Yesterday was so beautiful

Thought we'd share some shots taken yesterday when Jayne was out with Safi.

Adam was at a meeting in Florida at the time and enjoying somewhat balmier temperatures despite native Floridians complaining about the cold, with lows of summat like 29F! I say they should try the -2 to 4F we've been getting here lately...

So, we're enjoying the new camera (Sony DSLR A100 if you're interested) tho' we're yet to get to grips with all it's gismos and settings. Our blog pics are a mixture of old and new camera shots, but I've reduced the resolution pretty low for fast loading, so any difference may not be obvious here.


Pic 1 - Tree, blue sky & snow (yup, that would be it) beside the trail that runs alongside Spear St.
Pic 2 - Saf scanning the horizon for snow beasties to chase
Pic 3 - Mount Mansfield (VT's highest peak) in the distant view behind where we live
Pic 4 - Saf loving it, loving it, loving it!

‘TWAS THE MONTH AFTER CHRISTMAS

Here's a little ditty sent from Mumsie T. Let's just say it struck a certain chord here in the Lock household (oh dear)...

‘Twas the month after Christmas and all through the house
Nothing would fit me, not even a blouse!
The stuffing I’d nibble, the turkey I’d taste
The yummies I’d eaten, gone straight to my waist!

The wine and the mince pies, the bread and the cheese
I should have just said, “No thankyou – please”

So as I dressed myself in my boyfriend’s old shirt,
I couldn’t believe my bottom… my belly… the girth!
I said to myself, as only I can, “You can’t spend the year disguised as a man!”
So away with the last of the sour-cream dip,
Get rid of the fruitcake, every cracker and chip.
Every last bit of food that I like must be banished
Until all the additional ounces have vanished.

I won’t have a cookie, not even a lick
Instead I’ll chew on a long celery stick.
I won’t have Irish coffees, or chocolates, or pie,
I’ll munch on a carrot and quietly cry:
“I’m hungry, I’m lonesome, and life is a bore…
But isn’t that what January’s for?”
Unable to giggle, no longer a riot,

Happy New Year to all, and to all a good diet.

[Today I have been mostly eating... brussel sprouts - J]

Alan Shearer to wed Jayne's cousin??

Hmm, maybe not, but don't they make a nice couple?
Hehehe! Maxine certainly looks very happy...

Pic was sent to us from Auntie Ann & Uncle Joe (thanks) who live next door to Jayne's cousin Maxine's Mum (Auntie Dot) who's married to Frank who sent the pic to Ann & Joe... it's a lot simpler than it sounds.

I'll get more info behind the pic - or make it up if my delving draws a blank! - and keep you posted on developments ;)

Man, it's cold...

3 degrees Farenheit (feels like -15F with wind chill according to weather.com). That's -16 degrees Celsius (or -26C with wind chill).

Brrr...

All above board

Skiing's off this week for Jayne thanks to a yucky cold, courtesy of Adam who battled with it last week and clearly likes to share everything. Nice.

Anyway, the coldy bugs look to be moving on now, tho' they've left their trademark flaky nose thing as a reminder to keep taking the vit C. I personally favour whisky and green ginger wine...

Despite the bugs we've managed to catch up with a few important jobs, like finally registering the car here. Check out the new plates (see pic above). We just need to fix them to the car now. OK, so it's not all that exciting, and it means we have to give back our 'New York, Empire State' ones (I quite fancied hanging on to them as a memento), but I guess it can still be classed as news... (we never promised an interesting read - J)

So, what else? This week Adam, not being content with the usual foray round the Ben & Jerry's visitor centre, had a visit to their headquarters. Successful it was too. They donated an incubator they've never used for his lab as well as a couple of pots of their new Creme Brulee ice cream... yum! An unexpected bonus for taking on a grad student who used to work in the B&J labs ;)

Sorry Dawnie - now it's pics of ice cream! Salad next time...

Christmas is definitely over

It is a dark day in the Brown House...

We saw off the last piece of our Christmas cake this afternoon :( Mighty fine it was tho with a perfect cup of tea on a pretty chilly day (10 degrees F).

All in all it lasted well considering:

1. We gave almost a quarter of it to Matt and Anna Waldron (what were we thinking??)
2. Jayne has quite the appetite for Christmas cake
3. Even Adam developed a taste for it (tho' he still prefers his Mum's jewel cake above all else)

At least Safi didn't get her chops around it. A relief since she managed to seek out and devour the last of our Christmas Thorntons choccies (oh yes she did) AND the last of our Galaxy (it wasn't me, honest - J).

Settling in (4)

So, last but not least in the 'settling in' series, Safi is settling well into life on the farm yard and trots about as if she owns the place.

She is developing a very effective deer leap to get around in the snow just now and is definitely benefiting from the installation of her crapiseum! On colder days she has a rather fetching coat to wear but we haven’t got her any boots... her feet are furring up pretty well so she should be ok

without those ;)

Pics are of Saf (7th Jan) taking in the view across Lake Champlain with the Adirondacks (NY state) in the background.

Settling in (3)

Jayne is still working at home as well as volunteering 2+ days a week with Vermont Adaptive (check out the link) to help teach people with disabilities to ski. She’ll also be helping coach the VT Special Olympics team who train Sundays at Sugarbush.

The inevitable problem of early
season ‘leg-burn’ is starting to fade now, thank goodness! After a few years of not skiing at all it was quite sore for a while.

Pic 1 - Today at Sugarbush, Mt Ellen Base Lodge
Pic 2 - 'Tommy's Toy' where many of the adaptive lessons take place

Settling in (2)

Adam is settling well into his job as Assistant Professor in Dairy Science at UVM. He’s working hard to establish his research group and has taken on a postdoc from Germany and a postgrad student, tho’ he’s still looking for one more. Plans are also well in-hand to refurbish his lab and develop his course of lectures in advanced nutritional physiology.

The pic is of Adam's office and yes, it is the weekend...

Settling in (1)

We like it here a lot!

It’s about 5 months since we moved to Burlington now and The Brown House has developed a nice homely (that's 'homey' to any US readers!) feel after a serious bout of cleaning and decorating. Our house is located right on the University Farm, directly opposite the cow yard, and for the past 7 years has been inhabited by a series of 4 bachelor farm workers... it was no mean feat to get it cleaned up!

That said, we have only 4-7 more months left in this house before we need to move again, and hopefully that will be the last one for a while! Our mission for Jan-Feb is to begin the process of house-hunting and to find out if we should buy or stick with renting.

So, the Burlington area has a lot going for it. Downtown is great and we really don’t want for any shops, eateries or entertainment beyond what we have here... ok so there are still some home comforts we can’t get here but, other than that, we give a big thumbs up for Burlington. Besides all that, the Ben & Jerry's icecream factory is only 25 minutes away :))

Surrounded by the Green Mountains and Lake Champlain we’re kind of spoilt for scenery and outdoor activities too. Our big excitement at the moment is the great availability of skiing only 30 mins to 2 hrs away (depending on ski area and weather). So far Jayne has skied Sugarbush and Bolton Valley, tho’ Killington, Smugglers Notch and Jay Peak etc are only a stones throw away too. Check out the 'Ski Vermont' link to see if a winter break tickles your fancy! Our door is always open for guests (so long as they're cheerful!).

Pic is the view of the cow yard from our kitchen window (taken in the summer) ... it's nice to say good morning to the girls as we make our morning cuppa!

Winter Wonderland??

So, today started well with no water thanks to frozen pipes, and Adam had quite a task to get into the car ‘cos the locks were frozen up. Still, that was all fixed by the time Jayne dragged herself out of bed (teehee).

Safi has been having her own troubles finding a good ‘business spot’, so we’ve dug a snow crapisseum for her. Quite handy it is too for the poor pup, tho’ no doubt more info than you readers need...

Despite continued winter weather warnings the sun is shining today. Hopefully it stays this way for a while.

The pic shows Saf's salubrious snow crapisseum... gotta go, gotta go!

First Posting - WELCOME

Welcome to our blog!

Here we are in January 2007 with a resolution to keep in touch with friends and family WAY better than we managed in 2006.

Step 1 is to set up this blog (done!)

Step 2 is to populate it regularly with interesting tidbits (well, we can hope...)

Step 3 is to remind you to check in with us from time to time! (err, so that would be to call and email you more often too. Hurraah!)

We hope you'll enjoy reading this as it develops during our time here in VT, however long that may be. So, be prepared to share in our adventures, mishaps and whatever else comes our way... even those humdrum boring old days as well (bet you can't wait). Oh, and you can also leave your comments for us to read too, please!

The pic you see here is of The Brown House, taken this afternoon... brrr, 'twas cold out!