I am not much of a baker.  It’s not that I don’t love all things bread, but more than ten years ago I developed an allergy to wheat.  Not just a gluten sensitivity, or even celiac disease, but an actual allergy to wheat.  With that, baking became the one thing I couldn’t do.  I gave up bread, cold turkey and […]

The Job Bank is here to help people find jobs and to help employers find workers. But what should we do when businesses are closed and thousands of unemployed workers are collecting unemployment and hoping to be rehired?  Good question!  The fact is, some businesses won’t make it.  That’s a hard fact to accept, I know.  Closing for a week […]

By nature I am not a Gardener.  Although I often get spring fever and dream of having  amazing flower and vegetable gardens, execution is not my strong suit.   This spring is different.  Way back in February, when a pandemic was just a remote possibility, I bought 100 packets of seeds to be used as wedding favors for my son’s […]

What would you do if your twice-daily romps through the woods had been cut down to a few measly walks around the meadow and confinement in a tiny backyard? Maybe, like Parker you would excavate in earnest.   Parker has always been a digger.  Last summer when she was a baby, we thought it was cute.  Her little snout, buried […]

I admit I have a bad case of both cabin fever and spring fever.  Having both at the same time sends me out into my little yard in hopes of finding some garden chore ready to be done—not yet.  For once I seem to have put the garden to bed properly and all the little stems have been cut back. […]

Monday morning, half past eight, I harness Parker and open the gate. We trot along past the house next door Down to the meadow, for our morning chore. While Parker plays at the river’s edge,  I take the laps I’ve solemnly pledged. One time, two times, three and four Around I go and then once more. I call to Parker […]

Last night, we had our first family Zoom meeting.  Zoom is a cloud based video conferencing platform. I set it up all by myself, almost.  Sadie swooped in at the last minute to actually get me into my own meeting.  It was weird, fun, ridiculous and comforting to have all of my family members tuned in at one time—eleven little […]

In moving ahead with our family plan of taking forward steps during this time of hunkering down, Sadie was delighted to learn that our plan for Saturday was to take her mud driving. She just turned 16 and all things driving are exciting—even spending two hours in Dad’s truck cruising the soft mud roads in Vermont with her parents.  We […]

I have lived in Vermont long enough to know that a few warm days in early March are not enough to herald the arrival of spring.  I also know that a few warm days in March IS enough for me to check my current list of Bit Time workers and realize that there are not enough people listed to tackle […]

This past weekend, we took our five-year-old granddaughter to see the new summer house in Maine.  We finally own it.  The first thing my husband did was to rip out one of the walls in the little office downstairs so we could enlarge it for our bedroom.  To do that, he had to rip out a little back hall, and […]

A few weeks ago, I wrote a newsletter about my frustration with a Trojan virus that had infected my computer.  It was a virus I downloaded because I was impatient and clicked on an update for Adobe Flash— a program I now know Mac doesn’t support.  When I took my computer to Best Buy, I told them how I thought […]

I have a piano taking up space in my living room— a big brown, behemoth I don’t play.  It should have been the first thing I let go of as we continue to downsize before our big move.   Strangely, it is the only thing I can’t seem to make a decision about.  I am letting go of a house […]

My family uses Apple computers.  We have, ever since my oldest daughter got a PC for college that cost more than any computer we have owned before or after.  It was a thing of beauty, huge and important looking. It was 1990, and bigger was better.  The Gateway, with lots additional software met the university’s specifications.  Within a week, it […]

Over the weekend, we got a little snow.  It wasn’t a big storm by any means.  It was a pretty storm.  I have windows that look out over the Ottaquechee River and the flakes were very beautiful coming down.  My husband took this gentle storm to mean that the skiing would be fantastic on Sunday.  Jake was up at the […]

I am just having my first experience with online selling.  I have been hearing for years that people are able to get rid of all kinds of household stuff  around the house and actually get paid for it.  Mostly, I thought it sounded like too much work and when I cleaned out, I would usually just put a big FREE […]

Last week I forgot to send out a newsletter with a “Happy New Year’s” greeting.  There is no other way to say it: it was Sunday before I remembered.  How is that possible? We bought a house. Sounds great!  I should be very excited and I am, but the new house in Maine is meant to be a downsized version […]

This past weekend was one of my favorites: Christmas bazaar Saturday. I love bazaars! They remind me of my childhood and truly kick off my holiday season. I like to start with the Congregational Church in Bridgewater. They have the best food, and I need to have an easy dinner after my long day of shopping.  I like to arrive […]

As the holidays approached, I was getting nervous.  Parker, the puppy, had one very bad habit.  When people came to the house, she would jump and nip.  I knew she wasn’t truly aggressive, but 40 pounds of excited muscle giving love bites was a lot to handle and people were scared.  We tried everything.  Instead of improving, her behavior was […]

Sung to the tune of The Rainbow Connection Why are there so many, Notes in your mailbox? All with a similar plea? All of the asking, All with good reasons, For your help financially. There are so many that Do so much good work. How do you choose which to see? The Job Bank is basic: Without work and paychecks […]

Today, I set out to finish my holiday shopping before “Black Friday.” It is my goal every year to finish before the stores change over from Halloween to Christmas.  Hardly possible anymore!  That way, I can enjoy the season, singing carols, making special food, snuggling up in front of the fire, enjoying friends, enjoying family, and hoping for snow! I […]

Raising a puppy is a humbling experience.  Parker is a great dog. She gets the mixed message furniture rule—the one that says Dad lets her on the furniture to cuddle and Mom doesn’t.  She knows not to beg but understands ice cream bowls are for licking.  She takes walks in her harness and doesn’t pull, walks on her leash and […]

On May 17, 2014,  Retired Admiral William H. McRaven gave the commencement address at the University of Texas at Austin.   Admiral McRaven is a retired U.S. Navy officer who had served as a Navy SEAL and whose last position was as the commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command.  His speech focused on the 10 lessons he learned from […]

Yesterday, on our way out for a family hike, we passed the Lincoln Corner Covered Bridge that has been closed since March.  You may remember it was closed when a truck with some very tall landscape equipment hit the top going through and, instead of stopping, the driver plowed on— hitting each and every truss. Repairs have finally started, and […]

A few weeks ago, I stopped by the farmers market at Mount Tom, looking for some carrots for a beef stew I wanted to make. It was one of the first cool days this fall and I felt like cooking something hot. I found my carrots and then looked around to see what else might be available.  One young farmer […]

This week, my husband, the builder, had an unusual opportunity.  While he was waiting in a lawyer’s office in Massachusetts to buy a piece of property the lawyer told him about a property for sale in Vermont.  It was an unusual story…  John, a client, inherited a historic brick house in a small village in Vermont. He had never seen […]