Here at Hangman Hill

We first met Brian when he helped us remove some very large trees at the property Spruce Street.  While the impact of removing some very large trees on leaf raking was minimal, it opened up the yard and brought more natural light into the house.  Hopefully we have reduced the chances for a hurricane to place a large tree on the roof as an added benefit!

We realized that at Hangman Hill there were a lot of dead trees around the perimeter of the property.  While these trees don’t threaten our house, we hoped it would make Darren’s efforts to keep the lawn cut significantly easier (and safer!).  In addition the aim was to help some young Redbud and Damson Plum trees that currently are dwarfed by some rather unremarkable trees.

See some more photos here.

We had a great week at Park City Utah and spent most of the time on our snowboards.  We stayed at a condo at The Canyons Resort which was only a short drive to the gondola that took us to the base of the mountain.  We found The Canyons so vast and so good that we spent four days riding in fresh powder.  Many folks we met recommended different places for us to explore in Park City (Park City Resort and Deer Valley) and surrounding areas.  However, we found plenty of good terrain at Canyons, got to know a couple of lifties (a few from the UK), and came to appreciate the accessibility of the coffee stands at remote location on the mountain.  So, back too Canyons we went again each day.  We love riding in Vermont, but sometimes that means soldering through very cold weather (morning temperatures of -3F or less) and often less than ideal snow (i.e., New England loose granular).  Waking up to temperatures in low 20’s (a daily high in Vermont at best) was a treat.  Of course the abundance of untracked powder was pure pleasure.

We also explored some XC trails in Park City Round Mountain area.  We met some nice locals on two and four legs who seemed surprised we found their spot, but happy to share it with us.  If only Kokee could have come along, she would have made some friends too.    We didn’t see the mountain lion fortunately!  Park City seems like a great place to live if you like to be outdoors given the many trails for biking, walking and skiing that connect many parts of the city.

We spent a little time exploring the town of Park City, but mostly we were skiing, riding which left little energy other than a simple meal in our condo and some reading in the evenings.  It was a great way to rest and relax.

See a few more photos from our trip here

It is hard to believe last week that we were riding on 100+ inches of snow in Park City, Utah.  The temperatures in Connecticut went well above 50 degrees today and we enjoyed working in the yard and garden for the first time. We even had a harvest!

We were recently on a trip that took us to Bradley Airport in Hartford, CT.  As you can see below, this was the first time that we’d been to an airport that was apologizing the fact that it was trying to improve itself!

A recent comment on our blog has encouraged us to share a few more pictures from the archive of Bruno’s youth. In each of the pictures below you can see both Bruno and his brother (Dmitri). These two pictures date back to 1980 and 1981 (when hiking gear in the UK looked a little different from today!).

Can you tell who is who?  Use the ‘comment’ link below to post your answers….

We have enjoyed several great weekends on the trails in Vermont this winter.  The conditions have been very good for both riding snowboards and gliding through the remote Vermont countryside on XC skis. It was surreal on one occasion to dig our way to the garage and out the driveway only to drive to Vermont which had considerably less snow than we had in Connecticut.   Thankfully, the Green Mountains were still there making the 4-hour trek worthwhile!

We had an excellent, but LONG day in skiing Goshen starting at Blueberry Hill.  We skied well beyond the boundaries of Blueberry Hill into the Moosalamoo Wilderness area.  It is a pristine area and we shared the trails with just one other-a self-described “former Californian who came to Vermont for a few years…30 years ago”.    It was nice to meet someone who lived in and loved that wilderness so much and was willing to share it with us.

One of our ongoing projects is to convert our old photographs to digital format (by having them scanned).  On a cold and wet day like today it has been fun to look back through pictures from the past to see if we can remember where they were from.  A few of the most recent discoveries from Bruno’s collection are shown below.  More to come in future installments of the blog……

Bruno on his bike in ~1983

Hiking to The Ledges at Keene Farm, NY in 1989

Bruno’s brother & parents camping in (~1980)

Bruno’s brother and paternal grandparents during a visit to their home (~1980)

We are shoveling again!  On Wednesday we had snow, rain, freezing rain, pellets, thunder and then about 10″ of snow to top it off.  The sun is shining now though!

The snow has been coming down almost daily it seems; it really feels like winter.  We have many colleagues from the Midwest with whom we can reminisce about real winters in the Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana (the main difference in CT is bigger hills and the inclusion of sleet/freezing rain between the snowflakes).  We think this is storm #4, perhaps we should call it Duncan.  We have been out for some walks to say hi to the locals, and even took respite from the snow clearing to watch the AFC final game between the New York Jets and the Pittsburgh Steelers, which was a great game!  The Terrible Towel is flying here in North Stonington in preparation for the Super Bowl. Go Stillers!

One of the locals

Digging out

The milk truck on it’s daily route -slow enough for a photo this day

Go Steelers