Anybody Out There?

It finally dawned on me that the reason I wasn't blogging was that looking at this blog was too painful a reminder of a life that I loved and cherished but was thrown away- unceremoniously. So that life is gone. And that is all I will say about that.

But our family, Clarke, Oscar and I, are here. Here in Brooklyn. Here at the barn in Saranac Lake. And daaaaamn, we are still having some fun. So I want to blog, but not here. New site but the same ol' stuff. Funny stories, restaurant reviews, recipes, ADK adventures and love.

And because I insist on cheesy, double-entendre blog names, the name reflects my new neighborhood (Park Slope, Brooklyn) and my old Adirondack mountains, with a wink to the crazy-ass year it has been. Introducing..... www.SlopeOpera.blogspot.com.

Hope to see you there. Bridget

Ski Season!

We didn't arrive until Saturday afternoon, which was a great excuse not to be productive or cook but just to chill out and ski. In our absence we had a freezing water pipe accident, but by the time we arrived on Saturday, Bill, our trusty neighbor, had not only fixed the pipes, but rerouted and insulated some problem areas. Each year we are making little improvements.

After a Saturday evening of pizza dinner and scrabble, Sunday we had our first outing and the skiing was fantastic. You can tell it is the beginning of the season because we were out of the house by 8:15am. Clarke talked me into trying the "Silver Glades", some moguls, AND a jump (which landed me on my a**) The crowds have not arrived, yet. The weather was mild. We all had shaking legs at the end of the day and the boys snoozed on the way home while I belted out Christmas music to keep myself awake. Worth all the effort!

We will be back up at some point during the holidays.

Sedation

It is more than calm that takes over at the barn. I literally feel like i enter a different state. Oscar and I woke up early and walked the "estate". We made pancakes, ran errands (Clarke got an awesome ski jacket at the Saranac Lake ski club used ski sale), went bowling ($3 per game!), and arrived back early afternoon to make a fire, warm some cider, switch on NPR and do some reading. The boys did their homework. I made roast turkey, mashed potatoes and broccoli for dinner and then we played Risk. I raged through 4 loads of laundry, and started my Christmas list. All in all, it seemed like a pretty busy day but again, I was sort of happily, slowly going from activity to activity in a lovely, calm fog. Do you think there is some sort of carbon monoxide leak? Or is it brain space?

The weather was "eh." Too warm and rainy. We are ready ready ready for the snow! The boys may be up there for Thanksgiving and we will all be back the weekend after, hopefully putting up a Christmas tree and SKIING.

We are back in Brooklyn and Oscar has asked that we also get a Brooklyn tree and decorate it in Brooklyn style. I am considering hanging replica slices and Uncle Louie's containers. Any other ideas?

Whoah

It's November in the Adirondacks, and I am in a tank top swatting flies. What is wrong with this picture?

Anyway, trip up was peaceful and lovely...but longer than I remembered. Have to get back in the groove again. My plan was to bake all the chicken pieces in my fridge and the boys could munch on delicious oven-baked, coated chicken, raw carrots, and wine sap apples...but then a friend, who was long overdue for a catch-up, showed up unexpectedly in Brooklyn from the far away land of Manhattan and all that healthy, nutritious prep was dropped in lieu of ladies brunch at Sweet Melissa. See. I haven't posted for awhile but not much has changed. We are still flying by the seat of our pants. The boys and I stopped at the lovely Malta Diner instead. The diner was fine but the city planning folks of Malta must have been on crack when they designed the off road from the highway -these crazy traffic circles everywhere a la London. "Look kids Malta Diner. Look kids Malta Diner"

We arrived in time for Jenga, Shut the Box and then shut off the lights and go to bed while mom blogs. More tomorrow!

Helloooo??

Yikes, it's been a long time! Boys have been up at the barn with their dad and I've tried to convince them to blog about their epic climb of McKenzie Mountain (!). Not bad, eh? Alas, they couldn't be bothered but trust that they are having a great summer. Now, I am back and getting a plan for the rest of our week. Seems like today will be a nice one and we will be visiting our lovely friends Angus and Linnea on lovely Rainbow Lake. Stay tuned!

Survivor! Cousin Fest 2008

Boys in bed, laundry done, dishes done, mother's special medicine poured (of the red variety), rest of house sorta disaster area...but we will let others worry about that. We ruled the Adirondacks. Truly, having 4 genuinely nice boys who get along great is easier than 2 sometimes. They paired off, had enough for cards, baseball etc. I was laissez-faire on cleanliness and nutrition, to say the least. They slept in tents for 3 straight nights and as they cleaned up the tent this evening, I was fairly horrified at the debris that was hauled back. C'est la vie. I would kinda remember once in awhile that i hadn't seen any teeth brushing and would remind, or could convince one or two at a sitting to wash themselves. Other than that, it was a herd mentality. I'll let the pictures speak.

Cousin Fest Day Three

Indeed there were tired boys this morning. I heard murmurings of prank calls, streaking, whipped cream consumption.... I decided to not ruin my life by forcing a hike and allowed them a lazy wiffle ball morning. After that, we decided to finally go for it and do the bobsled run, which we have talked about everytime the Fabulous Bower Boys visit. We then tackled some mountain biking at High Peaks at Mt. Hoevenberg. Pizza for dinner, Starsky & Hutch and now back to the tents!

Cousin Fest Day Two

Rainy day yesterday. We started the day at Blue Moon ( god I love that place) and then i dropped boys at Wall-E while I did grocery run. I asked the teenager at cash register if I had enough junk food to last the week with 4 boys. He literally scoffed and rolled his eyes "em....no....". The amount of food being consumed is fairly alarming I must say. I am not used to things like entire blocks of cheese, gallons of milk, pounds of lunch meat just disappearing in one sitting!

For rest of the day, we made it to Donnelly's (finally!) and back to house for evening hors d'oeuvres and wiffle ball. Because the weather was so conducive, I roasted a turkey for dinner and watched in wonder...

The boys decided to sleep outside in tents and have just arrived back at house, looking like there was not a lot of sleeping but a lot of frivolity. We are supposed to hike today so let's see if they can pull it off.

Cousin Fest Day One

The boys were fabulously patient with me as I attended to some business today before our fun began. We headed to Wilmington Falls, to our favorite swimming hole. While the Bower Boys were fit to be tied that I (and their mother via cell) would not let them jump from highest ledge, everyone had a fabulous time. And then of course, it was time for ribs and excruciatingly painful live music (no Blues Noir on Tuesdays I guess.

Mea Culpa

Yes yes, I really am here. I went back to NYC yesterday to pick up my boys and the fabulous Bower Boys and now we have arrived back, after surviving a car break down and a puking cat. But we are here, damnit. The boys jumped from the car and just started running around the property. Within seconds, the basketball was out, the flashlights were out. Heaven. Now, Goonies is on the big screen upstairs and the root beer has been poured.
The best is that for the last 2 hours, all they have done is reminisce about the fabulous times they have had here. This is what I dream about when I dream about the barn. We've only owned it for a coupla years and the memories for them are deep and rich. Christmas and skiing, and hiking, and ice cream... I hope that whatever else they remember about these years, they will understand that I have done everything I can do to make this place magic for them.

You and Me Both

So I had anticipated great tails of outdoorsiness to share but unfortunately, my client, who I was officially finished with on Friday, thought otherwise. I have another 2 week engagement with them and have been tied to the computer and excel. Nevertheless, not too shabby working with the windows open, in a barn. I am running out right now to Hot House (is that the name? I always forget.) to see about some flowers. I have gotten a few good runs in. Man, I had forgotten what it's like to run hills. Lil ol' McKenzie Pond Rd. is kicking my butt. Other than that, hermitville around here - I haven't even had Donnelly's yet (!)

The Saranac Lake Hillbillies

I know it had been awhile since we've been to the barn, and those April -June months are pretty dramatic, but when I pulled up to the barn, I was fairly horrified at the state of affairs. Grass a foot tall, trees down, weeds where there was supposed to be a garden, a random garbage bag on side of house, wheelbarrow askew, fire pit full of debris. Being solo on this trip, I was more than a little intimidated but am tackling a bit at a time.
The storm here was very dramatic and most are sure there was some sort of tornado-type event. I guess we were lucky but we have a few trees to deal with. As much as I am tempted to grab the chain saw, I decided to call Dave the neighbor, who I think was born with a chain saw in his hands (Bill the neighbor calls the sound of chainsaws "Tupper Lake Mating Music"). I tackled most of the lawn, before the rains came again and am now pulling weeds in hopes of planting something. Given the insanity of these last months, I am letting go of my vegetable dream garden and am just going to enjoy a little color and a few herbs. If i need a real garden fix, i'll walk down to Dave and Joanne's..not a garden....small farm?

I am enjoying the solitude and the quiet...and the wine. I now know with certainty that I could happily be a hermit if I could get good coffee and wine delivery. I will need to remember this zen-like state, as next week I will have four boys here. Yikes!

Excitement in the Air

Today is the boys' last day of school. Officially, they have a half day tomorrow but I am philosophically opposed to that waste of time. Each year, I plan a surprise outing for them. Years past have included: Fire Island, water parks, speed boat rides, sailboat, rented convertibles. This year I had planned a white water rafting trip but our schedules are a bit curflooey so we are settling for a day at Sandy Hook beach. You jump on a ferry right on the Hudson and it drops you at this amazing beach; you can see the Manhattan skyline but it is clean and lovely. After that, the boys head to NJ to hang with their grandpa and dad for a week while I head to the barn, to ready for the summer. I am just obsessing, laying in bed making my lists: "Need to canoe right away!" "Is black fly season over?" "Which 46er should we tackle?" "Need to learn how to work propane stove for camping." "Need to see if Wednesday trail runs are on at Hovenburg." "Casa Del Sol!" "Are the blueberries ripe" and so on and so on. 2 More Days!

The Looongest Month

Who wants school over more, me or the boys? I am so sick of homework and books and teachers' dirty looks. We still have 3 more weeks. We need air and mountain and water and sky. Hmmm, I sure wish I could travel to some place like that -beautiful and alive with great people. HA! We can't wait to be there! We may have to just pull off at Split Rock Falls and jump in on the way to the barn. I am dying to cut wildflowers for the table, and sit at the picnic table in the early morning and watch the dew burn off. I want to hear the loons and only hear the sound of my canoe paddle on a quiet pond. I want to look at the stars and watch the boys scamper over rocks. I want that exhaustion that only comes with a long, hard hike in the sun, where you can barely walk back to the house. I want that kind of sleep that only comes at the barn.

Happy Mother's Day!

Wishing I were at the barn having breakfast at Blue Moon Cafe, taking a Mother's Day paddle, followed by massage at Balanced Bodyworks. Here in the city, we are heading to brunch at Half King, followed by a crazy adventure called Accomplice. I'll let you read for yourself but it comes highly recommended. We'll take pics.
Imagine an Accomplice ADK. Now that would be an adventure!

From Seeds?

Too late? Can i still start them? Cmon ADK gardeners what to do. If i don't use the seeds this year, I can save them till next, right? I am coming clean with my limited knowledge of this seed world but want to give it a try. a

Stop theWhiteface News

I'm really trying to plan my summer and all i keep reading about is the most excellent ski season that awaits us after the summer. This must stop. I need a summer music calendar , the summer yoga schedule at InnerQuest, the new Donnelly's ice cream calendar - KIDDING- has it ever changed, the farmer's market calendar. Can't believe it's May already! Who is more excited about the end of school, the boys or i?

Oh, and for those bloggers that rsvp'd for Bloggers at the Barn. My apologies on the cancellation. Rest assured it will be rescheduled.

Really tough to leave

This week was too needed and too fast. Today I puttered around the garden, raked, hauled some blown down trees, picked up debris and generally basked. The boys played golf, baseball, soccer. We visited at our neighbors and walked around the lanes. We ended our stay with dinner at Casa Del Sol, a family favorite. Sounding like a broken record but never meaning it more - this place speaks to my soul.

Do if for the Blog!

We'll start at the end of the story. The final leg of our famous Waterfall Hike involved a very precarious climb to Rainbow Falls. We were on a ledge with snow up to our thighs. It was slippery and our feet were soaked. I thought it might be a bad idea to continue until Oscar said "do it for the blog, mom". So I succumbed to peer pressure from my nine year old and we continued, making it another hundred feet to see Rainbow Falls in all of its spring glory - even felt the spray. We tried to get even closer but Oscar slipped (per Oscar "and almost died"), and we decided that we had made the most of the day.


The weather was perfect for the hike, and this was one of our favorites from last year. Unfortunately, both West River Trail and East River Trail were closed because of significant snow. We didn't have our snow shoes and might have soldiered on despite the warning but I do remember there was a lot of narrow climbing and the ranger looked alarmed when I hesitated. We then decided it was our first hike in awhile and it would be ok to just take the Lake Road. This would mean we'd miss all the falls, except the grand daddy Rainbow. We hiked for about 4 miles and reached the Lower Ausable Lake Dam. The boys took their shirts off and dived into snow banks. We let our socks dry out and hung on the rocks for awhile, before our fateful decision to climb the rest to Rainbow.

The way back was easy peasy, mostly downhill. We had some Naan for sustenance. The boys passed the trail for their all-time favorite mountain..Nippletop. The giggling lasted for about a half mile. We probably hiked around 9 miles total, a great first outing. The boys came back and had brownies and we had ginger flank steak and sugar snap peas for dinner. A great escape.

** pix shot with my bberry. excuse quality

Renewal

Shocking change of affairs since I last wrote from the barn... Among other things, winter has gone away completely. To think skiing was two weeks ago. Sometimes it felt like it was going to stay here forever, the fun and the joy but I have to remember it was also damn cold a lot of of the time. It was hard to contend with the elusive chill. I won't miss that.

It is 70 degrees and sunny, the frogs have been busy and we have at least 20 new frogs in the pond. The neighbors have arrived to show off new chicks and new maple syrup. The pigs arrive next week at Dave and Joanne's. I am walking the land, looking for the first signs of my blackberry bushes and my few perennials. We brought the canoes out of the shed and are even thinking about taking a quick paddle.

We are here and we are letting the sun warm our faces, looking up to the mountains, and getting ready for renewal.

I know this summer will entail the best of last year but i also anticipate discovering new adventures of 46er Family 2.0. Stay tuned.