Our eighth wedding anniversary was this past Tuesday, and we celebrated on the couch with a bottle of champagne because it was too difficult to coordinate an evening out during the week. As evenings in go, it was a really nice one because we were together. However, my mother offered to stay with the girls all. day. today so that we could go to the Common Ground Country Fair, just the two of us. Such a wonderful prospect, to wander at will!

And so we left early this morning, hitting the road just before 8am with the temperatures already edging into the 70s. I changed into shorts before we even got out of the truck, and spent a sweaty day with my love, checking out the pigs and chickens, watching the border collie demonstrations. We sat through several different talks before lunch, listening and learning about organic beekeeping and Maine tree identification. I sipped “blood juice” and watched shaved ice be made with a hand crank. Fedco and Johnny’s and Taproot filled our bag with goodies, and we remarked on how pumpkins feel out of place when it’s 90*.

And when we couldn’t take the heat any longer, we cleared out and treated ourselves to Hibachi.

Three years ago this month, we were taking the first steps toward making this life a reality, packing our stuff and living apart. Two years ago, we had just moved to Maine and barely had the spending money to attend the fair, let alone take anything home with us. Last year, we were still renting, but our first flock of chickens had just started to lay. We looked at the fair displays with wistful eyes but didn’t have the capacity to consider anything more. This year, we walked into the fair with a purpose and a schedule. We attended sessions, bee-lined for specific vendors and spots, and seriously debated the merits of adding goats vs. pigs to our seven acre mini-homestead. I am in awe of what we’ve accomplished in just three years.

(Isn’t that Lavender Orpington just gorgeous? Beautiful baby was next to the blue ribbon winner and looked so sad. I wanted to take her home with me! Know anyone in my area selling chicks???)