17 March 2009 - The Blog is Back, Baby (Derek + Ember, This One's for You!)
Well, it looks like our time in the Northeast has come to a close. We'll be leaving this month for warmer weather and old friends. But not before we take a scenic journey down the eastern seaboard. Since we both have, um, alot more time on our hands . . . we might be updating the blog again.
Only a few more sunsets on the farm to go!
Last stroll along the rail trail
It's maple syrup time again
13 July 2008 - Martha's Vineyard
We arrived on Martha's Vineyard on Friday at around 10am, after taking the ferry from Quonset Point, Rhode Island (about 1hr 45 min from the apartment), and it was like we stepped right into the JCrew Summer Catalog.
5 July 2008 - Where Have We Been????
Sorry, loyal readers. The good news is that I haven't been updating this blog very much b/c we are so busy with projects, work, traveling, excercising, being outside, etc. etc. . . . so here's a recap of a few events:
I cut my hair;
Spring on Middle Street has come an gone;
We've been enjoying our crop share;
. . . and finally, I learned to make bread.
Try to picture all this as one of those 80's video montages. Anyway, we have a little vacay planned for next weekend to Martha's Vineyard. I'll take pictures and make a concerted effort to post them in a timely manner.
9 April 2008
Spring is officially here. We actually saw people on the way to work today, walking around outside, cleaning, repairing, or at least surveying the damage winter inflicted on their houses. Fields are being plowed. It's like everyone just woke up from a long winter's nap.
8 April 2008
My work peeps are all reality-show junkies, so I've kind of gotten into watching TV again. I'm all about Top Chef right now on Bravo. I missed last week's, and it totally reminded me that I haven't been to Television Without Pity in awhile. They do hilarious re-caps of popular TV shows. It's worth reading, even if you saw the show, to get their take on it.
31 March 2007
Part of this house-sitting is also pet-sitting. Our charge is Woody, a rambunctious labrador. Today we took him snowshoeing through the couples' 70 acres of land. He is a great guide since he knows the trails very well.
30 March 2007
We're housesitting for a couple in Shelburne Falls this week, so we can see how we like living in a rural area. It didn't help that the house was awesome - so yeah, we had a great time. One plus of the small towns is, of course, the local eateries. Gould's Sugarhouse is a famous stop along the Mohawk Trail, serving a limited menu highlighting their homemade maple syrup.
The outside of Gould's, with maple syrup production in full swing.
Makin' the maple syrup. Gould's is a century family farm, one of the few to earn this distinction. It's been a working farm in the same family for over a century.
<Jadon holding our $.25 soft-serve maple syrup ice cream cones. There was a 2-hour wait, and these cones saved the day.
What's the perfect appetizer for pancakes and corn fritters? Homemade pickles, of course.
16 March 2007
The Canadian geese are flying back in elongated V's; all that's left of the snow are some odd patches here and there. This weekend I went to the Smith College Bulb Show. Spring is allmmmmmmmooooooosssst here . . . I've never been so giddy about a season change before.
2 March 2007
Behold: Hadley's Oldest House.
We also found a cross-country skiing/snowshoeing trail a few minutes north of South Deerfield. We need to get snowshoes and cross-country gear so we can try it. It looks so pretty with all of the fresh snow from Friday night.
1 March 2007
snoooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwww.
24 February 2007
I amused myself today by going to an open house, visiting the local sugar shack and finally went straight to the source: the Mapleline Dairy Store.
First off, $200k won't get you much in South Deerfield. I visited a 2 bdrm 1.5 bath condo . . . when "linoleum floor" is considered a positive selling point you know it's bad . . . I think the only real wood in the place was used to build the plywood steps to the basement. Not really sure why the property values are so high up here.
Sugar is a good way to recover from an experience like that. I noticed the neighbors had put their pails on their trees, and then the sugar shack on Rt. 47 had it's seasonal grand opening yesterday, so you know it's maple syrup time. I actually tried to go yesterday but missed their first day of business because they CLOSE AT 4:00 ON SATURDAYS (srsly?). They also had maple syrup cotton candy, maple syrup cream, and a maple syrup praline-type candy . . . I got a cavity just looking at it all.
After that I had a hankering for a dairy product experience. I visited the official Mapleline Dairy store. It's quite comprehensive, a real one-stop shop for pierogis, egg nog, and asparagus. If you're intersted in what pierogis are, I don't have any first hand information for you; I had to look them up myself. I will be sure and try some though.
19 February 2007
We went into NY City last weekend to meet up with Dylan, Mary, and Madylan. Jadon and I drove to New Haven, CT and took the metro train into Grand Central Station (about 1.5 hours). A good time was had by all.
Madylan, the future U of Texas graduate, sez "Hook 'em Horns!!"