Christmas activities

I have been busy making sugar mice for my class at school. We are having a Victorian Christmas this year and all the decorations and cards we make are going to be themed to match. The children all made dough wreaths on Friday and I have doubled my electricity bill I think, cooking them all in the oven at home for hours over the weekend. Here are a few of them and a rocking horse I made with the left over dough.

A strange bird in the garden

 

Home once more

Good Bye Cape Cod

Just a few more hours and we will be heading out for the airport. Ryan and Katy are both taking us, and we are going to stop for something to eat on the way. We have checked in online and now just want the journey to be over and arrive back home safe and sound. We have had a great time, but all good things must come to an end.

Our last full day

I have finally finished the cross stitch embroidery, which I have been working on each summer, for the past three years. All our building and decorating is done (Keith just put some longer screws in the hinges on the door and they pulled the door over enough for it to close. I gave the concrete a second coat of paint, cut the lawn, got a piece of glass made to fit onto the window ledge in the downstairs bedroom. Pat did some finishing off around the window and put down the marble stones. We need several more bags, which Keith is going to get for us tomorrow morning. I'll take some final pictures of the outside, in the morning when they have been put down and post them on the blog before we leave.
Katy is mot working tomorrow so we'll probably just have a quiet day. We'll attempt to have a long lie in if we can. Our flight is at twenty to ten in the evening, and we are due to land in Birmingham from Zurich at 1pm on Wednesday. Neither of us are ready to come home, but needs must!
Mum, as long as George's funeral is before Thursday, next week, we will both come over to Bednall and take the two of you. If it's after that, I have to be back in school, but Pat will take you. You will obviously be upset, so we'd be happy to drive you and also to pay our respects, as well.

The finished room

We have finished at last! Well we thought we had. As there has been an extension lead trailing from the downstairs bedroom, to the fridge in the basement for the last three years, the door has never actually been closed properly. When the room was finished today Pat cut a little notch out of the door frame, so that the lead could go through the frame, we discovered that the door won't actually shut! It is too big! So yet another job to sort out. Don't know if we'll manage it before we leave though as we haven't got a plane.
We bought some exterior masonry paint today to smarten up the outside of the house where the ground has been dug out. I've given it one coat and it looks a lot better. Tomorrow we'll finish off outside and then sit back and admire our handiwork.

And what did Katy do?

Our last weekend

As you can see we all had lobster yesterday. It's the first time I have tackled eating a whole lobster and managed reasonably well, I think. Michael had a huge pan on a calor gas cooker in the garden and the lobsters were boiled until they floated. (That's how you tell they are cooked apparently.)
We went over to Peggy and Andrews ( neighbours in Early Red Circle,) when we got home, as they had invited us to a small family get together they were having. One of their relatives had driven over 3000 miles from somewhere near Seattle!
Everyone was talking about hurricane Bill. Peter Moore from next door, had been down to the beach to see the waves, which had been predicted to be quite high but he said they were only about 6 inches.
It rained in the night and I have just been out to see how Pat's groundwork coped. Everything looks fine. All we really have to do now is put down the white stones we have bought to cover the sand outside, and put up the roller blind and mirror that I have bought for the 'Downstairs bedroom,' as we have decided to call it now. Pat hung the two doors on the closet separately yesterday (as the folding system was broken and rather awkward)and they now operate much more efficiently and look much better. Will post a few more pictures when everything's done.

What is it? It's a Jack in the box!

Wednesday lunchtime

Well as you can see, we are nearing the end of our project, just a few more jobs to do. We are very pleased with our efforts. Pat is exhausted after working in the sweltering heat and humidity outside. At least I have been doing my decorating inside in the shade and cooler conditions, even though it's still humid indoors.

Lazy Sunday afternoon

After an enjoyable night out on Saturday, with Mike and Ellen at the Melody Tent, watching the Saw Doctors, we all had a long lie in on Sunday morning. We then went to Brewster for lunch, (with Liz - Katy's friend as well)and a visit to the chocolate truffle shop . Unfortunately, the charismatic truffle man himself was not there, but we had a few samples and brought home a couple of small but expensive purchases to savour. Ryan of course, bought the most expensive truffle (with real truffle inside) and ate it as soon as we got out of the shop! We then went back to Sandwich and Pat, Ryan and I had a cooling dip, our first of the year!
Katy had to go off to Polar Cave and the rest of us just lazed around for the rest of the day. Pat, Ryan and I all had an early night.Katy was in late as they had been really busy at the ice-cream shop all evening.
Well it's Monday morning, and Katy has taken Pat off to New Seabury for the sheriff's golf day. She is then going to the hairdressers to have her hair cut. When I have written this, I am going to get my painting clothes on and go down to the basement to do some painting.

The man with the tools

Light appears at last

Busy around the house

Yesterday Pat continued to dig his hole in readiness for the window to go in the basement. The father of a friend of Ryan and Katy is a carpenter and he is coming tomorrow to cut out the hole in the wall of the basement for the new window. Fingers crossed everything will go to plan. Katy and I cleared out the basement room and put a big tarpaulin down so we are 'All set' as they say here. The bird boxes are also in situ, ready for next spring. Hope they like Katy's themed cupcake decoration.
If you follow this link you'll see what Michael Kelly has been up to recently. (Auntie Margaret told us all about it.)
http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/pirate-attack-photos-mv-biscaglia/
Michael is the one kneeling down on the top deck!
I have just been lazing around and got out my cross stitch embroidery for the first time today.

A night out in Sandwich

Sandwich beach

Margaret & Kevin arrived from Boston yesterday morning. We all went to the Son's Of Erin for Michael's graduation party then back to Sandwich for an evening stroll on the boardwalk and along the beach. When we got home we introduced them to "Father Ted" and watched three episodes from Ryan's dvd. They had never seen it before and really enjoyed it. This morning Kevin and Pat went to hit a bucket of golf balls at the driving range then we all went out for a sandwich and a stroll along the Cape Cod Canal by the visitors centre. Just chilling for a while now at the house before going out for some seafood and a visit to Katy for some ice-cream at the Polar Cave where she is working.

Man at work!

As you can see Pat has been busy in the garden. He wants to put a window in the room in the basement so yesterday he dug out the ground to see if it might be possible. The soil is not really soil, it's just sand. We are now trying to find someone who can cut out a hole in the concrete for us.
Today he attacked the tree by the driveway. We went and bought an axe from the hardware store. The tree is now gone, and the dining room is much brighter. He's eyeing up the conifer on the other side of the house now as well! The last few days have been beautiful weather, not too hot, just right and not too humid. We have pottered around the house and haven't ventured very far. Katy has made a load of chocolate cup cakes for Michael's graduation party, which is tomorrow.
Margaret and Kevin will also be arriving tomorrow, to spend a few days with us so we are looking forward to that.

 

Couple in the kitchen

 

Painting a bird box

 

Black squirrel in the garden

 

Not sure how this got to Boothbay Harbour

 

Cropped Kayaker

 

The Maine Trip

 

Well here we are back safe in Sandwich, after our 500 mile round trip to Boothbay Harbour in Maine. The day we arrived was glorious and Jane and I took to the kayaks and paddled round the bay, while Peter and Pat, followed us in the dingy. Later on in the afternoon I didn't feel too good (don't think I'll ever make a sailor) so I took to my bunk. Four boating friends of Peter and Jane came over in the evening for food and they all sat out on the deck eating and drinking. I surfaced for a little while but had to leave the party and pretty well slept through until the next morning. Next day I felt much better. It was foggy for most of the day, with the mist rolling in and out but we went ashore for a walk around Boothbay and over to the other side of the bay to see where they bring in all the lobsters. Last night we went visiting on one of the friend's boat then went out for food. We then set out, Captain Bugg at the helm of the dingy, across the foggy harbour in the fading light back to Kinvara. Pretzel was happy to see her Mum and Dad had returned and not deserted her for good.