living in vermont

fall is amazing

2010-10-11T13:34:00.005-04:00

a few vermont beauties enjoying a tractor ride at clearbrook farm...what a great party, thanks matthew, andrew and everyone!!! we're looking forward to our beautiful winter csa share, "rich harvest!!" (thanks fred)

save the date! 7/30- 8/1, fun for the whole family

2010-06-01T12:13:00.006-04:00

the best weekend ever

2010-06-01T11:21:00.004-04:00

sailing on beautiful Lake Paran...what an amazing day!!

farmer's market

2009-05-30T13:34:00.009-04:00

we are now in our 3rd week of farmer's market, the fresh lettuce was abundant along with radishes and turnips along with some hothouse cucumbers and tomatoes....
this is karen from true love farm holding a beautiful head of lettuce.
ahhh, summer. right around the corner.

The many stages of moose

2009-05-03T16:46:00.019-04:00

This is the moose that Lara Sorensen, Diane St.Clair and I are painting for the Bennington Moosefest .

His name is: Le Déjeuner sur l'élan
(The luncheon on the moose! : )

He will soon be finished and installed at Bennington Station Restaurant, across from JC's Tavern on Depot Street, in downtown Bennington VT.

The painting is based on Renior's Painting entitled "Luncheon of the Boating Party" (Le déjeuner des canotiers) which resides at The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC

We chose this theme because the Bennington Station is a gorgeous 1880's train station and we also liked the reference of a festive communal gathering place. While the right side of the moose is based on life in 19th century France, we are making the left side a festive depiction of 21st century life in Bennington.

We are working on our moose at the lovely Taraden Bed and Breakfast...Thanks Bob and Nan! We are visited daily by a beautiful family of foxes and the totally beautiful space we're working in, which was once the studio of Kenneth Noland, is such a source of inspiration.

If you'd like to stop by please feel free to call (802-447-7959) and see the progress as we wrap things up for the great unveiling on May 19th.

what we do for fun in vermont

2008-12-07T11:10:00.005-05:00

In Haley's words, "I put some black oil sunflower seeds on my gloved hand, looked away and waited quietly for a bird to come and eat from my hand. I thought it felt suspenseful when a chickadee came up close and wondered if it should eat from my hand.

I felt his wings flutter, then he landed in my hand and it felt amazing that I was interacting with a wild bird."

proof that there are fairies in vermont

2008-11-15T17:54:00.001-05:00

smile

2008-11-15T17:52:00.003-05:00

yes, that's really pasta...

this is a really good reason to live in vermont

2008-10-13T19:25:00.000-04:00

lovin' the blue benn

2008-09-17T20:09:00.004-04:00

mmmm, what's the best thing on the (extensive) menu? I say, sweet potato fries and anything "california" (meaning it probably has avocados and black beans), carly thought a blueberry pancake would hit the spot.

vt libre!

2008-09-06T15:22:00.006-04:00

For a simple and amazing cocktail recipe: fill a glass with ice, add of 2 oz. dark rum, fill with a vermont-made microbrewed soda, garnish with a wedge of lime & enjoy! vive la revolution!

carly!

2008-09-05T14:01:00.000-04:00

vermontiki!

2008-07-18T16:44:00.005-04:00

the new tiki designs....hot off the press!
contact me for retail or wholesale information: 802-447-7959
amy@vermontiki.com

north bennington art park

2008-06-26T12:42:00.008-04:00

The eleventh annual North Bennington Art Park, an outdoor sculpture show, opens this year on July 5th, with a free reception from 3:00-7:00 pm. including performances and a drum circle.
The North Bennington Art Park is an annual event highlighting and celebrating the vibrant local artist community. Some of the artists featured in the show include John Umphlett, Fred X. Brownstein, Willard Boepple, Zac Ward, Michael Biddy, Amy Anselmo, Mi Chelle Vara, Mary Cooke, Brooke Nuckles, Joe Chirchirillo, and Stephan Fowlkes.

The Art Park is made possible in part by a generous grant from the Fund for North Bennington. Additional support comes from Bennington College, David Aldrich, Whitman's Feed Store, the community of North Bennington and the participating artists.

Otha Day, musician and drum facilitator, from Williamstown will hold an informal family friendly drum circle activity as part of the day’s festivities. Also performing will be Barry Hyman.

Directions: The North Bennington Art Park is located on the properties north of the North Bennington post office and train station on Route 67A in downtown North Bennington.

The North Bennington Art Park is on exhibit from July 5th to October 15th from dawn until dusk.

lotus

2008-06-22T16:18:00.000-04:00

tibet in vermont

2008-06-22T16:02:00.003-04:00

a few days after seeing the lamas perform in pittsfield, I came across this beautiful sight of tibetan nuns and monks at the covered bridge close to my home. They are from a monastery in Wappingers Falls, NY, Kagyu Thubten Chöling, www.kagyu.com. I hope to see them again someday.

world peace

2008-06-15T14:07:00.007-04:00

last night we were fortunate to be in the audience at the colonial theatre in pittsfield, massachusettes for a performance by the Tibetan Monks of the Drepung Loseling Monestary.
Their mission to spread World Peace and Lovingkindness through art, music and dance was inspiring and amazing. I think it is time for all of us to perform our rituals to spread world peace.
amen.

summer

2008-06-09T12:36:00.000-04:00

a beautiful day on lake bomoseen in vermont

that's pretty

2008-05-26T14:41:00.003-04:00

the bodhi tree

2008-05-26T14:30:00.002-04:00

march 28

2008-03-28T08:50:00.002-04:00

we woke this morning to a winter wonderland. truly beautiful.

pura vida

2008-01-26T14:06:00.001-05:00

our last stop in costa rica was beautiful playa hermosa near manuel antonio. I had an enjoyable time watching the surfing and trying to capture images like this one.

we stayed at a great surfer hangout called las olas hotel. great food at the restaurant, right on the beach. there is a really lovely community of locals and expats. my girls had no trouble finding other children to play with.

after looking at the shapes and designs of surfboards, I decided that I would really like to do some tiki designs on a surfboard someday. I spent an inordinate amount of time at the jade musem in san jose studying the carvings on the blade shaped pendants that looked a whole lot like tiki's to me. yet another reason for me to continue my exploration of pre-columbian imagery and polynesian art.

pura vida is the national greeting which literally translates as pure life. I do believe that the costa ricans are truly in touch with what matters most in life.

pura vida.

santo christo falls

2008-01-17T13:11:00.001-05:00

santo christo falls
Originally uploaded by amy.anselmo

can you say beautiful!

mmmm

2008-01-17T13:03:00.001-05:00

DSCN8753
Originally uploaded by amy.anselmo

enjoying the fruits of the labor

pipas!

2008-01-17T13:00:00.001-05:00

DSCN8799
Originally uploaded by amy.anselmo

brendan climbed a coconut tree and brought down about 20 of these beauties! (minus the baby)

the kitchen into the dining area

2008-01-10T15:57:00.001-05:00

the kitchen into the dining area
Originally uploaded by amy.anselmo

this is one of the many beautiful moments at brendan´s that I want to remember when I´m back in the great white north.
we are eating the freshest tropical fruit everyday.
it´s really amazing.
look at brendan´s blog if you´re interested in owning a piece of paradise.

http://www.bamboohousecostarica.blogspot.com

mono congo

2008-01-08T13:12:00.001-05:00

mono congo
Originally uploaded by amy.anselmo

this is a howler monkey, also called a mono congo. they do in fact live up to their name with a haunting sound that they make, usually yelling at us humans.

laundry sloth

2008-01-08T12:32:00.001-05:00

this sloth lives in a tree outside cafe rico in peurto viejo, where we had our laundry done, costa rican style.

we only had to go to another customer´s house to sort out our clothes one by one, but they were clean!

way up.

2008-01-08T12:29:00.001-05:00

we caught a surfing competition in playa cocles. it was pretty entertaining. rastafarians surfing and all.

night riders

2008-01-08T12:24:00.001-05:00

Originally uploaded by amy.anselmo

we saw these boys riding ponies on the beach at night in manzanillo after we had dinner at maxis.

cat´s eyes

2008-01-08T12:21:00.001-05:00

Originally uploaded by amy.anselmo

whose eyes are bigger? this was the BEST restaurant in costa rica, if not the world, called maxi´s places in manzanillo.

order the ron don.

leaf cutter ants

2008-01-05T12:00:00.001-05:00

hi everyone,
we´re having a great time, lots of wildlife and love the place we´re staying, pachamama.

we went for a kayak ride on a river yesterday, it was like land of the lost.

the surfers are amazing here, the waves are ridiculous. perhaps a tad too much for our surfer cowgirl, but hopefully we´ll find some kid friendly waves when we go to brendan´s on the west coast.

haley and carly are doing great, they are awesome little travelers, making friends and enjoying the tide pools. they say hi to all their friends at school!

I´ll put photos and commentary up on the blog from time to time, so check it out every once in awhile.

please forward this along, I don´t have my email address book with me.

love!

amy, randy, haley and carly

costa rican chicas

2008-01-05T11:37:00.001-05:00

haley and carly are having a great time. there are some kids staying in the next bungalow that have become fast friends, haley´s been writing poetry and drawing beautiful pictures of the jungle.

this is a great place to travel with the ninos.

there are monkeys and sloths all around us, need I say more!

brrrrap

2008-01-05T11:35:00.001-05:00

this is the fellow that´s been keeping me awake at night. ahhhh the jungle is so peaceful!

el perezoso

2008-01-05T11:27:00.001-05:00

we´re in costa rica, near puerto viejo in a lovely little area near the most beautiful beach called punta uva.
we saw this fuzzy little man in the trees yesterday and he hadn´t moved much all day. I need to check on him today. I have a feeling that he´s still there.

we hear howler monkeys all day and we´ve seen all kinds of cool frogs, butterflies etc.

it is much like a real life discovery channel.

nuevo ano

2007-12-31T21:06:00.000-05:00

we are having an amazing time in florida visiting friends and family. this is carly's new friend at the ah-tah-hi-ki museum in big cyprus.

we are off to costa rica tomorrow and we hope to keep you all updated about where we are and what animals we encounter!

happy new year everyone, or as they say in costa rica, “Nuevo Ano, Nueva Vida”, or New Year and New Life….

figurehead

2007-10-07T11:47:00.000-04:00

haley makes a nice figurehead for the bow.
we took the girls out on lake george.
it was their first time on the new boat. haley and carly are amazing little sailors!

second maiden voyage

2007-10-05T14:27:00.001-04:00

it didn't tip, nothing broke, and we had a ball.
I think it might even be safe for children

gilligan's island

2007-10-05T14:22:00.000-04:00

we visited sand island on sacandaga reservoir last weekend, the water levels were really low, the wind was quite gentle, but it was a perfect day to sail.

les potirons

2007-10-05T14:13:00.000-04:00

carly with her pumpkin that she started from a seed in preschool with her caz at the ecc. nice job!

tiki

2007-09-23T18:27:00.001-04:00

ok, due to ben ryterband I needed to make some tiki and get it out of my system. I had a lot of fun making them and I plan on slipcasting a gaggle of them for a giant mai tai toast to something...

20 cylinders

2007-09-23T18:22:00.001-04:00

I just started taking pottery 101 at bennington college with barry. it is amazing to be spinning pots again and I'm very much enjoying approaching this familiar medium with a "beginner's mind".

shag chaise eco-lounge

2007-09-17T18:45:00.001-04:00

this is the moss earth straw creeping thyme chaise lounge I made with rebecca blouin over the summer. it was part of the salem art works sponsored outdoor sculpture park in north bennington vermont. (and I'm told that it will be next year's post card) charlie bargamian took the photo with fuji film, I think that's part of why it's soooo green. thanks charlie! I think he also said something about a little gaugin in vermont never hurts.

I had issues with it staying nice and green, but I plan on exploring the concept of living sculpture as much as possible. has anyone ever heard of a plant called "love grass"?

kitten love

2007-09-16T21:15:00.001-04:00

some friends from school were at the farmer's market with five sweet yellow kitties that need a home before winter. haley and carly were totally occupied while I was looking for unusual vegetables. email/call me if you need a kitty (or two!)

vegabet

2007-09-16T21:09:00.001-04:00

we went to the farmer's market in cambridge, ny. there were so many beautiful veggies and I had a lot of fun finding these ones shaped like letters of the alphabet for a design idea I was cooking. I think it would be good fun to get the whole alphabet for a veggie font.

bambini

2007-09-10T08:02:00.001-04:00

theses are the two fawns that have been seen in the lower field. their mother was grazing behind the apple tree. when she heard the click of my camera they promptly bounced away. maybe if I had a camera set up on a tri-pod near my garden to intermittently go off in the evening, I would still have some edamame.

a day at the pond

2007-09-08T17:44:00.000-04:00

mr. frog

carly and daddy had a really nice float in the pond at jonah's. we got caught in a small rainshower, had a nice time catching frogs and hanging out with our friends, jonah, emma and jack.

a frog in the hand...

northeast meets east

2007-09-08T17:31:00.001-04:00

venison red curry with coconut milk
1 1/2 pounds venison trimmed and cut into small bite sized pieces
fresh vegetables from the garden: we used eggplant, red and yellow peppers and squash
1 can coconut milk
1-2 tablespoons red curry
fresh basil
a healthy drizzle of maple syrup
olive oil

-saute venison lightly and remove from pan so it does not get overcooked.
-add eggplant and squash to pan, stir curry into coconut milk and simmer until squash and eggplant and tender.
-add peppers and venison and simmer for a few more minutes, do not over cook.
-drizzle maple syrup and garnish with fresh basil. serve with rice.
-viola!

fairyland

2007-09-07T14:03:00.001-04:00

taken this morning on our walk on the campus at bennington college.

very picturesque

2007-09-06T12:25:00.001-04:00

this is a beautiful spot in north bennington, vt. called the mill pond. it has been photographed and painted by artists too numerous to mention. it was probably what sold me on this authentic little hamlet. as an added bonus today, there are hanks of freshly dyed wool yarn in all the subtle colors of nature drying outside of the McAdoo rug studio.

sunflowers

2007-09-06T08:15:00.001-04:00

children and flowers are so beautiful!

first day

2007-09-05T13:55:00.000-04:00

today was carly's first day of school!

we also dropped off our squash this morning at the soup kitchen. peter crabtree took a photo for the bennington banner .

I read about a program that seems amazing through the capital district community gardens called "squash hunger". as I talk to more of my gardening and farmer's market friends, there seems to be a real desire to make a program like this in our area.

garden to soup kitchen

2007-09-04T13:58:00.002-04:00

this is the only month in vermont when we lock our cars. fear of drive by squash drops, they say.
well, I have so much lettuce (and squash) that I've decided to find someone who would appreciate my abundant produce, so I contacted a soup kitchen in bennington, vt called harvest house. they would love my squash, they said!
so, if you have an abundance of produce look into it. it makes the heart all warm and happy.
harvest house: (802) 447-4739

local breakfast

2007-09-04T09:39:00.001-04:00

today was randy and haley's first day back in school. it has been a truly glorious summer!

I've just started reading barbara kingsolver's "animal, vegetable, miracle", a non-fiction narrative about a year in her family's life of eating local food. it is amazing and inspiring. hence, we started the day right with breakfast made local ingredients from farms and people we know. the yogurt is from dahlia of berle farm, in hoosick, ny. the bluberries are from steve of the appleberry farm in shaftsbury, vt., the delicioso granola is from paula at the west village market in cambridge, ny, and lastly, the crowning glory is the maple syrup from our next door neighbors wayne and susan.

breakfast never tasted better. I think it's the love in it.

maiden voyage

2007-09-03T16:08:00.000-04:00

yesterday we sailed randy's boat on somerset resevoir, in vermont. our friends the MacYoon family from cambridge, mass. were there to partake. the boat is a john's sharpie that he spent all summer building. it was her maiden voyage. miraculously, it FLOATED! it was not, however, without a tad of drama. fortunately, there wasn't a lot of wind, but we tipped her over once (when no one was on the boat) and broke the tiller. a fine maiden voyage it was none the less. randy received lots of compliments on his fine craftsmanship. it is indeed a beautiful boat. we might need to make some changes to make it less tippy though. kudos randy. it really is just lovely.