2022 Rose Family Archives...
For current events, go to the Rose family website page.
01/01/22: Happy New Year!
Despite the cold weather, we had a relaxing New Years Day inside just enjoying the warmth of the fire going in the wood stove.
New Years Day was foggy and cold.
01/11/22: Lucas Returns To LA
The weather has been so bad that Lucas had to extend his trip home twice now. Though still really cold - like below zero cold, Sue and I drove him down to Boston's Logan airport Tuesday afternoon 01/11/22.
Later that night, Sue got a text from him when he arrived home later than night. In the text, he attached the following screen shot of his cell phone showing the weather app still tuned into New Durham weather with a temp of —5 degrees. He quickly changed that display to LA!
01/14/22: Friday Night Before The Storm
Friday evening 01/14/22, we relaxed into the evening with Beau laying in front of the wood stove as we were all prepared for what would turn out to be a pretty solid snow storm. We got probably just under 8 inches.
Because of the extreme temperature changes we've had recently — with many in the below zero range — Sue knew that sunrise over the ocean would present the opportunity to photograph the rare occurrence of dense sea smoke.
01/22/22: Day With Mia
While Sue took The Beau Dog for a quick walk in the woods behind the house, I drove down to Dover to pick Mia up for the day.
Great form!
They had a great day together: 2 trips outside to sled and snowboard, an inside painting project, lunch, and walking Beau out back again before we drove her back home.
01/23/22: Relaxing Sunday Dinner Party For 2
Sunday 01/23/22 was just a nice relaxing day. My focus was on trying a new chicken piccata recipe for a Sunday Dinner Party For 2.
It was great fun, and came out super. I fixed it with sage steamed asparagus complemented with a bottle of a sort of Beaujolais that paired nicely.
Sue and Gail helping with the dinner prep work....
01/29/22: Huge Nor'easter
Friday night 01/28/22 through Saturday night we got hit with a huge Nor'easter that just buried us up here on the mountain.
Snow came down at times 2 inches an hour with the wind at 25 mph causing whiteout conditions and pushing the temperature well below zero. We just stayed inside by the wood stove enjoying it from the warmth inside.
02/02/22: Celebrating 250 Subscribers
Sue and I drove over to Concord, NH to do some shopping at one of the stores. But the real reason was to celebrate reaching 250 subscribers to my Longwood Currency Trading YouTube channel. After shopping, we drove over to The Olive Garden, and had a marvelous, and filling, lunch and glass of wine. Well... I had a glass of wine, but Sue opted for a more exotic mix.
Beau got left behind, and he was some pissed off about that!
A toast to the 250 loyal folks interested in what I have to say.
Sue's celebratory mix.
Subscriber growth is slow because I don't do any social media hyping, or anything; it's all just folks that stumble onto it, like it, and subscribe. We celebrated my 100th subscriber 07/22/21. At that time I had posted my 122nd video, and now I have 177 videos posted. It's been fun!
What a great time that was, and a really nicely done play.
02/10/22: Gail Overnight Visit
Gail drove over so she and Sue could go looking for something she needed down in the Portsmouth area. When they got back and warmed up by the wood stove, we all went into the kitchen to whip up the evening's dinner: a marvelous roasted garlic and rosemary chicken with vegetables and bottle of Cabernet!
Is this fun, or what!
02/12/22: Winding Up For A Blizzard
We started preparing Saturday 02/12/22 for what would be a major storm event on the following Sunday, the 19th.
Saturday: 02/12/22: Chipping away at 4 inches of ice from the last storm so the upcoming storm doesn't make things even worse.
Saturday: 02/12/22: Progress
Monday: 02/14/22: Quick snow squalls as a harbinger of what's to come....
Sunday: 02/19/22: Over a day of whiteout conditions.
02/13/22: Sunday Dinner Party For 2
To celebrate all the storm prep work from yesterday the 12th, I fixed a wonderful dinner of scallops with sweet cucumber and mango salsa, and side of herb and butter steamed asparagus that we enjoyed with a smooth bottle of Rodney Strong Zinfandel, which was absolutely the nuts....
To go with the party I picked up this lovely bouquet of flowers for the table that Sue arranged so nicely in one of her vases.
Would have been a nice picture if my phone camera wasn't having issues dispersing direct light all over the place from a crack in the glass by the lens.
Dinner is served, and it was a lovely party for 2.
02/20/22: Dinner With Steve And Cathy
Sunday evening 02/20/22 Sue and I had our friends Steve and Cathy over for dinner. With everyone so busy, it had been too long since our last get together.
Great dinner; lousy picture because my phone camera has a crack in the glass by the lens that messes with any light source coming in at certain angles.
I fixed a Middle Eastern spiced chicken over Basmati Rice, and for desert: Sue made a really neat sweet potato pie with a cinnamon roll crust. We took care of 2 bottles of Gnarly Head Old Vine Zin, which went really well with the chicken.
02/21/22: Pottery Class With Mia
Monday 02/21/22, Sue and I shared a pottery class with Mia taught by our friend Sarah from Sweet Fern Pottery.
Sarah checking out Mia's form for her fairy house, which was actually pretty cool the way you did it with the clay.
She and Sue had such a good time this past summer playing with the wheel that Sue had bought for her that I wanted us to share that experience in a professional setting so Mia could see exactly what the whole spectrum of the development of a piece was.
02/23/22: Brook Running Hard
I took this picture of the brook as it has been running really hard with all the snow melt that we've had over the last few days. You can even hear it gurgling inside the house the water is cascading down over the rocks so hard.
Running hard in the snow melt.
02/25/22: Snowshoeing In A Snow Storm
Friday morning 02/25/22 I got all geared up and joined Sue as she headed out the door to walk Beau through the woods out back. The snow was coming down heavily, and without snowshoes it would have been really tough going.
What a great picture of Sue - right in her element!
Coming down off the lower ridge we could just see our barn through the trees.
What a great picture of the house through the trees and the snow.
Every now and then I'd just stop and listen to the quiet: with only the sound of the snow pelting down through the tree branches.
I so much enjoyed that walk; very reminiscent of the time many years ago that Sue took me snowshoeing for the first time through the woods at Kingman Farm when we were living in Dover. I'll never forget that: it was just one of the best walks I've ever been on.
02/27/22: Sunday Night Dinner For Two
Don't need to say much more than showing a picture of it....
03/03/22: Walking Beau While Sue Heals Up
Sue took a bad fall yesterday on some black ice, wrenching her back pretty good, and hitting her head on the ice on the way down. So, while she's recovering from all of that, I'll put my snowshoes on and hike back in the woods with Beau to get him out.
03/06/22: Another Mah-vo-loose Sunday Dinner Party For Two
It was a beautiful snowy day Sunday 03/06/22 when we got up. Sue is still a hurtin' unit from her fall — and probably will be on injured reserve for a couple of weeks — so before I headed out to the store to shop for tonight's Sunday Dinner Party For Two, I took Beau out for some snowshoeing for his (and my) exercise.
Beau just loves to roll around in the snow no matter how snowy or cold it is. And it was snowing pretty good when we went out, as well as cold: probably only 10 degrees. But you get out in the woods, and you stop... and you just listen to the quietness, the stillness in the crisp air. Magical....
For our Sunday Dinner Party For Two, I had wanted to surprise Sue with something she'd really like. She's been feeling pretty down about her fall and inability to rampage around the planet, and so I hinted around asking her to pick one of the recipes I fanned out for her.
Sunday dinner with a bottle of Edna Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
She chose a Mandarin Orange Chicken spiced with ginger, scallions, and garlic in a nice sesame seed flavored sauce with a side of broccoli. I also wanted to acknowledge our March 8th, 2013 engagement by popping open our last bottle of Chenin Blanc that we both enjoy to have with dinner.
03/09/22: Surprise Snow Storm
It's not uncommon to snow, and sometimes to snow hard, in March up here. And so that's what it did Wednesday 03/09/22.
You can see some of the larger snowflakes in the picture, but it was snowing a lot heavier than the picture shows.
We had some really powerful wind storms rage across the area the last couple of days. One burst hit through one part of town tearing up 4 or 5 power poll lines. So, we had sort of figured that was it for storms for awhile.
But then it started snowing mid afternoon really hard, and kept snowing for several hours, finally tapering off into just flurries.
Early Thursday morning with a very bright sun and temps in the mid 40s already so the snow won't last. But it sure was pretty yesterday.
Probably only about 4 inches, but it was beautiful to sit in the living room with the wood stove warming us, sipping some wine and playing backgammon before dinner - which magically was the rest of the Mandarin Orange Chicken I had fixed Sunday.
03/12/22: Late Winter Storm Walk
Getting pretty late in the season to have such a strong snow storm, but we got it! Couldn't pass up the opportunity to take Beau for a walk in the woods out back.
03/13/22: Steve and Cathy For Dinner
It had been awhile since we've gotten together with our friends Steve and Cathy, and so we invited them up for dinner with us Friday evening 03/13/22. We celebrated 5 years to the day in moving in here to our home.
They brought the gift of a log to keep us warm. We needed that this evening!
And dinner was great fun.
03/19/22: Marion And Lori Visit
Sue drove over to the airport in Manchester, NH to pick up her two cousins Marion and Lori for a week's visit.
Lori, Kathleen, Alan, Sue, Ronald, and Marion
The main reason for their visit was in response to Sue relaying the health of their uncle Ronald. At 88 years of age and in failing condition, they wanted to spend some time with him now when he was feeling well and in good spirits.
04/02/22:
Sue and I took Mia for a pottery class 02/21, and Sarah just finished glazing them for us. So, check out the page for the final results!
04/04/22: Off To the E.R.
Oooops.... Ended up in ER this morning. EKG, chest x-ray, and then cat scan of stomach discovered intestinal viral infection. Just some random virus but painful. Nothing to do but be nice and no wine for a few days I guess. Very, very lucky. Other than that, all other tests show showing great heart, respiration, and generally good shape. Sanchin....
04/07/22: Daffodils Poking Their Way Up!
The daffodils are starting to pop and bloom!
04/11/22: Snow Peaked Mt. Washington!
Amazing that there is still a heavy snow pack up on Mt. Washington.
04/17/22: Quiet Easter
Sue and I had a nice, quiet Easter, ending the day with ham in an herbed sauce that I fixed with a sides of fresh asparagus, baked sweet potatoes, and a bottle of Erath Pinot Noir.
04/19/22: Drive To Concord, NH
Sue wanted to visit a camera store over in Concord, NH, and so we headed out mid afternoon.
Those angry gray clouds brought enough of a sprinkle of cold rain that we headed for the car.
We had a nice drive over, and walk around the main downtown area after stopping into the camera store. It was a little windy, and that brought a real chill to the air as we stopped by the Capitol building for Sue to take this spectacular picture.
On the way home, we stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at The 99 Restaurant.
04/22/22: Funeral In Plymouth, NH
Is was a sad day for us to drive up to Plymouth, NH to bury Sue's step-mother, Mary.
Sue was so very close to her, and I had enjoyed the interactions that I had with her the few times that I was with her, or spoke with on the phone.
Mary was buried next to Sue's father in a lovely cemetery just outside of Plymouth. The after service gathering was so nice as Sue got a chance to visit with Mary's sons that she had grown up around.
04/23/22: Cold Day At Mia's Lacrosse Game
Our grand daughter Mia had a lacrosse game in Dover, NH that we went to Saturday morning 04/23/22.
That's Mia, Number 10, scrapping for the ball just like I had watched her mother Marissa do at the games I went to watch her play.
But, man... the wind was just brutal; just penetrating as it swept down over the trees across the field right at us on the sidelines.
04/24/22: Sunday Dinner Party For Two
I found this really interesting recipe for Honey Vinegar Pork With Brussels Sprouts And Sweet Potato that I just couldn't pass up making for our Sunday Dinner Party For Two.
It turned out mah-vo-loose! And what a great bouquet of daffodils Sue picked from her garden!
04/25/22: First Meeting Toast
Steve and Cathy had come for dinner last night, and Steve took this picture of us for Chuck as we toasted to our first meeting 04/25/19.
Sort of a breezy, chilly, overcast day over Lake Winnipesaukee in the distance.
It was a great time, and Mia would have stayed another night, but she had other plans for early Wednesday morning. She's a busy little girl!
04/30/22: Great Pictures of Mia's Lacrosse Game
Sue and I drove down to Dover Saturday morning 04/30/22 to watch Mia play lacrosse. And man, was it cold! The wind just blasted down on us from across the field. Maybe that's what fired Mia up because she scored 4 goals.
Pre game warm up practice with mom.
Digging for the ball.
Here she comes, flying down the field!
05/01/22: Out Walking Beau Sunday
It was such a nice day Sunday 05/01/22 that I tagged along with Sue to walk Beau. She thought it would be nice to take him along Mad River as the water was running hard from the recent rains.
I love that area not only for the river, but also the beautiful views if you hike up along the ridge line — which we did.
I'm glad we went up along the ridge because Sue said it wouldn't be long before the grasses grew up because the ticks would be everywhere. And, we're coming up on our fierce... ah, that would be: wonderful... Black Fly Season, which is Mother's Day through Father's Day: something you just have to bear with....
After we got back home, Sue finished packing, and headed out to Rhode Island. She ended up staying over Monday night as well as she was helping a friend with some major health issues. The Beau Dog and I weathered through on our own, but it was good to have her back Tuesday.
05/07/22: Summer Set Up And Lavender Hunt!
Finally: Saturday 05/07/22 was a great day to anticipate warmer weather by getting the yard and porch ready for Summer! And, after successfully completing all of that, Sue and I drove over to Holis NH on a lavender Hunt!
Next up after moving the wood storage rack from the porch out to the barn was to get the furniture set up out there.
05/08/22: Mothers Day Hike And Dinner
For Sue's Mother's Day, after a nice scrambled eggs with sausage breakfast, I went with her to walk Beau along the Mad River again.
The water was really surging over the rocks as we walked along River Road to the bridge.
When we got back to the house, Sue parked in herself in a lawn chair in the sun out by the barn chatting with Lucas while I took about an hour to do the prep work for dinner: a rather complicated, 4 major component meal.
05/10/22: Colin Working House Fire
A photographer captured this picture of a house fire that Colin had been called out for. That's him on the ladder working to put out a section of the blaze that spread rapidly caused by embers falling from a charcoal grill onto an outside deck.
05/12/22: Save Betty!
Sue is TOSSING Betty out in Saturday's yard sale!!! Does anyone want her???? SAVE Betty!!!!
Save Betty!
Betty is a scarecrow from my Fall display when I lived at the condo in Dover. She first started out as only a decoration from early Fall through Thanksgiving, but then transitioned into a permanent fixture in the front entry hall, and later: a sometime appearance here at our home on the mountain.
Marissa with friend "Betty" looking right off deck at The Garrison on a beautiful October 23rd Fall day in 2004.
So, there she stood proudly in the corner greeting all visitors, scowling at those she didn't care for, keeping her opinions to herself, not concerned with global warming, economic crisis, Black Fly Season... Nothing. And now, to be dismissed?
And a plea to the kids to "Save Betty!!! was met with "Betty's not getting saved here," from Colin, "LOL. Time for Betty to go!" from Marissa, "Bye Betty," from Swayzie, "We already have Betty's sister, Beatrice," from Chuck, and even "It's either Betty, or me..." from Sue.
Betty... I guess it may be time to join the Velveteen Rabbit for life in another dimension....
05/14/22: Town Wide Yard Sale
Saturday and Sunday was the annual New Durham town wide community yard sale, and Sue and Gail were ready for it! And they did really good this year!
Unfortunately, because we were tied up both days, we weren't able to go to Mia's lacrosse game on Saturday, though Uncle Colin was able to! And she got 5 goals!
Since Gail was staying overnight Saturday, we had a nice dinner party to celebrate the first day of the yard sale. I made pork chops in a subtle peanut butter sauce that was a great match for the bottle of Josh Pinot Noir I had picked out. After dinner, we relaxed to the charming 2014 movie, 'The Hundred Foot Journey'.
05/15/22: Storm Rolling through...
It had been such a beautiful day, even with the menacing dark storm clouds that brought a short burst of overnight rain.
05/16/22: Red Moon Rising
Sue did her usual maneuverer while we were watching a movie by jumping up on the sofa to see what the sky was looking like. Well, it was all hands to the car, and off we went to get a picture of the 'Red Moon'.
05/27/22: Memorial Day Weekend
We had a great Memorial Day holiday weekend, with a relaxing day of kayaking on Gilman Pond Sunday the 29th topping off the day with a smooth bottle of 2020 Trivento Reserve Malbec.
Sue right in her happy place: lost in the tall pond grasses!
Sunday, Sue and I went on a casual walk with Beau out to the water falls.
06/04/22: Mia's Final Lacrosse Game
Sue and I drove down to the Dover fields behind the court house to watch Mia play in her final Lacrosse game of the season. She did great, scoring 3 goals!
Looking for the pass...
Here she is sweeping in for one of the goals she scored.
We had wonderful weather for not only the drive up, but also for the entire stay and trip back home. Class was a lot of fun, and we had some really good food and seeing the beautiful Kennebunkport and Arundel areas.
06/11/22: Summer Backgammon On The Screen Porch
06/12/22: Nancy Over For Dinner
Great weekend here. Sue was out digging in the dirt today after going to a craft class in Hampton yesterday (Saturday) with her friend Gail. They went over to sit on the beach for lunch, after Gail headed out, she took a long walk along the water and recharged her sea-batteries!
Our friend Nancy came over Sunday afternoon for a visit, and took a short walk with Sue and Beau. For dinner, I made scallops in a mango cucumber salsa with herb steamed asparagus and bottle of Josh Sauvignon Blanc.
As they got back from walking Beau, Sue caught this picture of one of the foxes that have been hanging around the house for the last couple of weeks. I think their goal is to agitate The Beau Dog....
06/14/22: Strawberry Picking At Butternut Farm
As soon as Sue told me that they had opened strawberry picking at Butternut Farm, I was all over that, and off we went before it got too hot out.
06/16/22: A Great Birthday
What a great birthday I had! Simple, and relaxing. Just right.
06/18/22: Just A Fun Day
First we took The Beau Dog for a walk along the Mad River
And then we drove over to visit Sue's friend Linda at her flower gardens just outside of Concord. We had a nice visit, but because we had headed back home early, Sue thought it would be nice to visit Sanborn Mills Farm to see what it was like at this time of year.
06/20/22: Sunset In Memory of Ronald
We were watching a movie when Sue stood up and looked out the window. She headed for the door saying we needed to catch sunset, and off we went. This turned out to be an amazing picture as you'll note in the below tribute she wrote to her uncle Ronald who had just passed.
Sue wrote the following touching memorial for him based on that picture....
One of our favorite visits with Ronald was on Tuesday 01/30/18. Sue's brother Alan had driven Ronald down to have lunch with us. It had been so long since Sue and Ronald had been together that they just chatted for hours.
Sue's Uncle Ronald visits for lunch
It was a particularly special lunch because Sue made a special batch of bread pudding to celebrate Ronald's 84th Birthday. We sat at the table for a long time, exchanging stories and reminiscing over Ronald's experiences and life.
The following is the obituary the family posted:
06/21/22: Mia Birthday Overnight
Sue and I had so much fun having a birthday overnight for Mia who turns 7 on the 24th. What a time we had with her, as you'll see from the 29 pictures we took!
06/27/22: Relaxing Sunday
Though it was hot (90+) and the air was heavy with humidity, we had a nice relaxing day. Mid afternoon, our friend Nancy came over to discuss some things with Sue. They sat out on the screen porch sipping Sue's drink of the day: lavender lemonade with vodka, a really smooth and wonderful summer drink.
We had invited Nancy to stay for dinner, and so she had brought desert: a marvelous blueberry pie that we had with a couple of scoops of vanilla bean ice cream.
While they were finishing up their work, I poured myself a glass of the bottle of Robert Mondavi Private Selection Bourbon Barrel Aged Cabernet Sauvignon and started concocting the evenings dinner. The wine was great, and paired gracefully with my on the fly created tarragon herb chicken with sauteed mushrooms in a basil and thyme cream sauce with a side of thyme steamed asparagus.
06/27/22: Another Great Sunset Over The Ridge
So, once again we're sitting on the sofa watching a movie when Sue jumps up on cushions to look out the window to the west. She jumps down, and proclaims that we have to drive up to the ridge to catch the sunset, so off we go. It was worth it....
My attempt....
Sue's outstanding shot!
06/30/22: 4th Of July Holiday Weekend
We actually just had a pretty quite and relaxing 4th of July weekend. Living in the beautiful Lakes Region of New Hampshire, major holidays like this result in hordes of tourists flooding into the area, and clogging up the roads. We choose our times to go anywhere carefully, and just stay on some of the back roads when we can. It's more scenic anyway....
Fireworks from the ridge Monday night.
07/06/22: Dinner At Gilmanton Pub
We had been wanting to have dinner at the Gilmanton Pub this summer on their outside patio. What better time to go than a beautiful Wednesday evening in July. And particularly great that we did go to the Pub because we found out that it's for sale! I hope the new owners keep it as a pub because it's such a terrific historical building and business.
Outside patio at the Gilmanton Pub
Actually, I had to combine this summer celebration with celebrating my largest trading loss to date due to a failure of mine to pull a buy stop limit order after closing my short position ahead of that. A not so insignificant $24k loss.
You gotta celebrate the bad with the good. What a hit after just celebrating on the 4th my largest monthly gain of $30k for June. I even did a video post on this: Stupid Or Careless But Probably Both as well as a follow up to that as to how I made out: Stupid Or Careless Part 2.
07/07/22: Sue Off To RI
After Sue and I took Beau for a walk along the Mad River Thursday morning, she packed up the car and headed off for RI. She was meeting Jill, and then they were going to see Cirque du Soleil Crystal in Providence, RI. She stayed overnight with Jill in Westerly, and then picked up 2 of Michelle's girls to come up here for a couple of days.
Sue and me walking Beau on Thursday before she left.
Sue blowing bubbles up on the hill in the back yard with Priscilla and Naomi.
07/12/22: Hike Up Blue Job
Tuesday 07/12/22 Sue and I decided to take Beau on a hike up Blue Job mountain to see if there were any wild blueberries we could pick for Sue to make a pie.
It was getting pretty hot with the sun and so Sue kept giving Beau water.
It was a beautiful day, with expansive views. But the blueberries were very small and almost bitter to the taste. But we had a good time!
On the way over, we stopped to see Sue's friend Linda. She sells day lilies and other flowers out of the numerous gardens surrounding her home. It's just a beautiful place to wander through, and of course we had to get an addition for Sue's gardens back home!
The lavender farm was only about a half hour from Linda's, and so we were there by 4:30 pm or so. And what an interesting place that is!
07/14/22: Flowers Galore
So many of Sue's flowers have just bloomed so beautifully that we both took some pictures of the front flower garden as it was just spectacular in the bright sun.
07/16/22: Scott And Family Visit Chuck
My nephew Scott, Mary Liz, and Austin came out to visit Chuck and Denise for a family historical information gathering trip.
Mary Liz, Austin, Scott, and Chuck
07/17/22: Another Wonderful Sunday Dinner Party For Two
We wrapped up a lazy hot summer Sunday with a really smooth Apothic Pinot Noir A Dark Side that went great with the thyme based pork chops and side of shiitake mushroom risotto I fixed for dinner. Sue had actually just harvested the mushrooms from when we planted (if that's the term) them a couple years ago into some logs. They just sprang up today, and she saw them while walking Beau out back in the woods!
This was to be a very relaxing trip with little 'sight seeing'. Actually, there's little of that to do, anyway. And that was fine with us. We did explore the rocks at the Grand Staircase, walking along the narrow trail with the waves crashing below, as well as the mandatory visit out to the far point of Bailey Island to the famous Lands End gift shop.
But other than, just sitting in the chairs on our small porch, reading a book or playing backgammon, and watching the lobster boats go by was more enjoyable than racing around trying to see 42 sights in 2 days. We chose to sit this one out, and it was grand.
07/29/22: Cookout At Colin And Swayzie's House
Colin and Swayzie invited us down Friday night 07/29/22 for a cookout. It was a beautiful evening, with the sun just setting over the front of the house so the deck was nice and cool in the gentle breeze that blew across the back yard.
07/30/22: Gail Visits Overnight
Sue's good friend Gail drove over Saturday afternoon for dinner and an overnight visit.
Though pretty hot, there was a little breeze blowing off of the woods out back that was nice sitting in the screen porch.
I poured out the wine early so we could have dinner and then watch Nomadland as Gail hadn't seen it, and I had been wanting to see it again. For dinner, I fixed a Middle Eastern chicken thighs in a wonderful herb infused sauce over couscous.
07/31/22: Spectacular Sunset Over The Ridge
It was an all hands call in the middle of the movie of the night Sunday when Sue looked out of the living room window and saw the sky as the sun was setting over the tree line. So we all scrambled for the car, and headed for the ridge - getting there just in time for Sue to get this spectacular picture
Spectacular sunset over the ridge.
08/02/22: Sue And Swayzie Go Kayaking
Sue had mentioned to Swayzie the night we were over for the cookout that if they were going to go kayaking, it better be pretty soon as that baby is starting to kick away. They had a great time kayaking the Merrymeeting River - they were out there 4 hours so I guess that had a good time! Both of them looked a little red from the really hot sun.
I helped Sue load the kayak onto the top of the car, drove her down to the launch, and helped her get off the ramp. And then went back to collect her when she texted that they were almost back at the boat ramp.
08/03/22: The Greatest Excuse Ever For Being Late To Work!
Top this one that Colin posted on social media today!
The girls heading off Saturday morning to pick blueberries.
Friday, after Sue had done some neat art craft project with her, we took her over to Pittsfield, NH check out the Suncook Valley Rotary Hot Air Balloon Rally, and Saturday they were off picking blueberries.
08/07/22: Storm Clouds Rolling In....
Sue caught this great picture of the storm clouds rolling in just before the downpour hit. And we really need that rain....
Storm clouds rolling in
Nice cooling breeze on the porch for my attempt at fixing a Middle Eastern style cabbage for dinner. It turned out great, though having the oven on for over an hour to cook them in this heat was sort of contradictory.
08/08/22: Beau Gets To Cool Of On His Walk
I tagged along with Sue as she walked Beau out along the Mad River this morning. It's been so hot with not enough rain to get the rivers and streams flowing in the area, but we found a nice spot for Beau to wade around and cool himself off. Of course, when he got out of the water, he shook it all over us. Terrific....
08/12/22: Unexpected Kayaking
Because the weather was just perfect Friday 08/12/22, Sue and I decided to get the kayaks out and get on the water.
Sue kayaking alongside a spectacularly beautiful dragonfly.
Last night we had attended a lecture by The New Durham Historical Society. It was presented by our friend and Town Historian Cathy Orlowicz titled New Durham, NH Early History. It featured photographic glimpses of special landmarks, some lost to time, historic buildings, maps, schools, businesses and much more. The main focus of the presentation was from the time period between the years 1749 to about 1900. Since we hadn't seen Cathy or Steve in so long, Sue texted Cathy to see if they wanted to meet us, and so at 1:45pm we had the kayaks on top of the car, and were heading off to meet them.
It was so nice just to casually paddle along the shore of the large pond we had chosen. The breeze picked up just as we were rounding the last rock outcropping, and the little wavelets were almost spraying a light froth out in the middle of the pond. Great day, and nice to see Cathy and Steve again.
We didn't get home until 4:00 pm, so I got some spaghetti sauce cooking, poured a glass of wine, and Sue and I sat out on the screen porch and played some backgammon until dinner. A great day.
08/18/22: Another Dinner Out Trading Celebration
You have to celebrate the good with the bad, and so I took Sue out to dinner at Cartelli's North End Pizza & Pasta in Dover Thursday evening to celebrate the $4,000 trading loss I took today.
I just look at it as part of the process, and so to me: a loss is almost as good as a win.
And though a lot of money, this is the first losing day I've had this year. Can't complain about that! In fact, we'll have to go back and celebrate that as well!
08/19/22: Hiking With Beau At Coldrain Pond
I had been wanting to go back to walk the trails at Coldrain Pond, and so Friday morning Sue loaded me and The Beau Dog into the car.
Beau following Sue as we made our way along the trail toward the pond.
We headed out early to beat the heat as temperatures were supposed to climb into the high 80s to low 90s. We did just over a mile and a half, I think, and it was a lot of fun.
There has been a lot of work done to the trails, and a couple of new trails have been added. So, just a good time. And: we beat the heat!
08/20/22: Celebrating Beau's 8th Birthday
Hopefully, the highlight of Beau's 8th birthday celebration was taking him for a ride up to the top of the ridge to catch another spectacular sunset.
08/27/22: Swayzie's Baby Shower
Sue and I had a lovely Saturday afternoon 08/27/22 at Swayzie's Baby Shower.
Swayzie, Colin, and Mia
08/27/22: Exploring New Restaurant
Sue and I have been wanting to check out the Anatolia Mediterranean Restaurant in Somersworth, NH, and so we headed off for an early dinner 08/27/22 after having a grand time at Swayzie's Baby Shower.
But first, we took Beau for a walk along the Mad River.
After such a long period of no rain leaving many areas in drought conditions, it was great to see water flowing so heavily in the river. Beau certainly enjoyed it!
Sue took this neat inside picture of Anatolia. Not only nicely decorated, but the food was outstanding. We'll be back here for sure!
08/28/22: Starting Our New Deck
Our friend Butch from down the road came over with Doug, also from down the road, who had a small bucket loader. He had offered to get a big lilac bush next to the side of the house pulled out to make room for a new deck we're going to have built.
Demolition at it's best!
08/29/22: Walking Beau At Coldrain Pond
We hadn't taken a walk over at Coldrain Pond in quite awhile, and Sue wanted to see some of the new trails that had been added. So, we stuffed The Beau Dog in the car, and headed over for what turned out to be a really nice walk.
Sue investigating some moss growing on the side of this huge boulder.
08/30/22: Time For Some Chicken On The Grill!
Good grief! It's been way too long since we barbecued out on the grill, so Sue got some chicken legs and we had a party!
Just starting them out.... Won't be long!
09/02/22: Chuck's Labor Day Visit
We were all so excited that Chuck visited over Labor Day. He drove out on 09/02/22 and stayed until 09/06/22, and we hope he enjoyed his time here as we did having him.
09/04/22: Another Walk At Mad River
Sue and I thought Beau would enjoy splashing around in the water at Mad River because it had been so hot for the last few days. He had a ball!
09/05/22: Adding A Little Autumn Decoration
Sue's friend Jen had given her set of old metal coffee mugs to Sue, and she thought they'd look nice on the window shelf in the kitchen.
It's officially Autumn in New England so here's a start to looking like it!
09/09/22: Foraging For Mushrooms
Sue has been out in the woods looking for some black trumpet mushrooms, but hasn't been able to find any. So, I tagged along to join her and was treated to her finding some!
Sue foraging in the woods for Black Trumpet mushrooms.
After finishing up with Beau's walk, we headed out for the Foxwoods trip I talk about next!
09/10/22: Foxwoods, CT Trip
After walking Beau and taking him over to the kennel Saturday morning 09/10/22, we headed off for a few days to the Foxwoods casino in CT to see Robert Plant and Alison Krauss in concert.
09/12/22: Mia Overnight
We were able to grab Mia for a short overnight visit before she heads back to school after a short break. She seemed to have a great time, mostly with Sue walking Beau and then doing some craft projects with her. But she did want to help with the cooking and have me work with her on backgammon practice.
Mia is pretty fascinated with backgammon, and every time she comes over, she asks for me to work with her.
09/15/22: First Wood Stove Fire Of Season
Yup, down into 40s last night, ice on MT. Washington, and it'll be cold here again tonight. Nothing a warm fire and glass of wine won't cure!
Wood stove heating up nicely!
For dinner I sauteed a bunch of Black Trumpet mushrooms Sue had foraged in the woods 09/09/22. After mixing a few cloves of garlic around in some butter in the skillet, I added the mushrooms, and let them cook for just a little. I then added a couple of cups of half and half, and after that heated up I sprinkled some sage, nutmeg, cinnamon, black pepper, a dash of sea salt, and thickened things up with a little cornstarch. That with some nice white wine and everything was absolutely mah-vo-loose!
Getting the garlic chopped for the Black Trumpet sauce I was making.
Downtown Chicago flying into O'hare International.
Because our flight was at 5:40 am Thursday morning, we had dinner and spent the night in Manchester Wednesday. Saturday, they drove us into Chicago for a helicopter ride over the shoreline, lunch at the outdoor rooftop patio of the London House, and then a wonderful dinner at Za Za Trattoria, in St. Charles, IL.
On the shore of Lake Geneva.
Sunday was an overnight north to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin where we stayed in the Jane Austin room at the Maxwell Mansion, a small boutique hotel. Monday we drove back down to Chicago for dinner at the Cooper's Hawk Winery in Arlington Heights, IL, and then they dropped us at the hotel for our 6:30 am flight out Tuesday morning.
Early dinner at Cooper's Hawk Winery in Arlington Heights, IL
10/06/22: Apple Picking At Butternut Farm
It was a beautiful early October day, and so Sue suggested we go apple picking at Butternut Farm. On the way over, we stopped at Oxbow Pond, and on the way home, we took a drive over to Baxter Lake as Sue thought she could get some nice photographs of the changing leaf colors.
10/07/22: Late Autumn View of Our Home
As we move into the Columbus Day holiday weekend, I think this picture of the house captures the beauty of the season.
10/08/22: Ground Prep Work For New Deck
Progress on the new deck. Bush out, vines down, and now laying landscape paper and gravel.
10/10/22: Final Cords Of Wood Delivered
Nate swung by early today to drop off the final load of wood for us. I went out later that afternoon, and spread tarps over as much of the 7 stacked cords that I could.
Ready for winter now!
10/11/22: New Baby Granddaughter Rezleigh
Colin texted me just before 4:00 pm 10/11/22 with a picture of our new baby granddaughter Rezleigh in his moms arms just after being born at 2:57 am. Hello, Rezleigh!
Is that a proud mom, or what!
Rezleigh arriving home 10/13/22
10/12/22: Short Vacation Trip To Sugar Hill, NH
Sue and I boarded Beau for a couple of days, and took a short vacation trip up to Sugar Hill, NH to celebrate our 5th anniversary and to catch the turn of the foliage season up there.
Before leaving, we made sure all was well with Swayzie and new baby Rezleigh. We'd only be an hour and a half away, and we knew there were so many other family that would want to visit. With the severe limitations on hospital visitors, I told Colin that as soon as they got Rezleigh home, we'd be on their doorstep to see her.
10/15/22: Mia Overnight
Sue was so excited to have Mia for an overnight visit because she had so many interesting projects lined up she wanted to share with her. We all had a great time.
Mia helping Sue make applesauce from some of the apples Sue and I had picked at Butternut Farm Thursday 10/06/22.
10/18/22: Rezleigh Heading North
Colin sent me some cute pictures when he and Swayzie took Rezleigh for a fall foliage drive north for the day on Tuesday 10/18/22.
10/19/22: Sunrise Ocean Photo Excursion
Sue got me up Wednesday morning 10/19/22 at 5 o'dark am to go on a Sunrise Ocean Photo Excursion down to Odiorne Point State Park in Rye.
Sun just beginning to creep up over the horizon.
We had to get all bundled up because temps were in the mid 30s, and even after the sun came up weren't expected to get higher than the mid 50s. We took Beau with us, and he enjoyed all the smells along the shoreline.
10/21/22: A Little Birthday Celebration
All Sue wanted to do for her birthday was to have a relaxing day by having a nice lunch out, a visit to see Rezleigh, and then home for a quiet night by the wood stove with a movie.
Sue's birthday peach
10/24/22: Sunday Dinner For Two
Josh Pinot Noir With tarragon chicken thighs over parsley couscous with oven roasted delacotta squash and carrots.
10/25/22: Fall Walk At Cold Rain Pond
Sue got some terrific pictures as we walked through the woods at Cold Rain Pond Saturday morning 10/25/22.
10/27/22: Fall Hath Fell
Well, as the title says: Fall Hath Fell; almost all the leaves are down, and the nights are getting sharp.
11/02/22: New Deck Bones Up Before Winter
Our friend and contractor, Steve, who did all the renovations on the house back in 2017 was able to just beat the frost and cold by getting the bones of our new deck up; have to finish it in the Spring.
Nice, unassuming 8 x 10 open deck space for summer relaxing and night time star gazing.
An idea for some corner privacy lattice panels. Those will have to go up in the Spring.
Beau learned the new entry way pretty quickly; For about a week I spaced out regularly by going over to the old screen door.
11/07/22: North Conway Overnight
Just for the fun of it, Sue and I decided to have a little mini vacation with a North Conway overnight!
It was so pretty driving around the area Thursday before heading back home.
11/10/22: Mia's Refreshment Stand
Marissa sent a couple of pictures of Mia working behind her refreshment stand. Sold Out!
11/11/22: Rezleigh In The Leaves
What a great picture of Rezleigh lounging in the crisp Fall leaves celebrating her 1 month of life!
Happy 1 Month, Rezleigh!
11/16/22: First Snow Of The Season!
It wasn't much snow, but enough to count!
First Snow Of The Season!
11/24/22: Thanksgiving
Sue and I were so fortunate to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving here at our house with Colin, Swayzie, and little 1 month old Rezleigh, and Marissa, Gary, and Mia.
I had picked up a fresh Turkey Tuesday, and was up early Thanksgiving morning to do the finishing prepwork.
Everyone started showing up around 10:30 am, and we got right into some snacks and drinks. Of all the days in the year that call for celebration, Thanksgiving is my favorite.
12/02/22: Getting Christmas Tree
This year we headed over to Neva Dun Farm to get our Christmas tree early. Ever since the day after Thanksgiving the roads around here have been buzzing with folks going to the different tree farms. So this year we decided to head over early.
This year it was all cut your own tree. When chatting with Ken, the owner, he suggested we hike to the back side of one area of the property where there were some special balsam mixes. We got one and the smell was so fresh. And the tree lasted bright green and moist all the way into the second week of January when we took it down.
Sue checking out a few candidates for our tree.
Yes, I can cut this thing down just fine....
... though got some pine needles down my back!
Me standing with Ken at the entrance to his barn. We had a nice long chat before heading out for home.
12/09/22: Mia Overnight Tree Decoration Visit
We picked Mia up Friday 12/09/22 to come for an overnight visit, and then help us decorate our Christmas Tree on Saturday after we walked The Beau Dog.
Sue had Mia busy unpacking lights and ornaments.
12/17/22: Major Winter Storm
Wow! Did we get slammed 12/17/22 with a major winter storm! Unbelievable! A foot and a half of heavy snow followed by almost 2 days of high winds driving torrential rains that dropped at least 2 inches. The runoff was so bad that we got 6 inches of water in the basement that took a couple of weeks to dry out.
