Is it break yet?

Winter won't quit. . .

Another busy winter in the works

It's been a quiet month blog & crafting-wise, but definitely busy at school. This time of year we're in the thick of it, with races and camps going non-stop. We have a group in Europe for another few weeks, another was out west for a while just after the Christmas break, and everyone else is traveling weekly around the northeast and Canada, for day trips and longer race series. And, we have races here at school, or rather, over at Mt. Ellen, on the trail where the kids train. I'm on race crew, which means every time the school hosts a race at the mountain, I'm up helping with timing or acting as start or finish ref. We had a big week January 19-23, hosting 4 consecutive days of races (should have been 5, but the Monday races were postponed). It was a long week of long days: I was on the mountain by 7:30am each day (7am on Wednesday!) until 2 or so, then at school until 6pm. Kind of crazy, but I enjoy watching the kids race. And, this is a pretty great view for those mornings my office work requires a pre-opening chairlift ride:

Sunrise from the top timing shack at Inverness

House Project #5.5: The Wood Stove!

It's 37 degrees out; a few days before Christmas (Happy Festivus!) and we're already enjoying the first thaw of winter. Lovely. But it's made better by the fact that I now have the wood stove in. I love wood heat. I grew up with a wood stove, and there are two in my mom's house now. Someday I'd like to have wood heat be my primary source, but for this house, it will be supplementary, and for this winter, it will be sporadic - on the weekends after skiing, or on damp, grey days like today. Since I hadn't planned to have it in this winter, I didn't order wood, although my mom was kind enough to let me have a bit of hers. I may try to order a cord later in the winter, but it's non-essential, so I'll probably just wait until summer.

ONE YEAR!

So technically the official year-iversary isn't until mid-October (when the paperwork FINALLY went through and I actually owned the place), but it's been one year of living here. It seems kind of crazy, and I still can't always believe myself when I tell someone I own my own home (who does that??), but it's exciting to know I've made it this far, and when I look at the mortgage bill every month the balance seems to be a little bit less.

then. . .

Fashionably Late to the (Veggie Garden) Party

I've been meaning to get a couple of veggie beds in for a while now. I even staked one of the plots out when I set up my strawberry bed. Now that we're past Memorial Day, when it's generally safe to plant, I have been feeling more motivated. And then I went and bought these the other day, which obviously need a home:

seeds!

So after several weeks of staring at the front lawn, and twice mowing the area I'd selected, I decided it was time to commit. My neighbor had offered to come over with his tractor and tiller attachment, but we never seemed to have the same 10 minutes available. Another friend offered the use of their small garden tiller, so on Wednesday I finally went to pick it up. On Thursday evening I did a quick go-round to scratch up the grass on the surface (and make sure that I could get the tiller to work).

Early April Updates - Projects Completed & Things in Progress

The snow is finally melting - I have a yard again! Well, almost. The ground is still quite frozen, so my plans to start laying out the gardens are on hold.

the melting snow has revealed that I still have a lot of leaves to rake.
and I'm so close to being able to take the holiday lights of the little front shrub -
however, the extension cord is still buried under a 2-ft plow pile

I'm on spring break - we are lucky to have two weeks - and am staycationing this year. I have more enough to do around the house, and not enough money in the bank to travel anywhere beyond my parent's over the mountain or possibly a trip to Montpelier or Burlington. But the sun is out today, and the temps are supposed to get up into the 50s this week!

Fruity Wall Art

Remember Crafternoon in Driggs? While on a ski vacation to Driggs to visit some college friends, I went a little crazy with my friend K's watercolors and made a slew of fruit & veggie-themed cards. I've since used most of them (it was three years ago, after all . . . wait, THREE years? Eesh, time flies!), but had a few still in my card collection. This year I've (kind of) committed to slowly working my way through my stock of craft supplies, and so I decided to turn a few of the leftover cards into wall art with the help of an 8x10 canvas I also had on hand.

Coming soon . . .

School has started - we're already two weeks in - and I'm nearly into a routine. It's only going to get better once I'm into the new house (starting this weekend!) and finally unpacked (later this month). Living out of my car and off the generosity of friends and family has been nice, but I'm anxious to have my own space again.

Eventually all my craft things will have been unearthed from the depths of storage and will have been assigned their proper homes in the craft room.

A CRAFT ROOM!

I have my OWN CRAFT ROOM (And that's aside from the guest room, and the man-cave, which is currently man-less, if anyone knows any decent, age-appropriate, single, handsome guys who'd like to live in the Mad River Valley. . . ).

On top of time making time for crafting, I'll also slowly be updating the 1979 one-story ranch (that's almost mine), and refurb'ing the second-hand furniture I've acquired. Most of which you'll get to follow along on here. As if trying to keep up on posting about my crafts isn't enough :)

the shabby-chic mint-green ranch

Summer Project #2: 30 Days of Photographs - Recap & Favorites

And done! 45 days later, the 30-day photo challenge is complete. A few of my favorites are posted below. Click on the "30 Days of Photographs" tab above (or click through here) for the entire challenge with narratives of each photo.

day 2.

Tap to Table.

Cupcakes for Two (or Three)

So I came across a pin on pinterest the other day that claimed it would make two cupcakes.

I very much like cupcakes. And, while it really isn't that much of a hassle to make a dozen cupcakes, it is generally safer to have an occasion for which a dozen cupcakes can be brought to. Otherwise they are too tempting to not eat in an unnecessarily short amount of time.

Normally I am skeptical of recipes on pinterest because, thanks in part to the cautionary tales on Pinstrosity, the internet is sometimes just too good to be true.

But tonight I decided to brave it, and I followed the pin to the One Bowl Vanilla Cupcakes For Two.

A recipe that makes just two cupcakes. Two. Cupcakes. oh. dear.

So, I made them. Like I have anything better to do on a Friday night?

Adventures in Applesauce

I'm not always one for New Years' resolutions because I tend to forget them when life starts happening, but one thing I've mentally committed to since I (mostly) finished grad school was to finish things I had started or use up stuff that's been lying around waiting to become something.  I have several knitting and crafting projects that are nearly done and I've since acquired (or am in the process of acquiring) the materials needed to finish them.  More to follow on those!

One project I've been meaning to do for a while is to make some applesauce.  And by "a while" I mean since the late fall I've had a fridge-drawer full of apples awaiting consumption in some form other than straight out snacking on.  There were a couple of varieties in there, one bought from the orchard of a family friend over in Middlebury and the other from the local grocery here in town which happened to also be sourced from  an orchard on the other side of the mountain, in Shoreham. 

2012 Knitting challenge

I've decided to take on a knitting challenge for 2012. Inspired by a fb share from a grad school classmate, I'm knitting at least two rows per day on what eventually become a blanket.

At thirty stitches per row, two rows per day, and three hundred and sixty-five days in the year, it's going to be a lot of stitches (21900, to be exact. Oh! It's a leap-year, so that would be 21960).

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.

Summer.

Summer is one of the busiest seasons on the island, with what feels like a million different things going on. This summer will be no different. School ends on Monday for the kids, Tuesday for us, and, on Wednesday I'll be starting up with the gardening crew. There will be the usual potluck bbqs, various concerts, the 4th of July madness, after work visits to the quarry, hikes with the dog, the Island Benefit Challenge (watch out for the sister team), summer Silver Threads Artisan Show, and more.

But come August, my life, and my living arrangements, will change immensely (and become slightly crafting-challenged).

VT!

I've take a job back home in VT, teaching science at a small independent ski school in the heart of the green mountains. This new job doesn't feel like it will be too overwhelming as my teaching responsibilities will be very similar to those here on the island, so I feel pretty prepared for the transition. At least the teaching part of the transition. The move overall, however, is bittersweet. I'm excited to make some changes in my life, though I'm definitely sad to be leaving the island. I do feel incredibly connected to the island, so I know that I am not leaving it for good. But, it will be really nice to be closer to family, and in an area of VT that I really love. And did I mention that it's a ski school? Mostly downhill, but a small group of nordies that I hope to be able to help out with.