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Great snow!
“Yabba-Dabba-Dooooooooooo!” 12-16 inches of NEW SNOW since yesterday morning and it is still snowing and snowing hard. No kidding, Vermont is really beautiful this time of year! It looks like this will be THE weekend to come to the Mad River Valley and ski Mad River Glen, Sugarbush or do some cross country or snowshoeing at Ole’s or Blueberry Lake. Of course West Hill House is a great place to stay – we’re just a short distance from each of the ski areas. Come enjoy winter with us.
Long Trail in winter - by Kelly & Paul
Access to the Trail is just a few minutes from West Hill House.
Most guests hike on it in the summer months, but Kelly & Paul had a magnificent outing in the December snow and sun – and then Paul proposed at the top of Mt Abraham!
Click on the photo to see more of their outing in our photo gallery.
This Christmas at West Hill House we were delighted to have two musical families staying with us.
Here are Rick & Ben, accompanied by Rick’s daughter Nicole on the pump organ, singing a Carol on Christmas day in the Sun Room, just before dinner.
Smoky and Snowball, our marvelous cats, are celebrating their third birthday! We knew when we moved into our B&B that to add the perfect touch we needed some cats. A local farm was suggested as the best place to get kittens so we went to visit the Turners at Simplicity Farm to see if there were kittens available. Lo and behold, their cats are so sought after that we had to go on a waiting list.
What a big dish!
Snowball gets a hand!
Well, the day finally came and we got a call to say that there were kittens and we could come have our pick.
They were just 6 weeks old and were they ever tiny! We chose two little balls of fur and brought them to their new home. They are brothers, from the same litter, but like siblings in a human family, they look different and they have very different purrsonalities.
Snowball sometimes needed a steadying hand as he learned to explore. While Smoky was quite adventurous and was off by leaps and bounds.
Now they are both quite adventurous and while Smoky continues to be the real explorer, Snowball has perfected napping.
Smoky up in the rafters
The purrrrfect nap.
Smoky and Snowball are off to the vet next week for their annual check-up and shots. If they could speak in “human” I’m sure they would say, “The shots aren’t as uncomfortable as both of us being in the carrying crate in the car on the way to the vet’s. It’s a wee bit more cramped now than when we were little guys. Fortunately it’s just a short trip to Dr. Hadden and to help keep us happy, our human mom sings The Owl and the Pussy Cat song to us as we travel along.”
Both Snowball and Smoky are very sociable and look forward to welcoming you to West Hill House.
Mozart 1756-91
What marriage was created in 1784, perfected in 1786 and is just as good today as it was then? Give up? Why the Marriage of Figaro! Based on a 1784 play, Mozart created this comic opera which continues to be enjoyed today.
The Marriage of Figaro is coming to the Mad River Valley complete with professional opera singers.
If you adore opera or if you’re not sure about opera, here’s a wonderful opportunity to learn more about opera from the experts in a relaxed yet professional setting. Guests in the Mad River Valley are invited to attend open rehearsals, sit in on master opera classes, and participate in numerous other opera related activities between May 28 and June 21, 2009.
The full fledged opera will be staged on June 19 and 21 and tickets range from $10 -yes $10! to $50.
Check out the line-up of events and the West Hill House website for our special.
Amazing shades of green
What happens when the spring weather brings several days of rain to Vermont? Sure, the grass and dandelions grow like, well, like weeds! The gardens get a good watering so the flowers are happy. The creeks and rivers race downstream tumbling crazily over and around the rocks. And yes it’s true some of the roads do get a bit muddy. But stop for a moment and think about the word “Vermont” – from the French, vert = green mont=mountain and that is exactly what happens when it rains, the mountains get green. I don’t know how many shades of green the human eye is capable of seeing but I’ll bet they can all be seen from our front porch. The greens are amazingly intense and vibrant! The trees, decked out in their new spring finery, display everything from the palest of greens which look almost white, to the very dark and bold forest greens. Between rain showers the sun peeks through the clouds making the leaves glisten like they’ve been sprinkled with the finest crystals and the lilac blossoms shimmer silvery-lavender. Spring is a glorious season in the Mad River Valley of Vermont, a photographers dream, the chance to capture on film, a rain bathed leaf or an open flower blossom cupping droplets of water. Come visit vert mont, up close and personal through the lens of your camera. West Hill House B&B is a great place for a home base!
C-A-T
How do you spell relaxation? Many of our guests know the answer. Arriving at the B&B for a bit of a break from their hectic schedules they get themselves settled into their room then come looking for Smoky and Snowball. Being most friendly and obliging, our two cats offer their backs for scratching and provide loud purrs of appreciation and more scratches brings louder purrs. It isn’t long before guest and invited cat are happily ensconced in a comfy chair enjoying each others company. How do Snowball and Smoky know when we humans need to slow down and take a few deep breaths?
For many a guest, relaxation starts with not wanting to disturb the slumbering feline so there they sit, giving our cats a little TLC whilst in return they are given the gift of a few minutes to be calm and unwind.
Your turn in the hammock
At that moment nothing is more important than quiet relaxation with a new found friend. So how do you spell relaxation? C-A-T!
West Hill House B&B is a great place for relaxation even if you are not a C-A-T lover. How about a seat down by the beaver pond or a nap in the hammock?
The weather’s great and the garden is busting with color, Memorial Day weekend is just around the corner – it’s Open Studio Weekend too. We still have availability for the long weekend. Come and Relax!
Curl up in a comfy chair.
Hello world! Bonjour tout le monde! We’re the new kids on the blog! We’re West Hill House Bed and Breakfast in the Mad River Valley of Vermont.
Surrounded by the beautiful Green Mountains, the Mad River Valley is home to Sugarbush and Mad River Glen ski resorts and, most importantly we think, home to our classic Vermont Bed and Breakfast, West Hill House.
Through our blog we’ll share with you what’s happening in our small corner of the world. All our B&B news as well as information on what’s going on in the area summer, winter, spring and fall, will be right here at your fingertips. So welcome to our living room. Come on in and make yourself comfortable. You’re always welcome!