Here's a day camp some of you may be interested it looking into: Click on image to enlarge.

We are used to busy weekends, but this has been an exceptionally interesting one. On Saturday, son Bill came with his family for dinner. This is the first time Bill and Monika have been here with baby Tangeni. Usually when we have visitors, our cat, Woody, comes strolling out from wherever he's been snoozing and greets our guests, one by one, and depending on his mood and I suppose whether he likes them a lot or is indifferent, he will either hang out with us and socialize, or after sizing up the situation, will go back to bed. Last night, Bill and family had barely climbed the steps onto the deck when Woody went skedaddling through the house like his arch enemy, Rico (Jamie and Marie's cat), was after him. I let him out the back door and we didn't see him again all evening. Always before when Bill, Monika and Jo-Ann are here, Woody has always hung out with them - but not last night. It was well after dark when they left, and Bill's car wasn't out of sight when Woody came bursting through the door, ate a quick snack, and then curled up in my chair.

Today, our nephew, Dean and his family stopped by for lunch. He and Sarah have two children, Hannah, almost 4 and Benjamin, 14 months. The same thing happened. They came in one door and Woody awoke from a sound sleep and couldn't wait to get out of the house through another. After lunch, as we waved goodbye to them from the driveway, Woody came out of nowhere and spent the rest of the afternoon snoozing in my chair.

We can only conclude that when a child under the age of nine or ten is around, Woody gets warning vibes that continue until the child has left the area. We knew left his previous home when kittens were born, but we had no idea he doesn't tolerate babies and little tots, either. Nobody was crying or being disruptive, and in both cases he was gone almost before everyone was actually in the house. We guess he's just not about to put up with even the possibility of rough handling or tail pulling - he'll take to the woods first.

We enjoyed having both families here. We hadn't met Dean and Sarah's two youngsters, and they are both very sweet. Actually, it was the first time our new granddaughter, Tangeni who is just over one month old, has visited, too. Her big sister Jo-Ann is going to Camp Downer for a week, and a few days after she gets home, their Grandma Floriana will be heading back to Namibia. It doesn't seem possible she's been here for two months. The summer has flown by. We'll all miss her, but since she's been gone, another grandchild was born in Namibia, so I'm sure she is anxious to get back to her family there.

In spite of a pretty busy weekend, I had time to look through some very old documents that had belonged to Bessie Walbridge Gibson Bean. Marvie and Carlton Domey brought them on Friday afternoon and I only glanced through a few of them, but they are very interesting, most from early 1800s. Among them is this recipe for Shaving Soap: "Take four pounds white bar soap, One quart rain water, One half pint beefs gall, One gill spirits turpentine. Cut the soap in thin slices, boil five minutes, after the soap is dissolved color with half paper vermillion [and] scent with what you like, use oil instead of essence."

This fellow didn't have the recipe, I guess. We're pretty sure he was a Cabot resident at some point, but we don't have any indication of who he might be - he's in our "unknowns" file, unfortunately.