A pictorial review of the year 2009
The beginning of 2008 gave us one
snowstorm after another..
The year 2009 started off with the usual amount
of snow.   We snowshoed whenever the weather
permitted.   This is the view of our field from the
house.  
In April I attended a woodturning workshop with a master
turner,  David Ellsworth.   I bought a new lathe and have
been working on improving my skills since then.  Above are
some of my hollow forms that were really fun to create.   
Each different wood has its own special beauty.
This is Inger and her college roomate,
Ann, at their Mt. Holyoke College 50th
reunion over Memorial weekend.   
They were able to room together again.
Here we are at a November visit with the Martin and the
Harris families in North Carolina.   The Martin children
planned a medieval festival as a learning experience
about that period of history.   We donned costumes,
some as nobles and some as peasants; I was the king
and granddaughter Natalie Harris was the Queen.  It was
great fun. For an enlargement of the picture, click on it.
This year the apple harvest was bountiful.   These trees
are old varieties and hold their fruit until winter.   They  
provide food for the deer after the snow falls as
evidenced by the trampled snow under them.
We didn't take any major trips this year but stayed busy at
home with our hobbies, family and friends.   We enjoyed
many family visits: Kate, Pat and children, Erling and
Sandy, Thanksgiving with Hans, Michele, Per and Alisha,   
visits with Erling's son Nils and Sandy's son Kendall, and
our annual visit with Chris, Ellen, Spencer and Carmen.

Inger continued to increase our gardens - this summer
expanding the butterfly garden with a water feature that
attracted a resident frog.  For the first time, our bird
feeders were bent and destroyed by bears.  After the fourth
attack, we suspended feeding the birds until the bears
hibernated.  

Both Inger and I continue to enjoy good health and active
lives.   Please visit us if you come up our way.

We wish you a joyous holiday and a very happy, healthy
New Year.

Inger and Bob
February and March
We  used our sugar house for the second year of
sugaring.  I added a steam vent on the roof which
improved the air quality inside the building.   We
produced about 7 gallons of syrup.    This coming
season I plan to put in a few more taps to
increase our production.   We love giving friends
and family a bottle to enjoy.  
We spent Easter in St. Louis with Rob, Kate
and Carly, our newest granddaughter. Carly
was born on Valentines day.   She's a doll
(she's even growing some hair).  I went back
in September to visit and do some
genealogy.  Here's Carly at 7 months.
We went to Quebec in June to celebrate our
anniversary.   We spent the whole time in the old
city, a very historic spot.  We had both just
finished a book on the Founding of New France
and the life of Samuel Champlain.   We enjoyed
the food and some good weather.
We were visited by the Harris family in July and
celebrated Archie's and Inger's birthdays on the 4th.
Teenage granddaughters Sam and Ally stayed an
extra week -  it is so much fun to spend time with
them.   The Davis/Oldhams came to NH in August ,
and we were joined by Erik Oldham and daughter
Lauren. By the end of August we finally had some
summer weather, which allowed us to spend most
afternoons at the Lake Wentworth beach.   
Carmen Oldham  (8) sitting with me.
Back to winter again - picture taken yesterday.  I
finished our cabin in the woods this year.  With a
new wood stove, it is habitable in the coldest
weather.   This is a rest spot as we snow-shoe
around our property.