And back to hot! A general update.

Well, summer hit hard last week. Lots of temps in the upper 80s. The garden is loving the heat but isn’t so happy about the complete absence of rain. It’s a bit disturbing how dry we are so early in the summer. The catchment basin, which normally holds water until mid-August, is almost totally dry. More a stinky mud pit than a shallow pond. I doubt the wood frogs had a chance to develop from tadpoles, poor things.

Chris did a hive check on the new bees and all appears well. He’s got capped cells in the frames and they are actively working all day. My tomatillos are starting to flower and the last bees adored them. Hopefully these guys will like them too as I purposely planted three near the hive.

The wee chicks are 11 weeks old and running around the fruit pasture like crazy things. The older flock is paying more attention to them through the fencing and I’m going to try to integrate them next week. As this is my first time combining flocks I’m more than a bit nervous. 

Chris continues to make great progress on the upstairs railing. We’ve poured black colored resin into the cracks and voids in the two cherry newel posts, stained the middle pine posts black, and stained all the panel wood black as well. The bottom support rail is in ash and we’ve burned it like the dining room table top (which I just realized I never posted about). We’ll do the same to the ash rail cap. He’s got to cut the goat panel to size, I’ll paint it, then it’s on to assembly. 

NY is now in phase 3 reopening although most the rest of the country continues to see rising COVID-19 cases. Hopefully we continue our favorable trend. Our favorite restaurant is reopening this week and we’ve decided it’s time to venture out. We’ll use only the outdoor seating and hope for the best.

Dad has spent the last two weeks in South Carolina getting his new house prepped for his moving in. His house up here closes soon and I’ll be heading south to help him get settled. We’ll definitely miss having him so close but I totally understand the desire to get away from our hard winters.

working on the railing 

Peer to peer veterans

We have a very active peer to peer veterans group in our area. Chris got involved this year and I got to go along on one of the project days.

It was a painting and pizza party. A bunch of veterans and family getting together to goof off, talk, and support each other. It’s amazing what gets shared when you’re relaxed and having fun.

This took place in February before all the social distancing went into effect. And I’m glad it did; now that people are self-isolating, having a group of folks that you can call up and chat with is incredibly helpful.

Plus it was just fun. Here is what I painted.

Cute, huh? It’s hanging by the front door. Chris (who is a much better artist than I) painted a more Autumnal scene so you’ll just have to wait for September to see his.

Heading to Texas to buy Italian wine? Makes perfect sense...

Way back in 2008 I went on a fabulous vacation in Italy. It was a Tuscan Women Cook trip and I still can't recommend it enough. The host/owners, Bill and Patty, had us cooking with the women of the village, exploring restaurants and shops, and going to great vineyards. All of the vineyards had wonderful wine, but one really stood out to my taste buds - Andreucci Wines. I bought a lot of it, payed to ship it home (ouch), gave some as gifts (mistake - everybody loved it but it meant less wine for me), and it was gone way too soon. And I couldn't get more without paying much, much money because he didn't distribute in the U.S. No!!!!!!!!

Okay, enough background. Last fall I got an email saying that Bill & Patty had sold TWC (to a couple of former guests, pretty cool) and were now opening a vineyard in Texas (huh?!?). Apparently the hill country of Texas is great for certain kinds of grape. Specifically, the kind of grapes that Andreucci Wines uses to make their amazing wine. And while the vines are slowly growing up, they're going to import and sell the Italian wine at the vineyard in Texas.

What does all this really mean? I was heading to Texas to buy Italian wine. Road trip! 

Fortunately my brother was willing to go along since Chris would once again be left to take care of the animals (yes, he gets to travel too - check out this trip as an example). 

We made it into Kentucky the morning of the second day and spotted the Jim Beam distillery signs. Of course we had to pull in.

Bourbon at 9AM? Why not...

We didn't want to spend an extra couple hours doing the tour and tasting but it was gorgeous weather and we enjoyed wandering around the outside exhibits. We're also going to see if we can convince anyone else in the family to do a bourbon trail tour. Heck, we went to Scotland for a scotch tour - at least this way we don't have to fly anywhere.

Mr. Beam himself

A day later, after much excellent food along the way, we made it to Fredericksburg Texas. A town founded long ago by Germans. As a result the town is full of German-related restaurants, bakeries, and touristy type stuff.

It's a beautiful town

Just one of the beer gardens

Lots of shops, a chocolatier, two tea shops, and a truly exceptional Pacific War museum.

Deck-mounted torpedo tubes

Of course we were there for wine! And there was lots of it - Texas hill country is full of vineyards and many of them have tasting rooms on the Main Street. I confess I bought some. Probably not as much as I should have, but I figured we could always do another road trip.

The gorgeous Flavio 

In all, the trip was great. We ate amazing food at small family-owned restaurants. We had horrible barbecue. Twice! We took a side trip to Dauphin Island, Alabama and had the best Shrimp Po'boy I've ever eaten (and I lived in Louisiana for years). We visited with my nephew and his sweet wife. And we got to see some true Americana...

In a random convenience store. Because, why not?

Realizing that this blog is small enough that I probably don't have to worry the FCC is watching me, I still wanted to point out that no one gave me anything for mentioning them or reviewing them. I just loved the wine, the trip, and the whole darn experience. Thanks Matt, for going with me!

Preparing for Christmas

I spent most of December prepping Christmas gifts. I love this time of year - making stuff I think the family will use, having fun with new skills, experimenting on those I love.

In addition to the edible stuff I give I made veggie hods to serve as gift baskets. The whole family gardens to some extent or another so I figured it'd be functional as well as pretty. I've already been informed by some recipients that they're way too nice to put dirty potatoes in though so they'll be using them in the house for yarns, plant holders, etc. Mine? Out to the garden!

I love my project room

Veggie hod under construction

For my Grand-neice I got to practice my sewing skills. She needed clothes for her doll. She's too young to easy tie things yet so everything had to slide on or have snaps. I confess I learned a lot (which means I made mistakes, obviously) but I have high hopes for improvements in time for her birthday in March.

Lettuce-edge refashioned onesie

The outfits

I need to work on my tailoring...

 I also took some Pinterest inspiration and made button ornaments.

Snowmen!

And for this year's special ornament I blew out the first chicken egg laid on the property and added some jewelry ornamentation. I thought about painting it or something but decided it was pretty just as it was - so I just labeled and dated it.

"The First Egg"

Now it's time to clean up the project room and start doing some of those items from the winter project list. Like making more doll stuff!

My first quilt project

Annual Wreath Party

Our trip to Scotland meant that we had to combine the annual Wreath Party with Leftover Sunday (everyone comes to my house with their Thanksgiving leftovers transformed into a dish to share). Fortunately the weather was wonderful so the late date didn't prevent us from working outdoors.

Lots of gathered materials

Yes, it was that warm

Chris found me a mini dressmakers dummy to decorate

The kids still love the stairs

Ta dah!

A fun day and everyone went home with a wreath (or kissing ball, or skirted dummy). The food was great too: a casserole made with layered turkey, mashed taters, stuffing, and gravy; turkey and cabbage salad spring rolls; sweet potato casserole; and turkey soup. Amazing what you can do with leftovers!

San Diego - blue skies, black gold sand, great seafood

Took a trip in September to San Diego with my niece. She had a training seminar and I got to tag along as the Plus 1. What a great city! Lots of gorgeous sunshine and ocean views. We spent a lot of time wandering around and exclaiming over how blue everything was.

The bay

We ate lots of seafood (hello mixed risotto - clams, shrimp, lobster, crab, and mussels - oh my!), walked miles every day, and soaked up the sun.

Ahh, the Pacific. So pretty.

The ocean off Coronado

Finally saw the sun set on the Pacific. Cool

Gatherings

We had a small gathering of the family the other day. Beautiful fall weather made for a very pleasant visit. First we climbed up to my parent's camp. No comments on getting lost and having to bush-whack our way through the woods.

At camp 

Me and Mom 

Matt and Mom

 Then we went to our house and more of the family showed up.

Bailey and Matt

We decided it was a perfect opportunity for a group photo. Have you ever tried to get 7 adults and 3 wee children to gather for a self-timer photo? Argh.

Testing the self-timer

It's much like herding cats.

Running in circles

 But we finally managed it.

Ta-dah!

2014 Wreath Party

Last year I threw a wreath making party. A great time was had by all and we decided to make it an annual event. I gather natural materials from the property (boughs, pine cones, that weird garland like stuff that grows on the ground, and anything else that catches my fancy), and the guests bring their own forms, wire, and purchased decorations. 

Materials: pine cones, garland, and tools

Gathered pine and hemlock boughs

It's loads of fun and we do a lot of eating, drinking, joking around, and of course - we build wreaths. 

It didn't explode!

Careful selection of materials

Improvised wreath form - extra electrical wire

"I have a vision"

Vision realized!

It's going to be a kissing ball...

Unfortunately, I am not a good wreath maker.

Attempting to add embellishments 

So sad.

We decided to do a wish ball this year. Chris took bittersweet (seemed appropriate), decorated it with a bit of fresh pine for crackle, and we all tied on our wishes. Then we burned it to send the wishes out into the universe (roll with it, we were having fun).

Wish ball

Apparently it worked because I was able to improve my wreath. I added additional branches to make it more full and round. I tucked in some corn tassels and repositioned the pine cone cluster.

I also added some bittersweet berries so I had some red to pop against the green. The bird's nest was a lucky find in one of the boughs that I had gathered (didn't even know it was there until I'd cut the branch down). It's a fantastic creation of pine needles and birch bark.

Love the wee bird nest

I think it came out much better.

Merry Christmas!

Enjoying winter

It's easy to complain about the snow and cold of winter, but we did choose to live in the Northeast so we probably aught to also admit that we like living up here. One way to get through a long winter is to have some fun with it. So we had a sledding party.

Our access road is private so it doesn't see any traffic except our vehicles. That means we can clean just enough snow to leave a good sledding base. And we don't have to worry about traffic on sledding day.

Start of the long hill with some nice curves

The downside to a very long hill is that it takes forever to walk back up it. The upside is that you can keep building speed. You get going surprisingly fast and the curves add some excitement. Trees on curves add even more.

You can't even see the bottom of the hill

We usually had people at the top and bottom of the hill to give you a push, cheer on the long slides, and groan at the wrecks.

Cheering the launch

Cooper had great fun chasing the sleds and running through the snow. But eventually even a high-energy dog gets cold and tired. That's when she needs a warm ride back to the top of the hill.

Awww