Blog a la Cart

Category: Cartwheel Farm

Cart Family // Fall 2015

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These photos arrived in my inbox at the start of a week all about gratitude. Very fitting indeed. Many thanks to my dear and talented friend Kate Drew Miller for capturing our family in our beautiful Vermont town during its best season. I mean those views from Kate’s property! *jawfloor*

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The Peace of Wild Things

“When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.” – Wendell Berry

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This poem really struck a cord given everything that is happening in the world. I feel so much gratitude for our slice of comfort on a little dirt road in Southwestern Vermont. Sending love and peace into the world around me.

October Leaves

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Another fall, another series of leaf throwing photos. Not as magical as last year’s, but fun nonetheless. Even the dogs got in on the action.

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Around the Farm // October 2015

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^^Halloween decor is in full effect. Still love those button spiders.^^

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^^Welcome notes from Sunny taped to our front porch.^^

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^^Making our lamp post ‘rul festive.^^

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^^Two very enthusiastic thumbs up for that pumpkin totem pole.^^

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^^Our street is so purdy this time of year. Alas, those Montauk Daisies bit the dust with this past Monday’s frost. Boo!^^

Pumpkin Patch // 2015

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Courtland and I made it our mission to recreate those pumpkin totem poles we saw showcased at our local pumpkin patch. Our porch is now graced with our own pumpkin stack. Another great fall adventure in Vermont!

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Columbus Day Weekend // 2015

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A few images from one of many fall walks by our home this weekend. We are so fortunate to live among such natural beauty with so little disruption and noise. We love our little secluded plot of land with very few neighbors and even fewer cars. And Mother Nature made quite a showing to further reinforce the awesome.

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^^Learning all about Monarch Butterflies, and thus Milkweed. The girls have been helping spread the seeds and thus the food source for these beloved insects.^^

Apple Cidering // 2015

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In stereotypical Vermont fashion, we spent Sunday afternoon apple cidering with friends on their mountainside property. We are near peak foliage, so we enjoyed an autumnal palette of color and a sunny day roaming in fields, rocking in hammocks, pressing cider, and munching cider donuts. Weekends like these reinforce why this is exactly where in the world I want to live with these children of mine. This life! Feels like a fairytale – and a delicious one at that.

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^^Chinese Lanterns from the garden! They’ll make a beautiful centerpiece all season long.^^

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^^We brought apples from our property so we could make up an exclusive Cartwheel Farm Cider.^^

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^^Taking after her Doda with that tongue – whenever she works hard or concentrates, it exits her mouth.^^

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Twinning

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It’s no wonder people frequently ask if they’re twins!

We had a stunning Columbus Day weekend in VT. So autumnal. So October. And I think we may have landed this year’s Holiday Card snap in this series.

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There it is. My heart in an image…

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This. Is. 32.

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If James and I are to consider the purchase of the new Prius our anniversary gift to ourselves (I feel like such an adult with two fully functional vehicles produced within the past three years), then these window shades are James’ birthday gift.

We are officially grown-ups, with the installation of black out shades and dependable vehicle ownership as the hallmarks of this new phase of our lives. We’d installed CellularWindowShades.com first in the girls’ redesigned bedroom, and then in the Closest-Slash-Office-Turned-Nursery (as we prepare our compact living accommodations for Cart Baby #3). The final step was to complete installation in all bedrooms, so both the guest room and our bedroom received new shades for “James’ Birthday.” This has actually revolutionized sleeping in both bedrooms, as these rooms have skylights, and given that our bed sits directly under one of these skylights, we’d become accustomed to rising with the sun (or just being disturbed with the sun and then grumbling at the morning light). Visit https://handymantips.org/wooden-home-decorating-tips/ for the wooden home decorating tips. To be able to turn the rooms into cozy darkness any time of day (especially with my fierce 1st trimester nap needs) is remarkable. James and I have both been sleeping so much better, and these shades are insulated, so they helped keep the heat out during the last heat wave, and will keep our house much warmer this winter. And they look pretty darn great in each room. Choose from a wide range of featured products in this simplified product lineup, such as blinds, shades, and curtains, all of which can be customised from affordableblinds.com.

Winning all around.

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And the animal print guest room (unsure how that theme arose, but apparently we had plenty of animal print on hand with which to decorate).

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Purchased from CellularWindowShades.com. We used the top down/bottom up, cordless, black out shades in CANVAS in our bedroom with the skylight shade in CANVAS as well. And we used the color LATTE in the guest room.

Poultney // 2015

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Three weekends ago (where the hell has this summer gone?!), we once again ventured north to our friend’s house in Poultney, VT for some fun on the lake. We had such a blast the summer prior, that we decide to extend the trip to two days, and it was every bit as smile-inducing as we’d anticipated. Tubing. Boating. Swimming. S’more-making. Life is good on Lake St. Catherine.

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