Thanksgiving at The Cabin

I have never had a greater appreciation for my mother in my life than I did after Thanksgiving dinner was over and everyone had left. --granted I have yet to birth children so I imagine that will change my perspective one day. But I had never been more exhausted in my life and I have no idea how my mother has prepared Thanksgiving dinner so faithfully (and happily) all these years!

It was 9am... I already look exhausted (down right disheveled actually...) as I shove my hand inside the rear end of a turkey. Ahh... the start of new traditions.

Shortly after the turkey was in the over I began cooking and didn't stop for about seven hours. I realized that pretty much every single dish I cooked was orange. Sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie, roasted carrots, and a pumpkin spice dip were the orange items among a few other things...

I felt like a real housewife. The other day I had gone to L.L. Cote's, which is a variety store of types, and purchased nice little napkins and moose napkin rings even! Then I set the table in a way that made me reminisce to the days where I was a bus girl at a fancy little restaurant years ago. Forks on the left. Spoons and knives on the left. Don't forget to turn the knife so the edge is towards the plate. And make sure the glass is just above the knife. ...oh so unnecessarily technical.

The turkey did take about three hours longer than it should have. So much for the estimates on the turkey packaging. Thank goodness we had one with one of those little timers in it, which Shawn was all but convinced was defective two hours past estimated cooking time. Just as he was about to carve into the turkey to inspect the done-ness of the meat the timer popped. He set straight to carving it.

For the first time since we have owned our home we sat down and ate a meal at our kitchen table. It was nice. Family all crowded around, conversation, and good food. Of course there was a ton of left overs that I tried to pawn off on my in-laws. With only partial success I will now be experiencing tryptophan overload for the next week or two at least.

Even after all the exhaustion and painstaking experience of getting acquainted with my oven and mixer I enjoyed it. The accomplishing feeling of producing a whole meal, feeding everyone, and then having your kitchen clean at the end of it all like nothing happened. (so maybe that's why my mother does it?). It has all the feelings of a new tradition in the making...

Indian Summer? Seriously?

Today if I look outside I see spots of green grass. It was damn near 55 degrees today and we have yet to even have an inch of measurable snow! C'mon... this is Vermont! Northern Vermont at that. I've got sweaters and boots waiting to be worn. My car has snow tires that need to be put to use. And most importantly I have a brand new snowmobile with only 200 miles on it from last year that is begging to be driven all over the trails!

This is what Vermont should look like this time of year:

I took this video November 20th or so just two years ago!

Snow. Plenty of snow. Vermont is not subject to real seasons like the rest of the country. Our winter begins after Halloween and goes until Easter. Spring doesn't exist... we just have Mud season. And then two months of summer before Fall arrives.

But for some reason this year the seasons aren't cooperating. There is no snow. Winter has delayed its kickoff. We've been teased with these warm temperatures as soon as we've put our short sleeve shirts away and brought out the sweaters and fleece. The landscape is just plain brown... dead... and I can't wait for a fresh blanket of snow to cover it all up because its getting harder to find the beauty in this lingering fall.

Corn Chowder?!

Ok... first a pie... now corn chowder? I'm getting a little crazy here...

Cooking is WAY different than baking. If anyone tells you its not then they don't do much of either. I can bake pretty well (provided I pay attention to timers), but cooking is a completely different story. It was not so long ago that I finally mastered how to make scrambled eggs and for some reason today I decided to move on to something a little more challenging. Well actually... A LOT more challenging. Maybe it is the fact that Thanksgiving is coming up and I have been volunteered as the host for our family's feast. I needed to test the waters. A boost of confidence to get me ready for the "big game" that is this Thursday. (...lets ignore the fact that I am in over my head for now.)

So corn chowder was my choice. As Shawn headed out to hunt for the evening I headed to the kitchen. Nothing is more perfect than coming home to a meal of corn chowder after a long hunt in the woods.

All the ingredients lined up. Even bacon... gasp!... I have never ever cooked bacon in my life and it seemed daunting. But I took a moment to reflect in the monumental task ahead of me. Oh, and where did I find myself a corn chowder recipe? This site call Tasty Kitchen, which I am also using as a resource for Thanksgiving. You can type in a single ingredient and then retrieve a plethora of different recipes you can then choose from.

Cooking the bacon actually went really well. Not a piece was burned. And for those skeptical about the pot used to cook bacon rather than a skillet... well that's what the recipe called for. All the bacon grease was to be saved and the soup to be made in that pot. See... there was a madness to my method... er.. you know what I mean.

The recipe said it only took an hour to cook, but I completely disagree. It took three hours to put everything together and allow it to simmer the appropriate length of time, but the end result actually resembled corn chowders I had seen elsewhere. That was a good sign.

Finally the chowder was poured out into bowls and ready for Shawn and I to test. Shawn was a willing test subject for the chowder, but not so willing to have the testing process photographed. He did however say off the record that the chowder was "extremely good.". "Awesome." and he even wanted seconds.

Success.

Now bring on Thanksgiving! Wish me luck!

I Don't Have to Look at My Food Anymore!!

...and I mean that in the most literal translation possible.

Since we've owned our home we've done relatively little to improve it. I think its because we are young and think our house is quite nice anyway. Plus, we don't have a huge expendable income. We are, after all.... just starting out. So when we decided to finally get doors for our cabinets it was kind of a big deal.

One of the great things about a small town is that there is always SOMEONE you know that does SOMETHING you need done. Need your roof fixed... there's a neighbor for that. Need your lawn mowed? Well there are about half a dozen people that'll do that. So when we needed cabinet doors of course there was a friend of ours that could make them and put them in for us! ...and they even gave us the "friend and fireman" discount. How handy?!

So our friends not only built the cabinet doors, but also came over and installed them. They are pine doors so the fit right in with the whole cabin interior. And the fact that they are very light colored makes the kitchen look bigger and brighter!

...pardon my dirty kitchen counter.

The best part... I don't have to look at my food anymore! Its going to wonders to my appetite. Snack now requires effort rather than me just turning around and glancing across the house at what's in the cabinets. No more snacks and cereal (my weakness... ) staring at me in the face making my belly growl. So perhaps this will help avoid putting on the "winter weight" this year that is such a common occurance when the Vermont snows force you to barricade yourself inside your house and hibernate.

Now onto another project... hmmm... what's next?

Officially Online!

So all day today... and well for much of the last week or two I have been feverishly working on my photography website. After carpal-tunnel spasms and glare induced headaches from my laptop my "professional" web page is officially and legitimately up and running. See for yourself!

That right there is hours of work... the website I mean. Literally hours of sweat, anger, frustrations, and excitement. Really web designing is such a roller coaster of emotions. The moment you get the source code just right is so exciting, but the frustration of having one comma or period of of place in the code that causes it not to function is the absolute worst. Give me a sick or dying person any day... I'd rather handle that.

Right now the website is not in Google, which I find to be highly disadvantageous. So if you search for my site via Google you won't find it. It seems to be a challenge to get the word out about my site so if anyone would like to link to my photo page on their website feel free. I'd actually appreciate it! Maybe I will learn patience in this whole process. That is a definite weakness of mine, but I will have to have patience when it comes to my photography
and my website. Nothing happens over night...

The Real Deal.... Almost.

Another week without a post...

What can I say? If I say I've been busy I wouldn't be lying, but that is such a lame excuse. There has been plenty going on. School, which I have been doing extremely well in, is great. I am wondering if I have found what I am meant to do... it kind of feels like it. Work, is... well... work. I feel I would rather being doing stuff related to school than in the back of the ambulance and that makes me sad. I also haven't had a challenging call or patient in a very long time.

But I'll get to the most exciting point of the last several days... My photography! Not only have I sold a few prints, but I have had numerous compliments and...get ready for this... created my own web page!! That's right. You can find my photos on the world wide web, other than this blog. It has been what has been consuming my free time these last few days (along with a minor computer glitch that caused me to have to reformat and to now use Windows 7 OS). I've also been processing, taking, and editing several photos. And two stores have agreed to sell my photos! They are right here in town, so if you ever visit Island Pond you will be able to purchase professional framed, original photos. Or you could visit my website! (Can you sense my extreme excitement at all of this?!)

So my website... Its very rudimentary, but I will share it anyway. www.nekphotography.com Its in it's infancy so bear with the bareness of it. I've been adding photos and tweaking it as often as I can (which isn't really that often). And if you have any suggestions or the format appears messed up on your computer let me know! I can't tell how it will appear on other computers so if you have an issue please share. That would be ever so helpful.

Oh... and that new type of photography I mentioned before --- High Dynamic Range--- HDR

I absolutely love it....

Like this old Dodge truck at sunset. How reminiscent.

And these horses out in a field near Jay Peak. Enchanting.

Or this magnificent monstrosity of a barn

And this ridiculously luminous sunset.

No there is no weird color tweaking or over saturation going on. It is just the nature of the photography. I am in love. Besides nursing school, this is my second love. I'm definitely polyamourous when it comes to endeavors in life, but perhaps that is the way to live life.

The (Successful) Moose Hunt

For some reason my husband labeled me as his second shooter and I will never understand why. Maybe he loves me that much? When you get a moose tag you get to pick one person to be your "second shooter" who registers with you on your license. You also get to label someone as your guide. This person does not get to carry a gun, but rather is suppose to guide you to where the moose are so you and your second shooter can shoot one. Those are the only people allowed to hunt and be in the woods with you when you are hunting moose so being labeled the second person, the only other person with a gun even, was a big deal. And I am not exactly a seasoned hunter. In fact, I am only a one-seasoned hunter, having only one hunting season under my belt and a hunters safety card that the ink has barely dried on.

But ready or not I was up at 4am, dressed in camo, and paraded into the woods on a friend's 8,000 acre parcel of logging land.

Myself, all excited to be decked out in camo and walking in the rain.... yeah.
And Shawn, the kind of excited that a man will never let you see.

I was actually excited that first morning as we set out down old skidder roads towards a remote swamp. It was thought to be prime moose territory.

Four times a day we visited this swamp. There was sign of moose everywhere. Poop, prints, and even antler rubs. During the last season, a week earlier, someone had shot a very nice bull down in that swamp. The weather had also changed, from cold to warm. Clearly the moose had changed their destination.

After two comeplete days of hunting, waking up before dawn, and walking over a dozen miles up and down mountains I was exhausted and then my week of school began. Shawn still headed back into the woods, persistent, and without the company of his second shooter because nursing school still outweighs the importance of a moose tag. On the forth day of hunting, Tuesday, Shawn called me in a frustrated voice saying he was on his way home. Unsuccessful for the day, so he thought, he headed back up the logging roads towards home. He was getting discouraged after four days of no luck. Then the phone rang again just a few minutes later. Shawn was out of breath and explaining he had shot a moose! In a matter of minutes his luck had changed and I was off to help him with bringing in the moose--or rather photograph him and his friends bring in the moose. However you want to look at it!

Thank goodness for friends who enjoy gutting animals. That's not a weird thing up here. Maybe in Jersey its a skill that is disgusted, but in Vermont these are the friends you call in a time of need. They definitely offered a lesson in animal gutting. For me, it was an interesting anatomy lesson.

Shawn had shot it right in the lung, as he pointed out here.

Once we looked inside one lung and the entire left ventricle of the heart was obliterated. He saw this moose just off a logging road that doubles as a snowmobile trail in the winter. So then we had to finagle a way to get the moose out of the woods and over a very large ditch onto the logging road. --Note the little boy. Getting a moose is really a whole family affair!

I don't know who came up with the rope idea, but it worked, to my amazement. I figured the rope would surely snap. One of our friends stated once this idea was successful "We may be rednecks, but we ain't stupid." That's true, and a good thing...

Finally... more than two hours later... we made it to the taxidermist's house where we were to weigh the moose. Everyone, all in good fun, was making guesses on the moose's weight. Thats half the fun, guessing the weight. Shawn was insistent that it weighed more than 600lbs. My guess.... 545lbs. What's your guess?

Up on the pulley the moose went until none of it was touching the ground. If you look closely at the meter you can see the weight of the moose. That's right... 545lbs on the nose. What a good guess!

A happy hunter and his guide. Aka, father and son.

Despite it not breaking 600lbs Shawn was still excited. He even let me take numerous photos of him and even smiled! Whether it was the excitement and pride of a successful hunt or the four beers he consumed on an empty stomach I don't know... But regardless it has been an experience that he loved and none of us will forget. Now we are going to end up with more meat than we will ever need...