Good-bye old friend . . .

Good day for the felling of the Tamaracks. Father and son started on the first tree, the one losing it's needles, at about 9am. It was down by about 11:30 when they went to lunch. Grampa had an appointment at the VA for a blood pressure test so I was left in charge of the camera. When he returned after lunch I left him in charge of the camera because I went to Groton to pick up Kiddo. Between us we've got some pretty good shots. Puppy's Pop's are better than mine. Naturally I have an excuse. He only had to take the shots with one tree. I had two. Now that's a good excuse.

Quote: The true aim of every one who aspires to be a teacher should be, not to impart his own opinions, but to kindle minds. __F. W. Robertson

Almost too busy . . .

Around 10 at night. Fairbanks, Alaska.

Went to Wrentham for the Mass Cup control line flying contest Sunday. What a great place for a contest! There is a three mile walk with stations every 300 feet or so where you can climb steps, do stretches, hang and stretch yourself out etc. I didn't take the whole walk because I didn't want to lose sight of the flying field but I did take two short walks just to keep me from sitting too much. In the distance we saw 5 planes pulling banners around town and even got to see 4 F-18's fly overhead in formation. It was a cloudy, windy day but that was better than too hot. I helped to launch Puppy's Pop's Padre and he won the advanced division over 7 other contestants; one of them was pretty darned grouchy but I thought it was cool that Grampa won the first time he flew in the advanced class. They're already telling him to move up! That's a compliment, I suppose, but it seems to me that he should get a few more contests under his belt before he moves to expert. They also want him to fly full fuselage models. I'm certain that they don't realize how many planes we have in this old house - 18 - and some of them are full fuselage! They better watch out what they ask for. We went to the Dog Track this morning for my walk and his flying and he lengthened his lines by a couple of feet. Wow, the planes look even better when they are flying with the longer lines. He's a pretty cool dude and just takes everything in stride.

The tamaracks will be coming down starting at 8am tomorrow. I have mixed feelings but they really do have to come down. It's such a shame because Pa and my Uncle Joe planted them when I was about ten or twelve years old. They used to go into the State Forest and borrow trees all the time. Hmmm . . . I wonder if I could get the state to pay for cutting them down? Could use some of that stimulus money.

Just came in from a shellacking in horseshoes. Was beaten badly twice even with my 30 shoe advantage :( But it's so good to be out there enjoying our yard and the beautiful fall like weather. I've got to start cleaning up the garden but it'll have to wait for a while because I'm not in the mood. Went to see my younger sister yesterday. I love to go see her. We go out for a shared pizza and then off to Granville, MA for homemade ice-cream and a walk around the barn yard to check out the nice clean animals. The donkey was missing but we did pet the mother of 8 chocolate lab puppies while they were rough housing in the donkey's pen. The lucky donkey is away for the season at Amherst, UMASS. He was such a good stud last year he was invited back. Pretty cool.

If you would like to see pictures of the Wrentham contest click on Perry's Toys at the top of the blog. He has some of the shots and a link to many other photographs from the contest including the plane with 22 wings.

Quote: Care to our coffin adds a nail, no doubt; and every grin, so merry, draws one out. __Wolcott

Never forget . . . September 11, 2001

In memoriam: Requiescat in pace. Amen

Vraiment intéressant . . .

Hot air balloon at about 10 at night in Fairbanks.

Quelle journée magnifique! It has been a pretty spectacular day. Kiddo, Grampa and I had a lot of fun yesterday playing Monopoly (kids version), cards and Bakugan plus we got in quite a bit of reading. To top it off Grampa had to leave early this morning to compete in Wrenthem, MA in Old Timers and Classic control line flying. Kiddo and I took the opportunity to have breakfast at McD's and get in some more games and computer stuff before I took him home. We met his Dad on the way. He had a tow call for a motorcycle accident on the Gold Star Bridge. I truly hope it wasn't a fatal. I went by the cleaning up on my way back and it didn't look good.

After Groton I went directly to Putnam for the Franco-Canadian get together where I was to meet my friend who teaches French at Killingly. Only one minor problem; I was there by 12:45 and it didn't really get going until 2pm. Easy peasy. I went and bought myself a new book and a bottle of water and sat in the shade by the Quinebaug as people set up. My friend arrived a bit flustered so I helped her and the French Club kids set up their table to sell cretons. What a wonderful crowd and such perfect weather. The KHS kids sold all of their cretons or as we used to say when I was a kid Gortons. I ended up eating some poutine ( French fries with a beef gravy covered in cheese ), crêpes from rival Woodstock Academy which were not very thin and although they said they were served with sirop d'érable, it was a monstrous fib! They had Aunt Jemima. I almost had a heart attack right then and there. So to salvage the day I bought and ate a half pint of real Maple Ice Cream with maple candy crumbles. Vraiment magnifique! Jose Vachon a French Canadian singer put on quite a show but I left before the cloggers and fiddler were on stage. I really wanted to get home to see how Puppy's Pop had made out at the contest today. We'll go to Wrenthem again tomorrow to finish up the two day flying affair.

I won't go into details but Puppy's Pop did show all and sundry how to save a plane when you're flat on your back. It seems that the plane was coming in on him so he was backing up to save it and fell flat on his back but he did manage to keep control, get back up and actually finish the round. I'm glad I missed that. I would have been petrified that he had gotten hurt or the plane crashed into him or some other weird scenario. Perhaps tomorrow it won't be as windy. We can only hope.

I had also hoped to get to Sterling Family Day because we had friends selling sausage and meatball sandwiches and another nice young lady selling homemade hand creams and lip balm. But we settled for a nice easy spaghetti supper at home.

Quote: Gluttony is the source of all our infirmities and the fountain of all our diseases. As a lamp is choked by a superabundance of oil, and a fire extinguished by excess of fuel, so is the natural health of the body destroyed by intemperate diet. ___Burton

Yup, another wow day . . .

Great day all day. Wow, we went flying and walking at the Dog Track, stopped for a muffin and coffee at Lizzy B's, gave Natalie, our superior waitress a monster Yankee Candle, Macintosh, which we received as a present at the party and I picked the Indian Corn. Also let Puppy's Pop beat me at horseshoes before I spent some time tying my corn into neat bunches. Friends from Oneco stopped by and I let her pick a bunch but she wouldn't take one of the bigger ones and chose a smaller group. When I insisted that she take two because hers was small she took another small one! I couldn't win.

Expecting to hear from the wood cutter today. We may have someone lined up to cart the wood away. It seems he has a portable saw mill. We'll see how it goes. I just want the trees out of here. The sooner the better. Also topped off the day with a nice fairly long telephone conversation with our youngest. We may not be visiting her in England next year if they have to move closer to London. Everything will be up in the air for a while but hoping they'll make it home in 2012. Now that would be the greatest. Then if the oldest could be persuaded to come home for a visit at the same time we'd have us all together again. It's already been 5 years since we've all been under the same roof. Unbelievable.

Quote: Affability, mildness, tenderness, and a word I would fain bring back to its original signification of virtue -- I mean good nature -- are of daily use; they are the bread of mankind and the staff of life. ___Dryden

Wonderful day . . .

We did it. Another exceptional Horeseshoe Tournament. We had the best weather yet and an excellent bunch of people about 48 in all. It's so easy to have a party when you don't have to do the cooking! We went from 1pm to 6pm. There were kids aged 6 months to 11 years old and Kiddo had a blast. I think I only saw him twice all afternoon. He was busy playing laser tag with the "boys" club. Too funny. Our clam fritter man showed up so we had that special treat and for desert M & M ice cream sandwiches. It's a good thing that everyone likes what I like because that's all we get for the party! The middle child beat her husband twice at horseshoes and did she ever play that up big time. You had to be here to appreciate the fun. Already looking ahead to next year and how I'm going to tweak the menu.

Grampa has been having a good time tidying up the basement so he has a more comfortable place to work on his planes. It really looks good. We went to the Sterling School today to fly and walk. There was another couple there; she walking the dog; he, driving golf balls. It all worked out well because the place is big enough for golf and control line practice. Just remembered. We had three little dogs at the party one Shidzu and two Yorkies. All very well behaved. I must admit I'm tired because we've already got the yard and house back in shape and packed away for next year. Won't have to cook for a while as we finish up the left overs. Not too much this year. So it'll be a good week of no cooking! That's a plus.

Quote: How lovely are the portals of the night, when stars come out to watch the daylight die! __ T. Cole

Busy week . . .

Back to Alaska.

Busy week. Kiddo is back in school full time and I'm back at lunch duty and etc. full time! Still look forward to going to school. So I guess I haven't changed too much. Grampa and I worked like mad today to get ready for the party. We're all set. He'll pick up the food at noon and I'll stay home getting the last minute stuff done and hope I don't forget anything. But if I do we'll manage. I'm happy and excited. The weather today was superior and tomorrow is supposed to be the same.

Kiddo finished reading the second section of a Dick and Jane book for me so I had to bring him to Target for his winnings. We bought BeyBlade Metal Fusion Super Vortex Battle Set. What a blast we had last night and this morning. They are battling tops and I get a real kick out of them. I hope he reads the last third of the book so we can go get another top or two. I've loved tops since I was a little tyke and they still thrill me. A good time was had by all!

Quote: The most delicate, the most sensible of all pleasures, consists in promoting the pleasure of others. __La Bruyere

Works for me!