Well, my birthday celebrating is over with, but it was a great weekend-long event, and I got to spend time with friends and family, and had messages and cards from a lot of others from away. Except for my sons and their families, all of my remaining living relatives are living in other states, spread across the nation from California to Texas and the East Coast. I love 'em all, but I seldom hear from them because we all have busy lives and expanding families that take up our time and thoughts. So it was great fun to hear from some of my cousins.

My family hadn't been able to find a time when everyone was free until yesterday - and

even then, Tangeni had to rush off to a special dance rehearsal for a Halloween program she will be part of with her dance class. However, before we ate, everyone pitched in to take care of my "to-do" list. They disposed of a tree that had blown over during a recent wind storm; planted the forsythia bush in memory of Fred I've been waiting to get into the ground until the porch and pond were finished; took care of a set of tires I no longer need; and did a few other minor tasks I wanted taken care of before winter. We paused for a few minutes to get

some photos on the back lawn - me and my three sons above, and then one of all the women in the family except granddaughter, Jo-Ann who is in college in Texas. (We missed you, Jo-Jo!!)

One of the boys found this old photo taken when they were kids at camp at Joe's Pond, and had it repaired and a copy framed for my birthday. Gee, that seems several lifetimes

ago. So much time has passed and so much has changed. I'm sure their dad had been coaching them on water skis - starting them off as young as possible. Nobody looked very happy about whatever was going on. Jamie, in the middle was probably just doing what he was told - he seems to have a snorkel in his hand - I don't think he was water skiing then, but he could have been. The picture has a place on the kitchen wall, and I smile whenever I pass by.

When the work was finished, we sat down to enjoy Papa Tirozzio's pizza and topped it off with an absolutely delicious gelato cake. It was great fun and we were all stuffed. I don't remember ever having that much fun celebrating my birthday before. Birthdays have always been ok, but I never particularly wanted to celebrate another year passing, I guess. However, it had been something like two years since our family had all been together at the same time. We had a great time catching up, and I didn't have to do a thing except be there and enjoy! I loved it! That's one of the benefits of being older than dirt, I guess.

Here's a little Joe's Pond news: Nancy Buttura sent me these two photos of a place on Edgewood Ave. that has been torn down and replaced. I'm sure I heard whose cottage that is, but I don't recall, and Nancy didn't say. Maybe someone will recognize the photos and let me know. 

Nancy also sent a photo of the Rubalcaba re-do on Barre Avenue (below). I posted a photo a while back taken the day that the old cottage came down. Thanks to Nancy for these shots.

This is really good weather for working outside. Randy is here today with his assistant, Mark, and will finish up the porch. I'm very pleased everything, it all looks great. I may post some photos later. The foliage is beautiful around the pond and I spend every moment I can on the porch.  The weather has had a bit of a chill to it recently and unless the sun is shining brightly, it's too cold to be comfortable sitting on the porch for very long. I've bundled up and sat out there just because it's a great place to contemplate nature from, but as soon as the sun drops behind the hill, I have to give it up and get inside. That hillside is a wonderful air cooler during hot summer evenings. I rarely find it too hot at night because cool air slides down from Cabot Plain like it was coming out of a refrigerator. I'm not sure why; perhaps it's because of the large expanse of trees, springs, and ledges keep the air so cool, but whatever it is, it's appreciated in the summer. Not so much right now, though, when I'd like to enjoy a glass of wine on the porch before dinner. By 4:30 or so, it's time to head inside! Cocktail hour has to be advanced a tad, I guess, or I need to resign myself to being indoors.