Hearts Alike

I have decided that friends are the best thing in the world. I know, I sound like one of those sappy email forwards with all the hearts and flowers, but it's true. When you find real friends, there's nothing better.

Little did we know, when Bill and I signed on to come speak and lead field trips at the first Potholes and Prairies Birding Festival in 2001, that we'd make a pair of amazing friends in the person of Ann and Ernie Hoffert. Ann and Ernie are on the back of the golf cart. That's Al Batt scratching a mosquito bite, and Cayman getting love from Ann. Phoebe drove. Their farm's windbreak is right behind us.

Ernie farms seed, continuing the business of Ann's family farm, on a big tract outside Carrington, North Dakota. And Ann figured out how to use the acreage to farm a uniquely home-made product:  in 1990 she created Pipestem Creek, a business which blossomed, and ended up supplying natural North Dakota grown wreaths, bird feeders and other ornamental items to such outlets as Martha Stewart and Smith and Hawken. She employed local workers and together they created amazing works of art from all-natural, homegrown materials.

 Here's Lucille with some fabulous multi-colored corn.

 Bringing in the cockscomb! That's a LOT of cockscomb!

 Just one of the myriad amazing wreaths that Ann created. We've got several in places of honor in our house. They last for years. The floral materials were all hung to dry in granaries and outbuildings which dot the farm. Ann and Ernie brought many of the buildings in before they were to be demolished elsewhere. I get severe outbuilding envy whenever we visit. Severe. Safflower and peonies drying...

These photos I've lifted from Pipestem Creek's web site.

Now that Ann has moved on from making floral creations, she's in the bed and breakfast business, catering especially to birdwatchers. 

photo by Bill Thompson III

How would you like to awaken to the song of a Western meadowlark in this converted granary Ann calls The Bird's Nest? Hey, me too. This is me and Ernie. We are not just awakening, by the way. We are having an afternoon brewski.

While I just appreciate the composition and golden afternoon sunlight, Bill thinks this picture he took is hilarious. I think it has something to do with my cowboy hat and a recent film about a couple of lovelorn cowboys, and Bill's particular sense of humor. The boy ain't right.

The furnishings and light and peace are magical. Imagine staying here and then going out to spend a day birding on the Coteau, drinking in the ducks and phalaropes and godwits...oh yes. You can see more photos and learn about rates right here.

So that's all about Pipestem Creek, what it was and what it has become. The people behind it are what makes it magical. 

Ann's gardens absolutely fluoresce with color in June. Anemones:

tulips, and two redheads...

Simply beautiful tableaux everywhere you turn...

memories of the business, still hanging all around (these are peonies)

lilacs in full, redolent bloom

Phoebe and Liam adore the Hofferts and they love to visit there, not least for the chance to drive golf carts as if they were fully licensed drivers. This is a thrill for both of them, but as you might imagine a special delight for Liam. Toonces at the wheel, look out!! Al Batt's cool with it. I like how Liam looks like he has a giant leg in this picture. That awkward moment...

We just love the Hofferts and the Potholes and Prairies Birding Festival Ann has created and nurtured for ten years. There's boundless energy, creativity and raw power for good in her. And so much love! We can't wait to see our friends each June when we go out to the festival.

But the best times are the times we have together, just exploring, meandering across the North Dakota landscape. We found an old house trailer, last licensed in 1966.

 It was full of treasures, the best: a Say's phoebe nest, perched precariously atop a door.

Gingerly, I felt inside...

to find warm eggs belonging to the annoyed and chipping mother phoebe just outside.

We quickly looked where the mice had hidden their bounty

and I turned around to see the greatest treasure of all: a friend who loves poking about in old house trailers just as much as I do.

 See you in June, Ann!!

Prairie Friends

Hi everybody! Sitting in JFK Airport on a Monday afternoon layover, wading through hundreds of offers for Cialis and Rolex Replicas, answering an email here and there. Jet Blue rokks. TV's in the back of the seat, free wireless in the terminal. As you may know, I don't watch TV much...American Idol in the winter and Entourage from time to time, but that's it. Phoebe and I watched a Project Runway marathon all the way to Maine and got irretrievably hooked on this strangely fascinating show. What fun! We are mini fashionistas now. We're on our way back from a week in Maine. It was superb. There was no Internet or cell service. Yes, you read right. Superb. Weather was great; people were even better; ocean was beautiful and so were the birds. You'll see...but first you'll be hearing about North Dakota for awhile.

There has been some talk on this blog of sadly misguided but sweet people wanting to be adopted so they can live at Indigo Hill. Well, we’ll have to leave you a key, because I want to be adopted by Ann and Ernie Hoffert of Pipestem Creek outside Pingree, North Dakota.

These folks live gently on 5,000 acres of land that was farmed by Ann’s family for decades. She lived in other parts of the country for 22 years, and in 1987 she and Ernie returned to the Reimert farm. Ernie grows crops for seed, so you know he grows the finest crops on that deep black loam. Ann uses four acres to grow flowers and ornamental seed-bearing plants. She has a thriving business, making ornamental wreaths, edible bird feeders, and other home decorating accents for such clients as Martha Stewart and Smith and Hawken. Everything is grown on the farm, and hung to dry in outbuildings that Ann and Ernie have salvaged and moved before they were to be destroyed.

We have Pipestem Creek wreaths and creations all over our house, and love them. They're all natural, all locally-grown, and simply beautiful.

To say that Ann has a way with plants is a vast understatement. These peonies, on the verge of bloom, will all be dried and included in her exquisite creations, if they’re not incorporated in impossibly lush bouquets in their beautiful ranch house.Salt of the earth—it’s a cliché, I know, but it describes Ann and Ernie. They are constantly watching and appreciating the birds that populate their land. They love the sky and its moods, and they can linger for hours in a marsh and let the beauty wash over them.These red admirals and monarchs were swarming all over a late lilac in their yard. It’s a lushly planted garden of delights. (Remember what I said about stretching spring out? Lilacs on June 11? Please!! And I just got done sniffing the last fading flowers on traditional lilacs and late French lilacs like these in Port Clyde, Maine...on June 24!! It's a thing now.)Ernie has a wonderful baritone voice, and he plays guitar and sings beautifully. Ann is so kind and and solicitous, and she made Phoebe and Liam feel appreciated and included when her monomaniacal parents were clicking away at grassland birds. I always think of Jessica Lange when I see Ann. She has an egret’s elegance, even when windblown. I think she likes it when we visit, because we “get” this land she loves so much, and she can see it anew through our eyes. If they’ll have us, we’d like to be adopted by Ann and Ernie. Instant grandchildren! Think about, OK?My sweet father-in-law has kindly sprung Chet Baker from Puppy Prison as of Monday morning. He'll be waiting in Phoebe's bed, most likely, when we get home. That's where he likes to sleep when we're away, because he can hop up and peer out the window at the driveway, awaiting our return. Being greeted by Boston kisses is the next best thing to kid kisses. Since we have the kids with us, we'll take Baker's welcome gladly. He's going to be one happy puppeh.