More snow in PA than ME - what!?

We arrived at my parents house just after midnight Friday night - an hour later it started snowing, and it snowed, and snowed, and snowed... 18 inches total.  So from green grass to everything white, all at once - it looks like we're definitely on for a white Christmas!
My mom and dad, MG and Vovo to Wynn, are having a blast seeing their first granddaughter crawl, bounce, "talk", and make silly faces.  They still have the highchair that began it's useful journey in Brasil with me, found more use on Long Island with Thais, and now once again had the dust blown off for Wynn to use.

Wynn and I suited up and headed out into the storm to find Momma Laura, we met her shortly after venturing out.  The snow was falling fast but the temperature was a down right balmy 29 degrees compared to the single digit temps we left behind in Orono.

We had a packed car on the way down, something that I'm not proud of..., but needless to say Wynn is very happy we brought her bouncy bounce chair with us.

The sun is coming up, should be a beautiful day here, maybe do some skiing and certainly will be spending a substantial amount of time finishing a 20 page final paper due tomorrow!!!  Got to love procrastination.

Winter is here :)

It's been some time since the last post, sorry about that.  Been really busy with grading, finals, and work in general - it's just that time of the year when everything has to come together at the end of the semester.  I must have listened to a track by Calvin Harris nearly 100 times in a row over a 6 hour period that I crammed in something I smartly had procrastinated - It's a strange video, but I had it playing in the background and the music kept me going (along with some slices from a giant 3 inch thick chocolate chip cookie that Randy had baked!).

In the last 18 days we've passed through some really dynamic weather patterns: From pouring rain with seasonal temps to sunny and 65 degrees (wow!), and now to having a foot of snow on the ground and single digits!  Here's a photo summary of events that have taken place since mid November:

Basil is a different sort of cat, the kind that thinks he's a dog :)  He goes on regular walks around town with us - we're all lounging by the river on a beautiful fall afternoon here.

Wynn totally loves swinging.  We never did get around to getting our own swing for the backyard so we end up at the town playground all the time.

Down at the library - That's such a cool rocking chair you're in Wynn!

Wynn has been experimenting with some really progressive hairstyles lately.

Randy and I found enough time to squeeze in a really fun ride on the tandem, I really do feel that this kind of bike is underrated - plus having Randy on the back really gave us some boost - that boy can crank!

And then just like that fall ended and winter arrived laying down a beautiful coating of white puff.  It wasn't too cold though (not yet...) so we headed out for our morning walk.

Cutting baby nails is NOT easy - imagine cutting a piece of paper that was bouncing and moving everywhere, oh and you have to stay right on the line or else you end up with a boo-boo.

The snow also didn't stop us from heading out on the bike so that I could get to my last thesis committee meeting of the year.  It went well and the riding was fun - though I think it would have gone easier if the trailer was on sleds instead of wheels!

Here's a few shots of the sunset from my office window.  It had just finished snowing and sun seemed to have extra shimmer.

We celebrated Grammy Leighton's birthday and Wynn really enjoyed ripping all the wrapping paper.

We went for a sled ride around the house, though I think Wynn was too sleepy to really appreciate it.  The hens were out enjoying the warming sun too - they've been leaving 1 egg for us every other day or so, which isn't too bad considering the lack of daylight this time of year.  The smallish size of the eggs is really apparent when Wynn holds them!

 

And we've been drying up apples to give away as gifts - so far we've sliced and dried over 20 apples, which may sound like a lot but doesn't amount to much once the water has evaporated off.

 

And this morning it was cold (that is a 2.8, not 28!!).

 

We're packing up and starting our trek to Pennsylvania this evening - looking forward to seeing lot's of family and friends :)

Clue: Master Detective

We've been up in Lincoln for the last few days, which has been very enjoyable.  Originally Randy and I are were planning on a traverse of Bigelow Mountain, which is in the Rangeley area of Maine.  However the winds were gusting above 100mph and about 18" of snow ended up falling at upper elevations.  So, that idea was smartly scrapped in favor of spending more time with our families :)
Not going on a backpacking trip also allowed me to get out on some wonderful road rides up in the Lincoln area.  Unlike Orono, Lincoln is quite hilly, has more dirt roads, more lakes & rivers, and way more dinosaurs - all of which provide a more enjoyable riding experience.

It rained during all of yesterday's ride, but being clad in Gore-Tex from head to toe kept me comfortable.  Today's ride was another wet one and the Gore was unfortunately no match for the incredible head wind that I (as luck have it) battled the entire way back to the house.

I was damp, cold, hungry, exhausted... and happy!  I'm so glad I met the bicycle.  The one I've been riding lately I've had since I was 17 (the frame at least) - it unfortunately has a very nasty crack growing in a rather critical area...

Thanksgiving this year was impressive: 42 people all in the same small house of Laura's grandparents!  They have a 2.5 car insulated garage with a wood stove (not that we needed it with that many warm bodies) that had been converted into a banquet hall.  The food was for the most part potluck: we contributed roasted carrots, which originated in our backyard.

For desert there were 20 pies, several bowls of cookies, and 1 amazing pot of gingerbread pudding (with no less than 6 sticks of butter!).  Randy, Heather and Grayson (bringers of the much loved pudding) were thankfully in attendance and we all enjoyed a wonderful, and necessary, walk between the main course and desert. 

This was also a Thanksgiving that Mandy, Todd, Samuel and Jeremiah were up North with us (they, like us, alternate families with holidays).  Samuel is one of the most intelligent 4 year old I have ever met.  He must have created 1/2 a dozen solar systems out of construction paper, knows the order and name of all the planets in our solar system, can recite several of the planet's diameters, is familiar with the size and formal names of a dozen different stars (some of which I had never heard, could not pronounce, and cannot even remember now), and after this weekend also understands how the electromagnetic spectrum helps determine the temperature of the star - wow!!  Jeremiah is now walking and has grown into quite the dancer, I only wish I had a video to post of him getting down to some big band music that Sheila was playing!  He doesn't know many words yet but he's rather fond of a certain orange giant star called "Pollux" that he no doubt learned about from his brother.  Here the three of us were watching a video about Pollux and some other great stars presented in scale against Earth and the other planets we're familiar with - the perspective is incredible.

When Samuel isn't studying astrophysics he enjoys (understatement) playing with Wynn, which naturally takes a hand full of work off the shoulders of Laura and I.

Last night Todd, Mandy, Laura and I played a game of Clue, which I had never played before.  I think I was just getting the knack of it when Mandy accused Mrs. Peach of murdering the victim using poison in the studio!  So much for my future as a private eye!

Perhaps it's after this weekend and the endless mouth watering treats that constantly surrounded us that Laura and I now feel compelled to go without refined sugars for at least the next two weeks to see if we might feel better (not that we aren't already feeling great).  For starters, this means that we will no longer be allowed to eat an entire pan of brownies in under 24 hrs (I took the 2nd photo below shortly before polishing off the rest of them - they were good!). 

Instead we will have to "make do" with maple syrup, agave nectar, honey, and other sweet things like homemade fruit leather, which Wynn thought was pretty cool!

Cider and Fun

It's been a busy week, haven't had time to post until now: 6 o'clock Saturday morning... I woke up (like nearly every morning) around 5 to let Basil (aka, King of all creatures) out of the house and into his wild domain.  Morning is a stressful time for him as he only marginally succeeds in defending our house from all the other creatures in our neighborhood - we are sooo thankful for his devotion!
Wynn is just beginning to coo, I can hear her on the baby monitor, and Laura is getting a few last seconds of shuteye before I wake her so she can prep and leave for work.  Bottom line, this blog post is about to be paused :)
OK, it's now 20 minutes before noon, Wynn is napping, and I'm having some lunch.  We had a terrific morning that included awesome weather, visiting the Stahley's, strolling downtown to the farmers market and saying hi to many neighbors and friends along the way.

Early this week we gathered up a basket of our apples and headed over to Farlin and Bess's to make cider.  Wynn was integral in making sure no little wormies would accidentally make it into the juice (actually, all the worms are long gone by now, guess we'll have to get our protein elsewhere).

The press is many many years old, I don't remember the exact age.  Farlin bought it from a local farmer he works for and after some repair and replacements it is now producing amazing cider!  The apple tree truly is the giving tree.

Even Wynn tried a bit, and she seemed to like it!  She is however still trying to get the hang of drinking from a non-sippy cup.  We took home a gallon that we are thoroughly enjoying.  Farlin has made over 50 gallons - much of which is in the process of becoming hard cider.  It's the little things that make the cold long winters not only bearable but tasty :)

We were also pleasantly surprised by a "save the date" card from our friends in Philly.  This was no normal run of the mill s.t.d. though, it was an amazing s.t.d.!  Look closely at the photo below and you will know what I mean.  Joe is wearing his Drexel kit, Caitlin her Tufts kit, and both are rolling through the country side on a tandem.  We are of course excited and definitely saving the date!

With Wynn suited up, and now full from Joe & Caitlin's edible card, we headed off into the land trust to help Mike finish a bog bridge and enjoy a late fall hike.  We started work on the bridge this past weekend and it looks like it's ready to go now.  It spans an area that is an otherwise terrific mountain bike trail, one that I have often avoided due to the overwhelming muck.  But not any more!

This area of the state is generally quite boggy, which doesn't exactly aid trail building, but does however add an immense amount of beauty.

One of the most enjoyable factors about living in this area is the incredible accessibility to things we love.  Like trails, rivers, stores, potlucks, the library, swings, and our CSA.  The summer days of regular pick ups are now over, but a small amount of excellent food is still ripe for the picking, and it's just a pleasant bike ride away.  We picked up some kale, potatoes, and leeks.  

Well you might guess what we enjoyed that evening: Potato leek soup (with fresh bread of course).  Wynn was amazing, she ate some banana, apple, rice puffs... and was happy and wonderful.  It was an amazing date-like-dinner, even better because our daughter was with us.

Part of being a parent, wait not part, I should say being a parent involves a 100 and 10 percent effort in keeping the little one happy - anything to avoid, as my sister-in-law calls it, IBS: insane baby syndrome, which of course leads to IDS or IMS!  So we take Wynn for walks, rides, strolls, swings, give her rides on my shoulders, garden with her, cook with her, give her baths, feed her, feed her something different, look for something else to feed her since she's learning how to be picky, and sometimes put her in the sink in front of the mirror.

These might all seem like tiring, non-stop chores, which is exactly right!  But this chore grows everyday and puts warm wonderful feelings into our hearts.  I've never been so happy.

Toasty basement = Toasty house :)

This will probably read sporadically as I'm going to combine a few days together, bear with me!

Laura recently found an old Lord of the Rings-ish shawl that her mom and her made many years ago.  It works great in keeping her and BW warm and cozy together.  Now all she needs is the elven brooch!

BW has been eating mushed up bananas for a few weeks now.  But it's only recently that she get to do the mushing herself.  She eats about 1 banana a day - a little for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Ymmmm.  As you might guess it gets pretty messy but she loves it :)

A month or two ago Laura and Aimee were interviewed as part of a story that just aired on the evening news here this week.  Even Wynn made it into the footage.  The story, concerning Empty Arms, will hopefully allow others who have lived through a loss find a group to share their emotions.

The most recent and exciting event for us is that we will no longer have a cold, drafty basement!  Early in the year we had a home energy efficiency test done.  One of the things found during the test was that the basement was as drafty as a wide open window!  The foundation walls are beautiful, 120 years old, and until just recently full of holes.  So yesterday we had some folks come out and sprayfoam the walls.  We've lost some of that old basement charm, but the entire house is already feeling tighter and warmer.  This will be especially evident in another month or two when the temperatures start dipping into the double negatives - yikes!

We enjoyed a day at home all together today.  I had originally planned on heading into the office to get some work done, but it was so nice just to stay home and be with my two beautiful girls.  I hung out with Wynn in the morning, went for a little stroll, enjoyed the thawing of the heavy frost that only happens early in the day, and fed the chickens.  Can you find Wynn in the photo below???

I was able to work at writing my thesis later in the day and BW got to play with her mommy.

The three of us headed over to the university library to find a journal article from 1983, old enough that it wasn't available electronically.  The periodical stacks at the library are amazing - 4 floors of wall to wall, floor to ceiling journals!  And the stairwells are as no wider than our kitchen sink and built like a bomb shelter.  I have a new appreciation for the level of organization that library's have!

The sunset was incredible as we headed over to have dinner with Randy, Heather, and Grayson - we enjoyed pumpkin soup (made with our own pumpkins and onions :) and a turkey sausage, potato hash that Randy deliciously fried up.  Did I mention the pumpkin pie for desert!  Randy made it with whole wheat crust, it was great!!

A great Friday and Friday night, 9:49 pm and Laura & I are cozy on the sofa in front of the hot wood stove.

The chickens are in!

We finally got the coop done, the garden prepped, and the chickens moved in yesterday.  We made some modifications to the inside so that the nesting area would be at a higher level then the "hanging out" area - this way the eggs will stay cleaner and will also allow for a thick layer of bedding where the hens are sure to make more poo.  It looks darn fancy with the that high-dollar linoleum "wood" floor!

Wynn helped level and measure out the hole we cut into the fence that will allow the hens to travel between coop and garden.

And James, Jenny and Mike all helped transfer the chickens and welcome them to their new home.

So the girls should now stay warm and cozy during the frosty nights we've started having.
We also picked up another order of peanuts, 30 lbs to be exact.  Wynn was pretty stoked, though she will unfortunately not know what they taste like for a couple more years :(  The peanuts will be enjoyed in granola, bread, stir fries, and with chocolate cookies - and I guess that Wynn will ultimately enjoy them too in the form of breast milk from mommy :)

That thought kept her happy through her bath and in her dreams.  She is such a silly dilly bean!

Woke up this morning with 4 fresh loaves of bread cooled and ready to share and eat.  One will go to Laura's dad, one to our neighbor who has generously lent us an incredible amount of tools and heavy equipment, one will go into our freezer, and the 4th I am currently already eating - ymmmm!

It's been a good day - started off with Laura, Wynn and sunshine.  I even snuck a short cross ride in on the commute into school, it's amazing how a little exercise can awaken the mind and body.  I've finished grading the giant stack of physics labs on my desk, started some reading for class and am now looking forward to heading home and being with my family, hopefully we can go for an evening stroll while we still have our indian-summer weather.