Lady New York...

Have I mentioned how I adore the City of New York?

I can remember a time when that city and I were first introduced, when I was of the age of a teen.  How I loved its energy and all of its madness.  I would frequent the old bookstores that sold authors who were forbidden in a small town store.  Though I grew up in a house with a father that held Carlos Castaneda and Tom Robbins in the library I was wide eyed at the discovery of Ginsberg and Bukowski...

So, when my dad said he would be in the City for a day I found the meeting place quite fitting.  Though I was unable to revisit those old dusty bookstores, we did find ourselves a most adventurous day.

I was smitten with these images when hopping off the subway downtown....

And not long after, seeing a gentlemen line up  the most wonderful words, one by one and then over again...

Goodness               Kindness
Faithfulness            Self Control          
Patience                  Peace
Love                      Joy

We were glad to say hello and witness his art in motion.

The delightful part of being in New York, for me, is that there is art everywhere.  These birds were spotted by Miss Gabi...

And these too...

We were also all pleasantly surprised to happen upon a few official galleries!  The kindest couple steered us away from some 'not such age appropriate' wall hangings to the most amazing performance art I have ever seen...

 I mean, someone wore this on a stage once upon a time.  How fantastic!

We saw some neon work, a treat for Sue, and some leggo art, a treat for Noah and this...

The sweetest rides I have ever seen, seriously.

More to come on the food and the play...

Top Ten Things I Heart About Hiking

The aroma of the earth dense with green

Inhaling bona fide oxygen 

looking up

rediscovering the connectedness of all living things

watching the children see it as well

Gabi finding her woodland legs

 water breaks and pushing on

walking with the Mr.

the views

and making it to the top, all together.

#11.  Seeing someone we know at the top.  I am finding more and more that Vermont, well...

it makes ya famous!

Shelburne Farms Festival!

This weekend we ventured here....

By way of these...

To pay homage to this ...

What I wouldn't give for a obnoxiously large mantle and this very banner hanging over it, only to remind me everyday of my love for corn.  Silly I know, but it just is and always will be.  

Check out this fantastic fire pit they were roasting the corn over!  

 And it was only a dollar and I should have bought two!  Did you know that, over the summer, we went to an amusement park (where I discovered how much a loathe an amusement park) and I paid EIGHT dollars for an ear of corn and a small bottle of water?  EIGHT.  and it was all I found there that I could stomach.  

The whole day!

 But this corn was a buck.  We all had one.  It was scrumptious.   And if they had asked I would have paid eight dollars for this taste of cob... hold the butter and the salt, for its natural state right off the fire can not be topped. period.

 These next few photos presents a sequence of events that proves I am still a timid country bumpkin.  The city in this girl is still predominate.  I cannot tolerate bugs, the rain makes me frazzled, and as it seems; working with plants flat out stumps me...

 trying to look like I have an inkling of what is going on around me.... yes, okay, I can do this...

 ...then, after mere moments, I admit defeat and look to my Mr. for a life preserver... I am drowning in failure in enchanted land...help.

Good thing Matt is familiar in all things awesome...

 and created a crown for our young lass...

I suppose I have some work to do in the areas of awesomeness. 

After corn munching, crown crafting, Scottish music listening, necklace making, maple cotton candy gawking, and BEFORE leaving... we had to check out a bale maze.

  Fortunately we had a couple of very sly foxes to lead the way. 

and after it was over we took in the view.  and expressed gratitude. because it was lovely.

The Shelburne Orchard Festival...

What delightful weather for a most lovely event.  Set in an orchard bordering a lake, the scene was almost surreal.  One must take a moment to breathe it in and count the blessings simply because it is far to precious to take for granted.

You know what the most exciting thing about this years festival was for me?  Seeing folks we knew, right there when we were walking in!  These families have been so welcoming since meeting them last winter...l.o.v.e.

and the next best thing, well the food of course... and we had a lot of it!

Beginning with the most delicious vegetable pizza, wood fired to perfection.  And the veggie salad from Shelburne Farms...oh so good!

Now let's get down to business.  I didn't lay awake half the night dreaming of a salad.  Oh no.  The inability to slumber was directly caused by these guys and their promised goodness...

Cider Donuts.

Too die for.  Delicious. My favorite.

And can you believe they were just letting their secret to these beauties sit right out there in the open.  for all to see. for anyone to just copy and replicate??  crazy if you ask me!

But if they were going to just let it hang there then I was surely going to take a picture.  Next, buy one and rule the world....

Surprisingly there was still so much more to feast upon.  I wanted to enjoy all the labor of love that Vermonters put into their delectable eats.  I am still regretting not buying the peanut butter balls of goodness as a second desert.  But, as the kids chose homemade ice cream I chose the obvious...

Yes, I chose corn.  Because I love it so.  Because I could eat it for desert everyday.   

goodness, I do love corn.

This is a shot of me explaining to the corn folk how much I really do love CORN.  They assured me I was in for a treat then...and they were right, some of the sweetest corn I have had all year.




I could not blame the kids in their choice of second desert however, doesn't it look divine?

Who is this kid ordering coffee flav.... when did he become a man??  sheesh!

To burn off some of that sugar we indulged in some good old fashioned tree swinging.... a highlight for sure.  **and matt was the cool dad who pushed Noah clear up to the tree across the way....

Gabi's ride was a touch tamer...

 So this Witt family had a blast at this years event at the local orchard. We have a deep appreciation for the landscape that we have chosen for our life.  We love the people, the food, the games, and the amazingly fresh air. 

 ...if you look closely you will notice that the blue in the back ground is the lake.  it is simply breath taking....

 and lastly, what would an Orchard Festival be without a bit of apple picking...

 I am already counting down til next year...