01/01/24: Happy New Year!
Sue and I had a wonderful New Year's Eve celebrating with Marissa, Gary, Mia, and Maisie.

After a wonderful time walking the trails with them at Sandy Hill Farm in Eliot, ME to see the light show, we went back to their house for dinner and movies.

01/02/24: Brook Culvert Replacement
Due to the severe rain storms 12/17/23, we had to replace the brook culvert system on Tuesday 01/02/24 as it was rendered inoperable.

01/02/24: Alan And Kathleen Come For Dinner
We were so glad that Alan and Kathleen were able to come down from Brownfield, ME to have dinner with us because Sue presented them with their wedding album that she had taken the pictures at and created a beautiful memory album for them.

01/04/24: Celebrating Hells Backbone Grill Utah Trip
To block the sun from my eyes when I'm sitting at my desk in the library I put on my Hells Backbone Grill ball cap. I bought it during our 05/05/18: Hell's Backbone Grill and Beyond Trip. I couldn't resist taking a selfie as it brings great memories back to me.

It was a wonderful 9 day trip to Utah from May 4th through the 13th. The motivation for the trip, well... from my viewpoint, anyway, was to fulfill my current, one and only item on my "Bucket List": to have dinner at Hell's Backbone Grill in Boulder, UT. It's all explained in the post if you click the link....

01/06/24: Delayed Christmas For Colin and Swayzie
Swayzie and little Rezleigh were both sick on Christmas, and Colin had to work, and so we had to wait until their shifts all aligned so we could swing by and have a delayed Christmas with them!

01/07/24: Major 12 Inch Snow Storm
Sunday 01/07/24 we got hit with a major 12 inch snow storm.

01/12/24: Friday Night Pizza Party
It had been awhile since we've been able to get together with our friends Steve and Cathy, and so Sue just called them up and invited them over for a Friday night pizza party.

It was nice to have them over and catch up together as it's recently just been Sue and Cathy out walking Beau on some trail through the woods.

01/14/24: Concert And Dinner Out
Sunday 01/14/24 we went to see Recycled Percussion at the Rochester Opera House with Jen and Butch, and then we all went to dinner at the Governor's Inn.

01/16/24: A Week of Winter Storms
So it seems like every other day from 01/16/24 there was some sort of storm - rain and/or snow - that hit us. And along with that was daily temperatures ranging from 20F to 38F degrees.

01/18/24: Gail Overnight Visit
Sue's friend Gail came over early Thursday 01/18/24, and she and Sue went exploring in Rochester for a couple of hours. When they came home, they did some snowshoeing through the woods out back with Beau, which you could tell he really loved.

After they got back and were warming up, I poured out some wine that Gail had brought, a nice 14 Hands Red Blend, and cooked up skillet scallops in a light basil and garlic cream sauce with a side of parsley and basil steamed carrots.

But after watching a movie, we all quickly headed off to bed. I was tasked with cooking fried eggs for us in the morning as all Sue and Gail could do was cup their hot coffee in their hands and chat away in the living room.

01/20/24: Early Dinner and Desert With Movie At Home
We ran some errands in the Dover area early Saturday afternoon 01/20/24, and after having an early dinner at The Shanty on Route 4, we headed home to watch the 3 hour 2023 movie Avatar: Way of the Water, which we both felt was too long and despite a lot of really stunning action sequences had just way too much unnecessary story filler.

01/21/24: Concert In Portsmouth
Sue and I drove down to Portsmouth, NH 01/21/24 to see Seth Rosenbloom in concert at Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club

We had last visited Jimmy's to see Walter Trout back in October of 2023 (see posting 10/01/23: Dinner And Concert In Portsmouth), and were looking forward to attending another event there. And we were not disappointed; what a great show.

01/28/24: Spur Of The Moment Drive To Ossipee For Dinner
Sue's friend Jen called and ask if we'd like to go up to Sunny Villa in Ossipee with her and Butch for a pub dinner and beers. They were going up to have dinner and hear their friend Dave sing and play guitar in the bar.

After carrying in 2 carts of wood, a dump and shopping run, and other stuff, and Sue and Jen had spent several hours together in a herbal tea and tincture class earlier so we were certainly up for that.

I hadn't been to Sunny Villa in maybe 20 years, and I think it had been almost that long for Sue, so an adventure! We got there just after the sun had set and a few snowmobiles popped out of the woods, parked off the trail below the window where we were sitting, and came inside. Butch said the property was on 75 acres with trails leading all over the place.

It was fun night, the beer was cold, and the burgers great. We did catch some light sleet on the drive back home, and there was an overlay of fog through the tops of the trees that was just classic New Hampshire at its winter best!

01/29/24: Snow Storm Drops Another 9 Inches
It started snowing during the night and when we got up there was an additional 9 inches of snow that had fallen onto the 6 remaining from the last storm. It was just spectacularly beautiful.

02/02/24: Arthur and Leslie Join Us For Dinner
Arthur and Leslie joined us for dinner Friday evening 02/03/24. It was a pretty chilly evening outside, but the wood stove kept us all cozy for the evening.

For dinner, I had a bottle of 1000 Stories Bourbon Barrel-Aged Zinfandel on the brain, and just knew that a recipe I had for 'Moroccan Chicken With Apricot and Olive Relish' would be perfect.

Though the girls I'm sure envied our zin, Sue and Leslie opted for a bottle of Prosecco instead. And Arthur came with desert cannolis that were fabulous. A great evening!

02/03/24: Sue Takes Mia For A Building Project Class
Sue saw this great kids building project get together put on by the Home Depot in Somersworth, NH, and thought Mia would love going. And she did!

They not only had a great time building a bird house, but then went to grab a bite to eat and then off to explore whatever treasures they might uncover at the crystal shop in Dover, NH. Mia is wild for it as their brochure states: "... magical tools like crystals and stones, crystal jewelry, pendulums, herbs, candles, smudge supplies, incense and more!"

02/04/24: Cozy Dinner By The Wood Stove
After a busy weekend, Sue and I decided that for Sunday dinner we'd just relax and gather up whatever we had on hand for dinner. I made what turned out to be a mah-vou-loose spicy chicken and vegetable stir fry with spinach, bok choy, carrots, and onion in a really nice tamari, garlic, ginger, honey, and brown sugar sauce served over parsley infused brown rice.

02/11/24: Another Cozy Winter Sunday Dinner
And to carry the theme of the 02/04/24 posting forward, Sundays in the winter here on our little mountain is a wonderful time for us to have cozy dinners by the woodstove. I did chicken again, but this time legs in a spicy ginger sauce with a wonderful bottle of Meiomi our friends Arthur and Leslie had brought us 02/02/24.

02/14/24: Best Card I've Even Received

02/16/24: Vows On The Lake
Colin and Swayzie exchanged their vows in a private ceremony at sunset on a quite frozen and snow covered small remote lake on February 16th.

02/21/24: Deer Stealing From The Bird Feeder
Sue got this shot of a deer stealing food from the bird feeder outside of the kitchen window.

03/01/24: Mia Skiing King Pine
Sue and I took Mia skiing to King Pine in Madison, NH Friday 03/01/24. The pictures tell it all!

03/03/24: Cozy Sunday Dinner By The Woodstove

The Beau Dog relaxing by the woodstove while we play some backgammon before starting dinner prep.

Under all of that kale are 6 juicy pork chops cooking in a savory herb infused gravy sauce.

I popped a bottle of 19 Crimes Red Blend for dinner and it went great with the pork chops.

03/08/24: Colin and Family Visit
We had a wonderful visit Friday afternoon 03/08/24 with Colin, Swayzie, and little Rezleigh.

The sun had warmed everything up enough so Sue got out some chairs so we could all be outside, though it was still chilly enough that we needed coats. And, by the time they had to head out, it was cold....

So, Sue got to playing with Rezleigh and Beau out in the yard as most of the snow had melted. However, Rezleigh sprinted off down the hill and basically threw herself into the mud where last November we had dug up a long channel across the yard for a new drainage pipe. Sue had to catch up with her to keep her from stuffing the mud into her mouth.

03/10/24: March Snow Storm
We got hit with about 10 inches of snow in a storm that rolled slowly over the mountain.

03/16/24: Outing With Mia To Rail Trail Waterfalls
Sue and I grabbed up Mia Saturday 03/16/24 for an outing to the rail trail waterfalls.

03/16/24: Mia's Backgammon Message
Isn't she just the sweetest thing.... Must get that from gramps who's teaching her to be pretty fierce over the backgammon board. Trash talk at 8 years old....

Just kept this gem of a picture separate from the one in the previous collection as it's such a classic....

03/18/24: Day After St. Patrick's Day Dinner
We were tied up for St. Patrick's Day so had our celebration dinner on Monday the 18th.

But before dinner, Sue had gone down to scoop the Rezleigh girl up with Swayzie to walk Beau in the woods. On the way back, they stopped off to let Rezleigh see the lambs being raised at one of the local farms.

Best recipe I've ever had with stuff in there you'd never have thought of....

03/20/24: Not Ready For Spring Yet
Sue was already in the dirt even though the snow hadn't fully melted even though it's 20th of March. But the sun was out briefly, and that's all she needed..... And then overnight we got almost blizzard conditions and ended up with almost an inch of snow on the ground.

03/24/24: Late March Snow Storm
Sunday 03/24/24 we got hit with several inches of heavy wet snow. But, we bore up under the pressure. I even cooked up a wonderful shrimp Creole dinner and topped that off with a bottle of 1000 Stories Zin! And then after binge watching 3 episodes of Billions, we called it a day.

03/25/24: Mt. Washington Still Snow Capped
End of March and Mt. Washington remains fully snow capped! Sue caught this picture of it as we were headed north on Rt. 16 to meet up for early dinner with Swayzie's folks at the Hobbs Tavern in West Ossipee, NH.

Spectacular!

03/31/24: Easter in Tuftonboro
Sue and I spent a relaxing Easter Sunday with her Niece Tracy and family up in Tuftonboro, NH.