Changes, new visions and passings...

 

Well, the leaves have exchanged their monochromatic green leaves for their "Sunday-go-to-meeting" colorful best.

There have been changes for us, Bath and the North Country in this fall season.

We raised over twenty Black Swallowtail caterpillars and saw them leave to become butterflys.

Linda and I were very surprised when we received an award from the New Hampshire Non Game and Endangered Wildlife Program for our work with the "Speaking for Wildlife" program. 

Speaking for Wildlife entails us going out to groups and presenting various "talks" ranging from "The Wild History of NH", "Bats", "Gardening for Wildlife" and others.  We received training from the University of New Hampshire a couple years ago.

Early in the spring we heard a strange sound in the side yard which was later identified as a porcupine looking for love.  We had never seen a porcupine on our property...up until about a month and a half ago.

I noticed a dark area in the front yard so I grabbed a camera and went up to take a look.  It was a porcupine!  I followed it a little bit and took some pictures.

A few weeks ago just after sunset I noticed a dark form moving along behind the dog yard fence near the tree line.  I grabbed the camera and went out to take a look.

It was another darker, much larger porcupine heading toward the shed.  Again I took some pictures but didn't get as close this time due to the darkness.

We had a good fall.  Lots of tourists, but not as many in years past.  It also doesn't help that the covered bridge has been closed about a year now.  We have about another 7-8 months until it will be open again.  The bridge closure is hurting our local store - The Brick Store www.thebrickstore.com   If you like homemade fudge (and who doesn't) check out their web page for the many flavors that Nancy makes.  This truly is a mom and pop store so do your taste buds a favor, buy some fudge and help them out.

After too many years we once again have a Boxer in the house.  Roadie (Scarborough's One For the Road) was given to us by longtime friend and acquaintance Virginia Zurflieh in Florida.

There will be MANY more stories about Roadie (and Mollie) in the years to come.

Sadly, the North Country has lost its biggest champion.

Ray Burton was an Executive Councilor (kind of like a Lt Governor but actually works) and Grafton County Commissioner and had been a public servant for over 38 years. 

Besides his public service he also played the organ at our church and was a member of our Grange.  He also taught at a local college.

He was literally the third person we met when we moved to Bath and joined us at our Christmas table each year after.

Although officially a republican he was very much in the political center.  The most telling indication of this was that most of the time the democrats wouldn't run anyone against him and he would always win the write in vote for the dems.

The last election cycle he did have a dem. opponent and that was only because they didn't want a free stater (www.freestateproject.org)  to get the job.

At Ray's last annual picnic which was a popular fund raiser for republicans, Ray endorsed Linda's candidacy for State Rep (Linda is a Democrat) much to the consternation of some present.

Just before Ray's passing he was honored by having a park named for him in Haverhill.  The honor had been in the works before it was learned he was terminally ill.

A second honor was having a scenic overlook of Mt Washington and the Mt Washington Hotel named for him.  This too was a surprise which they had to tell him to get him there. 

Prior to the dedication there was a special meeting of the Executive Council and the Governor at the hotel to officially accept a portrait of Ray done by local artist Craig Pursley to hang in Executive Council Chambers at the State House.

The dedication was attended by three former governors, two senators a former congressman and more state reps that you could shake a stick at.

And finally, Tom, our oldest cat passed away this month.  He was between 16 and 19 years old.  He came to us as a stray while we lived in Florida.

And now, a few pictures...

What at first glance looked like a leaf caught up in broom bristles...

 

 

 

Was actually a moth

 

 

The surprise...

 

The porcupine...



 

 

Say cheese...



 

 

The evening porcupine.  S/he didn't have as much white on the quills.

 

Sitting on the step to the shed...

 



 

 

Fall pictures...
 

 This is the Swiftwater Bridge.  Swiftwater is a part of Bath.

 

 Shadows in the bridge...





 



 

The lost River...

 

Introducing the new kid on the block...

Roadie and his handler Beth Coviello-Davis



 

County Commissioners Mike Cryans, Ray Burton and Martha Richards
 at the dedication of Ray Burton Park

 

Ray Burton and Linda after the dedication of Ray Burton park in Haverhill.

 

Ray (now in a wheelchair) awaiting the arrival of Governor Hassan at the Mt Washington Hotel for a meeting to accept a portrait of him to hang in Council Chambers.

 Ray and Governor Maggie Hassan in his canary yellow convertible

 

 

Tom (left side) left us on  14 November.   He was between 16 and 19 years old.  He had been a diabetic since 2007.

 

 

 

 

What's cookin' good lookin'?



 

 

Summer stuff, critters, shingles etc.

Wow! 

It is hard to believe that we have now been in Bath for seven years.

Time certainly has flown once again.

The summer was wetter than usual, but I didn't hear of it having any detrimental effects on the farmers.

Linda has had a break from the legislature as the last session of the House was in June and committee meetings didn't start up until August (she is on the Agriculture and Environment committee) where they take up bills that were tabled for more investigation.

Before the session adjourned, Linda testified at a hearing for the "Honor and Remember" flag.
www.honorandremember.org

The House doesn't start up again until January.  Already, Linda has spent more time in committee meetings and House sessions than the US House of Reps. this year. 

Of course, that explains the princely salary that NH State reps are paid...$100/year.

We actually saw a snake this year.  Can you believe we stopped the car and made sure it wasn't injured?  It was sluggish as it was a cool morning and was sunning itself in our road.  Pretty little fellow (they are so much prettier when you know there aren't any poisonous snakes within 200 miles).

On Memorial Day weekend the traveling Viet Nam wall was in nearby Haverhill.  We went and found the name of one of Linda's classmates.

Along with the traveling wall was a memorial for our military personnl that have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The names were on dog tags.

We did located the name of Linda's Nephew.  He left behind a wife (Linda's niece) and two small children.

We don't see much of the deer during the summer, but twice now I have seen a doe browsing on trees in the backyard early in the morning.

We also had three turkey hens with over 20 poults in the backyard recently.  No doubt after the blackberries.

Earlier this summer I came home and saw a bear in the front yard which kind of puzzled me as we don't have any bird feeders out there. 

I went in the house and grabbed my camera and the .410.  After I took the picture I fired the .410 to scare it off.  When I went upstairs to change my clothes I looked out the window and saw something by a flower bed.  I went down to check it out and saw what s/he was after.  I had a block of wood that was a scrap from a log home that was about 8" on each side.  The section was full of ants and pupae which the bear found to be very tasty.  S/he pretty much shredded the block.

As usual we have our requisite baby birds.  Everything has now fledged with the exception of the Goldfinches.  They have only just started.

A couple weeks ago we decided to visit the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site once again.  www.nps.gov/saga

Saint-Gaudens was sculptor of incredible skill.  If you have been to Boston, chances are you have seen the Shaw Memorial in honor of the Civil War service of the Mass. 54th Regiment of African American Volunteers in Boston.  They were led by Robert Shaw who was subsequently killed in battle.  The memorial took fourteen years to complete.

Saint-Gaudens was well known for his excellent work in producing cameos, medals and coins.  He designed three coins for the US Mint: the one cent piece and the 10 and 20 dollar gold coins  The standing liberty is still used for United States gold bullion coins.

There are many more sculptures to see as well as the house and gardens.

This year is my final year as a trustee for the church.  One of my goals was to get the church steeple repaired/reshingled.

The work started on it on July 23.  The company (www.steeplekeeper.com) is a third generation family operation in nearby Littleton.

The work is all manual using bossun' chairs and not hi-lifts.  As a rule, there were four men up at a time. 

The owner of the company offered to let me go up, but I declined as they would have to repaint that side of the church.

Once they got up there it became evident that they were going to have to make a new steeple topper as the old one was rectangular in shape (on a round point) which allowed birds to get in to nest.  The grounding system was a piece of angle iron with two hose clamps attaching it to a piece of wood!!)

So, the church is now sporting new shingles and a new top and it looks wonderful!

To help pay for the cost I have started a raffle.  The total value of the raffle is well over $200.  Winner takes all and they don't have to be present (I will ship).

Finally a "few" pictures...

Linda testifying before a house committee.

 

Our chilly snake in the road...

 

The traveling Wall...

 

 

 Global War on Terror wall...

 

 

In memory of Linda's nephew

 

 

 

Got the morning munchies...just browsing along...

 

The remnants of the 8" square block of wood... 



 

You can see s/he was lieing down while s/he made toothpicks...

Bear exiting stage right...

 

 

Male Hairy Woodpecker showing his newly fledged chick where the groceries are... 

 

Papa feeding the little one...

 

Shaw Memorial at Saint-Gaudens Nat'l Historic Site

 

 Detail from the Shaw Memorial

 

 Admiral Farragut memorial

 

 

 

Our church steeple badly in need of repair

 

Getting the ropes strung for the bossun's chairs

The old shingles are gone

 

 

 Now they are wrapping the steeple with ice dam

 

The re-shingling begins.

 

...and continues

 

Almost there.

 

All done!!

 

 

 

 

This is the Artist's proof that is included in the raffle.  It is approx.12x24 

 

 

 

Caterpillar on Curled Parsley 10 Aug., 2013 (taken with a USB microscope Linda gave me for Christmas)

 

Caterpillars on 23 Aug. 2013

 

One of the older caterpillars was escorted off the back porch today before Mollie found it.  It was last seen on an Aspen tree.

 

 Great nephew, Finn, seems to be pleased with his new John Deere Tee shirt that we sent him.

 

Mollie peeking out from under the coffee table...

A VERY relaxed Mollie...



 

Nothing like a cool breeze from the fan on the tummy...



That's all for now.

See you in the fall.