Artist magnet

I am not surprised there are so many artists living and painting in this area.

Looking towards Vermont

A bend in the Battenkill river as it journeys towards the Hudson

Eight Months in a corn field

In Spring , on my morning walk, the shadows on the newly furrowed corn field caught my eye. For the rest of our stay at that time, the rapid growth impressed me. The harvested field now lies under snow.

Photos from NYC God on the Street

St Patrick's Cathedral , a beloved space for my companion that day, is shrouded inside and out with scaffolding. Behind the main altar , is a spectacular Lady chapel. ( & I did not take any photos of it!). So it felt pretty much like a construction site.

But the next day I was walking down Park Avenue when I discovered the Church of Our Saviour, with these amazing paintings and images, not the usual array of saints represented either. At first I thought it might have been an Eastern Rites Catholic Church, but no , it is a regular RC Diocesan church.

The ceiling

Not the usual saints. Having said that , I did not notice Kateri, the first Indigenous  North American  saint. Well, I guess that would not surprise any black woman reading this. She is tops on my list however!

And not to be too exclusive:

On our way to Eisenbergs to indulge in Reuben sandwiches and chopped liver, A Mitzvah tank playing loud and not very interesting music. ( your scribe hums the theme to Music Deli in her ear worm instead) . Not sure this was my thing, but hey, God has to put up with some very mixed messages & supplications.

Growth

The growing season in this area is less than 150 days a year, I am told 100 days, elsewhere I read other figures, but basically it falls between the last frost of winter & the first frost of Fall. Let's say, between 120 and 140 days.
Which explains why everything is determined to grow so quickly. In churches, prayers are said for a good growing season, indicating the vulnerability that people feel.
These photos were taken on 30 May

These were taken this morning

I'm guessing they will be harvested in the July . I recall seeing local sweetcorn at road side stalls  one July when I was here. These particular fields may be growing corn for the cattle at the Dairy over the road. They grow very nice milk & yoghurt!

This lazy blogger

I thought the Mollis azalea was not going to bloom. It happened all in a hurry!

From Central Park looking back to the City

On the street in NYC near Chinatown

One project nearly finished , the mudroom soon to be double glazed

This lazy blogger putting up photos instead of writing! I went to NYC twice with visitors  to Shushan. Very hot on both occasions, but great trips . We shopped, we went to a show, we visited the haunts of a friend who worked here many decades ago.

Meanwhile, Michael continues to improve the comfort of the house, keeping draughts at bay , and repairing things. We have not yet achieved everything on the list for this visit. But things can wait. we have travelled a lot of countryside, seen some beautiful scenery, visited local museums, and in between lived a normal -ish life.  I continue to be astonished at the speed of nature. In this part of the country they have a 100 day growing period. Not a lot of time to get in the crop, grow ready for harvest.I am reminded of how vulnerable the farmers must feel when I hear prayers for a good growing season, in churches of many denominations

But fields that were bare and brown just 6 weeks ago , now have the bright green flags of the sweet corn leaves fluttering in the breezes.  And deer having snacks at the farmers expense. 

And this sight is of the Battenkill being restocked with trout!

Yard Sales

Yard sales, tag sales, whatever they are called, it is how we have furnished our house here over the past two years. The house is over 150 years old, and truly, it looks as is we have lived here that long!

The town of Salem, Washington county, or which we are part had a town wide tag sale a couple of Saturdays ago. We picked up side tables, shelving, all sorts, for pennies.

Last Saturday we went to Arlington Vermont, where Michael got a magnificent tool chest, complete with some pretty amazing tools , among other treasures.

These outings take us through some of the prettiest scenery, and we meet the  nicest people. Like Garage sales at home, people find treasures in the trash of others. And the planet can breath a sigh of relief.

Hat Racks!

Just behind Michael's right elbow, the enormous chest he found that had the tools. He walked past it at first & I couldn't believe that he had passed up on it. As we were leaving, he noticed it. And had to have it.

Around here

At Yushaks, our local store, the one that is famous for its sausages, a worried looking man asked Debbie if he had 'wave' written across his forehead, indicating his furrowed brow!

He went on to say, "because everyone I drive past waves at me" 

She asked, "was it this kind of wave?" (single hand raised from the wrist) or this (two hands dancing in the air)

"Just one hand"

"Oh well", she  says, "everyone gets one of those, you're nothing special, if it's one hand, it's just hi. If it's two, then they know you, they are really pleased to see you"

I am not sure if he understood or was consoled.

City folk.

Spring

Lilacs. The air is scented with lilacs . And fresh mown grass. Plenty of that, if you have a country size garden, by the time you get to the end of mowing, it's time to begin over again.
Trees that were bare brushes three weeks ago, are now competing in greenness.
Outside our bedroom window, in the shrubs along the fence, sparrows conduct planning sessions at 4.40 am. Where they will go for breakfast, whether they expect rain. I listen to their hurried business and return to sleep when they set off. Later, when they see me in the kitchen, they make a point of  flying to the empty bird feeder. Just to remind me.
Our kitchen window is the set for Minuscule. Without the snails. But the ladybugs, the ants, all behave as if they have come here for summer for years. A bee follows us into the house, a rare honey bee. Plenty of fat Bumbles, but I capture the honey bee & send her off to the flowers. The bumbles have moved elsewhere in the garden now that the cherry bush has lost its flowers & come into full leaf. I continue to be in awe of the speed of nature here. From bare branches to full leaf in four weeks.

We move a bit more slowly. Not all the tasks will be finished. I am learning to be rather than to do.
Michael & I take off for wild excursions.

From this

to this in 4 weeks. The maples in leaf, the peach tree in leaf, hostas, iris & day lilies nearly ready to  bloom

A morning walk

I went for a walk along County route 61 at about 7 this morning. Imagine this was your ride to work or school?

Shushan Bulletin 6 May 2014

The flights were pretty good. We had a seat spare between us, so we were not too cramped, Sydney to LA. LA to JFK we were able to have 3 seats each! LA was the place to queue to queue. There are 3 queues when one comes into USA this route. One for Immigration, one for luggage, one for Customs, then one to put your luggage back on the flight, then one for security to be on the same plane as your luggage, (you hope). Oh, that is five queues.

But by the time we got to our hotel in NYC that night, I was seriously shattered. But had a good night’s sleep before heading up the Hudson on my favourite train journey, Penn Station to Saratoga Springs.

Got to our place in daylight and it looked like this:

Officially it is Spring, but it has been a long cold hard winter here, everyone speaks of it,  & they are disappointed that Spring is very reluctant to appear. More than one person has said that our forsythia is the only sign of Spring around here. We did have one day last week when the temperature reached 21 C. For a brief moment.

On the weekend we froze our way through the Washington County Antique Fair and picked up a few essential items, tools for Michael, hats for me! But I felt sorry for the vendors, especially on Sunday, it was very windy & cold.

I have done very little since arriving; plenty of jobs to do around the place, and yesterday, Susie showed me the thousands of weeds I have to remove from the flowerbeds. I could be here till next winter!

Most days I take a walk. The same walk, 40 minutes. But the views will be changing, as the leaves will soon appear on the trees & fill the landscape:

The Battenkill River joins the Hudson River a bit further down

Last years corn fields , soon to be ploughed, fertilised ( probably with silage from the local dairies) and planted

I know that those of you in Sydney have had a nasty Lurch into Winter, I hope the weather is a bit more reasonable now.

As I read about the El Nino likely to cause havoc next summer in SE Australia, the impact of climate change will be discussed here. Maybe one day, just as business is being asked to boycott Russia, countries that fail to address climate change will be ostracized. Yeah, right. The bushfires experienced in the Blue Mountains last October were happening as I was experiencing a personal trauma, I cannot forget them, nor the challenges faced by communities wanting to rebuild , with new building codes for which they were not insured.

April 2014

The day we arrived. Spring is late, so everyone tells us. The winter was long, cold, hard to endure.The locals are welcoming, seem happy that we are back. They don't say  'Welcome back', they say  'Welcome home'. Express concern for my health.

We light the wood stove. And feel grateful.

Long time no see

Well due to circumstances beyond my control , we did not get to Shushan for Christmas 2013. I am now recovered and looking forward to spring in Shushan. I hope it waits for me! only 3 more weeks

These photos were taken during our firsts visit to the house with the Real estate agent