Gustavson Family

Things in Craftsbury are pretty good. Spring is here and with it, sugaring. The weather has been very agreeable to making syrup, so the sugar houses have been going full steam now for awhile. The temps need to be freezing or below at night and above freezing during the day in order for the sap to flow. If it stays too warm, the sap starts changing, getting bitter and moving to the branches which causes budding. If it stays too cold, nothing happens. Mud and brown grass is everywhere, but as Cheryl says, that’s the price you need to pay in order to really enjoy and appreciate the summer. I’ve started eggplants and tomatoes and now there is a bit of lull before I can start anymore seeds. I’ve laid down cardboard in the front yard in an attempt to start some new perennial beds by killing the sod. I hope to install gravel paths from the front doors to the drive, clean and prune up the midstory plants that exist now and more. I’ve got a plan to scrape the trim around the house and pressure wash the vinyl siding when it is warm enough. My friend has offered to help me paint the house with a sprayer. She was a house painter in another life…This will all take a lot more time than money, but it would be good to live in a house that looks good from the outside as it slowly comes together on the inside.

I’ve started running again and hope to get back on my bike before long. It feels good to be active and I need to remember that the next time I get busy to the point of neglecting myself. Today, I plan to do some “spring cleaning” in the house. It means packing away and moving out things that belonged to Morgan and I, but it’s a good, therapeutic thing to do. He and I have come to some agreements about the kids, including changing their schedules so that they are only moved once a week. We are hammering out details this week. All that’s left now is to come to an agreement about the school year (I am pushing to have the kids for 10 days and then a long weekend with him) which is understandably hard for him to agree to. Hoping a mediator will get us through that bump without too many battle wounds, but I’m ready for it either way.

My job at Sterling is a mixed bag. Still struggling with the heirarchy and politics of a tiny, private school and the egos involved as well as feeling like what I do there is not sustainable in the long run. On the otherhand, because of the work I’ve been doing, I am being asked by different organizations to speak on bringing local foods into an institutional setting or being interviewed by print media. I’m doing a workshop in Kentucky at the end of May then hosting a roundtable discussion with local chefs at the Rural Heritage Institute in mid June, which is also hosted by Sterling. Reporters have been coming by here and there and my work with Salvation Farms is stirring the pot a bit. My cooking classes are apparently quite the hit and we are getting regular requests to do more. That said, all this attention feels a bit false and overwhelming. I don’t believe myself an expert, just an enthusiast and I’m not sure how to balance all this gracefully. Guess we’ll see what happens over time.

Now the kids. They are my joy. Corny, but true. Grace and Mason are excelling in school and seem to be well liked by teacher and students alike. Everyone is getting along well and all three are bookworms. Grace has started working at Pete’s farm once a week in an attempt to save enough money to buy a horse. Not sure how long that will last, but she is enjoying herself. She is also taking a pottery class in Wolcott once a week that she loves. Mason has decided Tee Ball just isn’t his thing and has let me know he doesn’t want to spend any more time away from me than he has to. He also goes to Pete’s once a week to ride on the tractor, but is quite happy to stay home and play with Lilli. Lillian is her silly, smart little self. A couple of weeks ago, she walked into the room I was in to show me her new haircut. Yes, Lilli cut all her hair off in the space of 3 minutes, except for a few straggly bits she couldn’t quite reach. She was so proud of herself, that I just couldn’t be mad. The three of them make me smile, if not laugh out loud, every day.  Still figuring out the summer and the possibility of coming to California. It’s looking unlikely that I can come in early June for Liz’s graduation, but maybe at the end of the month…

Anyway, time to get back to my “to do” list. I love you all. Enjoy the picture. (See on Flickr Link)

Elena