Category Archives: The Cabin

RV Life, The Adventure, The Cabin

Highlights

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We’ve wrapped up our time at the cabin (sniff), returned to the rig in NY, did a bit of unpacking, and then Monday we drove the house down to my nephew’s home where we’re mooch-camping for a couple of days before we continue on our way south for our October SOWER project in North Carolina.
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But since there are still some Cabin-time things I want to share, here is a little backtracking of Cabin Highlights-
Mornings
Every morning, on my first (daylight) trip to the outhouse, I stop at the same place (on a rock painted yellow for lawnmowing purposes) and take a picture of the view. Part of that is to document what time I’m getting up, but mostly it’s just to capture the first glimpse of what the day might hold. I do love this view!


Evenings
Yep – the same view, but with a sunset! I’m not quite as diligent as I am with mornings, but I almost always check to see how the colors are coming over the mountain.
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Nature’s Miracle
We love seeing lots of milkweed in the fields around the cabin, so I was delighted to find not one, but two monarch cocoons hanging on the outhouse. (I don’t know why they would choose the outhouse – but it was nice to have them so visible!)
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While I didn’t see them actually emerge from their cocoon, we did enjoy the beautiful butterflies fluttering around the property for several days before we left!
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Gary’s List
Gary’s list is always long, and this year was no exception.  He was often already out working by the time I was pouring my coffee, but I always thanked him for my peaceful mornings! Here is a little slide show of some of his projects –

But what I didn’t get a picture of was Gary in his corner on the back porch, where he would kick back in his comfy Adirondack chair, read a couple chapters of his current novel,  nibble on his favorite pretzel rods, and maybe enjoy his (only at the cabin) pipe.
He was a busy guy – doing exactly what he wanted to do when he wanted to do it! It’s his cabin love language.
And then there are these things
A double rainbow positioned perfectly over a beautiful Vermont barn.
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What a beautiful reminder of God’s faithfulness!
Wildlife in the cabin field
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Can you see them?
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They’d visit every couple of days – and we loved to have them come.
This church

In a life where we are “professional church visitors”, this sweet church has embraced us as one of their own! We’re greeted with hugs, fed from the Word, and challenged each we attend. We love the Bradford E-Free Church (and the people there!).
And lastly –
Morning fires
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The weather got crazy hot our last week there so we had to pass on our morning fire, but until then I almost always woke up to the crackle of the fire and the scent of freshly brewed coffee.
The Best!
So that about wraps up our final Cabin time for 2023! It was filled with friends and family, chores and naps, and most of all beautiful memories! You know there are more pictures, so if you’d like to see them, you can check them out HERE!

Real-time update – we left our mooch-camping spot in Chambersburg this morning, and began our drive to Union Mills, NC.
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We’ve made it as far as the North Carolina Welcome Center where we are snugged in for the night (with lots of trucks). Tomorrow will be a fairly short drive (under 150 miles) to our final destination – Center for Intercultural Training – our October SOWER project. But we don’t start work for a couple of weeks. First, we drive to Texas….but more on that later!

Thanks for stopping by!
Steph

 

 

 

 

 

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Pictures of the Adventure, The Adventure, The Cabin

Research

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We used to joke about how items ended up at the cabin. The saying was ‘if it’s almost broken, but not quite all the way – maybe we could use it at the cabin.” I confess – over the years I’ve brought my share of items that I’ve replaced in my own world with new, but thought that the slightly (well?) used original item might be useful at the cabin. For whatever reason folks contribute things to the cabin, over the years we’ve collected quite a selection of kitchen items up here. Two crock pots, two blenders, two air fryers, three coffee pots, six pairs of tongs, three pasta scoops, etc. etc. etc.. Since we are a multi-family cabin and none of us know what other folks like to use, there is always a reluctance to get rid of anything! And so the collection continues! Since the porch shelves were becoming quite full of all the duplicate appliances, I decided (with the input from some other family members) to do a bit of weeding out. Of the two crockpots – only keep the newer one. A second small air fryer was just taking up space and the one we were using in the kitchen area worked just fine. It joined the old crockpot in the to-the-thrift-store box. Then there were the two blenders. They were both fairly new (and seldom used, I believe), but I was pretty sure we only needed one. But which one to keep? It seemed only right that we do a little product testing. And what better way to test blenders with than milkshakes. Chris joined us for our research – you know, in case we needed a tie breaker!
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Final result – both made pretty fine chocolate milk shakes.
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But we opted to keep the black one since it is a slightly bigger and the buttons pushed easier. Sometimes it’s the little things!
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In other news, since there was so much milk left over, we purchased more ice cream to continue our research on another day! This research is hard – but someone has to do it.  Happy to take one for the team this time!

Now if we could just figure out if we really need a dozen frying pans – as seen in the header photo along with the cast iron ones that (though often used) are hung decoratively on the wall!
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The Adventure, The Cabin

All Things Local

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My niece, Christiana, moved to Bradford, the closest little town to our cabin, about two years ago. She has a picture perfect apartment right in the village and a job at Dartmouth that suits her well. And we LOVE having her close by! Not only is she a delight to hang out with (and is almost always good for a couple rounds of Rummikub)
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she is a fount of information on all things local! She knows where the free concerts are, the nights the local farm stand serves wood fired pizza, and has checked out local museums and hikes. This past Saturday was a classic point in case.
While our initial stop was at a sweet local market in Cookeville, we also got to enjoy the weekly open house at the Corinth Historical Society Museum across the street!
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It seemed worth checking out!
Every week different families in the community (hamlet, really!) supply some type of refreshment for folks that come. This week they were serving hot-off-the-griddle cornmeal pancakes with blueberries and maple syrup. And while the lady of the house was cooking up the pancakes (which were delicious!), her husband was across the way stoking the fire for some sourdough bread.
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Needless to say, when we saw one last spot on the list of bread recipients, we signed right up!
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While we waited for the magic to happen with the bread, we took a leisurely tour of the museum.
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I’ve been coming to this area for all of my life, and still I learned something new. Like, Corinth was a major producer of wooden bobbins for the textile industry!

So interesting! (If you’d like a bit more info about this you can check it out HERE – from whence came this screen shot!)

And mining! I always knew that granite was quarried near here, but I did not know that there were several copper mines in this area as well.  These discoveries (to me, anyway) explain a lot about the random clusters of “thickly settled” areas that dot the countryside.

But I digress. Back to the BREAD.
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Our wait was informative AND well worth it!
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Indeed!

So here’s to Chris – who keeps us informed of All Things Local! And pretty much all things delicious, too!
Thank you so much!
And special thanks to the blog – In Times Past – which highlights the history of the Upper Valley towns of Vermont and New Hampshire.

PS – In the header map photo, the cabin is the little green dot on the upper left. Just a little FYI!

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Family and Friends, The Adventure, The Cabin

A Week In

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And a lot to catch up on! Here’s a quick summary of our first week –
Monday –
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As usual, we started with a jaunt to Lowes to pick up supplies for projects!
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Don’t know exactly what all that is for, but I know the man has a plan. And I can respect that!
We unpacked, got settled, took naps, soaked in the cabin goodness.
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Tuesday –
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A perfect Vermont day – in which I must’ve done something, but apparently it wasn’t worth documenting with a photo. But I did catch a glimpse of one of Gary’s first projects-
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Wednesday –
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Another perfect Vermont day!
In the morning we got the floating dock over to the shore so Gary could re-work it to make it more stable. We know it needed work because as he attempted to get on it to pull up the ‘anchor’ (a 5 gal bucket filled with concrete), the entire thing tipped over ON HIM! He escaped injury (and even kept his glasses on his face!), but man – I wish someone had been videoing that!
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My friend Lynne came in the afternoon for quick overnight visit – so lovely!
Thursday –
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A beautiful day, where I got to sit and sew with Lynne and Gary worked on the new frame for the floating dock.
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Friday –
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Cool and rainy – and I’m sure we did something, but my camera is not giving me any clues.
Saturday –
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Did some fun local activities with Chris in the morning (more on that later)
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while Gary got an early start on burning the “Pit”.
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We rounded out the day with a lovely afternoon spent with my brother and his wife.
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It was one of those crazy Vermont summer days, where it’s hot and sunny one minute, and raining the next. But when all was said and done, it turned into quite a beautiful day!
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Sunday –
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Worship and a quiet Sabbath afternoon.
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Monday (today!)
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A misty morning that held great promise! Gary got the painting done on the floating dock
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and later in the afternoon we took the riding mower for a little spa treatment. (Again – oh, for a video of he and I pushing it up the ramps to get it into the truck!). It sure came off easier!
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Leftovers for dinner – and another early to bed (for Gary anyway) day is in the books.
It’s been a great (and full) first week. I enjoyed my little no-guilt break from blogging, but it feels good to be back. We’ll just have to see how the week goes!
Thanks for stoppin’ by! Hope you’ve had a good week too!
Steph

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Family and Friends, Mondays are for Memories, The Cabin

Monday Memories

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I shared this memory over on the “Where are we now” page, but as I read over that post from nine years ago, I just couldn’t resist sharing it here also! My great niece, who was here just before us, is part of the fifth generation to come (as adults) and enjoy time here. There are now 40 (!!!) in that fifth generation – truly, I wonder if they knew…

Do you think they knew?
It was in October of 1937, in the midst of the Great Depression, when my grandparents purchased 190 acres (+/- as the deed states) about 8 miles outside of town along the road to Wright’s Mountain. My grandfather was the town doctor with a young family and I’ve often wondered just how they were able scrape together the funds to not only purchase the land but then build this modest one room cabin during a time when his bills were as apt to be paid with live chickens and black raspberry jam as cold hard cash.
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But regardless of how it all happened,  I wonder if they knew the impact this little get-away would have on their descendants.
I’m pretty sure the cabin was not built as a vacation destination. Since I doubt that in the years preceding World War II there were many vacation days built into a country doctor’s life, I think the cabin, in its earliest years, was more a spot for an afternoon of quiet, or maybe even that safe place where my grandmother could take the kids for a break in the routine. Knowing my grandmother, she probably used it for parties too!
Fast forward to the 1950’s. Although as a family we ALWAYS came to Bradford for our vacation (last week in July/first week in August = Plant shutdown = two weeks in Bradford), we stayed at our grandparent’s house – the Big House in the middle of town (complete with the Doctor’s office and Nurse Cora) and later a small house just outside of town affectionately called The Little House. I think that four young children coupled with no electric, water that needed to be pumped by hand from the not-very-close-by well and the random cow plops that dotted our meadow and path to the pond made “cabin time” a bit more challenging during those years. (My grandparents leased out their property to a nearby farmer for his dry cows to roam. The cows did a great job of keeping down the undergrowth and added a bit of whimsy to the cabin ambiance, but you never knew when you might come across one of their deposits.) We were more apt to pile in the jeepster for an afternoon cabin excursion or maybe, as a special treat, an overnight camping adventure.
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While it wasn’t the ultimate destination for our family vacation, it was still the highlight. It was the spot where I learned to swim, bait a hook, row a boat, enjoy fresh caught trout for breakfast and how to read by candlelight. Precious memories all. By the late 1960’s electricity had arrived and we began to stay at the cabin for longer stretches of time. Or maybe it was that my grandparents were getting older and the happy mayhem of our family (now full of teenagers) was best enjoyed by them visiting us at the cabin rather than us staying with them and just visiting the cabin. It’s hard to say. But by the early 70’s, as our generation was getting married and starting our families, the Cabin became the destination. We could hardly wait to introduce our little ones to the joys of the Cabin. (Difficulty of children napping in a one room cabin notwithstanding. At least there were no cow plops!)
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Along with being the vacation destination, over the years our little slice of Vermont heaven has also served as a honeymoon cabin, a retreat from the world cabin and a family gathering cabin.
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1998 – The last summer my Dad (center) made it to the cabin.

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2012 – the Cabin’s 75th Anniversary

This summer, along with the four of us “senior siblings”, six of the thirteen cousins and their families spent time at the cabin. Several others longed to be here but couldn’t make the logistics work. Hooks were baited, inner tubes were inflated, frogs were caught and books were read. Naps were taken and favorite spots were explored. Maybe even a party or two was enjoyed. And important moments like these were shared.
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Grampy Doc and Lizzie > Dad and Mom > four siblings > 13 cousins > 29 (and counting) second cousins
I wonder if they knew…….

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