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.