An Evening at Shelburne Museum

 There was an opening reception today at Shelburne Museum. This year there's a fun exhibit highlighting the imagination and featuring robots and time machines. 

The peonies are in full bloom. They were the centerpieces for each of the tables set up outside the exhibit.

Geo and I took a walk to see one of the gardens. Here's a photo of one of the roses.

I'm sad that one of my favorite exhibit sites is gone ~ The Fifties' House. Good news is that there are plans for a new year- round facility at the Shelburne Museum, one that will be used for exhibits and education. Excavation is underway.

Here's a poster depicting the new building. It's scheduled to open in Fall of 2013.

A lovely evening. On the way out, I couldn't help but get another photo of the Round Barn.

With our membership, we plan on spending lots more days here ~ so much to see, so much to enjoy, so much to learn!

Cruise on Lake Champlain

Mid-June, blue skies, an ideal morning to be on Lake Champlain. 


Geo and I decided to do the Spirit of Ethan Allen cruise.

Some days it is fun just to be a tourist. I think we blended in quite well with the tourist crowd.

Once we were out on the Lake, it got pretty windy. 

Some views along the way:

                                 Camel's Hump to the east

                             A view of the Adirondacks to the west

                                                Rock Point

                                        Rock formation

                                  The Burlington skyline.

                                        Echo Aquarium

      Heading back to dock, the Boathouse and Splash restaurant.


We had lunch at the Skinny Pancake before heading back home.
Here's another tourist blending in with the crowd. Meet Pansy.

A great day on the lake, and another great day in Burlington!

A Day at Button Bay

Addie recommended that we spend some time together out 

enjoying nature. A perfect Saturday to do this: sunny, light 

breeze, temps around 70 degrees. Not sure who suggested 

Button Bay State Park, but that is where we headed.

We found a picnic table for Geo while Addie and I took

to the nature trail.

It was about 1/2 mile to the Nature Center where we
were headed.

I spotted these guys out on the water. (Sometimes I miss
my Wisconsin fishing days...)

This was a great spot just to take in the breathtaking
scenery.

We spotted this butterfly (Swallowtail?) along the trail.
I must've taken about a dozen shots to get this one.

These flowers were near the Nature Center. Lots of bees
buzzing around. 

We agreed that the time we spent here was all too short.

 Next time I promise to pack a picnic lunch, tablecloth and all. (Those granola bars didn't do it for us!)

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Garden Update

I noticed the garlic is beginning to form scapes. I planted lots of garlic last September, the easiest of anything to grow. They're ready to pull out of the ground after the tall leaves begin to turn brown, usually in July. Before that, the scapes can be used in cooking.

Then I noticed the first peas in the garden! There are enough to pick to saute for dinner tonite.

I've never been a great fan of peonies. My memories are of picking them from my Mom's garden, bringing them into the dining room, then finding ants crawling all over the table! Ugh. But I am reconsidering peonies, especially after seeing the spectacular displays at the Shelburne Museum each year. So I conceded and decided to start my own peony garden ~ one plant.  I must say I am impressed with the first two blossoms. Guess I will have to add to the collection. Here's the debut of the peony in our garden.

Blueberry Dump Cake

Geo spotted the blueberries on special at the grocery store. We bought two pints.


Since today is a cool, overcast day, it's perfect for baking. So I went to work putting together a simple Blueberry Dump Cake. Here's my recipe:


Mix together 4 cups of fresh blueberries with 1/2 scant cup sugar and 1 Tablespoon cinnamon.
Spread in a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Take 1 box of cake mix and sprinkle the dry mix evenly over the berries.
Melt 1/2 cup butter (I used the defrost cycle on the microwave) and drizzle over the cake mix.
I added a few chopped walnuts ~ optional.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.


Drizzling the melted butter is the tricky part. Do it slowly to evenly cover the mix.


Here's what it looked like just after coming out of the oven.

And this was Geo's first slice, served warm with vanilla ice cream.

So easy to make. George is loving it!

Baby Birds and the Rabbit

Whenever we opened our dining room window, we heard a lot of loud chirping. There must be a nest out there somewhere, so I went to investigate. This is what I discovered:

I was happy to have a zoom lens to snap a few more photos. I like this one of the bird not-yet-quite-in-flight.

When I returned inside, I looked out the window and spotted this cardinal in a nearby tree. I zoomed in and took this photo through the screen. This must be the proud parent of the little birds.

Later I was looking out the living room window, and there was a rabbit near the flowerbed, just chillin' out as relaxed as can be. ( I suspect this one of chomping down my lilies and beans!) My camera was nearby, and this was definitely a photo op. 

Sometimes I feel a little like "Mrs. Mcgregor" with all the rabbits in the garden, but I have to admit, they are kinda cute! 

Root Beer Bread

Sean and Jenna drove up for a visit with us. A good opportunity to try out a few new recipes. This one was the easiest of all, Root Beer Bread. It actually came out better than any of us expected. So here's the recipe. 


Mix together 3 cups of self-rising flour, 1 Tablespoon sugar, and 1 can of root beer. (The consistancy should be like a mudpie.) Spoon batter into a lightly greased bread pan. Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for about 40 minutes, or until done. Let it cool before slicing and serve with butter.


I will definitely make this again, but next time, for that extra little zing, I'd like to try using ginger beer. 

An Afternoon at the Shelburne Museum

Today was "soft opening day" at the Shelburne Museum here in Vermont. Geo and I spent the afternoon  checking out new exhibits and walking the grounds, enjoying a delightful day here.

This year the Round Barn has a vintage sleigh and snow mobile exhibit.

 This snow mobile dates back to 1968. I love the colors.

The Ticonderoga is so impressive, a main attraction, along with the lighthouse.

A new exhibit opening in June will be all about robots. Outside of the gallery they're getting the gardens ready with a robotic theme. Here's one of the sculptures.

Another new set of sculptures outside of the circus gallery is of circus elephants made of recycled materials I've seen photos of the elephants, but they are much more impressive seeing them up close in their new setting,

After so much walking, it's so pleasant to take a break to admire the gardens. Here's Geo.

One of my favorite spring plants is the bleeding heart. There's a gorgeous one outside of the Ogden Pleissner  Gallery.

Thank you, Addie, for giving us a membership. We'll be visiting the Shelburne Museum often!

Lemon Waffle Cake

Okay, I just had to try this one. The recipe called for one box of Betty Crocker SuperMoist cake mix ~ chocolate. All I had on hand was a box of lemon cake mix.

Mix together 3 eggs, 1 and 1/3 cups water, 1/3 cup oil and the cake mix (2 minutes) Bake in heated waffle iron until done (3 - 5 minutes). I filled the iron 4 times.

I served the cake warm, with ice cream, and bananas dribbled with rum. 

It was a super quick dessert to put together and would be very unique and fun to serve guests.The rum-flavored bananas weren't bad either!

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Today's Project

Branch Out Burlington, a non-profit promoting tree planting in our area, had a tree sale. I picked up two of them ~ a flowering white Hawthorne and a pink Adam ~ to replace two that we lost this past year. Getting the trees loaded into the Forester was the easy part. Digging into the still mucky clay in the yard was the challenge.

Without Addie's help, I couldn't do it by myself. The trees do not look like much now, but I have high hopes that they will grow well.

Here are a few photos of some flowers in bloom right now. I love the color of this parrot tulip.

These white tulips start out white, then gradually turn purple. AND they are called "Shirley Tulips."

The flowers on this tree seemed to have opened overnight. They are attracting bees and butterflies.

Someday I hope to see our two new trees flowering just like this!