In self-deprecating and hilarious fashion, Mud Season chronicles Stimson's transition from city life to rickety Vermont farmhouse. When she decides she wants to own and operate the old-fashioned village store in idyllic Dorset, pop. 2,036, one of the oldest continually operating country stores in the country, she learns the hard way that "improvements" are not always welcomed warmly by folks who like things just fine the way they'd always been. She dreams of patrons streaming in for fresh-made sandwiches and an old-timey candy counter, but she learns they're boycotting the store. Why? "The bread," they tell her, "you moved the bread from where it used to be." Can the citified newcomer turn the tide of mistrust before she ruins the business altogether?
Follow the author to her wit's end and back, through her full immersion into rural life--swapping high heels for muck boots; raising chickens and sheep; fighting off skunks, foxes, and bears; and making a few friends and allies in a tiny town steeped in history, local tradition, and that dyed-in-the-wool Vermont "character."
Jackie says:
"Have you ever dreamed about completely changing your life? Moving across the country with kin, cat and canines to an old house in the woods? And what about changing your profession? Doesn't it sound delightful to become a small village grocer? The Rushing-Simson family certainly thought so, and landed in Vermont with boundless energy and enthusiasm. A year later, which was filled with chickens, killer icicles, skunks, sheep, creative uses for 911, a great deal of mud and misplaced bread, their dreams had changed a bit. This is the hilarious story of a family turning a new leaf, or at least trying to, and Ellen doesn't gloss over much of anything (her hilarious footnotes are pretty much the best part of an already entertaining book). As you read through it, you will feel relieved that it wasn't your family, though, somewhere in your deepest heart, you will also kind of wish it was your family who went through all of these hilariously challenging adventures."
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