A Wonderful Christmas at 1 Whispering Pines

With all the boys (I mean men) home along with Barbara, Allan, and Kerri, we enjoyed a marvelous Christmas holiday.

You can checkout a more complete list of photos at http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AaN2blo0aNmKf .

Trim the Tree Party

On Saturday, Dec. 10, the Paces held their annual Trim the Tree Party. It was a fun time for all and the tree was nicely decorated by the guests. Only problem, Janet has decided that she wants an artificial tree next year. Can we still have a Trim the Tree party? Tune in at this time next year!

Some snaps of event may be viewed at http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AaN2blo0aNmJx .

Stephen, Barbara, & Douglas Share Thanksgiving in Zion National Park

Stephen and Barbara drove down to Zion National Park from Salt Lake City while Douglas drove from LA to the park to enjoy a camping out Thanksgiving. These are some of the photos taken of the event.

Visit to Doylestown

In the beginning of November, Janet and I drove done to Doylestown, our former stamping grounds, to visit with our long-time friends and cohorts in all sorts of shenanigans, Jube and Mary Anne Stryker. One of the highlights of the visit was an afternoon cabaret/brunch event at Chez Odettes in New Hope, PA. There we enjoyed the great music of Chris Barrett, a pianist/vocalist we had the pleasure of enjoying at the Firebird in the City.

It was a great visit and these are some of the photos of the it.

Phantom of the Opera in Salt Lake

Stephen and Barbara enjoyed a recent Halloween party in Salt Lake. Apparently Stephen became the Phantom of the Opera while Barbara played Christine.

Great Trip to the City

Joining with the Almonds, Kneebones, and Thomsons, Janet and I Amtraked down to the City this past Friday for a great weekend. We enjoyed our fantastically huge hotel rooms at the Washington-Jefferson; the bathrooms were particularly engaging.

In addition to our normal watering places, we saw Spamalot, a Monty Pythonish musical with some of the MP gang, visited MoMA in the rain, toured the new Shops at Columbus Circle, and enjoyed formal dining at the Tavern of the Green and Djano. We also managed to sneak in a "late" evening at Danny's Sea Palace Bar to listen to Jerry Scott at the piano and witness the Kneebones doing the anniversary waltz.

Try http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AaN2blo0aNmJg&notag=1 for a Shutterfly tour of our adventure.

Douglas Conducts Marine Research at Pappy and Harriet's Pioneer Town Palace

The following is a link to Douglas' latest scientific research efforts, followed by a link to his photo essay on same:

http://dougpace.blogspot.com/

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8YbtWrRw2YY4

Stephen and Barbara - Views of Yellowstone

Here are three different photos Stephen took while he and Barbara were camping at Yellowstone.

Hint - to enlarge the photograph, simply place your cursor over the photo, click, and, when - and if - the globe with the outward pointing arrows appears in the lower righthand corner of the photo, move your cursor over it and click. This will work on most of the photos in this blog.

Family Reunion in Albany

Marge Baker, Herb and Shirley Pace, Barbara and Jim Boland, and Ralph and Janet Pace met in Albany this past Saturday, Oct 1. The cause of the event was checking out the apartment of Ashley Baker and room mate.

Making the event alot more fun was the inclusion of Carol and Todd Baker.

We all had more than we needed to eat at Fridays - after we were rejected by the Ground Round.

Todd sent the photos in this entry.

Hint - to enlarge the photograph, simply place your cursor over the photo, click, and, when - and if - the globe with the outward pointing arrows appears in the lower righthand corner of the photo, move your cursor over it and click. This will work on most of the photos in this blog.

Trip to Canada and Webster

We journeyed to Charleston Lake in Ontario to visit the Brownlies in early August. John and Joan picked us up at the dock and delivered us to Buck Island for several days of fun and great company. Joan provide excellent cuisine with John handling the grill. The water was warm and relaxing.

From Charleston Lake, we drove down the 401 (the Canadian equivalent of the I95 going through the city) to Newcastle for an overnight stay with the Brownlies at their home away from Charleston Lake.

We had a superb dinner in Newcastle - pizza with all the trimmings!

From Newcastle, we drove on the 401, the Queen Elizabeth Way, et al, through Toronto and headed for Niagara-on-the-Lake, a charming little city beautifully restored, which was the home of the George Bernard Shaw Festival.

After checking into the Prince of Wales Hotel (a fantastic structure - at a fantastic price), we attended the performance of Kurt Weill's "Happy End". The show was well-done and had memorable moments. The plot about gangsters in Chicago (written by Bertrol Becht, who probably never was in Chicago - and was a devout Communist in 1929 when the show was first produced) was dated but the cast gave an excellent performance. Of course, I loved the Weill score.

Thje following day we went to the main festival theatre to see Shaw's "Major Barbara". It too was a first-class production. Prior to the show, John drove us up to Niagara Falls.

It was interesting to trace the Niagara River from its mouth at Lake Ontario back upstream to the whirlpool where the river made a 90 degree plus turn back to the falls themselves. The American falls displayed the high rock pile at the base that had broken off from the lip of the falls. The Canadian side, by far the most dramatic, appears to be slowly eroding; one day it will probably reach Lake Erie (but none of us will be around to worry about it).

Following the three act performance of "Major Barbara", we said our good-byes to the Brownlies and crossed back into New York State.

We arrived in Webster to visit Marge on Thursday night (8/11). We had a pleasant day on Friday revisiting old family history and getting updated on what was happening with the Bakers. Marge took us to Todd's place of business, Pioneer Print & Copy Center, where we had a chance to see what he and Carol had accomplished.

Friday night Marge had Ashley and Kristen over (with their boy friends) along with Todd and Carol for a cook out and very pleasant family get-together. Scott and Cathy were away, camping in Vermont!

Saturday, we said our good-byes and headed home. It was a great trip but we were glad to be home after driving over 1,000 miles.

A slide show of the trip is available at http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AaN2blo0aNmI1 .

Stephen & Barbara: Pixs from Utah Camping

Barbara, apparently awaiting the hummingbirds to get in focus.

Bee on the Global Thistle

New On-Line Newspaper

After creating a blog site to replace some of the news lost by the demise of the Black River Tribune, I finally got a group together to back the development of a user-friendly newspaper format on our own web site.

Check out the Black River Reporter at www.brreporter.com.

Fourth Fireworks In Ludlow

Pictured above are two of the many great firework scenes we shared with friends on the night of the fourth of July, courtesy of the local American Legion.

Fourth Of July Celebration

The Vermont Symphony Orchestra played a Fourth of July concert at Grafton Ponds, featuring, of course, the 1812 Overture and fireworks. Janet and I joined some other Ludlow friends for a nice picnic dinner and "a little night music". Some additional pixs are available at http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeANG7Ny0aNGzCrg

Our Trip to Maine, June 2005

Thanks to the gracious gift from the boys (read that as "men of the family"), we were treated to two nights at the Bufflehead Cove Inn in Kennebunk (the Lower Village), Maine. We had a fantastic room with a jacuzzi, fireplace, large balcony overlooking the tidal river, huge bed (covered with pillows), sitting area, and beautifully done stencils on the walls. We enjoyed elegant breakfasts at the Inn along with the company of other sojourners from Mississippi, Ontario, and Connecticut.

To view some of the photos of the trip go to http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeANG7Ny0aNGzCyA

When the fog lifted, we toured around Kennebunkport and viewed the summer home of former President Bush at Walker Point. We even had the "opportunity" to see the Bushes and presumably Bill Clinton leave in a large group ob very black SUVs as they headed for dinner at a local eatery. Janet was particularly impressed with Bush's huge speedboat.

One of the Kennebunk highlights was a tour of the Rachel Carson Wildlife Reserve dedicated to showing the critical and fragile link between the ocean, tidal marshes, and abutting uplands.

Moosehead

From Kennebunkport on the southern shore, we travelled inland and north to Moosehead Lake to revisit our old haunts. Greenville seemed to be built up more and, per local rumors, the area around the lake was fast developing with planned hotel and condos,

We drove up the east side of the lake, along Lily Bay Road, and took the six and a half mile, dirt road journey into Casey's Camp grounds where we had camped three times before. Casey looked almost unchanged from the fellow we remembered twenty-five years earlier (although he had severe health problems that apparently have been resolved).

Moosehead still remains a large, basically unspoiled area that still attracts us.

The Rangleys

From Moosehead we headed into the far western section of Maine known as the Rangleys, that featured the Rangley Lakes and mountains (a continuation of the White Mountains). During the drive we were stunned by the beauty of the lupines growing along the highways.

I had heard of the Rangleys as a boy and had always thought of it as the last true frontier in the east. When we arrived in Rangley, we were confronted with many motels, restaurants, et al, exactly what I had not expected.

The lakes are a series of presumably interconnected lakes, large (but no where near the size of Moosehead, the largest fresh water lake contained wholly in one state east of the Mississippi) and clear. It is still a very lovely area and, perhaps, worth a trip back one day.

All in all we drove 873 miles for our northern New England tour. It was great fun and we owe Stephen, Jeffrey, and Douglas our thanks for getting us started on this fun trip

Summer blossom

Summer blossom. Snapdragon from the garden.

Janet Starts Blog Site for Garden Club

As part her responsibilities with the Garden Club, Janet has taken over the maintenance of the club's blog site at http://www.ludlowgardenclub.blogspot.com/.

She has learned how to add both text and photos to her blog and appears to be really interested in it.

Janet at the Plant Sale

Janet, on the right, with Betty Merrill and Susan Kneebone as they work at the Ludlow Garden Club's annual Plant Sale.

Janet Toasted at Surprise Birthday Party

Anticipating that she had been invited to a small dinner at The Castle by Allan Nelson to celebrate her birthday on May 14, Janet was shocked to discover that a large contingent of family and friends awaited her entrance into the "Billiards Room" with a chorus of Happy Birthday.

Topping off this surprise was the "unexpected" presence of Douglas who had "allegedly" just called her from LA to wish her a happy birthday and express his regrets for not being able to come to Ludlow.

Janet also received phone calls from a number of friends who were unable to make the gala celebration.

A brief slide show is available at http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeANG7Ny0aNGzCBA covering some of the festivities.

Barbara Whittaker offers Douglas some advice on matrimonial prospects as Janet looks on. 

Janet's second surprise as she hugs Douglas who just called her from LA 

The other table readies for the surprise