A group of friends gathered down the road for a solstice celebration. This gorgeous cheese was made from goat’s milk gathered and cellared on property.
We made “living wreaths”, using metal frames provided by our hosts. Each of us brought our own plants. I found mine on sale at a local greenhouse. What fun it was to chat and plant and snack and chat some more with the sweetest of people! And who can believe that summer is here and July is just around the corner?
Summer is my least favorite season (I know, odd, isn’t it?) but I am determined to make the best of it. I’m working on a July “bucket list” which I’ll share next week. Maybe you’d like to create your own bucket list?
Each person’s wreath was unique as its maker. I did not crowd my plants, hoping they will fill in as the summer unfolds.
Most folks made their wreaths to hang. I like using mine as a centerpiece out on the deck for now.
The “heat dome” did not spare Vermont, and last week was scorching here. In the mid nineties for temperatures and full-on humidity, the weather finally broke with wild winds and pounding rain on Thursday night. The relief was wonderful, with plummeting temperatures and better sleeping weather.
I took advantage of the cooling and fired up my oven one morning to bake rhubarb muffins, with rhubarb cut from our gardens. You can find the healthy-ish recipe here. They have cardamom in them and lemon, too, so they are lip smacking good.
We celebrated Wilma’s “gotcha day” last week, and remembered when we first brought her home eight years ago. We love her so.
Ben and Maggie and Gretta are living in Vermont this summer, about an hour south of us, so we will get to see them more often. This past weekend, Gretta, Maggie and I went to visit family in MA. We stayed overnight with the ever-generous Doug and Ra and Maggie got to put her toes in the ocean. The next day we went to visit my Mumsie in her assisted living community and took a four-generation selfie. It cracks me up whenever Maggie talks of visiting with her “ancestors”.
Doug and Ra’s house abuts a salt marsh, and osprey keep an eye on the neighborhood. This guy spent a good bit of time flying overhead and screeching at us until we stepped away.
In the reading department, our book group gave an unusual “thumbs down” to Mercury Pictures Presents, by Anthony Marra. Our group will continue to meet over the summer, but we’ll be cooking together, using Vermont cookbooks as our inspiration. For my own summer reading, I picked up a book at our library that looks promising, Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life, by Eric Kinenberg. I’ve also got my nose in Johnny Tremain, a Newbery Award winner by Esther Forbes. I’ve read and listened to this book multiple times with my kids when they were little, and since I do love a coming-of-age story, it’s got a bookmark in it once again.
I’ve run out of energy here, dear friends. Sending fresh Vermont breezes your way, and best wishes to you as June winds down and we get ourselves ready for whatever July has to throw at us. Whatever that might be, you can find me taking deep, relaxing breaths, looking for the light in everything. Each and every one of you is part of that light. I remain grateful for your presence here. xo