Let it Snow

We got about 4 inches of snow over the past two days.  Here are some pictures of our house in the snow.  The black dog is Shadow.  The smaller red dog is Lucy.  

 Above is the driveway looking down to the road.   I haven't used to snow thrower today.  If you click to enlarge, you can see the guidepoles.. Below is the road to our house.  It was sanded but wasn't plowed this morning.

Looking up the driveway from the road

O Christmas Tree

For the past several years, we got a Leyland cypress tree from one of the local tree farms for our Christmas tree.  While not as traditional as a spruce or fir, they had the advantage of being fresh cut, and therefore more fragrant, not to mention less mess for cleanup. 

We also avoided the firs and spruces because there is something special in going to woods, or at least the farm, tromping in mud and ant-hills and finally finding just the right tree, losing it in the forest, and then finding it again.  A Christmas tree without muddy knees and sap-sticky hands is just not quite authentic, don't you agree!

Well, that was then in Louisiana;  this is now in Vermont.  About three miles up on the other side of the valley from us is a tree farm full of firs and  spruces, with NO ant hills; even with every thing soggy from snow-melt,  the hill side was dry enough to avoid wet knees almost completely. 

We now are the proud harvesters of a 7 ft Frazier fir tree, which is something to behold.   It weighs a good 7-10 lbs more than any equivalent trees in BR, so I'm sure it won't be drying out anytime soon.  I actually have to tug on the needles to get them to turn loose, even the dead ones.   I expect the entire house will smell like pine-sol before the weekend is over.

The darkening

Seasonal changes like leaf color, snow and spring melt  are straightforward and easy to understand, even if one never experiences them personally.  Other aspects of seasonal changes are more subtle and must be experienced to be appreciated.  One of these is the darkening of the daylight hours. 

Today, the sun didn't clear the horizon until about 6:30, and yesterday it was gone by 4:30.  In another month, the daylight time will be another 45 minutes or so shorter.  As if this were not enough, the sun is so low on the southern horizon that the sunny days (which are a distinct minority this week) have become dull, and the gray days are positively dim.  So dim, that despite being mid-day, my camera tells me it must use a flash to take a 'properly' lighted picture of the woods behind my house.  And today, covering all this dimness is a fog that obscures any thing more than 100 feet distant.  

At least all of this gives me a new appreciation of the way ancient peoples celebrated the arrival of the winter solstice. 

Back in Vermont

 After a month in Baton Rouge of grand-parenting and other essential activity, we are safely back in Vermont tonight.  1739 miles in about 3.5 days.  Except for the about 100 miles from Albany NY to White River Junction, VT, all of it was interstate highway, making for an easy drive of just about 11 hours daily for 3 days and 7 hours on the last day.  It is remarkable how much difference a month makes in the appearance of things.  Places in Pennsylvania and Virginia where leaves were just beginning to show color in October now are bare. Fall grasses are now brown.  And there was SNOW on the ground when got to our house: not much but a good dusting.  With temps already in the low 20's tonight it truly seems like winter has arrived.

I think that the dogs were the happiest to be back, although snow is not something they have much experience with - only one time in BR in 2008, I think.  It took them all of two minutes to feel at home in the house. We will work on outside tomorrow. They are unusually good travelers, sleeping in the back cargo area of the car almost all the time and behaving beautifully in the pet friendly hotels.  Shadow gets hot or restless occasionally, but a blast of air from an open window will fix him in about two minutes.  We discovered only today that half a banana is the perfect tranquilizer - they slept for 4 hours coming across Vermont's mountains and on the last 100 miles of interstate.

Our route goes through 11 states, although you will miss some of them if you doze.   LA, MS, AL, GA, TN, VA, MD, WV, PA, NY and VT.   Georgia, Maryland and West Virginia are the whistle stops.  The rest are substantial drives, especially Alabama, Virginia and Pennsylvania.  For me the most interesting drive was through central Pennsylvania, where I-81 runs along the mountain  tops.  The valleys are large and spectacular, especially when headed northward and the sun is out.   At some of these vistas, I expect the distant mountains were 30 or mor miles away.  There are only a few substantial towns along this rouge, but there are several industrial parks, most of which are the home to huge distribution warehouses.  My only disappointment with this drive was that none of the many rivers were identified. 


On the same day (Thursday) we were enjoying the view, my neighbor called to say that my furnace was broken and the house house had no heat.  He was concerned because the temp prediction was for 16 degrees on Friday night.   Well, he was a true neighbor... he called a repairman who was there at 8:30 Friday and by noon it was all repaired.   When we arrived later that afternoon, the house was a cozy 70 degrees.   Thank goodness for neighbors for Dave, it would have been another night in a motel, otherwise, and perhaps several if no one wanted to work on the weekend. The only down-side -- I had to spend 4 hours  cleaning the basement from top to bottom to get rid of the soot from the 'blow-back'.  Really makes one appreciate the convenience of natural gas.

For those that want pictures of the snow, sorry.   It is a sunny 36 today and the snow was gone by noon.  I'll have plenty of other photo ops, of that I am certain.

Being Grandparents .

Its hard to realize how tiny 6 lb is.  Even so, she is big enough to fill our hearts!

 

Kathryn Adelle - Our Granddaughter

Meet Kathryn Adelle, our new Granddaughter, at 3 days.

Pat pinched her just before I snapped this one.

 Dad (Graham) and daughter.  this is probably the first baby he has held.

Not  Vermont, but still pretty spectacular!

Kathryn Adelle Black

Arrived at 4:23 pm on October 21, weighting 5lb, 14oz.   She is a beautiful little girl.  Mom and dad are doing fine.

TIME OUT

No Vermont blogs for a while. We are in BR for about a month.  Graham and his wife Jesicca are having our first grandchild this Friday.  I'll post grandfather stuff soon.

Winterizing

About half the leave are off the trees and I've raked twice alrady.  One of the biggest lifestyle shifts here is that Vermonters PREPARE for the coming winter.  Here is a list of to do/done so far.
- drain  and store hoses and cover outdoor taps. 
- cover all perinnial beds with leaves too provide insulation
- remove screens on doors and install storm glass. 
- remove AC units
- remove mower deck and attach snow blower to tractor
- store deck furniture and grill
- get snow tires and sand bags for truck
- get 'hi-test' anti-freeze (-40 F) and washer fluid.  install snow blade windshield wipers

Most of this is done already. The rest will be finished soon.   Temps are expected to drop into high or even mid 20's tonight. 

for those who asked for a picture of me and my tractor, here it is.   The cart was a a freebie, thanks to free-cycle, St. Johnsbury.   Note the writing on the lawn cartl leaning against the tractor barn.  I think it proves we are supposed to be here!

Today was Autumn on the Green in Danville, Vt, a little town about 12 miles west of here.  It is one of the largest craft fairs in the state.  Last year there were 160 vendors.  I didn't count this year, but I'm sure at least 100 were there.  Much better food than most of the smaller fairs we visited this summer.  Also more variety in the crafts. 

Below are some pics from the fair and the town.

The line of cars going to the fair in this first picture is folks going to the fair as we were leaving. Glad we went early!

 This is the front view of the same church

 That's Pat petting the sheep dog.

Vermont Fall colors

Some of the fall color in and around Waterford. The first pic is the city water lake and Fairbanks Mountain.














This is the road from our house to the highway. Actually, there are three roads to the highway. This picture is typical. The dirt road is only about a mile, and as I've said before, it is well maintained year round














A meadow along the road to the highway














These last two are the front and back yard views from our house

Signs of the Changing seasons

Yesterday was the autumnal equinox - the official first day of fall - and the official end of summer. The shortening daylight has been obvious here for the past two weeks, just one more sign that the summer is really coming to an end. The early a.m. temps are now in the 30's, but summer is not giving up without a last effort. Temperatures for the weekend may reach 78 degrees in St. J, perhaps 75 here on the hill top, so a few more warm days remain to be enjoyed. I'm told, btw, that this will not qualify as a a true 'Indian summer'. That requires the temps to drop below freezing and then warm up to 75-80 degrees.

But there are other signs of the fast approaching fall. With the lower temps, leaves to begin their annual color change. While the woods are not 'ablaze', they are orangish, and individual trees are already outstanding. On a more personal level, it is wardrobe change time, as the shorts and t-shirts are relegated to the basement and the back of the drawer, while the sweaters, fleece, and jackets are now front and center in the closet. A lot of this winter stuff I've picked up at thrift stores, or had from old camping days. I did have to 'invest' in a pair of winter boots. Nothing in Louisiana comes close to the foot protection needed here. Other fall preparations have included painting parts of the house that had flaked badly. Next week, I'll be removing the window AC units, swapping door screens for storm glass, and putting away most of the outdoor furniture. It reminds me of the "little golden book" story A Year on the Farm, which I memorized with my kids some 25 years ago (and for myself more than a half century ago).

This weekend we spent Saturday at the Kingdom Colors festival in St. Johnsbury. Events were spread all over town, and we made to several of them, including craft booths, the soup lunch, rummage sale and a 90 minute train ride. Unlike BR bread and circus festivals, this is much more a fund raiser for local groups, who take advantage of the large number of tourists here for leaf peeping.

The highlight of our day was the  hour+ train ride to McIndoe (mac in doo) falls, about 15 miles south of here. The train itself was a vintage diesel model, with passenger cars from the first half of the 20th century. It only comes out occasionally for events such as this one. The train followed the Passumpsic River Valley and passed through many areas that are not visible from the main highways.

The pictures below are typical of the scenery, when the trees and hills didn't close in round the tracks and block the views.

Naming the hoodoo

All summer long, our smaller dog, Lucy, who is a Corgi and knows no fear, has been barking at the "hoodoo" in the woods behind our house. As of last night, the hoodoo has a name - it is a porcupine. Just before bedtime, Lucy went out and got after it. She ended up with over 50 quills stuck in her snout, mouth and front paw. I never did see the porcupine, but my guess is that Lucy lost the match rather badly.

Although they are not fatal and do not generally get infected, the quills are very uncomfortable. They also are hard to remove because their tips have tiny scales that act like anchors. Using pliers, I successfully pulled most of them out, but still a dozen or more were stuck so deeply, were in sensitive parts of her nose and mouth, or had broken off and were too short to grab. So we spent most of Sunday night's wee hours at an all - night vet 60 miles away getting the rest of them removed (along with a $200 removal from my checkbook - they may be country vets but they charge city prices).

Two days later Lucy is tender but feeling better. For her sake and mine, I hope the dog has learned that porcupines are a "look but don't touch" curiosity. Oh... the joys of country living.

Dog Mountain and Dog Chapel

Vermont is home to any number of quirky, if not unique unique attractions. One of the most remarkable and enjoyable is the Dog Mountain and Dog Chapel founded by the late artist Stephen Huneck. As an artist who had a unique love for dogs, you may have seen some of his art work (see more at http://www.dogmt.com/chapel.php ). One of his best artistic expressions is his dog chapel. Here, as the sign says, "all breeds and creeds welcome - no dogmas allowed". The chapel is not religious, but it is spiritual - especially about the spiritual bond that exists between dogs and their persons. The walls are covered with snapshots and notes by which owners remember and celebrate the memory of their pets. Every breed and mix are represented - present, really - and for anyone who has ever lost a pet, it is a sad, but uplifting experience see that we are not alone in our feelings.

Surrounding the chapel are several acres of meadows and gentle mountain slopes, with ponds, trails and tranquil areas. All are open to dogs, which are encouraged experience the place by running free. Occasionally during the summer, there are special days when dozens, if not scores of dogs come together for a 'romp'. Such times are truly entertaining, upwards of 100 dogs all checking each other out, playing alone or in small groups, swimming or just enjoying the warm sun and cool breezes without the confinement of a leash. When on common ground, even dogs that are protective of their home territory (like one of mine) manage to get along quite well without human supervision. That is a big part of why the place is so relaxing and restoring. Makes me wonder if dogs can do it, why can't we.

Harvest Season

August is harvest season and the farmer's markets are filled with fresh produce. Most of it is organic. All of it is beautiful. We are discovering a new kind of culinary delight - picked fresh this morning - as well as several items we've never seen, much less eaten before, such as fresh rotolini, flowers and all.

Here are some pictures of our very own apple tree and its bounty. Also a picture of the corn that is grown on a farm about 3 miles down the road and sold on the roadside on the honor system - 4 ears for $1. (no, the beer is for size comparison only, they do not make corn brew here).

Lighting the homefires

Most of the perennials have finished their blooms and the fire bushes that line our car pad are looking distinctively orange. This morning, I could see just a touch of fiery orange in a maple tree down the hill behind the house. The impact of this, though not yet dramatic, leaves the distinct feeling that summer is getting ready to make a graceful exit. Even though we are still getting daily temps in the low 80's, mornings now are perfect for coffee and newspaper on the deck until well into mid-morning. By 6 pm, it is comfortable, even pleasant to sit in the shade. By sunset, the evening air is taking on a distinctly different feel. The night time air, if not crisp, is definitely coolish.

Last week, with a fast moving cool front passing over us, the lows dropped into the high 40's, and the urge to smell wood smoke became almost palpable. Our fire place is equipped with gas logs. Convenient, yes, but it loses something in translation compared with a real wood fire. Not to worry, as outdoor fires are still allowed (as far as I know) here in Waterford. So off to the woodpile with ax and mallet, to bring some old logs down to campfire size. Some old firewood has been there for what in Louisiana would look like about 12 months of aging, so I did not expect to find it in great condition. But I was wrong. Once split, it was in very good shape, and completely dry. In about 20 minutes I had enough kindling size pieces for a first rate campfire.

When I was active in Boy Scouting, one of my jobs was to train young scouts in the proper way to build a campfire. Amazingly, I have retained most of that knowledge. A bit of tender, a few twigs and chips, and the fire was ready to light. In fact, it worked so well that if old-men could get scouting badges, I surely would have earned one. We enjoyed it for about an hour, watching the flames, trying to stay out of the smoke (which of course found us no matter where we sat), and poking at the fire to keep it going.

The only thing missing was the bag of marshmallows. Not surprisingly, by the next afternoon a bag of them had mysteriously appeared on the table. I think I had better find some roasting sticks before the next cool front arrives.

More views from vermont

Some additional pix from the area.

The first lake picture (which I didn't take) shows Lake Willoughby (looking to the north), about 30 miles north of here. This lake sits in a valley between the two mountains rising nearly 1000 feet above the lake surface, An earlier picture showed the more dramatic Mount Pisgah, which is on the right side here. This glacial lake formed about 12,000 years ago and is over 300 ft deep.

Considering the height of these two mountains is mind-boggling to imagine the entire valley filled with ice.

The next lake picture is a small fishing lake called Molly's Falls Pond operated by the department of wildlife. It has a man made dam and also provides water to some of the surrounding villages.















The next picture, which I took last fall, shows two farms about 3 miles from our house. They are on the road from St. J, so we see them several times a week. It has been fun watching the crops change as summer passes. The second hay crop already is in bales, and the corn field is about 5 feet high.
















This sunset picture is taken from our house, looking northward. Possibly, this is the best view of all!

Antiquing

Over the past few weekends, we have been visiting nearby towns and their 'antique' stores, or more accurately, their old stuff stores. Believe it or not, I enjoy these shops (in moderate doses), and in general, the older/junkier the better. Nominally we were searching for a pair of lamps, but you know the old saying about trash/treasure, so I really do go at it as a treasure hunt.

The character of these shops is very nearly as varied as their offerings. Sometimes the building styles are more interesting than the merchandise. Many shops are in barns or similar buildings, but in some cases they are just open sheds or outdoor tables. Apparently rust is not considered a defect in old stuff! Another strange, but typical characteristic is that we have yet to find a level floor in any of them. Most have been almost clean, but we've visited a couple where the accumulated dust nearly obliterates the printing on the labels.

So far we have limited our purchases of these treasures to trinkets. One purchase, however,is too funny not to relate. We have been searching for a pair of table lamps. Pat has spent hours, to no avail, on the internet trying to find (at first) just the right pair, and then just any pair that would work without a price like a big screen TV. In one barn shop, we saw a pair of milk-glass and wood lamps with a diamond - relief pattern in the glass globes. What made them intriguing, , was that the indented pattern in the glass were highlighted with a dark lines, creating a strong cross-hatched pattern. At first, we didn't buy them, but later Pat and a visiting friend went back and bought them. At half of the sale price, they seemed to be quite a deal.

After getting home and inspecting these beauties, they decided to clean them with water and a brush. To their shock, the dark lines (remember - this is their signature feature) began to smear and then come off in flakes. On closer examination (and a good light), they discovered it was dirt! We are still guessing at how it got into the grooves so neatly and without being all over the lamp. Most probably, someone tried to clean them with a towel rather than a brush. Despite the drastic change in appearance, they still look pretty good. However, their unique feature, not to mention their chance at being on Antique Road Show, has been lost forever!!!

How far out are the sticks?

Despite the dirt roads and dense woods in back of our house, I don't really feel like I'm living "out in the sticks", as we used to say in Arkansas. There are about 10 houses within a quarter mile or so, and there is a good network of roads in all directions, even though many are dirt.

Before coming here, we spent very little time on dirt roads. Most of my images of dirt roads were from rural Arkansas in the 50's, so they included ruts, washouts, one lane and dusty. None of those apply here. The dirt roads are a hard-packed mixture of delivered dirt and gravel, which produces a smooth, all-weather surface. In fact, pat had to get out of the car before she believed they weren't asphalt. Roads are watered regularly when it is dry, and graded quickly when wash-boards or other problems appear. Even our little road, which serves only about ten houses, has already been graded twice this summer.

In some places, the costs of maintaining asphalt roads has caused towns to 'return' some roads to dirt. In addition to the higher costs of maintaining, dirt roads are apparently easier to deal with in the winter and less subject to damage by salt. About the only real disadvantage is a dirty car. However, everyone else has a dirty car too, making clean look just a tad pretentious. So being dirt don't hurt, except for the feelings of those who live on them and don't like the conversion.

Road maintenance here is about a six-month season. Little can be done during the cold months, especially after the ground freezes. Given this, I had expected to see large scale equipment on even the smaller projects. Was I surprised. An interstate overpass has been under rennovation most of the season. One reason has been the small scale of the equipment. On several days, I've seen workers using small hand operated power tools to remove old asphalt and clean the surface. Once a worker was patching the concrete with a hand trowel!. Despite this small scale, the repairs are first rate. Water proof linings protect the bridge structure (salt will dissolve concrete), and there is a double layer of new asphalt.

All this may suggest that I spend a lot of time as a sidewalk (or roadside) superintendent, but not so. The overpass work is on the main road into St. J, so we cross it several times a week. There literally are no stores in Waterford! The closest is a gas-station - convenience store about four miles "down the hill".

No longer do I make a quick trip to the hardware store or a food store. Groceries, hardware, prepared food, church, and just about everything else requires a trip either to St. Johnsbury or to Littleton NH. Although this is a nuisance, especially when you remember what you forgot on the way home, there is an upside - absolutely NO traffic, crazed drivers or un-synchronized lights to create problems or raise your blood pressure. That is worth the extra miles.

Setting the Pace

A tourist observed an old Vermont farmer holding a piglet and feeding it apples. The farmer would pick an apple, feed it to the pig, then pick another and repeat the process. The tourist asked the farmer: "wouldn't it save time to pick several apples and put them on the ground for the pig?". The farmer thought it over, and answered, "Yeah, probably, but then, what's time to a pig."

I don't have a pig (yet), but my activity is showing other evidence of the slower pace. As evidence I submit the following:

Following the advice my dad gave when he first retired, I always have one thing to accomplish each day, even it it is no more than going to the mailbox. This approach has decided benefits: It discourages sloth; it encourages long term planning and prioritization of chores; it gives me something to talk about with folks at church coffee time, and it eventually gets everything done.

For exercise, I've taken up horse shoe pitching. Since close is good enough for a point, walking between stakes is good enough for excercise.

The dogs have learned to return on command (whistle). Walking the dogs no longer requires a leash, or for that matter, much walking. I just have to remember they are outside (so far, I don't need a note to remind myself).

Finally, we had a power failure last week. It took me three days to get around to resetting my alarm clock. I guess I'm closer to the pig-time than I thought.

The view from here

Here are some pictures that give a better view of where we live. The first was taken in December 2009. The rock portion is LR/DR, BR upstairs and the den is behind the garage.





















The second is a view of our back yard from the 'office' bedroom upstairs. The next two are the view out our living room windows. The day I took these two pictures, the sky was somewhat hazy, so the mountains in the background are somewhat obscured. Sadly, this is about the best it gets. Only after a rapidly moving 'storm' comes through does it really clear out so you can see the distant mountains.

The pictures below are from Lake Willoughby, a glacial lake we visited on a driving tour July 4.















There are two beaches at either end of this lake, and with temps near 90, both were quite crowded. This lake is some 6 miles long a mile wide. We also visited (no pics) a smaller one about 10 miles west of this one. Lakes like these dot the NE Kingdom. Many feature state parks for day use and camping.

Band Concert on the Green

Like a Norman Rockwell painting, or a 1940's movie, most towns and villages here have a town green. At least three of these have band stand's and weekly concerts during the summer. Tonight we attended in a 'military band' concert in Lyndonville. The weather was rainy all afternoon, but cleared just in time for things to be cool (about 75 degrees) and dry for the concert.

We and about 100 other people were scattered all over around the bandstand for the hour-long concert. Mature adults (anyone older than me) were most prominent, but there were people of all ages in lawn chairs, on blankets and on the regular park benches.

The band was small - about 20 instruments. They were so-so, but not bad considering it is a volunteer group and they play weekly throughout the summer. Although billed as a military band, it played a variety of music, including marches, waltzes, polkas and swing blues.

Watching the crowd was almost as much fun as listening to the band. Little kids marching to the music or just playing, lots of dogs and even a couple of knights in armor having a mock-sword battle. Everyone having a good time, and the concert too! In some ways it reminded me of the free concerts at LSU back in the 1960's...

Vermonters are big music and 'culture'. Summer events are to numerous to count, almost too many to classify. At least four towns in the Northeast Kingdom or Northern NH do volunteer-driven summer theater. There are chamber orchestra concerts all over the state, and lots of touring soloists/duets at churches, libraries, and town halls every week. However, the town fathers apparently are quite selective about who/what can play in their villes. Already twice this summer I've read of two concert venues being closed down by town officials. Stopping the one featuring the former members of the Grateful Dead caused quite a stir, but to no avail. Sadly, the show did not go on.

Celebrating the 4th.

It is hard to describe July 4th celebrations due to their number. There were at least five within a 45 minute drive here in Vermont, and probably at least that many within an hour in New Hampshire. Every town and village with any civic spirit put on something, even if the scale is much smaller than the Kenilworth parade.

Events stretched out over Friday night through Sunday night, and a couple of the bigger events were by admission fee only. We wanted to take the dogs with us, so we opted for the more laid-back craft show and state fiddle championships in Lyndonville, a town about 10 miles up the very twisty, hilly road from our house. Despite the surrounding mountains, downtown Lyndonville is perfectly flat. The twin events were held at the town park. This time maps were not necessary. We only had to follow the traffic and fiind a parking place.

The crafts show consisted of about 40 vendors selling everything artisan from baskets to weaving. Some of the work was quite good, but overall, it was typical of what you see everywhere. Two things noticeably missing were goose (or duck) merchandise and wood cutouts to stick in the yard, both staples of all the fairs I've seen in the South.

The most striking part of the craft fair, however, was the near absence of food vendors. There was only one food tent, with a cafeteria line featuring dishes donated by local restaurants or chefs. Most didn't look that great, and those we sampled were only average. The Vermont spice of choice for festival food apparently is sugar. Oh! for a bowl of jambalaya, shrimp on a stick or any of a dozen festival fare treats from Louisiana.

Oh well, the food wasn't the main reason we were there, anyway. The main attraction was the fiddling contest. Billed as the statewide championship, it included six divisions ranging from kids to the old masters. Each group, except the two youngest, had five or so contestants. A fiddle contest follows a fairly specific format. Three tunes, one fast, one slow, and one the player's choice. The tunes were generally short, so the entire competition took only about four hours. About 80% of it sounded the same. The only way I could pick a winner is by a lottery.

We watched (or I should say listened) to them from about 75 yards back in the cheap seats, not because they were free, but because there was shade and the volume was pleasant. We had our dogs with us, and every other person walking by stopped to acknowledge Lucy's cuteness ... She was in dog heaven! I think next time we will set up a booth and invite people pet the cute dog, for only $1.00!

singing by lamplight

About 20 miles west of here is the Old North Church, which was the cultural and religious center of a farming community from 1835 until about 1900. The community is long gone, having clustered into North Danville and Danville over the last century. The church building, however, has survived through it all and is now a state historical landmark.

Our efforts to find this place suffered due to lack of a good map! We spent over an hour trying to find it, never being more than 4 miles away, never closer than a mile, before finally our approach was successful. It turns out we had driven in circles, plus a couple of wrong turns, before the circle became a spiral that brought us to the destination.

I won't go into the details of the church architecture, partly because it is available on line - see

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM67JC_Old_North_Church_Danville_Vermont

and partly, lacking electricity, detail was somewhat obscured in the dim twilight of the kerosene lamps. It featured a pump organ nd pews that only a puritan might find too comfortable.

Just one interesting historical tidbit. The church was originally constructed by 4 denominations, who rotated Sunday Services. In 1868, the Methodists became the sole owner. Their first change was to remodel the front choir loft into a kitchen! (How could there be Methodist church without food!).

The Taize service was short, which seemed to make the roughly 100 folks there happy, for they were really there for the hymn singing. I'd never seen the hymnbook we used, It was similar to our Cokesbury book, and there were enough familiar hymns that I felt right at home, even without selections by Charles W. Except for one song that no one seemed to know either tune or words, the congregation was pretty enthusiastic about singing . Before it got too dark for those not by a window to see the words, we managed to sing about a dozen hymns. I suspect many would have stayed for longer singing first verses in the lamplight as long as the organist could read the music.

The Methodist Church I've been visiting in St. Johnsbury is big on modern praise music and has a good praise band as an integral part of its service. However, praise music just doesn't match the beauty, either in lyrics or music, of these old hymns. As much as the 175 year old building, these old hymns testify to the faith and values of our forefathers.

Plans v. life

This was to be our first ‘fun’ weekend, but it wasn’t. The weather turned warm, I was up at 6, and Pat slept till 10. By the time she got up, I was deep into the final stages of building shelves and organizing the garage/workspace. Like baseball players, we respect the streak. So when the psyche says organize, we do. Not exciting, but very satisfying to have it done, or mostly done. We have about a half dozen boxes to bring in for storage or to distribute stuff around the house. One more utility shelf in the basement will do it, I think.

We have been nursing an injured dog all week. Last weekend Lucy met the neighborhood dogs and during a active discussion over who was the A-dog, she twisted her rear leg and pulled a ligament. She has been hobbling all week. The vet says it may heal on its own, or may need surgery. Wait a couple of weeks and see. In the meantime, no running, jumping etc, so it is back on the long leash. The supreme unfairness is that she was just getting to the point of being trusted to be free. So far she is tolerating this confinement. Walking tires her quickly and the woods have been less inviting as a result. Lucy went through this with the other leg in 2008. I hope we can avoid the surgery this time.

We saw a doe and her fawn last week, but not at our house. They were wading in the Duck Pond about 1.5 miles down the road. Duck pond is a really beautiful natural pond, probably about 2.5 acres overall, but with several inlets that stick back between the hills. The inlet with the deer was only a few inches of water and very marshy. The other nearby lake is Styles pond. It is much bigger, probably 2 square miles. The highway runs right at the bank for almost 2 miles, and the view is fabulous. This one is the municipal water supply, so no activity allowed there. I haven't seen much activity at Duck Pond, either for that matter. A pair of canada geese were resident there when we first arrived but have long since departed. We did see some wild turkey in a field a couple of weeks ago. Other that and numerous reports of other people seeing a bear, the wild life here are staying hidden, at least in our neck of the woods.

Maintaining the estate

Our country 'estate' has about 3/4 acre of lawn. Despite the cool weather, grass here grows and grows rapidly. By the time I did the market research and talked to the neighbors about the relative merits of tractor sizes, engine sizes and manufacturers, and snow removal, it was nearly a month before I got a tractor and actually mowed. At that point the yard looked more like a pasture than a lawn. The first mowing yielded close to a bale of hay. (not a good yield, but still plenty enough to leave mini hay rows.) I mowed it the second time today and is beginning now to look like a lawn again.

The John Deere's 4 foot cutting deck makes short work of the job. But don't get the idea it is a boring ride. The yard has numerous trees with low limbs, and hills. Even on a mini-tractor, it is impossible to both look ahead and watch the mowing deck closely, and a tree limb in the face at 4 mph is not to be ignored (trust me on this). More than once I've lost a hat and nearly lost glasses when I looked up a second too late.

And then there are the hills. A couple are too steep to for the wheels to keep traction, so one choice is to mow down them only, (Don't ask me how you get up each time). The other choice is to mow across the slope, which gets bit scary when you start to slide out of the seat or the tractor begins to lose traction. To my credit, I didn't get stuck the second time ( yes, between the lines I'm admitting I did get stuck the on the first outing.)

Fortunately I don't have to drive between a rock and a hard place, but there is an opportujity to run off the cliff along the top of the slate stone retaining wall, (or cliff). The goal is to mow close, but not too close, to the edge, since the rocks are just stacked, not cemented into place. I always end up putting a few rocks back into place, and at this, too, I'm getting better. Only three stones to replace today, down from five last week.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I conceded the tractor arms race early on. Still, my little tractor is pretty sharp and I have to brag a little. As noted, it is a John Deere, which is the Cadillac of the tractor makers (and priced to reflect this). With 22 hp, it has plenty of power, and the hay cutting of the first week didn't phase it at all. It has electric start, headlights (hardly necessary when it is still light at 9 pm, but may be much appreciated this winter). and a cup holder (which is specifically listed in the specs - believe it or not!)

In the cold months the mowing deck comes off and will be replaced with a snow blower to keep the driveway and parking area clear. The snow blower requires weights on the rear of the tractor, plus chains. One of the true Vermonter innovations is to fill the rear tires with liquid (either a calcium chloride solution or freeze-proof windshield washer fluid) for extra weight. The neighbors all say the additional weight is essential in winter and can be useful in the summer (I agree). So one day soon, I'll be taking the wheels off and to a specialist in injecting the wheels with about 10 gallons of windshield washer fluid.
The most satisfying aspect of this weight addition is that it demonstrates that my personal 220 pounds is clearly not excessive given the job at hand, regardless of the guilt the government weight/height charts lay on us.

Country living large

The stack of boxes in the garage keeps getting smaller, as do the piles of stuff on the floor in the house, so I know that we are making progress. As yet, about 50% of what I look for, be it a plate, as tool or a shirt, requires a multi-location search , so there is still work to be done before I can truly say I'm at home.

Another neighbor came by this morning to warn me that there is a big moose visiting in our neighbor hood. He says, they can be quite dangerous when provoked. He also told me not to put out bird seed as this is the bear's favorite treat. Can't wait to see what happens when the moose and the bear meet,

There is no trash service in Waterford. This morning I went two miles down the road to the town "dump", or transfer station, to use its proper name, with the week's recycling and trash. We pay for dumping trash ($3 for a large bag). Recycling is free and covers everything but foam-based products. Recycling is a sort/dump it yourself affair, but even with the extra time required, the per bag fee is a strong incentive to recycle. Vermont also charges a 5-cent deposit on glass, aluminum and plastic soft-drink/beer containers, so those get saved up and carried to the "redemption" center, for a refund. I thought most states did away with these deposits in the 80's, but not here. Fortunately, the center is on the way into town.

We did take time out from unpacking on Saturday to go into town for the farmer's market and a quick walk around in the commercial part of town. The farmer's market was similar to the Red Stick Market, but very few craft items. Lots of flowers, most of which are new to us really caught our eye, but the most surprising item was fresh rainbow trout! Getting some of those will require some planning to transport and cook at home the same day. We ended up with fresh bread, spinach and some Vermont cheese.

All the local products have been really good so far, with several old standards having 'Vermont style'. The most unusual are the Vermont hot dog buns. These are basically a 2-inch high loaf of bread, cut alternately all the way through and half through from the top. Pat claims to like these better, but I'll stick with the old standard, which is also available. The best find of the weekend was a real meat market, complete with meats cut-to-order and home-made sausage in several varieties.

The summer cultural/social season is getting into swing this weekend. A community supper with fireworks will kick things off at the school here on Saturday, and the St. Johnsbury band will begin is 100th something consecutive season on Sunday night. The band concert should be fun, even though I have no idea how big/good the band may be. They play every week or so in the town "square" which is a green space by the courthouse. There are several other activities in outlying areas, much like the spring festival season in south Louisiana. Doubt if many ofter, much less feature crawfish or boudin or jambalaya.

Settling In

After just over three weeks in our new home, we are beginning to see some signs of settling in, although there is still a long way to go. Most of the furniture has found a permanent home. However, despite large garage sales, ‘pre-estate’ sales, and giving things away, we still arrived with what seemed like far more ‘stuff’ than we remember packing. That is the curse of packing for four months and unloading in three weeks, I suppose. Eventually, it will all fit, but a place for everything will not happen immediately.

Despite one hot spell (high of 91), most days the weather has been delightful. The heat wave did get us to install our window AC units, but we’ve used them very little other than that one time. Most days have been in the low 70’s, with night temps down into the 50’s and occasionally in the 40’s. The fronts come through more frequently here than in BR. I suppose it is because we are further north. We are getting rain, or at least clouds, every second or third day.

Other than hardware and home improvement stores, we have done little exploring of the local area. We have discovered nearly ALL the casual dining places in St. Johnsbury (about six). Fortunately, most of them are reasonably good, but there is not a lot of variety. We have a McDonalds, but have to drive about 15 miles to find chain restaurants that are common in BR. Fortunately, they are across the street from Home Depot, so we have lots of opportunities.

Our dogs made the trip fine and survived a week in the kennel with about 10 hunting dogs. They are adjusting to being unfenced and having deep woods at their back door. Lucy went adventuring yesterday for about four or five hours, giving us fears of a worst case scenario. (Fortunately it was the next day when our next-door neighbor related how her boxer had chased a BEAR away that morning) But when we returned from an errand, she was waiting no the back porch as if it was a perfectly normal event. I don’t worry about Shadow getting lost. He is too old to wander far. His biggest issue is getting up and down stairs. It is a struggle for his arthritic legs, and he fell down the steps several times before getting adept. He is much better since we put some carpet pads on the steps.

I finally bought a lawn tractor to keep up with mowing the acre of yard we have. The neighbors are probably happier about it than me, as our yard has begun to resemble a pasture rather than a well kept estate. Weather permitting, it will be lawn-like by the end of the weekend. This winter the tractor will be a snow thrower, so it really is a year round machine. There is apparently a competition as to has the biggest most macho tractor in the neighborhood (I lost!), but I do wear my John Deere hat with pride…ta da!!!