Projects

I've decided that the best way to get things done is to get somebody to help.

Ideally, a professional. Like this guy, an acquaintance of Austin's, who we hired to come with this big lift to paint our barn. Austin and I attempted it ourselves last year with a ladder. This way was much more successful.

Brothers-in-law are also useful. Joel's a biker, and handy with an allen wrench. He helped me reassemble my new (used) treadmill.

Even amateur labor is great to have. Our friend PJ was Tom Sawyered into helping us put up the horse fencing. She was such a good sport. You might not be able to tell from the picture, but it's pouring down rain. It's a tradition around here: as soon as we start fencing, it starts raining.

Kids are usually not very helpful. Especially with painting.

Lucy and Gavin "helped" me reupholster our kitchen chairs by staying out of my way.

They've been doing Yoga on the Wii during a lot of my recent home improvement projects. This is their latest favorite activity.

When yoga fails, all I have to do is find them a creature from the yard. This little orange newt kept them occupied for more than an hour until he finally escaped. Thanks for your help, little guy!

Summer Vacation

I have officially decided to take the next six weeks off. I'm loving being a stay-at-home Mom with the kids. We've been having a great time together and finding plenty to do.

Like hanging out at the swimming pool.

And building awesome Lego ships.


And playing in the river with friends.

The kids' favorite new thing is playing Harry Potter. Gavin may be the first kid ever to discover that you can fly just as well on a mop as on a broom.

They've also been helping me pick raspberries and make raspberry jam. It's a bumper year for berries. Yesterday we picked enough for 10 cups of mash: a batch and a half of jam. Lucy's a great helper because she refuses to eat raspberries but loves to pick them.

Tonight I put up 18 more pints. As Gavin put it, that's probably enough jam to last us until we die. . . and the blackberries haven't even ripened yet.

The Gray Farm

When Sharon was here last week she took lots of beautiful pictures -- these are some of my favorites she took of our Vermont farm.

The huge raspberry patch.


Hollyhocks and the carriage barn.



Footbridge over the "Rio Gray"

Family Falls

Our beach on the Dog River.

Ice House circa 1900, English Hay Barn circa 1840, Dairy Barn circa 1920.

Hand-hewn rafters in the old hay barn.

Chickies in the coop.

Gram & Papa

Austin's parents came this week to hang out with the kids while I was at Girls Camp.

Even though it was the hottest week in Vermont history, they all had a great time and did lots of fun stuff without the parents.

The highlight was the visit to the Shelburne Museum. And the highlight of the Shelburne, as always, was the carousel.


Lucy and Gavin also started swimming lessons at the Northfield Pool this week.



Lucy started at Level 2 but was bumped up to Level 3 the second day. This is her class, with her teacher Alicia. She is excited because her friend Corinne is in her class.

Lucy just loves to run and jump off the diving board. She would happily do this for hours.

Gavin started his very first swimming lessons ever and he's doing great. He insists on wearing his goggles but he's willing to put his face in the water, or do whatever his teacher Shawn wants him to do. He thinks Shawn is SO COOL.

Gavin's first "jump" off the diving board. Assisted by Shawn and Alicia.


In other news . . . Lucy got back from swimming lessons one morning to discover that one of her chickens laid an egg! Our first chicken egg!

Lucy loves her chickens. She won't eat chicken and she won't eat eggs, so they're just fun pets to her. She does a great job taking care of them. As you can see, they love her too!

July Update

We've been busy the past couple of weeks since we returned from our trip to Utah.

I got just a few days to rest before leaving for Dresden, Germany to give a paper at the university there. Dresden is a lovely city. I was especially excited to see this building, the rebuilt Frauenkirche, that was destroyed in the bombing of 1945 and rebuilt a few years ago. I had to give my paper in German, which I was very nervous about, but the paper went very well and more importantly . . .

. . . the shopping went great. These fabulous Lego-guy headlamps were among the prizes I brought home. You push the button on their shirts and the light comes out their feet. Germans make truly interesting toys.

Meanwhile, Lucy finished 2nd grade and got to go to Lotus Lake Camp for two weeks. Here she is with her favorite camp counselor, Alison. Lucy was in the horseback riding program and she did very well -- in fact, she got a special award for being the best horsewoman in her group!


She also did a lot of swimming in Lotus Lake and passed on to the next Red Cross swimming level. Her goal for next summer: to pass the "raft" test so she can go out in the deep water.




And Austin's law office has acquired this six foot tall stuffed black bear as its latest decoration. Austin's law partner Scott accepted it in lieu of payment on a case he did for a taxidermist. (I don't know what's more disturbing: the fact that a client thought it would be a good idea to "pay in bear" or the fact that Scott agreed!) Anyway, attempts to donate the bear to various charitable causes have failed so he now stands in the corner of their office reception room where he can welcome potential clients. (The kind that pay in cash, I hope.)

The taxidermist promised Austin and Scott that the bear had a "non-menacing expression." I think he looks extremely non-threatening, don't you? Especially with that pink daisy between its legs. . .