The Conclave (conclusion)

This week-end was a rousing success. Not only did we get to have a great time, but we actually did a lot of fun things. Opening conclave ceremonies were conducted indoors at my sister’s house. Interesting fact.. none of us actually cook, we are fortunate enough that our other halves do all the cooking. Having said that, we made a lovely baked haddock with asparagus that was very tasty. I know we broke the wine rules, but we had two bottles of red wine, one a great Meritage, the other a very dry cabernet. We did the family gossip thing and chatted until the wee hours of the morning.

Saturday in Vermont was an incredible day. Not a cloud in the sky and 68 degrees. We went hiking up Mt Tom, no easy feat for my couch potato brother. Afterwards we went to the gym at the Woodstock Inn and played racquetball for about 90 minutes. Cocktail hour started at 5:00pm promptly, more red wine, this time an Artemis Stags Leap that was incredible. More chit chat and discussions ensued. Dinner was at The Jackson House, a James Beard restaurant that this time around disappointed all three of us. After all the running around, we all crashed as soon as we returned from the restaurant.

On Sunday, since it was raining, we decided to have a champagne brunch at the house and tidy up any loose ends from the week-end. We drove down to my nephew’s house where we had a BBQ dinner. Three generations, 5 families, 2 languages plus baby talk, it is a mess, but a lot of fun. Paul brought pumpkins and pumpkin paint for the kids to decorate and that was a hoot, the kids had paint everywhere. Overall, a very successful week-end.