Fall is in the air

August was a bit of a busy month; I returned from grad camp in late July and had roughly two weeks to get packed and on the road to Vermont. I arrived at GMVS late on the 15th after a very rainy drive. Needless to say, most of the unpacking waited until the next day.


My apartment is cozy (read: tiny), but nice. Over the summer the wall-to-wall (ugh) carpeting was ripped up and pergo flooring put down. Zoe's not so much a fan - it's hard for her to grip, and it's most evident when she tries to get quickly from one side of the apartment to the other. There's just a little bit of slipping and sliding.




So far being a dorm parent isn't too bad. The kids are pretty fantastic, and really enjoy having Zoe as the Poundcake dorm dog (yes, my dorm is called Poundcake). I've just had to adjust to a later bedtime several days a week, and the constant thump of that crazy music the kids are listening to these days.
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apartment side of poundcake
my window is on the left!

School, etc, is going well. I love the new teaching gig - I have a pretty sweet schedule that allows ample time to get grad school work done, as well as grab coffee mid morning or go for a short hike. Or plan & grade, of course.


I really like the Mad River Valley; Waitsfield is a pretty great town with just about everything I need (there's even a yarn shop!) and Burlington is a close enough drive for other stuff. The area is gorgeous. As much as I dearly miss the island and the ocean, the mountains are pretty darn good. I've been exploring the area a bit, and have gone for several hikes, including one on part of the Long Trail at the App Gap with the Nordies. I also went paddling in Waterbury at the resevoir (the kayak was feeling a bit neglected!).
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sunset over app. gap

The area was hit pretty badly when Irene stormed through at the end of August. The damage and destruction from the flooding is indescribable, but the community and state have rallied. We took the entire student body (just over 100 kids) down into town and the valley twice to do community service, mostly mucking out basements and barns. Other smaller groups of students have gone out over the past few weekends to continue helping, and my mom came over last weekend to help out up the road in Moretown (they were hit really hard, and I ended up stuck there during the flooding).


Not much crafting has occurred as of late. My pie baking has been lacking - I have the world's tiniest oven (dorm size, alas), and have the option of eating most meals in the cafeteria. With fall hitting its stride, I expect to take advantage of apple season and plan to find a good apple pie recipe in the Pie book sometime soon.
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future pie? the apple tree
down the road from school

Aside from sewing (hemming) a curtain for my bedroom window, other crafting has been slow, if nonexistent. I have a few things on the horizon, though, as I was commissioned to knit a toddler hat mere days before I left the island. I should probably get working on that since I promised it would arrive before the cold weather did. I also have gotten back into journaling for grad school and am dutifully including art where possible.
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etl fall journal
love the watercolor pencils!

It doesn't help that most of my crafting supplies and knitting and sewing stuff is still spread between Maine and Vermont. At some point I'll consolidate it all and get back to crafting (and baking) on a regular basis. I'm sure there will be crafting opportunities with the kids at various points over the year; some of the boys want to tie-dye t-shirts as a dorm activity (mostly I think they're jealous the girls soccer team got to tie-dye).


But with this as my new playground:

I think I have some other ways to spend my free time. Especially when the snow flies.