Farmhouse Dinner

This is how you cook dinner in a Vermont farmhouse. On the left is lentil soup. On top of that is flatbread.

8 Month Recap

A proxy post by Cyrus:
Let me recap the last 8 months around the Patten compound. The last post was about maple sugaring in March. Since then, we built a mud room, installed all new interior doors, a new front door, built (most of) a chicken coop, planted a garden, cut, dragged, split and stacked two years worth of firewood, painted the porch floor and foundation, painted the exterior trim and porch railings, started a rock wall, patched the ceiling holes and just this morning found what I learned is "needle ice" in the yard. Phew! When I write it all out like that, it seems like a lot!

As for non-house related things, Dulcie got sprayed by a skunk twice, I climbed Mt. Marcy with my dad and brother, we sent my parents off to the Caribbean on their sailboat and Kristin started working at Spectrum, where I work.

Here are some pictures we took over the last 8 months:




The chicken coop will be a little drafty until I build the walls. We expect to get our flock in the spring.The new door lets in lots more light which is nice combined with the opened staircase.
This the needle ice which I originally thought was a sign of a spring in the ground. Apparently this only happens when the ground is above 32 degrees and the air is below. Then moisture in the ground is pushed upward.When I was building the mud room, I had to insulate the ceiling and wire the inside and outside lights and switches. "How did you get up there?" you ask? Through a small hole. Feel free to print this and make a flip book:

On the docket for 2011: new wood floors, new kitchen, barn, firewood for 2012 (wood should dry for two years if possible), more landscaping and a new couch. Oh, and whatever else might come up.

Aunt Jemima ain't got nothin' on me!

We made maple syrup!!

We had a total of 8 taps that we distributed between 5 maple trees. We had no idea if we would end up with 5 gallons of sap or 5 drops. Honestly, we weren’t even sure all the trees we tapped were maple. Needless to say, we were very excited when some of the trees started dripping sap right when we drilled into them! Turns out they were all maple trees and we ended up with WAY more sap than we knew what to do with.

Cyrus and I attempted our first batch of syrup alone. It was one of my favorite weekends ever. I really felt like I was on vacation, but at my own house. The weather was great, the fire was warm, it was so relaxing and everything was perfect. Unfortunately we ended up with maple sugar candy instead of syrup. We boiled a bit longer than we should have, oops.

Luckily the professionals were there to help with our second weekend of boiling. We learned all the tips of the trade and ended up with the most delicious maple syrup I have ever tasted.

Things I learned about making maple syrup:

1. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup.

2. Syrup is ready when it is 217 degrees and begins to sheet on a spatula.

3. Have all of the jars ready to go before you start boiling. Otherwise it's too late and before you know it you have maple candy.

4. Boiling sap is really only fun the first couple of times. After that, it really is just like watching a pot boil.

Woah...What did we get ourselves into?!

We've been talking since the day we moved in about taking down the stairway walls. Our goal was to open up the living room and dining room and also allow for more heat to go upstairs. So last weekend the walls came down. That was the easy part!

The tricky part now is to move light switches that used to be on the dining room wall. (Darrin, want to come for a visit??) Hopefully that will get squared away this weekend and then we can start putting things back together. To be continued...

Another Room Done

I've heard people say they have checked the blog for updates and are tired of seeing that snowman. So am I, I'm ready for Spring! So here it is, finally a new update.



The upstairs bathroom is done! I love when rooms are completely finished. I'm including the before pictures again to refresh your memories and so you can ooh and aah at that lovely sponge paint and awesome light fixture one last time.

Winter is Here!

We finally had our first snowfall! We only got about 4 inches but that was enough for me to throw on my snow pants and make the first snowman of the year!



We didn't get enough snow to plow this time. But the plow, and the plower, are ready to go when we really get hit.

Worky Work, Busy Bee

There have been a lot of changes in the Patten household since the last posting, so get comfy, this is going to be a long one. I will start outside and work my way through the house.

Before

During

After!

We have a new driveway!! I knew this had to get done before Winter, but I was NOT excited about it. It was a ton of money and I really didn't think I would even notice a difference. I was completely wrong, I am in love with the new driveway! Before, the driveway was pitted and super steep and a little scary to drive on. Now, it's a smooth as silk!

We're waiting to remodel the kitchen until after everything else is done. It feels like we just finished the Fort Collins kitchen and we aren't ready to jump into another huge project just yet. However, the old oven had to go! This beauty was installed on Friday and it's great. This is my first time having a gas stove and I like it so much better than electric. Our first meal was blueberry pancakes on the stove top griddle, yum!

The most exciting thing we did this week was put a door on the downstairs bathroom. We were functioning with only 1 bathroom, since we had already demoed the upstairs bathroom, and it didn't even have a door, not fun. But, it was well worth the wait because this door turned out to be our favorite thing in the entire house so far.
Since the washer and dryer are monsters we could no longer have a regular door that opened into the room. We thought about making it swing in the hallway, but that didn't seem right either. Our other option was to put in a pocket door, but that would have involved taking down, and then rebuilding the wall, ugh. So, we opted for a sliding door on mounted right onto the wall. LOVE IT! We bought the dutch door at a tag sale in Fort Collins years ago and never used it. I didn't even want to bring it with us when we moved because I didn't think we would ever use. Thank you Cyrus for insisting we bring it! I also painted the walls Willow Green, and Cyrus installed a new light.

Before

After

Moving upstairs...my craftroom/guestroom is done, so we are now taking reservations! I took out the window seat and painted the walls and ceiling Vanilla Custard; a soft, buttery, calm color. The floor underneath where the window seat was, is just plywood subfloor which I painted and stenciled.



Finally, the upstairs bathroom. I did the whole floor by myself while Cyrus was at work. Although I was almost in tears in the middle of the project (mostly because I was starving and couldn't stop for lunch), I am proud of how it came out and I'm thrilled that I didn't lose any fingers using the tile saw. The room is near completion, but still needs some finishing touches. Cyrus needs to move the outlet and light switch above the vanity so we can hang the new mirror and new lights, and we need to install the baseboard, then it's another room DONE.

Next up is Cyrus' office which is the downstairs bedroom. I'm going to paint this week and I have big plans for the floor. Hopefully it comes out as good in real life as it looks in my head.

Warm at last!

The wood stove is finally in and we had our first fire last night! It was well deserved after a day of splitting and stacking the last of the wood in the pouring rain. There really is nothing like curling up with a book next to a cozy fire on a cold rainy day.

Monkton - A brief tour

I've been researching who or what the town of Monkton was named after. Let's face it, it's not a very common name. I had no luck on the official town website, or any other website until just now. According to virtualvermont.com: Despite the difference in spelling, Monkton probably was named for General Robert Monckton (1726-82). He was the second surviving son of John Monckton, the first Viscount Galway, and a grandson of John Manners, the second Duke of Rutland. He entered the army as an ensign at fifteen, rose steadily through the ranks, served in Flanders and Nova Scotia, and was Wolfe's second in command at Quebec in 1759. In 1761 he was appointed Royal Governor of New York, a post he held officially until 1763, although part of the time he was away from New York in command of the successful expedition against Martinique, which resulted in its surrender in 1762.

There isn't much in the town of Monkton, not even a stop light. I have driven on more dirt roads in the past month than I have in my entire life. There are lots of cows and not many people (just under 2000). The days are cold, the nights are colder and Winter hasn't even started.


We have a pond which I thought, until about 20 minutes ago, was called Monkton Pond. During my research of the name Monkton, I learned that Monkton Pond was renamed Cedar Lake just a couple years ago. I like Monkton Pond better and will continue to call it that. I still can't figure out how to get to the road on the other side of the pond, and not for lack of trying.

The general store/gas station is about 4 miles from our house. They have everything you could ever need in a pinch. Eggs, bread, milk, beer, wine...They also have a deli with tasty sandwhiches and a full pizza menu. We haven't tried the pizza yet, but one of these days we will.


There are a lot of very small, old cemetaries. When the weather is nicer I want to go on cemetary strolls. Cyrus has walked through some and says the grave stones simply say "John and his wife are burried here."
I went to the Town Hall today and registered to vote. I didn't even have to show my license or any other I.D. proving who I am. As soon as she saw my address on the form, Milly, the town clerk, did say that my husband has been in already. Small town living at it's finest.

I didn't have much hope for the library when we first drove by it. Boy, was I wrong. I love the library! Cyrus and I finally went a couple Saturday's ago. We walked from the church craft fair were we got fresh, delicious, homemade donuts. Deborah, the librarian offered us a tour, which made us laugh since the whole library is about the size of our living room. I expected old dusty books, and not very many of them. Turns out, they have a ton of books and they all look brand new. I was the first person to check mine out! They also have a ton of books on tape for long car rides and a paperback section that you can take, but don't have to return. Books can be checked out for 2 weeks, but there are no fines if they're late. We have a library card, but we don't ever need to bring it. Pretty simple! I look forward to going often and working my way through all the books.

Finally, Boyers Orchard. We went to the orchard, which is just a couple miles from our house, when my mom was here. We were offered samples of the most delicious apples, pears, grapes and juices. We bought some strawberry rhubarb jam which I haven't opened yet, but can't wait to try. But what we really went for was the apple cider donuts. Wow, were they good!! We arrived just as the dough was done rising. Perfect timing! We got to eat the fresh donuts right out of the fryer. I can't think of anything better.

Although there's not much in Monkton, I still love it. Maybe that is why I love it. The roads are windy and the hills are rolling and the views are breathtaking. Monkton feels like home. I am happy to be back home.