| 5/24/2009 |
Florence, SC |
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We had an uneventful drive from Palm Harbor to Florence, SC. Luckily, we managed to avoid rain most of the day, just driving through a few short showers.
The grrlz hated to say goodbye to Russ, Lu, and their pool! By midafternoon, they were getting crabby and whiny, just like a couple of kids saying "Are we there yet?". We're all out of the habit of driving all day. [Heather] |
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| 5/25/2009 |
Harrisburg, PA |
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We got on the road a bit earlier than normal, hoping to avoid heavier Memorial Day traffic late in the day. We spent pretty much all day on I-95, until we headed northwest from the Washington D.C. area to Harrisburg.
Traffic was heavy around the D.C. area, with the strangely inconsistent traffic speeds and densities. We talked to our niece, Kristin, along the way. She and her husband were about 45 minutes ahead of us on I-95, heading back to the Philadelphia area from a wedding in North Carolina. [Heather] |
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| 5/28/2009 |
Lexington, MA |
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We reached Lexington about 4 p.m. on Tuesday, after an uneventful drive and a stop at the Fast Lane service center on the turnpike to pick up an EZ Pass transponder for the car. Massachusetts is giving away the transponders for free instead of the usual $25 fee to encourage more people to us the EZ Pass lanes and reduce the need for tollbooth attendants. It's something we've been meaning to do for awhile, mainly to avoid the long lines at tollbooths in the tiny section of New Hampshire that we frequently travel.
The grrlz were glad to see their "grandma" Joan, but wanted to know where the pool was. Joan says that she'd do a lot of things for her granddogs, but installing a pool isn't one of them! It's great to be here, and off the road again.
Chris immediately dove into the list of small and large chores that Joan needs him to do for her. He's already managed to cross several off the list. We have this week to settle in and work on small projects before our annual round of medical appointments start next week. [Heather]
I'm also preparing for the US Sailing Instructor course I'll be teaching next month. Lots of new material to be assimilated and organized for the course.
We've gotten all the most urgent items crossed off the to-do list at my mother's so now it time to start looking at the big project for this summer - finishing the last corner of the basement (including a sort of bathroom). Fortunately we looked at this last year and Heather came up with a much better design for the space that allows us to keep all the plumbing connections in their current locations. [Chris] |
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| 6/2/2009 |
Lexington, MA |
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Well, I guess we've been keeping busy, given the length of time that has elapsed since our last entry. On Friday, we ran a few errands and helped Joan pack her car for a week long camping trip in Vermont. About 10 Saturday morning, her friend Wilma showed up and transferred her gear to Joan's car. Within a few minutes, they were ready to hit the road to a cottage in Half Moon State Park. The weather has been cold and rainy, so we hope it improves for them.
On Sunday, we met our friends John and Liz for dinner at the Naked Fish. It was great to see them -- the first time we've caught up with them since their wedding last September.
On Monday, Chris took the VW in for service and found that it needed some parts that, of course, weren't immediately available. It goes back on Thursday for the work to be completed. While we were waiting for the call from the service department, we started on the demolition in the last corner of Joan's basement that we haven't yet addressed. It's slow going, but at least there weren't any scary surprises under the floor.
Today we had the first of our many medical appointments for the summer. Before our visit to the opthamologist, we stopped by our favorite used book store and loaded up on summer reading material.
I've been enjoying all the wonderful food markets around here. On our way home today, we stopped first at Trader Joe's, then made an expedition to Wilson Farms where we bought some great produce and wonderful cheeses. We enjoyed some of their perfect, locally-grown asparagus tonight for dinner. [Heather]
I've been enjoying the opportunity to ride my bike through Willard's Woods and around town on the bike trails. I even eschewed the van ride from the VW dealer in Bedford and rode home and back on the commuter bike trail that ends nearby.
Heather mentioned this year's final remodeling of the basement here. We are tearing out an ancient and decrepit toilet stall and laundry area and redoing it (and sheetrocking the last of the basement ceiling in the process). Some minor electrical and a bit of plumbing revisions will allow us to create a useful and pleasant space from the current dark and scary basement corner.
I am also hitting the books and working up materials for both the US Sailing Instructor course I'll be teaching in June and the upcoming summer season at Ipswich Junior Sailing. [Chris] |
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| 6/6/2009 |
Lexington, MA |
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Chris has now finished the demolition in the basement, so we've been able to consider the steps needed to build the new laundry room/powder room. The most critical and "fiddly" part of the rebuild will be construction of a subfloor to level out the concrete floor. We have a plan in mind, so now we can start plugging away at it around our other appointments.
We also got the VW van in for repairs and Chris made a trip to the dentist. Chris also had the opportunity to work with a couple of the Ipswich board meeting fleshing out plans for the summer youth sailing program. I've been plugging away at recipe testing for a possible future book. Having all these wonderful ingredients available is quite inspiring!
Joan and Wilma are due back from Vermont today and I expect that we'll see them midafternoon. Chris has to head into Cambridge this afternoon for a CPR Review, required before he starts work for the summer. [Heather] |
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| 6/10/2009 |
Lexington, MA |
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Joan and Wilma returned Saturday afternoon from a pleasant, but cool trip to Vermont. At least it warmed up enough for them to kayak the last two days of their trip.
On Sunday, we raced out to get a few ingredients for our Monday birthday celebration in between bouts of dog grooming. Yes, it was "Spa Day" for the grrlz! They were WAY overdue for haircuts since we last groomed them in Cayo Vivorillos off the coast of Honduras and Nicaragua. They look pounds lighter.
On Monday, we had a delayed joint birthday celebration for Joan and Chris. Joan's sister, Barbara, drove up from Hingham for the celebration. We had a delicious dinner of bluefish pate (from Legal Seafoods), sauteed chicken breasts with a balsamic citrus pan sauce, roasted veggies, a wonderful fruit salad that Barbara contributed, and carrot cake. Yum! The birthday folks enjoyed opening their mountain of presents. I got Chris a selection of fun, upscale ingredients -- a wonderful lemon olive oil, sherry vinegar, chestnut honey, lavender honey, walnut oil, piquillo peppers, and a couple of packages of really good pasta. We'll both enjoy turning those items into memorable meals.
Tuesday we had another wonderful food day. Chris and I visited the first Lexington Farmer's Market of the season and bought everything we needed for dinner: swordfish fresh that morning, heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil, and fresh mozzarella that was handmade that morning. What a wonderful meal! The swordfish was fresh, tender, and perfectly cooked by Chris on the grill. It was even better when drizzled with a bit of Chris' lemon olive oil. Our caprese salad made with all super fresh ingredients was delicious. Definitely something to be said for "eating locally"!
We ended the day with a movie. Joan hadn't seen Star Trek yet and Chris and I were delighted to see it again. Joan had a great time, and we enjoyed the movie just as much the second time. [Heather] |
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| 6/13/2009 |
Keene, NH |
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This is a placeholder, so you can see on the map where we went for the rally obedience trial. You'll find all the details about our trip in the June 17 entry. |
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| 6/17/2009 |
Lexington, MA |
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Wow, how has another week gone by? A lot has happened, so let's see what I can remember. Last week, Chris and I both had our annual physicals and dermatologist appointments and were cleared to "continue aging gracefully"! Nice to get those chores out of the way.
On Friday, we took off for New Hampshire where I was judging a rally obedience trial. We turned the less than two hour drive into several hours of playing tourist. It was great fun! We stopped at two farmstead cheese makers and bought some interesting cheeses to take home. We stopped for lunch at a great little diner, then visited Burdick's Chocolate in Walpole, NH. We split a delicious iced chocolate and bought some wonderful goodies.
We got to Keene around 4 and headed over to the trial site. We had a chance to set up our crates to reserve a good location, check out the trial venue, and give the grrlz a chance to brush up their rally skills with a run-thru. On the way back to the hotel, we picked up a couple of salads to enjoy with some of our farmstead cheese.
Saturday was a VERY long day! We got to the trial site about 7 a.m. I was the rally rep during the morning trial and judged during the afternoon. We also had the grrlz entered in Level 3 (both dogs) and Veterans (Kira). Kira did great in Veteran's -- a first place and a second place -- and squeaked through in Level 3 to get one qualifying run and earn her title. Minnow provided comic relief! It's not her fault; we've never really trained her for the Level 3 exercises. Anyway, the trials ran long and I finished judging my last course about 8 p.m. When Chris picked me up, I demanded dinner from the fast food drive-thru so I could get back to our hotel room and take off my shoes.
Sunday was a little easier. We got to sleep in a bit, have a good breakfast, and get to the trial about 9:30. We finished up about 6 p.m. and hit the road back to Lexington. We stopped for dinner along the way and got home about 9:00.
Monday, Chris started work up at Ipswich. Since our housing isn't available until next week, the grrlz and I stayed in Lexington and Chris is crashing at another house in the area. He's here tonight for a midweek visit and a good home-cooked meal. I'll let him tell you about his week when he gets a chance.
I spent Monday resting up and staying off my tired, sore feet. Tuesday and Wednesday flew by as I ran some errands and did some computer work. Tuesday I spent an exhausting couple of hours clothes shopping. As usual, I had pretty good luck at Kohl's, but only after trying on half the items in the place! [Heather]
Preparation for the sailing season is underway with the usual cleaning and repair of boats underway. During the winter the decrepit float used for Optimist dinghies was replaced with a nice new one. A great improvement. Lots of minor fiberglass work on the the boats, and some configuration and hardware for the new float. [Chris] |
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| 6/23/2009 |
Ipswich, MA |
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Chris came back to Lexington late afternoon on Wednesday and we immediately took the dogs for a romp at Willard Woods. They were going stir-crazy cooped up in the house with me. Thursday morning, it was back to Ipswich for Chris to continue working on the boats and other arrangements. I ran a couple of errands, then made a quick dinner for Joan and I before Joan headed off to her sister's house.
Friday I worked on a few projects while I was waiting for Chris to get home from Ipswich. Unfortunately, the rain started just as he reached Lexington, so the grrlz didn't get a walk. We took them out first thing Saturday morning, though, since the rain had stopped.
Saturday, I started packing up our belongings for the move to Ipswich. We staged things in Joan's garage since we couldn't pack the car until Sunday night. Early Sunday morning, we drove up to New Hampshire and met our friend John at a diner for breakfast. Then I dropped the two guys and their four dogs off at the trailhead for a hike over Pack Monadnoc.
While they were hiking, I drove a little way further and returned to Keene for some sightseeing since I didn't get to see anything while I was judging last weekend. I dawdled along some scenic byways and explored 3 of the 6 covered bridges that are between Keene and Winchester.
Shortly before I returned to pick up Chris and John, the drizzle became full-fledged rain. What a raw, nasty day it turned into! We loaded up the cars with two wet guys and four wet, muddy dogs and headed off for lunch. We had hoped to visit America's Stonehenge in the afternoon, but the snotty weather discouraged us. Just as well -- back in Lexington, we still had to load the van.
Monday morning, we got to Ipswich about 9. Chris helped unload the van then took off to the Yacht Club to work. Unpacking and organizing went pretty quickly. Since this is our third summer in the same "mother-in-law apartment", I know where everything needs to go. We had a quick, early supper before Chris took off for his required first aid refresher course.
This morning, I made a brief trip back to Lexington to pick up the last of our stuff. It was nice to see Joan, since she wasn't back before we left for Ipswich. [Heather] |
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| 6/25/2009 |
Ipswich, MA |
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Wednesday morning I made three trips to the Yacht Club before 8:30 a.m. -- first to deliver Chris, second to deliver donuts, and third to take Chris some copies he needed for the first day of the Instructor Trainer class he's teaching.
Later in the day, I completed the "shopping pentathlon", a grueling 4 1/2 hour circuit of Costco, Trader Joe's, Bed Bath and Beyond, Target, and Stop and Shop. I decided to cram all my errands into one day since I'm trying to restrict my trips to the "Land of Retail" to no more than once per week. Of course, as soon as I got back to Ipswich with all the groceries, etc, the rain resumed. It was a busy day, but I've got all most of the nonperishable items I need for a summer worth of brown bag lunches for Chris.
Today I was busy all day, but it was much more relaxed. I worked around the apartment all morning, continuing to put things away and get settled in. This afternoon, I took the grrlz for a much-needed walk. Afterwards we celebrated the drier weather with a trip to White Farms for doggie dishes of ice cream! [Heather] |
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| 7/1/2009 |
Ipswich, MA |
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On Friday, in addition to the usual chores, I took the grrlz for another good walk. I had headed out to find one of the Trustees of Reservations properties, but couldn't locate it. Instead, I stumbled across a great Essex County Greenbelt property. The grrlz had a great romp on a path that surrounded a field, then we walked along a dirt road down to the Essex river. There we found two other people with dogs relaxing alongside the river. Since it was high tide, the grrlz were able to have a good swim in the river as well as socialize with the other dogs.
Saturday was the last day of Chris' instructor class. All four days he has taught until about 6 and had to complete prep work in the evening. So, he was pretty fried by the end of the course. We celebrated with martinis and Chris took the evening off.
Of course, Sunday he was back at it, getting ready for the youth sailing season start on Monday. The weather has been so cool and wet that he's way behind the power curve on fiberglass work. He still has a couple of Optimist dinghies that need repairs before being used for classes. I was able to help a bit, at least, by resupplying and organizing the first aid kits.
Sunday evening, we joined Joan down in Beverly at Moraine Farm for the annual Trustees reception for donors. Joan gets an invite and we get to tag along! As usual, the catered nibbles were delicious and the rain held off enough for us to enjoy a ramble around the Olmstead-designed gardens. Lovely!
After I dropped off Chris Monday morning for the first day of classes, I decided to get the grrlz out for a walk. I thought the morning would be drier, but I totally missed the boat on the weather. It started to lightly rain as I left the house and by the time we got to our walk destination, it was pouring. I spent enough years walking in the rain in Juneau that we "mud"dled through. This Greenbelt property is a series of horse paths and a large field leased to a polo club (yes, this part of the country is about as far removed from Alaska as you can get, both geographically and socially!). The grrlz had a great time zooming down the paths and through the fields. We were all thoroughly soaked and muddy.
My next stop was the grocery store where, of course, the air conditioning was on full blast. In my soaking wet jeans, I thought I'd succumb to hypothermia before finishing my shopping!
Tuesday I kept busy with laundry, a haircut, and lots of baking. We feasted on delicious bacon-cheese corn muffins and a cranberry-ricotta tart. Chris was gracious enough to wash the mountain of dishes I created in our tiny kitchen! [Heather] |
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