Family Mellmann

At church this morning, some of the kids from the children's choir, which I conducted for one of the Christmas services, brought me these lovely notes and handmade cards.  As if saying good-bye to my adult friends wasn't hard enough, being appreciated by my more youthful friends was really touching.  When you are "just doing your job", it is easy to forget that your students might have a different perspective on your role.  When they stare up at you during rehearsal, looking mostly unimpressed, it is easy to conclude that they could care less what old person is up there making them sing.  These kind notes and thoughtfully drawn pictures tell a different story.  What a blessing. It was a weird New Year's Eve.  Joerg is on his way to Montana so we weren't together.  A typical New Year's Eve finds us sleeping soundly by midnight so I thought I would challenge myself to stay awake until 2024 arrived.  2024, the year I move to Montana.  Who knows what other int

We have spent the last three or four days, since Patrick returned to Arizona, pitching, packing, and preparing.  With Joerg's departure set for early tomorrow morning, we wanted to get as many projects completed where brute force and strong muscles were necessary. I've been packing away and inventorying the things that will go into long term storage.  Joerg has hauled away the last pieces of furniture that won't the make the move, the area rugs (also not moving with us), and random other junk.  What is left will either go with us as we journey westward or into long term storage (after the movers pack it in their truck and haul it across the country). With all the decorations gone, several pieces of comfortable furniture gone, and many of our creature comforts packed into boxes, this place starts to look more like a piece of real estate and less like the house we have called "home" for sixteen years on land we have called ours for almost twenty-four. Joerg is ahead

So far, our Vermont winter has been mild.  We have had a little snow, followed by warm days to melt it away.  And the last week has been rainy and foggy.  The picture doesn't quite do justice to how pretty the Christmas lights were in this afternoon's dense fog.

Joerg has begun packing his things in preparation for his departure.  He gets to be our landing party in Montana.  And, three real estate transactions done, two to go.  The excitement builds.  

Christmas Day is usually quiet in the Mellmann household.  But there's nothing better for a food hangover (too much Christmas Eve fondue) than a walk.  One year it was so warm that we went for a motorcycle ride...but those are packed and ready to be hauled across the country, so a walk will have to suffice. Katherine decided not to join us so Joerg, Patrick, and I went to the waterfront for one last stroll on the boardwalk and on up the coast along the recreation path.  We stopped for a gander at what we decided was an unsightly waste of waterfront real estate.  It's called the Moran Frame and it took city officials "more than 30 years of ideas and efforts to re-imagine the long-abandoned former coal plant", according to the city's website.  In thirty years, this is all they could come up with. After our walk, we enjoyed a quiet afternoon of chatting, napping, and "vacation mode" chilling.  Then it was time for raclette preparations.  Normally, raclette

Christmas Eve 2023 is in the books.  Actually, Katherine is "in the books".  Katherine has two real hobbies, writing her own stories and reading other's, so when birthdays and Christmas roll around books are always a good choice for gifts.  I like to get her the first two or three books of a series and then if she likes the series we can add the rest later.  That's what I did this year, and then threw in some "author-y" books (how-to type books for budding authors) to help her build her craft. For Patrick, I tried to keep it small since he has to take back in an airplane anything we give him.  A few clothes and a couple of gift cards did the trick. Yes, more books. And her favorite movie in book form (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children) for the win! It's a boxed set!  Best mom ever! And our traditional fondue dinner, of course. Christmas Eve day had all the usual features; put the tree up and decorate it, church activities (I directed the children

We have a favorite sushi restaurant in downtown Burlington.  They have excellent fresh fish and flavorful sushi and maki, better than any other sushi place in the area.  And they know us on sight.  When we walked into the shop for our dinner reservation, the owner greeted us by name.  When she saw only three of us, she asked if our daughter was joining us.  This has been our restaurant choice for anniversaries, special events, and celebrations for many years. Now, as we prepare to move out of Vermont - and with everybody home - we went out for one last sushi night.  Katherine had flaked out on us as we were preparing to leave but that didn't stop us from enjoying a lovely dinner together. Farewell Asiana House.  We will miss you.

When the kids were younger, we would have a family game night.  Sometimes it was just Katherine, Mama, and Papa (Patrick didn't really care for board games) and sometimes it was Patrick, Katherine, and Mama (Papa didn't really care for card games), and sometimes it was just Katherine and Mama (Katherine likes to beat me at Uno, which she does fairly consistently through the liberal use of Draw 4). While everyone is home and in a celebratory mood we cracked out die Siedler Seafarer edition for an afternoon of discovery and piracy.  Die Siedler is a strategy-rich, rules-heavy game with lots of moving parts and can take a long time to play - think of Life or Monopoly but with more rules, lots of customization, and about one extra hour.  Patrick had to leave about halfway through the game to go visit with friends which he planned to do while he was in town.  Meanwhile, Papa came from behind for the win.     Having Christmas Eve fall on a Sunday creates certain challenges for us.  T

Last year, we visited the Shelburne Museum Winter Lights for the first time.  We enjoyed it so much that we decided to try it again.  THIS time, Katherine listened to her mother and dressed in layers and was able to stay warm during the walk.  Every time she said, "why didn't I listen to you sooner about wearing layers?" I just bit my tongue. Patrick - "What are these, a runway?  They have all the colors of a runway." (once a pilot, always a pilot) Katherine's favorite light exhibit would be the orbs. Mom's favorite spot is in the lighted forest. The selfie was Katherine's idea.  How could I say "no"?  

As we prepare to move out of Vermont, Patrick has returned "home" to help us celebrate one last time in the Green Mountains.  He arrived last last night and will stay for a week.  Our first activity; German Christmas cookies. Katherine provided the musical entertainment with her Spotify winter playlist and helped us decorate the cookies.   Christmas is shaping up...although there is a startling lack of...SNOW.

I just got home from hand bell rehearsal!  After several years of wanting to ring in a hand bell group again, I finally connected with a local community hand bell choir that meets at a local church and does a few concerts each year, and sometimes does programs for schools and nursing homes.  I attended their Christmas program last year and asked if I might be able to audition for the next fall.  No audition necessary (apparently teaching hand chimes to a bunch of junior and senior high students is credential enough to get accepted) and I started this fall.  But when I signed up last Christmas, I didn't know I'd be moving.  Even when fall came around and rehearsals began, I thought I would be around until late spring or early summer. Oh well.  They let me stay on and we are preparing for our Christmas concert, conveniently scheduled for AFTER Christmas (so that it doesn't conflict with school programs and church events).  So, if you're local and want to see me 'pract

It's gettin' real around here. For the past couple of weeks we have been meeting old friends for one last cup of coffee or one last meal together before we leave Vermont.  I had my last hair appointment with my favorite beautician.  We have given away, sold, pitched, or packed almost all of our belongings - everything except the clothes we wear, the equipment we use to work, and the kitchen tools we eat with every day. We gave away the last of our living room furniture this weekend.  All that remains is one chair that survived from the original furniture we bought when we built this house sixteen years ago.  It looks pretty...sparse.  Even the Christmas presents look a little sad sitting under the window waiting for the tree to go up.  It also doesn't look much like "home" anymore...ironic since Patrick will be coming "home" for Christmas - one last celebration in Vermont. After Christmas, the office furniture will go to its new home, and the old treadmi

In the last 2 1/2 months, I have spent a lot of time cleaning, organizing, and pitching.  First it was a rental property renovation and cleaning.  Then it was time to prepare for a cross-country move (we pay movers by the pound so it was time to lose some weight!) and get our house listed for sale (for which the house must be nearly empty and staged like a showplace).  This morning, I realized that I hadn't dumped the pictures from my phone since early this summer when I left for Arizona to see Patrick.  So, today I am filtering through a whole summer of photos from Welcome to [state name here] signs as I criss-crossed the country, to garage sale items that I wanted to give away or sell, to knitting projects, and pictures captured to remind me of one thing or another (like a recipe from my Aunt Diana, a photo of a knitting pattern I'd like to try). Mixed in with all these random snapshots of my last six months was a screenshot of a text conversation I had with Katherine about a

It might be an example of the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon and it might just be a really good idea. When I was at the grocery store earlier today, this car was parked in the spot in front of me.  As we begin to put real plans behind our move west (to Montana), it's funny to encounter a sticker like this here in Vermont.  I see many cars with bumper stickers from all over New England and other areas of the US, but seldom do I see Montana.  I think we should take their advice. :)

As some crazy weather rolled into our area last night, I couldn't resist taking a few minutes to watch the clouds roll overhead, hear the wind blow through the trees, and enjoy our shiny white fence through the view of my roses.  About five minutes after this photo and the video below were taken, the sky darkened and the heavens opened up releasing a furious rain complete with thunder and lightning (we don't often get thunder and lightning).

...Old Gray Mare, she ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be.  The old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be, many long years ago. Okay, so I'm no old mare, but I am working a good bit of grey in the mane.  And, this song has been humming in my head since Saturday afternoon while we were cleaning up from our first morning of painting and while my muscles were telling me to hire a painter.  Oh, if only I could my dear muscles.  If only I could.  Alas, no one around here to hire for such work. It turns out that painting a post and rail fence (also known as a Morgan Fence around here) is a stinking lot of work.  And for all the work, it's somehow less rewarding than hours spent planting, weeding, and deadheading in the garden. That said, 39 gallons of paint and roughly 44 man-hours of "blood, sweat, and tears" (really just sweat) and the fence is completely painted.  All 4.5 acres of it.  It now gleams so whitel

Between the rain (almost every other day all summer) and the heat (which comes with humidity), this has not been a good year to be an exterior painter.  Though I am not an exterior painter, I do have exterior painting jobs to do.  The biggest one, a project begun two years ago, is finally getting the attention it needed. After a brief stretch of nice weather, we finally have a weekend that might be just right for a painting a fence which surrounds surrounds the field across from our house (which we own).  Piece by piece we replaced rotted boards and scraped old paint off.  Laziness, distraction (a college graduation, for example), a summer road trip, and rain, have kept us from this last step.  Today was the big day. Ten gallons of paint and about 15 man-hours later and we see some progress.  We didn't quite make it to the quarter way around, but we can definitely see progress.  Here is a picture of the fence before and after (or after and before since I was painting from left to r

I was ready.  Gardening clothes pulled out of their basket.  Muck boots lined up by the door.  Garden gloves at the ready.  Mental exercises (to get psyched up for doing battle with burs and thistles) completed.  Let the gardening commence. Oh, wait.  First, I have to fix the tractor tires; three were underinflated and one was completely off the rim.  Launch YouTube.  Find video on how to inflate unseated tire.  Dig up a tie-down strap and find a screw driver.  Locate battery-powered tire pump.  Locate battery-powered tire pump...battery.  Whose dumb idea was this?  Locate car jack.  Weave and climb around two motorcycles and a ladder to retrieve the jack (how is it that with two cars in a four-car garage we still can't get at the tools?).  Weave and climb, while carrying heavy car jack, back to the tractor.  Is it time to start drinking yet?  Put a tourniquet on the completely flat tire.  Oh, first, jack up the front end of the tractor.  NOW, put a tourniquet on the flat tire.  Se

My garden this year is a disaster.  We started out with a busy spring; Patrick’s graduation, helping get him ready to launch and move across the country, then our own scramble to prepare the house for the painter.  Throw in a little rental "turnover" for added excitement and there you have it.  Then I was gone for nearly a month as I traveled to Arizona (to deliver Patrick’s junk to him), visited with family, and drove around checking out property.  By the time I returned to Vermont, it was brutally hot with the requisite insane humidity.  If that wasn't enough to ensure that no garden work got done, it rained almost every day...to the point of flooding.  Needless to say, my garden has been...neglected. I didn’t get much spring clean up done, no weeding, no Preen-ing, and no mulching.  I haven’t planted ANY annuals for that splash of all-summer color.  My roses have bloomed and “gone over” and several had started to form hips before I could get out there to deadhead and p