Musings from a small town

Three weeks ago was the start of the little league season ( Baseball for children) and the town centre was closed for an hour to allow all of the children to march through, followed by fire trucks, emergency medical, local park rangers and the police. It was great to see the town come out to support them.

We have had a few new businesses open up recently including a very nice cafe and bakery. Hopefully this will encourage more people to stop in the town and not just drive through.



I spent a week in Irvine California at a sales training course 94 degrees of blue skies, very nice. Aaron drove us to San Clemente and Laguna beach, they are both worth a return trip. On the Thursday I went to see the Angels play the Tigers ( Major League Baseball ) we were in a corporate box so we had plenty to eat and drink, it was a lot of fun.

The puppies are growing at a rate of knots and are costing us a fortune in toys, food and vet bills. Cagney is a real tick magnet with her long fur so I booked them both to get clipped and bathed. Little did i know that I actually picked a doggy day spa. Dropped them off at 9 in the morning and they spoil them all day, collected them at 5. Cagney looks very grown up with her new cut. Cagney and Lacey got their own mail today, from the doggy day care to say welcome :-)

Saw my first Turkey Vultures last week, they really are ugly looking creatures. Not sure I was keen on them licking their lips when they saw the pups!!
BOB flew to the UK on Friday so that he could find a car for Sarah and sort out some other things. I am exhausted, the dogs are getting me up at 5.20 and running me ragged all day. It has rained constantly and the dogs are stir crazy. I will be very glad to see him back later today.

Cagney and Lacey - so much news in so little time

Well I finally convinced the "bob" to let me get a puppy and what does he go and do...... tells me to get two!

So I would like to present the latest additions to the Fox family, obviously the fluffy blonde is Cagney and the more mature dark one is Lacey :-) Cagney is a Golden Doodle and Lacey is a rescue Lab mix. they very quickly bonded and are inseparable.

We are very lucky and they are sleeping through the night and have quickly established a pretty good routine that revolves around food, pooping and playing with lots of sleep in between. Not too many accidents so far. We thought Cagney had a heart murmur, which is why the breeder let us have her at a reduced price, but we took them both for their first visit to the vets yesterday and what ever the issue was, seems to have sorted itself out. Who knows we may have the basis for a best seller on our hands Cagney Lacey and The Fox's ( not quite the same ring to it as "Marley and Me" but Rob says I am better than Jennifer Aniston)

Cagney and Lacey brought the spring in with them as well. The weather is starting to improve and we now have our first daffodils in the garden. Also we have Daziel and Paxo (oops sorry I mean Pascoe) the wild turkeys back in the garden for their daily constitutional. They are probably the babies that we saw from last year. No sign of the old ones yet. It is really interesting to work out where they have been over the winter. According to the websites they are not migratory so they must have been holed up deep in the mountains avoiding the thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter dinners and now feel OK about being seen again.

Spring is so nearly hear

Almost but not quite. The leaves are beginning to show but it will be another week before we can be confidant enough to take up the snow markers on the drive. The weather has been undecided for this last month. We haven't had snow for ages and it has cleared from the back garden quicker than last year. Winter doesn't want to let go. There will be nice sunny, warm days and then freezing cold. The poor plants are quite confused.

One freezing Friday evening, just as it was getting dark, Rob heard an odd noise coming from the front garden. It was the sound of a very sorry (cold and hungry) cat. I was in the kitchen and was very surprised to see the boofy old bloke leading our new best friend in. I didn't know he had such a soft spot for animals. He said it was too cold out there and anyway, the coyotes might get him. Cat made him self at home right away, while Rob made enquiries with the neighbours and went to fetch food. Well he ate well and loved every minute of his stay but it soon became clear that he was free loading and had a perfectly good home somewhere else. He only came back for the food, perfectly groomed after a night away. Tart! He soon stopped coming when he knew he was rumbled. Lovely looking cat though.

Talking of cats ....... Sister Kat(rina) has been visiting. Her and Iain had a conference to attend and combined it with a short holiday. Iain went straight to work and Rob met Kat and Catlin at Newark airport. Catlin stayed with us for a couple of days while work had to be done. Rob did not want Caitlin to feel left out on the work front and made her earn her keep by clearing leaves in the garden and serenading him with the Oboe. It was lovely to see her again. She's looking so grown up these days. We were treated to oboe practice each day (very good too) and she managed to wear the old boy out on a walk around Minawaska Lake and Gertrudes Nose. He slept so well that night ........ she can come back and take him for walks more often.

We travelled up to Mt Tremblant to meet up with Kat and Iain at the apartment. The road is one that I am all too familiar with as I have to go up and down every few weeks to visit our Montreal office. Rob drove the truck with all our gear in the back "Clampet" style. We arrived at around 7pm, just in time for food at one of the many eateries. A lot of effort has been made to give the resort a European ski village feel. You know it's not real but is a good effort. Lots of shops, bars and food places. We even got Rob to "enjoy" sushi.

Weather conditions weren't ideal so we took a relaxed approach to skiing. Rob managed to get a few photos of us on the slopes. Catlin is doing really well and is in great shape for her school trip next year. I watched her following Rob down the hill and she was doing parallel turns without thinking about it.

Well, if the skiing wasn't the very best then we more than made up for it with other activities. I finally got Rob snowshoe walking! We all went out on an organised walk from the top of the mountain all the way back to base via a sunset meal at a mountain hut. The second part of the walk was by the light of 30 head mounted lamps. One or two of the group were more relaxed on the second half!

It was all over too quickly and we were soon on our way back south. Iain had to continue on to another meeting in Canada so Kat and Catlin came back with us for a few days. We stopped off at the Lake George outlets for some retail investigation (it's part of my job ... honest) and got home at tea time. It's nice to get back to your own bed, don't you think?

The next day I had to go in to the office but Rob looked after the girls until the afternoon when he brought them into meet me. We went off for another round of retail while he went on a boys trip to see the NETS basketball meeting in New Jersey. It was very good, he said.

Catlin was very keen to take Rob for another walk. Especially when she found out about the "Lemon Squeeze" scramble Rob and I had done last year. Fortunately the old boy had recovered from his last one so he took Kat and Catlin on the hike to the top of Sky Top at Mohonk Mountain House. They all enjoyed a beautiful spring day, getting back just in time for food at a local Italian restaurant. Yummy.


So while Rob and Kat packed the ski gear in boxes, there was just time for Catlin and me to make up a tote bag that she had taken a liken to. We went into Pine Bush and chose some material. It didn't take too long to cut and sew. She had something special for her carry on when Rob drove them back to Newark airport. It was lovely to see them all again. This looks like becoming an annual event. Well we hope so -- we are also looking forward to a Fall hiking trip

The long winter

It's a new year and the middle of the long winter. We have snow on the ground, bitterly cold days and even colder nights. At least the days are getting longer again. For the last month, only Rob's truck, with it's 4x4 and snow tires, has been able to make it up the driveway. I've enjoyed driving it to work with 2ft of snow in the back, but it's not quite as flash as my Acura.

We have been watching the BBC reports from the UK and notice that it's been snowing there too. I suppose it's a bit different here. After all, they expect it and are ready for it. There are almost as many vehicles with snow plows attached as not. Not much seems to stop them, although the schools close at the hint of snow. Even our local UPS delivery man hiked across the snow filled gardens from our neighbour's property to bring us a package .... above and beyond!

We have been trying to make the most of the good days. New Year's Day was a lovely bright day so we went up the mountain for a hike. I took my snow shoes to practice. It was pretty cold but dry and bright. We took a packed lunch which included a flask of hot tea. It was great to get out in the fresh air and see the mountain in the snow and ice. In one photo you can see the "look out" that we climbed up too in the summer.






Of course, one really good thing about lots of snow is that there is skiing to be done. I actually managed to take a week off and so we packed the truck and returned to Stowe (Vermont) for a few days. We had so much fun with great snow and reasonable weather. It was very cold but the resort has a good (warm) restaurant right at the lift base for regular thawing sessions.

This year we stayed in Stowe village (there is a needlecraft shop) at the Stowe Inn. We were in the older (budget) motel part although it was all we needed. Breakfast was continental style with DIY waffles available.
The bar/restaurant is great if you can't face driving out again after a long day skiing. We had no fixed plan and were going day by day depending on the weather forecasts.
There are several well known ski areas in Vermont. Stowe and Killington are probable the biggest and we were on our way to Killington but passed a place called Sugar Mountain and thought we'd give it a try. How lucky were we! It was a promotion day and the lift tickets were half price. We had another good day in the snow. We never did get to Killington as the forecast for the next few days got bad. It gives us somewhere to explore next time. We are now looking forward the skiing in Canada with Kat, Catlin and Ian ..... roll on March.

It's been quite quiet on the the animal front. We are beginning to see the deer again as the snow starts to thaw. Rob has been battling with the squirrels (he's a laugh). They keep stealing the bird food and every five minutes he's chasing them off. We did have one new visitor. Rob just had time to snap an Opossum scuttling through the back garden. It didn't hang around long.

I suppose all the recent exercise has been keeping the old boy from vegetating. Must be working. Look what I woke up to the other morning.

Very Merry Christmas

Happy Christmas to all from pine Bush NY - Most of you will already be part of the way through your Christmas morning, I do hope Santa brought you everything you wanted. Except for you Ruth, I hope Jesse has not given birth yet this morning.

We are planning a very lazy day, pancakes for breakfast with bucks fizz followed by a light lunch and then we are off to the movies with our good friends Gil and Sara. We will round the day off with that traditional Christmas treat .......... meal at the local Chinese.

I have had a lot of fun this week trying to find tins to cook my mince pies in - the US does not have an equivalent you can buy just about everything here except jam tart tins - I managed to improvise with some muffin tins. I also had fun baking ginger cookies for the neighbours (well that's if Rob does not eat them all first)

Mum -- it took us really hours to get the deer to stand still long enough to wrap them in Christmas lights, I hope you appreciate it.

The snow has been quite heavy with multiple storms since last Thursday. Monday the temperature dropped to 10F -12C on Monday and the wind chill made if feel even colder. It has certainly warmed up a bit more now. We should be in for some great skiing this year.

As you can see I decided to try out my snow shoes in the garden !!

Hope you like the Christmas tree -- go figure, after years of nagging the "bob" decides he wants a 9ft tree and we spent all last weekend making bows and decorating it

One year on …....

I'm typing this from a very snowy Montreal. I'm up here for the week and it's definitely winter. I've left Rob in Pine Bush waiting for the snow to arrive but he has some painting to keep him busy. Oh, did I tell you that I have the most gorgeous granddaughter and she has just had her first birthday. Well I couldn't miss it so we made a flying visit to celebrate. More of that later.
Our very good friends Paul and Robyn invited us back to Atlanta for another Thanks Giving holiday. It's just like a UK Christmas lunch without the hassle of the presents. Just family and food. We were very honoured to be included. Robyn's a great cook with gadgets for everything coming from a giant store cupboard otherwise known as “aisle 7”. It's given me ideas for some bits and pieces that I didn't know I was missing. Rob will have to get to work on that storage project now.
We were kept entertained and amused by Blake, Missy and Ali. Blake is a demon on the Wii as well as being a fine breakfast chef. The girls put on variety performance like only young girls can and were just sugar and spice. We all went down to the arts centre in Atlanta to see an exhibition of the "Terracotta Warriors”. Fascinating! It had the desired effect and we now want to visit China to see the whole thing. The list just gets longer ….. must give up work some day. To balance out the high culture, Paul and Robyn took us to the local comedy club. As advertised, it was side splitting, cringe worthy and “oh my god, did she just say that” in equal measure. We really enjoyed ourselves.


Robyn made big efforts to support my bid for a dog. Despite having a good time with both dogs Rob is still holding out ........ and I'm still working on him.


We finally left Atlanta, bound for Gatwick and England. Bob* felt at home right away in the BA lounge with a host of UK news papers and biscuits to keep him quiet. It's so important to keep him out of trouble on long journeys. BA in flight service was a joy compared to the complete lack of any service on US flights. It was a real system shock, joining the M23/25 at 8.30am. So much traffic … so many people all crammed into such a small space. We had a long “to do” list and started right away with visits to the bank, letting agent and accountant. It was quite a strange feeling to be back in Maidenhead with no Toni to shop with and no home to go back too. I mean, it's still there (we drove past) but someone else is living there and there is a strange car in the drive. We visited Robs most missed shops, WHSmiths and M&S, to stock up on PC magazines and underwear. Rob claims that the UK (and these companies in particular) are world leaders for these items. He has a point.
Having got the “business” out of the way I could then get to see Sarah and little Alana. Oh how she has grown since I last saw her. I know that I'm very biased, but she is gorgeous …. almost edible. She is such a happy baby. All smiles and giggles. A real credit to Sarah's hard work as a young mum. I'm very proud of the way she cares for Alana and the bond they have developed. I miss them both very much. Our trip was a whirlwind of family visits an lots of driving (1500 miles) and was over too soon. Sorry to anyone that we couldn't get to. Especially Caitlin. Hopefully we will get to see you for some skiing later in the winter. Back home to Pine Bush and both Rob and me have succumbed to after flight head colds. At least it didn't turn into flu. Our quest to see as many old 70's stars as possible continued on Monday night. We saw Neil Young at Maddison Square Gardens. I like the more acoustic stuff but the screaming guitar bit were a bit too much. Mind you it was funny to see all those old Bobs rocking out as if they were teenagers. Needles to say, Rob came out grinning from ear to ear. It was 1am by the time we got back to the hotel and I was ready for shut-eye. The next day Rob saw me to an airport taxi and he took the train back up the Hudson valley. So it's back to the grind and looking forward to a white Christmas.

I was really lucky to get back from Montreal on Friday - I literally flew back to Newark about half an hour ahead of the snow - Rob picked me up at the airport and within an hour of getting home we had a foot of snow. Rob cleared a path to the hot tub and we braved it for a token 5 minutes.!!

*Bob .......... Boofy Old Bloke aka Rob