Category: Green Mountain Blog

Good Autumn Sunday to all:

Well, it’s been a busy few weeks (and month) here in the mountains. We had a month full of friends and family visiting interspersed with a number of Airbnb guests….keeping us hopping. While we were running around changing bedding and making our day trip itineraries, autumn began descending in full regalia. Heavy early September rains ( much needed) have turned into brilliant sunshine filled days and very cool nights…the Vermont standard for this time of year. Jenn, the shop girl, has been plying her trade more frequently at the “Treasures” shop and Stu has been busy trying to create an entry to win the annual Mt. Holly photo contest (see the featured photo for this weeks’ blog).

After Steve and Sue left, we immediately hosted another contingent from the Bunty Station boys, with Mitch and Cindy’s arrival for a two night stay. Mitch got to go to Monday night folk club and fit right in. We decided to perform the Bill Monroe classic, “Wicked Path of Sin”, with the group… which was a real stretch , since it’s a true four part harmony, call and response number. But, in a quirky gift from the tower of song, we had two other visiting guests at the folk club that night and this couple had total mastery of the remaining two parts…turning us into a 1940s hillbilly ensemble with lead bass singing….it was A moment.. The following day we set out for a classic central Vermont tour, heading up Brandon and Middlebury way for a day of Italian feast picnicking, a trip up the amazing Bread Loaf ski area and then over the Middlebury Pass, a walk on the eccentric Native Spirit hiking Trail (sayings from Dr. King, Moses and Jerry Springer posted on trees along the trail) and back down magnificent route 100 with a stop at our favorite Maple Creamee place (when you come we will build one for you). By the time we left, we swore no more visitors (even though we loved all our visits) until spring…but then more Airbnb guests arrived. So, back to changing bedding, sweeping floors, making scones and creating trip – tiks for people.

The guest register has continued to be a quite interesting phenomenon, with recent guests including a couple from Harlem, who arrived in the middle of the night, spent two days running the Spartan races at nearby Killington, and left like pleasant ghosts in the night. Then we have had a young couple from Italy, seeking the full power of foliage season…so that has resulted in us flexing our 251 club muscles to try and create the perfect itinerary days for them…even in running the guest house we have performance anxiety (and trying to keep our string of five star reviews intact). Next up , we have a family of five (yes, count
‘em…five) coming from Denmark (probably, not directly) for next weekend…so I guess we will be moving out to the barn for three nights, which makes me grateful for all that extra bedding we have been purchasing. Before that, though, we are heading up on our own first fall outing, with our annual trip up to the Champlain Islands for three days this early week. This is always an interesting adventure, as we don’t make any reservations any more for our fall outings, and with Lucy, that becomes even more of challenge, but it always work out…and if push comes to shove, we have blankets and roof rack to sleep away from the moose.

We celebrated Jenn’s birthday last week with a dinner at the Inn at Weathersfield, a romantic getaway we had stayed at years ago during our fall adventure trips. Hard to find, tucked away with quaint Vermont Inn type dining area, it was beautiful dinner, until a group of loud drunken golfers showed up and started telling everyone about their successful investments….we prefer the local woodchuck mafia types here in Vermont. Jen worked at the shop, selling people boutiques last weekend for four straight days, so Lucy and I wandered around chasing leaves of various colors, which included a day at the Chester Fall festival. Chester does it in mid- September to beat everyone else’s’ gig, and it does not hurt that the village was voted one of the loveliest in New England (go ahead- ask me who voted). The place was packed with noshing, buying, picture taking flatlanders on a perfect 75 degree fall day. Needless to say, Lucy had many admirers, both canine and upright.

After three weeks of looking the other way, it was clearly time to get THE POND cleaned up. Still scum- less, but filled with pond weeds, I had my young helper, Seamus, come over (as we like to say, Marcus he is not, but a good kid nonetheless), and I actually set he and Lucy to the job…but after an hour, felt compelled to dust off my strainer and join them. Two men and a dog playing bumper-kayak in our little pond. But, see the pictures…we have had to beat away the local munchkins now wanting to swim in it’s purity.

This past week, we made an overnight trip down to the Bronx. My childhood friend, Bob, who was my first mentor in life, is confined to a city run nursing home there and thanks to the endearing HIPPA laws, we cannot find out anything about what is going on. So, we loaded up Lucy on a fine fall day and headed down the Taconic Parkway. Being a totally lapsed Jew, I did not realize it was the eve of Yom Kippur, which resulted in a frenzy of escaping Jews from the Bronx….all trying to get home to a massive meal before thy ostensibly begin a day long fast (my experience of that is it is a periodic fast with surreptitious trips to the local deli in between prayers) We had a moving and pretty upsetting visit with Bob- the place is classic example of what none of us wants to have happen in our old age. But, we came away with a plan to try and get involved with his appointed guardian to try and find him a better place to live. When we left we blitzed into crosstown traffic to find the place the Jews still roam (Riverdale) and a remaining archetypal traditional Jewish Deli. We got there 20 minutes before they closed to go to Schul (though I was suspect, since the only people left to work there were Puerto Rican), had a great nosh and hit the road with pounds of heart stooping smoked meats. We took a detour on way home to stay with my cousins Sherry and Joel, up around Woodstock, where we actually benched licht (lit candles –refer to your Jew dictionary) and spent a pleasant night and morning with them before heading back to the safety of the mountains. Did I mention it was Yom Kippur?… but luckily they were not too committed to not feed us a little something for dinner… thus we did not have to sneak out after they went to bed, as it would be a long way to find a deli. On the way home, we took a long meandering drive along the Hudson river and went through the quaint and clearly progressive little town of Catskill NY, which is apparently so open minded it has a bowling alley called the “Hoe- Bowl”…we should consider moving there..

So…back at the mountain paradise and getting ready to head out for another day of wandering, hiking and stooping to have people ooh and aah over Lucy. Hope your day is a good one!

Be well to all my loved and semi-loved ones.

Estuardo (Stu in Yiddish)

“There is nothing useless in nature, not even uselessness itself.”….Montaigne

Happy post Labor Day to all:

Almost there- I have finally been able to enter and edit all the archival blogs and reviews on the website- so look for an e-mail soon with the link info. Once the web-site is up, you will get an e-mail letting you know there is new entry (from the webmaster instead of from me) which will let you click on a link to open and view the latest entry , and have access to all the archives.. Think (hope) you will like this. Google ads can’t be far behind- once the site goes viral!

So am going to start with this one trying to return to Zen roots and make these Rambles a bit less rambling and more haiku like…..we’ll see how that goes…..

When Stu leaves…………..Jenn does projects. Went down to N’Awlins for three days week before last for a little work and Cajun cookin’. Hot, muggy and fun. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Jenn strips the wallpaper in my bathroom (I really do have my own bathroom) and paints it. This apparently required a lot of removal of various objects and a lot of caulking to put them back. Which led to Stu’s return to a beautifully painted and not quite caulked bathroom, which meant, with company coming, having to use Jen’s shower until this all got filled and dried….so Stu went on a shower strike…which led Jen to go out and buy more bedding…life is a circle.

Our good friends , Steve and Sue, came for a week’s visit, with Lucy’s good finds, Rosie and Maggie. Maggie is pretty old and spends most of her time laying around blocking various doorways, but Rosie is a quasi- identical twin for Lucy…and that leads to day long wrestling matches of one big ball of black fur flying by everywhere you go….see Lu-Roseie run….. We had a great visit with lots of music, walks, kayaking, dinners and Vermont drives. We went to Springfield to check out the Jewish fish mongers’ inaugural public set with his Beatles band – the Fabs.. a beautiful early fall day and they were pretty good for first time out. Then to Weston where we decided to show them the Priori (we are still trying to find the DaVinci code). We always leave the Priori the back way down a dirt road which comes out close to Weston. Seems like a short way. So- we parked at the Weston end and derided it would be a nice walk back up to the Priori….well, it’s one of those “longer than it seems” walks, so an hour and a half later we strolled into the mystic…the dogs thought his was really great fun.

On Sunday last, we had a day of music, spending the afternoon at Plymouth Rock and the Calvin Coolidge birthplace, for a folk and blues fest. A perfect early fall Vermont setting- good music, great views, maple Cremees. That night we went into our little hamlet of Belmont to the town library for the annual Jazz Cabaret, which featured a local couple doing Billie Holiday influenced string bass and vocals…shockingly impressive, and as a bonus, Steve sat next to the stacks, and found a Calvin Coolidge book to read while humming along….providing a synergy to the day’s events.

Steve and I got to do a kayak at Lake Nineveh and several morning walks up our own neighborly hills. One of the cool things about Vermont, is you can more or less take a walk anywhere and find a nice view to boot. Only downside is the prevalence of boundary-less New Jersey woman prowling around in their Bimmers, who tend to stop and swoon over the dogs (“oh god what are they?”) and tell you their life stories… but, ok, New Jerseyites are more or less people too…right? We also went over to Hubbardton/Mt. Zion to make the requisite hike to Moot Point- best view in Vermont you can get with only a 20 minute hike

We took our friends on the mandatory (do you see a theme here? Imprisoned by all the places we MUST take people who visit…Jenn is so driven by this, you see…) trip to see the house of horrors, which included nice stops in Montpelier to search for Bernie (no sightings) and to Barre for our semi- annual trip to the amazing Hope cemetery (if they build it, we will come). The house of horrors has taken another cruel twist, with our apartment renter, Spencer, giving us notice and moving out end of month. So, now we have to decide how to maintain the property and whether to shut it down or not. When we went to take a look to tell him what needed to be done to move out, he had locked us out and no-showed to meet us there. Looking forward to another highlight- of –a- landlord month. Will anyone out there take this place if I pay them and become their indentured servant for ten years and give them Max?

The weeks’ high-brow and low-brow highlights also included a trip to the Weston Playhouse for the last show of the season- The Glass Menagerie- do you think Tennessee Williams suffered from depression? – and a stop on way home form Groton to the legendary Whippi- Dip Snack bar in Fairlee. We love going to snack bars because: a-they have outdoor seating for Lucy, b-they are cheap, and c- early bird is not required…and wow, they are not what they seem The Whippi –Dip is really the bull goose of snack bars with fresh fish daily and homemade bar-b-que, taken in the owner’s secret garden out back…can you say “another roadside attraction”? We finished up the visit with a grand tour of the QUAINT…Weston (the Vermont county store for kitsch), Chester (the home of THE most interesting man in the world) and Grafton (can you say so quaint that Bing Crosby may have been here for White Christmas). Along the way, I took the dogs out for a constitutional at the wonderful Green in Weston, where I came to the conclusion that Rosie is a transgender dog (is this possible?- this would be accepted in Vt., you know)- she lifted her leg and peed on every tree on the Green (she has vagina, mind you!)

So , Steve and Sue left Friday morning and on Saturday, we went back in search of additional and upgraded bedding and did our usual chores. We went to Wal-Mart to get flu shots and took Lucy with us. We got our shots but they would not give Lucy one…apparently her insurance does not cover it at the Mart…see photos…can you take dog to Wal-Mart?,,,..not sure, but we did anyway…and she loved it. We also found another snack bar to try outside Rutland…I think, in some ways, you can reduce the Vermont experience to Farmer’s Markets, snack bars and bedding…….

So- in addition to everything bad about the hose of horrors (Groton) and Sawmill Parkway (Delaware) we now have learned that the state will be closing the bridge to get to our house for possibly a year- which means we will have to go up and over the mountain to get in and out….stop, your’ torturing us (Yiddish, whiney accent for this)

So that’s; it…not quite haiku I don’t think, but will do better next time.

Until then, may all your leaves turn bright red….enjoy the birth of autumn…

Estuardo

Greetings friends and family:

Scribing from 10,000 feet on way to N’awlins for a few days on secret assignment….a relatively short trip from Vermont (the place where no planes seem to fly to)- will only be about 8 hours travel time as I took a shot at a night flight with very short layover and made all the connections…must be living the life. But, actually it’s Trench Girl who has taken on the “I love my life” mantra (which is usually accompanied by asking me if I am happy…..which then leads to a discussion of 2000 years of Jewish struggle and despair….which hopefully might someday result in no longer being asked that question)…..but back to Trench Girl- who is not only the Queen of home repair, but the proprietress of our thriving Airbnb, and an aspiring organic farmer and yoga master as well as a recently employed shop girl…so I guess you might see where this is life to be easily loved…..

We have now finished our foundation project and put back the shrubbery…looks pretty damn good for do it your-selfers. Plus we have had a run of warranty work….have I mentioned how much I adore my garage door opener…my first ever (don’t remember ever seeing one in the Bronx?). With that and leak repairs by the Roto- Rooter man- we are almost caught up with the needs of our 175 year old house. For a while we have been suffering from REALLY bad water pressure (like having to catch drops as they fall out in the upstairs (read=my) bathroom- to fill a glass to brush teeth). The Roto guy said we needed a new pressure tank, or we could blow our well pump, and said tank would be a 1000 cool ones…ughh…our lives have become driven by water…So-I called our usual plumber (non-warranty) and Bill the Grumpy Plumber, said “nah, check the damn filter system”. So I did…and it was filthy, and I cleaned it out and changed the filter…and, lo, the water gushed forth like the Red Sea (you know biblical, but the red is really more a metaphor). In Vermont, we learn to really appreciate mono-syllabic, grumpy plumbers.

So- after all that- Jenn’ sister Jane came to pay us a visit- to celebrate both their September birthdays. Janes’ flight was due to Manchester (NH- a nifty 2 ½ hour drive for us) at 9:30..but as luck would have it, we enjoyed the fruits of minor Hurricane Danny…and Jane was re-routed through Chicago (never go west to get east) for a 1 a.m. arrival. We took Lucy and headed for the Diner ,and hung till they threw us out and then waited curbside (one a.m., the TSA take pity and let you sit there). Once Jane arrived and we had our hugs, we got in the car to find all our sitting with doors open for Lucy, had led to non- battery delight…and everyone gone. Luckily, the airport kindly keeps someone on site for the yokels who run it dead. We got home at 4..…a jump start to our visit.

So- the highlights of our visit with Sister Jane:
• We visited Jenn’s’ organic farm where Lucy got to frolic with the piglets and we came home with a bumper crop of organic melons
• We made the required visit to Ramunto’s- to get Jane the best slices of pizza outside of lower Manhattan
• Jane got to attend the last Belmont Music on the Green of the season- which featured the musical stylings of yours truly along with Belmont Mountain Boys (the local folk club, really)
• We took Jane to lake Nineveh for her first kayak experience ever (see Jane row)- to go with Lucy’s first real swimming experience- she swam most of the lake (see the wet dog pix)
• We had the Friday evening mountain immersion experience, with a trip to the Ludlow Farmers’ Market, the early bird specials at our beloved Sam’s Steakhouse (when you come, you too will be treated to the famous early bird!) and then Friday night music at the Okemo Resort
• Jane read and napped a lot and looked at the stars and mini harvest moon

So- after a day of doodling down to NH by the back roads we put Jane on a flight Saturday evening and came back to the homestead, where we resumed water blockage duty on Sunday. After Jane left , we had some last minute Airbnb guests on Saturday night – a very nice Chinese couple from Burlington, whose names I could not quite remember- so invented some for them…Max rolled his eyes over the phone when I told him this, and cautioned me to use my plurals (i.e.- two hot teas, not two hot tea…you may have had to be at Sunday night dinners at the Ming Flower to appreciate this nuance). BTW- Max is drifting around the Central California Coast in probable search of the perfect wave-check out the picture of him in the gallery. The family is currently in planning for December trip to Hawaii- so we are warming to full battle mode in preparation….which may have sent Max scurrying….but enough of that.

So- relatively short and sweet in advance of the Labor Day holiday and the official end of summer. Steve and Sue will be arriving this Friday for a week and then we will hit foliage season full stride, with lots of Airbnb guests and our own hunt for red October. I’ll keep you posted…soon to be on the website-you might remember…
Love and kisses to most everybody, Stu and his multiples……..

Greetings and salutations:

(Spoiler alert…..Max and I are in the process of turning these “Rambles” into a real life blog. Have been loading in the archives…all the past blog entries are in and now working on Stu’s Reviews, for those of you who receive that, so in not too distant future, will join the 20th century –not 21st mind you- and you will get to read these on line. More info to come…kind of cool though)

Mid- August…the leaves are changing, the mornings are chilly, the light is turning to autumn….and we are back ensconced in our beloved Greens after our mid summer trek back to the heartland. It’s been a very busy few weeks with visitors, end of sickness and lots of work on the homestead.

Have I told you about contractors in Vermont? It’s kind of like Jamaica, running in different time. About three weeks ago, the Barn painters showed up…two months after our scheduled time. Wow….four hours in and out…and we have a newly painted horse barn. They are from Alabama which may explain the time thing, but they did an amazing job, whirling around like dervishes to scrape, spray and fix wood. In the end, we now have bright red New England barn. Barn fixing begat water leak fixing, so that meant our local guy, who shows up unpredictably unannounced some mornings and gets to work . We now have the sun room with new flooring and under supports and the roof sealed up…which led to…… the Foundation issues. One of those “dig it out and patch it up” sort of things. Except when we dug it out on a 90 degree day last Monday (12 feet long, four feet wide, five feet deep), we found a gaping hole between the foundation and the original field stone foundation…the size you could crawl into and spend the night. So, Stu picked up and left for the week and Jenn took it on. The contractor turned out to be more of a supervisor than a worker, so Jenn got a mason out here to block it up, then (on her own, stubbornly refusing to call anyone for help) she got stone delivered, put it in, laid pipe, more stone and then sealed it up and filled it in. Stu showed back up from Richmond, VA. in time to fill it in and help grade it. And did I mention, we hit massive rock everywhere we/she dug? Jenn will be on the cover of this months’ “Woman dig Holes” issue (#666) and you can see the cover photo in our attached gallery. The local men all think this woman must be the catch of the year….I mean, what’s not to like, right?

So- now we are hopefully water tight and will not sink…..at least until the next seepage. 160 year old houses do present some conundrums….

We had our good friends Jane and Jeff here for five days, and did the total local Vermont thing. A show at Weston (The Road to Where), two straight days of kayaking at Lake Lowell (our newest most favorite) and Lake Nineveh, a hike over at the hidden -trail man in Hubbardton up to the majestic Moot Point (really) (best view in Vermont for only a half hour hike), Music on the Green in Belmont and some great dining. It was a really nice visit defined by Lucy swimming a half mile back to shore after Jen dumped her in the lake, magnificent star watching, and an ongoing debate on the wisdom of calling woman “handsome” (the lead woman in the play, a seventyish ball of energy was by my account a “handsome woman”- which sent shivers through Jane and Jenn’s cerebrum.) The defining moment of our visit occurred at the music on the green in discussing whether to make a rather long trip over to Maine to lap seawater….debating the merits of going, Jeff stated he really did not need to make that trip since “You are my ocean”…got to put that one on a scroll on the wall, no?

So as I said, I made a side trip this week down to lovely Richmond, Virginia to help save the children. Richmond in mid-August…kind of like the “smell of napalm in the morning” (check your movie trivia)…hot and steamy with a hotel full of Chinese expats. But, you’d never guess, that Richmond turns out to be a food mecca (really, no shit!) and my wandering produced some memorable Italian and Cuban meals . It did take me 12 hours to get back to the mountains on Friday starting with a cab drive to the airport from hell…had to wake up the driver sleeping in in his cab at 6 a.m., and he then he proceeded to drive the wrong way down Richmond’s busiest thoroughfare and go through three red lights at full speed…starting the trip off really well. Then, in the great tradition of trying to fly back to Vermont, I took flight number one from Virginia down to Orlando to get a flight back to the mountains. Orlando, always a lively stop, happened to be besieged by last minute, before school starts, Disney aficionados, so flew back between two people wearing Mickey ears…oh to be home again…

One interesting thing in our adopted state is the prevalence of old deserted mansions. Our favorite is the magnificent Clarendon house in tiny Clarendon Springs, a massive example of country shtick opulence that we have been watching be resurrected for the last 15 years. We drove over last Sunday for a picnic on the porch and stroll through the ruins. We love these places and wonder why were they there? That’s your assignment for this week.

Last night, we made a pilgrimage with a group of friends to see the Poets of Fish over at Fair Haven, where we not only enjoyed the great Prudential dinner (early bird) but got to share the room with a wedding…fun was had by all. Today we head up to see if the house of horrors is still standing and see if we can flag someone down who might be driving by, that we can turn the deed over to.

Good news for the week: Stu had a follow up Western Blot blood test (this is fancy stuff- goes to the Mayo Clinic) and has “converted” (no, still a lapsed Jew)-which means an indication that I “had” Lyme disease rather than “have” it….good riddance.

Well, miles to go and mountains to climb…got to get Jenn out of the ditch and head up to Groton…so until we meet again….

Love and kisses from the Lyme man and the Trench girl,

Stu/Da/Cuz/Ferlin/Uncle

Greetings from the Greens:

Well- it’s been an eventful three weeks since my last missive- filled with Ticks, hot and steamy trips to the heartland and red leaves showing up in early August. But. ..I get ahead of myself. When last penning the chronicles- I was off to the dinner party with pond-induced rash in hand. Well, it got worse and worse, and after having a fever shoot up to over 102 that Sunday night, and feeling like death warmed over- we set out to find medical care. So…..we are in the mountains and don’t know from shit about where to go, which eventually led to an hour and a quarter drive and delightful 5 hour stay in the Dartmouth ER. Long story short, I apparently had a lost battle with a tick and wound up with Lyme Disease. By all counts , it is acute rather than chronic- which hopefully means my 20 days of gut killing anti-biotics will do the trick. Follow up in progress- but mostly better.

So- after that crisis- we had the Belgians show up the next day for two nights (see the pix)- who were absolutely wonderful with two teen age boys who were working on their English –which led to requests for “we-fee” (internet access) and turning up the bass (rhymes with pass, like the fish ) on the stereo. We have continued to have a great run with our Airbnb guests- all of them being incredibly pleasant, considerate and fun- with the possible expectation of the woman from the Bronx who got out of the car complaining (hmm-must be hereditary). We had our most recent guests very impromptu last night a very nice uber-nerd couple form UMASS who may have done a bit too much acid in the day and walked around staring at trees for 36 hours.

We spent about ten days journeying back to the heartland for a whirlwind visit, which included a plethora of dog play for Lucy with all her cousins, a manic two day trip to Toledo for work (the Subaru went down- so I drove the ancient Jeep- and got stuck on the magnificent I-75 for an hour in bumper to bumper with no AC), a Jenn visit to Cleveland to Ry and Lauren’s new house warming party, several Lyme related doctor visits, and a number of social outings..…all in the context of 90 degree-90 percent humidity weather with no air conditioning and house shut up for months…delightful…..AND…. no internet, cable or cell service at the house, which led to the hunt, for entertainment, (Trainwreck movie with Tess), phone service (find a spot in yard and sit real still) and internet (driving around to find a free pirated “we-fee” in the middle of the night). As I said, delightful.

We also had a few really fun events at home: consorting with Marcus in the yard, doing the annual Pelatonia benefit gig with the Bunty boys and gathering for Steve and Sue’s birthday dinner the night before we left…which also included our dear and longtime friend, Ed Uhlman, who has made a sudden decision to re-locate to the homeland in Germany…..so turned out to also be farewell dinner for him. Tess and Jake came to both the concert and the birthday dinner- so we packed in a lot of family time in the heat and humidity…the family that stays together, sweats together. .

Worst part of being in Ohio though, was the imminent advance of the evil empire in the form of the construction of the long dreaded Sawmill parkway, which is moving forward after years of being stalled. When we next return, we may well find ourselves in the middle of a golf course development…..also delightful. Had to convince Jenn not to tie herself to a tree with a yoga mat and a shotgun.

You can check out pix of the above events (which I have conveniently labeled for the first time( which must be Lyme induced OCD)- and make sure to give a good look to ‘Marcus’ yard masterpieces: The Slice of Life and The Soul Patch…the boy is apparently bored at “the farm” without me.

So- all told it was really good to get back to the mountains. We did it on Monday the 3rd in a blitz 11 ½ hour dive straight through- which Lucy, bless her heart, slept through most the whole way. We stopped twice for meals (both McDonalds where we had not been for ten years, but try finding something else on the NY thruway).We took I-90 which saved a little time- but almost drove us to early death through boredom and eating Mickey D (the Big Mac was almost $5- the last time I was there it was under $2..and overpriced then) for that part of the journey, Jenn insisted on drinking coffee and then we would have to stop for her to pee on the side of the road. I tried to protest, since we kept seeing signs that said “It Can Wait!”- which she thought was about something to do with cell phones..…I think that they were clearly a message to her.

We got home to have the contractor we had been trying to locate for two months- show up unexpectedly and ready to work early the next morning…this is Vermont you know. So- we are underway with our water stoppage projects—- on top of that the barn painters called back after a month of being lost to say they would be here tomorrow. Hopefully, they will not collide. I will try and find somewhere to go all day so Jenn can manage these home improvement projects.

We’ve had a busy week since our return with a trip to the Weston Playhouse (Guys and Dolls), several esoteric dining trips to the middle of nowhere, and a beer soaked night at Hops in the Hills at the ski resort, and sundry guests…plus we got out for our long missed Kayak on Friday….see Lucy go….

Jenn has finished her objet d’art with her new antique table…you can see it in pictures…and is currently out trying to become a master gardener, or just to have gardens look acceptable in case Karin shows up at some point to see how her babies are doing.

We start this week a month and half of visits from many friends and family from the heartland with Jane and Jeff Grummel on their way as we speak. In case you wondered, we are giving friends and family a VERY GOOD deal for the room- despite what the Airbnb website says….so feel free to make an offer, we can be quite flexible on price- especially if you bring your own breakfast.

Wednesday August 5th- woke up to red leaves outside our bedroom window…..what is wrong with that picture. It is coming, isn’t it?

Love and Peace….Go Bernie,
Stu/ Dad/ Uncle/Cuz/Ferlin’

 

Greetings from the Greens:

Summer is in full, bloom here- albeit somewhat short of duration; the gardens are blooming, the days and nights are mostly delightful (except it is almost 90 and humid today), local organic tomatoes are starting to make their short term appearance and music and festival is afoot. We have had some torrential rains without any leak from our various porous holes, which is good since we are still waiting for the contractor who was due three weeks ago to show up- ditto for the barn painters we had decided to have work on our old horse barn. Not sure if this is because of lots of business or more of a quite slow  “islands in the mountains” kind of work approach. I have been at the pond for the last two weeks and it has been remarkably good- though it may well be the slime is just waiting for hotter weather so it can come home. I’ve actually had a few swims, which I should say no one else will do- which may be wise since I seem to have developed quite a rash recently (less from swimming I’m guessing than from floating around on an inner tube with a mountain of lake weed that I pulled up laying on top of me).

You can check out pix of the pond in the attached as well as vote on Jen’s new pixie haircut.   ______ Yes, you go girl, that looks like fun and oh so easy  ____________ Are you kidding, you look like a recently released prisoner of war.  All votes will be kept strictly confidential.

The AIRBNB business has been quite brisk for the last two weeks , with quite the international flavor: a woman form Britain, by way of Westchester, a couple from the south of France, a family from Belgium (tomorrow) and a number of single woman picking up their kids at summer camp- one a “foreigner” from the outer reaches of the Bronx, the other a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader…all quite the stimulating range of conversations. Our favorites thus far have been “Jill- Bear” and “Ter- Raz” from France. Not a lot of English but a lot of spirit. We took them to the local music on the green series for “le musicque- heel- bill- lee” and a picnic. Gilbert queried about our now vacant neighbors’ house, left in utter shambles…”Ze house is Dead, non?” All this activity has required Jen to  make the purchase of much new bedding supplies

We have been out wandering around quite a bit. We made another trip to the great Fair Haven Inn to visit “the poets of fish” (honestly, on their card and website- you can look it up). We took our friend Steve, the Jewish Fish Monger-as he supplies the poets their muse- so got treated like royalty by the Greek family that owns the place. We are making a list of eateries Steve supplies so we can go with him and be treated like this regularly. Last Sunday, we made a day trip over to the Connecticut River Valley- first to explore bedding, then for nice hike along the river at Wilgus State Park and then down to the lovely and hip hamlet of Putney for their music on the green. Wow- talk about popular and lively…Lucy went nuts with the music loving dogs. The band- “The Mike and Ruthie Band” from THE Woodstock –was really, really good (even bought a CD). They have been regulars at Levon’s shows at the Ramble and are friends with his daughter Amy, a fine musician in her own right. This also appeared to be the mecca for all the lovely hippie woman who have disappeared to Vermont to become massage therapists…a lot of rubbing going on. The highlight was an original song called “The Ghost of Richard Manual” about the tragic and great singer from THE BAND…find it on the net and give a listen….all in all a wonderful experience.

We have also made the traditional visit to the local scum filled lake (worse than mine) for MT. Holly Daze with our neighbors, gotten in a couple of good kayaks and hikes and made it to our second community supper and play at Weston for this season. The Weston show was a traveling company of the Broadway hit, Peter and the Star catcher- quite a production for  small theater, with a lot of nod and wink British humor (I both nodded and winked). This last Wednesday, we took a drive down to Manchester for the famous Farm Night suppers at the once magnificent (still pretty damn nice) Wilburton Inn. All vegetarian- everything served at the supper is grown on their farm. An absolutely magnificent setting (see the pix) we made some new friends, wonderful shopkeepers from Manchester, who have now become members of this blog community (I sent him all 35 archival editions, and he actually is reading them all….are you?).

So- it’s pretty good to be in the mountains, non? We are off this week for ten days back to Ohio to visit family and friends and do the annul Pelatonia benefit gig, so will talk to you after that…gotta go treat my rash…

 

Love and Peace….go Bernie,

 

Stu/ Dad/ Uncle/Cuz/Ferlin’

 

 

Gr

Happy holiday to all:

It’s 4^th of July weekend in the GM and the tourists are roaming about. We have been entertaining our first Airbnb guest this weekend- a young couple from Rhode Island up to do some hiking, which has led Jen to a frenzy of baking and preparation  and Lucy to walk around all day with her pull toy in her mouth waiting for the guests to take up the challenge. Really nice kids and it seems like it has gone really well- so hopefully we will have our first positive on line review. The 4^th itself was a rainy day here which dampened the festivities. We geared up for the parade in our local town of Belmont; got everything together and our chores done to be in front of the general store at the 11 a.m. start. A lot of buzz, our local state rep announcing on the loudspeaker, the store doing mega business…and then the parade began and lasted for six and half minutes…five floats and the firetrucks. After the excitement of that, it poured- so went spent the day in search of more and better of the elusive perfect bedding, venturing into tax free New Hampshire, where we eventually wound up on a  secret trip to Walmart, where we got oil change and a bucket of chicken. Friday night, we went up to Jackson Gore with five hundred tourists visiting the ski resort to see the free concert featuring faux Beatles in faux Beatles suits and with faux Beatles’ accents. Lucy loves the Beatles (and the hundred or so dogs there who also love the Beatles apparently).

Leading up the weekend- we had our fist Weston Playhouse show of the season on Wednesday night- a folk musical called Pump Boys and Dinettes set in a rural southern gas station and diner. Well done, as usual. We did the pre theater dinner in the basement there- which has been taken over this year by the fine dining restaurant in our area, the Downtown Grocery. Quite the dinner, quite the price…next show we may have to go back to the early bird. Thursday we spent the day visiting with my cousin Joel who has been ill in hospital in Albany. It was a nice and easy 2 hour plus drive down and a good visit with my cousins and their two boys. On the way back, we hit the dreaded traffic snarl in Troy, that was so bad we had to stop at the Mart for a while to take a break. We then checked out the authentic British fish and chips place in Bennington (it is pretty authentic) and hit the Blue-Ben  diner for take-out desert, a massive dish of chocolate cream pie which we then left in the car while going to the grocery. When I came out, Lucy, who hates being left in the car, seemed unusually docile and content, snoring an amazing sugar snore in the backseat. I licked the remains from the container….

We have been out and about a fair amount lately- in between an unusual amount of rain and thunderstorms- so we have been continuing our season long informal surveys, and have concluded there are more self-storage places in Vermont (23 so far) to people of color (21)- though we had a big day yesterday at the Fletcher Farms annual art festival- spotting an amazing 8 people of some color in 15 minutes. Conclusion: Vermont is lily white and people here have a lot of shit they can’t quite get rid of or need to hide.

Last weekend on one of the really rainy days, we decided we were in dire need of a film- so made the requisite journey up to Hanover, NH to the art house there, to see Love and Mercy, the Brian Wilson biopic (see my review). Very good film (see Paul Dano sing the Pet Smiles album parts, wow) and an amazing story of who I believe to be the pre-eminent popular music composer of our times. Genius and madness at its most poignant. Of course, there is a closer theater in Rutland, but I’m way to much of a movie snob to see Max, Ted or even Entourage (though tempted by that one); hence the two plus hour round trip. But we get to soak up the stuffy academic lure of Dartmouth and this time we found a wonderful Nepali eatery and discovered another in a long line of negro oriented art places , the Black Family Visual Arts Center (Jen stubbornly insists I am wrong and that this really is just the name of some family, but I prefer to think we are  finding more “brothers’ art).

Summer in the Greens, aside from all the rain we have had of late, is really pretty amazing , with days on the mid 70’s and nights in the 50s. We don’t have AC anywhere and I’ve used my car AC twice this year. So…let me tell you about culture and weather shock. I went to Chicago for three days last week and it was brutal sticky, in and out of 90 degree heat/humidity, and freezing air conditioning…please, please take me back to the mountains. On the way there, I flew out of Hartford (shitty trip to make) and wound up on phone with the Nave and sailed right by the airport exit (not really in Hartford)- winding up 20 miles later in downtown Hartford. I only made my flight by illegally taking the HOV lane back at 90 mph and being lucky enough to have TSA pre-screen. Though I got to have dinner in chi town burbs with my other son- Jesse- which I always look forward to, still….The moral of story is to stay in Vermont…

When you come to visit here- be wary of totally relying on the GPS in Vermont, often goes haywire and leads you up the wrong dirt road. As soon as I finished my last tales of the mountains a few weeks ago, which was around 11 on a very rainy Sunday night, I heard unusual noise in our drive and went out to find three sets of state police with lights flashing and guns drawn approaching our door. After absorbing a few minutes of absolute paranoia, I was able to help them realize they wanted an address on the other side of Gates road which is not accessible from here due to the logging road. They left pissed off and made ruts in my yard since there is nowhere for three vehicles to simultaneously turn around. We need to put up a no outlet sign I think!

It’s dawned a beautiful sun drenched day here this Sunday morning, so things to do , dogs to see. Be well, stay in touch and do good work.

Love,

Estuardo

 

 

 

America Embraces Gay Rights!!!

America Embraces Health coverage for all!!

America Rejects the Racist flag!!!!!

America begins to embrace Bernie!!!!

It’s been a good week- America is catching up to Vermont.

Go America, Go Bernie, Go Freedom. https://www.yahoo.com/politics/white-house-buildings-across-the-country-light-up-122601444526.html

http://reverbpress.com/discovery/living/entertainment/satire/joe-biden-wears-gay-pride-flag-cape-viral-parody/

Greetings to all and happy Father’s Day:

Well- it happened again- spring has fully come, albeit late to the mountains, and all of a sudden Karen’s wonderful gardens are starting to bloom with color- along with everyone else’s. It’s a good time to get out and about the mountains…and so we have.

We visited the Jewish pig farmer and his wife Robyn and few weeks ago on the way back from an excursion- so Jenn could make her weekly visit to see the new puppies that they have bred from their beloved Trudy and Malcolm. Five really cute herding babies- which Lucy had to stay in the car and drool over- since Trudy would have eaten her if she came out. But, Stu got to hold the babies- see the photo, it really happened. Since then, Jenn drops me a slight hint every day: “there’s only one left”, “look how cute you looked with the puppy”, “poor Lucy is so lonely around the house”. I’m thus far playing deaf.

One of the few things I have struggled with in our life here is not having the Y close by- sort of to exercise, more to use the hot tub and schvitz. But, this year, I discovered the marvelous “spring house” at the Jackson Gore ski report. Booming in winter, it is a ghost town in summer, and, catch this, offers midweek daily passes to “seniors” for 3.00/day. Oh my, what’s not o like- so I schlep down there a few days a week to ride the elliptical and stare out the window at the ski hill, so I can then go take a soak. Such a deal……

So, this year we have decided to do one weekly outing to discover a new farm to table restaurant each week. Since we can get anywhere in the state in 2 ½ hours or less- it leaves lot of options. Last week-, we took a rambling drive with several walks along the way, up to Bristol where we dined at Mary’s Inn at Baldwin Creek. Beautiful place we had only seen previously in the dark- set back off a small road in nowheresville. . It also allowed us to make most of our way there on and off our beloved dirt roads. When we can’t easily find a hiking trail- we just park and start hiking up a dirt road- which exposes us to all forms of Vermont life. Check out the 1920s truck from a farm on top of such a dirt road that may have record for views and acres. We are considering a trip in which we go as far as we can taking only dirt roads- which would likely result in our driving for 8 or 9 hours and finding ourselves the traditional 40 miles away.

Check out he emerging garden pictures and our little wren box –which had a group of babies squeaking daily outside our front door…which Lucy feels she should be able to play with, and Gracie stares out the window forlornly at. THE POND is also still looking pretty good, at least in certain light, but there is definitely some foreshadowing of doom in the works.

We had our fist dinner of the year… an apparent Yiddish affair with the Jewish pig farmer and the Jewish fish monger telling horseradish jokes and howling at the moon. They kept talking about the corner store run by “the Cohens”, which I took to be metaphorically representative of “the Smiths” with a Yid bias. It was actually very nice; we cooked out on the grill and ate on the sun room big table…so far we seem to have stanched the leak in there- along with the one in the basement, so more water is currently going out of the house then coming in, which is a good thing here in Vermont.

We had our first kayak with Lucy in her new snappy life vest- which she spent all afternoon shaking Jenn’s boat trying to get out of and then rolling around the grass every time we let her out on land to run laps. Magnificent day as we continue to explore the series of lakes up nearby scenic Route 100. Surrounded by mountains ,and century old lake houses, they are a thing of beauty to glide along in. see the too many photos of Jenn and Lucy in all their glory. We also made our monthly trip this week up to the house of horrors- since we seem to be the only people that ever visit there- certainly no potential buyers make the trek. It is as good as ever, just waiting for some love. We did some fixin’ and cleanin’ and brought Spencer some doughnuts and watched him eat them and rev up many engines….a usual day in the Northeast Kingdom. Form there we went to Vermont’s only Lowes to make an exchange of an Ohio purchase- 2.5 hours one way to get to Lowes- which I really don’t even like…but such is life in the mountains.

We’ve had quite few rainy days this early summer in the mountains, and its’ a pretty good place to spend a rainy day and night-which we had one full day/night of this week…though the POND overfloweth. I spent an entire day reading books on the couch- Jen claims I napped most of the day but I caught her upstairs measuring the rooms for new bedding options. She also is sprucing up the spare master for our anticipated horde of Airbnb guests. I, and Lucy, on the other hand, share some level of dread at the prospect of waking up to little Belgian boys cavorting in my bathroom. I’ve actually read about seven books in the last month-plus during the rainy nights we have marathon sessions with our newest obsession- Downton Abbey, while we wait to see how much water come in the house through various orifices.

Last night we went to very cool birthday party, at Robin the trailer masseuses’ place, where my chums and I from the folk club held forth. there was music, croquet and a woman from NY doing endless Tarot readings in the trailer. She was actually quite exotic resembling the woman from Big Fat Greek Wedding (according to Steve the fish monger)…and a guitar player to boot. But best of all (bow down now)- she lives in the carriage house of Big Pink, in Saugerties, NY, the home of THE BAND, during the seminal late 60s recordings. If Jen were not there, I may have been drooling….Birthdays are fun in the mountains.

Today we spent Father’s day driving 125 miles to go to a strawberry festival in Middletown Springs and food cart festival in Middlebury (obviously both geographically in the center of the state). We drove around in pouring rain- but it was sunny and warm in both places. We ordered some kind of organic tacos at the food truck fest (five food trucks on the town green) and it took 35 minutes to get them….the taco makers were very organic kinds of folks it seems, but they were pretty good and the lobster role form the New England Culinary institute truck war to die for. Lucy found many friends to roll around with and many small children to knock on the ground and mount.

This past week was a defining time as our neighbors, the Manuals, made their exodus for North Carolina. It was pretty weird to send them on their way and now have no one on our road but us. We did do a scavenger hunt after they left through their devastated house and found some moderate treasures….and then cleaned up their junk strewn yard…it actually looks the best it has since we have been here. Their estranged uncles have showed up this week and surprisingly shown some motivation to genuinely clean the place up, which is not what we had expected from the family’s descriptions….but would be nice.

And lastly, snack bars/ice cream stands in Vermont…are often organic and filled with home cooking…think lobster roles and homemade brisket…an call it The Whippi- Dip in Fairlee…wow……

So-another few weeks go by in the Green Mountains…and now you know the story

Be well and stay in touch.

Love,

Ferlin’/Stu, Dad, Uncle, CUZ

Greetings to all and happy June:

Well, after a series of miracle days in the 80s- we returned to earth this week with several days of heavy rains and then last night it sunk down into the 20s- sending everyone scurrying to put in their tomato plants –the growing season is about three weeks as it is- so no time for re-starts. Life in the mountains is tricky…

We have been fully reintegrated into our mountain life- hitting the trails regularly, going for long explorations in the car, getting out on the kayaks, community suppers, reconnecting with our new- old friends…..and projects…lets’ just say having four houses leads to a lot of projects (we will be down to three in few weeks as Jenn has her closing mid-month…now if we could sell the house of horrors to you or your loved ones….)

So we got the new –rebuilt tractor working and then it quit…had to take carburetor apart and rebuild- but now it is like a new Frankenstein tractor- with all the parts I excavated from the one I blew up. So- Jen gets out to mow and comes in breathless to tell me she is out of gas. After a few choice words, we decide it has to get into barn as we are expecting rain- so we go out to push it about 50 yards uphill. Jen assures me the rear end lock is off- so we push for 20 minutes falling down repeatedly, when I ask her again…and it turns out that the lock was not off- which is designed to keep the tractor from moving. . ..Suffice it to say we pushed the last ten yards and into barn using two fingers after the uphill locked rear end battle was resolved…and then went searching for a hot tub and a massage. The next day she picks up gas and I go out to make sure it will start and to prime the pump….and voila…it’s half full of gas…fortunately Jen is off the premises and after several drinks and a long walk, I mange not to attack her when she returns (she just assumed it had run out of gas when it stopped running-did not feel the need to look). So, that led to carb repair and now….good as new (the tractor not my back)-after another trip back to Brandon to get parts…apparently an hour drive is the requisite in Vermont to get any car or mower parts. Upside is that it led us to lunch in Middlebury and a fine hike on the way home. Costello’s in Middlebury is a little hard to find take out Italian deli/prepared foods joint. It is a legend on Yelp- so we hit it up. Walk in and Mrs. Costello is the spitting image of Mama Corleone….. I am naturally dumbstruck and cannot help but to order the “Don Barzini” sub…are you kidding me? This is a true find- unreal Italian and fish at unreal prices… and Mama Corleone to boot!

We got out for our first kayak of the season last week on a gorgeous 75 degrees cloudless day. Lucy was much less enthusiastic than last year and cried for the first half hour, so we pulled up by a grass lawn and let her out while we ate lunch in the boats…as we drifted away she spotted us and came frantically swimming out and then managed to jump into Jen’s kayak- covering her with water and whatever fragrant substance Lucy had been rolling around in…so we now have a Lucy life vest-see the picture…

Yesterday we got out on another fine day for a drive over to Hubbardton (famous battlefield site- you can look it up) where a 90 year old gentleman from Antioch College- Kit Davidson- has built a series of magnificent hiking trails on is 500 acre mountainous home site. Open to the public with well-groomed and marked hikes- it’s a short 30 minute walk to a series of wonderful views (Moot Point is my favorite). He’s built a huge Zen rock garden and dogs don’t have to be leashed- so Lucy is in trail heaven. I’m attaching a link to the website – check out about Kit- he was very famous Avant garde filmmaker in the 60s and colleague of Warhol http://homes.ottcommunications.com/~dsonder/beebepond_files/Mount%20Zion%20Trails.pdf

From there we went over to the Fair Haven Inn for the early bird dinner (they call it the Prudential dinner specials- which sounds a lot more dignified). Great place run by a family of Greek transplants- table-side cart service and all the fixings for the early bird price- it’s now on our official list to take visitors-along with the hike to Moot Point.

On Saturday mornings- we always got to the “transfer station” (The DUMP), which is a hub of social activity in town. Kevin ,the dump-master knows everything about everyone and everything, and never fails to give me some choice advice about keeping my woman happy…..plus he seems to know everywhere we’ve been in the last week, which is a bit frightening. In addition to the garbage bin and the massive no-sort recycling tank (all that is free), Kevin collects everyone in towns’ throw away junk in a shed and a heap…so we periodically “shop” there (“the Belmont Mall”) . Last year , we picked up skis, boots and snow boards- yesterday I finally found an old junker bicycle to keep me busy trying to re-assemble for the next month. Dump shopping is good sport.

With our diminishing income, Jen has decided we need to try being a bed and breakfast and has posted us on Airbnb, so I guess we are open for business. I’m hoping for visitors from France. See the attached link for our listing. If you come, we will give you the friends and family rate. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/6638465?checkin=06%2F24%2F2015&checkout=06%2F25%2F2015&guests=2&s=8DIF

So- back to the point, which is wet and musical. Water had dominated our lives since we returned. First we had leaks in the washer line and underneath the sink. Then, I started having rain drops fall in on me when working out in the barn. Now, we have a leaky roof over our sun porch (Jen is up there applying her handy-woman skills as we speak, doing a temporary fix until the cavalry arrives(see her workmanlike photo). As soon as we got it temporarily stanched, we found huge piles of mud slipping in to the basement, which is going to require us to dig out around the foundation and do some grading and internal repair- we knew this was an issue when we bought the house- but it had been patched over a bunch and had held up until now. So, Scott the Jewish pig farmer, has offered to come over wish his backhoe and help us overcome the water. Once that is done we have to deal with the basement mess and then deal with ripping out the wet drywall behind the washer, that is inviting black mold into our house. By the time, we get all this done, we can then go back to Ohio and wait for next set of leaks to occur.

Water is often offset by the great music we are around. I am back regularly at the folk club- trying to get them to emulate Bunty Station (where is the squeeze-box, Naven?) .Except for one woman there, who seems to think I may be sent from another planet to take her away, it’s a really nice group to play with. We’ve also started going to the Killarney Pub in Ludlow on Thursday nights for a Celtic music jam. Some really great fiddling and penny-whistle, and I get to channel my inner Van the Man. We went up last Sunday to the Silo Distillery (it’s in an old silo- you can look it up) in Windsor, with our friend ,Steve, the Jewish fish-monger, to see Gypsy Reel, our local favorites (their leader is the founder of the folk club). Great place, free food, idyllic setting, wonderful acoustics, and a good free show. We more or less hear music everywhere we go and are preparing for all the surrounding town’s “music on the green” series this summer ( we will play the finale at end of August for the Belmont series). And the farmer’s markets, all have good music while you spend a fortune of organic goods. The ghost of Jerry Garcia was back at the Ludlow market last Friday. I stepped out of the car to the sounds of Jerry singing Brokedown Palace and momentarily thought I was in the Haight in 1970….maybe something I ate? It will be a good music summer and fall. We are planning on a trip this week to the Burlington Jazz Festival, and I’m trying to figure a date to get over to the bluegrass jamboree which happens most Saturdays in nearby Shrewsbury.

Well- I should go see if Jen has fallen off the roof, so will shut it down for now.

Be well and stay in touch.

Love,

Ferlin’/Stu, Dad, Uncle, CUZ