The "Off" Season

While reading an article about Adirondack blogs this week. I found this quote interesting ... "The most common genre of personal Adirondack blogs is city-person-adjusts-to-mountain-life. A lot of these start strong and then abruptly stop, leaving you to wonder if city person adjusted, returned to city or fell off cliff."

Oops ... guilty!!! I know that I haven't blogged in awhile (a fact that some of you have been pointing that out!) but let me assure you that we're adjusting, we haven't returned to the city or fallen off any cliffs. In truth, a lot of what we've been up to lately is rather ... normal.

But I'll share it anyway.

We hosted a steady stream of guests through the first weekend in November ... and then on weekends through November. In fact, this weekend is the first in 21 weeks that we have not had anyone here but us! We've been enjoying the change of pace and discovering some really great things about a "no guest" weekend:

* sleeping INNNN!!!!!

* staying in your pj's until noon
* leaving your stuff laying around - just because you can

* sitting on the comfy livingroom furniture whenever you feel like it

* yelling up the stairs, "Come for dinner!"

* making lots of dirt and noise during renovations

* getting caught up on the laundry

* no room service duties

* no interruptions during dinner

* time for non-essentials like updating blogs

* staying up late because you can sleep in

One of the not-so-great things about a "no guest" weekend .... cereal for breakfast! Oh well - you can't have it all.

So ... what have we been up to in the last month and a half? We have been experiencing the "off" season here in Keene Valley - the lull between the fall foliage and the ski season. It's a time to rest, to get caught up on things that fall through the cracks during the busy days, and to prepare for the coming season.

We have enjoyed visiting with family ...

Wayne and his mom relive one of her favorite childhood memories ... sitting on a warm radiator!


My sister, Cinda, her husband, Bill, and son, Kenton, came for "work" weekend. It wasn't all work though ... we enjoyed an early Christmas by the fire.


The crisp cool days of fall reminded us of a stark reality ... heating this big house! There are 33 windows in this place and they are all old single-paned and leaky.

Wayne's dad helped prepare the 10 storm windows we found in the shed.


Meanwhile, Wayne has been tackling the other 23 windows one by one - putting on weatherstripping and in areas that don't show, covering them with plastic.


More winter prep ... this little shed used to be an ice house. We have plans to renovate it into a "friends and family" cottage so y'all can come and visit! The roof needs to be replaced, so the guys covered it to protect the inside for the winter. My nephew, Kenton, drew the short straw and had to climb up on the makeshift scaffolding to nail down the tarp. (This is what you do when your ladder is too short!)

Fewer guests have allowed more freedom for noisy playdates with friends. Sodie enjoyed making soft pretzels with her pals, Maddy and Evella.


The quieter nights have allowed us to have more family time. This is the final gameboard from our first ever family Scrabble game! (Hey I know the words are small ... but trust me, it took a LONG time to play this game!)


Thanksgiving Day ....


Anyone who knows us well knows Wayne's great love for snow! We have been looking forward to an almost guaranteed white Christmas. But we got a little bonus along the way ...

... a white Thanksgiving!

It was a little strange to have Thanksgiving with just the four of us. We're used to being surrounded by family and friends. But we had a good day decorating, cooking, eating, playing games and watching a family movie.

As we celebrated our first major holiday in our new home, we truly have much to be thankful for. A year ago, this dream was just that ... a dream. Today this is our life ... and it is good.