Face of Produce Returns

During the clean up in the garden beds we discovered a few stealth carrots that survived the winter beneath a blanket of garden waste. I think we missed Feb, but so far we have harvested something every month since last June. The carrots were a little woody at the tops, but they were the clear winner in a side-by-side, blinded taste test against the store-bought variety. Meanwhile, Bruno is upgrading the seed growing stand in a new location in the sunroom. Stay tuned....

Happy Easter

Happy Easter. We enjoyed a sunny day and started with some work in the garden and planted peas. We had a lovely bruch at Mark and Jen's, that included a walk and some lounging in the sun (see photos). Mark captured some great photos of Kokee exploring the legendary rocks in North Stonington. We wrapped up with a late afternoon bike ride! It was good to be on our bikes and test our cool weather bike gear, in cool but sunny weather.

Bruno (and Tom) celebrate a birthday

Today (March 22nd) is Bruno's 42nd birthday. It is also the 2nd anniversary of Tom Jones (our goldfish) joining the household. We celebrated last night at Mangetout, a restaurant in New London, with our friends Eric and Jo. Needless to say lots of dessert was eaten! I think the waitress was probably a little nervous as all the pictures that were taken are out of focus (see opposite; this is the best one!). According to Douglas Adams and "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" forty-two is the answer to life, the Universe, and everything. Hence, we have great hopes for the coming year (and maybe we'll even buy a lottery ticket today). Many thanks to all those who sent cards or gifts!

Early Spring in Big Sky

Our five days in Big Sky included 2 days on snowboards, 2 days on XC skis and 1 day on snowshoes, and not necessarily in that order. The snowboading offered fantastic views that we don't quite see in Vermont and some really friendly people at Big Sky. One highlight was the offer from another boarder, who appeared to be in her 50's, to take our photo. She said she only made this offer to other boarders ever since two small kid's on ski's declined her offer with the following reply, "My mom said 'never give my camera to a snowboarder!'" The people in Montana are as lovely as the views.

The highlight on XC skis was a long ski up to a high peak one sunny afternoon. We shared the mountain with one other skier, and a very large moose. We came upon the moose late in the afternoon during our descent as we came around a very sharp and icy bend. The moose was awesome, and we suspect looks on our faces were equally awesome as we did our best to avoid running over the moose. The other highlight was the ability to XC ski out our door at 4pm in bright afternoon sun, to come back to beers on the porch.

Perhaps the most rewarding, and exciting day was our excursion on snowshoes. We hiked up to Beehive Basin, which is north and west of Big Sky. Beehive Basin is a popular place for backcountry skiing, and we learned why. Fantastic snow, untouched and plentiful. The day was warm and sunny and we extended our trip beyond the "lake", which we think we hiked over, to the very bottom of the basin, a cathedral of rock. It was a bit reminiscent of standing at the Roaring Brook campsite at the base of Mt. Kathadin in Maine. Our hike out was uneventful, until we reached the rental car, a lovely gray Pontiac something-or-other. It was late in the day, the skies turning gray and snow starting to fall. Unfortunately the trail head, a few miles off the main road at the bottom of a steep hill was too much for the 2-wheel drive Pontiac (*&$#*(&!!!!! rental car. Apparently there is only one company for towing in Big Sky, and only one truck we suspect, which happened to be in Bozeman that night. Anticipating a cold night in the car with two Cliff bars, we were relieved to be found by the local Deputy Sheriff who was a caretaker at a near by "compound" (think 6000+ ft really nice house with views of Lone Peak) who gave us a ride back to our accommodations in Big Sky. Thanks Ted! Really, his name was Ted. Ted also told us a skier was killed at Beehive Basin in an avalanche in January. This put having a rental car stuck at the trail head in perspective.

You can see photos of Big Sky, including the bill for the tow (we eventually go the car out) at the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/HangmanHill/EarlySpringInBigSky. When in Big Sky, rent a 4-wheel drive car!

Snowboarding at Big Sky

While at Big Sky, MT, we enjoyed several days snowboarding. There are seemingly an infinite number of trails at the Big Sky Resort, and we never even made it to Moonlight Basin. Those trails we did explore we made the most of, thanks to warm temperatures and bright, sunny afternoons. With spring around the corner and the time change we were still riding in bright sunshine at 4pm every day.

Big Sky

Greetings from Montana. We arrived in Bozeman, MT Saturday late afternoon. We visited with Michael and Janel at their new condo, had a great dinner in Bozeman and then drove to Big Sky. Sunday opened to a beautiful day and we enjoyed the slopes with Michael and Janel, see photo of Bruno, Sheri and Janel. Our condo is just on the XC trail system (see other photo), and today the skis are brilliant blue and temps expected in the 40's. We are resting our legs this morning and headed to the XC trail this afternoon.

Snow, snow and more snow in VT

We traveled to Vermont this weekend with our snowboards to check out the "best snow in New England in 50 years". We arrived late Friday and woke to a softly falling snow, 3" of fresh snow on top of HEAPS of beautiful natural snow. There really is only one way to say it, it was awesome. What they say is true, the snow is amazing. We awoke to more fresh snow on Sunday morning, about 5", and abundant sunshine. We found lots of fresh powder to carve through, fall into and dig out of. WAY too much fun to take pictures on the mountain, but we did capture a photo of the Thames Ski Lodge. The Appalachian trail is goes over the small peak in the distance.

We are now suitable warmed up for our trip to Big Sky, MT next weekend!