Harmony Club

A Not So Dogtown Trip

2012-01-22T21:56:00.000-05:00

I'm sort of posting this as a companion to Scribb's post today. Instead of trekking over the snow covered irregular terrain (read: you can't really guess where those rocks will be underfoot) of Dogtown, 'R' and I headed around Goose Cove Reservoir on the service road. The service road was covered with about 5 inches of new snow trodden in some areas by dogs and owners. As 'R' commented when we were about 3/4 around the 4 mile route, "It's like hiking 4 miles of sand dunes." Uh huh.

The section where Commons Road got submerged.

When the Goose Cove Reservoir was formed by the building of 4 earthen dams, a section of Commons Road in Dogtown was submerged. So...it was nearly a Sunday hike in Dogtown. I suppose it took us just over an hour to complete the loop around the reservoir. It was chilly out but the exercise soon kept us warm. There were some pretty views along the way. Some spots were almost comfy warm in the sunshine and others a startling windswept cold.

Today was plenty of hiking after a yesterday of snow shoveling.

In the Post

2012-01-22T17:23:00.000-05:00

So this guy was using up extra stamps?

The box of keys that arrived last Thursday

Thievery

2012-01-15T10:13:00.001-05:00

I haven't written a whiny, complaining post in some time. So what better time to air something that has been spending far too much time bouncing around in my head.

That something is the blatant theft of images. Yep, from the minor we-all-forget-to-give-credit-where-credit-is-due to the claiming of others photos as ones own. This has been happening a lot on one I'm not mentioning by name site. If it's not a photo you have taken then don't post it as your own! Now there are a couple of folks out there that I run into who have their logo on images but do credit the original source. I don't understand it, but well, at least they give appropriate credit.

The rest of 'em, the habitual offenders........not only do they anger me, they lose my respect.

A Warm Saturday Afternoon

2012-01-09T09:47:00.000-05:00

A place with possibilities

Just some shots from our walk on Rocky Neck.

Needing work at Gloucester Marine Railways

Sign along the way

An enormous swan at the beach

Obsessed? Me?

2012-01-07T09:48:00.000-05:00

Why would anyone think that?
Just because.........................

Got one for 'R' and one for myself. Only wish is that they weren't orange. The purchase was made at the Dogtown Book Shop where I also bought an old book from Tuner's Supply on organs and player pianos. (see, I think about things other than Dogtown) The Dogtown Book Shop on Main Street in Gloucester is wonderful!

And Then There Was More

2012-01-03T21:47:00.001-05:00

I'm guessing that I spent about 8 months of part-time research before I felt that I had found everything there was to find out about the Manning Organ Company. So, I wrote a lot of material to edit down for a submission to a trade magazine (still not completely written) and amid that managed to put together a PowerPoint presentation for the Sandy Bay Historical Society. Now, 2 months later, here it is...another photograph shows up!

The former Manning Organ Factory after the fire (SBHS)

I really wish I had this for my SBHS talk. I'm definitely including it in the magazine article.

Cat Lovers in Dogtown - Trip Five

2012-01-02T13:50:00.001-05:00

We started the New Year with our continued exploration of the center of the island. No surprise, huh?

Entering via Dogtown Road repeated our second adventure In, in some respects, but allowed us to spend more time actually looking around instead of worrying about keeping track of our course in order to not get lost. We found many new things along the now familiar route.

A very large cellar hole along Dogtown Road

One such find was a rather large and excavated cellar hole. I'm not sure why there are so many bricks present. Maybe part of a chimney? Maybe leftover from the days of filling in the holes? Anyway, it's hard to believe that we missed this one last time!

The pasture where James Merry kept his bull

We continued on along Dogtown Road until we came to a path approximately opposite (to the right of) cellar hole 18. Using my wonderful Christmas gift from 'R', "The Dogtown Guide" (see sidebar for a pic), we had learned that this path would lead us to the site were James Merry tried to teach himself bull fighting. Yep, in late 1800 Mr. Merry desired to become a matador. He failed.

Inscription "First Attacked"

Jas. Merry died Sept. 18 1892

He was gored to death by his bull.

We then retraced our steps back to Dogtown Road to where it intersected with the Moraine Trail.

Marking the start of the Moraine Trail

We followed the trail, finding a couple more Babson Boulders until we reached Col. Pearce's Pasture. There we turned around.

Col. Pearce's Pasture

Never Try Never Win

Prosperity Follows Service

On the way back to Dogtown Square we found Col. Pearce's cellar hole. Another large home!

Col. Pearce had a cellar in his barn, too! (not shown)

Heading back west on Dogtown Road we veered to the right, between cellar holes 17 and 18, to see what the Adams Pine Trail was like and to find out where it connected to Commons Road on the northern edge of Dogtown.

A stone circle marks an otherwise confusing section of the Adam's Pine Trail

Not too interesting a route...we did find the junction...and a very pretty brook.

The brook near the intersection of the APT and Commons Road

We concluded our fifth trip In, retracing our steps back on the trail to Dogtown Road and then home. On this trip we felt a familiarity with the central Dogtown area, being able to find and name many sites and trails, and also finding new stuff. Next time our trip In will once again take us to unknown areas. Should be fun.

Merry Christmas to All

2011-12-24T12:06:00.000-05:00

Art Is Good Day

2011-12-19T17:01:00.000-05:00

So...'R' and I headed on down to the UU Church to pick up the craft stuff that I had set up for their Christmas Sale. Not my usual venue (that being the PTO sale that I kinda boycotted this year) and I wasn't hopeful for much interest in my hand-painted ivory jewelry or miniatures on easels. The sale ran for three Saturdays and all I had to do was set up a small table and provide an inventory of my items. Well....a superb Christmas surprise awaited me this morning. Yep, stuff sold. I totaled as much in sales as if I had participated in the PTO sale and spent the day sitting there minding the table! I'm real happy. Sign me up for next year!

Another Monday bonus was waiting just for me (not really, could have been for anyone), at the supermarket. We need a larger bin for hats, scarfs, gloves and mittens now that our household is larger. I found a slightly overpriced woven bin on the top shelf near the laundry detergents. So I thought oh well, we need it so I'll pay a bit too much to get it. We headed through the checkout with the bin as a separate item from the groceries that 'R' was getting. Lo and behold it rang up as higher priced than the tag said it should be! Ahemmmm....excuse me 'M', who was cashiering. 'M' called the manager over and guess what? Store policy - pricing error and you get the item free!

Yay! Yippeeeeeeee!

And finally, a new painting has been added to the collection.
The remains of the Cape Ann Tool Company as seen from Pigeon Cove, Rockport.

When It's Cold Outside

2011-12-18T17:22:00.001-05:00

Tequila Christmas Cake

*Ingredience:*

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1 cup water

1 tsp. salt

1 cup brown sugar

Lemon juice

4 large eggs

Nuts

1 bottle tequila

2 cups dried fruit

*Directions:*

Sample the tequila to check quality.

Take a large bowl; check the tequila again to be sure it is of the highest quality.

Repeat.

Turn on the electric mixer.

Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl.

Add 1 teaspoon of sugar.

Beat again.

At this point, it is best to make sure the tequila is still OK.

Try another cup just in case.

Turn off the mixerer thingy.

Break 2 eegs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.

Pick the fruit up off the floor.

Mix on the turner. If the fried druit getas stuck in the beaterers, just

pry it loose with a drewscriver.

Sample the tequila to test for tonsisticity.

Next, sift 2 cups of salt, or something.

Check the tequila.

Now shift the lemon ice strain your nuts.

Add one table.

Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find.

Greash the oven.

Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.

Don't forget to beat off the turner.

Finally, throw the bowl through the window.

Finish the tequila and wipe the counter with the cat.

(Thanks to Joe G.)

Cat Lovers in Dogtown - Trip Four

2011-12-12T11:56:00.000-05:00

I decided that trip four In should start at the top of Gee Avenue in Gloucester. This would lead us to Commons Road, the northern main road of Dogtown. It was an easy, paved...yes, paved!...curve around the Goose Cove reservoir which upon its creation had left part of Commons Road submerged. We picked up the old Commons Road...unpaved...exactly opposite this spot:

Goose Cove Reservoir

Our first hike was to find Peter's Pulpit. Supposedly an enormous erratic the size of 20 automobiles. Yep, it was big, but not very impressive. I guess I felt that a 'pulpit' would indicate something much more vertical than horizontal. Oh well. Slightly disappointed but there were still other things to find.

Peter's Pulpit

We hiked a crossroad called Wharf Road over to the southern side of Dogtown in hopes of finding a couple more of the Babson Boulders.

Wharf Road (Dogtown's Roads challenge footing!)

Wharf Road is named such, not because of a wharf for boating or fishing, but after the man who lived along the edge, Abram Wharf. Where Wharf Road meets up with Dogtown Road, there were a couple spots where we could see Granny Day's Swamp. Sheep and cows often got stuck in the mire of Granny Day's Swamp!

A peek at Granny Day's Swamp

We found two more inscribed boulders:

Keep Out Of Debt

If Work Stops Values Decay

After taking some photos we headed back the way we had come In with only one variation. We have been deciphering conflicting maps and have discovered one that shows numbered intersections. This helps a lot and saved us some retracing of footsteps by taking a different fork where Wharf Road meets Commons Road.

Intersection 4 (this one painted on a rock, some are painted on trees)

Our last stop of the trip was to photograph the boulder below, held from rolling down a steep embankment by one struggling tree!

propped on the edge

The Commons Road hike was the longest that we have done. Not much happening along it and we most likely will not use it for an entrance In again. Upon returning home, I found that we are still missing 4 Babson Boulders in our collection. Two are at the railroad end of the Babson Trail. The other two, upon some research, appear to be in the same area as we were on this trip! Must do some more hunting. From the Dogtown Road side next time. 'R' is being very tolerant of my desire to explore Dogtown!

Cat Lovers in Dogtown - Trip Three

2011-12-10T16:53:00.000-05:00

I thought before tomorrow and trip four rolled around I'd best relate a little about trip three.

This time we decided to try going In from the Gloucester side of Dogtown. Much easier with a relatively smooth access road! We passed several numbered stones that designated sites of cellar holes - the only remains of homes in Dogtown.

Number 20 marks the site of Granny Day's home

A cellar hole marked by stone carving 17

A bit further along and we were 'told' that we had arrived at Dogtown Square. Wow, things must have changed a lot being as other than the sign there was no indication whatsoever that a town square ever existed.

We arrived at Dogtown Square!

We took a right turn and wandered slightly uphill to the commons, a relatively open area where the sheep and cattle of all the settlement would have grazed. We passed some other numbered stones and, not seeing any cellar holes, didn't investigate. If we had, we would have found a couple more Babson Boulders. Oh well, we'll visit them tomorrow on Trip Four.

We did find 14 on this trip and I'll show a couple examples...don't worry won't post all the pics! And the question of count will be answered with these two 'pages' of Babson's book.

Two sides of the same boulder have been carved.

While we were walking up toward the common pasture, we met a woman walking out. As is custom in our small community, we said hello. She greeted us and told us that there was a large pack of dogs up ahead. Probably 15 or so, she said. Hmmmm. Then she added that they were friendly. Double hmmmm. I think she was trying to spook us. Didn't work. (Never saw or heard any dogs) As a matter of fact, we haven't seen any wildlife at all in Dogtown. No birds, no squirrels, nothing.

We doubled back from the commons pasture and took a side trip down the Babson Boulder Trail. It was rough walking and a large portion was up and down hills. We decided that when it reach 11:30 we would turn around and head back toward the car. On the boulder trail we found the rest of our 14 count for the trip. 2 more are further along the trail and we'll grab shots of them another time.

Tomorrow we plan on making our fourth trip In. Maybe starting at the top of Squam Road once again and follow the trail past Whale's Jaw to Peter's Pulpit (it's supposed to be a mammoth erratic) and then on to the Commons Road before turning around and heading home.

Cat Lovers in Dogtown - Trips One and Two

2011-12-05T17:38:00.003-05:00

I have been trying to take Sunday off each week. If I stay home I do tend to wander down to the workshop and...well...work. This means we must head off, away from the house so I can't work.

'R' and I have decided that our get away from home destination shall be exploring Dogtown.

In 1741, 20% of Gloucester's population lived in what was then known as the Commons Settlement. This area covers the majority of the center of our island and was primarily a farming and forestry based economy. The fishing industry which eventually grew to be the main industry of the island was at that time nearly non-existent due to great losses to piracy. The Commons Settlement was also the hub of the island with roads connecting Gloucester to Lanesville to Annisquam to Rockport. Sixty of the most prominent island families called the Commons Settlement home. It was the most desirable part of town.

The men of the Commons Settlement participated heavily in the Revolutionary War and at the end few remained to return to their homes on the island. Their widows were left to try to eke out an existence on land that had been stripped of all the wood. Many subsisted on the abundant berries found and killed their animals for the last remaining meals of meat. Whether for company or for protection, the women left at the Commons Settlement kept dogs. That, combined with the rapid decay of the area, seems to be why the Commons Settlement, once a thriving, desirable community became known as Dogtown.

With the end of the war and control gained over the local waters, the fishing industry grew. Prominent families wanted to live in new, elegant homes at the harbor. New roads were built that, in staying along the water, bypassed Dogtown.

In 1830, suffering from frozen feet, the last resident was removed from the cellar of a home and placed in the Poor House where he died within a few days. By 1841, there were only six of the original 80 houses left in Dogtown. In 1845 the last house was torn down. Dogtown was an embarrassment.

The land was left vacant. Eventually Roger Babson purchased a large portion with the intent of keeping open space on the island. In the years that followed, he not only donated a large portion to the city for a reservoir, he also hired out of work quarrymen to 'write' a book of morals by carving words in some of the large boulders of Dogtown. The acreage of Dogtown is a vast expanse of terminal moraine. Large granite boulders called erratics are strewn about the area and acres are covered in piles of granite 'rubble' left behind when the last great ice flow receded.

Trees have grown between the boulders in the terminal moraine

Present day Dogtown is filled with a maze of trails running between the old Dogtown Road, the Commons Road, and the Old Rockport Road (don't let the word road fool you...they aren't paved!). Along the trails are markers indicating the 'cellar holes' and other bits of interesting things like Granny Day's Swamp. The casual hiker can easily get lost and 'R' and I were sure to bring several maps (even if they were a bit conflicting between themselves) and a cell phone. We decided to explore with a definite plan and to keep track of the time at certain locations. We always mark any turns taken from the main trail. We are determined NOT to dial 911 as a tourist did recently!

Old Rockport Road

Our first venture In was from Old Rockport Road. Not much to be seen along there! It would have been far more productive to have entered from near Blackburn Circle (Blackburn Industrial Park) where it would have been a short wooded walk to see: The Babson Boulders!

and

Not mentioned on the map, but quickly spotted were:

Our first five Babson Boulders. Only 19 left to find!

At that point it was getting chilly and foggy (and darn close to lunch time) so we headed back by the same route as we went in. We decided to try a different hike in the afternoon.

Our afternoon hike was to Whale's Jaw. Whale's Jaw used to resemble it's name much more than it does now. Not long ago the 'jaw' portion split off and fell. Some claim it was due to a fire being set beneath it. I find it rather hard to believe that a smallish fire would break such a large boulder (about 18 - 20 feet at the tallest point). My thinking leans more towards the hundreds of years of water freezing and thawing in the 'jaw' joint.

the 'jaw' that fell off is to the left

Since it was getting on toward sunset, it was a quick trip of about 45 minutes.

The jaw 'vapors'!

We'll head out (or In) past Whale's Jaw again soon.

On our third venture to Dogtown we followed Dogtown Road and saw some of the cellar holes. From there we hiked the Boulder Trail and captured fourteen more Babson Boulders. Only six left to find! And for those of you doing the math, that little discrepancy will be explained in Cat Lovers in Dogtown - Trip Three

At Other Times

2011-11-26T15:03:00.000-05:00

Times that I haven't been working or out and about, I've done a couple new paintings. In gouache. The first was done back in September and is based on a wonderful photograph that 'R' took of the Annisquam River.

The second I just finished and is from a photo I took up in Newburyport.

They need titles before I can post them to the Flickr account.

I've started on an oil painting that should, if all goes as planned, be an interesting, textural view of the Cape Ann Tool Company.

Happy Turkey Day

2011-11-23T22:02:00.001-05:00

These two are as they aren't the chosen ones!

Two buddies at Raymond's Turkey Farm

When the Cows Come Home

2011-11-19T21:18:00.000-05:00

or is that the saints marching in?

Mall Avoidance

2011-11-19T16:40:00.002-05:00

'Tis the season.

Almost.

We always try to beat the crowds and get the majority of Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving. There are normally a few little things left to find and purchase after Turkey Day has passed to get one out among the throngs of crazed, to-the-mall drivers to sustain that holiday spirit!

Step in to the past

So...a few days ago 'R' and I trucked on up to Newburyport to look in the specialty shops there for one specific gift. No luck.

The old luncheonette

But we had a good morning of it anyway and stopped for coffee at Fowle's. Not much has changed there since it was built although now it's just a fully stocked newstand in one half and a counter or booth luncheonette in the other.

We roamed around long enough to have to stop for lunch on the way home.

A step back in time time.

I Love New Toys

2011-11-05T16:37:00.000-04:00

I mean tools...new tools.

Old tools new to me.

Found this gem at the dump!

I'm sure to find some use for it.

Things have been very busy around here. As I type, I'm waiting for a tech to arrive with a set of piano keys needing work. Another set is in the works in the shop, more were sent out during the past week. I finished up a big melodeon rebuild job and that left on Tuesday.

Whitney melodeon from 1857

Then there's this thing on Tuesday night that I have been preparing for...for ages. I'm giving a presentation on the Manning Organ Company for the Sandy Bay Historical Society. I hate public speaking and I'm very uncomfortable about giving the talk. Anyway, it's a PowerPoint slide show, complete with a recording of four pieces of music that Manning wrote. Many, many thanks to 'R' who took my rough recording of a client playing the music and turned it into a quite acceptable CD. So, be thinking good thoughts for me on Tuesday night, folks.

Can't wait until THAT's done.

Two Day Vacation!

2011-10-14T17:31:00.001-04:00

That's right, I managed to take a two day vacation this year!

great photo day

Weather and work happily coordinated to give us a clear and colorful time off in North Conway, NH. While this seems to be a recurring spot for our vacations, we do try to do something different on each visit. That gets kind of challenging after 50 or so years of visiting the same area! After checking in to our 'throw back to the '70s' (but very clean and friendly) Junge's Motel, we decided to head further north to be driven up the Mount Washington Auto Road. No, I will not drive up the road myself. ('R' now wants to drive it) Many do and most of them actually survive the trip, but I was not going to venture forth on the looks very, very narrow, too narrow to be two way but it is Auto Road. Nope, not me. Bottomless drop offs (well, by the time you would reach the bottom it would be irrelevant) on one side and washed out shoulders on the other and a mere fraction of an inch passing room between cars as they go up and down. Our van driver told us that there have been times when the professioanl Auto Road drivers have had to drive the non-pro's back down. Yep, it's that unnerving. Back in the 1960's my dad would drive the road. Seven times in our 1958 Chevy station wagon! I think the road was a bit wider then...and fewer people actually ventured up and down it. Anyway, there were no mishaps and we had a great time atop New England. The weather was unusually good and visibility was great. We took lots of photos.

A view from the top...there's a glider below (center)!

view from the top with the cog railway heading back down

We also did some touring around town and visited the old train station where last year's excursion occurred (The train trip to Crawford Notch),

winner of weirdest vacation photo

went up to the top of Cathedral Ledge, shot photos down in the valley below, and after a night at Junge's headed home making a photo stop at beautiful Lake Chicorua.

Mount Chicorua

All in all, a fantastic two days!

Little Things...

2011-10-07T22:05:00.000-04:00

DO matter!

As I was grabbing a few pistachio muffins for 'A' from the self-serve at a local grocery store, I gazed about the racks to see what other varieties were available...Cranberry Rasin, some other coffee cake type things and Apple Rasin. Yes spell check, I typed R - A - S - I - N. That's what the little signs read. So being that things like spelling are important...at least to me...I very politely brought the error to the attention of a bakery department employee who just happened to be standing next to me.

And she said, "Oh, that's just a little thing. It doesn't matter."

YES, YES, YES it does! *

(And those stupid backwards 'R' s in the Toys 'R' Us signs have always bothered me, too.)

How will anyone learn the correct way if no one cares when things are incorrect?

Oh, and another thing while I'm complaining...Mr. Driver at the top of Barn Lane...yeah, you who was supposed to stop at the sign that has the letters S - T - O - P. Why did you feel the need to sound your horn at me and wave your middle finger my way? I was on the main road with no S - T - O - P sign!

"You know you aren't supposed to be doing that!"

*any spelling mistakes in this post, past posts, or future posts, are evidently just little things and not important enough to even be noticed.

Plane Show Sunday

2011-09-19T22:52:00.001-04:00

Different weekend than Car Show Saturday.

B-24

'R' wandered out of his office with a question, "Are there any airports around here that would have some military planes?"

B-17

Probably not exactly what he said.....

So I told him about Beverly Airport and said that they have a website. "Why?" Seems he heard something military sounding overhead. From a cellar office with the windows closed! I think that I was running some machinery in the shop, too!

B-24

With a quick online check, he determined that there was a show at the Beverly Airport of some WWII planes. The list included a B-17, the same type of plane that my Uncle Hughie was aboard when it crashed during a training flight. My mom has wanted to see a B-17, a real one, not just a photo. She was ten years old when her brother, Hughie, was killed in that crash. He was the first serviceman from their city, New Bedford, MA, to die in WWII. The Standard Times reporter that was sent to the house to tell my grandparents the terrible news found that my grandfather had just come home from the hospital after a heart attack. The reporter then chose not to tell them that their son had been killed in a crash. They heard the news later...on the radio. You can read about the crash and the memorial that has been erected at the crash site here.

So, back to yesterday. We decided to drive mom down to the airport.

Mom at one of the B-17 props

Truthfully, both 'R' and I wanted to go see the planes, too. Along with the B-17, there was a B-24, a P-51, a T-6, a Corsair, and a Stearman biplane.

We spent a little more than an hour looking around and taking lots of photos.

Mom, me and R reflected at center

And......we got to go aboard the B-17. Quite an experience for my mom to see what the plane was like and to imagine her brother aboard.

Mom at the starboard gun

So glad 'R' heard that plane overhead on Sunday morning. So glad we went.

Car Show Saturday

2011-09-14T22:09:00.000-04:00

Yes, I've taken time away from work. Well, at the time there wasn't much work in the shop. So we went up to Skip's for a car show and I played around with snapping some artsy shots.

Artsy shot number one:

Artsy shot number two:

And yes, artsy shot number three:

Finally, "Self-portrait with White Walls"*

*'R's clever title...thank you 'R'!

I Shouldn't Be Doing This

2011-09-13T14:36:00.001-04:00

Writing a blog entry, that is. You see, I've got 6 sets of keys (5 arrived unannounced) waiting for me down in the workshop, three more sets are due to arrive any day and....tomorrow it's the historical society in the morning and two tunings in the afternoon. Thursday another two tunings. Friday night is the Annual Meeting/Chowder Supper for the historical society and we will be attending. I think Saturday and Sunday are relatively free. Monday the dentist, Tuesday a tuning at the high school and a selectman's board meeting at night (where I may have to speak publicly...eeeewwwwww). Wednesday morning it's out to Thacher Island to retrieve a big part of the reed organ for repairs over the winter. Thursday another tuning. Saturday night is the Jim Malcolm concert at the UU Church and Sunday afternoon is the reception for my one person show at the UU's gallery. Amid all of that I've been finishing up woodwork for my mom and trying to get out for some fun stuff.

Which brings me to this post.

My new not-so-plaything toy.

A Concert Roller Organ! It needs some repair that I'll get to one of these days (haha) and I'll need to find a really super machinist to repair the crank/shaft where it was broken off with the threaded section left in the handle. Of course the exterior decals will have to be replaced.

The organ operates by cranking the handle. Bellows create suction within the unit and the 'cob' (because it looks like one) turns. The pins on the cob open the little valves that you see above the cob. Behind each valve is a reed. When the valve opens, that reed/note plays. 20 notes in all. I've got 9 cobs!
Just thought I'd share for a few moments. Now it's back to the workshop and keys, keys, keys.

Schooner or Later...

2011-09-04T17:18:00.000-04:00

if you take thousands upon thousands of photos you are bound to get at least one or two that are worthy of being called 'artsy'.

This morning 'R' and I went to the Parade of Sail which precedes the annual schooner races. I took 130 photographs. There are a few decent ones. But then there is this one.........

The One. The One has been printed and shall gain framing. It may even get a spot in the Contributing Members Show at the RAA this Spring.

Garden Goodness

2011-08-29T17:27:00.000-04:00

The first three carrots. They are earlier than the rest of the crop. They were just screaming at me to be pulled out! Next year we must plant the seeds earlier (and more).

The rest of the garden? Well, the tomatoes have been delicious and there are still plenty more to go. We lost a few in the heavy rain and wind over the weekend but there are still plenty. The cucumbers continue and continue and continue to produce. We haven't been too successful with our pumpkins. I'm blaming it on the fact that they are suppose to be some hybrid huge things. Next year we stick to the boring, even-an-idiot-can-grow-these type. We have 3 cantaloupes. One is large enough that it may mature before cold weather! No broccoli. If we try for it next year we'll have to be sure to start it earlier and plant it where it will get a lot more sunshine.

All in all, it's been great watching the plants growing from seeds to producing yummy veggies. "R' has been a super gardener!

The Morning of Irene

2011-08-28T09:08:00.000-04:00

And Mango is not impressed.

Although the storm is still not its closest.............

The Calm Before the Storm

2011-08-27T13:21:00.000-04:00

As Hurricane Irene moves up the east coast you can see that Mango is quite concerned.

Nothing like a long nap for storm preparedness.

Before the Storm

2011-08-26T10:40:00.000-04:00

Generally speaking I've found that a few days before a major storm there is some rather lovely weather. True this week and we took advantage of it. Yes, I suppose that the good weather is given as opportunity to do the preparedness thing for the bad weather to follow...we've done a bit of that...but we took the day off on Wednesday to travel to 'the other Cape'.

The four of us loaded ourselves and some cut flowers into the car at 9 a.m. and headed for my dad's grave at the National Cemetery in Bourne. As expected it was beautiful weather, not expected was the miserable traffic. 'R' makes fun of my complaints about highway traffic around here (I know, I know, it's not like real traffic in CA). Anyway, mid-week-after-morning-rush-hour and it should have been better on the roads.

This trip we would not be staying overnight at my cousin's house. They already had company from out of state. So.....the BIG drive there and back and a tour around all in one day trying to get home before too much night driving yet after Boston rush hour......phew.

We arrived at the cemetery before noon and found that they were doing some renovation work just where we needed to get by. A slight detour brought us back on track with the first stop at my aunt and uncle's grave. Then back to dad's. 'A' was surprised to find that her penny was still on his stone (well, slightly off the edge) from when she placed it there last year! She put it back at top center and added another. I guess it's 'a penny for your thoughts' kind of thing.

After the cemetery we headed along Rte. 6 west and stopped for lunch with my cousin 'D'. Then on to cousin 'P's house for a quick visit with her and her family (those out-of-state guests). By this time it was getting to be mid afternoon and we still had more traveling and stops to make. Onward to New Bedford where we toured around the south end where my mom grew up and where we made another cemetery stop. Rural cemetery is where another uncle and my grandparents are buried. More flowers to deliver graveside and then off again!

Our next stop was to waste some time! Yep, even though it seemed we had been traveling foreverrrrrrrr, it was too early to finish and head home. It was only 4:15 p.m. and I didn't want to be on the road north until 5:30ish. Had to miss that late afternoon traffic around Boston and Boston was only an hour away. So we stopped at the Friendly's in Dartmouth for a drink (lousy service!) before heading further west on Rte. 6 to check out the remains of Lincoln Park.

One of the spots where we could see through the fence (The Comet in the background)

Lincoln Park was a local amusement park from 1894 to 1987. You can read a brief history here. If you search for "Lincoln Park, Dartmouth MA" you'll find a lot more. Our family spent many happy days at this amusement park from the 1940's through the 1970's and over more recent years have watched as the park closed, fires consumed familiar buildings and vandals left their marks. We were curious as to how much would remain. The answer? Not much at all except for a portion of the roller coaster. The Comet, which lost it's BIG hill to collapse under the weight of snow in 2005 (I think). When the park closed, all the rides were auctioned off. The carousel was preserved and moved to Battleship Cove Park in Fall River. MA. Neglect and fires destroyed what remained of the park's ballroom, rollerskating building, concessions, funhouse and arcades. As much as the desire exists to discover old, hidden treasures within the off-limits grounds, they are just not there.

All that is left of a spot that brought so much joy.

So after a bit of peering through the chainlink fence for photo taking, we drove back east a mile or so to take a look at the house my grandfather built in the 1920's. Then on to the highway and home, stopping only to get dinner at our local Friendly's. It was still daylight when we arrived there but dark by the time we left for the final few miles to our door.

Eats

2011-08-05T21:29:00.000-04:00

I rarely write about food. I don't get very enthused about the subject. Honestly, I think of it somewhat as a waste of money...just flushed down the...well, kinda literally. You could eliminate the middle man and just send those bills on their way.

Oh well.

This week has been a good week for food finds. First we visited a British import store while walking around Newburyport the other day and I found Lyle's Golden Syrup! It's been a few years since I've been able to locate this favorite. My grandfather got me hooked on the sweet syrup when I was very young. Having found a new supplier, I bought two cans leaving one on the shelf for someone equally as fortunate to find it.

The other food doings became finding a recipe for sweet and sour cucumbers. I remember Rosa making them. I worked for Rosa and her husband, Aage, many years ago. Aage was a Danish Masterbaker (Yummmmmmmmmmmy stuff). Rosa used to make a hot lunch for me every day that I was there. I particularly enjoyed her Danish meatballs with sweet and sour cucumbers. Anyway, we've got a lot of cucumbers growing in our veggie garden and it has become obvious that we need to find a variety of menu options for them. Today was my first attempt at the recipe below. I just tried them...a bit too sharp. Maybe I should switch to a different vinegar type? Or try more sugar?

Sweet and Sour Cucumber
300ml white vinegar
75g caster sugar
1 cucumber sliced paper thin (I used two of our small bush cucumbers)
Combine the sugar and vinegar in a saucepan and heat, gently stirring the mixture to make sure all the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Cool, then add cucumber and let sit for at least 1/2 hour. Drain for serving and serve chilled.

Quieter...

2011-08-01T22:23:00.000-04:00

just a little bit.

Sunday morning calm in the North Basin

Currently...'R' and I finally finished up ALL the keywork that had backed up over a couple of weeks time. Nothing like having a month's worth of work appear within one week! Then....a repair job came around on a pipe organ that 'R' accepted. That took some time. I really enjoyed helping him with it and learning about and exploring some unfamiliar workings.

I also found out that the walls of 'my' church looked quite different in the early 1900s. Take a look past the organ guts at the back wall and you'll see the odd blue/green with gold stenciling atop a border of burgundy and gold. Unseen in this photo and below the border is a rather cream colored paint. The two walls in the corner that are hidden by the organ are like this, so I'm assuming that the rest of the sanctuary sported this unusual decor!

Check out that back wall (click to enlarge)!

So right now there are two sets of keys in the shop. One for new keytops and fronts, the other for some ivory restoration work. I've started taking apart the 1865 melodeon as well. Time to get on with it's restoration.

Guilt

2011-07-17T22:04:00.000-04:00

Yes, I'm feeling a bit of it as I had promised to post about the Fourth of July. The most I have the energy to say about it is that it was fun, hectic, and managed to include a massive thunderstorm right in the midst of parade time.

The bandstand colored by a stunning pink and violet sunset

None of the celebrations were called off, even with the storm, and everyone seemed to take all the lightning and thunder without much of a thought of safety.

RFD keeping control over the bonfire at Back Beach

As you have seen, I've included a couple of my favorite pictures.

Drowning in the Sea of Key

2011-07-13T21:57:00.000-04:00

Oh my goodness.

The norm is about a dozen or so sets of keys coming in for work each month.
Today there was a total of 11 sets. What is today? The 13th? So far this month there have been 16 sets! 19 more days left...

I'm tired.

Not complaining (too much) because having work is a good thing.

But I am tired.

She Loved Flowers

2011-07-09T13:22:00.000-04:00

Here's an email I received Wednesday morning. Changes I made to eliminate names are indicated in a different color.

Hi Deb:

This is a difficult e-mail for me. Sorry to have to bring you the news that your aunt passed away this morning. "Caregiver lady" specifically asked that we NOT let you know. I am going against her wishes since I think it appropriate that you and your mother are aware of your aunt's passing. I would appreciate it if you would try to not get me in trouble for letting you know.

All Dressed Up

2011-07-04T10:14:00.000-04:00

for Rockport's big celebration of the Fourth.

Watching for the bonfire...it'll be a 36 hour wait!

The today pictures will follow sometime this week.

Yep, Gotta Have One!

2011-06-25T16:52:00.000-04:00

Traffic Duty

2011-06-24T21:56:00.001-04:00

Thought I'd add this little bit as a follow-up to my last post.

On our drive home from M & M Liberty's photo session at Pebble Beach we met up with a traffic cop trainee. No utility work or road work, just a random checkpoint along our route.

No choice. Officer Tom was in the road bringing traffic in our lane to a halt. He had been watching for a little black pick-up truck and he found us. I slowed down and finally came to a complete stop as it became evident that Officer Tom meant business. He approached fearlessly and glared over the hood of the truck.

Not completely satisfied that he had thoroughly checked us out, he strutted over to my window and spoke harshly. I didn't understand anything he said and he became agitated and made a swift trip around the front of my truck and over to the passenger window.

Before Officer Tom had a chance to further complain, I asked 'R' to be sure he was clear of my truck.
And then we made a successful escape!

STOP!

Officer Tom on the move

Checking us out


Heading for the passenger side

Sweet Liberty (thanks for the title 'R')

2011-06-04T22:12:00.000-04:00

Some of you may remember that I collect Statue of Liberty memorabilia. I currently own over 70 souvenir statues of The Statue. Also you might have noticed that my profile picture has changed from the Statue of Liberty frog, stolen from some long ago magazine advertisement, to my own snowman Statue. This week I have received two new statues for my collection. It's amazing that I have only received two duplicates in 25 years of collecting The Statue statues. The new ones are indeed new to the collection...no repeats this week!

This first came near the beginning of the week. I arrived home to two surprises. 'R' had received 5 boxes of books and things that he had been waiting for. Much to my surprise one of the boxes contained a Statue of Liberty magnet and he gave it to me!

The second Statue of Liberty was discovered by 'elizabeth down the street' and it was presented to me, by her, late yesterday afternoon. Sweet Liberty!

And so my collection grows. And not just with the finds that I make, but with the thoughtfulness of friends and family.

Pretty Pictures...

2011-06-02T22:31:00.000-04:00

from the past day or so.

The sunset from Niles Beach

Massachusetts had some really bad weather yesterday. Three tornadoes that caused severe damage and several deaths in the middle south of the state. Fortunately not near us. The storms did provide a brilliant sunset that changed from vivid yellow to orange and then to a multitude of reds and pinks before fading to dull purple then night.

Late night we were surprised with heat lightning. Veins of lightning intermingling from cloud to cloud. Sorry...no pictures of that.

Today the weather was sunny with gusty winds. We headed up to one of my favorite spots...the Moseley Estate...to wander and take photographs.

Another nice spot at the estate.

I found out that the visitor center has several rooms displaying photos depicting 'the' days at the estate including many shots of the original home.

The Main House - demolished in the mid 1900s (estate photo)

Today I took this photo of the 'Main Gate' to the house above.

Also at the center are some photographs of Moulton's Castle which once occupied the eastern end of the estate...Castle Hill.

Moulton's Castle (estate photo)

The 'Castle' was constructed from wood and painted to look like stone! It was demolished when the Moseley family acquired the eastern property. It once sat high overlooking the Merrimack River.

Castle Hill (estate photo)

So we had an evening and then nearly an entire day of out and about with our cameras. Tomorrow it's back to work.

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T21:58:00.000-04:00

Poppies in a Main Street garden

Busy?

2011-05-27T21:26:00.000-04:00

Uhhhhh. Yep.

After seven weeks of piles of key work, this afternoon I could finally say that there are no keys in the shop. And that's for the duration of a holiday weekend! We shipped off a set late today and there are no more expected until mid-week. It does seem a bit odd. The new sets coming next week include a rebushing, a keytop job and a major key wood rebuilding/tops and fronts/ bushings/re-leading.

So I just had to keep busy with something!

Here you see the test assembly for the vacation Bible school 'mini' float.

The blue canvas will be the backdrop for a jungle scene surround. The second shot shows the interior (back panel not installed). I'll take more pictures as the scenery is completed. And of course a photo of the finished product.

(Oh...and we've got the neighbor's barking dog problem again. Nice weather, windows open, dog has been barking since before 7 p.m. and it's now almost 9:30 p.m. I've called the dog officer 3 times in the last couple of weeks. I'm going to call again tonight...or in the morning. The neighbors aren't home. Whenever they aren't home the dog barks. Last Friday it didn't quit until they arrived home at 10:15 p.m. - from 4 in the afternoon!)

I've Avoided This for Years

2011-05-21T21:42:00.000-04:00

Today was the 17th annual Cruise Night at Skip's.

Skip's sign at night

This is Skip's 64th year in business, same owners, nearly same location (they started directly across the street).

End of line to the left and order window is nearly the same distance away once inside!

Anyway, we have always avoided Cruise Nights assuming that the parking would be impossible and the lines tremendously long. Well, parking wasn't bad getting there a bit early as we did and the line was manageable with a slightly early dinner. By the time we were leaving at 6 p.m. or so the line was longer than I would have stood in for a cheeseburger special.

Just some of the cars

There were about 200 cars on display with more expected to be arriving. I enjoyed walking the lot and taking lots of photos. I even picked out a couple cars that I wouldn't mind owning...ahemmmmm...with a frivolous pocketbook.

My 1956 Thunderbird!

All in all a fun afternoon and we are talking about cruising on up to Skip's for some future cruise nights. (Not to mention the trips just to eat - about every other week). Only an hour drive each way for a burger and fries!

Expect some more photos in another post.

In the Aura of Black Gold

2011-05-20T22:05:00.000-04:00

The un-pink flamingo

We hauled four loads of heavy, smelly dirt from the transfer station to our new veggie garden. The dirt is called black gold deservedly. It's darn rich stuff, obviously, well, naturally fertilized. I was challenged to take a photo of that dark stuff before planting in the morning. A couple problems arose. First being that it's dark out...dark soil, dark night...must use the flash...except it's foggy out, too, and that doesn't mix right with flash photography. So I decided to use the 'good' camera. The one that manages to shoot decent night scenes with no flash. Problem number three...this tired laptop won't read the images from the new decent camera.

On to the bitty, tired, old camera and some not so hot shots. Except for the one on this post. I wonder what is emanating from that black gold that resulted in that shot!

Because 'R' Just Asked a Question...

2011-05-19T22:09:00.000-04:00

I now know that someone else is writing a post about today's trip to Home Depot...so I'll write a bit here...the first and last post (this year) from my old laptop where I have stored NO photos to use.

Yes, we made the trip to one of my favorite stores to get more stuff for 'R's office. Other than flooring, which we priced, enough was purchased to complete the construction phase. It's coming along nicely.

However, since this is MY blog, I'll give some of MY news...work. I'm swamped with it. Such a change from the first few months of this year and the last few years! I don't think that there has been more than a day in the last month or so without at least one set of keys in the shop. Lately it seems as if there are more than two or three sets going at once. Currently there are four sets and I've got another arriving tomorrow. Then there is a HUGE key job that is in the works with a big rebuild shop from the southern part of the US. It'll be fun to work on it although I think I have majorly under-bid the job. Well...fun counts for something, doesn't it?Even when it is officially work?

Nearly Nonstop

2011-05-15T21:42:00.000-04:00

That time of year never came this year. Surely a good thing. That is that there has been no springtime work slow down. Thankfully 'R' is a big help around the shop. I can't say as I would be able to keep up with things as well if he weren't here. I'm not having to put in any of those 12 - 14 hour work days! So not only has the shop work continued to build in quantity, so has the tuning work. I'm it 'on-island'. Seems that tech #1 has disappeared, tech #2 has retired and tech # 3 has a bit to be desired...that leaves me (and some that travel from the Boston surrounds). I'm liking having the work. I just need to better arrange my schedule.

Schedule...a tough one. Juggling 'A' back and forth to work and my tuning schedule and Mom's stuff and errands and time for play.

'R' and I did go to the Fisk Open House on Saturday. It was my third visit and his first. I always enjoy taking in all the workshop sights. A couple typical decorative displays are pictured below.

Then there are the organ parts and the tools and fixtures.

Lots to see.

Tomorrow brings 'that time of year' around for my computer regardless of the not that time of year work-wise. Tomorrow my computer will head to it's omniscient doctor for it's annual check up. I'll be struggling with my slowwwwwwwww laptop for a few days. I'll still be around...checking in and checking up on all of you.

Just Because...

2011-05-04T14:03:00.000-04:00

see the previous post first if you haven't been there.

Cool Stuff to Share

2011-05-04T12:50:00.000-04:00

Under the Keystone Bridge

2011-04-30T20:52:00.000-04:00

Flat Ledge Quarry

Tuesday 'R' and I took a late afternoon walk to explore Flat Ledge Quarry. The quarry is part of the water supply and is posted No Trespassing. And there is a rather large gate...with a well-trodden path around the side of it. Didn't seem to matter to the other folks wandering around in there!

Looking back under the keystone bridge

Flat Ledge has always been a spot that I wanted to explore and 'R' and I did quite a tour on the beaten paths...and off, which was not a particularly smart thing to do as I managed to pick up a hitchhiking tick. Yuck.

Some pretty quarry color

Anyway, we took lots of photos and decided that a revisit in morning sunshine might be good. Well, that is until I found that tick...I'm not sure I'll be venturing back in there very soon! Still, I'm really glad we did the walk. The bridge and the old quarry are impressive. The smaller 'motions' (little quarried areas done as kind of moonlight jobs by some quarrymen) were fascinating with cool green pools and trickling water down glistening rock cliffs.

A 'motion' pool with water cascading down the cliff

Another local adventure!

The B-Day

2011-04-24T22:18:00.001-04:00

The sun shone...that I find amazing in and of itself! Yeah, weather forecasters had warned of showers for today. But it didn't...not much...a brief sprinkle or two is all. It was a beautiful day for some photo taking and this post shows a few from our afternoon adventure.

Bionic toad

But let's start the day off near it's beginning. First thing the b-day girl wanted to do? Hit the grocery store for some needed items! After that we went for a walk to feed the ducks...except there was only one. And he wasn't interested in the bread we had to offer. Oh well, home to relax in the sunshine for a bit. "A' did too much of that and got some sunburn on face and arms. She's not too comfortable with it tonight.

The Guinea Fowl

After the entire family checked out 'A's birthday e-card (thanks dickie and b!), we got our Easter dining under way at Mom's end of the house. Tradition makes our meal simple. Ham sandwiches and fixings...chips, macaroni salad (this year)...easy stuff.

A bridge-load of dragonflies

After lunch the group decided to drive first to Essex to browse a junk shop and then to Ipswich to Corliss Bros. nursery so Mom could buy some plants with her birthday gift certificates.

The horse frames the rhinoceros (click on it to enlarge)

Neither were open. Easter after all.

Just add water!

We were so close to a favorite spot that we decided it would be a good day to show it off to 'R'. We headed to NE Biolabs. Mom and 'A' sat in the car and watched as 'R' and I wandered around taking photos. 'R' has been much better than I have about photo taking and blogging and I am taking the time tonight to get my Biolab photos posted first. I've a few different versions than before and they have been interspersed in this post. 'A' thinks the octopus is kind of cool and Mom likes the plant-like sculpture.

Mom's plant

Personally, I think the entire place is just marvelous!

Easter

2011-04-23T17:31:00.000-04:00

...is late this year and I can hardly remember what has happened to the month of April! All of us have been extremely busy. 'A' has had more hours at work, I've been swamped with work, Mom has started her springtime gardening and 'R' is getting settled in to residency in Massachusetts. 'R' has also been an enormous help with my piano work and is fun to travel around with or just hang out with when we are not slaving away over piano keys.
This is also birthday week. Mom's last Sunday and 'A's tomorrow, Easter Sunday. With all the stuff going on and work to finish it would be easy to keep on working throughout it all. However...I have made a conscious decision that I WILL NOT WORK TOMORROW. (mostly)

And while life has been rather hectic, we have taken time to have some fun touring around...up to Newburyport, Skip's for birthdays lunch, and several walks about town. The photograph at the top of this post was taken in Union Cemetery and I thought it fine for my Easter post.

Not Forgotten

2011-04-17T18:18:00.000-04:00

you guess

Yes, this spot hasn't had much happening in it lately. Life has been a bit hectic. Lots of work, lots of changes, lots of well...stuff. It's also 'birthday week' for Mom and 'A' so I've been busy trying to coordinate those two events into one celebration because yes, it's been hectic.

I will be back to post something more interesting. Hopefully within a few days. Definitely before I drown in it all.

In Fairness to ALL Pianists

2011-04-04T10:40:00.000-04:00

and vocalists...

In Case Anyone's Wondering

2011-03-31T18:35:00.000-04:00

I don't imagine that this has been a pressing question interrupting the flow of any of your days....
but...
Here's little gouache painting number two:

It's just 5 X 7 (8 X 10 with matte and frame). It looks better in person...really. Actually it's just occurred to me, since the gouache paintings are small and on paper, I could scan them into the computer rather than photograph them. Might turn out better. Dumb me.

I haven't titled it yet. Any suggestions?

Solo

2011-03-26T16:28:00.000-04:00

News Flash! Deb has been asked to have a one person exhibit of her artwork!

Yippeeeee! Until suddenly she realizes that she may not have enough stuff.

It's not a big show. It's not even a formal gallery show. But nevertheless it will be being seen in Rockport and at a location that seems to have made a 'thing' of their small 'gallery'. More on all that when the month...September...gets closer.

Right now Deb is trying to put together enough to fill the walls. She has gone through her oil paintings, large and small, and her photographs. Currently she is working on a small selection of sell-able-sized paintings in gouache. Gouache is an opaque watercolor. (It sort of feels like working with liquid chalk!) These might sell well as the size (6 X 9 plus matte and frame should bring it to 9 X 12) and pricing will be good.

Here's the first (huh, it lost some of the blue-gray sky and clouds) of probably a half dozen or so:

The Estate

Super Sized

2011-03-21T17:21:00.001-04:00

That's what the full moon was supposed to be on Saturday night. So...I picked 'A' up from work, we grabbed a snack, and headed to...

Land's End with a view of Thacher Island.

I correctly assumed that it would be THE spot to view the moonrise. So did many other people. The usually vacant area of rocky coastline was crawling with moon-gazers. It was rather difficult to find a spot to park in the little, muddy cul-de-sac but I managed to scoot the truck up a hump along the edge and 'A' and I hiked out on the rocks to wait.

And wait.

I was glad we had arrived early considering the crowded parking situation.

There were several 'pros' out there with their very cool camera set ups. Long lenses for getting those 'squished' shots that would really accentuate the size of the moon as it made it's ascent in the sky next to the lighthouses. They had tripods, too. I own two tripods and forgot to bring either of them. Should have remembered.

Thankfully the moon cooperated and peeked over the island, rather than further north or south which would have caused a massive, crazy exodus, and it was super-sized. A funky red-orange colored globe rising between the two lighthouses of Thacher Island.

So I took a slew of photographs and cursed myself for no tripod...oh well. And my moon doesn't look as spectacularly large as the ones that those with the long lenses will see. We had fun anyway.

It Just Goes to Show Ya...

2011-03-18T14:44:00.000-04:00

You can't believe everything you read.

The new issue of Cape Ann Magazine is out and, yes, they put in some photographs of the Opening Reception of the Contributing Members Show at the RAA.
This kind of thing evidently gets put in their Party People section.

Hardly. While I do enjoy getting together with friends, small social gatherings, or even meeting up with colleagues at a 'convention', I would not consider myself a party person. Mom definitely isn't.

(Photo credit: Brianna Moore)

So...there I am on the left, next to my painting. That's mom on the right. 'A' didn't want to be in the photograph. Of course and as you may recall, Mom and I weren't too keen on participating, either.

Free publicity wins over hating to be photographed.

Expired

2011-03-03T11:47:00.000-05:00

So I suppose I haven't written and complained about much in some time. I'm not going back to see how long it was but I would assume it most likely had something to do with snow.

This is different.

For some time now I have been noticing an increase in the amount of beyond expiration date food items on grocery store shelves. I first noticed it at the now itself expired I.G.A. at the Whistlestop Mall in Rockport. The I.G.A. was quite convenient to run to when, at the last minute, it became obvious that the teeny bit of milk left in the jug would not be enough for morning cereal, or that peanut butter sandwich that earlier sounded okay enough for lunch no longer held any appeal come noon. Convenience lost it's appeal when we were traipsing back to return items long out of date. Come on, a Stouffer's Mac & Cheese that expired in 2009?

So, I.G.A. is now closed and the majority of our shopping is done at the Stop & Shop on Bass Avenue. Has this helped? Not a chance. I think they have decided to take over where I.G.A. left off! Will I buy milk on the day that is the same as the buy by date? Nope. I checked a few days later and it was all still on the shelf! Is Stop & Shop alone in this apparent negligence to remove expired items from it's shelves?

Oh no. We stopped at Shaw's on Eastern Avenue to buy some breakfast items. The next morning, when opening the box, lo and behold, the box read sell by Dec. 4, 2010. Later that day we returned the item and went to yet another store, Market Basket.

Market Basket, at the Gloucester Crossing shopping center, is the 'new' competition on the island. Maybe they would be more alert to quality. You would think, huh? Not so. Although we replaced the Shaw's returned item with one that had a sell by date some 4 months in the future, we did a random check and found several different items, still on shelves, past their sell by date.

Add another half hour to your regular grocery shopping outing and start checking all the packaging! I certainly will be doing that. Especially after a news report last night (and this morning).

Boston Public Schools have been serving up meals made with items that are months (possibly years?) past their 'use by' date! They claim they are abiding by all government guidelines (which allow the use of out dated frozen food items)!

Longer Days

2011-03-01T17:23:00.000-05:00

More day time is really appreciated. It gives me that extra being awake feeling so that I can get more done...like the income taxes...oh joy. As usual, Mom gets a little check back from the government, Amanda gets a large check back, and yours truly did a poor job of estimating earnings and now must cough up more than I really want.

But daylight hours have been used for more enjoyable endeavors, as well. Some warmer temperatures have helped in that regard, too. 'A' and I have started walking explorations once again. The Mill Pond is a favorite spot. Particularly when we have plenty of stale bread crusts. The ducks are very happy to have us back and have demonstrated that by their dog-begging stances. Yep, quit paying attention for just a moment and they will tramp all over your feet. I looked down after a momentary delay in feeding to find several ducks standing directly in front of me, beaks up, with pleading eyes...one guy was planted firmly on my right shoe. Nice to be appreciated!

Shortly we'll be springing ahead the clocks, warm temperatures will return, and then the warmth of summer.
The sooner the better I say.

Slow Days

2011-02-21T16:08:00.001-05:00

This is the time of year when work slows down. I've just enough to keep afloat, but not so much that there isn't time for other things.

One thing I have done is to sort through one of my bookcases. I've pulled out some volumes that are not 'keepers' and fit in some others that had been stored in wrong places such as under my TV in my bedroom. I also store some of my piano music in this bookcase and I pulled out my copy of Carolina Moon. It has inspired me to start practicing again...another thing to do during work slow-down. I was amazed that I could play this piece with little hesitation after so many years away from it.

Anyway, as you can see there is not much organization to the bookshelves. I tried at the beginning to keep things classified, but in just more than eight years, well, it's suffered. I don't intend on getting overly zealous about sorting it all out. As you can see, there is a large Statue of Liberty 'preserved' puzzle (it has NY scenes all over it) that stands in the corner overlapping the bookcase. On the bottom shelf, in with the piano music, I found a book I had purchased at the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, FL. It's a book of black and white photographs of behind the scenes at the circus. That's where my name jumped off the page at me. I had never noticed it before. I scanned it and then played with it for a while. Then put it at the top of this post.

Extra time on my hands.

I Surprise Myself (sometimes)

2011-02-17T17:00:00.000-05:00

My afternoon tuning called to reschedule. The family is all sick. That left me with an afternoon open to possibilities.

So, what did I fill it with?

Wellllllllll...I vacuumed, dusted, tidied, organized, shredded old paperwork, went to the bank, paid bills, returned a couple phone calls, AND....

I worked on my Manning presentation. Yes, I, the non-public speaker, will be giving a presentation for the historical society (and anyone else around that may be interested) on William N. Manning, organ builder of Rockport. Originally planned as an article (still not completed) for the Reed Organ Society Quarterly, I goofed and agreed (in an obviously weak moment) to give a 'talk'. It's scheduled, I think, for November. Plenty of planning time as I'm hoping to make it a multi-media presentation - PowerPoint presentation, lecture, and recorded music written by Manning and the majority performed on a Manning organ.

Today I started organizing the visuals. All got scanned into my computer that weren't already there. Then I successfully copied them to a CD. Really, this is an accomplishment as I don't do that kind of thing often enough to remember how it's done. Then..........I took the CD and found the DVD reader on my second hand (third hand in reality) laptop that I nearly never use. The laptop has PowerPoint installed on it, my desktop doesn't. I popped that CD in there and much to my amazement the thing worked! Now I'll be able to create my program, copy it to a Flash drive and use the library's projection equipment.

I feel so brilliant! (no laughing out there)

Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T16:21:00.000-05:00

A very brief explanation...

Back in the 1950's my mom and dad invited their best friend couple to come and live with them while the best friends were looking for an apartment. My dad and Earle worked together at Western Electric. Mom and Priscilla had been friends since high school.

While living together at my parent's house, Valentine's Day rolled around and Mom and Pris baked a heart shaped cake while Dad and Earle were at work. They were thrilled with it and could hardly wait for their husbands to get home.

This poem was written [by Mom (and me)] as a remembrance for Priscilla and Earle's 50th wedding anniversary book.

(Please excuse the punctuation errors and various other glitches...our typist at the time was volunteered for the job and kind of messed up a bit.)

The Exhibitionist

2011-02-11T19:05:00.000-05:00

Not what you think.

This morning a friend emailed and a part of her email exclaimed, "FRONT PAGE!" Well of course I had to check it out. Sure enough, there on the front page of our local, weekly, free newspaper was a photo as part of a story about the elementary school's new science center. And in that photo...
It soars again!

The photo above is copyrighted material (Beacon) and is shown here for personal use only

And that was just the start of a pretty swell day.

Mid day was consumed with tuning jobs and late day demanded my attendance at the Rockport Art Association Contributing Members opening. Once again I'm showing an oil painting.

Beyond the Oaks

And a photograph.

American Spirit

The three gals showed up just after five o'clock to check out the exhibit and to nibble on finger food. While standing around chatting, we were approached by a photographer who inquired about being photographed for Cape Ann Magazine. We hesitated and then a thought came to me. "Sure, we'd be glad to as long as the photo is taken in front of my painting." 'A' didn't want to, but mom and I did the photo thing and the photographer jotted down our names AND the title of the painting.

Just maybe a bit of publicity, huh?

It's Not Political

2011-02-07T18:42:00.000-05:00

It's just that one thing led to another...

First, if you remember, there was Dexter the snowman. Dexter began to suffer mightily when wind and snow changed to wind and rain. So much so that poor Dexter lost his head. Then he took a hit to his midsection.

Dexter looking a bit doggy

After being emailed some clever Calvin and Hobbes snowmen cartoons (thanks with a big smile), my thoughts turned to salvaging what I could of Dexter.

"I'm sinking"

Then I thought a bit more and gave up real work for the morning to create this...

As Lady Liberty

I'm sure some will read all sorts of stuff into my current snow display.

(Before y'all jump on what you think is an error on my part...there ARE seven points on the crown. Ya just can't see the one all the way around to the left side.)

Three Words

2011-02-06T15:11:00.000-05:00

No More Snow.

partially dug out back drive

Just some pictures from the past week or so...

the deck - fence is 6 feet tall

Oh, have I mentioned ice? We've got that, too. This is my back drive. At least what I shoveled of it. Today it is a cascade of thick ice. Two and a half inches thick in some places. Yes, I measured it while I was out chopping some of it up.

this morning's icy mess

I sure hope that groundhog wasn't just snow blind when he didn't see his shadow. I'm ready for some seriously warm weather!

Some things do make for pretty pictures though.

In the Bleak Midwinter

2011-01-29T18:43:00.000-05:00

I find it necessary to just set everything aside once in a while and take some fun, exploring time.

This afternoon we did that. Not that we hadn't been to this spot before. But never in winter. Today we were amused by some form of pheasant. They crossed the drive in front of our car and lined up at the door like they were waiting for a restaurant to open. Several peered in the window, but mostly they squawked incessantly. I don't know if that's because they were darn hungry and were overdue a feeding, or if they were quite perturbed that our car was somewhat blocking their exit from the doorway. Nevertheless, an amusing flock.

After our visit through New England Biolabs, we took the long route home...oceanside. Along the coast through Beverly, Pride's Crossing, Manchester, Magnolia and Gloucester. What wasted the entire afternoon in driving and sightseeing was a needed mid-winter break.

The Rest

2011-01-24T16:38:00.000-05:00

So...his commendation reads as follows:

United States Pacific Fleet

Flagship of the Commander Third Fleet

The Commander THIRD Fleet, United States Pacific Fleet,

takes pleasure in commending

ALFRED LOUIS BIRCH

CHIEF FIRE CONTROLMAN

UNITED STATES NAVY

for service as set forth in the following

CITATION:

"For outstanding service in the line of his profession as Chief Fire Controlman in the plotting room of a fast battleship throughout a difficult and especially successful bombardment of vital enemy industrial shore installations in the Japanese Empire on the night of 17-18 July 1945. By his skill and initiative in the performance of his exacting duties during this bombardment he contributed directly and significantly to the success of his ship in inflicting substantial damage upon the enemy. His conduct was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service."

W.F. Halsey

Admiral, U. S. Navy

_____________________________________________________________

Mom and Dad at the mess table, Mom and 'A' at Dad's bunk, Dad at the controls

Now, I don't know if this is the same incident as the bombardment of the Hitachi Industrial area. What I do know is that on one occasion the USS Alabama suffered a hit that disabled the electrical system for the 12 inch guns. The command of those guns was my dad's responsibility. In order to continue firing, he personally maintained the electrical connection...literally...kind of 'grab this wire with the left hand and the other wire with the right hand'...and don't worry about me, don't touch me, and keep on firing guys!

Below is a post war photo taken at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, where my dad earned his degree in electrical engineering through the G. I. Bill.

Typing a letter to my Mom? (Mom's picture on dad's desk)

The Final Page

2011-01-22T17:15:00.000-05:00

Eight and Nine

2011-01-21T19:01:00.000-05:00

New to this? Scroll down and find "A Letter Home" and start there.

More of the Letter

2011-01-19T16:07:00.000-05:00

Well, I couldn't keep you hanging with that stalled vehicle any longer. Again, if you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to scroll down and start at the beginning..."A Letter Home".

Two More Pages

2011-01-18T11:08:00.000-05:00

For those of you new to reading this you might wonder about starting in the middle. Please scroll down. There are two previous posts to read before this one!

Pages Three and Four

2011-01-17T20:05:00.000-05:00

continued from the last post...

A Letter Home

2011-01-17T09:48:00.000-05:00

My mom has been going through old photographs and scrapbooks with the idea of trying to organize all the items. Unearthed, so to speak, once again, are letters home from my dad from his Navy days. I have scanned one of the longest...written on rice paper...that was composed while aboard the USS Alabama anchored in Tokyo Bay. Here are the first two pages of eleven total. Watch for the rest in the upcoming days. You will need to click to enlarge the images to read. Since this is the first attempt at publishing these on the blog, I'm hoping the enlargements will be legible. If not, I suppose I shall have to transcribe the letter.

Saturday's Adventure

2011-01-16T19:15:00.000-05:00

Snowshoed Path

'A' and I headed for a walk in the snow at the Moseley Estate and I do want to note a couple things. They got a heck of a lot more snow 'off-island' than we did 'on-island'. Easily close to two feet in some places. Big icicles, too, hanging in rows from eaves. Where it had been windy, the icicles were hanging at 45° angles. It looked funny.

Anyway, being a Saturday and the first day of a three day weekend, the parking lot was jam packed at the Moseley Estate (Maudslay State Park). Lots of cross-country skiers and families with sleds in tow. I never realized that it would be that popular a destination with snow cover.

'A' and I struggled to walk down the lane to the area where Helen's house used to be. We tried keeping to gently walking flat-footed in the path flattened by skis. With a good deal of care only about every fifth or sixth footstep sank deep in the snow. It made walking very difficult and tiring, and ankles and legs began to ache by the time we had reached the house site. Having endured enough of that walking nonsense, we turned to head back to paved road and simpler exploration.

Gate to the Main Road

On the way home we passed through Newbury. We were delighted to read a couple signs directing to the Tree Burning Bash! Evidently the town of Newbury allows residents to drop off their Christmas trees at a local field where they are then stacked. Saturday night was the massive bonfire 'burn'. Sounds like a pretty cool tradition.

Plowed

2011-01-13T10:37:00.001-05:00

Dexter

That about says half of it.

It was snowing like crazy when I got out of bed yesterday morning. I made a quick check and was delighted to see that the town HAD NOT plowed the back drive. FINALLY, they got the message! I went out after breakfast and started phase one of the big clearing out. The snow was wet and heavy and really hard to shovel, especially where the plow had gone by out in front. I shoveled out my parking in back and the back drive so that I could get my truck in and out. The backdoor neighbor came out with his snowblower and finished off removing the plow-by at the intersection with the road (Dodd's Lane). All was neat and tidy and I was very pleased. I went out front to finish clearing the last half of mom's parking.

It was then that the little articulated plow started up the neighboring drive. Oh, Nononononono! He backed out. Phew. Then he got a running start and went up and around! I dropped my shovel and ran through the snow to the back drive and caught him just as he paused at the bottom. He opened his window.

I yelled over the engine noise, "You're not supposed to be plowing back here. It's a private drive! I was just down at the office on Monday reminding them."

"The director told me to be sure to plow this," he replied.

"It's private property and it's getting all torn up, if you insist on plowing it the town will be getting a repair bill." He shrugged and continued on leaving clods of driveway macadam in his wake and huge boulders of frozen snow strewn throughout the previously cleared and neat drive. The drive was now impassable as he also piled tons of snow across the majority of the intersection with Dodd's Lane. I was fuming and went inside to ask my mom to call the DPW office.

No one was manning the phone...no surprise. But either they have caller ID and noticed 4 phone calls from the same number, or more likely the plow driver went and told the director that he'd met up with resistance in the form of a crazy lady who didn't want her driveway plowed, because within a half hour I had a phone call from the director of the DPW. He asked a few questions and claimed that the driver had misunderstood his directions...whatever...I asked that since they had plowed, could they neaten up the mess they left behind.

Within 15 minutes two DPW trucks arrived, one with a plow. The first truck was evidently driven by the director who surveyed the situation and spoke to the adjoining neighbor. The plow was driven by the foreman(?), a nice guy who was muttering, "We aren't supposed to be plowing this," over and over as he walked down the drive to meet me at the bottom!

When he met up with me he repeated it, "We aren't supposed to be plowing this...but that neighbor that the director is talking to called and asked if we were going to and..."

"You can go ahead and plow her driveway if you want! I don't care. But don't plow this, it's getting all torn up with the blade!"

"I don't want to plow her driveway!" was his response.

So no more plowing of the back drive. The director's excuse was that he told the plow driver to be sure to plow between house numbers 3 and 5 (Dodd's Lane)...which he did. But he mistakenly thought the director meant also between numbers 5 and 7...or mistook them for 3 and 5. Doesn't matter. Only two things matter...they won't be plowing my back drive any longer...yay! But even after they 'cleaned up' the residual mess that they had left behind, they still left half my drive blocked with a frozen solid, four foot high, pile of snow.

Spring is coming...

White on White

2011-01-11T21:54:00.000-05:00

White In White - chill of winter

It's on it's way folks. Every indication is that we are to receive between 10 and 15 inches of snow beginning in the wee morning hours tomorrow. This on top of the unexpected 6 inches of last Sunday morning. New snow on top of old snow. It'll look pretty and fresh for a couple of hours. Then the plows and sand/salt trucks will start making their rounds and the pristine white will take on shades of ugly gray and brown. Seems to be guaranteeing hours of shoveling. The first removal will be immediately after breakfast. Another clearing just before lunch...and so on throughout the storm.

Have I ever mentioned?

Have I Ever Mentioned...

2011-01-09T10:30:00.000-05:00

Cattitude...yes, I'm grumpy even with a winter coat

that I hate snow? Not a precisely accurate statement. I hate having to shovel snow. And I have to shovel a lot of area. Mom's wide driveway, mom's crushed stone parking area, mom's front walk and steps, the back walk, the deck, my crushed stone drive, my steps. At least the 6-8 inches that we were not supposed to get last night is fairly light and fluffy.

The meteorologists should have stuck with their original forecast. They changed it from 6+ inches for our area to 0 or a dusting. Last night's late news included word that 'the event' was over...no more snow for the weekend. Done. When I woke up this morning I noticed, from my angle still in bed, that there was a light coating of white on a nearby rooftop. Oh, no worries...just a dusting. Then there was a rumble that got louder and louder.

A snowplow?

I got out of bed and looked out the window. There it all was, waiting for digging out...and a sizable plow-in, too! The dread felt was soon replaced by a gnawing irritation. The town had plowed the back drive...again. They are supposed to stay off of it. I started a pot of coffee and bundled up in snow gear to start shoveling. I checked the back drive...yep, they've dug up more pavement. That adds another chore to tomorrow's list...a trip to the DPW office to complain. Obviously they forgot that they agreed to stay off my property and drive.

I propose a compromise. It can snow all it wants to...as long as it doesn't accumulate on drives, walks, or streets...and it's 80°F while it does it. (I'll settle for 60°...but don't tell)

December Blizzard?

2011-01-08T16:52:00.000-05:00

I've been told that I promised to post some photos of the storm that we had back in December. Honestly the photos didn't come out that great. It's hard to capture the wind, the cold, and the bite in the air...not to mention the damage caused by high winds combined with a super high tide.

The following photos were taken toward the end of the storm and the day after...while trying not to let too much salt get to the camera lens!

The decking at the end of T-Wharf ripped up by the tide and waves

Debris at Front Beach and torn apart railing

Surf at Front Beach the day after

Sand coated snow plastering the old Hearse House

We didn't get as much snow as the predicted 18 inches but 8 - 10 inches was plenty to coat our neighborhood.

When Even Memories Are Gone...Part Five

2011-01-06T21:49:00.001-05:00

With this post my hope is to become up to date. More will happen. That's inevitable. But for now...

Ann decided to stay on 24/7 with Marion in exchange for room and board. This did not make me happy at all. My thoughts were that Marion would have been better served to continue with Ann as only a day care giver and to have one or two licensed home health care providers cover the additional hours. Marion's limited income and a small life insurance policy from my cousin would carry that type of care for quite some time. Again, there was nothing I could do to change what was unfolding in SC.

During the SC events I had made a phone call to Marion's step-son in New England. He was shocked to hear the news and immediately made a call to his brother in Arizona. I didn't even know that she had a second step-son! There was a good deal of rumor flying during this time frame with even the Arizona step-son's ex-wife phoning me with details of the happenings in SC! I never knew what was accurate and what wasn't. MT just glossed everything over. The interest from Arizona diminished when a trip to SC by that party was derailed. A good thing, I think. It would only have upset my Aunt Marion to have a memory-loss-created stranger trying to challenge Ann.

My mom continued to phone Marion at least once each week to check on her. Recently Marion hasn't been feeling well. Her complaints include a bad cold and cough, poor vision in her left eye, and pain in her left foot causing her mobility to suffer. Regardless, she was taken to Ann's family home for the Christmas holiday.

On January 2nd I received another email from the neighbor, Fred. Ann's family had moved into my aunt's house the day before. Teenagers and husband had joined Ann. They were evidently quite comfy using my aunt's van for their move in and more recently the teenage son has taken to driving it.

I left another message on MT's voice mail. He had promised to call me after a December 20th meeting with Ann, my aunt, and several other parties and not phoned. I'd left a message for him then. And now my second message was ignored, as well. Now I had no idea if he was aware of the 'move-in'. In the beginning he had assured me that that kind of thing would not be allowed...no way. I waited a couple days more hoping that MT would phone. Before that time was up I had another phone call. This time from Fred's wife. She had spoken with Ann and Ann had bragged that she had gotten Marion to change her will, leaving everything to Ann. The take over was complete.

I made another phone call to MT and once again got his voice mail. I didn't leave a message this time. I made another call instead...to his supervisor, Tina. Evidently there is plenty of office space at the Department of Social Services as she wasn't in her office either. I left a voice mail message with some brief background info and requested that she please return my call. That was on January 3rd. She hasn't called.

Last night I wrote a rather terse email to the Lt. Governor of South Carolina. In the email I expressed my dismay that DSS and Adult Protective Services of Remote County had been so misleading that they had put my aunt in jeopardy of financial exploitation. I also pointed out that they had lacked courtesy to the extent of not even returning a phone call.

There is little that I can do at this point. We will continue to phone my aunt to stay in touch and to keep a check on her situation. All I have left to wish is that my aunt lives to 120 or more. May she make Ann and Ann's family earn that house, van, truck, and Harley.

(post script: I seem to have forgotten to mention the funeral director. He gathered together a bit of information to write my cousin's obituary. Didn't get it correct. Had a glaring 'coincidental' error for where my cousin was born. Used the same town name as where he died...then added to that a completely wrong state! I emailed a request that it be corrected, at least on the website. He commented that no one new the correct information...yep, no one there! My aunt wouldn't have remembered where her son was born, or that he had never even lived in Massachusetts. However, my mother had supplied all the correct information to the funeral director...on the day Paul died. I hate it when people lie rather than just admit a mistake.)

When Even Memories Are Gone...Part Four

2011-01-04T22:03:00.000-05:00

The list of participants in this story continues to grow.

So far there's
Paul, who failed to make legal arrangements for his mother's care if he should die first...and he did. He also failed to distribute or notify 'others' of his wishes and/or his will.

Marion, who only wants to stay in her home and will agree to anything for that to happen.

Fred and his wife, concerned neighbors who are trying their best to keep an eye on the events across the street.

Ann, the day care giver who has seized the opportunity to better her status by using Marion's fear of having to leave her home to her (Ann's) advantage.

A doctor who either failed to recognize dementia or chose to ignore it.

MT, the Adult Protective Services case worker, who has made statements that he can't back up and chooses to believe whatever Ann chooses to tell him, even when it is pointed out that he is being lied to by omission.

And the elder law attorney that I can't afford.

Now add in more players over the next few days. In upcoming posts you'll read about Ann's family, a funeral director, Marion's step-sons (and one's ex), the Adult Protective Services supervisor, Tina, and a SC politician.

When Even Memories Are Gone...Part Three

2011-01-03T22:03:00.000-05:00

Ann took my Aunt Marion to the doctor's appointment. Case worker MT's hope was that the doctor would recommend that Marion stay in the hospital for a few days to get an infection under control. Once there her general condition could be evaluated and long-term care arrangements then be made.

But that didn't happen. The doctor said Marion was fine, healthy, alert and quite capable of doing well with assisted living. He gave her some 'tests', like counting backwards from 100, and declared that she was competent to make her own decisions. What he failed to assess was her memory of everyday things. He failed to realize that she thinks she lives in Florida, or that she doesn't recognize her own house in a picture. That she can remember some oft repeated stories from childhood, but not what happened a few days ago. That she, herself, admits she doesn't know what is going on currently.

So Marion was sent on her way with Ann, and Ann saw her chance. By that same afternoon, Ann had Marion at an attorney's office where Marion signed over Power of Attorney to Ann. Within one week of my cousin's death Ann had started her journey toward taking over...everything. On December 7th, the Power of Attorney was registered with the county deed office.

Unaware that any of this take-over was happening, I had contacted an elder law attorney in Remote County, SC. I wanted to be sure that there was no chance of Ann using Marion in just that manner. (During the first call that my mom had made to my aunt after Paul's death, Ann made a point of stating, "You know, Marion will give me anything I want to stay here with her.") My thoughts were that Ann could stay on in her previous capacity of daytime care-giver and a licensed home health care provider could cover the remaining hours and be the 'official' caregiver. The attorney informed me that as an out-of-state relative there was not even a slim chance that the court would listen to me (or grant guardianship to me). Particularly since Marion's doctor had declared her competent. The lawyer thought my best bet would be to work with MT and Adult Protective Services...or pay him a $3000.00 retainer and $225.00/hour to start a court battle.

The latter was not and is not an option that I can afford.

So, of course, when I heard of the Power of Attorney, I called MT. He was unaware. He said he'd talk to 'them'. He was evidently satisfied with Ann's explanation...an explanation that wasn't conveyed to me. He did say that he had explained that there was to be no 'questionable' behavior...all money was to be used for Marion's benefit...no 'off' check amounts...receipts to be retained. He told me that all seemed in order. That Marion seemed happy, clean, and well.

But there would be more emails arriving in my Inbox from the neighbors. Ann was not finished yet.

When Even Memories Are Gone...Part Two

2011-01-02T21:46:00.000-05:00

The events of the morning of December first...as related to me by Marion's neighbor, Fred.

Ann arrived as she usually did each weekday at 7:30 a.m. and found the door locked. Normally Paul would have left it unlocked when he headed for work at 6:30. Ann knew that Marion would still be in bed, waiting for her morning help, but where was Paul? Maybe he had overslept. Using her cell phone, Ann phoned the house. She could hear the ringing inside but no one answered. She looked in a few windows.

At about that time Fred noticed that Ann was wandering around outside the house and he walked across the street to see what was going on. Ann told Fred about the locked door and no answer upon phoning. Fred told her to call 911.

It took a few minutes for both the sheriff's department and the ambulance to get to Marion's house. They live in a very rural area, quite a distance from even the smallest of towns. While awaiting their arrival, Fred had called the guard house (a gated community) to notify the guard of emergency vehicles arriving. Once they arrived, the EMT's broke a window to the garage to gain access and entered through a door from there into the house. First they checked to see that Marion was alright and Ann then stayed with her. A sheriff's deputy went upstairs to look for Paul. The deputy found Paul flat on his back in his room. He was dressed for work but had never made it downstairs that day. Once the coroner was summoned and had opportunity to check Paul's medical report, he determined that Paul had died from a massive coronary.

Of course by then the house was full of officials. Ann was keeping Marion busy and Fred's wife, Janet, had come to the house to help. A case worker from Adult Protective Services of the Department of Social Services was called as it was noted that Marion could not be left on her own. The case worker, MT, arrived and suggested that Marion be taken to the hospital for temporary care. At that point Ann and Janet offered to stay 24/7 with Marion...at least through the weekend (5 days).

Meanwhile, back here, the phone was ringing off the hook. First the coroner, then the funeral director and the case worker, then Marion's neighbors. They were all relieved to have located a relative from the names, addresses and phone numbers found at Marion's house. Marion couldn't really remember who all the people were that were listed in her book, but my Mom's name had sounded familiar to her. Both my mom and I agreed that giving Marion the chance to stay home with Ann and Janet caring for her would be the best temporary option. When I talked to MT, he informed me that a doctor's appointment had been scheduled for Marion during which long term care arrangements would be determined. MT assured me that Marion would be looked after and that he would check with me and keep me informed.

I told him that I would be in touch with him that Friday afternoon, after Marion's doctor's appointment.

Friday arrived and that's when things started to go awry. A few days later and the situation would be worse...and all of it happening under MT's (not so)watchful eye.

When Even Memories Are Gone...Part One

2011-01-01T22:14:00.000-05:00

I wasn't going to start this story tonight as I am far too tired. But then an email arrived and, after reading it, I thought if I didn't start writing the story I would forget some of the details. I'll tell you right now, some names have been changed. I'll also add that I'm not going to delve into details of family history...the who, what, and whys of the characters of the story.

Part One...

When I arrived home from volunteer work at the historical society on December first, my mom had some startling news. She had received a phone call from the coroner in Remote County, South Carolina. My 65 year old cousin, Paul, had been found dead in his bedroom. While of itself shocking news, for me it began an exploration in to probate law and elder care that continues one month later.

When my uncle died, about 15 years ago, Paul had moved from Connecticut to Florida to help out his mother, my Aunt Marion. Several years later, Cousin Paul and Aunt Marion decided to have a house built in Remote County, South Carolina and moved there from Florida. My aunt and my dad (sister and brother) were quite close and even though there was then some miles between them, my folks would stop to visit twice each year when they traveled the cyclical follow-the-sun of 'snowbirds'. Additionally, my cousin and my aunt would visit my parents here in the north or spend the Christmas holidays at my house in Florida.

In recent years, as my aunt aged...she's going to be 94 in February...Paul had to find 'day care' for his mother while he was at work. A few years back she had suffered a stroke and that, plus other conditions, have meant that Marion is unable to care for herself. She needs someone to do the cooking, to help her with bathing and dressing, and to help her get in and out of bed and up out of a chair. She uses a walker to get about once she's on her feet. There are some other details of care needed, as well. With limited funds, Paul hired the wife of a co-worker to provide that care while he was at work. Her name is Ann.

So now, just a month ago, Paul dropped dead of an apparent heart attack leaving his 93 year old mother. A situation he never expected would happen. Who would? From my phone conversations with him over the past couple of years, he was trying to get everything sorted out legally. And while his mother was primary beneficiary in his will, he asked for all legally necessary information making me secondary beneficiary. Two years later and all of that became irrelevant. More irrelevant than I could have imagined, and it has led me to a new level of understanding on what is needed to see that your wishes are indeed carried out after death.

This is not a story of inheritance. It is a story of the failure of at least two systems. The legal system and Adult Protective Services.

More to come in the following days....

Christmas Time

2010-12-23T21:29:00.000-05:00

Somehow it's just not the same as it was even a few short years ago.


Rudolph and Santa Looking Suspicious

More Good Music

2010-12-21T20:21:00.000-05:00

I did some more checking and came up with another two videos to share. I only have two wishes on these. The first being that the focus were better, the second that it just be Evan playing these pieces...he can certainly carry them with no help.

Have A Listen

2010-12-20T09:57:00.000-05:00

A super client and a pleasure to work for (this is not his home piano)!

A Visit to My Boulder

2010-12-18T21:20:00.000-05:00

Today I took 'A' on a ride to Annisquam to show her my boulder. I parked on the main road and we walked up the big hill to see it. When I took the original photo, I hadn't the time to really look around. 'A' and I walked the area just around my boulder and as we turned to leave, this stunning view greeted us.

Annisquam Lighthouse

Someone picked a good boulder for me!

There is a huge area of trails that eventually lead down to Ipswich Bay. When we have more time than we did today, and on another good weather day, we plan on doing more exploring.

Well, I Don't See Your Name On It!

2010-12-17T22:08:00.000-05:00

Everyone should be given the gift of something that's nearly everlasting. I found my gift yesterday. It's real name is Squam Rock, but someone, sometime, decided that I should 'own' it.

Click to enlarge to see my name on it

Yep, folks, my name is on it.

Christmas Elegance

2010-12-15T21:33:00.000-05:00

Despite the excessively cold weather 'A' and I decided to go for a walk this afternoon. One of our favorite classy houses on Pleasant Street is tastefully adorned for Christmas.

Five and a half hours later and I'm still chilled. I must say, add in the wind chill factor and brrrrrrrrr...

Nostalgia in Black, White, and a Gray House

2010-12-11T22:18:00.001-05:00

My dad was an electrical engineer and that really showed at Christmas time. This house is the first I lived in...for my first 3 years. Dad's Christmas light display won him a plaque award in a decorating contest organized by the Haverhill newspaper. In addition to all the multicolored lights and the two story foil Christmas tree, Rudolph's nose blinked red and Santa waved at passersby. Well, Santa continually waved...even at nobody. In those days the house was painted white. With the old fashioned BIG bulb strings of lights, it was all brightly lit. This was the first of many more Christmas displays of future years.

Coolidge Avenue, Haverhill, MA 1957

We moved to the neighboring town of Groveland and the tradition continued. For several more Christmases, Santa, the reindeer, and the life-sized, three dimensional sleigh filled with foil wrapped gifts adorned our lawn. After that was the life-sized barn, with all the participants...from Baby Jesus to the Wise Men...also large as life. Our cat liked to sleep in the hay with Baby Jesus. I don't think he minded...Jesus that is...the cat just assumed it was her territory. There was the giant Christmas 'card' that filled the arch of the breezeway and Santa going down the chimney. Santa in the chimney was a short lived display...only one year. Dad liked a roaring fire!

Coolidge Avenue, Haverhill, MA 2010

So, that first house in Haverhill is still there and every once in a while we take a drive by. Things change. It's been vinyl sided in gray and the garage has been enlarged, driveway widened. The bones of my folks first house are still there though, kept nice and neat.

It's Beginning to Feel Alot Like Winter

2010-12-10T21:43:00.001-05:00

It looks a lot like it, too...minus snow...so far.

Mill Pond Without Ducks

Mill Pond has iced over and, by the foot prints and shoe slide marks, it looks like daring children temporarily replaced our duck friends. I wonder if they will be skating there this weekend? There are a dozen or so ducks left in the mostly unfrozen little pond in the meadow. That little pond is a bulge in the overflow stream from Mill Pond as it flows through the meadow toward the ocean.

Sometimes the harsh cold gray of winter weather can make everything want to lose color.

A Little This, A Little That

2010-12-07T22:38:00.000-05:00

Because so much is going on all at the same time that I can't think of just one thing to write about. With the arrival of THE holiday season, key work diminishes...although there is still some...and tuning work increases. This year seems heavier in that regard. The only problem is that I seem to be getting the dregs of tuning jobs, that quite possibly, the semi-retiring(?) other island tech doesn't want. Maybe, maybe not. And not all of it is lousy. It's just that the ratio seems tipped that way this month.

I've started reading a new old book. It's been in this family for 60 years, give or take a few. I've just never read it. The title you wonder? Queen of the Flat Tops, written in 1942 by Stanley Johnston, a journalist aboard the USS Lexington from her exit from Pearl Harbor just days prior to the attack, to her sinking on May 8, 1942 in the Coral Sea Battle. My dad served aboard the 'Lex'. His battle station was sky forward. He was one of the last of her crew to jump into the Coral Sea. But that's a story for another time.

It's gotten quite cold here and our Rockport ponds are starting to ice over. 'A' and I continue to walk, several times each week, to Mill Pond to feed the multitude of ducks. Our feeding trip a couple days ago was quite humorous. Ducks don't ice skate very well!

Ducks on Ice

I'm still involved in trying to straighten out the matter mentioned (or rather not mentioned) several days ago. Things have settled for a couple weeks. Long term solutions haven't been addressed or decided or even deemed doable. It'll take time to work through it all.

So for now I'm working through each day with a list of 'have to do today'. If I finish the list each day, I feel good. If I've accomplished a bit more than was even on the list, I'm happy. I'm trying to set aside at least an hour each day that I can label as fun.

Sometimes that's as easy as Ducks On Ice.

A Little Something...Different

2010-12-05T14:45:00.000-05:00

Here But Mostly Distracted

2010-12-04T22:27:00.001-05:00

I'm giving no explanation at the present time. Some things have happened, family things a long way from here. But they have come to rest at my feet. Not really. They have generated enough serious concern that I feel I must try to make things right. The way someone would have intended things to be. I'm hoping for a good solution. It will never be a happy ending so it would be foolish to hope for that. Anyway, it is taking a good deal of my time, but be assured that I still stop by and check in on every one of you.

And I'll still write here. It might be brief stuff or just some pictures. All depends.

The Baglady (another self-portrait)

2010-11-29T18:48:00.000-05:00

When I haven't been working, or walking, or taking photographs, or shuttling 'A' to work, or being sick...yes, I had a terrible head cold all last week...I've been raking leaves. We have huge oak trees lining our street. Enormous. And they create an enormous mess of leaves later in the season than any other.

Although I have declared the job FINISHED for this season, I know that there will be many more to rake up come Spring. You see, several neighbors don't bother to rake and all it takes is a bit of wind and........

This season's bag count...and they are 39 gallon bags packed solidly...is 98. Pictured are just a small portion of the total that I raked and bagged yesterday and today, 29 I think. 'A' and my mom will load the bags into mom's car and take them to the dump to empty in the lawn debris pile.

The Baglady

I'm sure glad that it's done for another year! All pain killers, massages, and tickets to tropical vacation spots will be joyfully and gratefully accepted. Nice comments welcome as well, but do make note of the preceding list of acceptable congratulatory items.

Within and Without

2010-11-25T21:15:00.000-05:00

Not too much to say about this photo. A very good friend and I have been pushing digital images around a bit. This photo of the loo has been converted from color to black and white. It works much better with no color.

Three of Me at the Loo

It is also another self-portrait as I appear three times.

Every So Often

2010-11-24T16:46:00.001-05:00

Our most recent 'fun' adventure happened last Sunday on our way home from the turkey farm. We had made a slight (read very long) detour so that 'A' could stop at a Border's book store. After that stop we became nutritionally ignorant...on purpose...and stopped at a favorite ice cream stand for dinner. Everyone just has to eat ice cream for a meal once in a while, don't they? We stopped at Cherry Farm Creamery for our treat. By the time we finished there the sun was just beginning to do it's disappearing act in the western sky. As we headed east the moon was visible. A giant orb behind the leafless trees. HUGE! And full. And a 'blue moon'.

There are two definitions of a blue moon. The first is when a full moon occurs twice in one month...the second full moon of the month is referred to as a blue moon. The second definition is when there is a fourth full moon within a single season. I think we fell under the second definition this time.

"Once in a blue moon." Now you know.

While the moon was still low in the sky I wanted to take a picture. But from where? We were on a secondary road that parallels the highway. There was no place available to pull over, no pretty scenery to add to the shot. What to do? Soon the moon would be too high in the night sky, it would be too dark.

I pulled in to a corporate office park area thinking I might be able to find at least one tree to frame my moon shot. The first turn was into the parking lot of some high tech firm. It was a gated drive, but no worries, the gate was raised and the guard shack unmanned. To the consternation of the other two captive within the car, I pulled right in and drove to the eastern end of the parking lot. There was a section of the lot with a few dozen cars parked. Second shift, maybe? From my spot on the far edge of the parking area I took the photo posted here. Actually, I took three. This is the best.

I turned the car around and headed back to the main drive. Turned to head out the exit and found that the gate on that side was down. Oops. The others got nervous. "What are you going to do?"

I pulled up near the gate, hoping that there was a sensor that would get that arm lifting to let me out. No such luck.

The others got more vocal. "I told you we shouldn't have come in here!" "I bet they have cameras watching us!" "The police will be here, I bet."

"Cool! Then they can confiscate my camera, check out the digital images to find ducks, rainbows, a horse or two, and a couple roosters!" "Oh, and I mustn't forget...the blue moon." I backed out of the exit drive and drove the wrong way out the entrance. Very quickly. That gate was still open.

Just a little bit of fun even though no police showed up. What's the worst thing that could have happened?

Meet Vinnie and Lou

2010-11-23T16:29:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday we traveled north to visit some jailed birds. Raymond's Turkey Farm is located in Methuen, MA, about an hour and a quarter from Rockport. When I was growing up, we always bought our Thanksgiving turkey there. In later years they opened a Christmas tree farm and that's where we chose ours for many years. Anyway, this year my mom wanted to buy a turkey pie. Not for Thanksgiving...we're having ham...but an individual serving pie for just any day.

As if an over an hour drive wasn't enough, little did we know that Haverhill was having it's holiday parade. It's evidently a big one and trying to get around it added an extra 15 - 20 minutes to our drive.

It's been years since we've been to Raymond's, but nothing has changed other than the large flocks of turkeys are now out of sight way behind the store. In sight though were this year's birds that had been granted a stay of execution.

We had to walk right by Vinnie and Lou to get into the store where my mom discovered that the individual, all white meat turkey pies were sold out.

Lou

Vinnie

Then we had to get back home past the parade!

A Job I Would Never Apply For...

2010-11-22T13:32:00.000-05:00

Short Changed...Again

2010-11-19T22:08:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is the Rockport PTO Holiday Fair and I will be a vendor. It can take some doing to reserve a table at this fair. It's fairly large and well-attended and some folks have been vendor-ing at it over a number of years. The first year I had to settle for half a table just to get a 'foot in the door'. Last year I got my reserve money in early and received an entire table...though not in the best of locations.

This year I was an early reserver once again. I'm not much in the spirit of the season, but I've managed to boost myself into getting prepared..

Today was busy with work and meetings. It was dark by the time I got to loading all my 'gear' into the Rav4 and hauling it all, and mom and 'A' and myself, up to the high school gymnasium to set up. The email that I had received, and the confirmation card that arrived in the mail, said that my payment of $50 and my donation to the raffle of one handmade item ($10 in my case) reserved an 8 foot table. Everyone's confirmations said the same thing.

There's a problem though. The table that I am assigned is only 6 feet. There are 12-6 foot tables. There are at least 34-8 footers, probably more. You better believe that I'll be mentioning this to the 'woman in charge', the woman who took my money, tomorrow (she kinda of disappeared tonight before I had a chance to air my grievance).

I figure it this way. $50 for an 8 foot table equals $6.25 per foot. My 6 foot table should have only cost me $37.50. (Same for the others stuck with those 6-footers) I am renting sales space and I should not have to pay a higher rate for that space than other vendors.

Did my ill-fortune end there? Oh, of course not. After I got back home and had some dinner I needed to go down to my workshop to glue on a set of keytops. This client had reserved the last set of standard off-white keytops available. The supplier no longer stocks them and this was the last set that I had. I can still offer off-white, but in a more expensive set. I got everything lined up ready to go and discovered that there was no A-A. Now to some of you this doesn't mean anything. Let me explain. A-A is the first note at the left end of the keyboard. It is a different shape than any other key and thus within the set of new keytops it is important to have that A-A (as well as a C-C for the right end). Still don't understand? Well, I'll just say that an important part of the set was missing and I can't get any more. Yep, short changed again.

I did make it work. I happened to have some spare off-white keytops accumulated from breaking up a set when a keytop got damaged and I needed a replacement. However, there was no A-A (of course not). I used a C-C (trust me it will be okay). I'll have to trim it to look like A-A and then I'll remove the 'C-C' designation at the back end of the keytop.

My evening has made a cranky me. Tomorrow better be a good one.

Of Holiday Music

2010-11-18T19:10:00.001-05:00

Every year I am tempted to put in an order for a 'special' Christmas CD. This year I finally did it. 'A' was looking for a specific CD, too. Hers seems to be one of those hard to find items. So we trekked to Gloucester Music in search of our odd requests.

When we arrived, I was thrilled to discover that the store has a resident cat.

His name is Pumpkin, but he prefers PK as it is more dignified. A trait he has honed to perfection. Of course I didn't have my camera with me and that meant a trip home and back to take some pictures of PK. By the time we got back to the store, he had stopped prowling the bins of CDs and had settled into his countertop cardboard box for a nap. You can probably notice that he was not overjoyed about being awakened for a photo session. When I was done, I thanked him with some under-chin scratching and was rewarded with a chirp-like purr.

Today the owner of the store called to say that my CD had arrived. What is it you wonder? The Ventures' Christmas Album. Think Hooked on Classics meets 50's Rock and Roll and then throw in all your childhood favorite Christmas songs. You know, Rudolph and Frosty and Jingle Bells and more...

I used to have the LP. I don't remember what year, but I think I was about 12 or 13 years old. Played that thing every Christmas season until I no longer owned a record player (or later a turntable). It's still as quirky and fun as it was back then. Gotta get in the spirit!

Envelope Art...Again

2010-11-11T16:27:00.000-05:00

For Veteran's Day...

With love from my Uncle Hughie who was killed on a B-17E training flight near Gowen Field, Idaho on April 3, 1942.