On Top Of Southern New Hampshire

...and thankfully back home and ready for sleep. Today was the annual winter hike of Mt. Monadnock. This event has been going on since 1972 with a group of former scout leaders, Shrewsbury neighbors, and assorted others. George F. invited me several years ago, and this was my second time up the mountain. Thirteen of us, armed with crampons, ice axes, and and poles drove up, stopped for the traditional breakfast, and then conquered the mountain. Last time I went it was 0 degrees; today it was around 15 or 20 and we were all pretty warm as we marched up the mountain; only the summit was windy and cold. We lingered briefly there then descended, stopping for a brief snack. There was ice at the top but the trails had a good layer of snow, so we made great time coming down. I think all told we left the parking lot at 10 and made it back down to the cars around 2:30. We repaired to George's house for the traditional toast of Harvey's Bristol Cream and snacks made by Sophie. The youngest member of the expedition was George's 8 year old grandson - George, of course - and the oldest was Bill, who at 79 made it to the summit and back with the vigor of a much younger man and inspired us all. It was too windy at the top to take a picture - I feared my cell phone would get blown off the mountain!- but here is a picture I took on a ridge. Of course my small phone camera cannot do the view justice, but it was a clear day and we could see Boston from the top.

Daddy's Little Helper

The Spam Problem

A new policy here - I am no longer enabling comments. It is an effort to stop the ridiculous spamming that goes on in the comments section (although, as I have mentioned in the past, at least someone is visiting the site:). This is temporary; soon I will be switching to a new software that will enable comments but prevent spam. So hang in there. If you wish to comment just email me and I can post it. My email address can be found on the Cathedral website - click on the clergy button and then on my name.

A Pumpkin's Progress

Our (improved and enlarged) garden had a great year and yielded many delicious fruits and vegetables for our use, but our favorite product has to be the one pumpkin, out of three plants that grew all over the side of our yard, that made it. Vaia and I practically wore out a path going over to check on it every day. It is now on our front landing in full glorious orange bloom. Soon we will take it in and scoop out the insides for use (I can't wait to roast the seeds!). Here are photos depicting its growth:

Newburyport, MA

Yesterday the Christakos family headed up to historic Newburyport, MA for a brief day-trip getaway/mental health day. Here is Vaia taking in the harbor:

Harvest

You may have noticed that I have not blogged for a while about the garden - no "we took in 82 blueberries today" stuff. Part of this is the general lack of blogging in my universe, but mostly it is because we have had abundant crops that made it difficult to count. All of the rain this summer meant that we had days where we were filling bowls with blueberries. Our two bushes have even spawned some new growths. The apples have been coming in consistently. The cantaloupes never made it, but the cayenne peppers have done well. There are 7 or 8 out there now, and when they turn red I will bring them in. The two pumpkin plants have pretty much taken over that side of the yard - one has spread out over ten feet from where I planted it!

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Happy Birthday Vaia!

As of 5:23 this evening, Vaia is 2 years old. When she was born, everyone told me to enjoy every moment because time flies. It truly does. She is a delight, and is proving a great big sister to little Raphaela. We are thankful for so many things, one of which is that my late grandmother ("Nana") was able to meet her when she was an infant. Nana passed away shortly after, and not a day goes by that I don't think of her. But whatever sadness I have is offset by the fact that the two of them were able to be together for a bit. Vaia won't remember the meeting, of course, but I look forward to sharing many fond memories of the sweetest woman ever.
The birthday day itself went well. Vaia enjoys singing Happy Birthday, and there were several renditions in the house. She also got to watch a new favorite: Snoopy and Woodstock dancing. I really would prefer that she not get into commercial characters, but Snoopy et al exist for something beyond mere marketing. And she loves to dance around when the video is playing :)

Annual Harvest Report

It has become a tradition on the blog to report on the harvest of our blueberry bushes and apple tree as well as the garden (as of last year). So...we have enjoyed a few Granny Smith apples, always the first to mature on our tree, as well as some nice cayenne peppers (see picture below). I "went in early" for the first blueberry - one had fallen off the bush but I rescued it. In recent days I have harvested 12 berries. This does not include the one or two that my father-in-law picked today for his own consumption - I caught him red-handed :). Soon I will have the big harvest where I pick 40 or 50 blueberries. Anyways, stay tuned for more crucial updates on this matter:)

Raphaela In Repose

Back Home

The four (!) of us are finally together as a family. Raphaela and Eleni were discharged today after three nights at Memorial (the extra night was due to the extremely fast (10 minutes!) delivery. Everyone at the hospital was great, but three days was a long time to be away from home. I slept at the hospital last night - each maternity room has a chair that pulls out into a cot - drove to Nashua, picked up Vaia from her grandparents, and drove back. The four of us left Memorial as a family and came home. Today went well. Vaia was a bit skeptical the other day when she first met Raphaela but she is easing into her role as big sister and seems very happy. I will not post any pictures of the new baby, as per my custom, but if you saw Vaia as a newborn...well, Raphaela is a smaller version with a bit more hair. The resemblance is uncanny.
I will be taking the next few days off to be home with the family (even at the hospital I visited parishioners who were also there, including, blessedly, Rita and Theo who had a baby girl at the same time!). I am not much for "daddy blogging" but I will post a few things about the new baby. It is exciting to be dealing with a newborn again, and Vaia is continuing to grow and do new things every day. We are truly blessed.