The Storm

The rain came in torrents yesterday afternoon and the wind blew from the east. It was so nasty that I actually drove right up in front of the door at Stop & Shop when I picked up 'A' from work so that she wouldn't get soaked. For once the weather forecasters were correct unfortunately, and the wind speed continued an upward trend well in to the night. I snuggled under the covers watching the Olympics and cringing every time the roar of the wind drowned out the audio on the TV. My bed would shake and the wind in the window screening screeched. There were thumps and bangs. As I gave up trying to stay awake long enough to watch all the skating, and turned off the lights, the wind seemed to calm down. I wondered what our yard would look like come daylight.

After the wild winds of nightfall, I was totally surprised in the morning to see only a littering of small branches and twigs in the yard. Then I looked across the back road to my neighbor's and saw that their moderately large pine tree had fallen atop his pick up truck and her nearly new sedan. A big mess for them with damage to both vehicles. Further down the street a small apple tree had toppled near another neighbor's shed. After breakfast, and the realization that our cable TV wasn't working, I headed for my package shippers. I was hoping that I had missed yesterdays pick up and I could slip a receipt inside a box of keys that I had left there for shipping. As I traveled out Main Street there were several trees fallen across driveways and in yards. There was the top only of a large pine tree hanging upright amid the power lines. As I neared my destination there was a lot more debris to avoid. Huge sections of wooden fencing from a condo complex were strewn across the road and nearby a row of 25 foot tall arborvitae - ish trees were a tangled mess, some of them had taken down power lines and lay across a driveway. Traffic was backed up as far as I could see and I wondered why. I arrived at the shippers to discover that the entire shopping area was without power and realized that the traffic back up was probably due to the traffic lights not functioning a half mile ahead . ( I found out later that there had also been an accident involving an 18 wheeler at the lights five minutes prior to my travels) My aging hippy shipping clerk opened the door when he saw me pull up and I told him what I needed to do and was let in the store. Unfortunately the box had already been picked up the previous day. While I was there chatting, the owner of the shop showed up. With no power, he decided not to open and 'my' hippy asked me for a lift home.

The drive back was uneventful. I noticed that two overly large, skinny, and top heavy pines in a Main Street front yard had survived the wind storm. By a couple hours later, one of those trees had toppled, miraculously missing a house, and totally blocking the drive and entrance to the house!

I spent the majority of the day either picking up our little bits of tree debris or working on keys in the shop. We drove to Ace Hardware to pick up a few things and found out that power was out all along Railroad Avenue...and at Ace! They were running a little generator to power some emergency lights and one cash register. We were escorted by a flashlight toting clerk to find the items we needed. My mom went out to grocery shop and when she got home commented that a utility pole near Stop & Shop was leaning very precariously. When I drove 'A' to work for 3 p.m. I took a look. It has at least a 33° list and a few of the lines are resting against a sign post further down the street.

After finishing work, my mom and I had an early dinner and then went in to town to check on a friend's house that we are babysitting for 6 weeks. All was fine there including the cable TV so we stayed and watched the news. Things are a mess around here! About 8,000 on the island of about 30,000 are still without electricity. Some roads are still impassable because of downed wires and trees. Several trees along Thatcher Road fell and took out 3 utility poles. The road along Pebble Beach was washed out (always does in a storm!) and even the road at Back Beach was closed. Two motels along Gloucester's back shore lost their roofs. The roof from the motel section of the Ocean View Inn is totally gone...all of it, not just the shingles. During the worst of the storm last night, a huge fire raged at Hampton Beach, NH., destroying an entire block including hotels, apartments, and the arcade. It's hard to get a fire controlled during winds of over 70 mph. There has been much beach erosion all along the eastern coast of Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Tonight as I drove to Stop & Shop to pick up 'A', I noticed that the entire 4 mile route was in darkness. I had a hard time finding my turn at Barn Lane without the lights of the Shaw's shopping center to illuminate the corner. The leaning utility pole is still there, still with it's threatening angle. A half dozen power company trucks were congregated with floodlights shining around one intersection along my route. The pine tree top is still hanging, entangled in the power lines not far from our street. Our neighbor has cut the fallen tree off of his truck and car and just an enormous section of trunk along with it's unearthed root ball remains.

We still have no TV, which is an annoyance. I had wanted to watch Apolo Ohno's final speed skating race. But, we do have power and the light and warmth that it brings. We had no damage to our property and no major clean-up. We were fortunate.

An update: The TV is back on and I heard that Apolo was disqualified in his last individual race. Relay still to go. Also, the Sandy Bay Yacht Club (Rockport) recorded winds, last night, of between 70 and 80 mph with one gust at 87 mph. The photo at the top of this post is credited to the GDT staff photographer.

Blue In The Face

We had snow this past Tuesday. Not a lot, but enough for some heavy duty shoveling (wet snow) and a couple passes on the roads with plows and sand/salt trucks. I went out to my back PRIVATE drive to finish up cleaning the plow-in snow from behind my truck and silently screamed. Now, in reality, they are not supposed to be plowing that drive. Nor the neighbor's connecting drive. They are not public roads or public right-of-ways. We have kept moderately silent about it realizing that our neighbors are enjoying the benefit of not having to hand shovel a very long drive. We did, if you remember, post PRIVATE DRIVE signs at each end of the back drive.

So, why was I upset? Well, the plow dug up the granite pavers all along the edge of my parking area. Even though I had placed reflectors to keep them well away from the edge. The plow driver scooped a swath well inside of my markers. THEN he managed to break off the end of the paved drive and added insult to injury by plowing up hill TOWARDS the damaged edge and removing all the broken pavement. I found several hunks of it half a block away! Add to that the enormous amount of dirt that was then scooped out with the plow and now there's a 10 inch drop at the end of the drive.

Wednesday I went to the DPW (Department of Public Works) with photos in hand. First they tried to claim that there was no pavement involved. Wrong. Then they claimed that if it was a private drive, they weren't the ones plowing it. Wrong. Then they tried to scare me by saying that if it WERE found to be private (it is) that they would no longer plow it. "Fine with me," I said. "But what about fixing the damage to private property?" The head guy made a quick phone call to his man in the field. I met him back at the house. He tried to tell me that there wasn't any pavement damaged. That it was ground asphalt filler. Wrong and I demonstrated that I could carry a large hunk of it in one piece...not ground filler. Then he said that the town really shouldn't be plowing the drive. Once again, "Fine with me!". I showed him where the drive used to end, a near four feet from it's present broken end.He assured me he'd have it fixed in the Spring. (That should be a fun experience). Meanwhile more snow is expected Tuesday, Wednesday, and maybe Thursday. By the time Winter ends, there'll be no drive left!

Maybe it won't get plowed this time!

My Third Career

Will be as a meteorologist. Tell me, at what other job can you routinely be wrong 75% of the time and keep your job along with a hefty salary? Over a foot of snow? Try less than a quarter of an inch!

Just before 2 p.m., when I was driving 'A' to work, it had flurried but not stuck to anything. By 4 p.m. it was still the same. As I sat in my truck in the parking lot prior to 6 p.m., I was being jostled by strong wind gusts from the east nearing 45 mph. In the distance, I could see the blue light flashing atop Gloucester City Hall warning everyone that it was a snow emergency and there would be no on-street parking. Hah! Temperatures were dropping and the parking lot was starting to get a slightly slippery glazing. There were still flurries but next to no accumulation.

A non-blizzard.

I'm not complaining.

Well, at least not about the weather.

Has It Really Been That Long?

Wow! I haven't written here in quite some time. I guess that's because while nothing of particular note is happening here, neither have I managed to find time to sit and write about all the nothing. I'm fed up with winter.We haven't had all the snow that some areas south of us have seen. It doesn't make sense that one needs to head south for snow, does it? Anyway, our lack of snow is partially due to the extremely cold temperatures that we have been having. Add to those a brisk breeze and it's cold. Very cold. Just so that we don't feel left out, temperatures are supposed to moderate mid-week and allow us 6-8 inches of white stuff.

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So, the nothing stuff...I've started working on all our income tax forms. I've actually made out quite well, tax-wise, this year! Refunds will be coming to me from both the Feds and the State. This is the first time in eight years. Yippeeeeeeee! Of course doing the taxes is not without the irritation factor. For the second year in a row the government has failed to send tax forms and instruction books for each of us. I got my federal booklet, with forms, over a month ago. My mom and 'A' haven't gotten any. We've all gotten our state stuff. I ended up printing a pile of forms from online so I could get things started. So, pencil drafts are finished for each of us. Just a double check of the math and then filling out the forms that will be sent in.

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Key work has slowed down and I've been working on the Indian harmonium. I fixed all the contracted work and decided to put a bit more into it. The bellows seemed weak so I've delved deeper in to the workings to make sure that everything is as sealed up as possible. Tomorrow will be two tunings. Tuesday I'll be tuning and replacing some strings on that Helpinstiehl (sp?) electronic piano.

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Finally, I've read a couple more books. The only one worth mentioning in the sidebar is The Lost City of Z, by David Grann. (If it's not in the sidebar yet, it will be soon. Don't forget that whenever possible a link to the book/author's website is accessible by clicking on the book cover.) Do you see a little trend in subject matter here? These abandoned, mysterious places are getting to me. Anyway, an outstanding narrative of Percy Fawcett's obsession with finding the lost city of El Dorado in the early 20th century Amazon, his disappearance, and the numerous, failed attempts to find him (or his remains) over the subsequent three quarters of a century.

And Then There Was...

One! Set of keys in the shop.

Finally!

Two more are due to arrive next week.

And the harmonium is here for it's repairs.

Tomorrow I'm off to a tuning in the morning.

If You Can't Find Me

This is where I am. For the next millennium it would seem. Two sets of keys went out today. One of which was picked up by the tech, the other was shipped out. That left three sets to finish. That is until three more box-fulls were found waiting at my door. Another two are due to arrive at any time. And, of course, the customer with a harmonium needing repair is arriving on Saturday morning.

I hear that sleep is overrated.

That Feeling That The Ax Will Fall

It's just a matter of when. But for now, I'm swamped with work...still. Yeah, there was a week or so just after the new year when things slowed a teeny bit. With the economic situation still VERY ill, I don't understand why business is good. Not complaining, just nervous.

Today was Ipswich afternoon. I went to look at a piano that the owner had seemed very nervous about over the phone. She was afraid that she had made a big mistake in accepting a free piano. Well, it's no great shakes but certainly a serviceable Story & Clark console. We've scheduled a tuning in about a week. Then I went to tune a VERY LARGE Henry F. Miller upright dating from 1902. It had been redone, sort of, mostly weirdly with wrong sized hammers, inappropriate and too thick felts. It played and that was the client's main concern. Played well? No. But every note worked. The piano had been restrung with oversized tuning pins. Before this new owner acquired the instrument, it had been stored on a porch. Most rusty tuning pins I have ever seen. Orange crud was growing like lichen on the bass pins, yet the strings looked shiny and new! Most of the bass tuning pins did not want to turn. That concerned me as with all that rust, I was sure that a pin would snap off. I certainly didn't want that mess. The client stayed in the room watching and listening through the entire tuning. I had expressed my concerns about the rusty pins and she commented that she wasn't nervous at all. "That's one person in this room that's not worried," I said. Finished in just over an hour, and - it sounds better but still plays like...

Came home to a set of keys on the porch. Big job of German tops and fronts and key bushing. Another set due to arrive on Monday, just for bushings. Monday's job may lead to doing production key work for an electric keyboard company. Next week there should be another two sets of keys beyond those I just mentioned. Monday afternoon I tune for a regular customer, Wednesday morning another regular (the Steinway monster). Then the music director at the school called and they need three pianos tuned this coming week. Sometime in there I've got to return the action (back to a customer's piano) that I had in the shop for repairs last week.

Yep, I'm getting nervous.

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Oh, and before I forget to mention it. There's a new book in the sidebar. Ford County is a collection of stories written by John Grisham. A good read and according to Mr. Grisham, the stories are taken from ideas that he's had over the years that never developed in to full novels.

Reason Number One

Why furniture refinishers should not try to do piano key work...

And therefore why sane piano technicians should not be willing to finish up said work.

I've never claimed to be sane, only saner than many.

So the email stated that the keys had been professionally prepped, sanded with 100 grit, to be ready to just glue on new key tops. "Could you discount the price?"

I think not! (Between you and me, I should have charged extra.)

So while they did save me the time of slicing off the old tops and fronts, I was left with this to deal with.Can't just glue those new key tops and fronts on to this jagged edge! Just imagine how messed up that supposed nice, straight, edge of piano keys would be with these two sticking out further toward the front! Yes, there were others of similar ilk. I trimmed them to match their neighbors. That was the most I could do to straighten what still will most likely be a rather irregular line of keys. Then I went on with the rest of the job. During the trimming of the top key wood using my rotary planer set-up, a large area of Bondo filler chipped off two blade tips on the planer. I wasn't happy. Thankfully I had a set of new blades on hand. Everything else went fine.

What do you think? I think that the refinisher got a piano in for a strip and new finish. I think they didn't take the keys out and managed to ruin the existing key tops. Then they decided to not tell the customer and take care of it before their customer could find out. How hard could it be to glue new plastic on? They pulled off the old, leaving several large rip-outs of wood which they then filled with Bondo. Then they sanded. Then they took a circular saw of some sort and wacked off the fronts. Most were sort of in a line. A few were way off. Then they found out that the new plastic key tops (they sent a set they had purchased) are made oversized and need to be machined to fit each key and they realized they were in trouble. I could be wrong, but...

The finished keys were sent back today with the photo enclosed and a BIG disclaimer and warning about future work.

Magic and Mystery

I can't believe it has been so long since I wrote here! I have been keeping busy and by the time free time comes around, well, I fall asleep. So, today is the first chance that I've had during daylight hours to take some time to update.

It snowed a bit New Year's Eve Day but had stopped in time to get most of the roads and walkways cleaned up for Rockport's New Year celebration. I did my usual volunteering at our church, which was listed as venue number 8 of 15. Each location was host to 3 double performances. The first two sets at the church were the Bullock Brothers, a super gospel group. I was secretly hoping that they would perform His Eye Is On The Sparrow. The first 45 minute set finished up with no Sparrow. Oh well, I supposed that I could have requested it. Then after a half hour of the second set... they sang it! Magic. As the Bullock Brothers finished up, I noticed some rather strangely dressed folks waiting near the door behind me. Oh, they must be the next act, The Jolly Rogues. Yep, as the Bullock Brothers packed up The Jolly Rogues set up. I stayed for most of the first set. Quite good, but not my thing. Three pre-teen girls sitting with their grandmother (possibly) looked thoroughly bored. I headed for another location in town to hear the Maple Sugar Jazz Band. 45 minutes of Dixieland and Big Band jazz. That's when he appeared. Taking a seat nearly in front of me was a tall, very white-haired gentleman. He wore a long dark woolen overcoat and had a knit, piano keyboard scarf around his neck. He sat quietly appreciating the music of the band, paying particular attention to solo parts of the piano player. After the set was finished, he walked up front to chat with the band members. I know this man from somewhere but I can't figure it out. Who is that mystery man? As best as I can think of, it could be a customer. I'm not sure.

I finished my evening back at our church with two wonderful sets performed by Stambandet, a Scandanavian vocal ensemble, who's twelve members sang traditional holiday music in Swedish, Finnish, and Latin.

That's how I finished off 2009. And now it's on to 2010. A dangerous year at least in number. 1809 was the last year and we won't have another like it until 2211.

A Super New Book

I got new reading material for a Christmas present. I've put a book cover picture in the sidebar. The book is titled, Death and Enchantment in a New England Ghost Town, Dogtown. It's extremely well researched and written by Elyssa East.

I finished reading it tonight. Yep, that good. A real can't put it down book that wraps the history of Dogtown around the 1984 murder of Anne Natti in it's woods. While I admit to being fascinated with the unusual, and Dogtown certainly qualifies, I think most anyone with the slightest inclination towards history and the unique atmosphere of an island community will be as enthralled with this book as I am.

Have Yourself a Very Merry Christmas

Any of you know how to read Finnish?We found this card in the Lanesville house. It is addressed to the long deceased V. E. Haapa Natti (subsequently Storns). A fitting card to post here. We've been feeding the large clan (flock) of Bubbas and Squirt has reappeared to steal what he feels he's due. He hasn't been very pushy about it as there are an abundance of acorns this year. Today, he was having fits just trying to get one peanut as the bluejays kept landing around him and dive-bombing him. Poor little Squirt was frozen in place and ducking!

Even more wildlife have been coming around. Some not so welcome...

On Sunday there was a lot of shoveling to do. Near the end of the day I shoveled the back garden walk near the birdfeeder and deck. As I scooped up a shovelful at the base of deck steps, I nearly sliced up a small, dark grey mouse under all the snow. He scurried out of the way and burrowed neatly under a nearby drift of snow. Eeeeeew. That makes me real enthusiastic about snow removal back there for the rest of the winter.

On a more interesting note, today after Squirt and the Bubbas were finished with their feasting on peanuts, a hawk landed on out deck railing. Wish I had had the camera handy.

I wish you all the best of the holiday season and I'm so thankful to have you all visiting here.

It May Look Pretty, But...

it's no fun to shovel or drive in. Here are the requisite photos of what I woke up to this morning.The initial shoveling was backbreaking. With drifting the snow depths were from 0 to 18 inches or more.As noted by the snow plastered against our sliding doors that go out to the deck, it's blowing a gale outside. I spent about an hour and fifteen minutes with my first shovel out. I'll be back at it again shortly. My face is so red it looks like I spent an afternoon in the sun. Only in my dreams. 'A' has to be at work at 2 p.m. I was sort of hoping she'd call in sick since she has a sore throat. No such luck.

Sigh...

I'm dreaming of a sun-drenched Christmas,
Where temps are eighty and above.
Turquoise waters and orange blossoms,
And palm trees swaying are what I love.

Sigh again.

Can't Say I've Been Bored

Just so you all get to see what I've been keeping busy with...my job board in my workshop is pictured above. It's from the beginning of November up until the present. The two left hand columns show key work. Each job is a three to four day turnaround time. Some of the individual jobs are multi-part, therefore requiring up to one weeks shop time. Divide all that in to less than 60 days! The upper right hand column is devoted to tunings, estimates, and small in-home repairs. The lower right hand corner lists upcoming repairs, minor and major and some known January jobs. Although getting all the key work out on schedule can be, and has been for the past couple weeks, stressful, I really like seeing so much work coming in.

Over-doing

'Tis the season. Last December my work was down by 75% from the previous year. The piano business was really taking a hit from the down economy. This December, well, I think folks have finally gotten fed up with doing without. I'm presently swamped with work. So much so that I have postponed two new customers to having more involved work done after the new year. I tuned a somewhat decrepit, yet tunable, Welte - Mignon studio 'mirror' piano on Friday morning. It needs three hammer flanges (doubling as damper flanges) repinned. Things are playable and he agreed to schedule the repair for after the holidays. Friday afternoon I went to take a look at a Starck console. Just needs tuning (pretty routine). It does need new key tops. I'm scheduled to go back on the 30th to pick up the keys.

So what's the deal? I've got 12 hours days worth of key jobs in the workshop for the next week - at least! A rush job of key bushing, ivory repair, and backcheck releathering for a regular customer. Key tops and bushing for a new customer. Two sets at once of key tops for another newbie.

So far.

In shipment, due to arrive next week, three more key top jobs and one key bushing job. Next week I also have a tuning and repair on Tuesday morning.

I am sooooo tired. It'll all get done. On time. Somehow.

At Least It Didn't Snow

But it was sure a yucky day.

We had our first snow of the season early last Sunday morning. That didn't amount to more than a dusting, but it was annoying to have to scrape the windshield. For the past couple of days the meteorologists have been predicting a doozey. "Watch out, we're going to get a major snow storm," was all I heard on the weather. It started with heavy rain in southern California (thanks Scribbs) and spread itself halfway across the country with snow in New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, then Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and the upper midwest. Today was our turn.

But not here.

It's very rainy and very, very windy. Very grey and gloomy. Squirt and Squeaky had their breakfast in the lee of our big oak tree.

NO SNOW!

Drive a few miles to the west or north and they had snow. Up to 10 inches in some places, but NOT HERE! Of course, we have huge puddles and the wind was blasting so violently that a cement weighted sign in Stop & Shop's parking lot blew over doing some significant paint damage to the hood of a shiny, black Mustang parked in front of it. It was a small enough sign, on a metal post, with a circular mass of cement about a foot thick and 2 feet in diameter. The metal post did the damage. Yes, I braved the wild and wet storm to go in to the store to tell the manager.

So, now we're all home, nice and cozy. Thankfully, I've got key work in to keep me busy with more arriving tomorrow and Friday. Dinner is cooking, the Christmas decorations are all out. I'm heading for the living room to stare at the tree.

Free For All

Last week, on a weird fluke, 'A' decided she wanted to pick up the daily newspaper. Upon turning to the Rockport page a headline caught my attention. Over a week later, I don't remember the exact wording of that headline, but it indicated an interesting article to be read below it. The article was about the planned upgrade and 'restoration' of the Rockport Community House AND it clearly stated that the building would be open on the following Saturday for residents to TAKE anything available that they could use. WOW!! A free sale!

The Saturday rolled around and I really didn't feel like rolling out of bed early. The words FREE STUFF kept rolling around my brain, so I did roll out. I thought it would be best to beat the scheduled opening time of 9 a.m. by about a half hour. Folks in this town are known to line up well ahead of time for bargains. I was first to arrive so I waited in my truck and watched the door. When one other 'shopper' arrived, I headed for the door. There were two rooms set up with an assortment of items. Tables, folding chairs, glassware, desks, file cabinets, an electric keyboard, stove, refrigerator, and assorted miscellany. Some neat stuff that I really didn't need.

What I ended up with was a large, and very heavy, folding screen covered with old and cracking Naugahyde, a very nice, newish, tall folding chair, an iron candlestick, a roll of white plastic tablecovering, and a Mission-style oak plant stand that needs refinishing.The picture is rather blurry, but it beats the other one I have which is way too dark! (No, I'm not taking another.)

Then I went on with my morning.

After dropping 'A' off at work at 11 a.m. I thought, oh well, might as well stop by and see what's left. The two ladies in charge of the give-away were getting ready to leave as I entered the main room. They hung around while I loaded up two metal shelving units and a collapsible, rolling clothes rack.

So...I haven't a clue what I will do with the folding screen. Right now it's a bit of a divider in the workshop. The tall chair is down there as well. It will be good for the craft shows next year. The candlestick is awaiting a good spot. It may wait for years! The roll of plastic table covering is sure to be handy, even as a dropcloth. The plant stand has been taken apart (it needed a reglue anyway) and will be refinished this winter. The shelves are in use in the workshop as is the rolling clothing rack which has been equipped with window screening which all the ivory jewelry is hanging on, covered in clear plastic, for the winter. For craft shows it will be the new stand for the ivory process photographs that I have as a backdrop.

Free stuff is great.

More Than I Should Have When I Should Have Done Something Else

I was all set to head to church this morning when my mother asked if I would help her get the Christmas window boxes in place on the shed and at my porch. She had spent a few hours for the last couple days getting the greens and berries all arranged. Well, darn. I might as well stay home and get work finished up because I just knew the next question. "It's a beautiful day. Are you going to rake more leaves?"

Yep.

So after the window box carting, I finished up two sets of key tops. (Tomorrow at least one more set is due to arrive, maybe two. And I've got a tuning in the morning.) Then I set out to rake more oak leaves. That was at about 11 a.m. I came in for a fifteen minute lunch break at 1 p.m., then it was back to raking and bagging.

42 large lawn and leaf bags! And there are still more leaves - I ran out of bags. That makes the seasonal total, to date, 83 bags. That's a heck of a lot of oak leaves.

Now every joint hurts. One Aleve and a good night's sleep and it starts all over again tomorrow.

Funny How One Thing Leads to Another

After last Wednesday's tuning job, I made a dash to finish my Christmas shopping. My driving route took me past New England Biolabs and I remembered that I hadn't written my follow-up post.Mary called to tell me that she had picked up this magazine and noticed a familiar company featured. It seems that the founder of NE Biolabs is quite the guy! The title of the article in Northshore Life is Don Comb: Generosity is in his Genes. Indeed! I quote from the article by Heidi Paek: "Those who know Comb describe him as a remarkably generous and productive person. Though he is a great-grandfather, he seems ageless, working daily in search of answers to pressing scientific questions. Motivated primarily by his desire to advance the greater good, Comb has been a life long advocate of science and the environment, and an influential supporter of the arts." The article continues for three pages sprinkled with explanations of tidbits such as gene research, enzyme development, Filariasis (a parasitic organism) and DNA, environmental stewardship, environmentally sustainable construction, Ocean Genome Legacy Foundation, art as a universal form of expression, and bio-diversity of the world. What I gleened is that primarily NE Biolabs is involved in advancing the 'pre'curing of disease by discovery of the genetic cause and treatment at a genetic level. Pretty cool guy.

But, before that article there was another that held nearly equal fascination for me. The Danvers Insane Hospital: What Evil Lurks, by M. Renee Buckley.Having grown up on the north shore and having made the trip back and forth on Route 1, through Danvers, hundreds of times during my life, I've always been fascinated with the enormous Gothic presence of, what we referred to as, the Danvers State Mental Hospital. It sits high on a barren hill above acres of fields. Ominous. The main building, called Kirkbride, is a 70,000 square foot brick structure surrounded by many large 'out' buildings. The article was a superficial swipe at the more mysterious and possibly haunted aspects of the hospital which was closed in 1992. The hospital was built in 1878 and was designed to house 600 patients. At it's worst, 2000 poor souls were crammed in to the facility. By the 1980's only about 200 patients remained.

During the late 1940's, my great grandmother was commited to Danvers State Hospital.Nancy had spent a short time living with her daughter and family prior to her commitment. In those days the family lived in an apartment behind the office of GP, Dr. Peris. By today's standards it seems an odd arrangement. The only telephone, located in the doctor's office, was shared with my grandparents (and my mother). During the hours that the doctor's office was closed, my grandmother would answer any emergency calls and then call the doctor at his home. Also, the doctor's office had no facilities for sterilization. Dr. Peris would let himself in to my grandparent's apartment to boil his instruments in a pan on their kitchen stove. Nancy went to live with her daughter's family, in her latter years, as she began suffering from dementia. My mother remembers that in Nancy's short stay with them her condition worsened to the point that she would frequently wander unclothed. Considering the living (and sharing) arrangements, this posed an insurmountable problem. Long before the days of skilled nursing care or nursing homes, Danvers State was the only option. Nancy lived the last few months of her life there.

Today, the Kirkbride building is designated as an historic building and has become the central part of a high-end apartment complex, Avalon Danvers, built upon the same footprint as the Danvers State Hospital atop Hathorne Hill.

So, what started out as the coincidental discovery of an article that tied in to my blog post then led, for me, to a much more personal search in to the past.

Fair Saturday

...started off bright and early. I was up and out to the school complex just after 7:30 in the morning. Once at the school, I uncovered everything that we had set up on Friday evening and neaten, then put out the little Christmas tree for displaying the some of the easel miniatures as ornaments. I had time before opening to take a picture of my table.Not exactly a prime location in the gymnasium. I was located in the center aisle. At least it was a corner table so I got more traffic than the middle ones.

Around 9:30 a few people started milling in to shop. I kept reminding myself that last year had started off slowly - don't worry. The first hour past and I had had no sales. I was getting a bit nervous. Then a lady came by and was so excited to see the ivory necklaces. She told me that someone had given her one as a gift last year and she loves it. She bought two to give as gifts. Then I sold a couple packages of notecards. A twenty-something guy came and bought an easel miniature, then more necklaces sold. I lost track of how much jewelry sold. Mostly necklaces and a few pairs of earrings, no pins. I sold HALF A DOZEN miniatures!!!!!!!

Now add to that those four custom ordered necklaces - which, on Friday, became a sale of six rather than four AND today we had company and they asked to see the jewelry and I sold two more necklaces - it's been a good three days!

Oh yeah, dickiebo, I saw you peeking around the corner. (It was you in the elf costume wasn't it? You can tell me. I can keep the secret.)

Shameless Self Promotion

Yeah well...the biggie fair is coming up this Saturday so I thought I'd let y'all know. I've got everything sorted, repacked, and ready to go. Set up time is on Friday evening. The Rockport PTO Holiday Fair begins at 9:30 Saturday morning and ends at 2 p.m.Here's a picture of some of the latest additions to the jewelry. The photo shows just the painted ivory - before the findings are added. Top six verticals are necklaces, four of which are for the custom order and will be delivered on Friday. There are six pairs of Christmas earrings, two additional Christmas necklaces and three horizontal Christmas pins. This may or may not be the last fair of the year. The only other consideration would be a church fair coming up on Dec. 12th - a little seasonally late for most shoppers.

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Looking forward - I've got an update on NE Biolabs and some other local stuff (thank you Mary). I'll be posting all about that soon.