Getting along

Baby, it's cold out there!

Road trip!  Well, it was -20° on Monday morning so Donna and I set out to visit our lab and look at new products, etc.  Brad graciously chauffered us to Canton, MA where we had a great tour, lunch with Ken who owns Lustrecolor and fun with pups Lola and Lexie in the car.  We had a great time and learned a lot!

There sure was a lot of whimpering from weather-people, radios hosts, the newspaper, etc., about the expected temperatures.  C'mon, people!  We live in Vermont - Hello!

This is why we live here!

Thank you, Robin, for hosting a wonderful New Years party on Sunday.  The weather forecast was bad and, yes, cars and SUVs were sliding off the Interstate, but it turned out to be such a glorious day for a walk in the snow with friends and a champagne toast on the hill behind Robin's farmhouse.

Robin and Patricia and I have known each other for many years - in fact, Patricia (she was Patty Jo then) and Ed and I went to high school together.  We all turned out to be photographers of one sort or another, so we had a blast joining the Vermont Professional Photographers Association for the annual holiday party.

A few other intrepid souls braved the weather - Diane, Kelly, Ian and Amalia - so it was a small but cozy and fun-filled afternoon.  Robin's 200 year old house has a big fireplace in the kitchen where we gathered after the champagne for great food and laughter.

Arlo and Rufus got to wear themselves out playing with new friends Maple and Jack.  For some of Kelly and Ian's great images from the day (including Diane's amazing jumping bean dog Riley) check out page 2 of Kelly's site.

Post-holiday catch-up

Wow, it was a busy ten days!  My sister Barbara was here and we tried to fit a lot of stuff in during her visit.  We found a really nice little place on Center Street in Burlington (thanks to the heads up from Anthony S. who was playing Uilleann bagpipes there with his friend Ben and other local musicians) -  Patra Cafe is a cozy little place with lovely food and teas, etc.  It reminded me and Barbara of a coffee house on Church Street we used to frequent - The Loft - and drink tea and coffee, listen to music, hang out with friends.  Boy, we're OLD!  That was in the 60's!

Anthony and Lucy spent the night on the weekend and we had a great time.  They both fit with Grandpa in the big LaZboy chair Aunt Claire gave Ed before her move to California.  We also christened the hide-a-bed and, no, I do not make them sleep on newspaper!  It was a game they hatched to cover the bed with parts of the Sunday paper.

A few days earlier Barbara and I and our brother Peter trekked down to Millbrook, NY to see our mother who lives there at the moment.  We got to play LOTS of Liverpool, the family game, eat too many Christmas cookies and stroll around town.  My mother is a world-class baker but that has not rubbed off on me, alas.  Grammie's cat "Feisty" kept us entertained with his antics.  You can see by his expression what kind of cat he is - in charge of everything!