Home At Last

My line up of herbs on the railing.

Window boxes brighten up the deck

Vases of peonies - they don't last long!

Spring has meant a lot of rain and quite cool weather for us since our return. But yesterday and today summer finally arrived with bright sunshine and warm temperatures. The garden is really beautiful this time of year with the peonies, rhododendrons, phlox and poppies adding lots of color to the various bright greens. I planted 5 window boxes with annuals and a large herb collection on the railing in front: parsley, basil, thyme, mint, oregano, and rosemary. 

Heather, Sean and Rowan - out for a brew

Gary, Will's Dad, also came for a visit on his way
to Spain.

Rowan loves to laugh and Scott really gets him
going!

Will and Sean

We've been kept really busy with community events and social occasions. But our first weekend we spent down in Boston with son Sean, son-in-law Will and our youngest grandson Rowan. He has grown up so much in these last six months. He'll be 2 in July and chattering away already. We even understand most of the words! He's a darling. 

I'm back at work doing 4 hour shifts at Pierce's Store, volunteer of course. And we had a huge turnout for our spring wine tasting. I made 4 different appetizers for sale - all goes to support Pierces, a non profit co-op. We had a 7 piece band too! Scott is now attending his many board meetings in person and now can return to his Quaker meeting on Sundays. We had their annual meetings and dinner at our house one Sunday. There are a variety of concerts too - here in Shrewsbury and around our area. The bluegrass group, Green Mountain Boys, performed at our Town Hall to a packed crowd. My book club met to discuss Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean. The meetings are once a month at a member's home and this time we all stayed for a pot luck dinner. 

The food and wine line. We had 8 different kinds
of appetizers. I made 4 of them.

A view around the room. The events are held in 
the renovated garage behind Pierce's Store. That
me on the left.

There were seven musicians overall but they
weren't all on stage at on every piece.

The Green Mountain Boys (and woman) at the
Town Hall. 

We both joined our local MINT, a Makerspace facility. "Makerspace programs provide space and resources for individuals to design, experiment and invent, fostering creativity, problem-solving and collaboration." Here in Rutland it's in a huge former warehouse with a warren of activity. I've rented a 8ft by 8ft space as a studio and Scott uses the variety of machines, like 3D printers and woodshop machines. Their funds ran out and they had to let go of their paid staff so now it's all being run by volunteers!

My last living first cousin on my father's side, Judy Halburg, celebrated her 90th birthday in June. That's her in the center with Heather on the left. Over 100 guests attended a beautiful luncheon in her honor. Most of them were descended from my father's sister, Judy's mother, Edna. 

Scott has returned to baking sourdough bread!

 

We both volunteer at our local library and I'm a member of the Rutland Garden Club. We maintain over 16 gardens around the city and mine is the local Senior Center. Scott helps me with is along with 2 other members. I must admit this is getting to be difficult for me, along with my own huge garden, but it's OK for now. I'm not walking as much as I should but we do Bone Builders twice a week. It's an hour of weights, stretches, meditation designed for Seniors. But we are sure keeping busy as you can see from this write up! 

And on the 1st of July our family and friends start arriving for our annual Fourth of July weekend. More about that in my next post. 

Last Stop Before Home

 

Kolya loves climbing the "rocks" at the
playground near their home. 

Our last stop was a Memorial Day weekend with our son James, daughter-in-law Morgen and grandson Kolya in Washington DC. We left Walt & Honoree at 8 AM after a terrific big breakfast and arrived at our Cherry Hill RV Park at 6 PM - a very long day. The last two hours were spent crawling along the highways around Washington. What a relief to settle in for the night with some excellent leftovers from the night before. 

A scattering of beautiful waterlilies were in 
bloom

We saw a lot of herons - green and here, blue.

It's an easy drive on a Saturday morning into the Capitol District where they live and the weather was lovely. Morgen's parents came for dinner and we were able to sit outside outside and eat James' excellent mixed grilled meats. The next day, after some time at the park with Kolya, we drove to the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. This National Park Service site was once a thriving business in aquatic plants back in the early 1900's and since 1921 was run by Helen Shaw Fowler, one of the few woman running a big business. The government bought the property in 1938 and it encompasses many ponds of rare waterlilies and lotuses plus the biggest preserved marsh land in the District. 

Grassy and gravel walkways wend their way through the watery landscape.

Kolya's inseparable companion that weekend
was the sea otter we brought him from 
Vancouver. 

James and Morgen

The weather continued to be lovely so we all went out to our RV park on Monday and enjoyed the playground and water park before having dinner on the patio at our RV. We needed to make an early start on Tuesday morning as we had another long day before reaching home. And it was long - another 10 hours. We were so tired that when we got to the border of Vermont, we stopped at the Welcome Center and had our dinner! We found a lovely spot in the truck/trailer parking lot and had a nice view of the Bennington Monument and the hills. 

Enjoying dinner at Baby at the Cherry Hill RV Park - where we have stayed now many times. But this was the first time in warm weather where we got to enjoy their amenities. 

Like the water park.

So we were a bit rested when we pulled into our driveway at 7 PM and found enough energy to unpack a few things. But it was an early night to bed. Our own bed...after 5 months away. "There's no place like home", to quote Dorothy. 

And a fire where we made s'mores!

Graduations Galore

Sean, Scott, Josh, Shira, Maya, Heather & Uzi at the Columbia graduation

The happy graduates, Daniel and Ariella

Our grandson Nick, new graduate from 
University of California, Merced!

Three of our grandchildren graduated from college this May! We were only able to attend 2 of them, both our oldest son Josh's, Daniel and Ariella "Cookie" from Columbia University. Zoë's son Nick graduated from University of California at Merced the week before but they couldn't get extra tickets so we watched the live feed. That really worked out well and we were able to see Nick get his diploma! 

Daniel with his friends, all new graduates at the party (Ariella had left to attend another party)

We flew from Vancouver to NYC and stayed three nights with Josh and Michal and all five of our grandchildren. Our youngest son Sean also joined us from Boston. The graduation took place over 2 days. The first was the ceremonies of individual schools within Columbia. Both Daniel and Cookie attended Columbia College. The second day was for the entire university where the President conferred the degrees. Daniel is heading to Oxford in the fall for Medical School. Cookie finished in only 3 years and is taking a year before starting medical school as well. 

Daniel and Sean

We lucked out on weather on our first day but the second was rainy. It didn't stop thousands cheering their sons and daughters! We had a big party at the apartment with lots of new graduates attending. Altogether a wonderful time. We're so proud of our grandchildren!!!

On Thursday we flew down to Raleigh, NC. Walt & Honoree picked us up. They have been keeping Junior and Baby for us for the last three months. We only had one night there before driving north to Washington DC to visit our son James and his family for Memorial Day weekend. It was a grueling 10 hour trip due to arriving in the city at rush hour! But the result is a lovely visit, which I'll cover in my next post.

The graduates filing into the ceremony on the first
day!

That's Shira and Michal center left. We got very
good seats on the second day but not all 
together, 

Sean was able to whip out his phone and take this photo of Daniel and Ariella on the big screen - amazing since it was only up for a brief time!

The Rest of Beautiful Vancouver Island

Jim, Renate, Heather and Scott at lunch on our way to the West Coast of Vancouver

 After leaving Victoria on the Royal Princess, we docked in Vancouver. This was our last morning on the boat and an easy departure. Our baggage was all packed and outside our stateroom door the night before. We weren't anxious to leave early in the morning as our ferry over to Vancouver island wasn't until 1 PM.  So we dawdled over our breakfast and waited until the last moment to depart. Which was still early at 9:30 AM. 

Looking one direction from the front of Jim and
Renate's home

And now the other direction and down to their
patio.

It wasn't easy walking over to the Hullo Ferry landing. No one seemed to know where it was although we knew it wasn't far. And we were dragging two big bags, one carry on and 2 back packs. Once "there" we still couldn't see a sign indicating the actual location. Finally we met a woman who was going on the ferry and assured us that this was the place. AND she pointed out a great restaurant right there that wouldn't mind our taking up a table for many hours. De Dutch was a terrific find. We spent 3 hours there outside but under an awning and enjoyed a wonderful Dutch pancake breakfast: mine was with maple syrup  with bacon and Scott's eggs , bacon and potatoes! Our waitress was so much fun and spent a long time chatting with us. 

You have an amazing view from their living/
dining room

Looking up at the house from the patio.

The ferry was fast and easy on and off. Our great friends Renate and Jim met us at the dock. We have spent wonderful times buddy boating with them on their Island Packet "Emerald Seas" in Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. Two years ago Jim and his brother brought it up to Florida and we met them there for a few days. In 2023 and 2024 we all got together in New Orleans first and then Montana for the first and second annual Tortugeezer Reunions. Then they came out for our third reunion at our home in Vermont in October. 

Walking the beach on the West Coast

This driftwood had a lovely saying carved on
it "We are all one"

The miles long beach on the west side of the island: Jim, Heather and Renate

They have a fantastic home overlooking the sound just north of Nanaimo. The weather was great our first day and we were able to sit outside for drinks on their patio overlooking the sea. And the next day was lovely too. We drove over the mountains to the west coast and picnicked on the beach. Later we walked along West Coast trail for a short ways near an iconic Amphitrite lighthouse. Built in 1915 on the site of a previously destroyed wooden one, it is still active. We met Renate's son James there and picked up a huge amount of fresh shrimp! That graced a wonderful dinner for the next night and there was lots more for more feasts in the future. On the way back we stopped for a nice meal at an old church turned into a good restaurant. 

 The walkway down to the Amphitrite lighthouse.

Views along the West Coast trail

Sun dappled trail

Scott and Jim enjoy a beer at the repuposed
church, now a restaurant.

The next day the weather wasn't great but the occasional drizzle didn't dampen our plans. We visited BC SPCA, a animal rehabilitation center with a huge range of rescue birds and animals. Renate made an amazing dinner with those shrimp that night with homemade pesto and pasta. 

There were lots of owls on view

Dressed for the rainy day!

The next day was so fun although again, cloudy and cool with occasional showers. We drove up the east coast seeing lovely beaches and towns. At lunch time we stopped at an excellent local cafe with a terrific lunch.  But the best part was the end where we walked through some virgin forest to a beautiful waterfall with a swing bridge. 

The long beach on the East side third day.

The waterfall was beautiful at the end of our
hike. 

Scott on the suspension bridge

Sea planes are everywhere in Vancouver. They provide transportation to many areas where roads don't go. 

It was hard to say good-bye after such a wonderful visit! We lazed around after a big breakfast and caught the 1 PM Hullo ferry back to Vancouver. We had one night at the Marriott Airport Hotel before flying the next morning to NYC for the graduation for two of our grandchildren: Daniel and "Cookie" Ariella. More on that in my next post.

I loved this driftwood whale sculpture!

Jim caught this image of a wonderful 
sculpture done by a good friend of theirs's in
a public park. It commemorates the fight to
save the virgin forest.