Letting in the Light

The photo on the left above and below is the before and the right is the after. Our town is heavily wooded and in an attempt to prevent power outages National Grid went around town marking trees that they deemed a problem. The tree in the top photo was on our property so we had to give permission for it to be removed. It had an injury and was vulnerable so we agreed. Yesterday was the day. The tree in the photos below is on the street side so they didn’t need our permission. There is a hole in the sky now and more light will be coming in so the other trees should benefit. The interesting thing was Mark was home on Monday when they were nearby. The outfit that did the tree removal came from Syracuse. Apparently it must have been cost effective for National Grid to pay them and put them up versus having local people do it. Mark made friends with one of the guys as he was an ATV enthusiastic and came to look at his equipment. Click on the photos for a larger view.

 

They had a beautiful day to work and I took a ton of pictures. I think you all get the idea.

This morning they came by with their equipment and in no time had all the wood picked up and loaded.

 

Backyard Wild Life

 

Last week seemed to be a banner wildlife week at our house. There’s always evidence of deer activity usually in the form of droppings or plants that have been eaten. We live near a major highway and I’ve noticed an increase in the  hawk population as I’m driving. This guy happen to land nearby and I was lucky enough to get a photo. We have tons of chipmunks in the yard so there was plenty for him to eat.

 

 

 

A few days later I glanced out the window and snapped some photos of this visitor. I think it’s a woodchuck but let me know if you think it’s something else. We’ve also had coyotes, foxes, and fishers but I’ve never been quick enough to get them.

 

Fall is starting to get into swing. My mums come back every year and they’re starting to bloom. Hopefully I’ll get some time to enjoy them before the frost does them in.

In case  you haven’t figured it out I don’t have a lot to blog about these days. Our lives consist of working and being home so it isn’t very interesting. This weekend starts the Topsfield Fair. We’re planning on going to the parade Saturday. I’m thrilled that it falls on my Saturday off. We will attend probably next week. It runs for 10 days so stay tuned.

The Goodhue’s Band

This is a link to one of the tunes Derek played at the Apple Festival. Please excuse the inept filming on this one. The band is the Goodhue’s Band. He’s been playing with them for a number of years. They play various venues around the area. The man on autoharp is Kim Goodhue, he’s  a retired attorney. His oldest son is on the right, Geoff. Unfortunately this photo cuts off his youngest son, Ryan, who is on keyboards. Ryan is a year older than Derek. They met in high school in the percussion section of the concert band. Ryan is in his senior year at Northeastern University in Boston for Music Business. The older man on the far right is a substitute base guitarist. He has his own band, The Land of Misfit Toys, which Derek is the drummer for.

Apple Festival 2010

The link below is another sample of their work. The tune is called Turn the Page Again. It was performed over the summer at a gig in a New Hampshire bar. Ryan, who was cut off of this photo plays the bongo drums in this performance. The base player, I believe, is their regular.

Goodhues Band

Yard Sale and Apple Festival

We’ve been talking about having a yard sale for a long time and finally did it. I am a fan of the TV show Hoarders and the new season has really motivated me. These photos are a sampling of what we started with. Greg placed an ad on Craig’s list for the big ticket items and we opened the garage at 8 a.m. We had 2 old desktops, 3 monitors, an Acer net book and my old Dell Inspiron. Anything laptop goes fast. The Acer was first out the door followed by the Inspiron laptop. One of the desktops went and Em’s bike (which was almost brand new). At the end of the day we were over $400 richer and a lot of stuff lighter.

I was watching the Nate Berkus show last week and he talked about www.gazelle.com which will buy or recycle old electronics. I have packed and ready to go a monitor, an old pda and the remaining desktop. Granted I’ll only make $29 but they will be gone and I won’t have to pay anything to make that happen. On Sunday we put a box by the end of the driveway labeled free with other things from the yard sale including a barely working old dehumidifier and most of them got scooped up including the dehumidifier. I’m a happy camper.

One of our motivators for choosing yesterday was it was the day of the annual Apple Festival in the center of town so we were able to capitalize on the traffic. The main drag is closed and there is a craft fair, food,entertainment for the kids and bands perform throughout the day. The yellow house is the Holyoke-French house on the corner. It’s a historical house. The first band was the Goodhue’s Band. Its one Derek plays in. I videoed one of their tunes and will post a link to it later.

  

All-in-all it was a fun and productive day.

Moving Out/Moving In

 

Today was the start of a new life journey for Emily. She had been packed for a month at least for college. We left at 7 a.m. We were about an hour from her school when we gassed up the car. I thought the tree, ATM was interesting.

 

The school is very efficient. They had the traffic pattern set so cars could not go by the main dorms. They had a 45 minute parking limit in the parking lot closet to the dorm so that everyone could have a turn. Upper classmen were armed with grocery shopping carts and came to the car in teams of 3. All Em’s belongings were quickly loaded up and brought to her room. It made life easy for us. Several times helpers came around to make sure things were progressing and internet connections etc. were working.

The rooms are basic dorm rooms. The photo to the left would be her roommates side. We were there first so Em picked her side. Her roommate lives in NY and was planning to come around 2. Unfortunately we didn’t get to meet her. The rooms are small, clean and looked freshly painted. When empty they have a bit of a jail cell look. Emily went about the business of making her side homey and cozy. Every room comes equipped with a special fridge/microwave unit so we didn’t have to bring one. They are energy efficient.

By the time we left around 1 Emily was pretty much settled in. Parents had to be out by 4. As we looked around it seemed that parents cleared out fairly quickly.  There were things left to put on the walls but she and Jarrett, her boyfriend, who is also a student there were planning to do that later. Em met Jarrett over the summer via the college’s class of 2014 facebook page. They became friends, eventually met and have dated primarily via Skype over the summer. He lives about an hour and a half south of us. They managed to get together every few weeks. He’s a very pleasant, upbeat kind of guy with a sunny disposition and is very outgoing so we think he’ll be a good influence on Em this year. He also lives on her floor pretty much right around the corner. I know they’ll have fun, we’re just hoping not too much fun.

Labor Day Weekend Craft Fair

Yesterday was an annual event at the fair grounds. Its been years since we went so Greg, Emily and I enjoyed a pleasant morning. We were there when it opened so the crowds were low. Hurricane Earl luckily didn’t turn out to be much so there was no cleanup to do.

Emily enjoyed checking everything out and getting some things for herself and a present for her boyfriend’s birthday which is the same day as Greg’s. Interestingly enough her last boyfriend shared a birthday with Derek, that leaves me and Mark for future boyfriends.

325 Years Young

Once again I have been tardy with posts. There never seems to be enough time. On August 21th Derek, in one of his bands, performed at our local library. This summer is Boxford’s 325the birthday. Here is a link to their first tune: Boxford's Birthday

Derek, of course, is on drums. The sax player is a senior at Derek’s school. He’s extremely talented and joined the group on the spur of the moment with only one rehearsal. Derek is in another band with him. Keyboards is Ryan, a long time friend from high school. He is a senior at Northeastern for music business. Derek is in a bluegrass band with his family. He and Ryan are also in another band with other guys as well. The bass player is another friend from high school. The guys gave a solid performance and its clear there is some serious talent in the group.