I’ve read that the Abenaki Indians were the first to discover the secrets of the Maple tree. There are two different stories of how this happened. The first goes like this… One day an Abenaki woman was boiling moose meat while her husband was out hunting. She was also making moccasins and forgot the boiling meat until the handle burned off the pot and the pot fell into the fire spilling all the water out. She knew there was sap in a birch bucket that was kept for drinking so she used it to finish boiling the meat in instead ...<< MORE >>

        Once again the sap is running! Last week I set 5 taps, one in each of our maple trees. Only one tap was running so I took a tap from one tree and moved it to the tree that was flowing and I re-drilled the other tap holes and they, too, began to run. So far I have boiled about a quart of syrup. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup so you can do the math.         For the past few days the weather hasn’t cooperated and the sap has slowed down or stopped altogether. ...<< MORE >>

        As you may know Vermont became the first state to allow civil unions in July of 2000 and the fourth state to pass the marriage equality bill, which took effect on September 1, 2009.         If you are coming to Vermont for your Civil Wedding ceremony here are a few things you should know. First, visit the Vermont Secretary of State’s web page (http://www.sec.state.vt.us/municipal/civil_mar.htm) if you have some general questions. If you would like to download a civil marriage application please visit http://www.bennington.com/town/Civil_Marriage_Application.pdf.         The options are limitless when deciding on what type of wedding you would like to have in ...<< MORE >>

Last night Moira and I attended a get-together in Montpelier to celebrate the passing of the marriage equality bill in Vermont. We were unsure what the evening would hold in store. We were pleasantly surprised at the amount of people that attended and the celebratory feeling in the room. There were numerous, and very entertaining, speeches from key legislators, yummy food and drink and of course a beautiful red-haired baby with a Mohawk! What party would be complete without that?

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This beautiful April morning finds me sitting out on the deck in the warm spring breeze listening to the sounds of birds and the occasional car or bicycle going by. The Notch Road between here and Stowe still is not open despite the lack of snow this past winter and the recent warm temperatures, almost ninety three out of the last four days! I'm told the temperature will drop today as rain moves in later this afternoon and the rest of the week will see more seasonable temps in the high fifties to mid sixties. ...<< MORE >>

What an action-packed weekend we just had. The guests that stayed with us were here for all different reasons, which is always fun. Two rooms were booked with people here for the a wedding up the road, one couple was here to hike the Long Trail and another couple was here for the Street Rod Show at the Champlain Valley Fairgrounds in Essex Junction. Each one of these guests was a pleasure to be with.

            Our first arrivals were ...

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What a glorious Vermont morning! As the remnants of hurricane Ike dribble out of our state, the sun is shining through the trees this morning and the sky is blue with light, puffy clouds. Sitting in the sunroom here at the Donomar Inn, I’m able to look out (make a mental note to perform the fall ritual of cleaning all the windows!) and see Mount Mansfield, Vermont’s highest peak, dodging the light clouds this morning. I’m sure ...<< MORE >>