Jamaica, VERMONT -- Weeeeeeeeee!!!

I love Vermont and I love little hippie towns. Jamaica is soooooo one. Mitch and I trekked down a few weekends ago to Jamaica to spend a weekend at a backwoods camp belonging to some friends of my roommate in celebration of her birthday!! I never get to Southern Vermont as much as I like and this weekend reminded me why - it is such a long drive when you're exploring via-NON 91 - which is of course where the best Vermont exploring takes place!

Susan (my roommate)'s friends have this beautiful house at the end of this back road. But, the weekend extravaganza was not held there - it was up a logging road behind their house at their camp. (NOTE: For those of you who do not live in Vermont, a "camp" is anyone's second home - it ranges from a shack in the woods to a sprawling estate) Now, I was Vibeless this weekend as we knew before hand the camp was up a logging road and Mitch has a Jeep so of course we had to use it!!

I absolutely love meeting Vermonters of different ages and with different backgrounds from me. There's nothing more fabulous about Vermont than chatting with folks about why you love Vermont and creating bonds around that. This weekend got me all fired up to have either:
a.) a camp of my own on some plot of land where I can build a fort and just hang out in the woods
OR
b.) a house in the woods where I can try to live off-the-grid and grow lots of my own food
This second option got me even more fired up to ask some planning questions of various Vermonters in weekend extravaganza attendance - like about having a pig to help make fabulous compost or about if you need a cock (male chicken) to make hens lay eggs (you do not).

This conversation started by Burlington, hippie, PR lady somehow got onto the discussion of Charlotte's Web (I think it was the pig thing) and hence my new favorite saying that I will be spreading across Vermont with my vibes - weeeeeeeeee!!!

Before I give it away, does anyone know why??? Please comment what "weeeeeeeee" is and if you are correct, your topic-of-choice will be an upcoming blog post!!!! (people already engaged in weeeeee-ing please don't give it away, but still comment)!

Mitch the photographer was Mitch the Jeep Driver this weekend, but I managed to get a fireside shot my myself and Mitch with the birthday girl and roommate!

and, no, I am not giving the finger, I am pointing at two of my faves!

Vermont Vibes Visual Vibrations!!!

Oh, Vibe lovers ~ I am finally posting some photos that went with earlier posts! Enjoy, and if you missed reading the posts - read 'em now! They are still relevant as vibing around Vermont is a year round adventure! I am gearing up for some fall excursions, but not before I write about my recent trip to Jamaica, Vermont and my upcoming jaunt to Lake Willoughby!!!

Vibin' in the Green Mountain National Forest:
En route via Rte, 7, cemetary stops, hiking Okemo Mountain

4 Days Camping on the Connecticut River:
Wilgus State Park camping, hiking Mt. Ascutney, Vermont Symphony Orchestra

Joe's Pond

I have heard mentions of this place called Joe's Pond located up in Danville - past St. Johnsbury since my days as a Caspian Lake dwellah. And last weekend, I had a chance to see what it was all about. My "corporate friends" as I call them (this just means they are people I met professionally as opposed to on the internet or at moe. shows) headed up to one friend's house where we spent two days in the sun, on the water, and drinking this delicious lemonade I found in Yankee Magazine a few years back. It was a blast hanging out with friends I see more at Chamber of Commerce events than floating in "party barges" on Joe's Pond. The highlight for me was playing on the lake, for Mitch it was the hysterical music and dancing that went on after the sun went down. After coming home from the weekend, I looked through some old photos and felt I had to post the comparison of me loving green floating things when I was young to still loving them now:


Now, Mitch may have thought the music and dancing was the best, but while he caught nothing in the day (duh), he did manage to sneak out for fishing breaks during the evening and caught four fish (yes, he tossed them back). Relaxing on a lake in Vermont, whether it's Caspian Lake, Joe's Pond, Crystal Lake, Silver Lake, Lake Willoughby, or Lake Champlain - sometimes life just can't get any better.

Lemonade Recipe:
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice (about six lemons)
4 cups cold water
2 cups lemon vodka (I use Absolut Citron)
berries

Combine sugar and 2 cups water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, then cook 1 to 2 minutes, or until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. In a pitcher, combine syrup with lemon juice and 4 cups cold water. Refrigerate until chilled. Add vodka, then stir. Pour into ice-filled glasses and garnish with berries.

Beat the Heat with Blueberries!

I did! Last night Mitch and I trekked off in the air-conditioned Vibe (yes, I love this car!) and drove out to Richmond, Vermont. We watched the temperature drop from 95 at 5 pm in Burlington to a cool 87 in Richmond as we approached our destination of Owls Head Farm. This was a night that made life worth all the effort.
The Gordon Stone Band was playing above the blueberry groves and the joyous music (extra joyous on this night as Gordon was just reunited with his banjo that had been stolen earlier in the summer) echoed through the groves, reverberating off the mountains, and back into my heart and soul. All the while Mitch and I skipped through the groves picking blueberries with the waning sun shining on our skin, making life and being alive a truly beautiful Green Mountain experience.
We picked 6 quarts of blueberries and lounged on a blanket listening to the music and enjoying fellow Vermonters and each other, all while keeping cool on a hot summer evening. And with all those blueberries??? I am going to make blueberry crisp to my 7th grade home economics apple crisp recipe - and.....here it is!!!

Blueberry Crisp:

3 cups of blueberries
1/2 cup of flour
3/4 cup of packed brown sugar
1/2 cup of uncooked oatmeal
2/3 cup of margarine/butter (softened)
3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
graham cracker crust pie plate

Put blueberries in crust, Combine remaining ingredients and sprinkle over blueberries, bake at 375 - 30 minutes