Adding a bit of color...

The Gillis’, whose house we’re working on, have moved 11 times and each time into an apartment painted white. They also live on PEI where winter’s days are very short, cold, snowy & downright dreary at times. To say “the colors Natasha has chosen are BRIGHT” is perhaps the biggest understatement I’ve made in months. Today the “PP team” finished the little girl’s bedroom – 2 opposite walls & the ceiling purple & the other two walls bright pink.

The bathroom is bright school bus yellow (many comments were made during the day about using the left over paint to touch up Tillie). The boys’ bedroom is bright blue. Keith, one of the terrific local volunteers, gave the gals a hand with this room. The rest of the men were busy putting in trim and doors (their opinions of the color selections were perhaps why they opted out of painting today even though they all pitched in yesterday to help with the white primer…)

The kitchen is orange as is one wall of the living room. The other walls in the living room, the hallway, and the master bedroom are all going to be red. The red wall in the photo has one coat of paint. It will get a second coat to brighten it up a bit more. Anyone on PEI this winter who is feeling a need for color will only have to visit the Gillis’.

Keep meaning to show you my favorite sign in our campground. By the way, I’ve observed it’s the men who do the laundry (and perhaps the spelling….)

The women of PEI...

Lest you think we haven’t been working on the house, an update… Our crew finished the dry wall last week and the professional plasterers have been in mudding the walls, putting the final coat on Tuesday morning. We did take Monday afternoon off because it rained and we couldn’t do anything inside the house until the plastering was completed. A sunny Tuesday saw us back at work priming and painting the doors and all the woodwork before it is installed. Many hands make fast work. Lack of running water makes for messy hands – hence no photos to share.

Instead I’ll share a couple of photos/tidbits about some of the women on PEI. On the northwestern coast is the little village of Miminegash. Folks earn a living by farming, fishing and harvesting Irish moss from the sea with big work horses. The video we saw of the harvest makes you appreciate what hard, cold, wet & dangerous work it is. By the way, Irish moss is used to make carrageenan, a natural gel used as a thickener in everything from ice cream to toothpaste. Until recently they provided about a third of the worldwide demand. Then another plant was discovered in the Pacific that did the same thing and was easily farmed. Suddenly, this income stream is rapidly disappearing. To help, the women of the community formed a cooperative and opened The Seaweed Pie (sort of a sponge cake with a gelatin topping) Café and added a room telling Irish Moss. Now they’re also looking at developing their own products using the Irish Moss – their lotion is GREAT! And so is their food! Unfortunately, this year has added another obstacle – increased gas prices and lack of much else in that part of PEI other than a pretty coastal drive has meant a marked decrease in tourist business. We did our bit.

PEI raises some of the best oysters in the world (10 million) and while it’s not an “r” month, you can still buy them locally. The best we’ve had so far were in Stanley Bridge at a restaurant owned by one of the oyster “farmers”. And just up the road from there is the Sterling Women’s Institute Community Hall that hosts ceilidhs (pronounced k-lee – my theory is if you’re the first person to spell a word, then the spelling is right; otherwise how could you possibly get that pronunciation from that spelling?!). Anyway, ceilidhs are local music nights and the women at this institute host 5 a week during the summer. The Ross Family performed the night we went - terrific bluegrass. Now for the women… There are 100 chapters of the Sterling Women’s Institute across the island (the institute was founded in Ontario over 100 years ago). Thirty-five years ago the government asked them to “clean up” the island. As the women said, if you want something done right, they’re the people to ask. They’ve done a GREAT job too! We have yet to pass any place where there’s junk in the yard – everyplace is well cared for and tended. Way to go PEI women!!!

Move over Kansas!

Tillie has experienced the wind on the Great Plains. My current theory is the wind from there is only building up speed before it moves east to PEI. There's a reason why Canada and VESTA (they make the really big wind generators) both use PEI as a wind energy development and testing site. The generator in the photo is the largest in North America and is located on the north coast. We suspect there are many more “down” days for the generators because of too much wind rather than too little.

At our beautiful campground, the kite surfers

are out every day (what keeps them from becoming completely airborne is beyond me). Of course the fact that our net tent has yet to become airborne is another miracle. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to someday look out to sea and spot Tillie skipping across the water using the tent as her kite behind the other adventuresome folks.

For women readers, beauticians here are called hairstylists although any “style” other than windblown would immediately leave your head the minute you stepped out the door. Personally, I’ve been developing the wild hair look controlled only by my hard hat. It has also occurred to me that Anne did not wear her hair in braids because of her age – it was the wind!

The weekend off...

With the weekend off we decided to head to Charlottetown. After all, how could we be this close and not visit the site where the country of Canada was born in 1864? If I got the story right, the Maritime Provinces had decided to meet and discuss joining together. When representatives of the other provinces (they just happened to be meeting in Ottawa) heard of the meeting on PEI they decided to invite themselves. After a lot of political discussions around the table in the photo and a MUCH greater amount of partying, they verbally agreed to unite. The written details would take place in Ottawa a couple of months later. PEI’s legislative body still meets in a room this size in this same building, two months in the spring and the same in the fall. (Perhaps we should send some of our representatives up here to take lessons…)

Charlottetown is also home to Canada’s longest running musical, “Anne of Green Gables” (44 years). As the guide book says… it’s a must see; “you’ll enjoy it, and your friends will never have to know” (or will they?)

Ah! The food!

Thursday & Friday, July 10 & 11

The folks on PEI are feeding us VERY well. Our leaders told us at the beginning this was going to be a 10 pound build (you can expect to gain 10 pounds), but it looks like it may be a 15 pound build. Yesterday it was homemade scones fresh out of the oven. Today it was homemade muffins, still warm. And that’s only for morning break. John has been in his glory because they’ve grilled hot dogs the last two days for lunch (he will NOT get those at home) and lots of veggies for non hot dog eaters such as myself. Then, of course, there are the homemade cookies… And then comes afternoon break… It’s really a wonder we’re able to get any work done at all but it does insure we come back every day. The group shot is of our group (we’re most of the ones in the hard hats – guess we’re becoming so attached to our hard hats we don’t even want to take them off for lunch!) plus some of the local volunteers.

Even with all that food, we still manage to be hungry for dinner. The locals recommended Victoria by the Sea as a nice place to walk around and have supper (here dinner is the noon meal). It was charming (the roses live there). The haddock was some of the best we'd ever had. Last night the entire group went to one of the lobster suppers put on by the Legion - the lobster (whole) was served cold and delicious. Amazing we still had room for the fresh strawberry shortcake.

Back on the home front… the dry wall has all been hung thanks in large part to Pierre, the man on the ladder. He’s a professional and has been ABSOLUTELY GREAT to work with! I can’t believe John & I have hung so much dry wall and didn’t know so many of the tricks he showed us. No way do we want to do our house over again but, if we do dry walling on another Habitat build, we will certainly be able to do a better job.

Let's hear it for the women!

,Tuesday & Wednesday, July 8 & 9

Lots of volunteers doing things like insulation & drywall, not to mention the electricians & a plumber = crowded. Then there was the black goop used to seal the plastic to make this a very energy efficient house. The black goop had the amazing ability to multiply, to jump out at you no matter what you touched so we all ended up with black here and there. (Our leader had to send back to the camp for clean shorts and we had to make a trip back to the work site when we discovered John had some all over his arm). While this may have lead to many "internal" comments (this is a clean Habitat site after all) it did not lead to photos of the inside of the house.

So today’s photos are of the young women we have in our group building a storage shed behind
the house. Notice in the first photo the two story house in the background to the right. That was the first Habitat house built in Summerville and it was built entirely by women. Since 1999 Habitat
volunteers (men and women) have built 23 houses on the island. They have so many local volunteers that they have volunteers working in the evening as well as during the day. Per capita PEI comes in as the third most active in all Habitat projects in Canada.

Having gone to the theater last night to see the musical “Anne & Gilbert” (one cannot get far from the Anne of Green Gables theme) we forgot to get milk for breakfast (a good excuse to go out). We opted for a more traditional breakfast although we could have gotten French fries; or French fries with gravy; or French fries with ground beef and peas; or French fries with ground beef, chicken, peas and something else that I’ve forgotten. Potatoes are BIG here on the island. While we ate, Tillie felt much at home in the parking lot near her “cousin”.

Tillie by the sea...

Sunday, Monday, July 6-7, 2008

Linkletter Provincial Park is another of PEI’s beautiful parks and where we’ll be staying for the next two weeks. (We have yet to ascertain whether or not it is any relation to Art). If you squint really hard at the photo, to the right of Tillie in the distance is the new bridge that brought us to the island. The bridge is both a blessing (it’s easy now to get on & off the island instead of waiting hours for the ferry) and a curse (many more people are now coming to the island and things are quickly getting more commercial).

But the real reason we’re here is to help finish a house for the Gillis family of five. If our group does its job, the house should be finished in two weeks and the family moving in the beginning of August.

You may not suspect it, but fashion, even at a Habitat build site, is important. There was absolutely no question that Heather put the rest of us to shame. All of us ladies were VERY envious of her purple leather nail pouch not to mention her pink handled pliers and a pink razor blade knife. They were accented by her yellow gloves and tape measure. The orange hard hat each of us were issued by the site (Canada requires we all wear hard hats) completed her outfit perfectly. My first thought was Canadians must have it all over us Americans in terms of fashion (Heather’s from Ottawa) but it turns out all her accessories with the exception of the hard hat were purchased in Tennessee. Who would have thought?! (John has already grown quite fond of his orange hard hat but as of yet I don’t think he’s shopping for a purple nail pouch.)

The last photo shows the house we’re working on. The CBS was at the site today filming. This is the first time PEI has hosted a Care-A-Vanner build so they’re quite excited. Supposedly the film clip will be at the web site … www.cbc.ca/pei for 48 hours so take a look if you get a chance. (I took a quick look but couldn't find it. The clip aired both Monday night and Tuesday a.m.)

PS - I've had difficulty finding a wireless connection. This broadcast is being brought to you via the Linkletter Potato Warehouse - it even smells like potatoes in storage and is nice and cool.

North Cape Coastal Drive

Saturday, July 5, 2008

John's choice stop of the day, being an Idaho boy, was PEI’s potato museum in O’Leary. PEI gives Idaho a big run for its money in terms of potato production – red iron oxide soil vs. volcanic soil, am not sure who wins. The museum was very interesting but after about half an hour even John’s “potato fun meter” ran out. (And, yes, that is a giant potato in the photo. Fortunately, they had none for sale!)




My choice stop of the day was the beautiful Bottle Houses on the North Cape Shore. What we learned - it’s VERY important to have a good foundation. Mr. Arsenault built them on railroad ties and they only lasted about 10 years because of the frost heaves in this cold part of the world (sounds a bit like the chimney for our sugar shack). They’ve now been rebuilt on firmer footings surrounded by beautiful gardens. Inspiration for when we get home… (Yes, that is a giant flower sculpture in the photo. Unfortunately, they had none for sale.)

Points East Coastal Area

Friday, July 4, 2008

First, we owe our apologies to Tillie and her performance in the wind. It turned out that it was a very WINDY day everywhere. Normally the ride in the big ferry to PEI is relatively smooth but that day… let’s just say rumor has it they ran out of sea sick bags early in the voyage.

PEI really is the land of gentle rolling hills/farmland that goes down to the sea. Very beautiful and very unpopulated by US waterfront standards. The provincial parks where we’re camping are right on the ocean with red sand (due to iron oxide) beaches/shore land. They are beautiful parks lacking only internet service so these postings will be sporadic. PEI has its own style of lighthouse – the one in the photo happens to be the first one that received a distress signal from the Titanic so you know how far east we are.

We spent the first couple of days exploring the south and east end of island as that’s furthest from where we’ll be working. The slogan PEI uses is “the gentle island”. In fact, some villages marked on the map are so “gentle” that we drove right through them without knowing we’d been there (or perhaps PEI is just marking “villages to be”…). Cardigan proves no crossroads is too small to support a library. Actually Cardigan is a bit bigger than most and even had an internet café.

Farming on PEI doesn’t stop at the sea. Mussel farming is particularly big business. Those black dots on the water hold strings of mussels making themselves plump enough to make it to our tables. Seemed like a good business to be in until you realized they harvest them all year (that includes winter) long. The video clip we watched showed men (women don’t want to be liberated that badly) with snow suits & icicles frozen to their beards using chain saws to cut through the ice. One of them dons a wet suit (guess who drew the short straw last night?) and hops in the hole to locate the ropes of mussels to be harvested. If any of you are interested in winter employment, I’m sure there are always openings…

Thursday - Maine to Prince Edward Island...

Thursday, July 3, 2008

All day we were periodically reminded by yellow warning signs we were in moose country. Fortunately we did NOT see any unless you count the large 4 legged black BBQ I spotted at twilight at our campground for the night. Obviously, while my memory may sometimes fail, my imagination is still as sharp as ever.

Most folks going to Prince Edward Island (PEI) from the states take the coastal route. (Now we now know the main reason is NOT that it is shorter...) We opted to head north and take Route 6, crossing at Vanceboro. If you're into backwoods and desolation, this stretch of Maine is for you. Once we crossed into Canada, the land appeared a bit more hospitable. The town of McAdam was, and still is, a railroad hub with the lovely train station you see in the photo.

Once we got to Fredericton, the capital of New Brunswick (we know the capital building must be there somewhere but we missed it), we took the scenic road along the Saint John River – gives the Hudson a run for its money in terms of size. Then it was on the main Canadian highway from Jemseg to Moncton. Trust us – you do NOT want to break down on this road; you want to make sure your gas take is FULL of gas before venturing forth; you do NOT want to travel it in the winter or probably at night since there were lots of moose signs; you do NOT to want navigate it in Tillie on a windy day. We managed the first items but not the last. WINDY, WINDY, WINDY... poor Tillie was practically blown off the road. Not fun but it certainly kept John awake at the wheel.

After passing our last moose signs of the day (these flashing no less) just before the PEI bridge, we arrived on the island. Since crossing over we’ve seen no moose signs, our campground had no 4 legged BBQs, and the wind was blowing just enough to keep the mosquito's at bay.

Wed. - NH to Maine...

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Heading toward Prince Edward Island, sort of that is as there's really no Tillie worthy direct route. Saying our goodbyes to Ginny, Steve, Ben & RB who sent us on our way well fed, we headed north to Route 2. Normally we might have taken diagonal back roads instead of I93 but that would mean going by Lake Winnipesaukee. The last time we’d been there Tillie “decided” to blow her engine and spent the summer there being pampered. We were afraid she’d get “ideas” again so made a wide berth.

We can now verify that “Old Man of the Mountain” is no longer there although one is encouraged to stop and look at where it was… We thought the excitement might be too much so headed on to Maine for lunch in Bethel. It’s a lovely little village and a good place to stop (and we can now tell a friend who grew up there that we’ve finally been there).

Our favorite stop of the day, however, was in Skowhegan, ME (see photo). American ingenuity! Where else can you go in the north, strip off, and get tan while your clothes are getting cleaned? Just think of this the next time you hear Skowhegan has again been blanketed with snow.

And then there was the “Family Consignment” shop in Howland, ME. I dreamed all night of families shopping for new relatives. Perhaps you'd like another kid or two or a slightly used mother-in-law? Howland is the place to go….

On the road in Tillie & heading to PEI

We're off again! In Tillie once again you'll be pleased to know. This time it's to Prince Edward Island in Canada to work on a Habitat Build (a real hardship post I'm sure).

As we're staying the first night with our friends in New Hampshire, we and Tillie have been this route before. I thought at first I'd write about Troy, the home of Uncle Same, since it's so close to the 4th, but then we came to Bennington, Vermont. They have all these wonderful "people" sculptures on the street doing ordinary things. The sculpture in this photo is the window washer, not the biker. My favorite sculpture is a man dropping trash in a trash can but it was on the other side of the road and impossible to get a photo of as we zipped along. You will just have to visit Bennington and see for yourselves.

Then is was on to the Molly Stark Trail/highway to travel through Vermont. Since we'd just had our VISTA reunion where we collectively could not remember the year we had had the reunion in North Carolina, I did not feel shy about asking John to refresh my memory as to who exactly, Molly Stark was. His reply... "that person who did something in the war". Now we're all enlightened.

A VISTA Reunion

40 years ago our government recruited young folks, mostly from college campuses among graduates not sure what they wanted to do in life, to address the problem of poverty in this country. It was also the time of the Vietnam War, so the fact that many draft boards gave a deferment for VISTA also helped with recruitment. Our friend, Karol, now refers to our efforts as "Johnson's failed war on poverty". The group John & I worked with was assigned to rural North Carolina.

Some things have not changed since then. Unfortunately, poverty still exists. However, those we worked with have remained life long friends. And we all still like to eat. This past weekend we hosted, along with our fellow VISTA, Judi & her husband Scott, our 40th reunion. (Let me tell you it did NOT seem like 40 years to any of us, probably since we all seem to have forgotten a lot that's gone on in those 40 years!)

In the photo, John & Karen & breakfast at the "pig pit". There's something about a little smoke and fresh air that makes breakfast taste just that much better.

Then came the pig - North Carolina was, and still is, BIG on "chopped hog" BBQ. There were not enough of us to warrant a "full hog" but after all was said and done we found the pork shoulders just as good, all be it the "production" element was not as dramatic.

And then the "group portrait" (my apologies to Ken who hadn't arrived yet when the photo was taken). Howie took the award for having come the farthest (Oregon) in the US; Zelda (London) for our transcontinental traveler; and Steve (Boise) for the longest time to get here (airline delays seem to be with us). When Steve's GPS unit on his rental car directed him up our seasonal road through the corn field at 2:30 a.m. he REALLY began to get nervous - as John told him when he called in a panic, "just think Steven King and keep driving". A good time was had by all!!!!

Sailing again...

See that little white spec out there in the middle of the river? That's the St. Lawrence River by the way and that's John & Terry on the first sail of the season. While it is really beautiful looking out that direction, they said it was even more beautiful looking toward the camera. A rain storm had just gone over and there was a perfect rainbow over the island.

I suppose I really should share that all was not totally calm on the boat. The boat had not been in the water since last year and wooden boats do need a few "adjustment" hours in the water to allow them to swell before they become water tight. Let's just say John & Terry's pumpin' arms got a fairly good workout on this little excursion. However, they made it safely back to shore and Fred did not have to be called away from his watering chores to man the rescue boat.

Steam bending...

Sunday was Canal Fest Day at Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum. John volunteers there helping build an 1800's canal boat. The boat is being built in sections, never to be joined so visitors can how they were constructed. Bus loads of school kids come every year to learn about the canal and the boats.

This Sunday John helped with demonstrations on steam bending wood. Thursday they asked him if he could also appear somewhat in costume. The weekend saw me putting the finishing touches on a somewhat authentic (thanks to the internet) canal builder's shirt. John tells me the demonstrations (and the shirt) were a success and that many good looking women asked to have their pictures taken with him. (I confess, after the first bend of the wood, I decided reading a good book back at the car was my idea of a pleasant way to pass a Sunday afternoon.)

Several blades closer to roque croquet...

As you will recall (especially if you look at the last post) the refurbished roque croquet court was left barren but seeded three weeks ago with only God & Fred to watch over it. All that green stuff you now see out there is due to marvelous Fred who has spent literally hours keeping the seed moist, removing fallen branches, re staking stakes, contemplating spring, summer, the lack of rain and generally developing his watering technique. Without Fred's dedication it is VERY doubtful if the park's court would be playable for the coming championship season. Don't be surprised to see names such as Tiger & Rocco appearing on this season's line-up.

However, the hot dry past couple of weeks did leave a few patchy spots on the court so another layer of seed has been added. Two mule team Terry & John provided the power to roll the court both to level it a bit more and to press down that new seed. No, your eyes aren't foolin' you, those are snow shoes. One thing croquet does is bring out man's ingenuity. When the earth was still soft a couple of weeks ago and the court appeared in need of more seed, Terry strapped on the snow shoes and sallied forth. (Apparently the idea was not a success as the snow shoes were quickly abandoned - whether from spectator laughter or because they were not needed has still to be determined by this reporter.)

And now the lawn sprinkler has been discovered (what will they invent next?!) and Fred's hand has been saved. The spray is wide enough to reach both sides so Fred only has to move it once. How many times will he have to remove the dog?

Croquet anyone?

Memorial weekend, 2008, Thousand Island Park...

It's true. Most folks go looking for at least a parade to commemorate the weekend. We on the other hand are always just a little different. We load up our rototiller and head north in search of a 100 year old roque croquet court in need of some tender loving care. Let's face it. Have you ever seen one? There just aren't many left. Our friend Terry, John & I decided it was time to either "put out" and restore the court in the Thousand Island Park or quit talking about it. (Believe me, it was awfully tempting after the first hour of working on it to change our minds and choose the second option...)

I took a LOT of photos (a good excuse to take a LOT of breaks) so you'd see what was involved. In the set to the right...
1) John breaks ground (notice the small pile of dirt at the far end)
2) John breaks more ground
3) The pile of dirt that will eventually go over the court looks bigger when you're closer...
4) Terry breaks ground
5) John & Bill celebrate finishing the hand edging of the court (notice the muscles on Bill and his youth - this will prove to be VERY important the next day!)
6) John continues to break ground
7) Terry breaks up more ground (did I not mention how wet the ground was when we started so the sod was very clumpy?)
8) Terry continues to break ground
9) 6 hours from the time we started, John takes one more pass before calling it a day.

Day 2 of our project the sun is still shining and the ground has dried out just enough to allow us to continue. After waiting for church to be over (Thousand Island Park is an old Methodist Church camp after all) and taking time for an energy building lunch, it's back to the court.
1) The big dig starts. The dirt from the pile (it now looks GIGANTIC) has to be distributed across the court.
2) With their wheelbarrows full are Terry, Bill & John (you might note that because of his youth, Bill was allowed to use the largest wheelbarrow...)
3) Break time (let's see... there was only two-thirds yet to go)
4) And lest you think I did nothing but take photos, that's me on the left. I had the task of spreading and leveling the dirt the guys dumped (and I kept up with them!)
5) We had one small pile too much (those are my feet - I just couldn't deal with standing any longer!)
6) The extra gets shoveled into the truck, taken away & we called it a day. (By the way, that's Fred on the left. In the next two weeks he's going to play a MAJOR role... read on.)
7) Day 3 - John drug the court to level it (I forgot to take a photo) but this is the finished product.
8) I'm spreading the grass seed & Terry is raking it in and doing an excellent job.
9) American Gothic and the Idaho Waterer.

Day 4 - One final check of the court. Looks pretty good doesn't it? Two weeks from now if Fred & Ruby remember to water it every day it should be nice and green. Two months from now we expect to see croquet and even roque croquet being played in the park again.

PS - Roque croquet is similar to croquet except you can also play off the sides of the court like you would in billards. (Oh dear! That probably means it requires more skill than our backyard game of croquet!) It was popular in the early 1900's and we hope it will soon be popular again, at least in the Thousand Island Park. If you see Fred & Ruby, remind them to keep watering....

Goodbye blue belt...

Today Sarah went on her walk without her blue belt (used to hang onto her in case she felt weak). She set a new record for herself in distance walking - 345 feet! I'm sure those of you who were even out here as little as a month ago will find that fairly amazing. Just another testament to the strong will and determination Sarah has always had.

Featured in today's photo op are Sarah, stage center; yours truly on the left behind the mask but, trust me, I'm smiling; and Uncle John, stage right trying out for the part of Doctor John (what is that white thing coming out of the middle of his head?!)

We leave tomorrow for NY but know when we see Sarah next (which hopefully will be sooner rather than later), she'll be skipping down the aisle, happy to be free of the hospital at last!

And she's off....

Sarah continues to improve... YES!!! While just two weeks ago, things seemed pretty low, now things are definitely going in the other direction. First the Occupational Therapist came to help Sarah start practicing deep (okay they weren't deep yet but they will be) knee bends (it seems some "old" forms of torture never go away!). Then they moved on to balance with Sarah holding on to the OT's shoulders. It looked as though they were teaching Sarah to dance again starting with the good old-fashioned box step. It was Sarah's "first date" so admittedly she was a bit shaky (sorry, the angle wasn't good for a photo opt).

A bit later the nurse came to take Sarah for her daily walk. For this outing, Sarah, too, has to suit up in one of those lovely yellow gowns (buy stock everyone - John & I alone have used half a case already). Sarah, however, got to accessorize her gown with that lovely blue belt (actually the nurse holds onto the belt just in case Sarah begins to feel unstable). Last week it took 3 nurses, one on each side and one behind with a chair to walk Sarah down the hall. Today she did a lap in each direction with only the nurse holding onto her belt for security purposes.

And, please, if you will, take special note of Sarah's GREAT smile. Sarah was born with a double dose of liking folks and they her. I am very happy to report this must have been the first thing she recovered as everyone around her obviously likes her. Her wit, too, is back in full force. Sarah has challenged us to a game of Scrabble - somehow I think we don't stand any more of a chance of winning than we ever did...

Great news in Boulder!

To those of you who don't know the whole story, this photo may not look too extraordinary. However, when you know that our wonderful niece Sarah, stage center, was as close to death as you can get in February and was just released to a regular hospital room after 9 weeks in ICU, you realize what an incredible thing it is that she's smiling and standing and recuperating nicely. It's also incredible that John has now doubled the amount of the time he has ever willingly spent visiting someone in a hospital and the week has just begun. By the way, the other guy modeling the latest in yellow gowns is Sarah's husband, Kenny, from North Dakota don't ya know. I was behind the camera, robed, gloved but with the added feature of a face mask to protect everyone from my horrible cold. Have you ever tried blowing your nose with a face mask on? It isn't easy!!!

More of New Zealand...

The older blogs now have photos added just in case words weren't enough... As always, I've ended up with a few extra. If you're interested, read on...

1. Instead of Good Humor we saw "Mr. Whippy" and "Mr. Cool" (we found their ice cream to be a bit "airier" than what we're used to). 2. It seems to be norm rather than the exception for a town of any size to have bowling (lawn) and/or croquet clubs. 3. A dairy barn on the south island - one would assume the climate must be milder than upstate NY! 4. A backpacker lodge (it looked neat but just think of all that snoring, let alone being the unfortunate person who has to stash their stuff on the top bunk!) These accommodations are all over NZ - affordable & clean. 5. Perhaps more our style (it also had a neat little porch on the back). 6. We saw these camper vans from Wicked Rentals everywhere and each one was painted differently. Our favorite was one that read on the back - "Bring back Monica Lewinski". 7. Flowers, flowers everywhere. When was the last time you saw a heather that big?! 8. A poor little penguin hiding under a camper. 9. Sand flies! - "art" at the dock in Melbourne Sound.

1. The John's inspecting what NZ calls a fuse box. NZ is wired 220. 2. A pretty house. 3. The longest suspension bridge in NZ - no longer in service. 4. Proper croquet form (I think) We'll have to start working on this technique. 5. Pretty mushrooms. 6. In case there was any doubt why John chose NOT to take up sheep shearing as a profession. 7. More flowers... 8 & 9. We just happened upon NZ's wooden boat show one rainy day.

1. The Mussel Pot in Havelock, the green lipped mussel capital of the world (is there a competition?). John & I had mussels. The less adventuresome had fish. 2. That is a REAL car covered in old corrugated metal roofing to fix a rust problem - art depicting New Zealander's ingenuity. 3. Sheep are everywhere although there are now just over 30 million (that probably varies somewhat this time of year with leg of lamb on many Easter dinner tables...) 4. If you invested in fencing in NZ you are now a VERY wealthy person. They say there's enough fencing there to circle the world 20 times. 5. Eggs (when not purchased at the farmer's market) are found in the market on standard shelving - not in the cooler section. You can get "barn eggs" or "free range eggs" and one assumes both are very fresh. 6. New Zealander's love their coffee and it is good, strong, expensive and everywhere makes it to order by the cup with espresso machines. Note the NZ "fern" on the froth in this "flat white" cup of coffee. 7. A pizza delivery truck. 8. A pukeko bird - the babies hatch with what look like full grown feet. 9. "Hound logs" - every grocery store and butcher shop have loads of pet logs for sale for your favorite pet.

1. There are plenty of public toilets everywhere in all shapes and sizes. And they're all clean, no graffiti. This one even had a small sink with running water so appearances aren't everything. 2. Fish & chips is the "fast food" of choice. It's cooked to order and they tell you what type of fresh fish they're using that day. 3. Burt Monroe that the movie "The World's Fastest Indian" was based on was from Invercargil. These are some of his bikes at one of the world's best hardware stores. 4. The motels all offer washer & dryers but encourage everyone to hang out their laundry. This is some of our laundry. 5. The train station in Dunedin. 6. One of the neat old cars we saw touring around. 7. Penguin crossing sign. 8. Train crossing sign. 9. Check your brakes sign (they should have also added the need to rope up!)

And just a few assorted things without photos...

- Doorknobs are generally at the 4 foot level - I can't tell you why...

- Most roofs are metal, a few tile...

- All lights are compact florescent

- All electrical outlets have on/off switches. It sometimes took a while to figure out the reason the stove wouldn't work was because the switch to it was turned off. New Zealander's are VERY consciencious about energy saving.

- Most homes are modest

- They are big on shared parks and hiking trails and they are all beautiful

- Homes have large windows, no screens

- Small cars (when is America going to catch on?)

- The people are extremely friendly

- No one speeds. The national speed limit is 100 km. and everyone obeys it. John saw an article in the paper about someone clocked at going 167 km. They expect to catch them & the fine will be $10,000. They are serious about the subject.

- Sheep is their biggest agricultural product. Dairy cows are next and then deer.

- No billboards except perhaps near Auckland. There will occasionally be a sign reminding folks to drive safely. "Drink, drive, die in a ditch" and "This road takes loved ones" are examples.

- Manure is referred to as "poo". For example I saw a sign at a farm for "Pony Poo, $1 a bag" and the stores sell "Sheep Poo" for your garden.

- Picnic coolers are referred to as "chilly bags"

New Zealand is a WONDERFUL place to visit! When you go, plan to stay a while to make the trip worthwhile.