The Garden in the Rain

The rain has got my vibes down too. At times I feel grumpy and irritable as if it were March! But, instead of lamenting over the state of the weather, I thought it was high time to share a bunch of Charlotte Farmhouse pictures! Of course, many are from earlier in the summer, but always worth sharing! The Mitch and I realized the hard work of last year's gardening season has definitely paid off this year. And after our initial mini-catastrophe with the clay/dirt, we added some great topsoil, fish emulsion, and landscaped some flower beds. It really looks fabulous! We're in for some weeding, cutting back overgrowth, and weed whacking tomorrow and then I'll get some more pictures up.

The veggies are doing well despite the rain. The tomatoes are slow and some are cracking, but our soil is rich, well drained, and in a 100% south facing field, so that has saved them. The peppers are slow, but we've had some. The cucumber, zucchini, and melon plants have been loving this rain and the plants are huge. They are all flowering and fruit is starting to appear. The celery is the champ!!! I hear it is hard to grow and failed at it a few years ago, but it looks spectacular! And the herbs, peas, leeks, onions, garlic, and lettuce have been plentiful. The peas have made for some great stir-fry's. The broccoli bolted due to the weather, but we still got some and I am cutting those back tomorrow - even though I know the bees love the flowers - I've left them up for a while and they'll come back! Oh, and I better thin those carrots!

Here are some Charlotte Farmhouse pics, garden pics, and some of bringing the outdoors in and indoors out...

Music in July

So much is going on this July with music I guess it's as good an attempt as any to make up for the horrific weather! While I usually try to write about my Vibe adventures, I fear I will not get a chance to write about all of these and since I no longer write the Vermont Music Blog, I want to share some of my musical adventures coming up this month!

Without further ado...


Ween! I actually have never seen Ween. Most of my friends are in love with them and well, when you love music as much as I do and are NOT a trust fund kid (as some idiotic Phish boys insisted I was after reading my Phish blog - they also thought I was 18 - bwah!), you have to pick and choose what music you spend money on and Ween just never got in the shopping cart. Once I found out they are playing at the Burlington Waterfront as part of the multi-faceted Lake Champlain Quadracentenial Celebration, The Mitch and I made the decision that we did indeed need to attend. I have enjoyed the music of Ween in numerous social situations when friends have been playing it, am told by many of these same friends they cannot believe I am not a huge Ween fan, and after receiving a Ween coloring book that was even too strange for my taste, knew I could put off this musical experience no longer. So a group of us are going to camp at North Beach for the weekend and celebrate 400 years of Lake Champlain being called Lake Champlain. Maybe we'll see Champ!
Ween, Burlington Waterfront, Saturday, July 11th

Vermont Mozart Festival! The following weekend The Mitch and I will be heading to Shelburne Farms for the opening night of the Vermont Mozart Festival. Last year it was canceled and was held at the Champlain Valley Expo Center which was irritating because half of what you pay for (in my opinion) is the outside experience, but at least we could bring in our picnics and wine. This year I am crossing my fingers that it will be outside because our Vermont Symphony Orchestra experience last week was already brought indoors and for that picnics and wine were not allowed. Anyway, regardless the music is lovely and we purchased tickets some time ago and are sending out Vermont Vibes for the sun and a lovely evening of classical music.
Vermont Mozart Festival Opening Night, Shelburne Farms, Sunday, July 19th

Speaking of classical music, the North American headquarters of the British classical music record company, the Divine Art Recordings Group, has officially opened their English Tea Room - Harmony and is in the process of setting up a variety of classical music events at their United States headquarters in Brandon, Vermont! Easily named Brandon Music - Vermont's Classical Music Haven is in the former Warren Kimble Gallery and is home to a very diverse CD store selling music from a collection of labels under the Divine Art umbrella. Quite a lot going on and in the works - check it out by visiting when in Brandon and check out the brand new website at www.brandonmusicvt.com!

And finally, the weekend of July 24th, before The Mitch and I head out of state to rock out with moe., I'll be paying my respects to Michael Jackson at the One Glove Michael Jackson Tribute being held at Higher Ground. Hosted by Vermont's most innovative news outlet, Seven Days, the One Glove event is presented by Woodchuck Draft Cider - the country's most widely distributed hard cider which is made in Vermont and is naturally gluten free! Higher Ground will officially be switching to Woodchuck Draft Cider as their hard cider choice that evening and I can't wait to check out the karaoke competition and dance away while Top Hat Entertainment plays hopefully every Michael Jackson tune I can think of.
One Glove: A Michael Jackson Tribute, Higher Ground, Friday, July 24th

And look - it's sunny out!!!

Kettle Pond for another kinda Fishin'

Catching fish fishing! The Mitch and I scooped up our dear friends over Memorial Day weekend for a four day camping trip in the Groton State Forest. We had planned to perhaps visit some of the other state parks while camping in the forest, but were so keen on our glorious spot and so full of the fish we kept eating that we pretty much stayed put in the one remote tent site at Kettle Pond State Park.

I skipped my yearly expedition to the Groton State Forest last year and was so happy to be returning to this magical crevice of the Earth. With two canoes and the infamous party barge, we paddled across Kettle Pond to our remote site where our closest neighbors were the Loon Family. Equipped with enough stuff for a week, we spent most of the first afternoon setting up camp where I continued to amaze everyone with the copious amounts of camp stuff I consume. I admit, I am addicted to material things. I love toys and camp toys are some of my favorites. Hey, at least I use them all! We had a kitchen, great room, bedrooms, and a library. Oh, and a boat garage - how could I forget?












The fishing began right away and continued throughout the weekend. One day the gals walked the lake while the fellas canoed the lake bringing us back several delicious appetizers. I learned you should always bring a ton of lemons when you camp! Not only are they excellent for flavoring your fish, but they do the best job at cleaning fish off your hands afterward. Check out all this fish activity!!!















We definitely braced some high winds trying to get back across the lake the day we actually left to check out the Groton Forest Store. The Mitch and I really had to work together as a team and definitely mastered some great teamwork canoeing skills - it's good to get scared in nature - makes you feel alive! Our friends also got lost in nature searching for the patch of old growth trees they was yearning to experience somewhere west of Kettle Pond. They did indeed find them and the smiles and energy they exuded was a treat in itself!

The natural landscape in the Groton State Forest and especially around the backside of Kettle Pond is intensely alive, lush, and mystical...it made me think of this lovely passage written by John Muir, Founder of the Sierra Club:

"Gain health from lusty, heroic exercise, from free, firm-nerved adventures without anxiety in them, with rhythmic leg motion in runs over boulders requiring quick decision for every step. Fording streams, tingling with fresh brushes as we slide down white slopes thatched with close snow-pressed chaparral, half swimming or flying or slipping - all these make good counterirritants. Then enjoy the utter peace and solemnity of the trees and stars. Find many a plant and bird living sequestered in hollows and dells - little chambers in the hills. Feel a mysterious presence in a thousand coy hiding things. Go free as the wind, living as true to Nature as those gray and buff people of the sequoias and the pines."









From the fairy hideouts along the edges of Kettle Pond we could only see when in the water to the star splashed evenings we spent beside the orange blazed fire listening to the loons, we felt that mysterious presence John Muir so elegantly speaks of and we drank it in to charge our souls for the summer we are adventuring in at this very moment.

And now I close up shop of my Vermont public relations firm for another several days as The Mitch and I are heading to Emerald Lake State Park for yet another endearing escape to the wonders of the Green Mountain's most precious gems of history and nature - the State Parks - www.vtstateparks.com.