We both feel extremely fortunate that our decision to collect, buy, and sell antiques has allowed us to visit spectacular places in New England and Western Europe. Readers of our monthly newsletters often email their reactions to our periodic photo essays sharing our travels abroad.

Yet, the life we live here in Conway, in the home we restored out of the derelict property we purchased in 1985, is without question the most important tangible object in our lives. It is this property that defines what we do and in many ways, who we are.

So, as we begin to pack our suitcases for another exciting visit to England and Italy, it seems like a good time to forge a short story about the five months here at home since last Spring’s visit to England, Belgium, and France. It has been an extraordinary spring and summer, with a few significant improvements to our property as well as several events, ordinary for the countryside, that continually brightened our days.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

We flew home from London Heathrow on April 19 and, after a few days of laundry, paperwork, banking, and work on new stock, we looked out our window and spied a member of the family of rabbits that had taken up residence nearby during the previous summer.

Bunny appetite not satisfied? (Ours isn't, either!) Click the picture for a short video.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In early May we hired an excavating team to clean up the enormous pile of brush, branches, discarded Christmas trees, and other natural debris that had been growing since the completion of our new barn in 2018. Now, without that mess, the small area we mow as yard opens onto the mowing that is harvested once or twice each summer. Because it was so unsightly, we have no “before” picture. Imagine an unsightly pile just beyond the fence and twice its height, and you’ll understand how good this improvement made us feel. Our thanks to Nick and crew and Mary and Chris.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Less than a week later, we were visited by a Canada goose who, inexplicably, spent three days in our hayfield. No mate ever appeared, and we’ve never seen a nest on the banks of Pumpkin Hollow Brook, which splits our property and that of our neighbors, Steve and Jeanne.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On the weekend of May 16 & 17, we had our Spring Opening, showcasing about half of our most recent acquisitions. It would be our best show since Covid.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After we had shipped the dozens of pieces sold during the weekend and processed all of the paperwork that a successful event generates, we took a look at the plantings on our property, with special attention to the geometric, fenced area facing the common in front of the house. The initial design, with five raised beds had, through work done to the front of the house and our inability to care for them properly, morphed into a much simpler feature. All but one of the frames for the raised beds had been removed, and we had begun mowing them with a small electric mower purchased for the purpose, which allowed grass to enclose four trapezoidal sections, each containing three plantings. We’re very pleased with this low-maintenance arrangement, seen in the following photograph, taken last week.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Long before we moved to Conway, the Conway Garden Club had planted a string of large maple trees along the edge of what is now our property on Whately Road. Local legend has it that the occupant of one of the houses beyond our property to the north had objected to some of the trees – because they interrupted her view of the red barn which was to become ours and be destroyed in the tornado of 2017. She then asked a local farmer how to “discourage” the offensive maples, and he advised shooting them with copper bullets, which, indeed, killed most of them.

The three survivors have stood on our property as long as we’ve been here, although their health has been in question. We decided that, for reasons of safety, the worst needed to come down. We hired a local contractor who sent a crew. In less than three hours, every trace of the tree had vanished. Perhaps the remaining two will become someone else’s concern some day.

For a brief video of Jim's crew removing the maple, click the image.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In late May, a friend called to alert us to an upcoming auction, in which a painting by a British painter was coming up for sale. While people don’t often call us to report on upcoming sales of oil paintings, this one was special. It was painted by John Maggs! We had seen his paintings, mostly coaching scenes, which hold little interest for us, in English museums, but this one is a small still life, within our area of interest and, also, our budget. It is currently in the hands of Dave Kimball, our conservator, but we include this “before” image.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On June 6, we held the second half of our Spring Opening. We called it “The Best of the Rest”, but a customer who did very well at the second event wrote to suggest that we might have named the sale “The Rest of the Best.”

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

We struggled through the July “heat dome”, corresponding with English friends whose circumstances appear to have been more dire than ours. We feasted on simple meals, often taken from Italian cuisine. Our favorite summer lunch is caprese, a delicious salad of lettuce, basil from the kitchen garden, tomato, mozzarella, salt, Tuscan extra virgin olive oil, and home-thickened balsamic vinegar.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On June 8 we drove to the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Ma to view An Exquisite Eye, celebrating the museum’s receipt of a phenomenal gift from collector Aso Tavitian. Visiting the Clark always reminds us of what a culturally rich part of the world we’re fortunate to call home.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On July 9, Jae Silverman, who fertilizes, hays, and cares for our meadow in exchange for the hay it produces – a symbiotic relationship that keeps Pumpkin Hollow beautiful – did her first 2026 haying. Thanks to the foresight of our neighbors Katy and Bill, from whom we purchased the house and barns decades ago and the open land more recently, both meadows are in preservation under the Franklin Land Trust.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Two summers ago, Jan and I spent nearly a month painting the front of our barn, using ladders placed on the occasionally level land. But the remaining three sides, including two peaks nearly forty feet in height, remained with only the single coat their boards had received in 2017, before they were attached to the outside of the barn. While most locals had gotten accustomed to the unfinished appearance, and we had avoided the task for nearly two years, it was clear to us that it was time for the second coat.

Early in the morning of July 17, the aerial lift we had rented to give us access to the peaks and to make the job more manageable, arrived. After I was given a brief lesson on the operation of this geometrically challenging apparatus, Jan and I began painting: I painted above in the lift, she, below on an eight-foot ladder.

We had rented the lift for one week – five days of use with two days idle, giving a measure of forgiveness for bad weather. We were able to paint for three days before a rainy weekend washed us out. Fortunately, the next two days were clear – except for a five-minute downpour which threatened to rob us of day #4. Here are a few shots taken during our week of being barn painters.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Our August sale was punctuated by two lovely events; The first was our annual Christmas in July evening with our neighbors Linda and Bill and daughter Lindsey. This gift-free event is an evening of food and conversation.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The second event in August was an extended visit by what we believe to be a Great Blue heron. We first spotted him/her in the freshly mown hayfield on the final day of July. We immediately began to notice passing vehicles stopping at the side of the road for a look at this majestic bird. It stayed with us for four days, but stories of sightings in other parts of Conway continued for more than a week after.

We filmed the heron several times during its brief sojourn in Pumpkin Hollow and, at the end were privileged to watch the great bird lift its huge body in flight. We were able to record this amazing sight in a video, which you may see by clicking the thumbnail above.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Now, as autumn approaches, days are notably shorter, and we’re starting to think about putting on sweaters some mornings.

Two weeks ago we ate our Sunday morning breakfast in front of a keeping room fire,

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

and a few evenings afterward captured this image of late August's Sturgeon Moon.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And now, of course, we've begun to dream about this September's visit to the Cotswolds.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Click HERE to visit the J&J Maggs Antiques home page.