Family visits

It’s been a busy few weeks here at Henbogle. Last weekend, Dan’s parents and Aunt Sue came for a visit. It had been a long time since they had been here to Maine, so it was really great to see them.

We had a nice relaxed visit, ambling around the gardens, doing a bit of yard sale-ing with Mom, lounging on the deck and of course, admiring the happy hens and the new chicks. We played a few games of Snatch, and taught Dan's new game Cathedral World, to Dan's Dad. (Dan and I have been playing a lot, it is very addictive, and we are pretty well matched.) Kyle and his sister Amanda came over for a visit, and we made strawberry ice cream, mmmmm, with those strawberries from the freezer. It was really great to see them, but all too soon, the visit was over and the van rolled away headed for New York.

Dan and I puttered around Monday, taking advantage of the crisp, clear skies to do laundry, then Tuesday loaded the kayaks for a lovely paddle in Litchfield on Buker and Jimmy Ponds. We saw a loon family with 2 chicks early in the day at a distance, and later as we were headed out, the loons surfaced fairly close to me and called, making me jump, but I recovered enough to enjoy the close views of their chicks! These photos were not taken with a zoom lens, BTW.

Wednesday the rain clouds rolled in and we switched gears to inside projects. I’m attempting to make travel covers for the kayaks, and today experimented with making my own yogurt and making dulce de leche with sweetened condensed milk and the pressure cooker. So far, things look good on both counts – the yogurt has set up nicely and is now cooling in the fridge, and I didn’t blow up the pressure cooker. I made the yogurt by incubating scalded milk with my favorite Greek yogurt, Fage, then setting it in a cooler filled with very warm water, and leaving it for 4+/- hours (the can is to weight down a half-full jar). Details tomorrow after the taste test.

We’re planning on making dulce de leche ice cream when Dan’s sister is here for a visit next week, so I’ll report on the dulce de leche then. Tomorrow – a report from the gardens.