Blessed beyond words.

They humored me for this picture, but that says a lot about who they are.

Allow me to introduce you to my parents. That's my stepmom, my dad, my stepdad, and my mom. And, yes, they are all standing in the same room at the same time. This is not a Photoshop photo, nor is this a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence or a new development. Somewhere in my inventory of photographs is a photo of these same four people in a sailboat for a day of sailing with me (around my college years).

Although I was young when they divorced, my parents remained united in their love for me. I don't know for sure, but I suspect they went through great pains and made sacrifices along the way so that I could feel that way.

This photo is a tribute to my parents and the maturity that they have gained over the years through this process of being divorced, remarried, and raising children in the midst of it all.

I love all of you.

My turn to ride!

This last weekend, Joerg and I completed our motorcycle training class for a license endorsement. Now that the class is over and we are officially legal we are on the hunt for motorcycles.

Our first purchase is this 2002 BMW R1150R. That's a lot of letters and numbers, but basically it's a nicely powered motorcycle that I can handle and that makes Joerg all goofy. No kidding, he's like a kid with a new toy. However, THIS toy he has to SHARE with his WIFE...until we get bike #2.

Invaders!

"Something's been eating my tomatoes!" said Mama Bear.

Little Rewards

Since a large chunk of our business is based in Middlebury, there are periods of time where I find myself frequently on the road. While I'm driving, I will occasionally encounter a view that just begs to be photographed, but I am usually without a camera or short on time.

Today was both, but I couldn't resist pulling out my cell phone to capture this shot.

Ausable Chasm, New York

As a family outing, we took the ferry from Burlington Vermont to Plattsburgh New York for a day at Ausable Chasm. It's mostly wet activities so I don't have that many pictures of the day, but as we were leaving the park I was able to stop and capture some images of the falls. This is one of my favorites. (Imagine this picture in full fall foliage glory!)

 

Unexpected Treats

It's our second year getting vegetables from Jericho Settlers Farm. I'm used to getting a bushel basket full of veggies that have been harvested and boxed for me to come and collect, but this year I'm learning a whole new level there.

During yesterday's pick up, the women at the farm said that there were pick-your-own beans. So if you're willing to do the picking (which I was) you can get MORE vegetables. So I did. I even had help from a super picker helper (Katherine).

As we were leaving with our beans, we were invited to cut flowers from the flower gardens! What a treat.

Canned and Frozen

This is our second summer participating in a CSA (community sustained agriculture). We get a large selection of vegetables each week; salad and leafy greens, root vegetables, herbs, tomatoes, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, and the list goes on. We don't get all of these things every week, but we haul home about a bushel basket full of goodies each Monday.

Last year I worked hard to use up all the vegetables each week, pushing two and sometimes three veggies on my family at each meal. Sometimes I didn't get enough of something to make a complete dish (for example, when we get green beans we get 1/2 pound, but that's not enough for our family. So I would buy more at the grocery store to fill the gap). To add insult to injury, I have a small garden in the back yard where I grow tomatoes, herbs, and whatever else strikes my fancy at spring planting time. By the end of last summer we just couldn't look at another vegetable.

Then I got smart, but too late in the season to be of any benefit.

This year, I am putting up the vegetables that can be easily frozen (like green beans and peas) or canned (like beets), using some for baking (like zucchini), and serving the rest (like leafy greens, carrots, and cucumbers.

It's pretty fun to be preparing foods that we'll be able to enjoy when snow has blanketed our little patch of earth and gardens have gone to sleep for the winter.

And I do mean ENJOY, for we have rediscovered the pleasures of flavorful produce. Conditioned by years of eating mass produced vegetables, we have grown accustomed to food with mild or washed out flavor.

And another benefit to storing vegetables for the winter is that we no longer dread my weekly runs to the farm to pick up more vegetables.

Maybe it's time to go blueberry picking and start planning for apple season.