Ten Dayz in the “City”

House sitting has been a service we have been providing often lately. From our care taking in Philadelphia to some serious pet sitting in rural Vermont, we fortunately had the opportunity to cat/house sit in Montpelier- the capital city. Not only was it fortunate for us to be staying in town at the home of some very cool older folks, we also coincidentally lost use of our vehicle just days before the gig. This city (town) is easily traveled without wheels, so we could live and function efficiently by walking everywhere we needed to go. Our dear friend, Iza, kindly drove us to our temporary dwelling, and when we arrived we saw we were just blocks from Hunger Mountain Co-op, so it was a bit like our lives back in Philly when we were just minutes from the Market.

Winter WVO- O No, O Yes!

It’s been a mild winter so far here in VT- last week (mid January) we had temperatures in the upper 30’s. However, right before we left to visit Philly for Christmas, we had been having subzero temps. The Beast was feeling it especially on the cold mornings at 6 am when we had to start her up to get Amy into Montpelier for her babysitting gigs. For the most part, “Kali” cooperated, but not without putting up a fight, she was angry and hating it. Since the house on the property is solar powered, we are unable to plug the truck’s block heater in overnight; in fact we can’t even plug it into the house at all because it drains the house batteries too quick. So our solution was to wake up 2 hours before we had to leave and plug it directly into the generator and run it until go time. This seemed to get her warmed up, and we were able to get Amy to Montpelier. We didn’t bother trying to run her on the vegetable oil, our ride to the city was a bit too short, and we didn’t want to take chances. So we had to buy some diesel (VT has treated winterized diesel) and some diesel additive to aid the cold starts.

EXTRA, EXTRA! Sagittarians and Saris!

December not only brought us a lot snow here in the North East Kingdom, but it also brought us two fabulous events that we were fortunate to attend. Our great new friend Chris (Yogi Mukti) invited us to his annual Sagittarius party in Montpelier, and we were happy to accept because “we like to party” and, hey, I (Jon) am part Sag myself! The email invite stated that it would be a tropical themed party and to dress for warm temps which sounded entertainingly ironic for this time of year in VT. So, after picking up Brooke from work, we ventured to the outskirts of Montpelier. When we arrived, as promised, there were subtropical temperatures in Mukti’s home along with people decked out in bathing suits and tropical wears.

It’s a Happening

The great thing about where we are living is that, as rural as it seems, there are many fun and interesting events and activities to keep us entertained. Forget TV when you can take a trip over to Glover to catch a Bread and Puppet performance. Glover, VT also hosts an annual type of carnival that includes a handful of hand-built and human powered amusement rides. We decided to check out the carnival this year, so we headed out with a few farm visitors to Glover for the evening. We arrived when the carnival had turned into a wild festival.

Work, Work, Work… FUN!

We have been pretty busy while living the “simple life.” Farm work never ends, there is always something to do. Besides the obvious planting and harvesting of yummy veggies, we have had the pleasures of learning some new skills such as preserving and storing what we harvested (cabbage, carrots, turnips, potatoes, beets, beans) for the winter in the root cellar. Whether it be freezing, pickling, canning, we are doing it.

Familiar Faces

We were so lucky and grateful to have had visitors since we have been here and are hoping to have more as the seasons continue. Our first uniting of Philly home and farm world was when our friends Kristin and Jason and Scrapple the dog came for a weekend.

BALLS!

While visiting with Dorothy and Jay, we make and share lots of great vegetarian meals together. We have given a lot of business to Montpelier’s well stocked co-op, Hunger Mountain. At least once a day one of us is paying a visit to stock up on supplies and ingredients for the many dishes we have made. A few favorites have been Steak (seitan) and Salad, Indian Night, Tofu Scramble, Tempeh Reubens (made with Jay’s home made rye bread), and Falafel (from scratch)!

The Green Mountain State

We have been in Montpelier for 2 weeks now. We are currently visiting our great friends Dorothy and Jay before they relocate back to Philly. In a couple of days we will be heading to Danville, VT to spend our next weeks volunteering to work on a farm. It is always a great pleasure to visit D&J in Vermont. We do awesome things like camping, canoeing, cooking, and lots of chilling man. So far we’ve covered all of the above four “C’s” as well as lent a hand with their successful yard sale and are lending hands with other moving chores. I’m sure they will be missed by all of their peers here in VT, they are easy people to love. We consider ourselves lucky to be able to see them whenever we make it back to Philadelphia.