Daniel and William sit with Uncle John on the tram back to the car at the Duke Gardens. The over-50 crowd was game to walk the rest of the way back from the hay barn, but the teenagers gave up and asked to take the easy way out.
Karen grabs a photo of some of the amazing orchids in the greenhouse at the Duke Gardens.
William surveys the abandoned foundation of what was to be a mansion on the Duke Estate in New Jersey. The project was halted for some reason in 1911; it was stripped to supply its steel to the war effort in 1917.
Danny explores a pair of sphinxes guarding the entrance to the orchid house at the Doris Duke Gardens in New Jersey.
A tall group: Danny, Uncle Alan, William, Cousin Andrew, and Cousin Nick.
William and Uncle Alan play a game of cornhole in the back yard during a 100th birthday party we attended.
All this way just to play video games? William and Daniel relax after a 100th-birthday party, following a very long drive to New Jersey, with cousin Nick in the background looking up things on his iPad.
What's Danny doing? Trying out a few poses for a family trick-photography project.
A worker from the vegetation department of the local power company tops a tree across the street from our house in preparation for removing it. It was diseased and threatening power, phone, and cable lines in our area.
Karen works on a graphics project on her computer. The tube coming out of her shirt is from the IV bag we use to hjydrate Sukkie; Karen's just warming it up a little so the cat is more comfortable.
Danny gets on the bus for his last day of being a 7th grader.
Karen takes a little cuddle time with Sukkie before bed. Sukkie's health is still in doubt, and she needs a lot of love an attention.
Karen's tried a new crab-cake recipe, wonderful on a bed of cabbage with homemade sauce and a salad.
Daniel unpacks from a three-day, two-night hiking and camping trip in the White Mountains.
Karen went back to sleep after giving Sukkie her fluids. Sukkie forgave her enough to come sleep with her (well, on her) for awhile.
Sukkie had to be force-fed for awhile, and she made some interesting sounds of protest.
Ambush intrudes on Gordon's workstation, stepping on his computer and playing with the cables. She's cute, but she can only get away with it for so long.
Karen and Daniel play with some miniature ice boats at the New Hampshire Boat Museum.
Karena and William admire some beautifully-restored boats at the New Hampshire Boat Museum.
At the New Hampshire Boat Museum, Danny assembles a model of the James Bell, a boat that once navigated the waters of Lake Winnipesaukee.
Gordon secures boards on the finished section of the new deck. Though the smaller section is not finished, we're putting the deck boards on the finished section to make it sturdier and safer to walk around on while we finish.
Something large and heavy got into our trash corral and left two of our trashcans looking like this. We're thinking bear. Might need new trash cans.
Karen gets her new glasses fitted. They look a lot like the old glasses, but the work a little better.
This is a big deal. With some coaxing from William, Sukkie is eating without being force-fed for the first time in over two weeks. We're not out of the woods, but this is a major step.
Karen and Daniel have been experimenting with no-churn ice cream. This is chocolate, topped with syrup and whipped cream, with a side of mint Milano cookies.
Karen sorts through some seed potatoes she found at Tractor Supply. They were on clearance, but in such sad shape shee managed to talk the price down even a little more. We're hoping they'll yield some delicious blue potatoes in the fall.
William secures one of the boards on the new deck. With a semester of woodworking class under his belt, he's able to help a lot working independently.
After swimming, Daniel found some kids to play with on the beach.
William in Lake Winnipesaukee for the first time this season. Even this late, the water was a little chilly.
A little bit of Lego animation that Danny did a couple of summers ago.
Sukkie cuddles up to Karen after a harrowing evening. Unfortunately, for now, Sukkie is not eating or drinking on her own, and so has to have all kinds of torturous feedings and procedures each day. But she manages to forgive us in the end.
Karen and William watch and wait for their turns at bowling. The alley is interesting; with automatic scoring, the scorer's desks are gone replaces by pedestals with keypads and these comfy couches.
Danny takes a great backswing as he approaches the lane. For someone who rarely bowls, he did fairly well.
Thomas prepares to roll one down the lane; we went out bowling in an alley that's new to us, in Dover, with Thomas' new girlfriend, Erin.
William launches a serve toward Gordon during a little Sunday practice.
Gordon helps William keep up his tennis skills; he's preparing to return a serve.
Ambush makes a silhouette in the open window, catching a whiff of the cool breeze we let into the house to keep it comfortable during an upcoming muggy day.
A little movie that the boys and Gordon made for fun about five years ago.
William cuddles with Sukkie, home from the vet. She's recovering from some unknown kidney problem. She had to spend two days and a night at the vet's office without her boy.
Thomas takes Karen into work so that Gordon can have a car for picking up Sukkie from the vet's office in the afternoon.
Gordon stands on the back deck, with newly-installed rails. These will make it safer to work on the larger part of the deck. The smaller section will be underway as soon as we can tear down the old temporary deck.
Daniel and Karen make a big splash in the pool at the Windrifter.
William finally got talked into getting into the pool, and had fun despite himself.
Karen and Daniel have some fun in the pool on one of Karen's rare early days.
