273/365 - Not a good eating stage

Mark and Mason were here for dinner tonight. Mason has not been wanting to eat much for the last week or so. I just had to take this picture of 1 piece of potato, 1 piece of meat, and 1 kernel of corn on his tray. Mark tried to get him to eat them but no way, he wasn't having any of it!

272/365 - Jennie and Nan

This is a picture of my friend Linda's mother and my grandmother. They were the best of friends. Jennie always used to call my grandmother "Ma". I love this picture of the two of them.

271/365 - Fresh picked eggplants

We were driving behind this truck this morning, fresh-picked eggplants being delivered to a farm stand near us.

270/365 - Mountain Park

The other day my friend Linda asked if she could send my blog address to her sister Maureen in North Carolina (or is it South Carolina?). So...this picture is for you Maureen. The three of us at Mountain Park.

Left to right - me, Maureen, and Linda.

269/365 - A nurse in the family!

Mark started nursing school at STCC a few weeks ago. Today he brought his blood pressure cuff with him so he could practice taking blood pressures on all of us. I think I'm going to like having a nurse in the family.

268/365 - Ferncol Fair

Today Paul, Marley and I went to a little town fair in Templeton, MA.

Big Baba's cousin, Robert, lives there, at the Templeton Developmental Center.  Fred and Priscilla, and sometimes Paul and I have gone to this fair over the years.

Robert is the son of Nante and Anna Radtke.  He has lived here since he was about 12 years old.  It is a big working farm that is a residential center for the mentally handicapped.  Some of the men have jobs, although Robert is now "retired."  Every year the center hosts a town fair on the grounds.  It is quite a fun time with food, games, crafts, oxen pulls and a tour of the farm.  Robert always enjoys it when the family comes to the fair.

The last time we camet here with Marley was in 2004 and this is what I wrote in Marley's scrapbook that year:

"Ferncol Fair - Today we went to the Ferncol Fair.  This is held on the grounds of the Templeton Development Center.  Every year the school hosts a small town fair with food, rides, animals, crafts, etc.  The last time we went with Marley was 2002.  We never made it in 2003 because it was a rainy weekend.  It was sad going this year for the first time without Priscilla, just remembering how she enjoyed being there and watching Marley the last time we went.  Marley thoroughly enjoyed herself this year.  She had her face painted, rode a big horse (much to Kristen and my nervousness that she would fall off), rode the kiddy roller coaster with me (I was to nervous to let her go herself), and took the cow barn tour.  I'm not sure just what Robert thought of her.  I don't think he likes to share the attention.  Nancy came up for the afternoon.  We all had a fun day; the weather was beautiful! 9/25/2004."


Today was a beautiful warm fall day. Marley seemed to have a good time. There were lots of things for kids to do.

She had a ride on a horse.

Watched an oxen pull ("Isn't that mean to do to them?").






Took a tour of the dairy farm.








Went through a corn maze.




Searched for treasure in sawdust.



And found these.




Let Baba walk her new stuffed puppy (that she named Goldie).



I love coming to this fair, especially with Marley!

267/365 - Just the three of us

I have always liked this picture of me and my grandparents. I'm not sure what year it was, but I look about 6 or 7.

This is one of my aunt Dot's slides.  It must have been a Sunday because my grandmother and I are all dressed up.  My grandfather didn't go to church most Sundays.  I'm not sure why.  I know he didn't feel well a lot.  Look at his old slippers, ha!

266/365 - 60!!!

Even though I had to go to work on my birthday, it was a fun day. The girls in my office really made me feel special with cards, gifts, cake, and lots of well wishes as well as old age jokes! I feel very fortunate to work in a place where I consider my co-workers my friends. Thanks, everyone.

Paul and I went to Amherst for pizza at Antonio's tonight and last week we had our annual 5 family member birthday celebration.

Turning 60 has been pretty good so far!

265/365 - Thinking about turning 60....

Tomorrow is my 60th birthday. Yikes. How did this happen? Where did the years go? I started looking through old pictures and came upon this birthday party that I had when I was four years old. Can you guess which one is me? If you can't, I'm in the front row, middle, with the white bow in my hair. I can't believe that was 56 years ago. Time marches on. My grandmother used to say "You're only as old as you feel." Maybe 60 is good, because sometimes I feel 80 - LOL!!

PS - The other girls are:  Back row left to right - Maureen and Linda Lockerby.
Front row - Sharon DiLorenzo, me, and ? (it was either Mary Coons who lived behind our house on Field St , or another friend whose name I can't remember who lived on the next street, over, Morningside Terrace.

264/365 - Paul had a busy morning

Well, today the guy came to get the Escort with a flatbed truck. He had expressed an interest in our old aluminum boat when he came here in May to get the other two Escorts. Paul said he would sell the boat to him if he would take the old rusty boat trailer too. So...they pulled the boat and trailer out from the backyard, put the car on the flatbed, put the trailer under the car and put the boat on top of the car. Paul called me at work and told me he had a great picture for my blog - LOL! This guy has a towing service and he also deals in scrap metal, so Paul filled the car with all sorts of metal from the shed and cellar including a rusted out lawn roller full of sand, a lawn sweeper, a lawn spreader, 9 tires mounted on rims, two typewriters, an outboard engine, a gas tank, a floor polisher, etc, etc. He also gave him a pile of copper because Paul just seems to like this guy. The neighbors must have had a chuckle or two.

263/365 - Goodbye Ford Escort

Tonight a guy was supposed to come and take our Ford Escort away. It's been 4 1/2 months since we got our new car and the Escort is finally going. I shouldn't admit this, but Paul was keeping it around until he finished trimming the hemlocks - he was using the car to keep all of his trimming stuff in. I also shouldn't admit that we had two old Escorts in the backyard (for parts cars). We have had Ford Escorts for about 18 years, so I guess 4 1/2 months to finalize the end isn't too bad.

Paul absolutely loves the new Honda Fit, so it hasn't been too painful.

The guy called tonight to say something was wrong with his truck, so he would have to come tomorrow. I'm getting a little worried that it's not really going to happen - LOL!

262/365 - Presentation

Tonight in church Marley was presented by Pastor Chuck (the Children's Pastor) and her 3rd grade Sunday School teachers the 5 lb. Hershey's candy bar that she won in her Sunday School Class a few weeks ago. Go here to read about it. I brought my camera to church fully intending to take a picture of the presentation. Little did I know that her Sunday School teachers were going to asked Marley's parents and grandparents to come up on the pulpit with her. Miss Sandy talked about how much work went into the contest; what had to be memorized. I was happy about that because it really was a lot of work and Marley did a great job. Tonight She recited the Lord's Prayer in front of the whole church (which must have been scary) and she did it perfectly. We were very proud of her and after church we all went to Friendly's, even Big Baba.

So... I didn't get a picture of the actual presentation, but I did get this picture. I think she looks excited and happy. Good job Marley!!




On a different note, this afternoon Marley asked me if I had any hiking shoes. Next Tuesday she is going hiking with her class at school. I showed her some shoes that I had that might work and would you believe they fit. She is the same size shoe as me. I told her to wear them around that afternoon to make sure they were comfortable. She couldn't imagine why we wouldn't let her wear them to church that night. At 9, fashion sense hasn't arrived for her yet I guess.

261/365 - September 18, 1924

Today is Dot's birthday. Paul and I went over to celebrate with her. We brought her a Mum plant and a couple of little pumpkins for her patio, a birthday balloon and a little cake. I guess at 86 your birthday isn't a big deal, but she seemed happy to celebrate with us!

After we left Dot's we went over to Westfield to do a little letterboxing. This one was called Home of the Brave. It was in Apremont Park, named after the small French town of Apremont, which was defeated and saved by the 104th Infantry.







I love it when they give you some history of where the letterbox was hidden. It was getting dark when we got there, so we didn't spend too much time but we did find the letterbox. The stamp was a handcarved ribbon that said Home of the Brave on it.

I really love letterboxing.

260/365 - Friday Night

Supper on Friday night with Marley, Mason and the Babas.

I introduced Mason to Vegall tonight. His father used to love it. He would eat it very slowly, picking up one little veggie at a time. Mason didn't seem too impressed with it. He basically just pushed it around. I'll try again!

259/365 - Bessette Sisters

This is a picture of my grandmother and her sisters. She is the baby, so this was probably taken in 1901 as my grandmother was born in January of 1901. My grandmother's name was Lucien and her sisters were Aldora, Sadie, and Marion. They were from a little town on the New York/Canadian border, Chateaugay. Coincidentally there is a town not far over the Canadian border, a suburb of Montreal Quebec, named Chateaugay. I'm sure that is where they immigrated from. I wish I had asked her more questions about her childhood when I had the opportunity!

258/365 - New Prims Class

Tonight we started the new Prims year. This is a class at my church for 1st and second grade girls, on the idea of Girl Scouts. Tonight we had 21 girls. YIKES! We averaged between 13-16 girls last year. I'm not really sure how Pat and I are going to handle this many!

The class started out pretty good, a lot of the girls were new so they were pretty quiet and wide-eyed. We went over all the rules and what we do in each class and what we will be doing throughout the year.

Then we played the name game to get acquainted, and things started to loosen up.

Here, Pat is describing the game stuff the shirt. We broke up into teams of 10 and 11, and one girl from each team wore a huge T-shirt. The object was to see which team could stuff the most balloons under her T-shirt.



Things started to get really crazy!









#2 Team!



The winning team!



After that, we pretty much lost control, there was no calming them down, especially with all those balloons around. I don't think we will be playing too many games - or doing too many crafts either :)

257/365 - 9th Annual Paul and Marley Zoo Picture

It all started back in 2002 when I took a picture of Paul and Marley walking at the Forest Park Zoo. My mother-in-law, Priscilla, loved the picture and a tradition was begun. Each year I have taken a new "zoo picture." Paul says the last one will be at Marley's wedding.

2010


2009


2008

2007

 

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

256/365 - Five birthdays

Tonight we celebrated five birthdays, all within a month. Big Baba is August 22nd, Kristen is August 26th, Mark is September 2nd, Janelle is September 8th, and mine is September 23rd. Yikes. We used to include my aunt Dot in there too - she is September 18th, but the confusion of it all is a little too much for her. In the last few years Paul and I try to get over to her house on her actual birthday.