Just a bunch of turkeys

Spring has officially come to Brooktondale.  You can tell because there are far fewer snow storms and more just really cold rain.  None-the-less, the plants, the people, and the other animals are determined to reemerge from whatever dark perdition they've inhabited for these last 14 months or so.  Just kidding.  It's all good.  We had a nice winter.  It's great to have the sun out at 7:30 though and we've enjoyed rediscovering a new line of toys and wardrobe.

The turkeys are doing their normal thing.  Gobbling and strutting and putting on a show that will last right up to May 1, when they all mysteriously disappear and I wind up sitting in the cold rainy woods, looking like a dink with my shotgun slung impotently across my knees.  Amazing animals.

And now for something completely similar.  More pictures of Emmett.  Seriously, what did I used to do with my camera?!  This is from his early spring hipster collection.  Obviously he's too enthusiastic and happy about life to go full hipster.

On the cusp of walking... or at least not falling down as fast. Our little arborist. 

Tree covered in lichen from an early morning hike.

Swingin with mama!  

Goin to the show!  Sarah and Emmett and Zhora came to the Saturday show of Anything Goes.  It was so much fun!  Emmett is becoming quite the patron of the arts.

Mountain bike season!

We've gotten a couple nights of grilling in lately.  Steak one night, hamburgers another.  Last night Zach, Kristin, Nora, and Charlotte came over and we made foil wrapped potatoes, grilled veggies, veggie burgers, and Piggery brats.  We had so much fun.

On Saturday Sarah went to get her hair done and then to a workshop about wills and the like.  Emmett and I spent the day adventuring.  We went to the farmers market and tasted their leaves and bark and wood chips...

Then it was off to the Children's Garden to smell the flowers... maybe not the one with the bee in it.

Doing his best dock worker impression.

We found a deal on craigslist and hooked the Element up with some new bling.  I had the usual supervision as I worked out the details.

On Sunday the family worked together to transplant the blueberry bushes and do some general garden tending.  Emmett was great.  He wasn't sure about the tickley grass under foot at first, but he soon got into it.

I love this picture.  

Just like papa.

Later on Sunday we met the Stickles for drinks and conversation at Argos.  We had a lovely time with great drinks and lots of laughs.  Zhora got "all dolled up" as they say.

Newspaper was a new technology, and a little tricky to figure out. 

From vision to execution

Some people get the nursery ready before the baby is born.  Some of us just try to get it done before the baby is a teenager.

We talked about a lot of ideas.  A wall of trees?  Different ecosystems on different walls?  Night time to day time?  In the end, we decided to do mountains on one wall and green and blue on the others as a kind of abstract reference to nature.  With the mountains, too, we discussed how abstract they should be.  In the end, we thought it would be cool to paint a couple ranges that are meaningful to us.

It was so great to have Dad help out.  Having him be a part of this process was both emotionally and practically meaningful.

We got a lot done the weekend that Mom and Dad came up.

But there was a bit more to wrap up.

The 7 peaks on the left represent the Tetons.

The two on the right represent the Charleston Range.  The green hills up front are the ridge line that we live on, as viewed from the other side of the valley.   

Checking out the new crib from Zhora.  Sarah found the baby gym on Ikea's website.  

Putting those monkey toes to use.

The room is still a little cluttered, but then, so is the rest of the house.  It's coming together though.  I got a mobile hanger mostly complete and created a way to hang the globe lamp that Veneta got for us.  You can see those things in the left corner next to the bookshelf Mom H put together from the crates from Grandma Harrington's basement.  The bike trailer is folded up for the season in the right corner.  I painted the inside of the door with magnetic paint and covered that with chalkboard paint.  We're looking forward to playing with letter magnets and writing/drawing messages on the door for Emmett.

Our friends Emily and Nikoa (just realized I have no idea how to spell his name) gave us this beautiful train print and made the frame and mat for it.  The train was drawn by Emily's grand dad.  Shannon painted the David Bowie piece.

Thanks to everyone who helped by giving us stuff, taking stuff, moving stuff, fixing stuff, painting stuff, or suggesting what to do with stuff.

Still cookin'!

It's been a fun and eventful early summer here at 54 Ridgeway. We've had many guests, lots of project support, and plenty of sunshine.  As you may know, May is turkey season here, in central New York.  As usual, I said I wasn't going to go this year.  Too early.  Don't want ticks.  Not a huge fan of killing anything, even though I love to grill it.  Then, May first came around, I bought my hunting license, and dug out the camo.

Also, as usual, I did not shoot a turkey.  On a particularly annoying morning Tony and I sat under the tree the turkeys were roosted in.  Getting close to the turkeys is good.  Getting that close to the turkeys is bad.  Anyway, we had fun, got to see many sunrises, saw some cool activity and animals that the majority of people never experience, and I didn't have to deal with my guilt.

Our friends Sam and Heather are expecting a child and hosted a baby shower, so we went back to the sewing machine.  I managed to stitch a few scraps together into shapes that resembled burp clothes without too much blood loss.  Sarah made a beautiful blanket.

Dude got a new grill!  On Memorial Day weekend, we took advantage of a sale and picked up a new, old school Weber charcoal grill.  Although it takes a little longer, I am really enjoying the ritual of grilling over charcoal.

And there's nothing like making some charcoal of your own.

We don't eat burgers too often, but we couldn't help christening the grill with the traditional meal.  I made some macaroni salad to go with it and drank a little Mexican style beer.

We set up the slack line for the first time this year.  Zach and Kristin and the girls had a great time on it.  Zach had so much fun that he went out and bought one for himself.

I got a new hat for the summer.  Keep searching for that perfect piece of head gear.  What I'm really looking for is a great lifeguard style straw hat made in the US, but this will have to do for now.

We have a nice tradition of hanging out at Zhora's house every couple of weekends.  Bob does a great job on the grill, and I'm taking notes.  Watching Zhora and her friends run around and scream in the hose reminded me of the great summers of childhood.

Mom and Dad H came out last weekend and worked like champs.  Between them and Veneta we feel like we are in pretty good shape.  It was lovely to get to visit with everyone and we enjoyed pretty low key fun... hiking, chatting, grilling, painting, and walking the dogs.

Everyone relaxed after a long day of working and hiking and chatting.

Grandma Cressman sent a dock box, which was expected and exciting as well as the collapsible picnic table from Fox Haven, which was unexpected and very handy.  We look forward to getting lots of use out of it.  Thanks Grandma!

We got a new camera and I've been playing around with it a bit.  Sarah watered the garden this morning.  We've been lucky with the garden so far this season and have put in some extra work to protect it from chipmunks and moths and the like.

This afternoon, we went over to Erik's and hung out at the river.  It was wonderful!  We watched the kids play and chatted and waded in the river.

This is Zach and Kristin's daughter, Nora.

The moon tonight, and the swamp.  It's been a nice weekend so far.  Looking forward to seeing you all soon.