My Chicken Coop

As a gift of love, Dave built me the chicken coop you see in the photo.

Dave and I need to be on gluten-free diets. This means we can’t have any foods with wheat, barley, or rye in them.  For the past 2 years, I’ve been baking / making all our breads and pastries ~ and learning how to locate and purchase gluten-free foods.  Gluten is used in the most unbelievable and hidden food ingredients.

This all led to my learning more about healthy food sources; providing our own food; and supporting local farms.

Since much of our baked items require eggs, having a source of organic and healthy eggs became important to me.

One of our daughters got 6 hens and showed me how easy it was to raise them and get fresh eggs each day.

Hmmmm…. could I do this?  Did I have time to take on another chore?

One of Dave’s co-workers just happened to have some laying hens she wanted to give to us.

“Thank you very much !!!”   I was so happy to get them.

And my adventure began…..”Chicken Tales”.

Dave and I built a little coop for the hens who have been giving us great eggs.

Soon I realized that our little coop wouldn’t suffice for the winter. There wasn’t room enough for the food and water to be inside with the hens.

Live and learn and learn some more….  A new coop was needed.   My wonderful husband spent a lot of his free time building me a spacious and efficient new coop.  He used as much recycled materials as he could find.

fyi: In the photo, the box in the front of the coop, with the open cover, contains the nesting boxes. The hens lay their eggs in there.

Church Services are at 10 am on Sundays.
All of the summer church services are held in the Meeting Place room in Waterville Valley’s Town Square.
This is on the second level of Building B ~ right above The Bookmonger book store.

The Info Desk has friendly and helpful staff to assist you and direct you to the church service location.

In previous years, the service was held outdoors beside Corcoran’s Pond during July and August.
This year we had to make a change.

Because of the many outdoor events which are happening in Town Square this summer, we couldn’t use the location beside Corcoran’s Pond every week. If we had to change locations every week, it would be confusing to everyone.

The SOLUTION …. Church is meeting in 1 location all the time at ~~~ The Meeting Place  10 am Sundays

Here’s Shirley’s favorite photo of Mt Tecumseh in the summer.

What a view !!!!

 

Mt Tecumseh in Summer

 

Easter Sunday in Waterville Valley is an extra special celebration of the Risen Christ.

We hold 2 worship services ~~

The first is a Sunrise Service near the summit of Mt. Tecumseh.

About 250 people joined us this year to ride the White Peak Quad lift at 5:30 am.

It’s amazing to ride in a pre-dawn world over the snow — the only light is from the moon.

Gathering at the snowy top, we know it’s still winter up there.

Everyone is bundled in ski wear or long coats and boots.

This year the weather was amazingly warm — around 20′s.

The sky begins to lighten quickly as the sun begins to rise.

When the sun crests over the eastern mountains, there is an audible gasp at the sheer beauty.

What better way to celebrate “Christ is risen” than seeing the sun rise and emphasizing the truth.

Here are photos from the Sunrise Service,

and the view from the ride down the chairlift at the end of the service.

Sunrise service 2010

Sun is up ~ Happy Easter

Ride down the quad lift - the village of Waterville Valley

At the base area -- the sun is barely up

Sunrise again 1/2 hour later in Town Square

We celebrated Easter a second time with a 10 am service in the village.

Here’s the sunrise again from Town Square ~~ about 1/2 after we left the mountain.

The 4th of July is so much fun in small communities. 

There’s the parade, barbeques, and fireworks.

We joined with friends for a pot-luck cookout in Waterville Valley.

Saw a beautiful sunset over Mt. Tecumseh.

Then we sat on their lawn to watch a spectacular fireworks show.

Sunset

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

 

 

Beautiful starburst – with the mountains behind it.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shirley loves to pick blueberries in the summer.

She loves being outdoors and seeing the incredible beauty of bushes laden with huge ripe berries.

Usually, Shirley and our daughters will gather on a summer Saturday and go picking together.

This year, the family couldn’t come to NH during berry season.

Today Shirley went alone and enjoyed the summer sun, the ripe berries, and the solitude.

And she picked 11 quarts of berries.

 

 

A sunny day and the temps were in the 50′s – 60′s.  Not  usual March weather in NH. Dave and I took Friday off to play on the Kanc  (Kancamagus Highway).  Our ministry in Waterville Valley is located not far from this road through the White Mountains.

Love it

 

The road winds through the mountains from Lincoln to Conway and crosses the Kancamagus Pass at 2855 ft.  What a view!!   We stop at Rocky Gorge – created by the Swift River. (See the photos).  Dave wants to “help Spring along” by breaking ice and throwing chunks into the river ~                 ker-splash!!!    

Rocky Gorge - high walls, deep gorge, cold water brrrrrrr

 

Breaking up the ice

 

Dave tossing ice chunks ~ only using his right arm

 

Shirley ~ Toss that ice into the water

 

  Here’s a photo of Mt. Washington taken from Intervale — just north of N. Conway.    

Mt. Washington in March

 

Spring skiing is here. The days are warm and sunny. The snow is softer. It is glorious to be outdoors on the slopes on a beautiful sunny day.

We had planned to hold the 11:45 am winter church services on the ski slope at Waterville Valley ski area through the last weekend in March.  This service is held on the deck of Sunnyside Lodge, which is accessible by skis.  We hold this service in addition to our regular church service at 10 am in Waterville Valley’s Town Square.

After conferring with the Event Coordinator at the ski area, we’ve decided to cancel the ski church service for the remaining 3 Sundays. 

2 Reasons:  (1) There are lots of folks who are congregating for lunch and a great cookout on the Sunnyside Deck on Sundays. With all this great Spring skiing, lots of folks want to be outside for the cookout.  This means that it’s too noisy and congested for a church service.

(2) Last Sunday, after church, Dave took one more ski run.  On a steep part of the trail, Dave caught a ski and fell. He landed on his shoulder and broke his collar-bone.  No more skiing for Dave this year.  He’s been carrying our sound equipment in a large backpack up to Sunnyside each week.  With his 6′ 6″ height, the pack looks small on him.  When I try to wear the pack and ski, I topple backwards.

Next year, during ski season, we’ll have church services at Sunnyside Lodge again.

Meanwhile you can always come to our weekly 10 am church service in the village (Waterville Valley) . It’s held every Sunday in the Meeting Place Room in Town Square.  This room is on the second level above the Book Monger book store.

I really like working with our local fire departments. I serve as the chaplain for 3 depts.: Ashland, Campton/Thornton, and Waterville Valley.  The people are great, fun to be with, and so committed.

When any of us have an emergency, there’s such security in being able to call 911 and knowing that help will be there.

Until I started working with these groups, I didn’t realize how much dedication, commitment, training, and expertise the firefighters and EMS people have.  Most small towns have volunteer departments.  These folks have other jobs, and serve their communities – all of us because they want to and because they like it.  When called, they show up day after day, night after night – to provide safekeeping and help.  They spend time training each week.  It takes special people to give that much of their time and energy to their communities.

I wanted to help my departments more than just being their chaplain. I wanted to be able to pitch in and respond to calls. And I wanted to know more about their jobs and responsibilities.  My solution has been to take an Emergency Medical Responder class at the Ashland Fire Dept.  This is the first level of training in the EMS system.  Each week, 15 of us gather for 3  1/2 hours on one or two nights to learn and to be trained.

Today is Saturday and for the past 4 – 5 hours I’ve been at the station learning CPR.  We had lots of fun practicing the various procedures on the mannequins – both adult and infant. It’s reassuring to know how to help people when needed – instead of standing by and being helpless.

My grandsons are really impressed that I get to hang out with firefighters, EMT’s, and especially to ride in the fire trucks.  I like riding in the fire trucks, too.

Early March…. the sun is brighter and Spring is on the way.  Each year I look forward to when the sap starts to flow in our maple trees.  It’s time to make maple syrup and what better way to make the last weeks of winter fly past?  Maple time is the herald of spring for me.

We still tap the trees the old fashion way — with a spile and a covered, metal bucket hanging from it.  We got our buckets from Bud Dame in Ashland, NH so many years ago.  When Dave was a teenager, he helped Bud collect the sap from the pails hung throughout the woods.  The good old days, when he had to walk through knee-deep snow carrying buckets of sloshing sap.

Once the taps are in our tree and the buckets are hung….soon I hear the drips of sweet sap filling up the bucket.  Eventually there’s enough to dump into my storage container.  Soon that watery sap will be boiled down to maple syrup.  40 gallons of sap will make about 1 gallon of syrup.

Because I love the sweet aroma of maple, I boil the sap down on my kitchen stove.  The house is filled with the wonderful aroma.  And soon enough there is some maple syrup and maple sugar.  The very first year I did this, I made the mistake of not watching the boiling pot.  Our daughters were little and needed my attention.  “Oh …what an awful sticky mess that boiled over syrup made!!!!”  Ever since that incident, I’ve been extra careful to pay attention to my syrup.

Maybe someday I’ll live on a farm and we’ll have a small sugar shack with a real evaporator.  Then I can make enough syrup to share.