Chickens, Cows and The Little Guy

It looks like May is ready to come to an end now! How did that happen? In a quick flash of light the days have gotten so much longer, the sun is hotter, and tonight the frogs are so noisy it sounds like a choir competition. We are getting thunderstorms and drenching rains instead of snowstorms, and all of the windows are opened to let in the cooler night air. Which is good, because we don't have air conditioning in our house! Normally is isn't much of a problem unless we get a string of 90 degree days, which doesn't happen often. Otherwise we get a nice breeze thru the house at night and it is pretty comfortable for sleeping. Tourists are wandering Church Street, and it makes for great conversation in the store. Memorial Day was two days ago, and it looks like summer is well on its way. 

We have had 4 new arrivals at the house this month:

Meet the Peanuts Gang-Lucy, Sally, Peppermint Patty and Woodstock! They were about 3 days old in this picture, but they have grown tremendously in the past few weeks! 4 little hens who are living in the basement until they can tolerate the nights outside in their chicken coop, probably in mid-July, and who will start laying eggs for us in October. They are a lot of fun to greet each morning and watch as they run around. They seem to be doing well and we are excited to have them around.

Shortly after the chicks arrived, we also had these gals come to the meadow:

These are two of the three baby calves that came with 4 momma cows. I think we have one more mom and baby set that should be coming to spend the summer grazing in our grass. It is always nice to see them out there when they come back. They should be here until mid-September, when the grass growing slows down and they go back to the barn to live off of hay for the winter.

And then the best arrival this month was my daughter and grandson who spent last week here! He is the cutest thing, and we had a grand time doing all kinds of things that occupy a 2 and a half year old! We played tractors, cars, barns, ball, took walks in the woods and to the neighbors. We went to the playground and Wildlife Refuge and book store and my sister's house. Ate lunch out and breakfast out and went to Church Street and even got to eat outside while fire trucks whizzed by. We made bread and English Muffins and cheesecake. And we read books about Kittens and Mittens, and sheep and trucks, and took baths every night. It was a great week, and he is such a good little boy. 

    

And here's my absolute favorite, taken shortly before we left for the airport:

It was a wonderful week!

And before we know it, June will be coming to an end, and the year will be half over. We always laugh that in about a month the days will already start getting shorter! But for now, I am enjoying all that the warmer months have to offer. We have a neighbor's wedding to attend this Saturday, and next Friday will be a 40th Anniversary Party in Middlebury for Danforth Pewter. It should be fun. And how time flies...

April is coming to an end...

It's hard to believe May will be here the end of this week! The meadow is really getting green, the trees are ready to burst their buds open, and sometime next month the cows will come back to hang out in our meadow. We had a chilly, wet week, and even more snow, but mostly just a few flurries. Unless you live further east of us, like my sister. They had a covering of white on Friday! We see the turkeys roaming around more often, lots of ducks and geese, and the birds are so busy building their nests everywhere. Last Sunday we even started our Summer ritual of getting a creamee in the afternoon. Who needs lunch when you can fill up on one of 98 flavors of soft serve ice cream? I started with one of my favorites: Reeses Pieces! But these past 3 days they had the Maple Festival in town, and I'm sure the visitor count had to be down. Not too many people would have wanted to walk around the food booths and ride the carnival rides when it was only 39° out! 

Next Saturday will be Bucket Washing Day. We will all head over to the barn about 10am and start the task of washing all of the sap buckets, lids, taps and equipment from Sugar Season. It was a fairly good year, we collected and made 83 gallons of pure Vermont Maple Syrup. Some of it is being sold this year, which is rather sad, but it will help to regenerate some of the costs needed for jugs and supplies. We hope it doesn't mean that we won't have a stable amount of syrup! I use it so often in cooking now that it would be sad to have to go back to regular sugar. Or worse yet...to have to buy it from someone else!

Business is starting to pick up at the store, which helps the days pass quicker! We are seeing more tourists and people visiting for things like weddings and sports activities. The colleges only have 2 weeks left, then graduations will be the middle of the month. It feels so different in Burlington once all the students are gone. This past Monday I had 2 women come into the store from over in New York. They were fun to chat with and, as often happens, they asked for a recommendation for someplace for dinner. My first choice is always Leunig's Bistro, right next door to us, so that's where I suggested. The funny thing: Bill and I went there to eat after I was done working that afternoon. Just as we were finishing eating, the same 2 women came up to our table and thanked me for sending them to Leunig's! They said they had the best meal ever, and were so happy I told them to go there! It was great! And, we also had a fabulous meal, as always. 

Here's a final photo to close out the evening. We get some beautiful sunsets from our bedroom upstairs, especially this time of the year.

A Sweet Dripping-Part II-Spring for a Day

Today was a perfect day to be off. The sun was out, the sky mostly blue and we reached a high of about 68°. I sat out on the steps for awhile and watched the birds at the feeders, the Canada Geese returning home, the horses in the meadow, and I could almost hear the snow melting. There are a few piles of it around, especially those created from plowing or shoveling off the flat roof. And if you have a dog who loves the cold, winter weather, here is where you'll find her as the first few signs of spring emerge:

She is so funny. She sat there watching the squirrels and chipmunks running all around. It's not like she chases them, she's getting too old for that. But she'll wander around checking out where they disappear to when they run between the rocks. After awhile, she changed her spot. I guess she thought she had a better view from here:

She loves being out, and finally came in to rest after about 2 hours. 

I made some Hot Cross Buns from a King Arthur mix this morning, and some maple sugar cookies to bring over to the sugar house. The sap was running, so we went out to gather about 4 o'clock. It was so nice out. Lots of mud, and still icy spots where the snow had packed down, but a light jacket kind of day. And the sap was running fairly well. We all hung out in the sugar house afterwards for some mac and cheese and lots of desserts. It was still pretty mild out as I walked home across the meadow. Later tonight it will drop to about 32°, the snow will start about midnight, and tomorrow we will wake up to a covering of white mush. Crazy, but that is the way the weather tumbles around here. Sure makes you appreciate the days that are as beautiful as today was!

P.S. Saturday April 4th, 8am:

Need I say more? Remember, this is a Sugar Snow!

A Sweet Dripping-Part I

Normally, sometime around this time of the year, I write about Sugar Season up here in Vermont. These wonderful few weeks where the snow is melting, the days are getting longer, and the sun starts the sap running through the veins of the maple trees. This year we have had a very late start. We didn't even tap the trees until March 14th, which is pretty late by the book's standards. And gathering has been more off than on since then. Last Sunday I was able to go out to gather with everyone. It was a beautiful, sunny, mild day and it was great catching up with everyone I haven't had a chance to talk with all winter long. Plus, the nice weather made for a great hike thru the woods running from bucket to bucket in search of any sap slowly dripping out of the taps.

There wasn't much. Saturday night had been cold, into the teens, and it just didn't warm up soon enough for the sap to have run yet. By the time we got back to the sugar house they had decided it wasn't even enough to bother boiling that night. So we stood around talking and munching and eating sugar-on-snow. We boil down the maple syrup until it is about soft ball stage, then pour it over packed snow, then roll it up on sticks and eat it like maple taffy. Talk about a sugar high! But it is soooo good. And, remember, maple syrup is said to have all those antioxidants for good health.

They are boiling over at the sugar house tonight. On days when I work, I get back too late to help gather, but it is always special to come over the hill on our road and see steam pouring out of the roof of the sugar house. Today was perfect weather for it. The low last night was around 30°. By noon the sun was out bright and clear, and it was 57° as I got home. Normally that is too warm for the sap to run well, but the ground is still so frozen out in the woods, I imagine the buckets were filled to the brim. Hopefully they gathered a bunch so we can get a good supply of syrup for the year. We often make about 80 gallons a year. Last year wasn't so good, only about 47. They've probably done about half of that so far. But sugar season is tricky. If we don't get down below freezing tonight not much will run tomorrow, then the weekend doesn't look ideal. Saturday we are expecting 3-5" of snow. It's what we call a "Sugar Snow." It is always welcome during sugar season because it puts needed moisture back at the base of the trees to give the roots something to absorb during the nights. Really, I think it's just Vermont's way of coming up with a cute name for another spring snowstorm other than the really nasty word everyone wants to call it!

They Come and They Go...

Birthday + 3 days. This year was an uneventful birthday. I worked. The manager from another store was there doing displays. It was okay-not too much to change after she left. I got flowers delivered from my daughter and her family:

They're really pretty, and it was nice to get the recognition during the day. Lauren went to Champlain Chocolates and brought me a little box of chocolates. That was sweet. I left just a bit early, and drove home. Then we left to meet my sister and brother-in-law for dinner at Jeff's Restaurant in town. It's a seafood restaurant and normally really good. It was good. I had seafood stuffed salmon, salad, shared a few appetizers, and each couple shared dessert. It was freezing outside and windy, and it was cold in the restaurant. We were there about 2 hours (lots of time between courses.) Then they came back to our house for a few minutes for me to open their gift-a basked filled with chocolate (a true theme this year!) lids, vanilla and a sweatshirt. I also got a movie from my daughter, one I'm really anxious to watch, a goodie box from my daughter filled with wine, cookies, crackers and bruschetta, and a gift card to get some badly needed new shoes. I have been wearing the same pair for at least 10 years, probably more. I don't wear them all that much, but they're my everyday, winter shoes outside of work. So, maybe twice a week for a few hours if I go anywhere, until I switch to sandals. But still...10 years? I got my new ones today, and promptly threw out my old ones. These are really comfortable. 

I've not written for a long time. Fall came and went:

Early in December we had the most beautiful snow since we have been here. 18" of clingy whiteness that made it a gorgeous Winter Wonderland. It came over 4 days, and the snow highlighted every branch and twig around and I oohed and ahhed my whole way into work. It was just so beautiful:

Then Christmas came and went too:

But Christmas was pretty great because my daughter, son-in-law and this cutest of all boys were here for 2 whole weeks:

He is just the most fun! I loved having him around. We had some bad colds going around during the holidays, but we managed to still have a good time. Christmas dinner included my sister and brother-in-law, and their daughter and her family. They came from Singapore and had only gotten to Vermont 2 days before Christmas, so pretty much they slept thru Christmas because of jet lag. I'm sure, in the years to come, we'll hardly be able to remember they were here at all.
Now, we are about to turn the calendar on another month. It has been a brutal, frigid, cold winter. The last time we had a high of 32° was on January 29th. Right now it's 2°. Earlier today it was 12° and with the sun shining it actually felt mild. But, so many days were  below 0 with way below 0 wind chills. We aren't even thinking of tapping the trees. Suzee and Al are on their way back from California, and should be back home on Sunday. We have been watering their plants and using their truck with the plow while they were gone. Perhaps they'll tap next weekend if we really do get above freezing in the week to come. 

All in all, I am quite close to the next decade of my life. My health is good, my memory is ok, I get around fine, I still work and drive. But sometimes it does get scary when I stop and think about how quickly the year comes and goes...

The Kuma Bush

The Kuma Bush

Last Friday we went over to our nearby garden center and looked around for a special plant, and the plant above, by the lamppost  is what we bought. It is called a "Little Lamb Hydrangea," and it is very special to us. On Tuesday we brought home Kuma's ashes in a very nice, carved, wooden box. But we already knew what we were planning on doing with it. When our first Samoyed dog, Cody, died we bought 4 azalea bushes, and placed his ashes below the plants, which then bloomed white every spring. When we moved up to Vermont, we dug up one of the plants to bring with us, and we could still see the ashes in the ground that came with the plant. It is planted at our house here:

 The Cody Bush

It is by the rock steps that lead up to the porch door. It blooms white every spring, and we call it the Cody Bush.
Now, we also have a Kuma bush. After we got home, we decided on the spot by the lamppost because we would see it from the house, and also coming down the driveway. It will bloom with white flowers all summer, until early fall, when the blooms turn a light pink color as they begin to fall off. The blooms had already turned pink at the garden center because they will do that faster in a container. There was one white stem left, the lower one on the left side. We dug a deep hole, and placed his ashes in the bottom of it, then placed the plant on the top. It was sad, but it will be a great reminder of Kuma every summer as it blooms and greets us each time we come home, just like he did. There are still times I feel like he is around, still things I do that remind me of him, and I still miss him. We always said he had the best, goofiest personality. 

Cleveland

 A garden is a community where difference is neither exploited or excluded but celebrated as a divine gift necessary for wholeness.

I found this quote on a railing in the Cleveland Botanical Gardens. This was the first place I headed on Wednesday morning on my little walking tour of the area we are staying at. It was a great place to wander on a warm, sunny morning. Throughout the gardens they had incorporated Lego statues, like this giant one of a hummingbird and flower made completely out of regular sized Legos:

It was fun, and I really enjoyed a nice, leisurely walk. I kept thinking that my grandson would have loved walking thru it too, with lots of places to see, places to play, even a Waterfall Garden I think he would have liked to visit.

Yesterday, I headed to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and spent most of the day there because they had a show at the planetarium I thought I would go to, and that wasn't until 2:30 in the afternoon. The morning one was Big Bird's Space Journey, but I opted out of that one. Walking thru all of the exhibits, I pretty much realized that I have, during my lifetime, seen just about all of it in one museum or another-dinosaurs, minerals, rocks, stars, how the earth formed, etc.

But, every museum has something to draw people to it, and I went there to see "Lucy!"

  

Of course I had heard about her, so it was exciting to actually see it in person. They also had a moon rock there, but I know I have seen moon rocks at other museums, probably the National History Museum in DC.

Today will be my last day in Cleveland. The sun is just starting to come out, so I think I will head over to the Art Museum and journey thru there for a few hours. Nothing special is drawing me there, but the building is fabulous, so it should make for a nice morning.