Back in the Saddle(ish)

Hey hey!

Ollie and Reuben and I got back from Vermont yesterday and I am enjoying two more days off before I have to go back to the store. This morning is nippy and I am loving it and loving my cup of tea and loving having the INTERNET again. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and I am loving the internet MUCH more after a few days' hiatus.

What did we do in Vermont?

Well, Friday we meandered our way to Quechee Gorge, stopping along the way at Purl Diva (Hi Ellen!) for emergency yarn and at Knight's to check out one of the few quilt shops in Maine I had never been to. I wanted to congratulate Knight's on being chosen as one of the top ten quilt stores in the country by Quilt Sampler magazine. That is quite the honor. However, when I introduced myself I had a little blow to my ego when they told me they had never heard of Alewives Fabrics. Oh well, it's good for me.

Knight's was a very nice store, by the way. I bought a few magazines there and some fat quarters and upon my return home, I realized that one of the fat quarters I had bought was something we carry in the shop. In other words, I have graduated from buying the same magazine twice to buying the same fabric twice. I am nothing if not consistent.

The rest of Friday was spent driving and settling in and cooking over an open flame and konking out.

I didn't realize just how tired we were until we woke up Saturday morning, checked the cell phone and it was already 10:00. Holy moly. And that was after going to bed at, like, 9:00.

Saturday we walked through Woodstock, hiked Quechee Gorge, visited the raptors at Vermont Institute of Natural Science (that was my favorite) and then went off to White River Junction in search of a quilt shop that apparently no longer exists. That was a bummer.















(we saw this little guy at VINS)




Sunday was (self-proclaimed) "Free Sampling Day." We went to the Cabot Creamery (which gets four out of four stars for abundance and quality of free samples). I was very pleasantly surprised to learn that Cabot is completely coop owned. You can feel good about buying that product. Some of their milk comes from farms in Maine, too.

Next we went to Ben&Jerry's for some free ice cream. Their factory tour is a hoot. I highly recommend. We got free ice cream at the end (oranges and cream - yum!), but my favorite part was the "Flavor Graveyard" up on the hill. Each retired flavor has a little headstone with a clever epitaph. Maine Wild Blueberry is a dead flavor. Its epitaph read something like:

"We made an ice cream from the land of the puffin, but now when we crave you we turn to the muffin."

Next we rode the gondolas to the top of the mountain in Stowe... it was a great, clear day and you could see for miles. I was more than a little nervous in the gondola, though. They just didn't look very "well attached" to the cable bringing us up the mountain, but obviously I lived to tell the tale. Oh, and the best part was that Reuben could ride on the gondolas with us. It didn't seem to occur to him (or Oliver) to be nervous. Hmmmm...

















(picture of the Stowe gondolas taken from the internet... it was four miles round trip!!!)



We drove to see the Von Trapp Family Lodge... the place where the Von Trapp family settled after they escaped Nazi Germany. I am a huge fan of the Sound of Music so this was a big deal for me. Staying at the Lodge is now on my list of things to do before I die. The Lodge looked VERY Sound-of-Music-y and I can see why a family from Austria would settle in the hills of Vermont. They must have felt right at home.... those hills are alive, I tell ya!

And we capped off the day by visiting the Cold Hollow Cider Mill. LOTS of free samples there, and the BEST apple cider doughnut I have ever had in my life. Actually, make that the best doughnut I have ever had PERIOD. And I know from doughnuts.

Yes, we sampled our way through Vermont and I am not ashamed to admit it.

Monday we had a great breakfast at the Farmer's Diner (where everything is local and organic and fresh and consequently dee-lish) and then took the Kancamagus Highway through the White Mountains and back in to Maine.

It was a great trip, but I am soooo glad to be back and to have a couple of days to myself.

I have a feeling that Thursday will be a tough day for me, so if you see me in the shop go easy on me... I am not quite back in the saddle again.

See you again soon!

Rhea