Sunday - Day 8 in Vermont

Yesterday was full to the brim!  First a trip into Morrisville to the Farmer's Market held each Saturday morning.  Beautiful, wonderful tasting grass-fed ground beef - we tried last night and both agreed we had never tasted ground beef quite so good!  Fresh cucumbers, tomatoes (three varieties), corn, and delightful sweets - one a blend of coconut, chocolate chips, walnuts, butter, flour and of course, maple syrup!  And zucchini bread that is super good!
I will be sure to return on Saturday for more good food - and sweets.  There is even a chair-massage person at work there which I intend to try.
Then a trip to Johnson Woolen Mills factory store in Johnson, VT.  Fortunately I had checked it out on line before the trip so the prices were not so much of a shock!  At any rate, I did buy some woolen pot holders, but may succumb and return for a pair of somewhat less expensive flannel pants.  They manufacture and sell both flannel and woolen wear.  Truly beautiful clothes and etc.
Late afternoon found us being taken on a pontoon boat ride all around Lake Elmore.  Joe and Flo, Ciccolo, our landlords, are very thoughtful and kind to us as they were last year.
So the day was full and today is to be a quiet one.
Photos tomorrow.

Saturday, Day 7 in Vermont

Bob and Ruth Woodside's view from dining room

We helped Ruth celebrate her 81st birthday Wednesday evening by joining her and Bob for a delicious supper prepared by Ruth.  For 50 years or more they have lived right beside his work - running the hydroelectric generator for the local town.  All of the equipment is underneath their home!  The roar of the falls is mesmerizing.  I can only imagine how beautiful their surroundings are in the winter snows.

Maple Woods Farm Pizza

Last evening we shared this pizza with Breck and then to Stowe for "Mission Impossible" movie.  All of the ingredients of the pizza were produced on a local farm and prepared at the Elmore General Store which is truly a general store - everything from gourmet pizza (beets, zucchini, basil, sweet potato, tomato, etc.) without cheese!  Absolutely scrumptious (my opinion, not Frank's)  - general store in the sense of providing everything from pizza to locally hand made earrings and the post office

Day 6 in Vermont - Doing Nothing Yesterday

Great Room in Maple Lodge

Yesterday was a day of "do nothing."  We did leave the lodge about noon for a quick drive into Morrisville, about 5 miles, to pick up some supplies.  Otherwise the entire day was spent here just being.  I did again repeat my morning yoga routine but still haven't begun my leg strength exercises or formal meditation.  In fact, most of the time here is spent on the deck or two outside porches and picnic table out back watching the clouds move across Mt. Elmore and the sugar maples moving in the wind.  We did walk over to the lot next door where our cottage from last year was torn down and now they are building a new one.  Lots of truck loads of cement, gravel, etc. and workmen have nearly completed the basement and basic foundation for the garage and house.
I knitted about ten inches more on the poncho I'm making from leftover yarns.  Still have about 15 or 20 inches more to go before beginning another one.
We played solitaire for hours - me with cards I purchased in Ireland many years ago when I first began blogging - while Frank plays two-suit solitaire on the laptop.
We ended the day with a Glenn Ford cowboy show of cattlemen vs. sheepmen that ended with an agreement to live together and share the water and range.  And, of course, the two main characters rode off into the sunset with their women.
All in all, it was a day worth repeating often - I just wish I could learn to "do nothing" at home!

Day 4 in Vermont - I am.

Well, I have just spent the last two hours changing passwords and sending chat notes and so forth in order to get to this site and write a few thoughts.  First, I'm getting a cup of coffee and blowing off a bit of steam.  How I HATE having to communicate with the unknown actors who never say anything but simply send cryptic notes!  How I wish I had one of my granddaughters living with me.  But, they don't so I suffer.
At any rate, what I intended doing this morning was sharing a quote from my favorite "read" right now, and for the past several months.  So here it is: (my underlines)
Like all the great spiritual Masters, Jesus taught one thing only: presence.  Ultimate reality, the luminous, compassionate intelligence of the universe, is not somewhere else, in some heaven light-years away.  It didn't manifest itself any more fully to Abraham or Moses than to us, nor will it be any more present to some Messiah at the far end of time.  It is always right here, right now.  That is what the Bible means when it says that God's true name is I am.    Source:  Stephen Mitchell, The Gospel According to Jesus, p. 10.
Somehow all of this relates to our concentration on mindfulness and "the power of now", listening, paying attention, etc.  Becoming awake and aware.  But, in addition, I FINALLY understand the words "I AM."   Thank you, Stephen Mitchell.
Tomorrow I'll go back to more photos and chatting.  I promise!

Day 3 in Vermont

Somehow I cannot figure out how to eliminate the 

underline!  

Anyway, first photo is view from front deck  looking at Mt. Elmore in the distance with the lake between the mountain and the trees across the street.  This is where I do my morning yoga.The second photo is the deck looking toward the sugar maples that surround our place.    All is well, except for my difficulty relearning how to use my blog!   Can't get rid of the blue either!

I give up!  I'll do better tomorrow maybe.

Grandchildren Update

Here's a photo I've been wanting to share - taken July 4 at Hilton Head while on family vacation.
My grandchildren Walker and Jack, Sydney, Sam, and Kelsey.  What a joyful time we always have together  wherever we are!

In Vermont - Day 2

A bit of trouble connecting to the internet here - just like at home!  Anyway, we arrived Saturday evening after a lovely night with friend Harriet and her daughter Libby in Delmar (near Albany NY). A delightful meal of scallops at Libby's restaurant and fun connecting up with friend of more than 50 years!  That's one of the benefits of making this trip each year in August.  Weather here is same as in SC but hopefully will cool off soon.
The trip was much better in my new Highlander than in the 13-year-old 4-Runner.  Much fun learning all the high-tech attributes of the new vehicle.
Our house this year is a new one built almost entirely by the owners over a two-year period.  I'll add photos as time goes by - assuming this post works.
Well, this one from last year worked!  We'll be checking in at the airport today to set up time for us to soar again.