Tiime Flies

Oh geez. Talk about a season getting away from you. Not only is it not spring anymore, it's not summer either. Luckily fall in the Northeast Kingdom is lovely. For the moment we've got chilly nights and warm days. Soon the ground will be covered in snow, but for now I'm enjoying the lovely weather.

A lot happened this summer. Too much for one blog, really, but I'll try to give a brief(ish) snapshot of what we've been up to since May.

The last week of May/first week of June my parents, Peggy and Warren, came for a visit. I think I'm safe in saying a good time was had by all. Activities included: stopping by Harvest Hill, checking out a crazy old cemetrey, making risotto, hosting a 'Meet the Parents' potluck, going to the Shelburne Museum and eating dinner in Burlington, having my lovely friend, Therin, over for dinner, checking out the Hardwick Farmer's Market and doing a lot of work in my community garden plot. Truth be told, most of the work was done by my parents as I had to go to work at the Co-op. They made my weedy plot look fantastic! Their trip was far too brief, but much enjoyed and appreciated.

Here are a few photo highlights:

Warren working in my garden plot.

The four of us at Pho Hong in Burlington.

This was part of an awesome paper art exhibition at the Shelburne Museum.

This too.

The rest of June was moderately mellow. We hosted a 'Hardwick Scavenger Hunt' that was real fun and a little out of hand. We had 3 teams of 5 people. Everything on the list was worth a certain amount of points and those points could be tripled if you did the item without any pants on. Who knew so many folks would be willing to drop their drawers? It was a photo scavenger hunt, so all the activities had to be documented. In the end we gathered back at our house and had one of the best slideshows I've ever seen. Definitely inappropriate and definitely hilarious. Some sample items: making a human pyramid, getting 5 or more subarus in the same photo, eating a maple creemee with gravy on top, finding "local celebrities" and getting pictures with them, finding a Monster Energy drink logo on a person, buying hot sauce and condoms at the same time.....the list goes on. I'm not gonna post any photos of this event, but let it be said that it was one of the highlights of the summer.

Our friend Jen hosted a 'Tequila and Tattoos' night. The tequila was tasty and the tattoos were henna. It was a great combination. Some pretty awesome tattoos were put in some pretty awesome places. For the next week or so it looked like there was a secret society walking around town. I had Jen draw a Bitterroot flower on the inside of my left forearm. It looked awesome and if I get another tattoo, it will probably be that one.

In July our friends Katie and Alex came up from New York City for the 4th of July weekend. It was a quick trip, but really nice to have them up here. We hiked to Cheever Falls, went to the Bread and Puppet Museum and hosted a 3rd of July BBQ.

Katie and I playing smooshy face at Cheever Falls.

Mark and Maggie bonding.

A few days later Mark tore his MCL playing Ultimate Frisbee. He was in pain for quite awhile, but luckily he didn't need surgery. Now it's fine, except for the occasional twinge, but it did put a bit of a damper on the summer.

A couple weeks later our good friend Devin and his girlfriend Carrie came from Portland, Oregon for a wedding in Burlington. It had been almost 2 years since we'd last seen Devin and it was so nice to have them up here. They are having a baby in January and I hope we get to meet the little guy/girl before it's a teenager.

Devin looking hip in Burlington.

The first weekend in August, Mark and our friend Matt made their dream of having a taco stand a reality. They sold tacos at this funny music festival called Bonestock. Though the music festival wasn't huge, they actually sold quite a few tacos and had many repeat customers. I think it was a good learning experience and it made them all fired up to really get the stand off the ground next summer. The plan is to apply to farmer's markets and also work the festival circuit. Tacos. Yum.

On August 11th, Mark and I celebrated our 4th Wedding Anniversary. We went out to dinner at Kismet, in Montpelier. It's a really good restaurant that focuses on serving high quality, local foods. Here's a photo of us four years ago:

We still love each other.

Near the end of August we took a 4 day trip to Maine. We met up with Katie and Alex in Machias for the Beehive Collective's Black Fly Ball. If you don't know about the Beehive Collective you should check out their website. They draw intricate black and white posters detailing various environmental and social issues. One of their original posters was 'Plan Colombia' and their most recent is 'The True Cost of Coal' about mountain top removal. We bought a poster and I'm still discovering new things every time I look at it. The ball involved 3 stages with different bands. One of the stages was built on a pavilion over a waterfall. I only wish I had a photo. We spent 2 nights camping at Cobbscook Bay State Park and on the 3rd night headed down the coast towards Rockland. We went hiking, ate lobster, visited a boat building school and slept outside.

I love Maine.

Katie, Alex, Mark, Maggie and Lucha at the Easternmost Point in the U.S.

Praying MANtis?

Katie and boats.

Sub-arctic bog. There were pitcher plants here!

The last weekend in August I had my very first canning experience. Mark had bought 2 crates of peaches and after eating a ton and freezing even more, we still had 1/2 a crate left, so I made peach jam. It was way more labor intensive than I thought it would be, but ultimately not as intimidating as I had imagined. I was so un-intimidated, in fact, that a week later I made and canned peach chutney. I also made pasta sauce from fresh tomatoes and froze about 4 quarts. We bought a chest freezer and it currently holds pesto, blueberries, peaches, 3 turkeys, kale, blackberries, pasta sauce, peppers and soup. We're planning on buying a whole lamb from our friend Jonah and hopefully half a pig from our friend Dan. If anyone wants to come for a visit, I guarantee you'll be well fed!

We discovered something amazing in the North East Kingdom this summer. There's a museum in someone's barn off of Route 16 called 'The Museum of Everyday Life'. Our friend Dan talked us into going one day and it was really awesome. This summer's exhibit was on matches and one part of the exhibit featured instruments made entirely out of matchsticks. The man who made them was in prison for 20 years and the only wood available to him was matchsticks, so he made a banjo, 2 violins and a mandolin. And they work! But the real treasure of this museum is that underneath the museum, in the old dairy barn, the owner has set up a bowling alley. We spent a ridiculously fun night there bowling. Could I feel anymore country? Probably not.

Museum Entrance. That's not a real bear. But Jon is real.

Mandolin made out of matchsticks.

Entrance to the bowling alley.

Bowling! Amy looks skeptical, but she had fun.

Clearly this was not regulation bowling. But there was a disco ball.

In mid-September Mark's good friend Mikal came up for a visit from Austin, Tx. He was only here for 2 nights and 2 days, but we packed a lot into a short time. Activities included pizza and beer at Parker Pie, a farm tour, a hike to Cheever Falls, at trip to the Museum of Everyday Life and the Bread and Puppet Museum. The main event during Mikal's visit was the Chili-Cook off that we hosted. 10 chilies were entered and almost 40 people came to taste and judge. All in all, I'd say it was a huge success. We're contemplating a 'hot dish' cookoff this winter.

Mark and Mikal just above the falls.

Maggie's good about staying hydrated.

Our latest adventure was at the end of September and involved another trip to Maine. This time we headed to The Common Ground Fair with our friends Jon and Claire. Common Ground has been going on for over 35 years and it's pretty much the best. It's an agricultural and sustainable living fair and exhibits and activities there included multiple craft tents, an amazing border collie demo, tons of great food, two farmers markets, a manure toss, animal exhibits, 3 music stages, lectures, classes, veggie exhibits....too much to take in all in one weekend. We volunteered at the manure toss so we got free camping, free admission and one free meal. Here are a few photos.





On our way back to Vermont we hiked Tumbledown Mountain. It was a little sketchy on the way up, but totally worth it. We were met at the top by gorgeous views and a much easier route down.

Don't Tumbledown. It will hurt.

Halfway up Claire and I were feeling like this:

Then I almost got stuck here.

But we finally made it to the top!

Jon was pleased. And warm.

From the top we hiked down to this little lake and took the less steep, less sketchy route down.

Other adventures that are currently or soon to be happening include the 6 week pottery class Mark and I are taking, a trip to NYC at the end of October, a visit from our friends Nic and Sarah for a week over Thanksgiving and a trip to Montana from Dec 17th-28th! Fun times ahead.