Since we moved here, I've missed the drop-by visits we used to have when living in the city. Friends passing through who found themselves in the neighborhood - surprise visits, quick visits, frequent visits. Being more out of the way these days, those kinds of visits are mostly a thing of the past for us. But what has replaced the dinner visit is a weekend visit - long visits, leisurely visits, relaxed visits. I love them - I love the way we can settle into our lives and days with our visiting friends, take walks through the woods, share a bit of the work of the farm, and truly have the time and space to be together. I do so love the late night adult chats around the fireplace after all the children are asleep, or the quiet morning conversation with the early birds of the bunch, or the post-dinner dance parties that always have room for more....but goodness my heart just about bursts watching little ones with the animals. Cinnamon (the sheep) is a gentle love sponge of the truest kind. This weekend I watched sweet little Vijay discover the joy of burying his face right on into her warm, lanolin-rich fleece for a full-body hug on a cold late winter's day. Yes.
Our visit this weekend with the lovely Chitnis family had a bit of a maple theme, as we fired up the evaporator for the first time this year. A day of boiling resulting in our first gallon of maple syrup of the season. There was a great deal of sap consumed throughout the day, a fair amount of maple steam blissfully inhaled, and the inagural pancake and maple syrup breakfast that followed the next day. A beautiful long weekend with friends full of all the tasty goodness of this season. Sweetness indeed.
