The Home and Garden Issue 2013
Visiting Vermont Man Caves; Bill deVos Is a true Savior; Kitchen Renovations to Dine For; Rain Gardens Prevent Pollution
Work: Tree Doctor Bill deVos
When Bill deVos gets a call about a dying or damaged tree, he doesn’t gear up for an execution; he packs his bag for a full-on forensic evaluation. The owner of Montpelier-based TreeWorks has an arsenal of tools to diagnose a tree’s weaknesses, and he’ll do anything he can to save one in trouble. DeVos…
Chefs and Diners Alike Love Whole-Animal Dinners
When you think of a spit-roasted lamb, you may think of Greece, but you probably won’t think “sparklers” — unless you are Greek. So it’s good there was a Greek girl among the diners at Hen of the Wood at the Grist Mill on April 21. As chef Eric Warnstedt spit-roasted a pair of boned-out…
Taste Test: nika in Burlington
Just 20 minutes into our second meal at nika, the table suggested a medieval-style feast. When our server arrived with a plate of grilled octopus, the table was so full that he paused and stammered, “I’ll just put them … um ….” My friend and I stopped eating to rearrange plates and glasses — grilled…
Man Caves in the Green Mountains
They go by many names — man cave, man-space, mantuary, bro hole. In days of yore, they were known simply as dad’s rec room, workshop, smoking lounge or deer camp. Call ’em what you will, they all have about the same function. They’re spaces we fellas carve out from the rest of our abodes to…
Coffee, Cupcakes and Coding at Girl Develop It Meetup in South Burlington
Earlier this spring, I reported on a new chapter of Girl Develop It that launched in the Burlington area. The national nonprofit aims to build coding skills among professional women — both because women are underrepresented in technology fields, and because coding skills are in demand in the marketplace. Women who can not just use…
Three Vermont Kitchens Get Makeovers
Everyone gravitates to the kitchen. And why wouldn’t they? That’s where the food is and where the party is. But it’s also where clutter builds up. And where home cooks and hosts need things to actually function. When things don’t, it may be time for a radical kitchen renovation. Erica Ell, co-owner of Richmond’s HAVEN…
Anaïs Mitchell Talks Child Ballads, Her New Record With Jefferson Hamer
Anaïs Mitchell is sitting cross-legged on the rolling lawn of her parents’ rural home in Vergennes, where she has spent the morning harvesting dandelions to make wine. Hip, multicolored Wayfarer sunglasses shield her eyes from the brilliant midday sun. She’s clad in shorts and a tank top that curves over a modest baby bump —…
Vermont’s Masons Preserve the Craft of Dry Stone Walling
Stone by stone, inch by inch, Charley MacMartin is building a wall. It’s a surprisingly simple undertaking. Occasionally he wields a small chisel or hammer, tools crafted in Barre that are almost as local as the stones that MacMartin employs. But more often than not, he forgoes the tools altogether, working by hand to stack…
WTF: What’s the Point of Giving Honorary Degrees?
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: We just had to ask…
News Quirks
Curses, Foiled Again A teller at a Washington, D.C., bank failed to comply with a robber’s demands because she didn’t understand them. The holdup note read simply “100s 50s 20s 10s.” Authorities said the teller handed the note back to the robber, who added “all mona.” Still not comprehending, she told him to leave. Three…
![Buddy’s Bus [309]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/episode309.webp?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
Buddy’s Bus [309]
5/3/13: For a decade, bus driver Buddy Longworth has been making thousands of buddies across Vermont, one mile at a time. Whether it’s Peppermint Patty Friday, reading poetry over the PA, decorating his bus with kitten calendars, or greeting passengers by name – Buddy is one of a kind, a legend some say. Eva rides…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): The Tarahumara Indians of northwestern Mexico are renowned for their ability to run long distances. The best runners can cover 200 miles in two days. The paths they travel are not paved or smooth, either, but rather the rough canyon trails that stretch between their settlements. Let’s make them your inspirational…
Rain Gardens Sop Up Stormwater Runoff
All photos courtesy of Ron & Maureen Caruso Ron and Maureen Caruso have lived in their Williston house for 29 years. Last year, Maureen decided she wanted a decorative pond in their sloped backyard. A depressed area near the end of the slope tended to retain water anyway; the house’s perimeter drain emptied into it,…
Theater Review: Gruesome Playground Injuries
Less is decidedly more in Heat & Hot Water’s production of Rajiv Joseph’s Gruesome Playground Injuries, now playing at Burlington’s Off Center for the Dramatic Arts. The production and the script are the theatrical definition of bare bones: simple props, a black-box theater, two characters. But from this austere plain rise two brilliant performances that…
Art Review: John Douglas
Burlington artist John Douglas is flirting with metaphysics after a long liaison with politics — but he isn’t going all the way. His current show of digitally manipulated images at Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery in Shelburne, titled “Stones &,” finds the septuagenarian artist and filmmaker focusing on what he describes as “virtual landscapes.” In some of…
Letters to the Editor
Shipping Out It is marvelous to see local boat builders reestablishing skills somewhat lost to the area [“Sail to Sale,” April 24]. Am I alone in seeing the oddity of creating a way to ship local goods out of the area? Gillian Franks Essex Junction Well Done, Waterfront I enjoyed your article on Waterfront Video…
