Laura's 17th Birthday

Laura's 17th birthday was on October 18. I wasn't home then, but I wished her a happy birthday from China! And I called her from the Great Wall on her birthday. (Well, it was the morning of the 19th in China, but still the evening of the 18th in Massachusetts, which is where Laura was then.) We celebrated Laura's birthday at home on October 21.

Nancy didn't have quite the right candles, but she made do (15+2).

Emily was home, too. Let's see: digital camera, necklace and book from Chile, bathrobe from China, French course on CD, art supplies. Worth waiting for, maybe!

More Cambridge History

More pictures from "Cambridge History Days" at Bill's sugarhouse on Oct. 6-7.

These pictures were taken on Sunday, Oct. 7.

(The pictures in the previous post were taken on Sat., Oct. 6.)

left: Clark Dodge

Above, Bill is feeding oats into a threshing machine, powered by an old tractor. Below, the oats are coming out!

Below is an old "horse power." This is a treadmill for a horse, used to power machinery. Both the threshing machine and the horse power came from the barn on the Brewster farm in Pleasant Valley. The threshing machine was originally powered by the horse power, before tractors came along. Here, Bill is turning the wheel to show that the horse power still works smoothly. Also on display was a "sheep power" (no picture).

Cambridge History Days

"Cambridge History Days" are being held at Bill's sugarhouse today and tomorrow. This event is sponsored by the Cambridge Historical Society and used to be held every fall at the Clark Dodge farm on the Smugglers Notch Road.

There were old cars, old tractors, old threshing machines, weaving demonstrations, old railroad pictures, talks on covered bridges, and lots more. Lots of good food, too!

One of the many interesting displays was a model of an old-time sugarhouse. Note the team of oxen pulling a sap tub. In Bill's sugarbush, sap is collected by pipeline.

O'Briens in China

Susan and Paul O'Brien visited China this summer on a trip for teachers. You can read about their trip here. Their comments and observations were most helpful to me as I prepare for my trip.

BTW, Susan's birthday is today and I think it is a big one. Of course I'd never mention her age on a public blog, but she was born on the day that Sputnik was launched. Happy birthday, Susan!

China Trip

If you are reading this, most likely you know about my upcoming trip to China, Oct. 9-20. Since that is a company trip, I will be posting about it on my new company blog - the Yankee ACA Blog. "George's Home Blog" is so much fun that I started a company blog! Feel free to check it out. I hope to post pictures to the Yankee ACA Blog while I am in China.

Brian's Boat

Brian reports that he and his friends at Colby won the Johnson Pond Regatta with their homemade boat. Congratulations, Brian! Brian has posted pictures on Flickr, which you can reach from his home page.