Rainy Days….

What to do with a rainy day when it’s too damp and cold to be outside in the garden??? If you are like me and have had very little time during the growing season, you spend the time doing things like catching up on your blog…

This has been such a crazy busy summer. I have tried to update this blog numerous times without success, so instead of trying to recreate the months that have passed since my last posting, I’ll give a brief synopsis and we will go on from here. In the future, I hope to do better in keeping my blog up to date.

At the beginning of this year when I started a CSA, I never imagined how many opportunities would evolve during the year or how many CSA members we would actually attract. I started off with a goal of 12 to 15 members and ended up with 25 and I have enjoyed getting to know each and every one of them. It has been such a pleasure to work with my members and provide them with food from my garden every week. The challenges have been the weather, bugs, knowing how much to plant for 25 shareholders and how to balance the rest of my life. But, there’s a learning curve to this and since it is my first year I have learned a lot and I know next year will be just that much better.

It would never have occurred to me at the beginning of this year that I would have the opportunity to take three major trips with three of my children. In April, my daughter Jennifer and I traveled to France for 10 days. It was her first visit to Europe and we had a wonderful time. Not only did we see a lot of beautiful sites, we had the opportunity to spend some quality mother/daughter time together and found that we were great travel companions. 

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In addition to spending a number of days in Paris, we also visited the castles in the Loire Valley and Annency – a gorgeous town on the French/Italian/Swiss border (Jen’s favorite).

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In August, I had the opportunity to visit my son and his family in Alaska. Allan is stationed at Ft. Wainwright in Fairbanks and he is living his dream. Ever since he was a youngster, Allan’s dream has been to visit Alaska. 

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When the Army gave him the opportunity to transfer there from West Point, he jumped on it – and now I am wondering if we will ever get him back!! He and his wife, Allison and son, Leland spend every spare moment exploring everything Alaska has to offer. When Allison’s parents and I visited them in August, they had a week-long whirlwind tour planned for us that covered over 1,300 miles in 6 days.

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Breathtaking scenery, deep sea fishing, gold mines, copper mines, an aerial view of the Wrangell-Elias National Forest in a 6-seater airplane – it goes without saying, we crammed in as much as we could in a very short period of time.

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At the end of October, my oldest son, Eric and I will be accompanying my husband on a business cruise on the Mediterranean. It will be Eric’s first time abroad as well, so I am anxious to see his reaction to all that he will see. We depart from Barcelona, Spain and will visit Provence and Nice France; Florence, Rome and Naples, Italy.