Sunset Time of Year

Every year about this time, the sun sets directly across from Charlotte.  Beautiful colors, striking clouds.  It will move north for the darkest part of the year but then return in February.  Enjoy!

Thanks to Jaime Elguero for the photo.

How to Spend a Rainy Afternoon

•  Go to the library.

•  Find someone to play a game with, or

•  someone to read to you, or

•  lie on the floor and play with a truck.

What could be nicer than a rainy Saturday afternoon in November!

Weekend CVU Sports Roundup

Edd Merritt spent Saturday on various sports fields around the area and sent in these photos of CVU's (mostly) successful weekend of playoffs. We've got pics of football from the semi-final win over Mount Mansfield, 21-14 (they play for the Division II championship this Saturday against Colchester at Essex High School field), boys' soccer from the state Division I title 2-0 win over Burr and Burton Academy and girls' from the state Division I title game that they lost to Burlington, 1-0.

From top to bottom:

Nick Spencer fends off a B&B defender, a Kylie deGroot header in Burlington's end, and Konnor Fleming is ready to throw against a Mount Mansfield defender.

Steeple Down

On October 20, the steeple of the Charlotte Congregational Church came down. During the ongoing restoration project, rot was discovered that was more extensive than anticipated and it was determined that the cost to do the work without removing the steeple would be considerably more than if the steeple was removed.

Pictured below is Linc Prescott, Charlotter and the Clerk of the Works for the project. More pictures can be seen here.

Pumpkin Man Invades CCS

The weather cooperated this morning so freaks and princesses - and Pumpkin Man - turned out for this year's Charlotte Central School Halloween parade.  Here, thanks to Kerrie Pugh, are a few of the wonderful costumes. We think that's Interim Principal Sandra Jump as the Mad Hatter, below, but as always, Pumpkin Man's identity remains shrouded in secrecy.

You can see more in a slide show on the school's website.

Just Stopping By

Linda Gilbert sent in this colorful photo of a monarch butterfly that stopped by her garden on its way to Mexico last week.  It and two of its friends seemed to prefer the zinnias over other remaining flowers.  Good to know Charlotte is on their travel route.

Cornucopia at the Four Corners

Thanks to John Hammer for sending in these pics of the WWI monument at the West Village four corners, which had been feeling a little neglected lately, what with all the East Charlotte Tractor Parade and Carrie's decorations over on the other side of town. Alexandra and Theo created this beautiful seasonal centerpiece on a grand scale that should see us through Thanksgiving. Thanks!

Dogs of the Tractor Parade

There were a lot of dogs at the Charlotte Tractor Parade on Sunday; most didn't seem to mind the crowds or noise. Whether they like watching tractor parades or just didn't want to stay behind at home was unclear.

9th Annual Tractor Parade Scores Another Beautiful Day

The Tractor Parade rolled down Spear Street this afternoon for the 9th consecutive year - were you there?. Huge crowds, including scads of adorable children, music, pumpkins, apple pie and of course, tons of tractors. Congratulations to Carrie and all her helpers for another wonderful East Charlotte event. More pictures tomorrow.

What are you doing with your apples?

First we picked them (at the nearly-in-Charlotte Shelburne Orchards) and shared a couple pieces of Nick Cowles' gigantic apple pie. Then we hauled our bags home and contemplated what we were going to do with them all.

So far, I've made apple crisp and apple butter. Here's the recipe for the apple butter, which is much easier than pie:

Peel and slice apples to fill the crock pot (13-15) (I used a combination of macs and cortlands).

Cook on low overnight (8 to 15 hours - it's an easy going recipe).

In the morning, mash and stir. Add 2 t. cinnamon, 1/2 t. ground cloves, up to 2 cups of sugar or other sweetener depending on how you like it - I added 3/4 cup agave syrup; stir again.

Then cook on low for another six hours covered and a couple more uncovered until it's as thick as you want it.

I froze it in 3 one-pint containers, which left about a cup to spread on our toast and waffles this week.

Now what to do with the other half-bushel?

Blogging Class

Here are a few new bloggers at the 21st Century Toys class at the Senior Center this morning. The students registered with blogger and set up diverse and interesting new blogs.

Kay Teetor now has a food blog called Salt and Pepper - click to see her review of a recent dinner at Starry Night. Martha Barton-Rivera's blog (Swimming in Lake Champlain) is all about Thompson's Point and you can check to get the latest news all year round.

The Charlotte Brew

We caught Edd Merritt at home last week brewing up a batch of Irish stout. Edd makes his own beer from time to time, although hasn't tried this particular recipe before. From top to bottom, here is how it's done: (1) the grains are pulled out of the wort after simmering for an hour or so, (2) malt is poured into the pot for another round of simmering, (3) stirring the yeast into the wort, (4) cooling the mix as quickly as possible (no snow banks handy!). Our beer is then poured into a fermentor, where it sits for two weeks, and then goes into a carboy, or secondary fermentor for two more weeks before it's bottled. We need a name for this batch - Eastside Stout? Charlotte Dark?

Field Trip!

The perfect weather continues for a few more days. If you'll be in Burlington enjoying the Church Street madness, be sure to stop in at the Firehouse Gallery (149 Church Street) to see Charlotte-raised glass artist Ethan Bond-Watts' new piece that's part of a big exhibit called The Energy Project, which "explores the future of Vermont's landscape as it grapples with the aesthetic challenges of a carbon-constrained world," according to the brochure. Ethan's piece is a show-stopper and hangs right inside the front door of the gallery; there are nine more interesting and thoughtful new commissions to see while you're there.

Harvest Time

Eli and his friend Sylvia picked squash at Stony Loam Farm off the Charlotte/Hinesburg Road last week. Eli doesn't look like he's tired of zucchini yet.

Thanks to Edd Merritt for the pic.

Lemonade Twist

Thanks to Walter Judge for sending in this pic of Ellie, Sophie and Maggie who spent last Saturday selling not only lemonade but big beautiful sunflowers. They came up with the idea to raise some money to help a friend with cancer - thanks to all who stopped by and bought a flower or drink.

Summer Ski

Here's a way to take advantage of the hot summer weekend: invite yourself along on a friend's boat for water skiing. The lake temperature yesterday was 77 and it will likely go up another degree or two over the next couple of days. It doesn't get much warmer that, folks, so head down to the Town Beach or out on a boat and enjoy the heat. Snow skiing isn't the only game in town!

WWI Monument Has a New Look...

But will it solve the problem?  The center of the West Village sports hefty granite rounded corners and (we hope) replanted begonias.  Will the trucks make the turn without crushing the corners and axing their axles?  We'll see.  But for now, it looks promising.

The Raft is Calling!

Yesterday was another beautiful, perfect summer day.   One of the few this year, but it was a very good one.  The Charlotte News was in production so we had to spend most of the day in the office, but we snuck out for a half hour of bliss, watching the boats go by and the raft bobbing in the water, calling...

The Kids are All Right

Charlotte kids are staying busy over the summer - here are a few having adventures at home and abroad.  There's Annie, Laura, Ruby and Sammi with their chaparone David Tanzer in Paris performing with the Vermont Youth Orchestra.  Then there's Claire running with the 7- to 14-year-olds at the state track meet in St. Johnsbury last weekend and Drew pitching for the Babe Ruth all star Charlotte team.

 

Thanks to Wendy Bratt, Louisa Schibli and David Tanzer for the pics.

Be the Ball

This is Logan.  He likes to lie on the dock with his ball.  Sometimes the ball rolls off his paws and falls in the water.  Then Logan looks at the ball floating in the water real hard.  Then he looks at people on the dock.  It's clear he's saying, "Doesn't anybody see that my ball fell in?  Again?" Eventually, if no one retrieves it for him,  Logan will walk to the shore and swim out to get it, but he'd rather just telegraph his message to the swimmers and sunbathers.  Then he'll take his ball and lie back down on the dock, right next to the edge, and the whole process starts again.

That's a big bass!

Thanks to Lisa Beal for sending in this photo and report of a successful family fishing outing. Lisa wrote, "It was my husband's birthday (Erik Beal), but it was 10-year-old Shane who caught this large mouth bass in Lake Champlain in July.  We threw it back, but based on our estimates from the photo, we believe it was as much as 4.5 pounds and 19 inches long." That's Shane's sister Heidi on the left.  

Congratulations to Shane and his helpers!

Town Party Pics!

Here are a few scenes from yesterday's 15th annual Town Party.  The weather held, adorable kids played with the rescue pugs and tried out the fire engines. Hazel Prindle was there, chatting with Mary Lighthall at the Historical Society table. The Charlotte News staff posed for a group pic and served Judy Laberge's cake to those that stopped by.  A big Thank You! to everyone who left their donation - we'll be drawing the winners of the raffle later today.  It was great to see so many Charlotters catching up with each other, hauling around their books from the sale.