Our Holiday Greetings to You...

The posts below tell of our year and offer our greetings to you and your family. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to start. Enjoy your holidays!

Dan and David....

 

Dan and Tracey managed to squeeze in a visit with Ellie during the summer. Ellie enjoyed her sock monkey crocheted by CB.





They brought us the good news of another child on the way. Ellie will have a sister in January to share her birthday cakes with.


Her Halloween persona was a butterfly, inspired by wings hand-made in the NEK that she received for her birthday.











Both Dan and David continue their active careers with the state police in MA. David enjoys surfing during the summer in RI.

And what of the family......?

We realize the passing of time when we see the children and grand children even if they do not. Their visits are always precious to us. After finishing at UMass, Melissa studied and started the exam process for becoming a CPA, moved from Turners Falls to Longmeadow and put the kids into their schools. During her annual summer visit, their bicycles became “dirt bikes” and we all abused and enjoyed the frogs in the pond. Grace and David seem to love the relaxed, country-critter atmosphere around here, just like we do. Whereas we see no one at Halloween, Grace and David looked their best for the debut of the Witch and Her Pumpkim this fall.

Outwitting the Bears and other thoughts......

JP was again successful at providing 68 lbs of venison for the freezer from a nice 4 pointer. He has outwitted the bears that destroyed our bird feeders with a creation that had not foiled the raccoons until he applied the axle grease. Winter brings thoughts of our sugaring activity which will start up in a mere 2 mos. Does anyone wonder what on earth one does in retirement? We have found out what “creative juices” really means!!
          

Under Ongoing and Miscellaneous Happenings....

Under miscellaneous….. a labyrinthe begins. After CB attended a workshop on labyrinthe building, the perfect spot in front of the house facing the Willoughby gap was selected and one will be completed next year.Perhaps ours will look like this one..... CB continues on the NEK Audubon board, but passed the pen for Bird Notes in the local paper to another board member. The council meetings for Vermont Coverts take CB back to Woodstock (6X/year), friends and “civilization”, ie shopping.

Wood-Fired Cooking Begins

    Another project underway…..building a wood-fired oven. 

This extension on the wood boiler shed will be the home of an oven similar to the one pictured.  JP will work with the local NEK mason who built our chimney. For those who are new to this idea, go to
http://heatkit.com/html/bakeoven.htm 

New Fall Favorite….. pressing apples

This year’s apple crop was unsurpassed leaving us no option but to gather, press and enjoy. The Old Stone House museum, http://www.oldstonehousemuseum.org in town offers the community free squeezing rights which we are taking advantage of in this picture. Quarts and quarts of sauce and several pints of cider jelly will provide memories of this first time pressing experience over the winter.

Crafts and Wine....our passions

Meanwhile, crafts have become a serious passtime for CB while JP continues to become a master vinter. The root cellar has become a wine cellar!






 With inspiration from a weaving friend, the Terra Loom was designed, created and presented with success. The next step will be the weaving lessons and creating some fun products from these rustic interpretations of the Navajo style tapestry loom. Go to www.kingdomkrafts.blogspot.com to see the different models and other crafts. Three other craftswomen and CB started meeting in our apartment this fall, sharing materials and ideas about crocheting, weaving, knitting, felting and paper crafts. What a delight to discover so much creative talent right here in Brownington. There is talk about setting up a storefront on www.etsy.com.

Holiday Greetings from the NEK

What this picture above of the sailing race on Lake Memphremagog and the latest round of winter weather have in common is …WIND. We reached 50mph last week intact. Our first role as the Committee Boat for the race proved successful and fun, with hopes of more races in 2011. We are still enchanted with the NEK and continue to find more and more amusements.However, one of our friends agreed to cat sit, thus liberating us to hit the open road. Off to the Cote Du Nord, the north coast of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec. Beautiful vistas, great seafood, and diffucult driving provided the back drop for our last Wally Byam road trip in the Airstream seen here as we boarded a ferry to cross the river to the Gaspe Penninsula. Trips in the future will be done in a pop-up truck camper for an easier driving experience.
Coastal Canada beckons.

In an Effort to Save Time and Trees......our blog begins

The holiday newsletter will come to a close today with the start of this blog. So if you did not received a card and printed newsletter, do not fret. You will soon find all that was contained in a 5 MB, yes, that's 5 MB file is easily accessed and read here. And from now on, I will just tell the world about our NEK life right here, as often as anything happens, whether it be cat related or weather, or health or what. All right here, nice and concise. Enjoy!