Snow and Sledding

We had a little snow before everyone arrived for the holidays.  The Boxing Day storm added more--good times on the sled!

 Brian took some great shots during the height of the storm.

 

 

Peterborough Chamber Choir

A performance of "Who'll be a Witness."  The recording was made on December 13, 2010, to be entered into a competition sponsored by WGBY, the public television station for Western Massachusetts.

FWIW, I am standing on the second row in the middle of the group--Chet.

Update - January 7, 2011
Looks like we made it past the initial screening.  WGBY sent us the following:

Dear Singers:

 

Thank you for registering and submitting your materials to WGBY’s choral competition. We are very pleased to invite your “Small Adult” chorus to take part in the upcoming TV series, Together in Song: A Celebration of Choral Music in Western New England.

 

The next phase involves scheduling participants to perform at our studios in Springfield. The tapings will occur throughout the month of February beginning on Tuesday, February 1st.  

Quilt

 

This is the quilt Sue made as a wedding gift for David and Amanda.  She sewed a label (shown below) on the back of the quilt that gives the basic details.  

The finished quilt is 108" by 108".  The block print bird that David and Amanda used as the visual theme for their wedding is quilted into each corner.   And, stitched in cursive around the outside edge is a quote from the book that was read at the wedding, A Lovely Love Story, by Edward Monkton.  The quote reads, "Together they stand on the hill, telling each other stories and feeling the warmth of the sun on their backs.  And that, my friends, is how it is with love."

It truly is a beautiful work of art.  And, since the fabrics were contributed by so many wedding guests, it will a source of wonderful memories for David and Amanda.

Harlow

Just replaced my venerable Saturn commuter with this 1998 Tracker.  It's in great condition--spent most of its life being towed behind an RV, so the miles accumulated in places where snow and ice and salt are not an issue.

I liked the Saturn, but the Tracker actually has more room in the front seats, it's easier to get in (and out) of, and it's much more fun to drive.  Nice fiberglass tops, and also has canvas tops so it can become a convertible in the summer.  Plus, it's four years younger, has 30,000 fewer miles, and has a passenger air bag rather than just the driver air bag in the Saturn.

Harlow?  Yes, that's the name.  Purchased it from Henry Harlow Richardson (the person who, years ago, started the business that has become Harlow's in downtown Peterborough).  Figured the car deserved a name and Harlow fit.

Happy Halloween

Another season of cavities is upon us and Max certainly made the most of it! He went as Iron Man who he is quick to tell you is really Tony Stark. So whenever Max wasn't wearing his mask, that's who he told people he was. Pretty excellent. Daphne was a dalmatian puppy, she was cute but made it perfectly clear that she was not happy with the velcro on her costume. But she is also teething, so it could have been her incisors pushing through.

We went out with some of Max's friends from school through the neighborhood north of our apartment. We went door to door doing some "traditional" trick or treating, and when it got to be too cold and windy we returned to our building and went floor to floor. Needless to say we have a treasure trove of candy. We will all be enjoying Halloween for the next few weeks.

Columbus Day Weekend

As Lauren said, no visit to NH would be complete without a ride on Deeda's tractor--Daphne is obviously enjoying that ride.  And Max had a chance to try "real golf" using his special kid-size putter.

An absolutely beautiful weekend!

Max is a kindergartner!

Here are a few panoramic pictures I've taken of Max's school and classroom. He is having a really good time in school and who wouldn't with a classroom like this?

What is it?

I was splitting wood on Saturday and found this interesting track when I opened a log. It's obviously caused by some sort of insect, but very precise and symmetrical. Looks "burned" on the side tracks, but not on the main tunnel. Reminds us of a bottle brush. Wonder what it is?

Update - December 18, 2010
A fellow baritone in the Peterborough Chamber Choir saw this posting and sent the picture to his son who knows about these things.  Here is the response:

Very cool!  That's a "gallery" likely produced by cerambicid beetles - aka wood borers.  Looks like a very successful mama with each of those cavities having housed a baby beetle that began as an egg, then a larva which carved out its own bedroom, finally pupating and exited the wood through the same hole that mama came in on.  The fact that all the pupal chambers are right next to where the eggs were laid means that they didn't eat much wood in the larval stage and instead probably relied on fungal mass that grew after mama inoculated the area with spores.

Sunset - Sunrise

We never cease to be awed by the beautiful sunsets we can enjoy at the cabin--the picture above is a good example. However, as evidenced in the picture below, sunrise can often be just as spectacular.

Garage Doors

In the scope of things, I guess getting new garage doors is not such an exciting event. However, the old ones were original with the house (22 years in October), plus they were very heavy and had really gotten out of alignment over the years due to several interactions with cars/trucks.

The new doors are MUCH lighter (almost 40 pounds per door) and, best of all, the are insulated (R-12). A welcome change!