scotland next September; and  Philippe Papadimitrou, La Bastide, France, who we visited last March.  In one week in October, four foreign countries were represented at our small place in the woods; Argentina, Australia, Scotland, and France.  In all, we hosted four continents that week.
    Philippe is becoming the guru of international inn exchanges.  He's home in France now, working hard on his new website:  http://www.innkeepers-exchange.com     If it is not up and running, it will be shortly. 

Winter food favorites.  On cold winter days at the bluff we favor soups and stews that comfort the body and please the senses.  Simple, hearty fare that can stay on the stove top while we are in the barn or off to the woods.  Here is one of our favorites for your inspection.  Click here to find this tasty, simple-to- make version of salmon chowder.
        If you have other such recipes that are favorites of yours, we would be most pleased if you would mail or email them to us.  We plan a recipes section of our website, and, or course we will give credit.  Mailto:hosts@rockeddy.com 

Our post "9-11" thoughts are these: In these times, we sense that it is particularly important to maintain our basic faith in our fellow man, no matter his/her country or corner of this planet.  Whether your ideas are grounded in religion or not, it simply makes sense to avoid the familiar descent into hatred, to search instead for the common good in each other.   All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers... Each one owes infinitely more to the human race than to the particular country in which he was born. -Francois Fenelon, theologian and writer (1651-1715)
         Interested  in aphorisms?  (The above quote is one.) Find a treasury at http://www.ag.wastholm.net 

 It has little to do with history most times, but for each issue of The Maries Countian we are asked to contribute an article.  So far we have been allowed to pick our own topics for this publication of the local historical society.  Should you be interested, we’ve put one past article on our website relating to our "jobs and work" here at Rock Eddy Bluff Farm.  See it at: http://www.rockeddy.com/A_View/managing director.htm

Have a great holiday season!

All our best from your friends at the Bluff,

                         Tom & Kathy Corey

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