We spent a week at a lake house in New Hampshire with friends from California and Memphis canoeing, bike riding, fishing, eating (thanks Jeff!) drinking, and playing a round of happy hour scrabble waterfront, gin & tonic in hand. We explored Waterbury, VT home of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream and The Alchemist Brewery. We even managed a quick beach getaway to Westport, MA, but mainly it has been about unpacking the boxes that I last saw 3+ years ago. What fun to be reunited with my shoes and how fun to have space to put everything away.
I must say that the summer has been a more difficult transition than the winter was. I've heard of humidity and bugs but I've never experienced anything like the weekend we moved into our house. I know it was supposed to be the greatest experience, our own home again after such a long stretch, but with only a few fans to cool this big, old house that boasts very few windows that actually open it felt like we have moved into a convection oven. 100 degrees with 95% humidity is just plain wrong. I finally understood why wayward youths make bad choices on hot summer nights! I wanted to break something and I'm princess Wendy. Undaunted, we invited 17 people for dinner the next day and while I was busying myself in the kitchen, a mouse flew out of the cabinet. When my cousin said "you live in the country now" I thought she meant I live far, now I get it. I've seen more spiders and bugs inside this fabulous house that I finally decided that everyone that has a job can stay. If the spider catches the mosquitos that are relentlessly biting me, he can stay. If the house centipede truly does keep other household pests at bay, he can stay. Even the snake that I've been told lives under our barn can stay if he is taking care of whatever else is living under there. This city slicker is slowly, and happily turning into a country girl.