Douglas and Veronica In Boston

Douglas and Veronica met us in Boston following their professional conference in Woods Hole on September 16 for a couple of days of fun.  One of the highlights was Douglas having the opportunity to revisit his place of birth, 21 Lawrence Street in the South End (pictured above with Veronica and us).  We also took in the musical "Wicked" at the Opera House and had a very pleasant - if noisy - dinner at Casa Romero in Back Bay (pictured below are Douglas and Veronica at Casa Romero).  The rest of the time was spent shopping.  It was a fun time for us to be with both of them.

Ralph Loses High Bailiff Race

For the second time, Ralph decided to enter the race for High Bailiff of Windsor County.  The first time, in the Presidential election of 2008, he was a write-in candidate.  In a nip-n-tuck election, he was just barely beaten by a 23,000 to 72 vote.  This time, he decided to have his name printed on the Democratic ballot.  The result was 3211-1346 defeat.  According to reports, Ralph is considering a third run in 2012 on either the Tory or Whig ticket.

Janet Takes Stenciling Class at Fletcher Farm

In August, Janet participated in an arts and crafts class at Fletcher Farm dealing with stencils.  She, along with several Ludlow friends, enjoyed learning more about the art form and producing some fine art for the home at Whispering Pines - and elsewhere.  Some photos of her week at Fletcher Farm are available by clicking here.

Wonderful News from Athens

We received a marvelous phone call from Douglas and Veronica.  Veronica is pregnant!  Hope to see them when they come up to Woods Hole, MA for a conference in September.  Just wonderful news!!!

Janet Exhibits Quilt at Billings-Marsh National Park

The Billings Farm and Museum of Woodstock opened its annual quilt exhibition this past Friday. Janet Pace of Ludlow was one of the quilters selected to exhibit their art. This is Janet's second quilt to be exhibited at Billings. The quilt type, Nick Knack Paddywack, was described by Janet as follows: "In 2008, I finished making a redwork quilt celebrating the cats in my life. Then, because our family has almost always had a dog, I decided to do a quilt in memory of all the dogs I have known. I picked a pattern from the 'Buggy Barn' series, started it in one of Country Treasure's classes, and slowly finished it this year. The stacking, cutting and piecing - or general craziness, as the creators call it - was a fun challenge. I had it machine quilted by Sherrill Gould (Filament Formations), who did some wonderful custon quilting; and now it's ready to be hung beside thje redwork cats."  Photos of the exhibition are available by clicking here.

Douglas Pops the Question!

Douglas asked Veronica to marry him on Saturday, July 17, 2010.  She said YES!  We are so happy for both of them.  Plans will be forthcoming when the lovely couple make some plans.  Right now we're all just very happy that there are plans to be made.

Journey to Mountaintop for VSO Concert

We journeyed with the Kuntz's to Mountaintop in Chittenden on July 9 & 10 for a VSO concert, great fireworks display, and very interesting and very electrified home overnight.  In adition to a great concert, the fireworks display against the Green Mountains was absolutely outstanding.  Kevin and I had some interesting "experimentation" with the lighting in the lovely home we rented for the evening.  The following day we when into Rutland for the Farmers Market.  A small number of photos are available for the Mountaintop venture by clicking here.

Birthday Celebrations

Janet and Ralph celebrated their 75 and 76th birthdays this year with a sojourn to Lake Morey Resort (located between White River and St. Jay in VT).  We had a great time touring an area we had always talked about.  In addition, we had time for lunch in Montpelier at Sarducci's-always wanted to go there and tour the Rock of Ages site in Barre.  We even had time to drive a bucket of golf balls at the resort's driving range.  Dinner was very quite at the resort; there was only one other couple there.  The resort even misplaced its keys to the wine cellar on the first evening; this meant the wine for the following evening was gratis.  When we returned to Ludlow, we were lucky enough to arrange dinner with some local friends at Sams.  All in all, it was a very nice, pleasant, and enjoyable way to celebrate our twin birthdays.  Photos of dinner may be seen by clicking here and photos from Lake Morey are available by clicking here.

Mother's Day from the Boys

Devi At Home

Devi has a tough life.  As soon as finishes her dinner, she joins us for cocktail hour.  As may be guessed from the view above, she expects additional treats (normally two carrots).  Following her two carrots, Devi will rest her head on one of our knees in the hope of receiving an additional treat or two.  When she realizes that such treats will not be forthcoming, she simply adopts a prone position, resigned to the fact that her feeding has terminated for the day - except, of course, for her treat after her evening walk.

8th Year at Owls Head

For the 8th consecutive year, we journeyed up to Owls Head in Mansonville, Quebec for a week of skiing and other pleasures with John and Joan Brownlie of Ontario.  While Janet's activity was restricted as she recovers from her fractured wrist, she did manage to do some snow shoeing.  In addition, we all enjoyed some wonderful dinners at the mountain's lodge, in Mansonville, and in Magog.  All in all, it was a very pleasant week.  A few pictures are available by clicking here.

A Quiet Christmas in Ludlow

Christmas was a quiet event at 1 Whispering Pines this year.  With Stephen and Barbara moving into a new home in Park City, Utah and Douglas and Veronica visiting Veronica's folks in Mendoza, Argentina prior to an excursion to Patagonia, it was left to Jeffrey and us to celebrate Christmas.  Which with did with quiet elegance - especially in light of Janet's dislocated and fractured wrist.  All in all it was a peaceful and relaxing time for us.  We had enjoyed the entire family at Thanksgiving.  A few photos of Christmas at Ludlow are available by clicking here.

A Christmas Card from Ludlow

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Janet & Ralph (double click pix below for better view of card)

. . . and click here for a 30 second view of 2009 for the Pace's.

2009 in 30 Seconds

The following is a 30 second clip put together for CNN's iReport covering the major events in the Pace family of Ludlows major activities in 2009 - click HERE. 

Family Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was a wonderful holiday for the Paces. Stephen and Barbara, Jeffrey, and Douglas and Veronica helped us celebrate the event. Even the flights from Georgia and Utah managed to be ahead of schedule. We celebrated Thanksgiving with a non-traditional (but excellent) loin of beef. The following evening most of the family enjoyed tempura and sushi (both Stephen and Ralph, however, avoided the sushi). And our final dinner was prepared by Veronica, featuring a fantastic Pastel de Choclo Chilean dish in the Pomaireware she and Douglas gave us for the event. Stephen and Douglas managed to trim some bushes (can't have them coming home and not doing some yard work). Even the Devi had to make some adjustments for the event, being evicted from her usual place of rest to new digs downstairs. Barbara led an interesting discussion about healthcare as the family, as usual, solved all the problems of the world sitting around the fireplace. We even managed to take in craft shows in Weston and at Black River High School while the "kids" hiked up Okemo. It was a really nice holiday.  Photos are available by clicking here.

Beautiful Gift from Dave Ginsburg

We recently received a beautiful gift from Dr. David Ginsburg, currently at UCLA.  It was a book entitled, "Menorah Under the Seas".  Dave was a colleague of Douglas at the University of Southern California where both spent considerable time doing marine biological research at McMurdo Station in Antarctica.  The book describes a dive made by Dave on the first night of Hanukkah.  Since they were at McMurdo during the height of the Antarctica summer, there was essentially no darkness at night.  Dave found a unique way to "light" the traditional Hanukkah candle in the darkness 80 feet under the icecap.  It was a wonderful story, one that we are grateful he shared with us through this very beautiful tome. 

Gang of 8 Does New York

For the first time since 2005, the Gang of 8 (the Almonds, Kneebones, Paces, and Thomsons), joined back to New York for a pleasant and "challenging" long weekend.

After our usual stop at the Troy Diner, we enjoyed a pleasant Amtrak ride into the City.  We stayed at the Midtown Club Quarters, had dinners at La Grenouille and the Water Club.  Tried a little "mod" living by going to Brandy's Piano Bar on 84th Street (great fun).  Did a long morning tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art.  Took in a play (the Paces saw a wonderfully moving West Side Story while the others saw Jersey Boys).  We had our usual brunch at the Algonquin followed by a tour to the Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center (see the Gang of 8 above).  Pixs of trip at http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AaN2blo0aNmZ1.

On way back to Ludlow, we stopped at "The Man Of Kent" , a bar in NY State that several of us had always wanted to stop at but never had the time.  It was great fun.

First Snow of the Season

After taking a foliage picture yesterday, we awoke to the first snow of the season this morning.  Janet took these photos.  It was the earliest snow fall we can recall.

Fall Foliage Scene in Ludlow

Visit to Doylestown

It's been awhile since we last visited Maryanne and Jubie Stryker in Doylestown but we finally made our way down to Bucks County to help Maryanne "celebrate" her 70th birthday.  It was great to renew acquaintances with the Strykers.  We even had a chance to visit with Skip and Dee Burcaw in their new home.  Pictured above are the Strykers and Paces having dinner at the Water Wheel in Doylestown.