Finally, some sleep....too bad!

Our orange tabby cat, Tang, used to wake us up several times a night to come in and out. He used to prowl the night for mice and squirrels, and has even caught a chipmunk or too. He usually wakes us up to show us his kill as well as telling us he wants to come in. When we are really tired, we shut the door and turn on the air conditioning so we can sleep because once Tim is awake, he can't get back to sleep.

Saturday morning, Tang was eating and I was petting him and I had this strange feeling something was going to happen to him that day. Scout started to irritate him and he wanted to go out so I let him out. I said, "goodbye kitty... I have a feeling I won't see you again." I almost didn't let him go out but I thought, this is crazy. He has not been sick or anything. His birthday was yesterday and he would have been 9. We've been sleeping with the door open but Tang has not returned. He's never been gone this long. I feel sad and quite freaked out that I knew somehow. I have looked along all of the streets in a half mile radius and have not found him. It just seems eerily quiet somehow. The dogs keep looking for him because he could give a good fight. He put up with alot from Kristin and Amanda... ok and me. He loved the outdoors. We've had a coyote hanging around... I wonder. :( He was always my reminder how long we've been in our house because we got him when we moved into the house. Goodbye Sweet Tang, we'll miss you!

Tall Ships

The Tall Ships came into Boston this week and the girls and I decided to go down and see them. They've been in Boston before but we never went down. Boston was crowded at the Seaport. They were expecting 400,000 people and I think we saw at least 50,000.

There were over 40 Tall Ships all around Boston Harbor. We could have taken a boat around to see them all but we picked about 4 or 5 to look at around the World Trade Center. The ships were tall. The one we actually waited in line 45 minutes to get on and see was from Argentina. It was impressive. I don't know how tall the Libertad was but the building was 4 or 5 stories at least and the mast was much higher. I heard they were in Bermuda 2 weeks ago. These sailors were from Argentina and were so nice.

Camping in the rain

Well, it was a good idea but I began to seriously question the wisdom of packing clothes and belongings only to put them outside when it was raining. We went camping with the Batchelders for the first week in July. We set up all of our tents on one site, and used the other for sitting around the campfire and eating. We actually took over the pavilion that is used for groups so that we could eat. The food has to be picked up and put in the vehicles at night because we found out very quickly that there was a bear that roams around in the campground. It rained all but one day so we had to find things to do to occupy ourselves. Fish don't care whether it is raining or not so we did spend time fishing. One day, almost everyone got their limit. We also played dutch blitz and uno, we read, and we ate lots of s'mores. It is always fun camping with friends and we enjoyed the time. I will not deny that I was happy to get home and dry out.

Bird Flu? Who cares

Ok, being a public health person, when they started to talk about the bird flu, I told Tim to get rid of the chickens. He has been wanting more ever since. So we did get new chickens in May. They were 1 day old and we kept them in the basement until last weekend when Tim made them a new home.

The dogs loved the chickens and would push them around with their muzzle.

They are finally in their new home after making the basement stink!

The new backyard

We have been working a little bit at a time to clean up the yard and make it more presentable. We finally got a friend to come in with his backhoe and tractor and open up the backyard to the brook. Our purpose was really to see the animals more clearly but it really added alot to the backyard. Since NH grows rocks, defining the brook became a good way to use the rocks.

And dad, this one is for you... the new stone wall you planted. The hostas are still struggling but everything is growing well.

Special Olympics Regionals

Amanda participated in the Special Olympic Basketball Regionals March 16th in Salem, NH. I didn't get to post pictures so I thought I would do so now. Amanda is a tiger on the basketball court. She is able to get the ball away from other players and go down and make a lay up. Some of the coaches are former Pinkerton students who worked with them prior to graduation. They are now in college and still come home every weekend to coach the teams. Their dedication is amazing.

CJ's wedding

Almost everyone knows that C.J. is a regular fixture around our house, especially when i have apple pie. He and his love Carol "tied the knot" on Saturday. Their wedding was at a farm in Keene. The building had a fieldstone fireplace that went up 30 feet, and the ceiling was all beams. They got married right in front of the fireplace. The bride and groom's fathers gave a charge to the couple. The wedding was simple and elegant. They had a pancake breakfast after the ceremony. There is a sugar shack on site and they were able to get the syrup which is like gold at $60/gallon this year. Pastor Courter officiated the wedding. I made the invitations and the place cards.