Brewster Meadows

August 31

Simply spectacular!
Another outstanding day after the clouds burned off this morning. I went out to the garden and I guess I'll be doing some cooking, canning or baking tonight...
Mmmmmm Mmmmmm Good
Did someone say, Ratatouille?

It’s been a while since the last entry. We’ve had company and worked on projects. Every now and then there has been a fantastic view of Mt. Mansfield and we always count our blessings as we look through either the loft or office window and admire the ever changing piece of art work.

We have been keeping an eye on the garden, making sure that we don’t’ lose our crops to either deer or raccoons. The good news is – so far so good. We've been enjoying zuchinni, egg plant, lettuce, carrots and tomatoes. Deborah goes out in the evening and sprinkles the corn silk with cayenne pepper and of course there are the motion sensor sprinklers. We should be enjoying corn soon.

One exciting develoment is that we made our first turn of our compost from the first bin into the second bin. We were really unsure of whether or not the composting system was working, but after the first layer of uncomposted material, we immediately got to a beautiful layer of developing "black gold!" Next spring the contents of bin two will be turned into bin three and used in our garden for next summer's crops. We are very excited about how well the system is working. All the non-harested material from our garden this fall will get ground up and put into the bins as well. We are well on our way to a sustaining organic garden.

The other day we noticed a new visitor to the meadow. In the past we’ve seen lots of doe, a deer a female deer. BUT check out this little guy. He’s just a youngster sprouting his first antlers. I guess this means that we will continue to have little “bambi’s” cavorting in the meadow.

Big news on the BIG PROJECT!!! While Deborah got the fun job of using the lift to measure, nail, paint trim and touch up the stain on the siding, Ruthanne did the heavy brain work of planning how to use our remaining siding pieces and cut to measure. The angles required extra care. Ruthanne ended up with just a few feet of siding left over and a great sense of satisfaction. The siding on the barn is now done.

We encountered lots of hurdles with the lift on this very last stage of construction.
1. We picked the Genie Lift up Saturday morning at 8am.
2. The lift stopped working Saturday afternoon.
3. Big Big Rainstorm Saturday afternoon
A Sense of Accomplishment
4. Lift still not working on Sunday
5. Back to the rental place Monday morning, where the lift worked just fine.
6. Back to the barn where the lift didn’t work.
7. Someone from the rental place made a housecall and the lift worked just fine!
8. We finished the siding on the barn! Amen! Allelulia!!!

So what do we do with our spare time… See for your self. We have been talking about getting kayaks for several years and finally decided that the time had come. We discovered the Green River Reservoir about 45 minutes from our house. We've gone twice and each time not only heard but actually saw several loons. A sign indicated that this is a loon nesting area. Power boats are prohibited, so there are only kayaks and canoes, and an occassional swimmer. The reservoir should be gorgous during the leaf peeper season – which is coming all to soon.
There are still a few project to complete: Filling the wood shed, some cabinetry around the pump/filter for the hot tub, canning tomatoes when they come in, but for the moment, we decided to reward ourselves…

Beginning to finish the frontCONTINUED PROGRESS!!!
Checking progress from the window
What a great several days. We have had company from Alaska and she has been a great help participating in the barn project as well as other projects on “the list”. As in the last report, we had sided as high as we could with the ladders and scaffolding. Wednesday we rented a “cherry picker” from the local Farm and Garden Store and were able to finish the front! While Deborah manuevered around on the front of the building, Ruthanne was kept busy cutting the siding to fit. Jeanine cleared the back of the barn with the brush cutter in case we got that far.
Tricky angle cuts!As we progressed further and further up the front of the barn, Deborah dabbed paint over the nail heads. We had prepainted the siding, so we could install in one shot, but we didn't want the nail heads to show.
Finishing touches
Last piece!The last piece was nailed into place at about 4:45 pm. What a team!(There is still a strip of painting the remains on the list.) Another day, we will rent the "carnival ride" again and repeat the process on the back. We can't see it from the front but it is "on the list"!

The garden continues to grow frenetically!!! I guess I over did the lettuce and some has bolted, but the good news is there is still plenty of time for a second crop. Starting lettuce in flats has appeared on “the list”. We have all kinds of zucchini and have tried several great recipes. We have also taken “extras” down to the food shelf.

Charlie Brown watching this one...
The pumpkins are making a break for the field!!!

Just a little progress report. We are well into July and company for our summer season. Carla and Mark, dear friends from Fairbanks were here for several days and we did the tourist route as well as some projects around the house.

run-ins with roof and sidingThe ga/barn run-ins are finally done – roof and siding above. There still remains the siding of the back, as well as the painting of the whole thing. The to-do list continues to have a life of its own.

Deborah worked on painting the garden shed all day yesterday and her perseverance paid off as we now have a green garden shed.
Before
and after!We still have to paint the trim to match the main color of the house and ga/barn. It’s on the living and breathing to-do list.

The garden continues to grow. All right, so I went a little over board with the lettuce, however, we did have a stir fry last night with zuchinni and broccoli from the garden.
From the garden The fresh lettuce is great although we can’t quite eat it fast enough and try to give it away ever chance we get. The pumpkins and squash seem to be taking over and making their way out into the lawn. No melons, but there are Hubbard, and Spaghetti squash. The Roma tomato bed is thick with lots of blossoms, so we are hoping for lots of tomatoes to can. That bed really needs to be staked up. It’s on the to-do list, as well as the weeding along the garden paths. Still hoping for eggplant and peppers and cabbage and cauliflower and beans and corn! Stay tuned…

Theme of Brewster Meadows
The sign says is all! Work is well underway on the siding. We do take occasional breaks to work on other projects. Today we planted roses by the hot tub, cleaned out the garage (the car now fits – it’s a small car) and completed some long standing projects. But we continue to work on the barn. Deborah painted all the trim green on the run-ins so that when the guys come next week to install the roofs, all will be ready for them. We do want to paint the siding that they will install above the run-ins. That may be tomorrow’s side project!

But the big progress our siding the barn. The west and east walls are complete to where we can work. The front is slowly but surly getting there.
Reaching new heights!!!We even bought a taller ladder so we could reach higher. There is still the North side (back side) and the two peaks.

Then we will rent some scaffolding and get it finished! If there is anybody out there who may want to come help paint or help put up siding, give us a call. We'd be more than happy to schedule you in!
NOW FOR THE SCAFFOLDINGHelping us paint is on a first come first serve basis! Any takers?

As an aside, after moving the shed, “the inspector” had to check it out. He gave it his seal of approval by sitting in the doorway and enjoying the view!

This shed is just fine!