A Housesitting Staycation, or Fun with Chickens

Navah and I had been planning to take a camping trip one weekend before our wedding - just to take a break from the wedding planning and job searching (for me) and long hours (for Navah).  But the weekends filled up so fast that before we knew it, there wasn't a weekend free.  Luckily our 2-week housesitting gig for a friend is out a ways from Burlington in a beautiful home on a nice-sized piece of land with a gorgeous garden.  


We decided to take the opportunity to give ourselves a little overnight staycation.  So from Friday evening until Sunday morning (when Navah had to head back to work), we lived it up retreat style at our temporary abode.  


Friday night I zipped out to pick up our friend's CSA farm share (super big bonus of housesitting) and made a meal plan on the way back.  The fresh whole chicken in my bag got my mind rolling, and I knew exactly where it was going. 


Skillet fried chicken.  Corn on the cob.  Slaw with carrots and apples. 


I met Navah at the door with a piece of fried chicken in my hand. 


It was like our wildest dreams come true. 


I suppose it's sort of rude of me to share all that with you and then tell you that there won't be any recipes.  But I haven't mastered the art of taking photos when I'm covered in batter and fried stuff.  So that'll have to wait til some other day. 


For now, some pictures of the live chickens we hung out with over the weekend.

So that's Flappy up there, loitering around the kitchen door and squawking for some grub.  During the day, she's the chicken envoy, popping in at random intervals to see if she can score some sunflower seeds or granola.  We're an easy sell.


Willie, on the other hand...

But luckily for the chickens, he doesn't make the decisions.  Or go outside. 


So they can eat in peace.


Jammer's only allowed out with extreme supervision.  He wants to chase the chickens, and we're not sure what he wants to do after that.  So he mostly hangs inside with Willie (whom he is both scared of and wants to play with).

We have to do a little creative tossing of the food to make sure that Rita and Matilda (the two that we took care of when they were baby chicks) get some since they're littler than the others and get bullied pretty intensely.

This gal's unhappy with the favored treatment they're getting.

We also made our way over to a beach on South Hero for a couple hours of beautiful views and perfect temperature water.

And we got a visit from this beautiful little dragonfly.

We closed out the night dining on leftover fried chicken and watching Moneyball.  It was a perfect staycation, if a wee bit short.  


What did you do this weekend?

Katie

Red Rocks Photo Walk

Our friend Sai was in town this weekend (yay!), and we were lucky to have gorgeous weather for all our outdoor activities - including lounging (and shopping) at the Burlington Farmers Market, hanging out with friends at a potluck, and visiting Red Rocks Park in South Burlington for a short hike and some Lake Champlain beach time. 


I haven't been snapping many nature shots these days because we've had such a busy social calendar, so I was delighted to step onto the trail with camera in hand. 

What did you do this weekend?

Katie

 

Weekend in Pictures

Today is the last Monday I'll spend at this job, and I feel a mix of excitement and trepidation.  There's a lot to pull together this week so that others can take over my tasks - my ever-growing to-do list is a wee bit overwhelming.

I spent the weekend with a run-of-the-mill head cold.  My mom and stepdad were in town, so I tried to make the best of it and get out and about while simultaneously taking care of myself.  The little man watched over me while I blew my nose in bed, I headed out for some yummy brunch, I got some soul nurturing at the Museum of Women in the Arts, took a walk, and made myself some soup. 

I'm feeling significantly better today and looking forward to finishing this chapter for good. 

How was your weekend?

Katie

Earthquakes, Maine, and Mystery. Oh my.

First things first, I experienced my first earthquake yesterday - in Washington, DC of all places.  I've seen some things teasing us East Coasters about how it was really nothing.  I can only say I'm seriously glad for that.  On the twelfth floor of my office building, I was pretty frightened by the whole thing.  It was a weird feeling of realizing that the only thing this could be is an earthquake but then we don't get earthquakes here.  Which is exactly what the guy standing in the office doorway next to mine said right before he said, "I think it was a bomb."  And then the fire alarm went off and the speakers shouted that an emergency had been reported in the building and to get out.  I've left the building during a fire alarm before - people sort of saunter out and then head over to Starbucks.  Not this time.  People were running to the stairwells, one woman fell.  Our East Coast earthquake was a tiny little thing in comparison to many, many others, but it was big enough to make my knees wobbly.  Thank goodness there was very little damage, and the only sign at home was on our gallery wall.

With that out of the way, I'm so excited to share with you some of my first pictures on the new camera, which I took this weekend while we were in Port Clyde, Maine for our friends' gorgeous wedding.  One of the brides' families has a vacation home there (where the wedding was), and I spent the weekend trying to convince Navah that we should also have a vacation home there. It was a difficult sell since we don't even own a non-vacation home, but perhaps I'll prevail upon her in a few years.  Port Clyde is a tiny coastal town, inhabited in large part by vacationers, but at least populated enough to have a little post office about the size of our living room.  It has two hotels, a general store owned by Linda Bean (as in L.L.), a restaurant, and an ice cream shop.  Certainly enough to entertain us for a weekend, especially with my trusty new Nikon in tow.  The town reminded me - in the way real life reminds you of television - of Cabot Cove, where my soul mate Jessica Fletcher lives.  Our cab driver (we flew into Rockland, Maine in a 9-passenger plane and took a cab to Port Clyde) told me that Cabot Cove is a real place in Maine, so you can rest assured, I'll be visiting.

But back to Port Clyde.  Without further ado,

Now that you've seen a bit of it, I assume you want to go halfsies with me on a vacation home.  Just email.  I'm sure we can work something out.

Also, don't forget that today is the LAST day to enter my birthday giveaway and win some adorable art for you or someone you love!

Katie 

Weekend in Pictures: Sugarloaf Mountain