This is my gram, Edith V. Easter, 97, of Concord, VT. She passed away on May 4, 2008 and her funeral will be held on Monday. It is not surprising that I’ve been thinking a lot about her. She was a tough woman who lived in Vermont her entire life. She was a mother of eight, grandmother of twenty, and great grandmother of nine. She was at various times a butcher, an ace shot with a pistol, a contender at car shows with her ‘72 Plymouth Duster, a collector of owls, a whiz at cribbage and Yahtzee, and sharp and stubborn old bird.

As a young child, I always wished for the kind of Grandma you saw on T.V. — the kind the doted on you, pinched your cheeks and made you cookies. It took me some time to realize that I wouldn’t trade my Gram for the world. She showed me what it was to be strong and independent woman — to overcome challenges with a stubbornness and a New Englander’s sense of fatalism that was truly admirable. I thought she would live forever. But more importantly, she lived how she wanted to live. I miss her very much.

I am gearing up for a busy busy weekend. Tomorrow I pick up my brother from the airport in Manchester for a whirlwind visit… Father’s Day in Granby, VT, my Gram’s funeral on Monday, then back to the airport on Tuesday. But am I going straight home to vacuum my heart out? NO! I am going to enjoy the beautiful weather and have a drink with M. at the Norwich Inn. It is, after all, summer.

After a very snowy winter its gardening season again! Here’s what I’ve been planting/harvesting:

1. asparagus (we’ve been harvesting this like crazy and I’m not sick of it yet.)
2. tomato (One new girl, one NE wedding, one purple variety, and one yellow cherry. No salmonella.)
3. eggplant (6, oriental expresss)
4. yellow squash (why isn’t it coming up yet?!)
5. zucchini (why isn’t it coming up yet?!
6. spaghetti squash (2, for Bryan)
7. buttercup squash (2)
8. pumpkin (4)
9. watermelon (2)
10. cantaloupe (2)
11. pole beans
12. pickling cucumbers (4)
13. peas
14. cabbage (6)
15. chard
16. lettuces (romaine, mescaline, buttercrunch)
17. beets
18. carrots
19. radishes
20. peppers (bell and hot)
21. garlic

No broccoli this year– we got too grossed out last year by the worms! We have planted four Hops plants for Bryan’s brewing (although we probably wont be able to harvest this year). I moved my herb garden to the bed in front of the house (after Bryan dug out many many rocks), and am growing thyme, basil, sage, oregano, rosemary, chamomile, catmint, lemon verbena, echinacea, bee balm, parsley (container), mint (container), and maybe others I can’t remember. They are all still small and trying to get established, but I have high hopes. The hydrangeas seemed to have over wintered. I planted some sunflowers by the fence line about two weeks ago, but have not seen any shoots. I really have no idea what I am doing when it comes to flowers, but I am trying.

If you hadn’t noticed, I kinda took a winter hiatus from the blog. Now that all the snow has melted (finally) and we’ve had some hot days, I feel that I can return to writing. Really it has been too long in coming. I owe you all a lot of updates and posts, but me thinks I will just start fresh from here and see if I can actually be consistent with it! Please visit and comment. We miss you.

Today is the first real snow of the year…. I really need to find someone to plow our driveway!

Its deer hunting season… the second week of deer camp to be exact. Bryan went to the family hunting camp with the men-folk on Saturday and Sunday. As Bryan has no license and no gun, hunting consists of walking in the woods and hanging out with the guys listening to them talk shit. This is a lesson on failing traditions. The camp is not the same, its been sold and redecorated. All the random sideshows that have been there since I can remember—the old kitchen utensils, the “moose” horn, the 8-track player — are gone. It now has what one would call “a woman’s touch”. My dad and his brothers and buddies have been up to their shenanigans since they were boys, now they are OLD. They gather, go through the motions of their traditions — deer camp, the fish fry, the fall-down — and tell stories and laugh about the way it used to be. And now that is even starting to fade. As a girl, I was never part of this world, but it makes me sad to see it go.

Today Val and I went to the annual Cabot Hosiery sock sale in Northfield, VT. This is a big even in these parts. It is always on the first weekend of deer season so the guys can go hunt and the gals can (what else?) buy socks. It took some convincing on my part. Val’s reaction was “A sock sale? Do they sell anything else?” We made it worth the trip with a stop for lunch at Langdon Street Cafe and Gesine in Montpelier. Its alway nice to visit the ol’hometown. And buy new socks.

Since we moved  to New Hampshire, one of Bryan’s favorite jokes is to say “Look, a Subaru!” because they’re everywhere — just about everyone out here drives one. Well, this weekend we flew to Philly and drove back…. a Subaru!  Now we are definitely New Hampshirites. Our very own Subaru Outback.  Ah, conformity!

It was a beautiful weekend, but I was sick. We took a drive to Plymouth, NH just to get out of the house.

Anyone for some ice cream? Or maybe a just a hoe?

Really, we’ve been really really busy. Soon I will tell you all about fall weather, trying to buy a car, putting the garden to bed, going to the drive-in, and candle-pin bowling. Soon…