Juddmansee.com

I realized it’s been a rather sparse November for our blog. What has been keeping us busy?

We really enjoyed having friends come visit the Juddmansee B&B. First Mary came for cooking and games during her cousin-ween trip. We were very excited to tackle a pile of greens from the farm share, play games, and make apple pie with her. She inspired us to try some old “Road Trip Orchards” wine and check out the peach wine Sarah and I had made. Her sister Anne is credited with phoning in the proper instructions to “take out the pork loin now” at the perfect time, as well as inspiring Mary and me to try the new Revitalife raw foods cafe with her.

Next up was Beej’s 36th birthday, celebrated at Smith and Wollensky with many good friends. Isaac stayed with us for a couple days and Dan stopped by for dinner at the Grog. We enjoyed thoughtful conversation, camaraderie, and another opportunity to play Settlers of Catan.

In the mean time, we transitioned to the late season farm share. First we were inundated with spicy greens and squashes, then we got confused about the pickup time and missed last week. It turned out to be an error in our favor, because I went on travel last week and we’ll finally catch up on perishable farm share items this week. Last week’s lettuce and optional spicy greens (= opt out!) plus greenhouse peppers and tomatoes meant tasty salads and a manageable share.

And yes, the snap dragons are still blooming in the back yard.

It’s also been a busy time for church stuff. We had our annual meeting at the end of October, then our normal business meeting the 2nd Saturday of November followed by an additional strategy meeting last Monday. The Angel Gabriel Christmas Fair was a big success and our “talents” fund raiser is going well. We also have had another congregation express interest in sharing our building, and meanwhile we’ve submitted applications for two grants and are working on a third. I’m cautiously optimistic about our finances, but we’ll see what transpires between now and January.

Last week I traveled to Dallas and Fort Walton beach. A highlight, other than flying our system on a P-3, was checking out the state park across from the hotel. I often wish for good running routes when I’m traveling, and this one was too good to pass up.

I flew back on Friday, just in time to hear Shawn Colvin at the new Tupelo Music Hall in Salisbury. We are psyched!!! First, that we have such a great venue so close – only 10 mins drive from our house. Second, that they have some great musicians booked. We enjoyed hearing Liz Longley open for Shawn Colvin, and we’re considering seeing Ani DiFranco in January.

Finally, I’ve been working on completing my Advanced Project Management courses on line. The final week of on-campus courses at Stanford was planned for September, but I was not able to attend. Luckily my registration was transferred to the on-line course offering, but it’s been a challenge to fit in the videos and reading on top of my normal workload and schedule. I managed to complete Mastering the Project Portfolio last weekend, leaving just one more module to go – hopefully I’ll make more progress this weekend. I keep forgetting that on top of our race schedule and other “normal” activities, I’ve been completing a graduate certificate this year.

So please don’t fear that we’re wasting away our time in boredom and have nothing to write. We’re taking a break from racing for a couple months, we’ve got the yard under control, and we’re just enjoying fall in New England. Happy Thanksgiving!