Brewster Meadows

What a summer this has been. And a long long time in writing and sharing pictures of our life in Vermont.

• What a shoulderAs many of you know, I had my shoulder replacement Trail worksurgery back in April then 6 weeks in a sling, and lots of Physical Therapy later, I really have a wonderfully working shoulder and can sit and type and work and hang clothes and use the power wagon and do all the things that need doing on and around our meadows. Clearing and maintaining trails for skiing and snow-shoeing at Brewster Meadows is an important part of fall activities.

Outdoor KitchenAfter building three work benches, my first “new shoulder” shop project was building a modified bench to sit in the back of the house and function as a cooking prep area and storage for the Dutch ovens and outdoor cooking supplies.My second big project was building a “Jelly Cupboard” for the garage to store all the canned goods.

• The garden was a bit of a challenge this year. Everything came in just fine, but needed the sun to ripen. As a result about a third of the tomatoes stayed green, and were left on the vine one day too long. One frosty morning seemed to be a perfect one for pictures, so Deborah went out and tried to capture the moment to share with all of you. The sun moved slowly across the meadow, burning off the frost and returning the grasses to their fall green. Spider webs shimmered in the sunlight. Eventually we had a hard freeze and that was the end of the garden, however, we were able to salvage some tomatoes that were turned into stewed tomatoes and sauce. The cucumbers were great and we now have about 8 pints of Bread and Butter Pickles out in the garage. We also have Blue Hubbard Squash, Acorn Squash, and Butternut Squash, on the shelves in plastic storage cartons.

"Grim" reaperDeborah tried her hand at growing oats this past summer. BUT, what you sow, so also shall you reap. Here’s the “grim” reaper at work. The plot is too small to buy a tractor attachment and a little too big to do by hand. Right now we have oats in the barn and will take them to “historic days” and let folks try their hand at flailing. We may have our own oatmeal this winter, and then again maybe not?

• Another major project was the garage. We both worked at moving all the “junk” out of the garage, and then insulating it. We were smart enough to hire a crew to sheetrock it, but we were responsible for trimming the windows and painting it. The color scheme matches the house. We installed a new chest freezer for much of our harvest and keep track of its contents with a white board. There are soups and stews as well as strawberries and pumpkin. We had a heater installed to keep the garage temperature just above freezing and now have a place that we can use to store canned goods, and winter squash! We also harvested and froze several pints of corn, and we have plenty of pumpkins, both jack-o-lantern, and pie variety. I may try my hand at either freezing or canning some curried pumpkin soup.

We’ve had plenty of visitors this summer. Bette came and helped with a round of pickling. She took a pint of Bread and Butter Pickles hove with her and rumor has it that she is so proud of that jar of pickles she will never the jar, but uses it as a trophy in her office to shows to whoever wanders by.

• Whose legs are those?Some guests came to work in the shop. With Ruthanne’s guidance, Nancy built a foot stool perfectly designed to fit under her desk. Rumor has it that Nancy takes her footstool with her when she travels to show off what she made at “camp”. It’s the adult version of the popsicle stick hot plate. Some guests helped with the laundry. Others enjoyed the peaceful vista and read and relaxed.

Autumn is just starting here in all its glory with vibrant red and yellow leaves on the trees. Leaf-peepers come from all over to marvel at what we see out our window! But sometimes even we need to get out and enjoy the season. Deborah has been hiking up at Smuggler’s Notch almost every day for the past several weeks. I decided to join her on one of her hikes to enjoy the view. We stayed on the hiking/cross-country ski trails and snow show trails. We were out for about two hours and it was breathtaking, literally and figuratively!

• And in the end there is always a picture that needs no comment.