2018 October - Not Quite Summer / Not Quite Fall

GO SOX - all the way to the World Series!

Sometimes all the usual seasonal things seem just too mundane to mention anymore, so let's just get that out of the way quickly:

Pumpkins - CHECK  

Chrysanthemums - CHECK

 Falling leaves- CHECK   
Wellfleet Oysterfest - CHECK 

First frost - CHECK 

Ripe cranberries - CHECK

 Halloween costumes - CHECK  

  

All accounted for in New England.  We're a very traditional place, after all. But, I've always got my eye out for the UN-usual, and I think I found a couple of Cape Cod things that might qualify. Here's one, now:

Did someone order a deer?

For those who are tired of doing the same old thing every evening, the Parks Service sponsored a Full Moon Lighthouse Tour of Nauset Light in October.  BYOF [bring your own flashlight].  Now, doesn't that sound like a fun thing to do [assuming it's a clear night]?  Our light was moved from a pair of beacons in Chatham to the Eastham location in 1923 in pieces on an ox cart.  It moved again in 1996, but this time just across the road to stay ahead of erosion.  

Eastham's Nauset Light

If you thought that was a grand idea, have you ever been to a Puddin' Party?  Well, I can totally recommend the experience.  Created on a whim by our musical-genius friend, Chandler Travis, it consisted of live music, an introduction to his friend, Paulette Humanbeing who was visiting from California, and a fridge full of what else, your choice of chocolate, vanilla, or butterscotch pudding.  [Special kudos also go out to Belinda's awesome homemade lasagna.]  Paulette, an artist and musician, was a delight, contributing her own unique musical genre somewhere between comical, political, and wonderful whimsy.  One reason why Chandler is one of my favorite musicians is that I never have to decide what kind of music I'm in the mood to listen to.  He's likely to play a little bit of anything and everything accompanied by a devoted group of other incredibly talented and creative musicians.  His latest CD, Backward Crooked From the Sunset can be previewed at this link:  Backward Crooked From The Sunset

Wonderful treat, Chan!  What's next?              

Kami Lyle, Burke MeKelvey, Chandler Travis, Dinty Child, & John Clark

Still uninspired?  How about this:  The Lower Cape Curling Club is hosting a series of clinics to familiarize participants with the basics of the sport.  The 11-week season begins at the end of October with the league scheduling games for Wednesday mornings and Sunday nights.

Nope, not these curls...

That's the one.

When you think of Fall in New England, you probably picture something from a calendar page showing spectacular reds, oranges and gold leaves of Vermont mountains.  The coastal colors of Autumn are a bit more muted, with surprise dabs of bright contrast when you least expect to find them, in the middle of a salt marsh, down a winding path, a bright vine curling around a centuries-old tree, or tucked in fancily on a front lawn.  It's a more modest display tempered by the ocean, but no less appreciated for its subtle and surprising beauty. 

A red carpet on an Eastham salt marsh

Luscious orange towering over a neighborhood pond.

A hint of yellow catching the sun at the National Seashore Headquarters

We've entered the quiet season now, with only the occasional B&B guest venturing across the bridge, each with their own specific agenda.  There is an almost infantile joy at approaching the main road and not having to wait for any traffic going by.  I encountered a friend in the grocery store recently who remarked, "There were hundreds of people in these aisles in the summer and I didn't know one of them, but now when I come in it takes twice as long because I know every other person."  This is the real Cape Cod that pre-existed tourism.  This is the best reason to live here, but never forgetting that tourism makes it possible for many.  

Enjoy your Autumn, wherever it finds you.

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2018 September - Signs of Autumn

It always amazes me that no matter what aberrations the climate throws at us, the animal and plant kingdoms are still punching their individual time clocks by the calendar. Summer temperatures have been stubborn about moving on, but the leaves are falling and the days are gradually cooling down.  The orioles and hummingbirds have moved on, leaving the grape jelly and oranges to the bees, but the feeders remain out just in case there are more stopping by on their way south.  We have a reputation to keep.

They know what to do, and turn a brilliant red every Fall.

Tourism continues to thrive here in September, despite the recent tragic occurrence of a fatal shark bite in waters off of a Wellfleet beach.  There's a new undercurrent of fear growing that this will have a negative effect on tourism, but there seem to be more visitors than ever this Fall, and we have seen a growing interest in people who are here specifically to see the sharks and seals.  If the weather or the wildlife isn't particularly conducive to getting in the water, the beaches are still full, and local shops are also reaping the benefits.  There is a growing number of amateur opinions about what to do, or not do about the shark/seal problem.  While it's not a pleasant sight to witness a shark making a bloody meal of a seal in shallow waters, there is an abundance of information to justify the importance of sharks to the ecosystem.  One short-sighted letter to the editor reasoned that if seals eat fish, and sharks eat seals, that when all the fish are gone, the seals will move on, and so then will the sharks.  This person obviously doesn't make his living fishing.  There will be gatherings through the winter of local interest groups with experts in the field to come up with new safety measures, and better understanding of the consequences of the numerous latest proposals.  For myself, after nine years as a resident of a town only five miles wide and surrounded by water, I've been quite happy at the beach never having gone in any deeper than my knees.  Different strokes...       

Meanwhile, It's time for seasonal Autumn fun and many towns have their own different festivals focusing on something unique about their town.  Harwich has a cranberry festival.  Orleans boasts a Celebrating our Waters festival.  Eastham, boasting the oldest windmill on Cape Cod, pulls out all the stops with an annual, 3-day Windmill Weekend beginning with a fish fry on Friday night, an antique auto show, a road race, a sand castle contest on the bay, live music and craft shows on the town green under our windmill, and finishing on Sunday with a parade and big raffle drawings.  

Despite the first Patriots game being scheduled for the same time as our usual shift at the raffle table, Ron set it to tape, and we sold lots of raffles and enjoyed the outdoor festivities, picked up delicious made-to-order sandwiches at the Superette deli across the street from the green, and still got to see the Pats win their first game of the season.  I was tempted to wear a sign that said, "If you know the score, please don't tell me!", but thankfully, nobody blabbed.  Originally, the proceeds of the festival went towards the cost of the next year's festival, but as the event has grown, we now make enough money to offer scholarships to local graduates, too.

            The Goats are Back!

No, not us, these guys:

POCCA [Protect Our Cape Cod Aquifer] has waged an ongoing battle in the courts with our utility company for years to keep them from spraying poison to control vegetation under the power line right of ways.  Some years ago, I reported an informal agreement that had been worked out with a local farmer to lend his goats for a cleanup under the Eastham power lines.  For some reason, no blame to the goats, the arrangement didn't work out.  Since then, in 2014 a local entrepreneur started a company by the name of Goat Green with four rescue goats from Western Massachusetts.  The herd has now grown to a dozen 4-legged, weed eating machines for hire, and were just recently used under the power lines in Harwich.  They even love poison ivy.  Click on the the Goat Green website to read about their latest accomplishments:

  The Goat Boys News  

No goats needed for the Fort Hill trails. 
These fields of wild flowers are mowed to the ground by the Park Service in late Fall.

Our Cottage seems to be the preferred B&B Suite in the Fall, and this September we welcomed back a couple for their 6th post-Labor Day week with us.  They are avid gardeners in Western Mass, and I always look forward to some of Julie's home-grown garlic, which she generously shares.  Following their week, was someone we call our 'Saxophone Lady', who was here for her 3rd year in a row on her birthday.  Sadly, I wasn't able to hear any of the practicing she swears that she did all week.  The 3rd week was claimed by a couple returning from Indiana for their 2nd year.  The 2 nights they stayed last year were just enough to know that they needed to come back for at least a week.  Next was a last minute reservation from a couple from Denmark, here in the States for 6 weeks visiting various cousins in many locations, followed by another return visit from a New York couple who took a couple of years to get back, but didn't forget about us.   

Cottage entrance at dusk

Our Studio Suite tends to suit couples who want a quick getaway and don't plan to waste time cooking for themselves.  But, the variety of interesting scenarios is no less than the Cottage.  A reservation was made this month by a bride-to-be for her September wedding, but it was actually for the minister who was coming to perform the marriage ceremony and celebrating her own anniversary with her husband.  They were one of three people celebrating anniversaries in the Studio this month.  Following them, we had a surprise request from the parents of a couple who had stayed the week before and loved it so much they recommended it to them.  

Studio outdoor relaxation spot

There are so many good reasons to visit Cape Cod.  

Best reason of all:  to visit your mom!

        Happy Autumnal Equinox!  

2018 August - Great Whites and Mermaid Spotted in Cape Waters

It's hibiscus time in the gardens.

During the month of August I'd bet money that there are more out-of-town license plates on Cape Cod roads and parking lots than local ones.  It's the culmination of summer and 

the usual, cool sea breezes were in short supply.  Cape Cod hasn't been spared the hot and humid weather that has plagued the mainland, but beachgoers are not to be stopped by anything less than a major storm.  HOW HUMID IS IT?  It takes two hands to open the doors, which have swelled with the unusual amount of moisture, and another two hands plus a hip and shoulder to get them closed again.  This too shall pass and the sooner the better.   

Beachgoers in Orleans had a fun surprise at Skaket Beach on Cape Cod Bay this month when vacationing Brian Convery, a one-time resident, showed off his skills at sand sculpture.  His crashed UFO, complete with lights and space engine sounds drew an appreciative crowd and landed him in the local paper.

State Biologist, Greg Skomal, who is famous for his 5-year tagging study of great white sharks, also got a surprise when a great white he was trying to tag breached and snapped at his feet on the bowsprit over the water.  

The Video:  Great White Shark Breaches

To Bird, or Not to Bird

Rosie, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak dressed to the 9's.

Recently, I came across an article by Phil Kyle, a contributing writer for the Cape Cod Times, entitled Birding:  Are you a birder or a bird-watcher?  Although we're crazy enough to buy seed in 50 pound bags and have feeders viewable from every window in the house, I'd have to classify us as "bird-watchers".  We're NOT crazy enough to get up at all hours and go out in any weather to find particular species.  That, apparently, is the difference.  

Goldie the Goldfinch loves our sunflowers that sprout from the spilled black sunflower seed.

But, I learned a bit about how birding of one type or another has come to captivate 38.7 million people in the United States, as of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife 2016 survey.  According to this article, from the 15th century up into the 1900's, "going birding" meant they were actually hunting for birds...to eat.  

Hugo Hummingbird loves the Cardinalis flower.

Observing birds for their aesthetic qualities began in the late 1700's.  

Sergio & Sasha Starling, staying close to the feeder during a storm.

In 1896, the Massachusetts Audubon Society was formed by two women [Harriet Hemenway and Minna Hall] to persuade stylish ladies to refrain from the cruel harvesting of bird plumage to adorn their hats. 

Bennie and Bertha Bluebird share a perch.

 In 1934, Roger Tory Peterson, a bird artist, had his Field Guide to the Birds published, and the first printing sold out in days, despite being deep into the Great Depression.  

Roger the Red-winged Blackbird is the official announcer of Spring.

Today, "birders" are considered a "citizen science element", and much of what ornithologists know about birds has come from the observations of dedicated amateur birders.  And, that brings me full circle to our casual bird-watcher status.  

Orson Oriole will fly all the way from Costa Rica for oranges and grape jelly.

Our quest is to see how many species we can attract to us, not the other way around. 

Claudia and Claude Cardinal take shelter in the lilac tree

Over the last nine years of adding feeders, trying different seed, photographing each new species and jokingly calling our B&B, Bed & Birds, we tend to think of them as our adopted avian family.  We keep the year-rounders well fed in every form of weather, and we watch expectantly for the ones who winter in the south to return here to their second home and make babies.  

"The Freddies" -Purple Finches - chillin' in the beach rose bush during a storm.

Many of the species share alliterative names, such as Claudia and Claude Cardinal, Orson and Olivia Oriole, and of course Goldie, the Goldfinch, etc.  

Robin, who like Prince and Cher, only needs one name and regularly fills the birdbath with a layer of dirt.

Some of the more personable ones, like the orioles and hummingbirds, let us know when their particular favorite foods need a refill by flying up to the window and looking in.  

Bob White Quail, always formally attired and ready to dance his way into the brush.

But, the thing I like best about my winged family is the diversity.  On any given day as I pass by the windows, I look out to a rainbow of red, blue, orange, yellow, iridescent green, brown, gray, black, and patterns of all kinds.  

Chucky Chicadee

Some have sweet, gentle peeps, or lovely, complicated songs, while others screech gustily, or sound like rusty gates.  There is occasionally squabbling, as in any loving family, but for the most part we all live in happy harmony, not just respecting each others' differences, but embracing them.  'Nuff said.     

With all the extra shoulder and hip action going on with doors vs. humidity, it's good to know someone with the skills to make everything feel better again.  Meet my massage therapist extraordinaire, Kimlyn, who not only smooths out my self-inflicted gardening damage, but keeps herself in shape swimming in her backyard, the Cape Cod Bay.  The new "swim fins" were borrowed from a friend, and not only do they double down on a swimming workout, they make a fetching view for all lucky enough to make a mermaid siting.   

See you soon, Kimlyn!

It's been a good 9th summer at the B&B.  We've hosted guests from Florida, Texas, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Virginia, Vermont, Wyoming, New Mexico, Canada, Switzerland, Thailand, France and good ol' Massachusetts.  September is becoming the time when our 'regulars' venture out and make our Cottage their home for a week when traffic calms down and you can have a whole beach or the Fort Hill trails to yourself sometimes in the still-mild weather.  It's one of the best times of the year when the slower pace gives one some peaceful time to reflect on how lucky they are to live here.     

2018 July - Hydrangea Hoopla and Vacations With a Vengeance

Cape Codders are so crazy about hydrangeas, 
we have a whole festival devoted to them.

Can't decide on a color?  Embrace diversity!

My July

Sea breeze

Choppy seas

Shady trees

Shots in knees

Sunny skies

Clam fries

Seagull cries

Black flies

July rolls over the canal into Cape Cod with a vengeance and great expectations.  The Cape Cod Times describes the bridge traffic on a Friday afternoon as "worse than the smell of low tide on a hot day".  You can count on a two-mile backup to get over the bridges, going either way on weekends.  But, while you're creeping your way to the Bourne, or the Sagamore bridges, Soooo close to your destination yet Soooo far, I saw where you can get in the mood by listening to [click the link] THE CAPE COD FUN SHOW.  It promotes itself as "all about having a good time in the most beautiful place on Earth!  Our zany cohorts will give you the scoop on beaches, restaurants, upcoming events and peculiar adventures."  I definitely wanted to see what peculiar adventures I might be missing out on, but quickly got an overload of zaniness before we could get to them.  To each his own.

A better use of your time while you're idling and crawling might be to download the Sharktivity app, courtesy of the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.  Their mission is to support scientific research, improve public safety, and educate the community to inspire conservation of Atlantic white sharks.  And, you'll get useful information like this:

I thought I'd probably heard all the March Nor'easter stories there were to be told by now, but the Cape Cod Times reported a happy one this month having to do with two memorial benches that had disappeared during the storms.  There are dozens of these tributes that line Cape Cod in places that were special to those who died.  When two 10-year-olds came across a piece of wood poking through the sand at a Dennis beach, they spent most of the afternoon digging with their hands and part of the next day with garden spades in the rain.  They were rewarded by finding a bench that memorialized a 20 year old Dennis summer resident, who was killed in a car crash.  Another missing bench from an Orleans beach was discovered 12 miles south in Chatham by people walking the beach.  This one memorialized a 35 year old man, and the plaque was found separately.  Both benches were set in concrete and still had the concrete attached, which gives another perspective of the strength of these storms.  With help, both are now back in their original locations where the families can again sit and remember their loved ones.  The ocean is always full of surprises. 

There's a new option in the Cape Cod Times called Curious Cape Cod, in which one can write in questions and have them researched and answered.  Being an Eastham resident, this one caught my eye:  How do you pronounce Eastham?  Is it East-HAM, or EAST'um?   

A lot of Massachusetts towns have peculiar pronunciations, like:  

Worcester, pronounced Woo-stah, 

Leominster, pronounced Lemon-stah

and, Quincy, pronounced Quin-zee

But, what about Eastham?  I never really questioned how I was told to say it, but now I might at least know why we do.  Terri Rae Smith, a member of the Eastham Historical Society says that Eastham was named after a suburb in England called 'East Ham'.  There was an East Ham and a West Ham, two words, which is why we pronounce the 'ham'.  It seems reasonable, although maybe not to the town of CHAT-um [Chatham].

Indoors, or out, it's all good.

A friend recently brought to our attention that squirrels don't like safflower seed.  I thought about all the 50 pound sacks of sunflower seed we buy all year for the birds and commented that safflower was more expensive than sunflower seed.  She said yes, a little, but the squirrels aren't chowing down on it, and the birds love it, sooooo... the great safflower experiment is on.  So far, it does appear that the squirrels have little interest in climbing the feeders with the safflower, so with fingers crossed, we hope to get bad reviews from the squirrel population and they will take their business elsewhere.     

Look who else likes safflower seed.

Out of all the stories about visitors to the B&B, this one certainly took us by surprise.  About a year ago, our elderly neighbor across the street moved closer to family, where he could be better looked after.  The house sat for sale for the better part of the year and this Spring we heard we'd finally be getting new neighbors.  When I saw activity, I went over to welcome them and my new neighbor responded, "Actually, we met a couple of years ago when I stayed in your B&B with a friend."   What are those odds?  This month we've hosted two teachers taking a 3-week break from teaching assignments in Thailand before they begin again in Malaysia.  And, we hosted a French family visiting the family of the teenager they hosted in France during the school year.  Also, a number of people taking Continuing Education Credits at the Cape Cod Institute and various other classes.  A couple returned with their new baby, who was only a tummy bump last time they were here.  A 40th anniversary celebration drew another couple.  Many others visited who just love Eastham, and even some members of my own family at least tried to make the schlep to come see us.  The drive from Amherst was uneventful for one sister, but the other had flights out of D.C. cancelled two days in a row because of stormy weather and had to give up.  Once again, I'm reminded that the origin of the word 'travel' is 'travail'.   

I could wax on about all the reasons Cape Cod is a vacation destination for so many, as well as, home to the determined people who love it enough to work hard to stay here, and let's face it, that's what this blog is all about.  But, here's a video I just received from Eastham's Chamber of Commerce, that shows what words fail to convey.  Enjoy this beautiful tour of my own little town that is only 3 miles wide.
   

[click on link]  VIDEO: EASTHAM

2018 June - Rockin' Plymouth

That's us, Cape Cod.  We don't look like much from up there, but just try telling that to the millions of people who visit each year and the locals who wouldn't want to live anywhere else.  We Codders like the lazy pace of winter, but once the Nor'easters settle down, it's all about the business of restoring the beaches and access to them.  The National Seashore staff has been super busy all Spring dealing with toppled trees, erosion, moving endangered structures away from the shoreline, replanting sea grass on the dunes and getting ready to welcome annual visitors.   So, WELCOME to Summer 2018!       

Coast Guard Beach in Eastham

Considering the beating taken by our coastline over the winter, it was exciting for us to learn that Eastham's Coast Guard Beach actually moved up from #6 to #5 on the U.S. Top 10 Beach list, according to Dr. Stephen Leatherman AKA "Dr. Beach".  Click on this "Dr. Beach"  link if you'd like to read about the stringent criteria he uses to pick the top ten U.S. beaches each year.  #1 is in Maui, Hawaii, so we're in pretty good company.  

I'm almost a little chagrined to divulge that after passing through Plymouth numerous times for one thing or another, not to mention living just across Cape Cod Bay from the historic town, I'd never paid homage to the infamous Plymouth rock until last month.  We were on a mission to have our espresso machine repaired and it turned out that Plymouth was the closest place to have it done.  It was a sunny day, and well, when in Plymouth...

     

I'd already been warned that I was likely to be underwhelmed by this national treasure, so we parked, I took my picture, we headed home and I checked it off my mental bucket list.  Done.  Better late than never.  Except I couldn't stop thinking about how precisely the date was carved into the stone and wondering about the circumstances of how that might have happened.  My curiosity finally got the better of me as it usually does, and I googled, "Who carved the date in Plymouth Rock?" and found "The Real Story Behind Plymouth Rock" published in 2012 by Christopher Klein.  The history of this boulder turned out to be a lot more entertaining than actually seeing the rock, as follows from Klein's account:

• First, there is no historical evidence to confirm that the Pilgrims first made landfall at Plymouth Rock, in fact their first stop was at Provincetown in November of 1620 before sailing to safer harbor in Plymouth.
• Here's where it gets fun:  in 1741, 121 years after the arrival of the Mayflower, Plymouth resident, 94 year old Thomas Faunce claimed that his father, who arrived in Plymouth in 1623, and several of the original Mayflower passengers assured him that the stone was the specific landing spot of the Pilgrims.  A wharf was about to be built over the rock and the elderly Faunce arranged to be carried in a chair 3 miles from his house to the harbor to give the rock a tearful goodbye.
• As revolutionary fever swept through Plymouth in 1774, some of the town's most zealous patriots enlisted the rock in their cause, attempting to move the boulder with 20 teams of oxen from the harbor to a liberty pole in front of the town meetinghouse.  This was only the first time that the rock broke in two, and some of the townsfolk interpreted the rupture as a providential sign that America should sever itself from Great Britain.  Only the top half was moved to the town square and the bottom was left embedded on the shoreline.
• The second break in the rock came on July 4, 1834, when it was moved a few blocks to the front lawn of the Pilgrim Hall Museum and ensconced inside a small iron fence.  This did little to discourage souvenir seekers from chiseling pieces, which have turned up in places like the Smithsonian Institution and the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn.
• In the 1860's a Victorian-style canopy was constructed to better cover the remaining piece of rock, still embedded in the shoreline, however, in order to fit in the new monument, it had to be given a trim.  
• Years later, it was discovered that a 400-pound slab that was carved off was being used as a doorstep on a local historic house, and a piece of it was donated to the Pilgrim Hall Museum, where visitors are actually encouraged to touch it.
• Finally, in 1880, the top of Plymouth Rock was returned to the harbor and reunited with its base.  The date '1620' was carved on the stone's surface, replacing painted numerals.  With all the accidents and souvenir-taking, it's estimated to be only 1/3-1/2 its original size.
• About one million people now visit the rock each year at its new home, which was constructed for the 300th anniversary of the Pilgrims arrival and resembles a Roman temple.  Only a third of it is visible, with the rest buried under the sand, five feet below street level, with a visible scar from one of the breaks.  Make that one million visitors plus two.

A cranberry bog in the town of Harwich on Cape Cod

When you hear the word 'cranberry' you probably think of neatly stacked cans of tart jelly that go home from the market once a year for Thanksgiving dinner.  In many homes,  a Thanksgiving dinner without cranberries would be considered sacrilegious.  But, before  they get stuffed into cans, the amazing, tiny cranberry starts life growing in wet bogs all summer, which turn bright red in the Fall just before they're flooded for harvest.  Many of these are on Cape Cod.  According to a 2015 report by the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association, cranberries are the largest agricultural food product in Massachusetts, and the industry provides 6900 jobs.  So, it was with great relief here that the European Union officials agreed to delay imposing tariffs on some cranberry products in retaliation to the new tariffs recently imposed on steel and aluminum products by our country's President.  The European Union is the largest market for Massachusetts cranberries, taking 55 percent of our state's product.  [Information from the Cape Cod Times and the Associated Press.]

With the arrival of High Season, here's a typical recent weekend in June at the B&B: The guests due to arrive for the Cottage in the back pulled into the front, and Ron showed them into the Studio by mistake.  I greeted them with a hearty "Welcome back!" , while thinking that they didn't look familiar at all.  They replied, "We haven't been here before..."  Putting two and two together, I said, "And, that's why you don't look familiar because you booked the Cottage, didn't you?"  As Ron explained to them how to get to the back side of the house, I went out to meet them, as a giant truck delivering our new dishwasher backed in right where they needed to enter.  The Cottage folks maneuvered into a parking spot and I showed them around while Ron dealt with the delivery.  All seemed as it should be until the next guests, who were returning for a second time, then pulled in behind the truck.  They had stayed at the Cottage last time, but booked the Studio in front this time and were confused about how to enter from the front.  We told them how to get there without having to cross the busy highway again, and I met them in front.  Meanwhile, the dishwasher had made it to the kitchen, but the deliverymen claimed they were too busy to install it, even though we'd paid extra to have it done.  Ron convinced them to hook it up, but after nearly a year without a working dishwasher and a very confusing afternoon, he forgot and hand washed the dinner dishes out of habit.  Just another day of not sweating the small stuff.  

So far this Spring at Crosswinds B&B Suites, we've had 6 guests celebrating anniversaries, one birthday, a surprise engagement party, a musicians gig, a funeral and quite a few mental health get-away weekends.  The guests who came the farthest were from Switzerland.  You can tell the season is heating up when it takes two bread makers going at once to get ready for the weekend.   

Just doing my part.