Down on the Farm

Long time, no post

Sorry about the light posting lately. I have been sick this week, and back at work full time, and I inadvertently left our camera on our friend Lori's porch in Boston last weekend, etc., etc. So here is a recap of the week (or two) in action:

1. Dee

Maryellen's Mom was up last week for the whole week and I cannot tell you how much it helped having her here. She brought tons of food with her, and then just jumped in with both feet, doing chores, and helping us figure out how to parent little Wavo. Especially because last week was the first week I tried to go back to work full time. All three of us owe her a big, big thanks!!!!!!!! Thanks Dee!!!!!!!!!

2. Waverly update

Sorry, no pictures. [See above -- the camera is currently en route from Boston to VT.] But she is growing and doing great. She is starting to hold her head up and smile, and she is starting to want to be put down occasionally so she can have her own little adventures. I cannot adequately express what a trip parenthood is, so I won't even try. But she is a doll, and we are both exhausted and totally smitten.

3. Northern lights

There was some wacko sunspot-electrical vibe going on across the planet for the last few days (if I weren't so lazy (or tired) right now I could find a link) (actually, here is a link), and the result was some brilliant northern lights last night. Blues, and greens, and reds, and whites, and purples shimmered down from a central spot directly overhead. Maryellen, Wavo, and I drove up to the top of the vegetable fields and just parked up there for a while, soaking it all in. As Maryellen likes to point out, the winters can be long up here, but there is a lot of natural beauty and wonder that helps make up for the hibernation season.

4. The farm

I am starting to develop winter plans, including building a washing/packing station in the barn, building another hoophouse, catching up on record keeping, and doing some farm planning with the help of my friend Richard.

I am also hoping to get to the end-of-the-season farm equipment auction tomorrow at Gray's Auction in East Thetford, VT. On the shopping list: a three point tool bar (with cultivators would be nice), a brush hog, and possibly a post hole digger. Maryellen said she and the baby might come, which would be great -- a big family adventure. Maryellen likes the scene at Gray's, but I half-suspect she figures she should also go to keep an eye on me and make sure I don't get carried away and buy a $10,000 bulldozer, or four half broken chainsaws, or something else that is big and powerful and noisy that we don't really need. I'll let you know if we get anything.

We report, you decide

More than one person has mentioned that they think Waverly looks a little like Don Zimmer, who is 70+ years old and has spent over 50 in professional baseball (most recently as a coach for the New York Yankees). Your vote?

Nothing to do with farming

I kind of like this song. It makes me think of my friend Eric G. for some reason.

[N.B: Instead of burdening Mark's server with the mpeg here, I am sending you to another site. Just hit "play" in the middle of the page.]

Snow snow snow

We ended up closer to the 1 inch end of the forecast spectrum, rather than the 4 inch end. Still, the first snow of the season is kind of exciting. And it comes a quick six months after the last snow of last year. Ahhh, Vermont!

Blog layout

Here is the blog layout of the day (or night actually). Scroll all the way to the bottom for the goodies.

Old Shaw weather cam

Looking out from the porch to the barn after lunch. We are supposed to get 1 to 4 inches this afternoon.

Site overhaul

When my friend Mark was here last weekend, he shamed me into spending a little time sprucing up the site. This is my first attempt, and there will be more to come over the next few weeks.

I do need some help, however. I work in Netscape, and the site looks fine to me. But when I switch over to Internet Explorer, the right margin expands off the screen, and you have to scroll over to finish your sentence. Anyone have any idea why this is? Go easy on me if it is obvious -- I am new at this web page development stuff.

Can you ever eat too much salty pork?

Our friends Mark and Tamara came to visit this weekend. I have known these two for 15 or 16 years. If you recall, Mark is the genius who is responsible for pushing us off the cliff into the oozing pit of the blogosphere.

Here is me and Mark and Waverly hiking in the woods. You can make up your own caption. I just like Mark's blaze orange hunting vest. I made him wear it since it is bow hunting season now. I, on the other hand, am counting on Waverly's pumpkin hat to save me.

Here is Tam and Waverly. Little Wavo took a shine to Tamara right off the bat. And now she is wondering what we have done with Tam, and whether she might be next.

And we had two big breakfasts, with plenty of pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage. Mmmmmmm . . . sausage. I am tempted to reveal how much bacon the four or us ate this morning, but it is too embarrassing.

Plus, Mark and Tam made us dinner, Tam helped Maryellen with the bees, and Mark worked his magic computer healing powers to resuscitate an old Gateway we had lying around. That machine would still be collecting dust if it weren't for his magic fingers. Thanks you guys!!!

Snow

We were driving back from Montpelier today, and we decided to take a short cut on a dirt road that goes up and over Mack Mountain. As we started going up, there was a strange white substance on the ground. Snow!! And Mack Mountain is not very high, maybe 2000 feet. No snow at our house yet.

Mushroom

Bjorn Borg

Waverly has discovered the Baby Bjorn. (Thanks Martha!!) How did we ever live without it??? Here she is asleep with her Dad playing on the computer. A popular spot for Wavo. In fact, that's where she is as I type!

All of a sudden it feels like winter

Last week we had a beautiful run of weather -- 70 degress and sunny during the day, fall colors at their peak. It was great.

Then, last night a storm blew through, wicked strong winds blew all the leaves off the trees, and now it is in the 40s. Poof! Fall is almost over. Then on the noon time weather report on VPR I overheard the weatherperson say, "Flurries in the Adirondacks this afternoon . . . " Time to dust off the snowshoes!

Go Brett!!

In case anyone out there is interested, my cousin Brett Nowak has signed a 25 game tryout contract with the Providence Bruins, which is the Boston Bruins farm team. Not coincidentally, as soon as Brett signed, the P-Bruins won their first two regular season games. And Brett had two assists!!

I don't know much about hockey, but I know Brett is one hell of an athlete, as well as a genuinely decent person. I tried to play some pick up one-on-one basketball with him a few years ago at our cousin Maggie's wedding, and he completely schooled me, big-time. My little game with Brett made me realize that I wasn't 20 years old anymore, not that I was really that good at basketball when I was 20. But at least back then I would have only been a step and a half behind Brett, instead of like 14 steps behind him. Anyway, Brett was totally not a noob about how lame my game was, which was nice.

Go Brett!!! We here on the farm are rooting for you!!

(Down on the Farm Public Service Announcement -- Next P-Bruins games: Fri. v. Worcester in Prov. RI, and Sat. v. Springfield in MA.)

Sqaush for puppets

We had some errands to do yesterday, so we piled into the car and made a family day of it. We figured we would practice trying to move about the planet as a family, which we are finding is not as simple as it used to be before the baby.

One stop we made was to visit the puppet people, who are, in my humble opinion, probably the ninth or tenth wonder of the world. The Bread and Puppet Theater is a company of puppeteers, who all live on an old farm in Glover, VT, and who put on these grand puppet shows all summer. The shows feature these massive puppets, elaborate choreography, music, and left leaning political themes and metaphors. The Sunday afternoon summer shows take place on this huge hay field, are arranged on a spectacular scale, and feature epic conflicts between good and bad. The Friday night shows take place in the new barn, and are more like a variety show consisting of several skits. All of the work is beautiful, and full of hope and promise. There is also this massive museum and gallery in another barn, showcasing their puppet and graphic design work. Oh, and at the end of each show, the puppeteers serve bread to all the audience members, and everyone eats together, hence, the name.

Anyway, we had a few bushels of winter squash left over from our season, so we decided to drop them off for the puppet people to eat this winter. Despite the fact that all of their performances are free (except for a request for donations), the company is totally self supporting and does not solicit any grants or government funding. But they do depend on literally hundreds of volunteers, neighbors, and friends, who all help support their work. We have immensely enjoyed their shows, so it was nice to give something back.

Plus, as we were leaving, one of the puppet people gave us a loaf of bread.

Sleeping baby

This photo notwithstanding, Waverly is starting to be awake more and more. She sees us better, I think, and she smiles in her sleep, and Peter said that last night she smiled at him!!

Walking

This fall weather has been amazing. This is Peter's brother Geoff, and our niece Lois, out enjoying the leaves and the sunshine.

Thanks

My brother's spouse Sheri and our niece Lois (both pictured in the last entry) have been staying with us since last Saturday. I can't tell you how much it has benefited us to have them around to help with the new baby. Sheri is a really Mommy pro and she has helped us bolster our parenting skills and confidence. She also cooked yummy dinners all week, and her presence enabled me to get back into the field a bit and to take care of some important end of the season work. We want to give a big thanks to Sheri, and to all our friends and relatives that have given their love, time, and support with this little baby.

Like father, like daughter

Indian summer

Sheri and Lois, our sister-in-law and niece, goofing in the grass.

Waverly's faces

Waverly is a very beautiful baby, but she also makes very funny faces, one after the other. We love all of them!

Waverly, Waverly, Waverly

Everyone wants to see baby pictures these days. Which is just as well because the veggie biz is in limbo a little bit. I have only made it to one market since the kid came, and we have had a few hard frosts, so the farm has slowed down a bit. I still have a lot of work to prepare for next year, but apparently people would rather hear about the new baby than the seedling table I am building. So here it goes --

This was a really big weekend because my Dad visited on Saturday and we all went out for breakfast, which was Waverly's first foray out for a meal. Here we are at one or our favorite eateries, the River Run in Plainfield.

And a couple of weeks ago my Mom and Grandma came for a visit and we had four generations all together.

M T

There are days I know exactly how my friend Mark feels.

The "S" word

Snow. Down to 2000 feet elevation tonight. Some accumulation possible. For those of you keeping score at home, we are at about 900 feet. North Danville is almost at 2000 feet. It's a comin'!!