Family time...

Bow Lake, Strafford NH

The fair is over for us and now it's time for family and friends in beautiful New England. We have been fortunate to enjoy good weather. Mostly sunny days, with little to no humidity. Today we will pick up my Dad and take him to Wolfeboro, NH to stay with us at my sister's home. It will be nice to have a few days together.

League of NH Craftsmen's Fair 2014 - Day One

Jeff and I had a great trip north. We actually left on time on Wednesday, drove a little over 8 hours that first day and arrived at Mt. Sunapee Resort in Newbury, NH a little after 2:30 pm on Thursday. The booth walls, pedestals, and lights, were up in about four hours. I think it was a record for us! Friday was spent securing shelves and unpacking pots.

We are really pleased with the booth this year. The freshly painted walls and additional lighting make a big difference. The fair limits wattage per booth. We are slowly switching to LED lights which gives us more lights at lower wattage. They are expensive up front, but worth it in the long run.
The fair attendance seemed up from the first day last year. I will know for sure tomorrow when they give us the daily stats. I am quite certain our sales were up. Lots of people spend two days at the show (there are 350 craftspeople) and in the past, Sunday has been better for us than Saturday.
and did I mention the weather? In the 70's and super comfortable... tonight I had to put on a hoodie.

Time Passages

 Spring View from my parents balcony - Dover, NH

It seems like forever since my last post on April 30th. On that day I was packing my bags. I was flying  to New Hampshire the next morning to say good bye to my Mother. At 2:30 in the morning on May 1st my sister called to say that Mum was gone. Her youngest brother Bert was with her, holding her hand, when she passed away.

It was perfect that he was there. They were very close, although my mother was sixteen years older. Mum was the third (?) of ten kids. Bert was the youngest. When he was born there were complications and my grandmother had to stay in the hospital and baby Bert was sent home. My mother left school to take care of Bert and the other younger siblings. She thought of Bert as her baby. When my grandmother recovered, my mother didn't return to school. She went to work to help support the family. I knew that my mother hadn't finished school, but I didn't know the whole story. My Aunt Rita shared it with us during one of our many long story telling sessions.

Pauline Lemieux - 1954, the year she and Dad were married

I stayed in New Hampshire for nearly two weeks. The first week was a bustle of activity. I never thought that my parents little apartment could hold so many people! We spent hours going through photo albums and boxes of photos. There was much laughter amidst the tears. We drank lots of wine, and lived on a multitude of casseroles, cakes, and brownies, delivered by many caring friends and extended family. 

After the funeral I stayed with Dad another week and helped him with paperwork and ran errands. It was good for him to have me there even though we were starting to get under each others skin. By Tuesday I was so ready to come home. I had an evening flight out of Boston with a connection at Reagan International in DC. As luck would have it, my flight was cancelled due to "excessive air traffic". I couldn't get another flight until 10am. There wasn't a hotel room to be found within 40 miles of DC. All of the restaurants in the airport closed at 10pm and I hadn't eaten since noon. At least I wasn't alone. There were so many cancelled flights that the terminal looked like a refugee camp. Everyone was scoping out the best place to spend the night. I found a sweet spot facing the window with a ledge that my suitcase could set on and act as a foot stool. The best part was I had an electrical outlet! My phone, computer, and kindle all stayed charged. The airport handed out little fleece blankets to everyone. Once I set up camp I prayed that I wouldn't have to go to the bathroom and lose my prime space! It was a long night of reading, streaming netflix, and playing "Candy Crush". I dozed for about two hours. The airport started to come back to life at 5am. I packed up my camp and found a Dunkin Donuts... the coffee tasted so good and I don't even care for Dunkin's. 

When I got off the plane in Greensboro and was greeted by the heavy, warm southern air, and Jeff's big hugs....

I knew I was finally home.

sugar buzz...

Danielle brought Anita and me wickedly delicious cupcakes from Sugar in E. Haven, CT. 

and brother Paul and sister-in-law Harris, finally get their wedding gift just shy of their 2nd anniversary...

Better late than never!