Windy days

Last week there were a few days of very strong winds. We watched the many tall poplar trees bend in the wind, which was blowing in the the direction of the greenhouse, hoping they would not get blown over. The first morning we saw three of them uprooted, and laying near the swamp and the marsh marigolds that were in the bloom. The second morning we awoke to find this tree laying across the roof of the greenhouse. It did not puncture the plastic, but we did have to wait patiently for a few days for the "tree man" to come and cut it up, because there were more important situations to take care of--like trees on wires, and streets. We also had a few more trees removed to avoid others from falling onto the greenhouse filled with Australian water lilies.

This is my first attempt at making a quilted jacket. Thanks to quilter friends who have made jackets and encouraged me, I decided to make one for Noel for her 6th birthday, May 12. The fabrics were colorful two and a half strips packaged as a "jelly roll". I used a jacket pattern, and randomly sewed the strips on to the batting and lining, then cut the pattern pieces. The jacket was then sewn together (already quilted!). The lining is a colorful fabric with pictures of flowers in pale yellow, green and pink colors. I enjoyed making it, and when I had questions during the process, I was a phone call away from help, thanks to Betty King.

A Texas Vacation

Marion had mileage on United that would expire in August, so we decided to visit Texas. As luck would have it, the week of March 15 was Noel's school vacation, which coincided with Barre's vacation from teaching a course this semester at MCLA. We looked forward to warmer days since Paul had told us the days in early March had been in the 70's. We took no heavy coats with us, and looked forward to wonderful sunny days for the week.

Our first excursion was to the Dallas Arboretum. The weather was wonderful, and the gardens and flowers were spectacular and so colorful. Spring had arrived! Noel really enjoyed the gardens, and taking pictures with her own camera. The cowboy hat and bandana were part of a costume from her dance class, and she really looked like a native Texan, but speaks without the accent.

There were massive plots of many various flowers like tulips , daffodils, hyacinths, etc. with a variety of colors, all so beautiful. The weather was perfect. Because it was school holiday the parking lots were full, so we were shuttled by bus from a parking lot in a nearby mall.

The trees and shrubs were also beautiful, and Barre could identify them when we had a question.

The Arboretum is very large, and the walking is easy. It borders a large pond, and the plantings near there also include water features, and koi fish, which Noel enjoyed watching. By the end of the day, we realized we had done a lot of walking, enjoyed all of the beauty around us, and were a bit tired!

On Friday night Barre and I attended Paul's hockey game. He is the fellow in the yellow shirt, playing goalie. It was our fourth day in McKinney, and the temperatures had gone done enough to make us wish we had brought a heavy coat. The game time is shorter than a college game, and we survived. His team won.

Sunday morning found us looking out the windows at six inches of snow! Noel was excited, and after breakfast she went out to play in the backyard. She loves snow, and spent quite a while playing. The snow was quite wet-- good for snow balls, and snow men. In the afternoon, Noel returned to the yard, and already, the grass was visible, and much snow had melted, but there was enough to make small snowmen.

This is the view from the front porch on Evergreen Drive. We didn't expect to have snow on our visit, but it had completely melted by Monday morning. Noel had to go back to school and we flew home, so Barre could teach on Tuesday.

It was too cold on Sunday to visit the Dallas zoo, so we went bowling, and had lots of fun. This picture was taken when we returned home. Paul, Michelle, and Noel had better scores that Barre and I. Our week also included a tour of Paul's work place at Gearbox, which was very interesting.

Spring is here

The ice was out of our pond on March 24th and daffodils, iris, and day lilies began to poke through the soil. On April 1st, the Spring Peepers, and Wood frogs began to sing at night--a true sign of spring. We can hear them at night, even with the windows closed. The weather was warmer than usual, and the magnolia tree was in full bloom in one or two days when the temperature on April 7 and 8, was 84 and 79 degrees. The weather these past few days has been cooler, especially at night, so the flowers have lasted longer. We hope the early rush of Spring does not turn to weather cold enough to bring snow in April!

Meeting a College Hockey Legend

Eric and his girl friend Cathy are both college hockey fans. Eric inherited his interest in the game from Barre when he was a little boy who began to attend UNH hockey. The gentleman in this picture is Canadian Ken Dryden, a grauate of Cornell Univesity, Cathy's alma mater. This particular evening Cornell celebrated his career in the early 1970's as an outstanding goalie, (lost only 5 games in three years), by retiring his hockey number, 1, and permanently displaying his shirt in the rink.

Eric has heard of Ken for years, but was too young to see him play. However, he has read some of Dryden's books, (he played pro hockey for 10 years, is a lawyer, and a member of Parliment in Canada). He and Cathy were pleased to meet him and have their picture taken with him. He also autographed Eric's book. At the end of the evening, Cathy and Eric went to an ice cream shop in Ithica, and arrived at the door as Ken Dryden and his friends were entering. They were invited to his table and spent an hour conversing on college hockey, former players, and the "Miracle on Ice", when the US won the gold medal at the Olympics.

Cathy and Eric will never forget this hockey evening!

Winter storms

The heaviest snow fall we had was in late February. The scenes in our back yard and view of the pond were beautiful. Barre's measuring stick marked the total at 17 inches. It was a real winter picture, with the snow falling gently all day.

It took a long time for Barre to blow the snow off the driveway, but he took his time and got the job done. It includes making pathways to the greenhouse, bird feeders, and back door of the garage. He actually enjoys the job because he likes the snow! We expected to have the scene of deep snow last long enough to really enjoy it, but the following day brought a heavy rainstorm, and the snow settled so much, it was hard to believe that the previous day had deep snow. The next day, however, brought us 10 more inches of snow, and Barre went back to work using the blower again.

This picture was taken in March, two weeks after our big storm. This is taken in Searsburg, Vermont, on our way to New Hampshire. There were storms in the mountains that we did not have in Adams, and we were surprised by the high banks on the road side. Deep snow, and beautiful mountain scenery was spectacular on Route 9.

As we drove into Brattleboro, Vermont, we passed a farm that collects maple syrup the "old fashioned way" with buckets, not hoses, which send the sap to huge tanks to be collected. We stopped to take this picture, as the season was just beginning. However, the weather warmed up too quickly, and the season was shortened, but the quality of the syrup was excellent, with less gallons produced.

Celebrating the Olympics

During the two weeks of the Olympic Games, we flew the flags of Canada and British Columbia. We enjoyed watching many of the events, and stayed up later than usual every night to see the races and other competitons. Racing down mountains on skis, ski jumping, bobsleding, half pipe, luge, etc. kept us on pins and needles, hoping there were no mishaps. All the figure skating, and hockey games were of interest, too, and we watched a number of Curling contests, and began to understand the rules of the game. Of course, we wanted the US Men and Womens's hockey teams to win the gold, but were still very pleased with their success.