No More KFC for Me

The last time my father was in town he dropped off a bin of chicken manure (as if we don't have enough) for my gardens.  The plan was to put it on the garden when we put the garden beds to rest for winter.  Prior to us doing this the bin resided in the shed.  When we put the beds to rest this, Andy pointed out that the shed smelled like a KFC restaurant.  I will never eat at KFC again!

Only at My House

Only at my house can you find a freshly laid egg on a pumpkin.

Father and Son

Every night Little Man eagerly bounds in the house wanting to play chess with his dad.  Every night Daddy humbly accepts the invitation. 

Lunch at The Farmers Market

Due to the purchase of some Christmas gifts I can not disclose all that we bought this past weekend at the Farmers Market.  What I can tell you is; the Samosa Man has been missing for the past few weeks, and Little Man was forced to choose something different to eat for lunch.  He did not stray far, and choose something similar to a samosa from the man selling food from Pakistan.  It was spicier than a samosa and Little Man scarfed it down and told me he loved it more than a samosa.  However, while I was buying an enchilada from another vendor, the Samosa Man walked by and stopped to talk to Little Man for a little bit.  He will be back at the next farmers market, as he has been making renovations to the building he makes the famed samosas in, and Little Man is happy to have him back. Sorry man-with-other-samosa-like dish; nothing will deter Little Man's love for his samosas. 

 

In addition to this, after we bought a few items; Little Man insisted we stop at the elderberry cider vendor.  Since it was a bit warmer, Little Man bought a strawberry-rhubarb soda.  While it is just carbonated water with a fruit syrup, Little Man left with a smug little look on his face.  When we got back to the car he happily announced "You told me I could never have soda, but I am drinking it now." Keep dreaming Little Man........

Life Is Not Always Easy

A little over a month ago we noticed we had a broody duck.  We had not planned on trying to hatch any ducklings going into the winter, but figured we would let nature run its course.  Almost a week ago the ducklings began to hatch.  The first one hatched sickly looking and did not make it more than a few hours (there would be another later on in the week who would follow the same path), three more hatched, one of which was trampled by the older ducks, one wandered outside and was victim to the cold.  We have one little duckling who is still hanging in; we'll cross our fingers that he makes it...

Farewell Fall

We woke this morning to snow on the ground.  It is not the first snow of the season, but it is the first snow that actually stuck to the ground.  With that, we say farewell to an amazing Fall.  Farewell to wonderful weather, farewell to beautiful colors, farewell to sweet fall smells and strolling though the forest with the crunching leaves beneath our feet. The snow has come and fall has ended.   

 

The Things We Do

Carrots are one of those foods that you can actually leave in the ground all winter.  The problem with this; you need a special tool to get them out of the frozen ground in the winter.  While they do taste significantly better as the cold sets in, I decided to wait as long as possible (I am not a patient person) to dig whatever we had left in the ground up for the winter.  I have been removing some for dinners as we have needed them.  Tonight was one of those nights.

 

Tonight my patience wore off and I decided to dig up everything that was left.  Now there are a few problems with this: 1. Daylight Savings time ended last weekend. 2. I am still coaching cross-country.  3. We have a family of skunks living in the back yard.  All this equates to me jumping out of my car the minute I drove into the yard, grabbing the hoe and violently hacking at the ground in the dark about as quickly as I could, still in my cross-country clothing.  Do you have that picture in your head?...good because it is probably exactly how you are picturing it. 

 

In the end, I had a bucket full of carrots (yes, our carrots are purple-they are much better than the orange ones). 

Bring On Winter

Typically at the end of cross-country season the coaches receive a small basket of crackers and cheese or a gift card.  Not this year.  This year, I received an amazing spa basket to keep myself refreshed all winter and a gift card to a sporting goods(running, skiing, biking) store.  I have been wanting to go to this particular store for a few winter running items, but have not had the time because of cross-country. I am glad I waited.

 This past weekend, I combined the gift card with another I received from a race I did in September and headed out.  Upon arrival at the store, I found out there was a major sale going on and suddenly became like a kid in a candy store.  I now have a funky new running hat made by a Middleberry College cross-country skier, new winter running pants and Icebugs (studs you strap to your shoes in snowy weather).  I am psyched and can not wait to bust out on the first major snow day of the year. 

Winter Farmer's Market has Returned!

Happiness, in our house, is when the Burlington Winters Farmers Market returns.  Don't get me wrong, I love the local summer one, but we actually set money aside specifically for the winter one.  We quickly ventured though the market to find our favorite vendors (Little Man was slightly disappointed when we could not find the Samosa Man).  We hunted down the nut butter woman and Andy made Little Man and I promise it would last more than a week. We tried out a few new vendors (mommy sampled some new wine). Then we wandered home with goodies in hand.  The end of a successful trip. 

Monthly Update: November

October was a long month full of ups and downs.  Let's start with downs and get them out of the way so we can move on to the fun stuff. 

 

To start with; running was a major low for me. I had to take three weeks off due to an injury and I am slowly attempting to work my way back.  So far, it is turning out to be a long recovery process. I am still hopeful that by December I will be back in the swing of things. Of course, that leads me into my next point of accountability.  Despite not being able to run for a big chunk of cross-country season, I have lost almost 10lbs purely from not eating sweets all season.  While I am glad for the weight loss, it snapped me into the reality of just how much sugar I had been consuming prior to cross-county season, and I am a bit worried about what is going to happen when the season is over; especially because one of my cross-country moms is going to make me a tray of sweet stuff at the end of the season to make up for all the goodies I have been turning down. 

 

Now on to the highlights of the month.  The two challenges I actually wanted to do this summer yielded wonderful results.  Little Man and I completed our Adventure Challenge for the State Parks and have two new season's passes for next year.  Then...drum roll please....the Sizzling Summer Challenge I did though my insurance with only one grand prize winner turned out to be a huge success.  Mid-winter, when the temperature is at its coldest, we will he heading to Jay Peak for the weekend and chilling (Really? You used the word "chilling"?)  in the Pump House Water Park, pretending we  live in a warmer climate. 

There you have it, my November update with all of its highs and lows.