Vermont Olympians

Vermont really knows how to represent when it comes to the Olympics! There are (if I have my counting correct) about several athletes competing in the Winter Olympics from Vermont. There have been at least 3 medals won by these Olympians a gold going to Hannah Kearney just up the road from Norwich in Moguls. Of course there was the big upset of Lindsey Jacobellis missing out on gold again in Snowboard Cross. Snowboarder Crossers, Kelly Clark ( bronze) and Hannah Teter (silver)also hail from VT.

As you may, or may not know, Snowboarding's roots are in Vermont with one of the pioneers, Jake Burton (as of THE Burton Snowboards), living just down the road in Londonderry, VT. In 1982 the first National Snowboard race was held near Woodstock, Vermont, at Suicide Six Mountain (about 30 minutes from here) and National competitions are held around the state every year.

There are at 7 Ski Areas within 15-60 minute drive from Windsor (Ascutney, Suicide Six, Killington, Pico, Stratton, Magic Mountain,Okemo) so you can come up and try a different one out each day. That's for another post.

More snow in the forecast for today and tomorrow! Nothing like a late season.

Happy Weekend!

What do you like to do on Snow days?

Apparently, we are going to make up for a snowless winter in the next few days. Since about 5PM last night until now, about 11 inches of snow has fallen in Windsor. At one point, the flakes were so big it looked like a feather factory had exploded.

I LOVED snow days when I was a kid. Even though there a bazillion things I could be doing, I decided to do what our mom used to do for us on snow days (you know for my 7 month old because he really cares) and make homemade bread, soup, and goodies, but as I am the adopted child and don't like chocolate, rather than brownies I made muffins :)

What do you like to do on SNOW DAYS? We might have another one as there seems to be no end in sight!

Bits and Pieces

It is Tuesday again already and it is snowing again in Windsor. I have heard reports that we are suppose to get quite a bit in the next several days. We'll see. The snow is nearly gone so a little wouldn't be a bad thing since it is still cold, might as well have snow right?

Our DIY shots today show the newly installed Vermont Castings stove in the library. These stoves are machines when it comes to pumping out the heat. It is a VERY exciting addition.

We also have several shots of the entryway to show the newly installed crown mouldings to finish off bits and pieces around the stairway/stairwell. It is amazing how a little piece of moulding can make such a huge difference and clean up what seemed so unfinished.

And the Brick Doctor finishing off the back chimney. It's great that he is local because with so many bricks, you never know when you are going to need Chimney Charlie.

Happy Birthday Joy!

Just a quick note to share our birthday wishes to our big sis, Joy, on this, the day of her birth! Joy is responsible for all the insight that goes into "Mondays with Max" and diving deeper and deeper into some of the fascinating history of 25 Main St. She is also an accomplished writer, mother extraordinaire, loving sister, and supportive Snapdragon team member from afar although she did make it our here 3 times last year. She may not feel like she does much, but she does. Have a wonderful day Joy.

and the winner is....

Congrats Amy and thanks to all who commented--we LOVE your comments. They are like little bits of energy for us. Amy, email us at innkeeper@snapdragoninn.com with your address and we will send you your treats!

Dining Room Plan

LAST DAY TO ENTER GIVEAWAY!

Don't forget to enter the commenting. More Details HERE.

The design plan for the dining room is relatively simple so as to not compete with the RED of the walls. The small square tables will be covered in a plain pure white linen. The chairs will be a either a dark brown or near black to work with the color of the lighting fixtures. We have simple (yet elegant) white ware, napkins made from our custom Snapdragon fabric (dark brown, red, green, and blue) that will make a pop of color, a simple vase of flowers and ta-da, a set dining room. We plan to have some custom art on the walls or perhaps use the dining room like a small gallery and rotate local artists work. Simple but elegant.

One of the four colors of custom napkins

We are going with simple but sturdy chairs from a restaurant supplier.

To get a feel for the room with the beautiful wood floors and RED Walls--
pretty cute kid too ;)

Finally some snow!

We've got snow... finally!
More Wintery pix to come.

2 DAYS LEFT
Don't forget to enter this month's giveaway by COMMENTING .

Organic Goodness! More info HERE.

Another project in progress

3 DAYS LEFT
Don't forget to enter this month's giveaway by COMMENTING .

Organic Goodness! More info HERE.

The Do-it-Yourself aspects of this project do not simply lie in nails, dry wall, and paint but in every other way possible and we are lucky to be surrounded by talented people who can lend us a hand.

If you haven't noticed, recently our Snapdragon Inn home page changed from a splash page to professional looking website, thanks to Rob, our talented friend. Rather than use stock photos, we staged our own promotional shots (including custom Snapdragon fabric) and they turned out quite well.

We are currently integrating the reservations module and LOT of content but it is getting there. Everything takes planning and TIME but we are excited at the clean, crisp, and inviting feel the site has.

Kind of makes me want to jump into the bed and gobble up the pancakes.
What do you like to do on your getaways?

The writer becomes the editor

Don't forget to enter this month's giveaway by COMMENTING .

Organic Goodness! More info HERE.This week I've gained a new appreciation for Max Perkins, editor. My middle daughter has been crafting a story for our school district's Young Authors competition. Although she's been writing since January, as is the case with a lot of school assignments, we are finishing things up at the last minute. A few nights ago, with the text typed and centered, and the page breaks carefully determined, I presented the final draft to my young author for final approval.

"What?"
"I didn't write that?"
"Why does it say that?"
"Uggggh. OOOhhhh. This is so frustrating."
were the cries of the tortured 9 year old artist.

Not looking so tortured here but believe me, she can be :)

As her patient and loving editor, I gave words of encouragement and very delicately offered advice about grammar or tense. I also became very aware when it was time to stop and send the author off to play with her sister.

This project has given me a glimpse into Perkins' endeavors to nurture the genius he saw in Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Wolfe. As a mother editor, I see genius in my three children and hope that I can carefully nurture and encourage them as they share their talents with the world. No matter what the scale, the struggle to bring forth art is both exhilarating and excruciating.

The following quote from Max Perkins came as he recalled when he first heard of Thomas Wolfe. It made me smile this week as I thought about my own "Turbulent Spirit". Notice that Perkins sees the trouble in the man, but absolutely appreciates the genius of the artist. Just like a father would view his son, or a mother would view her young author daughter.

"The first time I heard of Thomas Wolfe," remembered Perkins, "I had a sense of foreboding. I who love the man say this. Every good thing that comes is accompanied by trouble. It was in 1928 when Madeleine Boyd, a literary agent, came in. She talked of several manuscripts which did not much interest me, but frequently interrupted herself to tell of a wonderful novel about an American boy. I several times said to her, 'Why don't you bring it in here, Madeleine?' and she seemed to evade the question. But finally she said, 'I will bring it, if you promise to read every word of it.' I did promise, but she told me other things that made me realize that Wolfe was a turbulent spirit, and that we were in for turbulence."

Here's a great Thomas Wolfe link.

Hidden Work

Don't forget to enter this month's giveaway by COMMENTING .

Organic Goodness! More info HERE.

So we have learned that brick buildings built in the 1800's need ALOT of TLC-- alot alot. Currently the Brick Doctor is back at the Inn fixing the lining on the back chimney, getting it ready to fully functional so that the new wood stove that has been installed in the library can start burning wood! Yay!

Sometimes it is AMAZING to think about all the hidden work that has gone into getting this beautiful building ready to take guests. It feels like there won't be a corner untouched once it is complete. It can feel discouraging when you have to put time and energy into a house project that doesn't make it "look pretty" but in the end, HAS to be done.

What is something you have had to do in your home that HAD to be done but wasn't as fun as painting or tiling?

FEBRUARY GIVEAWAY!

This month we have a few fun items to share with you.
We are thinking ORGANIC and we are thinking CHOCOLATE!

It is never too early (even in the middle of winter) to think about preparing your garden and we have a great book, "The Practical Organic Gardener- Everything you need to know with more than 200 Illustrations" by Barbara Little. This is a lovely 222 page easy to read resource for everything you need to know from fertilizing soil to building beds and more! Now is the time to start preparing for the growing season!

Also, 3 blocks of Taza organic chocolate--not for the faint of heart. This stuff is the real deal. They minimally process the cocoa beans to preserve as much natural flavor. They say, "It's simple. It's direct. It's organic. It's ethical. It's great chocolate."

Included are 3 blocks, a %60 dark, %70 dark, and %80 dark (make sure your have a designated driver for this block--it's intense or maybe I am just soft:)

RULES: We are going to keep this give away up for grabs for 1 WEEK. So it will end next Thursday, February 18th at Midnight-EST. Leave a comment on ANY POST. You can comment ONCE on every post we put up this week--thus increasing your chances at these sweet gifties.

When the writer's block hits...

Yep. It's official. Writer's Block here at Mondays with Max. I'll get over it. In the meantime, enjoy one of my favorite funny poems.

Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face by Jack Prelutsky

Be glad your nose is on your face,
not pasted on some other place,
for if it were where it is not,
you might dislike your nose a lot.

Imagine if your precious nose
were sandwiched in between your toes,
that clearly would not be a treat,
for you'd be forced to smell your feet.

Your nose would be a source of dread
were it attached atop your head,
it soon would drive you to despair,
forever tickled by your hair.

Within your ear, your nose would be
an absolute catastrophe,
for when you were obliged to sneeze,
your brain would rattle from the breeze.

Your nose, instead, through thick and thin,
remains between your eyes and chin,
not pasted on some other place--
be glad your nose is on your face!

January Thaw

Nate took these photos around Windsor in the dark of night. Amazing the stillness of the light and night. Enjoy your weekend wherever you may be!

Salinger--a Windsor Regular

As Joy already mentioned, J.D. Salinger died last week. He did indeed live just over the river from Windsor and this interesting article was featured on the front page of the New York Times online,Salinger was a regular to the local Windsor diner, grocery store, as well as other local spots. "J. D. Salinger a Recluse? Well, Not to His Neighbors".


A local friend mentioned that Salinger frequented his grandparents Windsor eatery and believes that several of the characters from Catcher in the Rye were based on local people. Just another interesting piece of literary history for our local Windsor.

Snapdragon writing

I'm about one step away from writer's block with this blog, but thankfully, thinking about writing and the inn made me think about all the writing I've had to do for the inn. I thought it might be interesting for our readers to get a glimpse into some of the behind the scenes preparations that don't include a hammer (unless a computer crashes.)

The Blog- obviously. I've really enjoyed becoming a regular contributor to the blog and learning all I can about Max Perkins and Windsor. There is such a great history in Windsor and we are so excited to be sharing that with everyone and we hope it draws them in to the inn. (play on words noted.)

Press releases- even though we don't have an official opening date, we've been working on preparing statements to be sent out as soon as we are ready. We try to write them from a variety of angles, the history of the house, the family that is working on it, the location, etc...

Brochures- Chris has amazing graphic design skills, so she is in charge of layout and I wrote all the tidbits that go in between her beautiful pictures.

Procedural manual- This is something that we are going to really buckle down and start to write hopefully this week. When you convert a home into an inn, you basically have to write your own owner's manual. It's going to be a big job.

Menus- This is the yummy part and we will rely on a chef and your great comments about what you love to eat for breakfast when we nail down the final menu. The problem is, we all get really hungry whenever we talk about it. We start saying things like, "Maybe we should print them on eclair colored paper with maple syrup brown ink." You get the picture.

Invitations- We've been experimenting with invitations for an open house for event planners. Planning an event for planners is somewhat daunting. It's a nice challenge to be creative without being too cheesy.

Grant proposal- Thanks to McKay we were awarded some money through the State of Vermont, for which we are incredibly thankful.

Facebook/Twitter- Although brief, these simple statements have helped us gain a few new friends! Welcome!

Those are the highlights. I'm sure that more will come the closer we get to actually opening the inn. Being so far away from the action, I'm glad that I can put some of my skills to use and help out. It's definitely an adventure!

Have a great week everyone!