June 6, 2008  

     The snow is finally gone!  It was still deep on March 20, and on March 28 we got more snow.  On April 7 the snow still covered the front yard, and on April 21 the last of it was melting on the north side of the house.  The total snow for the winter was 120 inches—2 inches shy of the record set in 1874.
     The black flies came about Mother's Day, and they're about gone now.  Here's a movie of them covering a concrete surface.  A cardinal joined a chickadee at the bird feeder.
     The wildflowers are going through their cycle again, starting with the trout lilies and progressing as far as the buttercups so far.  Here's the complete sequence from last year.
     Sarah's and Matt's families were both here April 19.  Addy held River on her lap.  Here's River with her dad.  Addy and Alex checked out a CD with me.
     The Souhegan Valley Chorus had their spring concert May 3.  Tim Hageman and I made the scenery.  The show opened with the A La Carte quartet that Lynn and I sing in. Here's an audio clip of the quartet singing Give My Regards to Broadway.
     On May 7 we went to Sarah and Steve's to see Sarah's horse and the baby ducks.  Addy was fascinated with them.  Lynn got a movie of one of the ducks (No.4) hatching.  
     We went to Matt and Crystal's on May 31 to help prepare their garden (with River's help).  River just gets cuter.  Of course grandpa and grandma got to hold her.  Here's that big grin.  We all had lunch on the table that Matt and I finished (it's one board 8 feet by 32 inches).  On the way home Lynn and I saw a remarkable sunset with low clouds casting a shadow on higher clouds.
     I took a portion of the master bedroom and built a laundry room and a half bath. Here's before the construction (previous walls removed), here's the start of the construction, and here are more walls constructed.  The washer and dryer needed a lot of utilities: electric, water, drain, gas, and vent.  Note the filter box that allows the hot air from the dryer to be vented directly into the house during the winter.  A video takes you on a walk-through of the new rooms.  Note the compact sink area with a 12-inch copper bowl.  A sliding door separates the two rooms.
     I got another side of the barn painted.  One more side to go—the back side that we don't see from the house.  Lynn has titled this picture "Let's paint the Adirondack chair."  It ended up being a bigger job if I didn't want to be painting rotten wood.  Seven hours of work later the chairs looked pretty nice.
     The redbud tree has miniature snapdragon-like blossoms that grow directly from the branches—not from stems.

Feature - Hours when the Gentlemen's Weekly barbershop (Milford) is open.

Quote for the Day - “Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the United States.  Ask any Indian.”  Robert Orben  (speechwriter for President Ford)      

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