August in New Hampshire

August started out with a whirlwind of activity. We fired the kiln twice in one week and quickly sanded, priced, and packed it all for the road trip to New Hampshire and the League of NH Craftsmen's Fair. The good friend that we have always stayed with during the fair moved to Connecticut in the Spring, which meant we had to make a decision on accommodations. We settled on renting a tiny cabin at a campground in nearby Newport, NH. 

We had a half bath for convenience, and the campground showers were nearby and clean. It worked out well for us. Renting a place to stay was an added expense, but thankfully we did well at the show and covered the cost. It was sort of fun to come back to at night, grill some dinner, and eat on the little porch.

On the road between the campground and the fair is a pick your own blueberry farm. Jeff and I took some time one evening and picked four pounds of blueberries. The branches were heavy with berries and it took us about fifteen minutes to fill our pail.

The weather has been great, just one rainy day. Nights in the 50's and most days hovered around 70. The show is over and we are now in Wolfeboro, NH, visiting my sister and her family for a few days. It was nice to have a day off today. I think it's the first on in over a month!

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.

the necklace

it was Christmas 2007 and John was going through his first round of chemo at Dana-Farber in Boston. he was part of a clinical trial that included erbitux, along with 4 chemo drugs. the treatment made him so sick he spent 10 days in critical care. he came home the week before Christmas. needles to say, not much holiday shopping got done that year.
on Christmas morning John presented me with a turquoise necklace... he had called Gloria who owned the gallery where our pottery studio was located and asked her to make me something special. it was beautiful.

shortly before the move to North Carolina, i realized that i couldn't find the necklace. Jeff was certain that it was somewhere in the house and that it would turn up while we packed or once we unpacked. a year and a half went by and still no necklace.
i was heartbroken.
i looked in every handbag, suitcase pocket and backpack. no necklace. i came to terms that it was gone. maybe left in a hotel room during our multiple trips between north and south.

Jeff and i decided when we did the craft show in NH last month, that we would tent in the yard at our potter friends, Steve and Sue Russell. we pitched the tent together and i unrolled our sleeping bags. the tent has little storage pockets on the interior and as my hand brushed one of them i realized there was something inside. right away i knew what it was.

the necklace.

jeff and i had camped in Franconia Notch in the White Mts. before we moved south... i cried tears of joy when i found it.

don't you love happy endings?