The day I knew I would have to leave the farm was when the peacocks showed up out of the blue.  They were not anyone's peacocks...no neighbor nearby had lost them. The police had not a clue as to who they belonged to. The lovely pair just strutted out of the woods and onto the property and decided to stay. We fed them dog and cat food and raspberries and raisins. They ate it all up and began

I was diagnosed with Pernicious Anemia ( a  fatal situation if untreated .....a very slow nasty way to suffocate internally)  in late February 2011 at York Hospitil in Maine. I was brought in passing out and feeling terrible for days.    Ever wake up feeling terribly unwell...totally unrested and, yes, like Death was breathing over your shoulder? Death  was claiming my life slowly as I lay

The Tomtar " The tomte or nisse was believed to take care of a farmer's home and children and protect them from misfortune, in particular at night, when the housefolk were asleep." wiki I have written this post so many times in my sleep and awake. I cannot write it all down as it is so bad ...so terribly sad and horrible. Last winter I became seriously ill. In great pain, passing out, and

Judith Hunt was rushed to York Hospital's ER in February after being unable to breathe; passing out over and over for 2 days and a night. She was diagnosed in February 2011 at York Hospital with pernicious anemia, a serious life threatening autoimmune disease. Pernicious Anemia is a particularly horrible way to die. You literally smother to death over several weeks. It was discovered in 1920

The lovely pair just strutted out of the woods and onto the property and decided to stay.  They were not anyone's peacocks...no neighbor nearby had lost them. The police had not a clue as to who they belonged to. We fed them dog and cat food and raspberries and raisins. They ate it all up and began to dance and be happy together. Which means a lot of feather fluffing, and tail fanning.... Read the rest of this post

 Name of the Rose copyright 2011 Judith Hunt & Veritas Press  I  think my recent illustration of Sean Connery in "The Name of the Rose"is very appropriate to post in this mid-dreary spell of winter.  I just had to watch the movie to understand what my editor wanted me to do. He'd asked for me to show the monastery's huge rambling, back turning, screwy staircase which leads to a "dark and

    Yes, I do believe a picture is worth a thousand words....and so with no more rambling and rummaging for my thoughts let me just say.... we had a grateful and beautiful summer here on the farm!

Mike Caron,aka Caron Carpentry, just finished up and moved the farm's stand via our farm's trusty bobcat. No more than 5 minutes elapsed and Kitten was already inside and loving her new haunt! I can hardly wait for the beautiful custom sliding door with it's peek-a-boo window and the lovely front deck to put flower pots on!  This fall I can make wreathes by the warmth of the tiny heater  inside

                         "The First Great Seal" ©  2010 Judith Hunt and ABDO             "Visiting the Lincoln Memorial"  © 2010 Judith Hunt and  ABDO Publishing Group Had a few books to finish up over this last year....one was of the Lincoln Memorial and the other was of the history of the U.S.'s "Great Seal" ...it's designing and use. The research for both books has been interesting.

 It's been a tough summer trying to deal with the treatment protocol for Lyme disease, running the farm, harvesting, and doing art. I was diagnosed as having been infected for over 7 months with borrelia and babesia organism; "Late-stage Lyme disease".  Not fatal (unless my body can't handle the recovery treatment), possibly not chronic...but we shall see. The unwelcome intruders inside my body

Just like my art, my photographs have both light and intense detail.   This is a huge Luna moth found still wet from a heavy rain and drying off so I was able to take quite few shots. Enjoy!

It's been a very long time since I felt like posting. And felt is a good way to put it, as I felt lousy and anxious, angry and sad in never ending cycles. My moods seemed to swing every which way, and worse my right arm hurt so badly I couldn't sleep on it; with  muscle spasms up and down my arm  and pain radiating into my back joints and muscles.  By April I couldn't farm....my spine creaked

  We keep a few of the farm's 100 or so feral goldfish inside the house each year for fun after we clean the ornamental pond in the fall as they adapt quite nicely.  Each morning they track our comings and goings past them to the kitchen and congregate at the side of the huge tank and watch us make the coffee ....they know yummy goldfish treats follow the coffee making ritual. You can't tell from

The Maine Illustrators Collective has a cool new website. Great bright colors easy access to member's  portfolios,  a cool rotating cartoon image on the pages, a RSS news feed from our news blog, and even a link to our store and the MEIC blog. More than enough to get the members work noticed! It was exciting being coordinator/art director during the design process from the beginning in

 Teddy Roosevelt and the famous White House © Judith Hunt door Seems there is a never ending parade of sketches and then finishes this winter for books. This one got done a week ago and I admit it was tough, in that, it had to look right and be accurate. President Obama and his family appear in it along with other recognizable figures making me acutely aware of having it look good. I chose to

Had to do a lot of research on the historic aspects of the White House.. I found this video on You Tube of John Adams, the HBO mini series to be quite helpful but was dismayed to see the mess they made of the land while building the house.Too many trees taken down and no effort to stay tidy. Call me a fussy farmer. The interior of the White House is shown as a dismal, dark, and smoky ...I just

The spotless "yes, you can eat off the floor!"  farmhouse kitchen... It was fun taking photos last week for the farmhouse video, staging and light is everything! Click on this link  and see the wonderful show that the agent at Pack Maynard and Assoc Real Estate in Kennebunk, Maine was kind enough to put together. Me and the farmhands had to get out our hankies and wipe our eyes after viewing

Well the agent who sells the farm property has been and gone, the paperwork is signed, and the sign goes up and the tours begin. I wasn't surprised that the the agent only described the property as amazing and inadequate generic word. The adjective "Amazing" must cover the following: A healthy mature semi-dwarf Northern Peach Tree that produces juicy delicious peaches all over it's branches.

We are selling the farm and the To Do List is getting longer. Moving can be overwhelming with pets. Just thinking of our past moves brings to mind the below illustration I did for a book about a particularly  badly behaved farm cat. The model for this image is of my old "Fat, Fat the Cat in the Hat" (as my young son used to call him). He finally left us last summer in the arms of a young

 Portland, Maine and the neat weird Christmas lights they put up each year Blame the snow the ice and the season...I am in the mid-winter blues mood. Today, I am annoyed at the wiki article on me. I wish it could be eliminated... kaput. It doesn't address the real work that goes into having an illustration career... children's needs, health issues, bills as a single parent most of my early

Finally winter is here.  Vegetable garden in winter Big storm over the weekend left the farm with a blanket of snow that outlines all the branches, trellis, and fencing. Very pretty with the sun sparklling off of the crystals.  After cleaning off the greehouse twice from the foot or so of snow I tackled laying out the illustrations for the Mt Rushmore Book. I am divided over the

Another precious year sped by while we farmed and did art. Over coffee and a good hearty farm breakfast this snowy Sunday morning me and the farmhands sat around the woodstove and seriously discussed the next stage here at Mille Fleur Farm herb and flower farm....moving the farm to the West Coast. And we realized just how much we will miss the fantastic gardens here, the fruits and the

 Margaret C. Widger Reddick (far right) 1940's My mother's and father's photos albums arrived in two big boxes just before Christmas. Many of the photos are quite old ... some even date back to the Civil War. The above photo is my mother's family...my mom being on the far right. Seeing the old photos, pictures of farms and farm families... made me wish I'd spent more time with Mom learning all

Gabrielle is an incredible fine artist I met many moons ago while living in Honesdale, PA;working for Highlights for Children. She has designed and created unique Christmas Cards each season, handpainting each one. They are lovely and a reminder that Christmas is really all about sharing your hopes and dreams with others. Her cards always are a joy to open as they radiate a kind of wonder and

It has gotten more than just a little cold and still there are occasional surfers at Gooch's Beach just 5 minutes down the road from the farm. Brave people....brrrr In this view you are looking out toward's Walker's Point...can't see it but it is just around the spit of land that juts out into the ocean.