New home... new view...

Hi all

Thought I'd share this picture with you - it shows what Max really enjoys doing now. It sure is nice to be able to see beyond your immediate environment....

Closing the Cabin

Closing the cabin;
Nostalgic and bittersweet.
Can't wait 'til next year!

Mooselookmeguntic Haiku
CSB - 9/23/07

And I couldn't resist taking a picture of all the cones in this spruce tree. Wonder if it's gonna be a long, cold winter?

Max Visits His NH Grandparents

While Brian and Lauren dealt with the countless hassles of moving into their new apartment (see the earlier post by Brian), Max spent a week with Meema and Deeda in NH. I think we got the better end of this bargain!The "transfer" happened at the Blue Colony Diner in Danbury, CT--about halfway for each of us.

Deeda and Max went to the antique gas engine meet where we found this prehistoric creature. So many tractors!

Max took naps.

And he had some of his favorite meals.
("No, Deeda! Not beans and rice. Rice and beans!!)

And, he read countless books. He even got visitors to read to him.
(In this case, our friend, Pam Stevens).

Deeda arranged for Max to spend two days at the Pine Hill Child Care Center--the center that operates in the school where Deeda works. PHCCC is a wonderful, nurturing place. Max fit in quickly and well.

Every afternoon--rain or shine--the children go for a walk with their teacher. It looks like a little chain gang, but it's very cute. Max, BTW, is next to last in the "line-up."

Max is home, now, in his new apartment, in his own room, and sleeping in his "big boy bed." Sadly, our house is a little quieter now.

Photos and Coffee

Well after years of talking about wanting to hang photos, It has finally happened. A friend of Amanda's sent out an email that The Flying Saucer on Atlantic Ave in brooklyn was looking for art work. After a quick email, they liked the possible images and away we go.

I hung Seven photos on the back corner of the coffee shop. They will be up for at least a month, and there is the possibility that there could be more photos hung up in the future.

Peterborough - Cool!

Peterborough was recently named as one of the ten "coolest" towns in the nation by Budget Travel Magazine. Click here to read the story.

Of course we could all agree that Peterborough qualifies. But, another fun discovery I made as I read the article was that Parkville, MO--home of Park College--was another one of the ten coolest towns. Click here to read THAT story.

Naturally, the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce has been all over the story including our connection to Parkville. Check out this paragraph in the latest edition of the Chamber News:

"Another thing we have learned has to do with another town on the list--Parkville, Missouri--which just happens to be where well-known local educator and civic leader Chet Bowles and his wife Sue went to college. So this would make them doubly cool. Or super cool. Or something. But then again, we already knew that. Cool!"

Our New Home

WE ARE MOVING!

Brian, Lauren and Max will be moving to The Bronx. 555 Kappock St. #8S to be exact. It is a sunny, spacious 2 bedroom, 2 bath on the 8th floor. This is our view! We face East. That is the Harlem River, so The Bronx is on the left and Manhattan is on the right. The baseball diamond in the middle is for one of the high schools, and across the river is Columbia's Bakers Field sports complex. We will be able to watch them row crew on the river. More to come.

Canadians DO love Tim Horton's

I think Great Uncle Dave deserves an apology, Canadians really love Tim Horton's. I have been in Montreal for the past week and see on nearly every street corner a Tim Horton's, and hear RAVE reviews all the locals about the quality of their coffee. I haven't ventured there to grab one, but I probably should before I leave.

Deer, Damn! (Part 2)

Our new "Intelligent Animal Control Device" (advertising slogan for the company) arrived today. It's called the ScareCrow.

There's an infrared sensor that detects the temperature difference between an animal and the background. When it senses an animal, it turns on a sprinkler (the ka-chunk, ka-chunk kind) for about 3 seconds.

Since I probably qualify as a large animal, I sacrificed my dry clothes for a field test of the installation. Seemed to work just fine. We'll let you know the fate of Sue's remaining hosta.

Chet

White Lady's Slipper

In addition to mushrooms, I found that we had a nice clump of White Lady's Slippers growing near the driveway at the cabin.

We have lots of the pink variety, both at the cabin and in Sharon--they are classed as a "threatened species," so we are quite happy to be able to enjoy so many of them. I know that they grow in other colors, however I had never seen a white one. I did some limited research on the Internet and, while the white variety seems to be fairly common in the upper Midwest (MN, SD, etc.), they weren't even listed as growing in Maine!

Year of the Mushroom

For whatever reason, we seemed to have a bumper crop of mushrooms at the cabin (both quantity and variety). Here's a sampling: