Vacation at the Cabin

We had a great time at the cabin last week with family. It was so nice to see Richard's home and see how well he's doing. Leo and Kristen came for a few days giving us a chance to enjoy Tyler who is growing so fast and is just as fast on his feet. We went out in Andy's boat, hiked in the woods, and walked along the gorge at Stonybrook State Park. Plus, we had really wonderful meals.

I think the best part of our vacation though was the moonlight showers in the woods. Andy and Art got the water heated over a wood fire. When the mineral well water heats the water turns to a lovely shade of brown and it's time to ladle it into a bucket and carry down the hill and fill the larger shower bucket. Then you pull and fasten the rope connected to the pulley. This wonder shower has a lever to adjust the flow of water. You get wet, lather up,and rinse off. It felt sooo good. There's also an outhouse at the cabin with a very comfortable seat and a sign saying "Martha Stewart doesn't live here." I really think Andy and Mary should start a bread and breakfast!

SCRABBLE

I taught Anthony how to play Scrabble and now I've met my match!

Anthony & Alex's First Holy Communion

 

The following was published in the First Holy Communion program:

I love the Lord. My grandparents are coming over for Holy Communion, so I want to spend time with them. I want to spend time with my Dad who's usually in Haiti. He's coming home for Holy Communion! - Anthony

It was a wonderful day for Anthony, Alex and all!

Wren Houses

Timmy and Bridget spent an overnight with us while Ted and Patti enjoyed an overnight of skiing. A win win situation!

We just happened to have a couple of unpainted wren houses in our attic -the grandkids all love to explore our attic! My dad and Richard had built these birdhouses years ago and I know they're for wrens because I called my brother Art the bird expert. Anyways the kids had a great time painting them and hopefully some wrens will find their new homes.

Leo J. Tanghe - 101st Birthday

Today in memory of what would have been Dad's 101st birthday I am posting an excerpt from his diary of 2/9/87.

Went to Art's to celebrate my birthday. Present were: Andy and Mary Kay, Susan, George, Andrew, Alan, Linda, Mike, Karen, Chris, Linda & Brad.

I gave the people a puzzle to solve

QUIZ
xU
_____
EDWIN

with a check for $100 for the first to solve it and call me. Soon everybody was quiet as a mouse, working on it, but nobody got it during the evening.

2/10/87 Marian called at 6:45 a.m. to tell me she solved the puzzle. I sent her the check for $100. Linda Moore Tanghe called in mid-afternoon to tell me that she solved it too. Nobody else called about it.

2/6/10 I'm not offering a hundred dollars but does anyone know the answer? And Dad Happy Birthday. I imagine you're chuckling!

Haiti Earthquake

Bill and I enjoyed visiting our son, Peter, and his familiy in Florida this past November. We were happy to be with them for Thanksgiving. Pete has worked for the State Dept in Port-au-Prince, Haiti for the past two and a half years. He comes home as often as he can to be with Roxana and their two boys. He finishes this assignment in August and his next assignment will be Tijuana, Mexico with his family. Bill and I were considering going to Haiti this May.

On Jan 12 when we turned on the news we learned there had been an earthquake about half an hour earlier in Haiti. I was concerned and called Roxana to see if she had heard from Pete. When I called she was just learning about the quake from her sister who called. About an hour later she called back to tell us that Pete had sent her a short text message that he was ok. She was unable to contact him. She thought Pete had probably still been at the embassy at that time. Later she learned he was in his home which is a little ways out of the city and about two blocks from the Montana Hotel which fell.

Pete experienced the huge quake with crashing glass but his house did not fall. Three neighboring homes did collapse. One of these was the home of an embassy family where Peter helped to get three seriously injured people out of the rubble and carry them a long distance on makeshift stretchers to a place where they could receive medical aid. He worked very long hours at the embassy with little sleep. When he did sleep it was in his chair or on the floor. Meals were military rations. He was able to call Roxana through a line which went through Washington but could not call every day. With all the after shocks everybody at the embassy was on edge and would run outside of the building whenever they felt tremors. The embassy is a newer building and better constructed. A lot of people tented outside the embassy and there were very long lines for showers and bathrooms.

When we visited in November Peter was planning a Christmas party for the Haitian bodyguards and their families. It was the first time families were being invited and Pete had a list of all the childrens' names and ages. We went to Toys R Us to get small gifts for these kids. We heard later the party was a great success and the kids loved their gifts. They have very little. Pete said many of these children died.

About a week after the quake Pete posted on facebook. "I want to thank my family, friends, co-workers and DS Brotherhood for all of your wishes of support this week. It means a lot to me. It has been horrific, heartbreaking and unimaginable. To all my Haitian friends the human spirit that comes through in a tragedy such as this defies words. You are strong!"

November at the Beach

Last week we had Timmy and Bridget for an overnight visit and their Mom & Dad enjoyed an overnight in the city. The weather was unusually mild for November so we went to First Presidents Beach in Long Branch where a new playground had just opened a few days earlier. The kids had a ball. There is also a huge skateboard park and a roller skating hockey rink there. It was all pretty exciting. It was a good day!

Beach Days

Summer has flown by! We had a wonderful week camping in the Adirondacks, we enjoyed Eileen, Lauren and Thomas' visit with us and in the past two weeks I got to the beach three times! Today I went with Christine, Katie and Stephen. The water had good size waves but the kids did great. Cameramen from NBC news were at the beach today and I thought just maybe one of us might be on tv - not me. Well, none of us were and it turned out the story was about high levels of bacteria in the water on Monday and the need for more testing. Great!!! I was there Monday enjoying the afteraffects of Hurricane Bill!!!

Movie Post

Last night we saw Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It was good. Visual effects were marvelous but the movie doesn't make the story too clear. I didn't read this last book. Bill did - but quite a while ago. We thought the movie seemed a little long. Also the theater was freezing - should've worn a sweater. Maybe I would've enjoyed it more if I wasn't so cold!

4th of July in Matawan

Yesterday was the 4th of July. We had a party here to also celebrate Christine and Teddy's birthdays. Tyler swam in the pool for the first time and he really loved it. Leo played with him moving him through the water making an hmmmmmmm sound for a motor boat. When Leo stopped, Tyler went hmmmmmmmmm. He wanted to keep going! I think we have an early talker here!

No picture of Bridget here. Bridget fell out of the wagon and hit her head on concrete. Her parents took her to the emergency where it was determined she had had a mild concussion. After a cat scan and 4 hours later she cleared to go home. She came home happy because they gave her a stuffed dog which she named Maxy Princess Shadow.

We are looking to seeing our town fireworks tonight from our backyard.

Father's Day

 

Bill and I spent Father's Day Weekend visiting Leo and Kristen and Tyler. This is Leo's first Father's Day as a father! So it was the right time to take a picture of the three generations. On Sunday we visited two beautiful parks which are part of the Delaware Water Gap National Park System. There has been a lot of rain lately so the many waterfalls there were very impressive! The weather was on the cooler side making hiking comfortable. Tyler enjoyed the hike very much also.

Today we went kayaking with Leo. We went on a small lake. We were hoping to go on the Delaware but the water is high and running very fast now and Leo didn't think it was a good idea. We had a real good time even though for a while we were getting rained on. Ahead of us and behind us was blue sky. But we're good sports! Maybe we're in training for our camping vacation! Kristen has gotten Tyler a raincoat so he'll be ready!

Bridget's First Dance Recital

Bridget was so precious in her recital! Her number was called I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU. Six little girls came on stage in their pink tutus, each with a teenage dancer at their side. The little ballet dancers lifted their legs and and did their turns and then they were on their own. Throughout their dance they sat on the floor and pretended to talk on their phones. Without a doubt it was the best performance of the show - although some brave dads did a dance called Thriller which was a thrill! Think we can get Ted on stage next year?

Busy Hubby

Bill is getting close to retirement - less than two months. Presently he works three days a week. That gives him time for other things like opening our pool which we did today and working on our back porch steps which meant dealing with another problem - a tilted brick column. Art suggested Bill brace it with a board to give it support. This worked - thank you Art. Next posting I should have pics of Bill taking a nap, playing his banjo and swimming in the pool to show I'm not a slave driver!

End to a Great Weekend - Visit Leo, Kristen and Baby Tyler

On the way home from Rochester we made a stop in Pennsylvania. Tyler is as cute as ever and I have to show him off. He has begun solid food now and likes his peas! Leo is recuperating very well from last Friday's surgery. We ate a delicious pork dinner from the grill, enjoyed playing with Tyler and relaxing on their porch in the quiet country. The weather for the weekend was beautiful.

50th Wedding Anniversary

 

 

 

Art & Marian had a wonderful dinner to celebrate their anniversary. It was so nice to get together with family and friends who came from near and far. So nice to see everyone! It was a great party! Thank you Art and Marian!

Art & Marian's Backyard Picnic

 

Saturday nite they had a wonderful picnic in their backyard which is absolutely beautiful as you can see.

Twins plant tomatoes and more

Yesterday I had a really great time with Timmy and Bridget. We worked together to plant four tomatoe plants, six impatience, a geranium, and lettuce, carrot and bean seeds. Mommy was a good worker too! The kids kept working until we finished. They are fascinated by grubs and worms which Timmy is more eager to hold than Bridget.

We were so busy I didn't take any pictures while working but after a nice cold drink the kids looked at their plants and sat in front of their garden gate. I will follow up on their family garden.

Bill's Retirement Party

Bill is retiring very soon and his office had a surprise party for him this afternoon. Because Bill has a history of fixing things at the office the theme for his party was Bob the Builder. He got Bob the Builder clothes - boots, overalls, flannel shirt and plastic hat. And since Bill usually makes morning coffee they gave him coffee and a coffee plant. He also got a bottle of Scotch and a National Geographic of 500 places to travel to.

The food was excellent. They had enlarged photos of Bill throughout the years and there was a lot of joking and laughing.

I must say their excuse to get him to his party was pretty poor. They sent out an office e-mail announcing a mandatory meeting about health benefits. Bill insisted he wasn't going to go since it didn't apply to him. He had his suspicions and gave them a hard time about coming. I had thought he was completely surprised. He was surprised to see me.

Spring Helpline Hours

 

 

 

 

As a Master Gardeners we are required to do 10 hours of helpline, 20 hours of community service and 10 hours of education yearly. Usually helpline is done in the office answering phone calls. However, Master Gardeners are invited to attend different events with their displays and handouts and answer people's questions at these functions. So, would we rather be in the office answering the phone or at Earth Day celebrations in Shrewsbury and at Bayonet Farms? Including our helpline booth at the NJ Flower Show we now have completet our 10 hours. Actually, my fellow Master Gardener, Dorothy, and I have gone above and beyond with 10 and a half hours!
The weather was unseasonably warm this year but everything is blooming now!

Super Fun Family Visit

Art & Marian, Linda, Jim and Matt spent the weekend with us. They arrived from Rochester early Saturday afternoon. Christine and Teddy's families were able to join us for the afternoon. The weather was summer like! Sunday was cooler but perfect for outdoor activities. We began by going to Sandy Hook National Park where we first visited the Nature Center and checked to see if the photo of Leo windsurfing about 15 years ago is still part of their exhibit. It is! Then we walked the nature trail through holly forests and then along the beach where we saw quite a few large horseshoe crabs and a lot of pretty shells.

We had a picnic lunch at the park, a tour of both the light house and the history house where officers used to live. We took the scenic ride home through Atlantic Highlands overlooking the bay and ocean stopping at Mitchell Monument Park to see the 911 Memorial and the view of Sandy Hook and NYC from a high eleavation. We also made a stop at Deep Cut Park to see the beautiful spring flowers. End of the day some of us were in the hot tub!

Monday was rainy so we went to the Monmouth Mall where our guests treated Bill and me and Christine to a delicious lunch at Charlie Brown's which is known for its fabulous salad bar. After tea at Christine's house we headed home. Bill started a fire in the wood stove and we just relaxed using the pool table, Bill's train set and Anne's slot machine. We also played Sequence. In the evening we got out my dad's old slides and did a lot of laughing.

This company is welcome any time!