We're Back

August 8, 2008 - 5 pm - Okay, let's get back into this blog thing, shall we? It's been over two weeks since my last post. One friend said, "it can't possibly be because there's nothing going on..." and she's right. There's been lots going on. I guess sometimes life just gets in the way of blogging.

Let's see. First of all, camping life is tough. Really tough. It's the little things - like making the bed from only one side of the bed, sleeping in moist sheets because there is no moisture barrier between you and the great outdoors (and it has been very VERY moist this summer), peeing in bucket nightly, and being uncomfortable going 'home' until you know exactly when your husband will be there to protect you from the miscellaneous creatures you share your dwelling with.

Then there are the things that are both miserable and wonderful - like listening to the rain pouring over your head all night (again, LOTS of rain this summer), cooking outdoors, and the whole sense of adventure thing.

And a few things, I must say, are just plain wonderful - looking at the stars at night through the gap in the tree canopy, sitting in front of a campfire, the peace and quiet, listening to the birds in the morning and the rushing stream after a good rain, being alone with your spouse, being alone with your spouse on your very own land, etc.

So there's a lot of conflicting emotions that come with this whole experience. All in all, I don't think either one of us would trade it for the world because we are growing and learning in many different ways, but that doesn't mean there aren't some tough moments. :)

So a few weeks ago I declared myself on a mental vacation and decided to only do what was necessary for a while in order to regain some sense of calm. Joe and I took a 3 day staycation (a vacation where you stay home) - we spent a day at Lake Taghkanic where we took a 5 mile hike, swam, and read on the beach, we spent a day in Millbook where we went to a horse show and an organic wheat growing demonstration, and spent a day at the Mohonk Mountain House spa. I definitely think that camping is best enjoyed when you're on vacation and don't have to get up and do something in the morning. But since this was a true vacation, I did not take pictures. Even taking pictures feels like part of my job these days, so I had to take a break from that too. Sorry. :(

And then there's just been a lot of family time. Our niece Natalie was baptized, Kelly was in town which always calls for a night of sushi and catching up, and then just lots of fun times with Elizabeth, Axel, and Lorelai, as we only have one week left to spend with them. Here's one thing I do have pictures of - Axel's play today was great - here's some of the many pics we took -

The garden continues to flourish. For Natalie's baptism I made a platter of everything available in the garden. We had green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, carrots, and broccoli. It was beautiful and we were very proud. Here's me doing some harvesting - I often use my shirt for collection.

Our tomatoes are coming in regularly now. We are just barely keeping up with them and I think they will overtake us soon.

Cooking has been more difficult this summer since I don't have a full kitchen. But I do cook at my sister's house and my mother's house a few times a week. Here's one of my recent concoctions - pink soup! It's a cold soup made with beets, cucumbers, hard boiled eggs, and milk. Very interesting...

One of my favorite things from the garden has been the ground cherries. I may have written about these in a previous post, but now we're eating them and they are sooo delicious, just like I remember. When they're growing, they have this green wrapper around the berry, but when they get ripe it turns yellow brown and the whole thing falls to the ground. Hence, ground cherry. The little yellow 'cherry' inside is sweet and tastes like nothing else I've ever eaten. My dad used to grow these but I have never seen them anywhere else. If you ever see seeds, definitely grow some. Here's what they look like when you harvest them -

Aaaand, one last random picture - we've been seeing tons and tons of mushrooms around our property. Here's one we saw this morning that Joe thought was particularly beautiful.

Now I'm sure everyone's wondering what is going on with our house. Joe finished taking down the rest of the deck, but other than that we haven't really done much. This past weekend when Kelly was here we worked on some finishing touches for the plans so that we can bring them to the building inspector tomorrow. Yes, we are sort of behind schedule, since we talked about having the house built by the end of the summer. Currently, we have no idea when it will be finished and find it's better to just go as we go and not get too concerned with timing. Either some miracle will occur and it will be built in the next couple months befeore the snow hits, or else we'll build it in the spring. We are looking at subletting an apartment nearby - it's very small but will keep us cozy and happy for the winter. What can I say, the adventure continues...