Back to the blogstone

Ok I was going to claim that I stopped writing the blog because it was no longer 2008, but in reality I just got lazy. and i had less consistent email access. but mostly laziness.

So I will speed through some of the early 2009 highlights. where to start? Here's a bit of a timeline:
Christmas 2008: Vancouver with the family. it snowed. about 15 inches. I got to see Alice and Liz and Andrew and of course the family. And then we went through Seattle, watched them throw fish at Pikes market, and then to Portland to see my aunt and uncle. There was much coffee drinking, some art museums, and good time.

New Years: I spent with Anna and James in Maryland. I also celebrated with Michelle Obama's aunt and uncle. Then I went out to see Grant in Frederick

Mid January: I went to California. It was lovely. everyone watched a whale breach off the beach (I missed it). i did however get to go for a lovely hike and a swim in the Marin headlands. beautiful. then I flew to DC, visited a farm or two, and got to see my friend Leah. I missed the inauguration, but such is life.

End of January: I moved from Boston to Essex Farm, up on Lake Champlain. There was a lot of snow, a lot of eating pork. I made 200+ pounds of soap with Anthony, developed a new "Cream of Essex" cereal from rye, corn meal and wheat flour, cooked up with lard and a touch of yogurt. delicious.

Mid February: I headed to Florence and then Spannocchia, an estate in Italy for a New England/Tuscan farmer exchange. Possibly the best timing ever - I had been farming in a cold place so I had a pretty much unsatiable appetite. So Italian food was amazing. Lots of cured meats, tiramisu, gelato and things made with chestnut flour. Also ran into a bunch of folks talking in English about farming in the airport - turned out they were from the Farm School. More about that little bit of serendipity later...I returned to Essex to split more wood and learn how to set up an evaporator for maple sugaring season.

Beginning of March: I moved to North Adams. Spend most of march and the first half of april living with my friend Jane, playing "Settlers of Catan" with Michael & Eric, going for burgers and beers with Katie, and babysitting two great 6-year-old twin girls, which largely consisted of feeding grass through the fence to small goats, reading princess stories (they owned quite a collection) and riding our bikes. pretty fun times. Here's Eric's evaporator.

I took advantage of my time off to go down and visit Mexico...five days of sun sun sun! Lots of cacti and a chance to see my parents new house.

Finally, April 20 I moved to Wendell and started as the Assistant Grower at the Farm School. It's a lovely little spot, I'm learning to drive forward straight while looking backwards, and getting loads of tractor experience. more details to follow...