catch-up

it has been so long since i last blogged that i can barely remember where i left off.

the weekend before last, we drove down to d.c. and visited some dear friends and their adorable kiddos.







the crafty bastards summer show was the perfect excuse to come down south and spend some quality time with friends. however, as expected, the location of the show was very, very hot and humid. undaunted by the extreme weather, silver springs residents came out in droves and helped us have a successful day. however, my only saving grace from the heat and humidity was the nearby shaved ice cart. here's evidence of one of the many strawberry lemon shaved icees i devoured.



the surprise of the day was the appearance of these two fine women. they absolutely made our day and later, our evening by keeping us company over a few foamy post-show guinnesses. we loved seeing you and hope it's not too far before we see you again.



sick of the northeast corridor route between boston and d.c., we decided to take an entirely new path back home to vermont by going though upstate new york.

dabney and i have always wanted to visit fdr and eleanor's digs in hyde park and there it was. so what we hoped would be a brief stop ended up being a 5+ hour detour.







we had been having problems with dying hemlocks in vermont. so when we visited fdr and eleanor's gravesites, we couldn't help but notice how much neater their hemlocks looked.



inspired by their choice in cleaning up the lower portion of the hedges, we decided we could do it, too. a day later, we rented a chainsaw. i donned a face mask and chaps.








hemlocks (before)



hemlocks (after)