Cape May, NJ. - Stormy Day - post-tornado skies, 6/21/16

Cape May, NJ. 6/21/16 - Stormy Day - post-tornado skies

Emmett and Ellery 

The Sweetness of Summer in Vermont

There were definitely a few desperate moments this winter when I was pretty sure there was still going to be snow on the ground in June. But summer has finally come to the shire. The flowers and lush greenery are amazing, and the stark landscape of winter seems lightyears away. These are pictures from around the yard yesterday afternoon, just after a rain. These days are so luscious, and so few and fleeting that sometimes they have a sweet sadness to them. It is something we didn't realize during our first summer in Vermont after Brooklyn. We traveled, and we were busy, and it all slipped by before we realized it. Now we stay put, and travel in February like sensible Vermonters.

  You may already be sick of Peonies, but ours just came into full bloom yesterday, so I am still in love.

This is actually deadly nightshade. . . TH was a little worried to hear it was growing in the garden. . . don't know why. . .

Foraging

 Summer foraging 6.21. Wild sorrel and strawberries were found and enjoyed.

Togetherness

I'm sure a lot of you have spent lots of time with family this summer, maybe even big family vacations or long visits.  It is one of the best things about the slower pace of summer, being able to have a leisurely visit.  My brother and his family have been here visiting for the past ten days, and will be here for a total of two weeks, which is an amazingly long visit.  And even though it isn't really the best time for a vacation for me, due to the ever-looming pile of orders waiting for me in both studios, having them here has forced me to slow down a little bit and enjoy what summer in Vermont has to offer, for which I am grateful.  My friends up here and I often lament the fact that we never do the lovely summer things we intend to do, like hike and swim and even just sit around on the porch drinking iced tea.  So I am very glad I made myself take the time to go swimming at Buttermilk Falls, our friends' pond, the town pool, and today at Lake Rescue.  We've also been to Bromley Mountain Adventure Park, cooked hot dogs and s'mores over an open fire, the little boys caught frogs and went fishing, and we've all done some good puzzling over mysterious pond creatures.

 But with a large group of people always comes the problem of how to feed them all, and really, who is going to do all those dishes?  How does your family deal with this challenge? I'd really love to hear, so please leave some of your ideas in the comments!  Ever since I was very small my family has created a daily chart to try to evenly split up the work (and fun) of feeding a small hoard.  My mom has always said that vacations for her when we were small children was "just a change of sinks." And so as soon as we were old enough we got drafted into service.  The chart with a family of 4 was pretty simple.  But now with a combined family of 9, look what we have come to:

I mean just creating the chart is a huge challenge in itself.  Luckily I have an older brother who loves to sort things into columns. ;p  So we have a childcare column (which right now is just taking care of Emmett, which is great for us), a table setting column, cooking, clearing the table and washing the dishes, and then "Riley" is for the people "leading the life of Riley," or in other words, just relaxing and doing nothing.  And somehow I just realized this year that the only way this system works is to absolutely not feel guilty about being Riley when it is your turn, and really enjoy it, or otherwise you just feel like you are cooking and cleaning all the days long.

Of course Olivia does almost nothing except lick the occasional plate and generally be in the way.  But she looks good doing it, doesn't she?

So that's how we do it.  It's a lot of work feeding 9 people every lunch and dinner!  I don't know how those big old farm families did it on a daily basis! There must be a trick to it, and you probably don't make lobster pasta much.  But for 14 days we are going all out!

Emmett's Rooftop Garden

Totally on board with the urban gardening trend.  Emmett knows what's up with sustainable living.

The Teeniest Turtle

Look who I found making his way across the lawn: a baby painted turtle.  How about that for cuteness? We all admired him for a bit, and then let him go next to a small stream that leads to the pond. I hope he made his way down there and is continuing on with his turtle-y life.  It was kind of a long way to go for someone so small.

Harumph

I mean are you dead serious about this weather?  This March storm happens every year here and it is enough to make every Vermonter want to move to California.  Luckily it melts fast and we get over it, or Vermont would be an depopulated tundra.   Yeah yeah, it's pretty, I know.  You know what else is pretty? Flowers.  Leaves. Grass.  A warm yellow orb in the sky.  Harumph.

Sorry about the long blogger silence.  I struggle with this every year in this season.  I always try to use my own photos on this blog, and there is nothing photogenic about mud, bare branches, and crusty old snow.  I guess it's a good thing we are getting this storm or you probably wouldn't have heard from me for another three weeks.  And I've peppered you all enough with pictures of collages and jewelry.  

I'll try to put together a post about our renovation tomorrow, since it is definitely the biggest news around here, and taking up a good chunk of our time.  And thankfully we are headed to California in a week to hopefully escape the worst of mud season and replace it with some sun and sea.  I promise to be a much cheerier blogger after that! No one likes a grumpy blogger.

 

Field Notes

 The field outside my studio yesterday in the evening sunlight.

Have a great weekend everyone, and a happy Fathers Day to all!

Under the Pier

So sorry for the extended absence, and the ignoring of the poor blog! We are on vacation in California visiting family, which has been very busy and very full of family activities.  And before we left was the usual scramble to complete (Ha! As if!) both work and life-administration projects before our trip.  I haven't even had a chance to post our Easter pictures, but they will come next, I think.  But today we got the chance to see some seals and sea lions up close and personal under the Old San Luis Obispo Port Pier, in Avila Beach.  They were just snoozing away in a big pig pile, except for this one guy who missed his chance to jump on the platform at high tide, and was swimming around in the water about 6 feet below wondering how they all got up there.

Spring Ritual

It has long been a family tradition to clean out the culverts around our house to help hurry the drainage of the snowmelt water out of the lawn, and down into the pond.  It is a ritual for me that has always marked the end of winter.  There are loads of these little ditches running through the property, and under stonewalls and lanes.  And I know it must sound like boring drudgery to clean dead leaves and muck out of all of these waterways.  But actually it is hugely satisfying to change stagnant pools to pleasantly running streams.  It feels great to get all the fall and winter detritus out of the way, and create the pleasant sound of the free-running water.  And of course, on the more practical side it helps the lawn dry out faster for playing on, and removes the stagnant ponds in which mosquitos and black flies breed. And luckily for us, this year we have Emmett and all of his heavy equipment to help us with the job.  After being trapped inside for all the months of winter it is so great to be outside again, while the world comes back to life.

Woodpecker

We woke up this morning with this funny little Downey Woodpecker hogging all the snacks on our birdseed wreath.  I had to take the 1st picture through the window, sorry it is a little fuzzy.