Spring things
It seems to me that spring is really comprised of at least 3 very short sub-seasons. In a period of about 3 weeks Craftsbury went from cold and gray and leafless, through that brief neon green leaf-springing, and into a sudden early summer. It was hot, there were big thunderstorms that knocked out the power, the lake was warm and we’d jump in it every day. We were already rollerskiing and doing circuits. But at the same time we were just planting the garden. Here are some pictures from the last few weeks:
There's a pot of gold somewhere in the cedar swamp!
A setback--I got bursitis in my kneecap. It was swollen and very painful! I was not happy about it! Once I could stand up more, I took out my pent-up energy while it was slowly getting better was by building shelves and things to help fit the stuff of 14 people in the house.
The boys biked down to Hardwick to do a running race there. I was inadvertently artsy while antsily tagging along in the passenger seat of the sprinter van with my crutches.
BKL skiers Phoebe and Finn also biked all the way to Hardwick, and then took top honors in the kids race.
Under the guidance of Amy and Pam, the new garden experts at the center, we helped with getting the gardens in. Here Nils and Alex pick rocks from the new tomato greenhouse they helped build.
Pretty chives! I picked a big boxful of chives for the kitchen the other day. Now there are chives in everything they cook!
A unique job--one day we made squash "bonnets" to protect all the little baby squash from bugs and voles after then were transplanted.
We even planted our own little backyard garden. I tried to pick things that would either be good frozen or would be good storage crops, so that we have veggies in the late fall when the dining hall closes or bring them along on our nearby race trips.
I’m psyched this year to have been named to the U.S. Biathlon B team! It means that I’m splitting my time between Craftsbury and Lake Placid. So I hope I didn’t overwhelm anyone with too many garden pictures–but after a few weeks of living in the OTC, I was very enthusiastic about getting my feet and hands dirty working in the gardens. Now I’m back in Lake Placid for a few weeks, so I will get to be pleasantly surprised by how big all the little seedlings have gotten when I return!
In the meantime, I’ll be training, shooting, trying to get my knee all the way better, and painting a lot. Painting is a great thing to do while I’m living in the OTC. You can check out my art blog to see what I paint while I’m here–I’ll be updating it more regularly soon!