winter biking again...

Here is the current winter ride. Trek 950 mtn bike with road bars. Had it powder coated this spring so it wouldn't fall apart from rust. Nokian studs and fenders. Tons of winter fun with the dog runnnning behind!

wet day salamander play...

Rainy day today. Cleaned up a few odds and ends. Did some estimating. Cleaned some clothes. Then I saw this little guy on our road. He was out for a very leisurely stroll. A very cooperative subject.

bikation and causation...

Saturday in Burlington biking. We met up with Mike http://littlecircles.blogspot.com/2008/10/cut-via-bakfiets.html and Eva for a fun little ride out on the causeway in Burlington. Later Michelle and Jen and the rest of us met up for some food at Stone Soup in Burlington. Now Michelle and I are all set for our big city experience for a while. Since we are accustomed to the sensory experience of a dirt road and the woods it seemed like a lot of sensory input even to be in a small city on a Saturday evening. Funny, huh? It was lots of fun, Keenan was totally wired and stimulated.

wild foods hike...

apples which were made into applesauce

Rosehips which were made into rosehip syrup, full of vitamin C. Yesterday Michelle and Keenan and I hiked up bald hill. The fall colors were amazing. We gathered wild apples for applesauce, rosehips and hawthorn berries for medicinal syrups on the way. It seemed as if our rainy weather was great for the wild foods if not for our gardens. I have never seen rosehips quite as bright and bursting as these. The Hawthorn trees were so full of berries that you could pull them off in giant clusters! It has also been an amazing mushroom year. Michelle made the food and syrups from them.

fall harvest...

The garden has been put to bed for the winter. Michelle and Keenan harvested the pumpkins and put everything in the compost bin. Keenan informed us that this is the mama pumpkin, papa pumpkin and baby pumpkin.

lunar observations from Maple Hill...

Barn's burnt down

Now I can see the moon.

-Mizuta Masahide

summer updates...

It has been a good and busy summer. The boy is getting big big bigger. Gardens are beginning. The new work situation has worked out well. Spending time riding the bike and in the woods and training the dog. Also check out what Michelle has been doing as extra summer work...http://gardensforlearning.blogspot.com/

The young artist at work en plein air.

Work in progress. A partial octagonal deck, partially complete.

A variety, if not a quantity of heirloom tomatoes, finally.

There were bazillions of mushrooms in our woods this summer with all of the rain.

Flowers from our wildflower garden.

early...

Some pictures from my morning bike rides and walks with the dog. Looking across the road from our driveway above and looking across the hills from the other side of the field later in the morning. This summer I have had more time in the morning since I no longer have a long commute. I have been going out with the ten month old dog. I also have time to spend with the family and cook breakfast instead of being gone before they wake up.

emergence...

It has been a busy late winter and spring. New job closer to home with less driving. Carpentry and remodeling. New big garden. Busy outdoors springtime with 2 year old son and 7 month old dog. Not many posts lately because we have been so busy and our internet connection so slow.