Our Vermont

                                                           Sarah's hard work in the garden

                                                               Lots of apples from the yard.

We lose power more then often.

                                                
                                    Showing Katie, Matt and Keelan the Hollister Hill farm stable.

                                                          Keelan clearly likes the big wheel.

                                                                       Lovely sarah

                                                        Ryan practicing his fathering skills.

                                                                         Spooning?

                                            Our favorite place to be after ripping singletrack.

What a week, fresh vegatables and apples from the garden, wonderful far away friends visiting, good food, beer and riding bikes.  This pretty much sums it up as Sarah, Odin and I had a great couple of days practicing what we most enjoy here in the Summer in the great state of Vermont.  Katie, Matt and Keelan we hope to see you this winter,thank you so much for visiting will see you soon.

Backyard Harvest

Those who know us know that this has been a different kind of year for us, one in which we  are getting accustomed to being homeowners. It feels like something we were meant to be, and we feel like we're in a place we were meant to be. As we drove home from work last night we stopped to look at one of our favorite views, just down the road from our home. From here, you can see the Worcester Range, Camel's Hump and the Monroe Skyline, and the sunset.

Last night, we found ourselves in our backyard, where we worked in the garden, chopped wood, and picked some vegetables for our dinner. A true backyard adventure; an adventure of a different kind entirely.

 

 We have already enjoyed a few meals featuring ingredients from our garden, but last night was the first time an entire meal was made from the garden. We had ratatouille and salad, with fresh Red Hen bread. Yum. It's a good life!

 

Garden Gate.

Welcome, Spring.

Though it doesn't currently look like Spring out there, its certainly in the air. As I got back from a run through the snow last night, I thought, even this snow feels different. It feels like Spring snow.

Sunday, however, really felt like Spring, as did the entire weekend. Complete with deep-rutted, muddy roads and calls from the birds who have recently returned. The arrival of redwinged blackbirds, with their distinctive call, are my favorite sign of Spring. I celebrated the arrival of one of my favorite seasons by planting my seedlings for the garden and taking our first bike ride of the season.

In the garden, I'll have lots of heirlooms like moon & stars watermelon and bleeding heart tomatoes (they actually look like hearts, which can be unappealing, but they are the most delicious slicing tomato I have ever tasted). And flowers. Now that I have a patch of Earth, rather than containers on the front porch, I no longer have to limit myself. I'm even putting in berry bushes and fruit trees. And a compost bin. I'm so excited!

As for the bike ride, it was a slog through deep mud, but it was wonderful to use those muscles again, to feel the burn in my lungs, and to be out in the sunshiny Spring day. Today we will enjoy the snow and maybe some skis. Enjoy some photos from the day, and Happy Trails!

A Weekend Well Spent

T and I headed down to the wilds of Connecticut to celebrate Mother's Day, which included surprising T's Mom (so fun! I love a surprise!). We had a great time overall and enjoyed an unusual weekend together.

I spent much of my time in my Mom's garden. There is some repair work to be done and some groundhog recon, but I think we got started on what could be a great garden this year. And the fun of it got me thinking about what else could be done. Pruning the backyard orchard (apples, pears, peaches, plums, and cherries), enclosing the berry bushes, building a new compost bin, setting up a coldframe, getting chickens, fixing the spigot, and putting up a tent platform that can double as a deck when T and I aren't around. In general, what I'm calling backyard homesteading; a yardstead. I don't know, I'll work on the terminology. But I'm excited for this work to come and I'm excited for the future. What an uplifting weekend!