Surreal Surroundings in Charlotte, Vermont

We live in the middle of high density moose territory. Yesterday Mitch and I walked through it all - someone even has a tent hidden in the brush for animal watching. Not sure who's it it, but I am going to sit in it and watch. After the rain...and after we finish this insane move. The clover patches weave in and out of soft marshes, grassy fields, large tree pockets, underbrush, and forests. It is amazing. I also saw a fisher cat one night and a bobcat ate one of my neighbors chickens. Fishers are scary and chickens are cute, but there is something raw out here in the farmland. Something primal and alive and real. I cannot express how much I love it and how this move is circling the completeness of my life. I am home in my wood nymph paradise. We have wetlands and marshlands right on our fields and roufous-sided towee's are making a nest outside of my office window. I must run off and finish the insanity of making this place my wood nymph paradise, but wanted to share some new pictures before I headed into town and out of the country (sigh).

Woodworking

I have always enjoyed working with wood and the farmhouse move has sealed the deal! Woodworking is now an official added activity to my growing list of hobbies and interests. I have taken almost every piece of old wood furniture Mitch and I own and have brought it to the basement before it even gets to enjoy being in the farmhouse. I have painted a few things, fixed a few things, sanded everything, stained and re-stained some things, and mostly have varnished everything with my new favorite thing in the world - polyurethane.

Here are my Vermont Vibes Woodworking Tips:

1.) Reuse!!!! Buy the old furniture and fix it up! Get some little nails, a staple gun, and a screwdriver and tighten knobs, and sturdy up legs, backings, and other hardware depending on how it is made. I am a big fan of little nails. You may need a saw and some old wood scraps to add support pieces especially to dressers and bookshelves.

2.) Recycle!!! DO NOT go to hardware stores and buy wood unless absolutely necessary (this is more for if you need specific 2 X 4's to secure to wall studs to hang the cabinet stuff). Find jobsite recycling locations and check out places like Recycle North's Building Materials Center. I get everything there - from kitchen cabinets to light fixtures to floorboards.

3.) Rework!!! Determine of the piece of furniture you want to refinish needs paint, stain, or varnish. This is how I do it:
~ If the item is already painted, then I find a cool way to repaint it. I like working with brown paint and sponges to make an antique look of my own. I also like painting in color and then accenting by adding stenciling.
~ If the item is already stained a dark color and is pretty nasty or if the item is unfinished with no stain, varnish, or smoothness to it, I like to stain it with a stain/polyurethane in one. I usually opt for dark colors to hide old flaws and to give it a rich look.
~ If the item is a lighter colored wood and has some dings in it and just looks tired, varnish is the way to go. This is just using a polyurethane (I use oil based, satin) to shine it up and give it new life and a happy wood furniture gleam. This is my favorite!
~ Never paint on wood that isn't already painted - shame on you!

4.) The Process!!! It is a process, so plan ahead! Once you fix up the furniture, clean it with wood cleaner - I often use regular furniture polish. Then you must sand. Get a variety of sandpaper. I use lighter grades that aren't too coarse, although your first sanding should be the coarsest. Sand away as you see fit. I find sanding to be an art with the goal being to make the surface smooth for the staining. Make sure you have brushes that can be used for staining. I keep staining brushes and paint brushes separate. And have oil based paint thinner for when the project is done. If you don't clean brushes right away they are ruined.

5.) Finishing or Continuing??? Unless I am doing a quick fix-it job on adding varnish to an already almost done piece of furniture, I always so a second coat and sometimes a third. The key is to sand lightly between coats so you don't get the bubble look.

I am working on getting some pictures of my actual work, but the moving process is taking over in all life departments right now! But, my furniture is sure looking HOT!!!

Spring Break!

Ok, I have to take a break from moving, talking about moving, and trying to get all the great pictures The Mitch is taking on the camera and figuring which computer is where, is hooked up to what, and where the correct wires are to be able to share with my readers! I think moving home and Vermont public relations firm, Rachel Carter PR, is reason enough to break from blogging, but now that I have a readership and have started creating the Vermont Vibes buzz, I simply cannot stop!

First, thanks to all letting me make the transition from Vibing around Vermont to Vibing around the farm and community of Charlotte. (I don't think Charlotters know what they're in for letting me move to the country.) But with the stupidly horrible prices of gas and everything else, even my fuel efficient Vibe cannot afford to Vibe around Vermont right now. While this is bad news for small Vermont towns who benefit from Vibing escapades, this is excellent news for hardware stores and Vermonters looking to sell stuff.

While the farmhouse pictures lately have been gorgeous, the work plentiful, and my fabulous Vermont hippie farmer outfits sensational (last weekend I went to Ace Hardware dressed as a pirate farmer and got skilled in cementing and brick work), these stories must wait for the photos! So, here are some of the latest tips from the Vermont Viber!

1.) Stay home this summer and work on your house - save money from traveling to find ways to make your home more cost effective in the winter, create a garden to grow your own veggies and corn of course so you can fuel your electric razor while causing food prices to soar because the corn is now too expensive for the farmers. Jeesh.

2.) Stalk Craigs List like a tweeny bopper stalks pimply boys at the mall (EW! - whatever, you know you all did it). I have so far found and bought dry wall, a wooden microwave cart, an office chair, a bamboo cabinet and continue to scour for a futon mattress, a dresser, and an entertainment center.

3.) Wear funny costumes to Ace Hardware and ask lots of questions.

4.) Make sweater sleeves into leg warmers like the Healthy Hippie!

5.) Create a music room or area in your house, collect old instruments, and have friends over for local food, drink, and merriment.

6.) Fix up your older wood furniture. Sanding and staining is one of my best secret house skills! Tips to come soon!

7.) Join your local Front Porch Forum, say hi to your neighbors, and get neighborly! Make some sun tea (tea bags in a growler bottle sitting in the sun all day, add some maple sugar, brown sugar, or raw sugar to sweeten) and invite folks to hang out - you'll be surprised at the positive vibes you spread!! (I plan to do this in the coming weeks, once the wasps nests are gone.)

For everyone's spring enjoyment, here are some of my favorites from over the past few years - love and light!

Sneaky post by the Mitch

Ooooo! It is a rare chance that Rachel is away from her computer, so I am taking this opportunity to speak about my moving experience! As you all know, we have scored a great place in Charlotte. It is definately a change and I am sure it will bring many adventures. I am so excited to move out there with Rachel and start creating some awesome memories. Let me tell ya though, that Rachel, she sure runs her own moving gamet!!! Its been awesome and fun, and has had its share of stresses. I recently discovered that renting a moving truck in the middle of the week is not such a great idea after all. Have any of you out there ever tried that one? Moving tip # 1: Don't rent moving truck for a weekday! Even though this may seem easier than on the weekend, nobody is around. I know, I know, this may be a no brainer, but hey, I learn through the school of hard knocks. Moving tip # 2: When moving with signifigant others, keep in mind that moving is stessful. Attitudes may flare, tempers may soar, and some good old fashion expletives may be thrown your way. But in the end, you are moving with the one person who loves you most and the hot red attitude has nothing to do with you. Alright, one more tip before Rachel gets back: Always appreciate the amount of work that is being done when moving. It is a daunting task and we can be overwhelmed easily. Take it day by day, enjoy the progress, and love your new dwelling! Peace, the Mitch

Weekend Life in the New Hood

The past two weekends Mitch and I have been, MitchaRachia - Housecleaner Extraordinaries. With the help of part time Viber, The Face, we have done the following (I feel in regards to nasty cleaning and repair activities people are allowed to brag without being accused of hubris):
- Moved all nasty old crap that wasn't ours out of the house
- Swept floor, walls, and ceiling of basement (luckily all spiders were still dead from the winter- Organized all tools and supplies and moved in lots of our basement stuff
- Investigated the property and attic spaces and discovered many things to give us permanent heebie jeebies
- Decided The Face needs to move next door

- Cleared away yard crap cluttering our space (I am so anti lawn clutter, it isn't even funny - I think it screams white trash and the wasp in me cannot handle it.)
- Swept all porch floors, walls, and ceilings (note: an entire trash bag could have been filled with the dead wasp, hornet, and yellow jackets nests) and while we only encountered two yellow jackets (probably scouting for places to be gross this summer) the heebie jeebies continued
- Brought cats out to explore new home, saw one mouse, cats ignored- Cleaned all windows which are double sided doors
- Moved rest of basement and porch stuff
- Cleaned entire inside of house from floorboards to behind toilet to inside drawers to under stove. I do not mess around. Mitch was exceptionally good natured about the business and has earned himself a free year of never having to clean the toilet and a lifetime guarantee of never having the position of the toilet seat cover mentioned in his presence.
- Oh, yes, and we used wood filler on all wood counters, sanded them, and stained them with a top coat oil based gloss
- And....we shop vacced flies daily, left a bomb for them, and have en entire shelf dedicated to our arsenal of bug killing supplies and mechanisms.


I was going to then talk about our neighbors and town and whatnot, but I think that will wait for another post. Just re-reading this has exhausted me once again. I also hope my black boogers are gone. Ew.

Goodbye Queen City

I have been wishing upon stars my entire life. For as many that haven't come true, I must say that many have. It ebbs and flows. I think wishing is like many think of talking to a religious figure or speaking to the universal life force in the woods. And it wasn't until I combined the wishing with the universal life force that I was really able to start to manifest my life. While not a religious person, I am deeply spiritual. Forrest Gump sums it up best for me:

"I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze, but I think maybe it's both. Maybe both is happening at the same time."

While I may have wished for things, it wasn't until I was able to connect my wishes with the greater universe and how my wishes affect others when I was really able to begin manifesting my destiny. It's sort of like praying for others - you cannot just wish on behalf of yourself.

I have been making the preparations all along - being studious and like a sponge as a child, being humbled and humiliated as a tween (before they were called tweens), being motivated in my teens, balancing study with party in college, being wild and crazy and free in my 20's while also slowly pushing through the beginning steps of making a career - with much of the time being angry that I couldn't get to the next step...the step of having a partner and making a home and having a fulfilling career. When the wishing got past myself and started involving others, when I was able to look more and more at the larger picture than the right now, and when I had successfully made it through my Saturn Return, it started to happen.

My Vermont public relations agency, Rachel Carter PR, is a fascinating and evolving business lifestyle I created with my wit, perseverance, and all experiences that came before it. The love of my life, Mitch, is a miraculous being who blessed my life at the perfect time and truly made it all worth waiting for. My friends - while many simmering in their own lives on the back burner - are always there with their sweet aromas and like wishes, ebb and flow when our times for each other are manifested. My family, a rock solid backbone of consistent, fair, and unyielding love and support, are the stuff of a fantastic movie. My cats, well, they are the little beasts for which my heart purrs. And my growing crop of business associates - wow! - am I thankful for how much I am learning and the friendships I am making!

With all of this said, I would like to announce that an insurmountable event has occurred! After just about 8 years living in Burlington, I am finally leaving and moving to the country, where my roots are firmly planted in the ground and have been waiting for me to rejoin them for the manifestation of the rest of my life. Mitch, Fee, Tela and myself are moving to Charlotte in the cow pastured and farm dotted countryside neighborhood of Prindle Corners. We are moving into a three story, farmhouse "condo." (if you want further explanation of what this means, you will only learn by coming to visit)

For those outside of Vermont reading this lengthy, yet deeply heartfelt and necessary post, this is only a half hour south of Burlington, so you can still easily drive and fly here, although I am on a dead end dirt road. It is also on 500 acres of farmland with porches, decks, views, the right wind angle to keep the cow poo smell away, and within a 5 minute drive to river canoeing, fishing, hiking, boating, swimming, and all things fun on the southern part of Lake Champlain. There is even a ferry.

My Vermont Vibes will now take a turn. As I will not be traveling all over Vermont as much this summer, I will be fulfilling my destiny as a true Vermonter and will be sharing my humorous tales of bug killing, Fee and Tela mouse adventures, gardening, composting, weeding, canoeing, fishing, old house fixing up tips, being a localvore, and becoming a bustling little member of a community, oh, and hopefully becoming friends with people with boats so I can tell the tales of searching for Champ (he's the Lake Champlain lake monster and I am pretty sure he lives in this part of Lake Champlain.) Oh, and don't forget about the ghost stories - those have already begun!

There will be much more on our new home which has been named: MitchaRachia where "in the farmhouse things will be alright." (Thanks Trey.) But, for now, please enjoy the first set of pictures (taken on measuring day)! And for those who want to keep updated, please subscribe - posts are weekly!!!










Love and Light!!!

Sunday Vibing

I took my own advice from my last post and did indeed make my way to Cafe Provence in Brandon for Easter brunch. What a cool place! I first noticed was how much light there was and how amicably decorated it was to take advantage of all the light. And the brunch was just as I envisioned. No eggs benedict - my favorite - but no complaining because I tried new items to tantalize my tastebuds - shrimp puffs, seafood salad, and delicate ham and salmon bits. I enjoyed old friends as well such as scalloped potatoes and pate!!! Mitch was quite grossed out by my liking pate, but even more distressed by the seafood salad - there were octopus bits in it! For fun, I rested one on the side of my plate to stare at him most of the meal. I think the waitress thought we were strange, but she was super nice anyway!

After brunch we decided to take a walk in downtown Brandon and enjoy some of the third installment of Art in the Snow, a creative way to get folks to enjoy this artsy town when cabin fever strikes. A little too artsy for us hippies, but we enjoyed getting cultured in a small Vermont town. We browsed in 4 Conant Interiors - talk about uberly swanky!!! Great interior art/furniture pieces for you Vermont second home owners. Great ideas for us Gen Xers to recreate while second hand shopping. Then we headed into the Brandon Artists Guild and greatly enjoyed the varied paintings and wall art by Vermont artists. I was psyched to see pal Kimberlee Forney's work being highlighted and got really interested in Mike Mayone's paintings - I think I need some!

While the sun was glorious this Easter Sunday, it was windy and cold, so we parted ways with Brandon and vibed back north on backroads of course through the Green Mountain National Forest. We couldn't see any signs of spring yet, but for some reason our skiing vibes are diminishing and our spring life vibes are clawing to get out from under our itchy skin (well, Mitch's skin is itchier than mine because he doesn't lavish in spa time as much as I). This is due to the big surprise that I said I would unveil, and I lied! No, I didn't lie, I just wanted to get this post in first. But, stay tuned - next one is a biggie!!!!!!

And in the meantime, go do some maple surgarin' while the sap flows - you want to go when it gets below freezing the night before, but up in the 40's when you vibe around. Check out www.vtmaple.org for more info. (Tip: You can still go vibing without a Vibe, it's all about the energy!)