February 5, 1922 - July 8, 2007

I miss you so much, Dad.Dad and me.Dad on the boat he built.Dad on 'his' ship.

I've gone back through some posts by clicking on the 'label' dad (at the end of this entry) I found this from the last Father's Day I had with my Dad. I've decided to edit this post which had previously ended with the photo and caption above to include this:

Here's what it says on the card for my dad. I think this is the best card I have ever purchased.

Dad -
The loving gifts you've given me as a father have shaped my life and made me the person I am...

Your strong sense of values, of fairness, of right and wrong are all part of me...

My outlook on life...
my sense of humor...
my interests and talents...
I can see you in them all.

It makes me happy and proud to know that the qualities in you I love and admire so much are a part of me.

You are always with me, Dad...

in my thoughts, in my heart, in the very fabric of my life...

you are always with me.

Happy Father's Day - Anonymous

Walking Again

Being as I think you all deserve better than the last post. I'm covering it up with another rather than deleting it. Well, you'd never know how lousy it was if I deleted it, would you?

Today was a two walk day. We're cramming because next week is forecast to be in the 90's - all week. Humidity plans on being up there, too. I put a small air conditioner in our living area, but the fun I had doing it is another story.

We were getting bored with the usual paths and ventured more out toward the headlands this morning. We don't often walk that way and there were some pretty surprises along the way. This evening we walked in town and along the beaches.The pile is all set for tomorrow night's bonfire. I guess too many years of outhouse-on-the-top have depleted the town's supply of real outhouses. The newbie made to look old doesn't quite have the same atmosphere. It was almost dark by the time we decided to head back home. I enjoy walking as night approaches.Everything looks so different.

Tomorrow's walk will be in the annual Fireman's Fourth of July Parade.

White Rectangles

Artist's are sometimes confronted with a hesitancy to put brush to canvas. Where to start? How will this color I'm choosing work with all the colors to come? Are the proportions correct? Am I to be true to what I see, or should I entertain a more emotional approach to my subject? A blank canvas, and that first decision may determine the entire course of the work. There is a clever trick around the blank canvas if you are working in oils or acrylics. Just paint a film of color on the whole thing. Top to bottom, side to side. Maybe all a warm color, which does nifty things when you add blue overlays later. Just put something on there. The rest seems so much easier once you've made a start.
Writing can present similar challenges. That blank piece of paper and so many words to organize. I have discovered that I own no white, lined paper. (That's why there is a picture of an enormous piece of white, lined, notebook paper that I made for a bulletin board at 'A's elementary school, way back when...) Yet, whenever I start to write an article, I start on paper. It's yellow, lined paper! Maybe having the color on there helps! I imagine nowadays that professional writers write mainly on a computer. No professional here! Unprofessionally, I compile pages and pages of handwritten notes that become pages and pages of a handwritten article. Nothing gets to my computer until I'm close to the final draft. Then I'll sit at the keyboard and type it all in. I print it out to read and reread, making minor changes and correcting typos with a real pen. I then go back and transfer my corrections to the computer copy. A very time consuming and roundabout way to write, I suppose, but I have no deadlines. And I like paper. A simple fact. I want to shuffle it around, make notes in margins, and big circles with arrows to move words around.
My most daunting white rectangle, at present, is my whiteboard in the workshop. May and June were mighty nice. No huge overloads, but a full schedule. I just erased all that and started my July - August board. Looks pretty slim right now. July is historically my busiest shop work month. I hope after this holiday weekend, things pick up. Mighty empty view right now.

Blame the Moon

It was a full one over the weekend, wasn't it?

Warning: This post is filled with totally unrelated incidents. Do not try to make sense of it.

I'll give you a short update on my trip out to Thacher Island. Weather was fantastic - HOT! A good day to be on the cool Atlantic. The reed organ is managing quite well...considering that it spends winters alone, with no heat. Either one of the repaired cracks in the soundboard has caused a minor separation at reed cells 11 and 12 of the Dulciana or those two pallets are binding on each other for some reason. There was not enough time to find out and fix it, as I was only there for two hours. I may make a run out late season or most likely wait until early season next year. The organ is amazingly tight. I pumped 'her' up until the spill opened, then depressed middle C (Dulciana stop).

And waited,
And waited,
58 seconds later and I finally could hear no sound.
I'm very pleased.
As you may have noticed, the photos do not go with the organ details. BUT, they ARE photos that I took while out there.

Shocker of shockers the other day. As y'all know, we (as in several in the immediate vicinity) have been having unruly behavior and excessively long duration-ed barking from a particular dog. For nearly two years! No polite requests or even dog officer visits have made a difference. I've shoveled more doggie-do and tossed it back to it's home from the front of our yard than I really care to remember. As I walked through my kitchen, yesterday, on my way to the cellar stairs, I witnessed the following:
Owner of said dog walking across toward our yard.
Owner of said dog having one plastic bag in hand.
Owner of said dog actually bending over and scooping up an enormous pile into the bag.
Owner of said dog tying up the bag and...
Taking it home!!!!!!!!!!
More bird pictures instead of dogs. These sparrows loved feeding on leftover seaweed on the traps by Motif #1.

I warned you.

Mom and I went to pick up all the tile for the back splash in her kitchen last week. I told her that she needed to go through the 3 boxes and check all of it for defects. The defects would be set aside to be used for cuts (the need for a partial tile). Each box has 10 'sheets' of mosaic tile. 30 sheets total and 20 were damaged! She called the tile store. They are reordering. I think the distribution truck must have driven over those boxes!

Thursday night (or should I say Friday morning?), I woke up in the middle of the night (don't get literal here, you know what I mean). I rolled over to see what time it was. The clock read 4:44. I went back to sleep only to awake a bit later. I looked at the clock once again as the sky was bright and I thought maybe it was time to get up. Nope, this time it was 5:55. Too weird. Saturday night (Sunday morning) I awoke and it was still dark outside. Glanced at the clock...1:23. Still kinda weird, but I've slept well since.
Last night was the annual meeting of the Thacher Island Association. I'm a member so I went. Paul gave an excellent presentation. The usual meeting 'official' stuff aside (he failed to mention my article in the Reed Organ Quarterly during his report on publicity, even though I had a color copy made for him), the PowerPoint presentation for past efforts and upcoming events was super. Then he finished with a short video thank you to all the volunteers. The organ was shown several times with the various keepers playing it. They have changed-up the web site so go ahead and check it out (I'm going to). What is the address, you wonder? It's in the sidebar to the right!

A Walk in Town

Since the forecast had been for late afternoon and early evening rain, severe storms actually, I didn't expect that 'A' and I would be walking after she got out of work. In anticipation of the lack of evening walk, 'A' did an hour on her treadmill in the morning.

I spent most of the day working on keys. I shipped out one set, this morning, and I still have two sets in the shop. Around 5 or so, I started some dinner cooking for myself. Shortly after that the storm moved in. The wind blew, but not too badly. It poured...sporadically. There were a couple good flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder. In a half hour it was done.

When I went to pick 'A' up from work the sun was shining once again. The air had changed, though, and there was a pleasant, cool breeze. I asked 'A' if she wanted to go for an evening walk and she left it up to me. If not, she'd hit the treadmill again. With such potential for a cool, comfortable walk in town I opted for it. We left the house at about 7:15 and we were gone for just over an hour.

The storm had moved offshore and the clouds were stunning. We could see lightning flashing out past the breakwater. But the clouds...wow.I really need to get out the old 35 mm rather than trying to do nice photos with a mediocre digital. I could preview with the digital and do final shots with film. A thought for the future. Anyway, our first stop was Front Beach (formerly known as Schoolhouse Beach).Imagine going to school and having this view! Then we headed down Main Street. Being a Thursday night meant music at The Loo. A special attendee tonight...Governor Deval Patrick. We passed him on our way down the hill. A quick nod and "hello," from me. He smiled, sort of, and said hello. He was late. They were holding off the start of the performance until he got there.

We got down to Dock Square and I took this picture looking out over the North Basin.We did the loop out T-Wharf and back and decided that it was actually feeling a bit cool outside! 'A' wanted to head back toward the beaches before quitting, I said I'd about had it for walking. Especially knowing the half mile back would be all uphill. We decided to head home. And we almost made it before one of those stunning clouds decided to let loose and we still had about 5 minutes remaining of normally fast-paced walking before arriving home. We ran the open, rainy spots and walked the dry, tree-covered ones and arrived home rather dripping.

It was a great evening! Just fun.

So Who Do I Call?

After awaking from a good night's sleep, I 'crossed to the other side' (visited Mom at her side of the house) to spend some time breakfasting with her. She asked, "Did you hear my phone ring at 10:00 last night?"

"No, didn't hear it." It was rather warm last night and I had the fan running, and I was reading and watching TV at the same time, upstairs in my side of the house, so no wonder I didn't hear her phone!

"It was 'the other'," she said. 'The other' is my mom's friend who has the same first name as my mom. We kidding-ly refer to her as 'the other'.

"She said her computer was making bad sounds and she didn't know what to do. She said she thought you would be able to help."

"At 10:00 at night?" I was a bit surprised. "Did you tell her to call her son?" He lives just 5 minutes away.

"She said that she tried calling her grandson, but got no answer. (He lives across the street from 'the other'.) So, you know, she figures that you can fix anything. I told her that you were upstairs reading or watching TV or something. I suggested she call her son and she said he was leaving to go on vacation tomorrow and she thought he might be sleeping already. So I told her if she couldn't get him to call back."

Thank goodness she didn't call back. And yes, if she had, I would have gotten dressed, headed out in my truck to her house to see what was wrong with her computer. Not that I'm particularly computer scholarly, but I'm not afraid to try a few things to help out. Even at 10 p.m.

As my mom remarked, "Well you know, your dad could do almost anything and people think you are the same."

And my reply, "So who do I call when I need help?"

She didn't have an answer. Neither do I. Not any more.

Almost Over

Today was my birthday and now, at 10 p.m. or so, it's nearly over. I have survived. Thank goodness that this year is a once in a lifetime year. A year when numbers do coincidental things. Let's see if I can do some creative algebra (I warn you it has been a very long time - for algebra).

1900 + a = the year I was born and,
a = my age today, and
1900 + 2a = 2010

How old am I?

We celebrated a day early because 'A' had Thursday off work.

For my birthday we went to Skip's for an early dinner. It was a dreary day, rainy, but not as dark as when I took this picture of the 63 year old sign at Skip's.On the way home from Skip's, I stopped to check out this gate at a cemetery in Ipswich.'A' and I decided we would have to go walking in there sometime. Then I stopped at a hobby shop that I thought might have the glue that I needed for a repair job. They didn't. When we got home the sun came out. My mom and 'A' arranged my presents below an extremely large helium balloon in the shape of a palm tree. (Thanks 'A'!). I unwrapped presents and then 'A' and I went for a walk along the beaches before cake-time.Cake was the lemon pound cake that I requested. There had been many protests about baking, and excuses like, "I don't have the recipe anymore." So I left a copy of a recipe that I found online in plain sight! It was (and still is) yummy! I've got it all to myself because my mom decided that she didn't like it and 'A' is working very hard on eating nutritiously.

Today, my actual birthday, was grim. My mom decided she just didn't feel well and acted appropriately to that. And oh, I'm sorry to be this way on your birthday, Happy Birthday. No more details written here. It was quite a letdown. I worked on keys, went to another hobby store for glue (which was an hour's driving nightmare), and worked some more. Mom perked up a little by evening, which was a relief. I never got around to preparing any dinner so it was a peanut butter sandwich for me! I didn't hear from my best friend whose birthday was just a few days ago. The first year I've been forgotten by her.

Done until next year when numbers aren't weird.

How To Take a Perfectly Good Week...

and mess it all up! It's not all bad. Just crazy.

For starters B-Days are coming up. All of us the same day. That would be me, Dickiebo, Paul McCartney, Harriet (from high school), and many more that I don't know. More on that on THE day.

So why mention it now? Well, for one thing it becomes the rant of the females in this household, as the younger and the older try to bridge a very large generation gap and actually communicate effectively with each other in an attempt to plan my birthday. Usually, by the time they are well into it, I'd just as soon have not been born. Oh well. We survive. So that's what Saturday and Sunday were like. Monday morning I seized the opportunity to escape to a friend's house for a Cosmic City meeting. Monday afternoon I finished a set of keys for a local customer and 'A' went with me to a nearby school to do a piano evaluation. Monday night a key customer called and wanted to schedule the return of the finished job for Tuesday. Okay. Then I got two more key top job calls. And a call to schedule a 'meet up' at Friendly's to pick up another key job.

Tuesday started fine. Coffee and toast and then the drive to Friendly's. On the drive it dawned on me that I had scheduled my afternoon job in conflict (or at least a close call) to when I needed to drive 'A' to work. I got back home after the 'meet' thinking I would get some work done and then call to try to arrange an earlier arrival at the customer's home. Except the phone rang. It was the music director at the school. His call coincided with me trying to work up an estimate and I hadn't quite finished. "Just give me the most expensive it could be," he said. I did some quick addition, gave him a brief explanation, and he said, "Let's do it. Can you email the bill to me immediately? I need to pay this out before the end of the school year, but you'll have all summer to do the work." Okie dokie! I quickly wrote up an 'official' invoice, scanned it, and emailed it to him. Now maybe I could get some work done.

Nope. 'A' needed a ride to the store and bank. Took us about 15 minutes. Arrived home hoping to get just a teeny bit of work done before wolfing down a sandwich and calling that customer. The phone rang again. This time it was a keyboard-ish company owner that I do key work for wanting a special deal. I wasn't so inclined. Really, I'm one of the most reasonably priced around and his jobs usually require some additional work that I routinely and without complaint work in to the same pricing. I started making that sandwich, to heck with trying to get any work done. The phone rang again. The music director, again. The payment folks wouldn't accept the emailed billing, could I take a ride over with the original?

Oh sure, why not?

That done and I got home with just enough time to eat that sandwich and call the customer. No answer. So, I waited until a departure time that would get me arriving 15 minutes earlier than the appointed time. That worked. He was home and everything went very smoothly with the key re-install, leveling (only one), and spacing (less than a half dozen required minor attention). I was out of there and home with plenty of time to spare!

After I got home from running 'A' to work, I did get some of the key work in the workshop underway. I'm glad today is nearly over!

Tomorrow, Wednesday, it's back to the historic society in the morning and piles of key work for the afternoon. Thursday, I've a new customer tuning in the morning, a Steinway M. I've got to place a parts order sometime. Then the afternoon should be a surprise, then key work, key work, key work, until...

B-Day Friday and more key work. It'll be a relief to take part of Saturday off and go out to Thacher Island. It's supposed to be near 90°. A great day to be out on the water!

Oh, and I've started a re-read of a book from 15 - 20 years ago. "Going to Extremes" by Joe McGinness. A book about Alaska, sort of a weird tour guide kind of thing, only in novel form.

Music In The Loo

It happened this evening. Opening night. After two(?) years of construction and I don't know how many years of conniving the new venue is alive. Today's paper was filled with it. Why not? The idea of a music hall is a wonderful thing. I love it. The music, that is. Even on the island. But not like what happened. The layers of half truths that resulted in our new music center are deplorable. There were too many to even list here, but a few to mention would be...we plan to renovate the existing mid-1800 building...the new (yes, no renovation, demolition instead) structure was built on the original footprint...the new building's facade will be a faithful reproduction of the original building...parking for our 330 seat hall will not be a problem, arrangements have been made (oh, and since we will be opening soon, we would like to eliminate 2 metered parking spaces so that we may have a drop-off zone). There are many other things that really irritate me about our new monstrosity built in our historic district. I can't possibly cover all that in this post.

I've decided to keep this post extremely proper noun eliminated. I want to bypass any search engines hitting upon my post when people are looking for info on The Loo and it's music programs. The nickname, The Loo, comes from a shortened version of the official name of the place. If you are in desperate need of knowing the name (or curious about the nickname's origin), click on the color photo of the front of the building (below) and read the full name over the door.

I offer some before and after photos for a 'how many changes can you find?' game.
The original building of 1863
The new building
The back of the building in 2008 as seen from Front Beach (white building with mansard style roof and a one story addition reaching out towards the granite seawall.
The back of the new building with three stories replacing the one story addition and massive two story windows backing the interior stage area.

I'm not happy about it. There were many other people not happy about it. There were lawsuits over it. Seems that once again money speaks louder. Even in a small, used-to-be-quaint-but -now-wants-to-be-uptown, seaside village.

10...9...8...7...6...

5...4...3...2...1...making progress!This cramped view of the "Cosmicventure" was taken after the rocket was launched (with full- color tissue paper flames!) to it's temporary suspension at the other end of my workshop. That was yesterday. Today, I applied it's name, nosecone 'windows', and it's registration number : 3498 - T. It shall remain flying over my painting and jewelry production workbench until it is needed. I sat under it, today, painting necklace ivories! It's in very cramped quarters for two reasons. The first, to assure that it is out of the main walking traffic areas of the cellar. The second, well, there were already two screw hooks overhead to hang it from! The close quarters location makes photo taking challenging. One final post-trial launch photo will be taken shortly, to be followed in just over a month with another - it's arrival at it's final destination in the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church.

I love having a chance to play!

It's Not Rocket Science

Not even close. I've been working on a little, 7-foot project for the church's Vacation Bible School. Yes, I am building a rocket in my cellar! It's gotten a bit out of control size-wise.I've worked hard to keep it under 8 feet. I was hoping for 6 and managed a compromise at 7. I had to narrow the wingspan about 6 inches from my original design because I DID think to measure the bulkhead opening. Yes, I can get it out of the cellar. I still have the decorating to execute. The rocket might be named Cosmicventure. The theme/name of the week-long Bible school is Cosmic City. Anyway, the rocket will have it's name along the side with an appropriate 'registration' number. There will be some windows in the nosecone and red flames in the thrusters.

Other matters - I've just finished the start of 8 new ivory necklaces. The next craft fair is on July 17th and I'm a tad short on goods. I'll have to get them painted by the end of the week so that there will be enough dry time.

Sunday afternoon I had an exciting half hour sitting in my truck in the Stop & Shop parking lot waiting for 'A' to get out of work. I had left home early to get on the road, and then parked at the store, before a large line of thunderstorms arrived in our area. The storm arrived just as I parked and was finished about 5 minutes before 'A' left work. The lightning was flashing every few seconds and the thunder was a continuous rumble for more than a half hour.This was my view during a mild moment in the storm around 4:30. At it's worst it was raining so hard that I couldn't see out the windshield.

Today was beautiful, sunny, 73° and breezy. Tomorrow is supposed to be the same.

An Old Cat Learns New Tricks

Yes, I know it is a misquote, but I'm a cat person rather than dog. I like dogs. I just like cats a whole lot more.

Now that you know that, on to the real content of the post.

Wednesday morning was my first official volunteer time at the historical society. Wednesday morning I learned just what I would be doing for the next few weeks (Wed. mornings only). My assignment (and I chose to accept it) is to scan LOADS of photographs that have been loaned to the society, save them in a file in the computer, print them, and then copy any label information from the original to the scanned copy. If I were doing it here, I'd say, "no problem". I do that kind of thing all the time.

On a PC.

The historical society is Mac.

I think I did quite well. I was shown the process once, worked on troubleshooting (a goof) once, loaded ink into a Lexmark printer/scanner once, and then carried on like I'd been working on that system forever.

Now I just have to remember what I did...for next week...that may be more difficult!

In 1994, I bought my first computer. That was a big deal. I (correctly) anticipated that my soon-to-be middle-school-er would be needing computer access for schoolwork. The problem was how to afford buying one. I was pretty much scraping by financially, month to month, having only started up my business a year and a half earlier. How could I do it?

The opportunity arose where I was able to buy a small grand piano for just $300 and I jumped on it. This piano would finance my computer purchase! I didn't need to do much major work on the piano. I reconditioned parts, cleaned, polished, tuned, and regulated the action. I did refinish the case. The job was mostly in labor and I then sold the piano for $3500.

My first computer, a Compaq Presario, with printer, cost around $3000. The computer desk was another few hundred.

And I was a wreck!

I got all the boxes into the house that first day. That evening I sat out in my workshop in a near panic attack. $3000+ sitting in those boxes in the house and I hadn't a clue. I was sure that the moment I tried ANYTHING with that enormous hunk of money disguised as a computer I would surely, irretrievably ruin it. Oh, what had I done?

After a restless night, daylight did arrive and the boxes were still there. Still untouched. I got 'A' off to school and went home to stare at my expensive blunder. Taking hold of my nerves, I began unpacking and trying to identify components. With all the cables, the monitor, the printer, the mouse, the CPU, keyboard, and ugly Compaq mouse pad unpacked, I breathed a sigh of relief and considered 'the unpacking' the greatest accomplishment of my day. I assembled the computer desk and that really gave me some satisfaction. THAT I knew how to do!

That evening I sat in my workshop once again feeling that panic creeping in to me.

After 'A' got home from school on day three, I decided it was time to assemble all those components. With her help, all cables and wires were connected. "Are you going to plug it in, mom?"

"No, I think that was enough for today. Tomorrow we'll try plugging it in."

Tomorrow seemed to arrive much too quickly. Maybe it was the sleepless night of nerves and dreams (maybe nightmares). $3000 sitting there just waiting for me to screw it up. I dreaded plugging it in. Seriously. With 'A' by my side, I plugged that cord from the surge protector into the wall outlet and...

Nothing happened.

Oh yeah, switch on the monitor and the CPU, idiot.

And there it was, lit up before us! We didn't have a clue what to do next. We didn't know how to make it DO anything. So now what?

We called AK, a good friend, and more importantly at that moment, a computer genius. He came to the rescue and got us set up and gave us a few pointers. A few days later, I got very brave and set up an ISP and email.

I've learned an incredible amount since those first days! Sometimes it all seems too much with email, newsgroups, mailing lists, digests, blogging, writing, digital photography, IP tracing, properties, sources, web searching, anti-virus, anti spyware, word processing, editing, preferences, printing, scanning, on and on.

And now Mac.

They Don't Make Clothespins Like They Used To

and more.

But first the clothespins...

As part of a big key job, I have replaced all the bushings which are little pieces of (red) wool cloth that line the mortises where the keys pivot on a pin and also where they are guided by another pin, AND I am replacing the leather covering on the backchecks (at the back end of each key). The 2.5" long X 3/8" wide strips of leather need to be stretched taut over wood and felt. One end is glued and allowed to dry, then the other end is pulled tight and clamped. I use spring style clothespins as clamps. The older ones work really well. Just clip them on. However, they don't make them like they used to. The new clothespins have their spring located further towards the 'grip' end and therefore they won't open wide enough to clamp around the backchecks. Very annoying. With the new ones I have to use the opposite end of the clothespin, spreading it open to clamp evenly across the backcheck. It's an awkward way to use a clothespin. Hard to imagine that such a small design change in clothespins would create a problem.Unless they're being used unconventionally!

'A' and I decided to go for a walk the other evening. We decided to put in extra effort rather than distance. We walked up Summit Avenue. In the distance you can see Straitsmouth Island. Up and up and up.
All the way to the top where the old Haskins Hospital used to be.All that's left is a park and picnic area...and these.
Later, we went out on to the Headlands. Because of the 56+ fires burning in Quebec, we have been subject to poor air quality. Bad enough that it smelled like the island was burning and visibility was down to 3 miles. Worse on the other Cape (Cod). Anyway, because of all that, the weather guy predicted a breathtaking, red sunset. We headed to the Headlands for pictures.Not much red. Not even later. Pretty, though.

While Disconnected

Finally. I got a phone call on Friday evening from my computer guy. My PC was set to go, all sparkly and updated with the latest anti-virus and spyware. Yes, I could do this myself, but I would spend more money. That's right, it costs me less to have it done professionally than to buy the updates myself!

Anyway, when I dropped PC off to ACC (my computer wiz), he asked how I was doing. "I'm feeling a bit disconnected," I replied. And I did, feel that way, that is. Now, I did have my little, cranky laptop and I checked email twice each day and read some blogs. Everything took many times longer on that little laptop. It wasn't happy. I talked to it quite a bit, not always nicely. But it and I survived the four days and now we are both happy. I have PC back and laptop gets to sleep in it's dark, zippered bag, tucked away in the corner of my closet.

Some interesting stuff happened while I was feeling disconnected. The manager of that East Gloucester restaurant called for the annual pre Memorial weekend tuning. I always dread that job. Rarely is there a parking spot nearby, the piano is a nightmare to get into with it's over sized, artist palette painted lid that requires three people to slide it tailwards and balance on a couple bar stools. Then there's the manager...
Amazingly, I was able to park nearly in front of the building. Amazingly, the piano was not too terribly out of tune so I wasn't quite so nervous about that precariously balanced lid. Amazingly, the manager...well some things don't change.

I had a surprise call this week. Some of you who have been reading here for awhile might remember a certain problem with a local tech. Well, said tech called me and came very near to apologizing. Sort of spewed compliments rather than sorries, but was trying to communicate the same message which, ultimately, was that my services were needed. I'll give most anyone a second chance and I agreed to the job. Keys were dropped off on Friday and it is a decent amount of work to be completed in a week. Tech has already called trying to change things around but I'd gotten too far into the job. Iffy that I'll consider any more work for this tech in the future after seeing and hearing the tech on Friday.

Saturday was my first craft fair of the year. I was not very optimistic about the entire endeavor and was feeling like I'd made a mistake signing up for the fair. I felt even worse when I saw the turnout of participants. The organizer remarked that only seven had signed up. That was going to look very unattractive to shoppers. Then, as the opening time passed, it was obvious that two participants were no-shows. Only five tables! A little pottery, some photography, beaded jewelry, doll clothes, and my miniatures and ivory jewelry. I pretty much figured I would be taking a loss. But, somehow, I sold stuff! There was never an enormous crowd. People just trickled in and out. Every once in a while there were a dozen or so folks at a time. But, I sold stuff! Two easel miniatures, one pair of earrings, and eleven necklaces. I still can't believe it. And the rain even held off until I had packed up, rolled my belongings to my truck on T-Wharf, and loaded up.

This week I'm building a seven foot rocket. Don't worry, it's inoperable.

Unrelated Thoughts and Deeds

Before I forget to say this, here it is. My PC is going to be having it's yearly service mid-week. I still hope to be around, checking up on all of you using my outdated and unreliable laptop. All being operable!

This has been small miracles week and it's a good thing considering some other stuff, but more on that later. First of all, I got a call from the DPW. They HAD found some of the graves that I was looking for. All I needed to do was go down and pick up the paperwork, which I promptly did. My apologies to the DPW office for doubting their capabilities (at least on this one). With the papers that gave the gravesite addresses in hand, 'A' and I set out for Beech Grove Cemetery. Well, we may have been given the addresses, but the cemetery had no street markers. So, although we knew that the Manning relatives were buried in lot 45 of East Elm, we had no idea which street was which. Needing a good walk, we roamed and read markers.There it was! Hard to miss! I took some photos (obviously) and we decided to wander another cemetery on the other side of town, Locust Grove. Locust Grove is owned by Rockport but is located in Gloucester. Welcome to my odd little town.

'A' and I took Saturday off and headed north to Skip's for lunch. It was busier there than usual. 4 o'clock was the scheduled start of their first classic car show of 2010. Even though we were there at noon, people were starting to arrive. 350 cars expected for the first show. We finished lunch and as we headed for the local shopping area to visit a 'Building 19 1/6', I called home to check on the mail. I just had a feeling...and it came true. My check had arrived from the art association! Anyway, 'Building 19 1/6' is a discount, overstock sale store that has everything you never need unless you don't buy it. 'A' bought four DVDs at only $3.99 each. I resisted the temptations of the office supply section and spent nothing. When we got back home I checked out my check, they had also enclosed copies of the sales receipts. The photo was sold to a Rockport resident - South End, the painting sold to a guy from Stoughton, which is a good distance from here. Both did sell on the same day, actually consecutive receipts!

This Saturday is the craft fair. The corrected hours are from 11 until 4. Each time I've participated in this particular fair, I have complained about poor advertising. I decided to take matters into my own hands.I have posted announcements on some local bulletin boards and have a similar sign (with the town added to the info) in the rear window of my truck.

Last night, as I checked my email, I was in for a surprise. Not a pleasant one, although nowadays, after 8 years of a variety of similar emails, they have become pathetically amusing. For the first four and a half years after my divorce, my ex found it entertaining to send threatening emails to me. He also posed as me online on several rather questionable adult web sites giving my contact information. He began a smear campaign against me with business associates and through several online sites. His threatening mode continued, in earnest, until my local police filed criminal harassment charges against him and had him served (overseas) with a restraining order. Since that time, he has calmed down, sending only about one email per year. Last night was the first in about 15 months. We chuckled when reading his absurd claims and threats. Copies have been printed and filed. Poor soul is obviously miserable to need to keep doing this. What satisfaction could he receive? For the record, I have never once responded.

I was reading an online friend's blog the other day and the subject matter got me thinking about a song on the CD "Bridge to Havana". So, Uncle B., the song is titled "Unlonely" and it is performed by Montel Jordan and Carlos Alfonso. And spell check does say unlonely is not a word.

So what else have I been doing? I've booked myself on the Thacher Island boat for a mid-June island trip. I'll check out the condition of the reed organ. Hopefully, all will be well with it after it's second winter alone. I'll probably use any spare time out there to do some sketching. I've just finished another painting. No title yet, not even dry yet. You get to see it first here.

So, I'm Weird. What's Your Excuse?

This morning's adventure to the town hall was to search cemetery records. I have to express my disappointment. Maybe it's just me, I know I'm a little different, but to me, we seem to have a very dull, somewhat off-putting, poorly trained in public relations crew down there at the town offices. All I wanted to do was look up a half dozen names in the cemetery records. Was I able to do this? No. I had to leave them a list. And please write my name and phone number on that list. They (the DPW office) will call if they find anything in the records. I have the distinct impression that the list was filed in the shredder the moment the door shut behind me upon leaving. I hope I'm mistaken. Even if I am mistaken, their search will be somewhat useless as many of the names are duplicates but of different generations of the same family. I did note death dates, but I'm doubtful if they will take the time to notice.

On the other hand, Bob sent me a link to a grave locator website and I've had a blast exploring it. I'm going to start photographing all the Manning gravestones.

**********************************

I hauled myself to the art association, yesterday, to inquire about the whereabouts of my check that was supposedly put in the mail, to me, a week ago this past Monday. Oh dear, they were apologetic, my check had not been mailed after all! They wait 30 days from the sale of the artwork before paying up. Huh. Well, when did the pieces actually sell? She looked up the info on her computer to find that they had sold on April 18th. Both of them. Yeah, I find that very unsettling. Two totally unrelated mediums and two totally unrelated subject matters sell on the same day. Anyway, it was exactly one month to the day as I stood there and heard her say she'd be getting the check out in a few days. I wait. Maybe by the end of this week?

**********************************

Big night out tonight! I went to the library to hear/see a presentation by Paul St. Germain on his book about Thacher Island. It was a packed room for a well commentated PowerPoint presentation. I got my book signed. Paul will be giving the same presentation next month for the historical society. I'm going to that one, too. Same song, same verse...it's Rockport... not a lot of options for a night out!

Friday Again? Already?

It's getting really bad when so many different things are going on that I can't remember what they all are or were. That's how I feel this week. I did get a lot accomplished, but looking back I mostly see the things that I didn't get done. That bothers me.

I owe quite a few people emails. I WANT to stay in touch, I look forward to hearing from them, I really DO want to write some emails. It's just that by the time this time of day (night) works it's way around, I'm tired. I'm tired now and I debated whether to blog tonight. I knew that if I didn't, tomorrow I would wish I had. Just like those emails. I probably should be writing them instead of this. Oh well.

I had a successful morning at the historical society on Monday. I started through picture files and found these two with Manning's store.The larger photo is how his shop was when he occupied the right half of the Manning Block (the building to the right of the hanging sign) and McLane's Shoes was in the left side. The small insert was later, post Manning, with Oker Tailors on the left and A&P Grocery on the right. This Monday I plan to photocopy the large photo, sans insert.Here's the view today (literally!). The Manning Block is the beige building with white trim on the left side of the street. I also discovered, quite by accident, that the historical society has in it's collection, the clock made by Manning and shown in the newspaper photo of him that I posted in a previous entry. AND, here's a pretty cool, old photo of the Manning Organ Company building in Millbrook Meadow. I guess I should mention that when I am finished with the actual research for the Manning article, I will begin as a trainee, in research, Monday mornings, at the SBHS. Just thought I needed something else to do! Volunteer.

Other things...the lawn got mowed for the second time this season. Not a favorite job, made even nastier by all the pollen which, of course, bothers me terribly. I grabbed and swallowed one of 'A's Actifeds before I started. I guess it helped a little.

Keys arrived on Tuesday. And on Wednesday. Thursday, too. And today! I got a call this afternoon from a tech in Florida. He's shipping a rush job. Within a bit over a week's span there will have been keys from CA, MS, NJ, FL, and MA! This is great news for my pocketbook. On Wednesday, I took my truck in to my mechanic because the brakes were starting to sound a tad scratchy. The short of it - oil, filter, new front brakes, and two new front tires totaling just over $550. Ouch.

Yesterday was a girl's day off. The three of us headed to Exeter, NH. A friend of my mom's just moved there and wanted my mom to come see their new place. I thought it best that I drive my mom for the first trip up there so that she could familiarize herself with the route before driving it on her own. It was a nice, sunny day and a pleasant drive. We spent about 2 hours visiting and then the three of us (A, mom, and I) went to Skip's for dinner before heading home. Total time - 7 hours. On the way home we spotted Manning Street, in Ipswich, a town where many of the Mannings had lived. I'll check it out in a couple weeks when I head that way on a tuning job. Most of the old houses in Ipswich have original owner/date plaques on them so maybe I'll find a Manning home.

Today, I forced myself to make two different contact 'calls'. The first was a drop-by the art association to inquire about their timetable for sending out payment checks on sold work. Ummm, the treasurer said she put them out to be mailed on Monday. Today is Friday, I live in the same town, something doesn't add up. I told her I'd give it a few more days, then if I haven't received it, I'd be back. Then I FINALLY made a decision on an upcoming craft fair. There are two coming up, in town, on the same day. One, at the Old Firehouse and not my favorite venue at all. The second, at Spiran Hall somewhat off the beaten tourist path and less obvious. I chose to try the Old Firehouse again solely due to better sale hours. So on May 29th, 10 a.m - 4 p.m. that's where I'll be. Selling miniatures and key ivory jewelry - hopefully!

Today was a good day. May good stuff continue to happen for all of us!

Home for Sale

I just received an email from a friend in Florida. Seems my home is for sale. Yes, home. It will always be that for me. Looking at the pictures, I can see that some changes have been made. Mostly, I hate to see that the gorgeous, art deco lighting fixtures in the front hall and dining room are gone. I knew I should have taken them with me! Then there is the ugly drab wall-to-wall in the bedrooms, but after 8 years of being a rental property I'm sure it needed new. The other flooring looks nice, some wall colors have changed, the kitchen now needs an update. Some info in the listing isn't complete like it lists only a shower for the bathroom when the main bath has a tub, as well. And no picture of the workshop! Certainly they could have taken a better picture of the front of the house. If you want to see the listing you can go here. I'm homesick.

Today's Explorations

Early this morning I headed out to take photos of Manning's stores. Morning light was best for the photographs and for finding his Main Street store unobstructed by parked cars. His second store on Railroad Avenue required some good timing to get the shot in between commuters. For Rockport, Five Corners is a busy intersection.

Pictured here is Manning's 38 Main Street store (currently number 75). Manning occupied the right half of the establishment and McLane's Shoe Store the left half. The Manning family owned the building referred to as "The Manning Block". At a later date, the left portion of the building was A. F. Oker's tailor shop, where in 1932, Mr. Oker was murdered.
This rather drab, red building was Manning's second store and he lived in a small apartment on the second floor. The current address is 1B Railroad Avenue. When Manning owned the building it was number 2 and subsequently number 1A (when a number 1 was built). Currently, number 2 is across the street. The original building has been modified over the years and the store front first floor lost in blandness. Manning worked 10 hour days at this location until his death in 1930 at age 96.

Monday is Manningday

I spent a better part of this past Monday tracing the locations of Manning family homes and businesses throughout Rockport. What started out as a simple, self-imposed assignment about a small-time, small-town reed organ builder has become much more. The first complications were the repeated use of given names within the Manning family with no designations of Sr. or Jr. or II or III. This was true with the lady's names, as well. After composing a timeline and then receiving a genealogy from a distant Manning relative, much of that finally got sorted out in my mind. Yesterday, I came across another Manning - Bertha. Bertha Manning was a music teacher who boarded at the 2 Railroad Avenue residence and shop of William N. - 'my' guy. I shall have to check back through the genealogy because I don't recall seeing Bertha there!

Anyway, William Norwood Manning moved to Rockport with his family when he was 11 years old. They took up residence at the Manning Farm located on Nugent Stretch, the 'main' road from Gloucester to Rockport.Only the stone summer kitchen remains today and is open to the public, during the summer, as the Babson Museum. At the age of 14 William became a paid violinist for the Universalist Church in Rockport, about 2 miles from his home.

The entire Manning family became very intertwined in business deals with fathers, sons, and uncles as owners, partners, and shareholders. The family included doctors, lawyers, civil engineers, farmers, fishermen, dentists, inventors and musicians. The family was also involved in the manufacture of isinglass. William operated a storefront on Main Street (indicated by one red location on the map - you may have to click and enlarge to see the color indicators) were he specialized in jewelry, watches, piano-fortes, violins, and clocks...and in the repair of all of those. His business was in the easterly side of the store with a shoe store occupying the westerly portion. (After Mannings vacated the store, and probably no longer owned the building, the easterly half became the A&P Grocery store and the westerly half was devoted to Oker's Tailor Shop. Interestingly, in 1932, Mr. Oker was found murdered in his shop. Later, as a local woman was to testify as to the identity of the murderer, she was murdered and her residence set ablaze to cover the crime. These two murders have never been solved.) Sometime around the turn of the century (1900), William moved his residence and his retail and repair business to number 2 Railroad Avenue (see red on map) and remained there until his death in 1930 at age 96.

The Manning Organ Company was in production for about three years. It occupied the upper stories of the American Hide Seat Company factory in Millbrook Meadow (Mannings also held stock in that company as well as several others to follow in that location).(see red on map-Isinglass factory) When the organ company failed due to poor economic times, the equipment, patents, and organs were auctioned off. The building was then occupied by The Lawrence Spool and Bobbin Co., then the Russia Cement Co., and finally by Leander Haskin's Isinglass Company. That company moved in 1915 and the factory was deserted. It burned in July of 1932.
The present day site of the organ factory at Millbrook Meadow, now a town park.

The Mannings owned other properties in town and several will be noticed on the map in the general vicinity of Poole's Corner, the intersection of Main and Beach Streets. The Manning house on Beach Street was later joined with the house to it's north, becoming a large family complex. After the death of it's owners, the house became an inn under the name of Manning House until it was torn down in 1965 to build the 'new' "Captain's Bounty Motel".

So there's just a taste of what I've been up to. Tomorrow morning I hope to get to town early, before too many parked cars, and photograph William's original shop. Then I'll head to Railroad Avenue to photograph his last home and shop. It's been more difficult than expected finding the locations of these buildings. Not only have the streets been renumbered several times, the odds and evens have changed sides. Buildings have been added and some taken away. Many times the records of Rockport are conflicting!

I have found many interesting items in the six boxes of Manning family papers at the historical society, including Uncle Charlie Bolles Manning's first letter, written as a child, to his 'papa' about the escape and subsequent retrieval of his pet squirrel and a delightfully detailed drawing of the sailing vessel on which one of the elder doctors Manning served. I've yet to finish the boxes and also will be checking out the photo files. In addition, next Monday I hope to open up the Manning organ and photo the realization of some of W. N.'s patents.

For now, it's on to some writing of the article

And Another One

Well, busy, busy, busy.

A new book has been added to the sidebar. "Overboard" by Michael Tougias. Same author that wrote, among others, "Ten Hours Until Dawn". This new (out in March) book is a riveting story of survival. I found the characters to not be as well developed as in previous books by Tougias and that, for me, took away a bit from the story. All in all, though, well worth the purchase and the reading. Would make me think twice about an overnighter at sea!

Also, here's a new painting."Seaside Farm", 16 X 20 in oils. Still not dry!
No check yet from the RAA on the two sold pieces. One more week and I'll be giving them a call.

Going In Circles

Okay, I just spent the majority of the day on Manning research. First at the SBHS, then at the Rockport Room of the public library. One step backwards. The photo of Manning's last shop that I posted a couple days ago is incorrect. I've just noted that on that post. More photo taking will be in order. So...number two is not number two, then to now. It actually was switched to the opposite side of the street while none of us were looking! Old number two is new number 1B. I also now have addresses for Manning businesses that range from 18 Main Street to 38, 40 1/2, 50, and 71. I do have a very accurate description of the 'genealogy' of the buildings on Main Street and will be using this info to find the exact locations that I want to photograph.

And on it goes, more to come!

Sunday Super Surprise

Today started like most other Sundays with oversleeping (only by 30 minutes) and then spending a relaxing hour over breakfast after which I dressed for church, headed out, and got there early - as usual. I guess it's better early than too late! I chatted with a couple friends, then a good sermon and accompanying good hymns, then home to get some lunch.

After lunch I made the short trip down the road to Smith Hardware to pick up some mineral spirits (for painting) and some screw elbows for mom's kitchen display of cookie cutters. Smith's had a bunch of new stuff in, so I spent a little more than I planned, buying some special glue. It dawned on me that I needed some steel wool, so I bought that, too. The store was very busy. Everyone is welcoming Spring, getting out to do outdoor projects and 'running into' neighbors who had been hibernating in the cold months. Town is busy, too, with it being a nice, warm weekend. My next stop was in town.

Today is pick-up day for artwork in the Contributing Members Show at the Rockport Art Association. If you remember, I exhibited two pieces this year - an oil painting and a photograph. I drove down and fortunately found a parking space on nearby School Street. After grabbing my tote bag from my truck and paying the meter, I headed for the art association. I checked in at the front desk to be sure today was indeed pick-up day, then headed back to the gallery to retrieve my artwork. More than half of the exhibit had already been removed. I entered the first gallery and started to the left to un-hang my photograph.

It wasn't there. Huh.

I proceeded in to the back gallery to get my painting, rounded the corner to it's wall location to find it was missing, as well. Double huh.

What had happened to them? Had someone moved them? I double checked all the walls. Nope, not anywhere. Maybe the staff had started to ready the galleries for the next show and were stacking the remaining works someplace? Maybe they were just..........missing?

I went back out to the front desk and asked, "What happens when I can't find my two pieces?"

"What's your name?"

As I told her, another staff member approached from an adjacent room. "I tried to call you. You don't have an answering machine?"

"Yes, I do," I replied.

"Um, I must of dialed the wrong number," she said.

And then she said, "Both your pieces have been sold!"

YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now I wait for the check, which should be in the mail, for 60% of the price tag on each piece. The Rockport Art Association takes 40%. Hope she sent the check to the correct address!

Progress...

is being made in the research department! I've finally got a good grasp on William N. Manning's genealogy. Well, at least those that came before him, his children and grand-children have yet to be discovered by me. Not that much of the family relationships are really relative to the story that I will be writing, but it gives me a sense of Billy's lifestyle, temperament, and the influences on his life choices. I received an email from a distant, 'sideways' relative of Billy's and will be checking out some of the resources at the hysterical (oops, did I say that?!) historical society for their genealogical research. My journey has found far more information than I expected was available about a far more complicated man than I anticipated. Now I am trying to finish the expedition in to Manning's history with what is left in the present day.This picture shows the Railroad Avenue shop where Manning had his second store and repair shop. Billy and his second wife, Louise, lived above the shop until Billy died at age 96. The building has just been restored in the past 5 years or so. (Update: This is not the correct location. The building is actually across the street. Leave it to Rockport to have changed the numbering. Evidently some things were numbered sequentially regardless of which side of the street. Now everything has been switched to an odd/even system). Now I need to find out where number 38 Main Street was located in 1870. Not an easy task as the numbers have been reallocated several times over the years. 38 Main Street is where Manning's first shop was located.I'm looking forward to another Monday morning of research.

What On Earth Is Wrong With People?

Please pardon the lack of precise details in this post. You'll get the idea without the need of numerical accuracy.

Awhile ago a teen girl committed suicide. She had bee relentlessly bullied by a half dozen or so of her classmates. Those classmates have been arrested and charged with a variety of offenses directly related to and found to be resultant in her suicide. One or two of the young men were charged with statutory rape in this case.

So today, one of these young men was once again in court. This time he has been charged with driving under the influence. The judge released him! The police are stunned. I am stunned. Then the news report shifts to the young man's neighbor. She's thirty-ish, well spoken, well dressed. I couldn't believe what she said. Something along the lines of, "He's a good boy. A nice boy."

Yeah, I'm really believing that.

Monday Mornings

For the foreseeable future my Monday mornings will be devoted to research at the Sandy Bay Historical Society for my next ROS article.Monday morning is the only time that the research room is open, at least at this time of year. Just over a week ago, I began searching the Internet for information on William N. Manning. "Billy" Manning built reed organs, here in Rockport, for a brief period in the 1870's. The Sandy Bay Historical Society Museum has two of his organs in their collection. One of them is a rather typical design, the other, I believe utilizes Manning's particular patented construction. He has several patents, to his credit, on improved actions for reed organs (as well as an early form of roller furling for sailing vessels). He was a musician and a composer, playing violin, piano, and organ. He was the organist for the Unitarian Church in Rockport. He wrote at least four compositions that were published. One of local interest is "Our Cape Ann Home".He owned two stores in Rockport that sold organs, music, violins, jewelry, and clocks. I haven't discovered which store came first, Main Street or Railroad Ave. Maybe he had them both at the same time. The Manning Reed Organ factory building was located in Millbrook Meadow. It was occupied first by the American Hide Seat Company with Manning Organ Company located on the upper floors, then by the Lawrence Bobbin and Spool Co., the Russia Cement Co., and finally, until it's abandonment in 1915, by the Haskins Isinglass Company. On July 2, 1932 the building burned. "Billy" came from a rather large family that arrived in Rockport in 1798. His grandfather was one of Rockport's first physicians. Many others in his family were doctors, lawyers, and educators. Some, like William, seemed to thrive on inventiveness. As with most early Rockporters, several family members along with the same family friends seemed to be continually involved with each others businesses, served on several town committees, and held offices of community or religious importance.

Last Monday was my first sojourn into the files of the research room at the historical society. I read through the folder for the Manning Reed Organ Company, took 6 pages of notes and recorded which early photos or documents I wished to photocopy (the copy machine was broken). I gave the research room copies of the Manning patents to add to the file. Since then, 'A' and I have walked two cemeteries. We located the Manning family plots at the Union Cemetery.

If the society's research room is open tomorrow (doubtful as it is a state holiday), I'll be starting through the six boxes of Manning Family Papers. I'm also bringing my digital camera to photograph some items if the copy machine is still not functional. I'll be donating copies of the four pieces of sheet music written by Manning.

I have added links to the web sites for the Sandy Bay Historical Society and Museum and for the Reed Organ Society to the sidebar.

In My Inbox

I received this email:

Hello,

My copy of the most recent ROS* Quarterly arrived in the mailbox today. As is my custom, I immediately leafed through it, and came upon your well-written contribution.

What a GREAT story and photographs! Thank you so much for returning the beautiful Smith American reed organ to life and service!

Your work is truly appreciated!

Kind regards,
Brenda -------
ROS president

I also received a phone call from a restorer in Alabama. We had a great one hour conversation!

Inspired me to start the research for another article. I'll be heading for the historical society on Monday morning!

*Reed Organ Society

Exciting Events in a Small Town

I just renewed my membership to the Thacher Island Association. Along with the renewal form was an invitation to include an added amount which would assure the purchase of a signed copy of a new book, written by the president of the association. I thought it might be a good read so I sent the extra money. The book should be released (and therefore in my mailbox) in early May.So that happened just a few days ago and today, in the mail, I got my renewal notice for the Sandy Bay Historical Society. Enclosed with the renewal form was a list of this years special events. I'll be attending a few, I'm sure.

April 13 - Community House School Years. This should be interesting. My parents used to live just behind and sort of next to the Community House. As you may recall, I have acquired a few items from there, have serviced the piano there, and attended many other functions in the building.

May 11 - Appraisal Night. I might bring something to have the antique specialist take a look at - or not.

June 8 - Twin Lights of Thacher Island, Cape Ann. Presented by the author, Paul St. Germain. (book shown above) I plan on attending this presentation at an earlier date in May, sponsored by the library. If it's really good maybe I'll be up for a rerun.

July 13 - Telling Time featuring Bob Frishman of Bell-Time Clocks. I repaired Mr. Frishman's Duo-Art upright piano and he repaired my mantel clock. He's an expert in museum quality clock repairs and restorations. I'll be at this one!

August 10 - Quilts. Ummm, although I have made numerous quilts in the past, my interest in it is also in the past.

September 17 - 'Chowdah' Supper. I don't like chowder (fish and/or clam) but it's to be followed by a presentation on Dogtown by Ted Tarr so I'll be there.

October 12 - Ice Harvesting in New England (tentative date). Just weird enough that I might go.

November 9 - Military History of Halibut Point. Sounds like an interesting presentation. We have quite a few lookout towers on the island and Halibut Point State Park is the location of one of them.

December 5 - Holiday Open House. Yummy desserts and a concert on the Manning reed organ that I restored. You can bet I'll be there!