Mid-Summer Miles and Moments

Wine & Whiskey
Jul 23
4 min read

One morning the yard was soggy, the garlic still hidden, and the boat still waiting for the lake to drop. The next, it felt like everything had burst wide open—hot sun, blueberries ripening, social invites flying in, and a full tank of gas in the motorhome. That’s how summer shows up around here. It doesn’t ease in. It jumps. And just like that, we were off.

The lake finally dropped enough to put the windshield back on the boat. A small change, but one that turns choppy wind into a gentle breeze. And with the Detrich top now attached, providing welcome relief from the hot sun which makes boating on those scorching days surprisingly comfortable. We’ve made time for some slow cruises—nothing fancy, just us, Bell, and water stretching in every direction.

A work assignment took us to the Rangeley Lakes region. We know by now that "work trip" doesn’t have to mean all work. We stayed at Cupsuptic Lake Campground, which was quiet and well-kept, with full hookups and lake access for all guests. After wrapping up our work in Oquossoc, we had a scenic drive through Dixville Notch on the way to Derby, Vermont, our second work location. That stretch of road never disappoints—beautiful views and country roadsides vignettes the whole trip.

Once the work was completed in Derby, we stopped at Shattuck Hill Preservation to take in the scenery, then pulled into our Harvest Hosts stay for the night. With temperatures in the 90s, the electric hookup was a welcome relief to keep the AC going. Even better, the host had fresh eggs and homemade sourdough for sale. We picked up both and had a quiet, comfortable night before heading home again.

While at home, the garden kept us busy. Blueberry season was productive even though the bushes are young. The garlic harvest wasn’t great this year. I planted the cloves too early last fall, and the timing just didn’t work out. We only pulled about half of what we were expecting, so I’ll adjust for next season and hope for better. Even so, it is still rewarding to harvest what we’ve grown.

There is a ONE apple growing! This is underwhelming considering I planted four apple trees last year; I realize it takes a few years for trees to produce so I'm actually pleased that there is an apple. I hope to harvest it before a critter gets it.

Lavender plants started off looking sad and I thought that were dying but turns out they were just suffering from the terrible weather. Once the summer sun and heat arrived the plants got busy growing beautiful flowers which provided a nice harvest for me to bundle and dry for many uses.

Sourdough baking is still going strong. Lately, I’ve been mixing in fresh herbs from the garden, which adds a savory flavor. It’s satisfying to bake with what’s growing just steps from the kitchen.

When it’s not too hot, we’ve been spending evenings in the Barn Lounge. This stretch of summer has been a hot one, so we’ve had fewer nights out there than usual, but when we do, it’s always a relaxing place to spend time. Sometimes we have friends over for an impromptu hangout or a little music. Other times, it’s just a quiet place to sit for a while.

Summer starts off slow—then suddenly it’s full speed ahead. One minute you're waiting for things to bloom, and the next you're flipping the calendar to August. As we head into the last week of July, there’s still plenty going on.

The Annual Boat Show is coming up, and Workboat will be on display again this year. Around the yard, progress on the new shade garden has been slow but steady. It’s a long-term project, but we’re moving in the right direction. One of the best upgrades lately has been a new chipper/shredder—it’s already proven to be a game changer. No more hauling home bags of bark mulch; now we’re making our own as we go.

There’s still a lot of summer left, and we plan to make the most of it—one slow cruise, garden project, and Barn Lounge hangout at a time.

There are videos of each of these trips—including both Maine work runs and our time in Vermont—plus a look at the herb sourdough baking process, all up on our YouTube channel. If you haven’t checked it out yet, now’s a good time—we recently passed 3,000 subscribers, and we’re sharing new videos regularly.

We’d love to have you along for the ride. Click here and don’t miss what’s next!

Videos from the month: