Suzy and Joel and Owen and Evie

“Where to fishergirl?”

The beach isn’t fine sand and clear water like you’d get in the Sound, but there’s always something to do. Owen took a cue from his grandparents and tried rowing. We’d used the boat to get to the sailboat which is tied to a mooring so he was inspired to try by watching Gramps row us out to the sailboat and back. But he was also carrying on a traditional way of rowing—when Gram was little her parents let her row all she wanted as long as she didn’t untie the boat from the dock.

We got a bucket and net and caught a baby lobster and a pipe fish, which I’d never caught before. We always caught loads of brine shrimp and jellyfish when I was a kid. I’ve gotten sneaky in old age and now swipe the net under the floating dock to get the critters that are hiding from the nearby splashing kids. When everyone had a good look we put everyone back in.

Filed by suzy at 11:56 pm under Evie, Owen
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We went for a ride in Gramps’s sailboat, but just used the motor since we all were on the boat. Evie got a chance to steer and Owen helped too. It was nice to be out on the water while it was still quiet and still and not to have to share it with the speedboats pulling screaming kids on tubes.

Filed by suzy at 11:28 pm under Uncategorized
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When it’s mid-August, you know it’s time for the Hamburg Fair in Lyme, Connecticut! This year we checked ahead of time to make sure we wouldn’t miss the pedal tractor pull for kids, but sadly the organizer had to cancel at the last moment. Still, we managed to have plenty of fun. There were carnival rides for the kids, a pony ride, games of skill and chance—Owen chose a plastic sword and Evelyn a purple monkey—and, um, hot dogs and lemonade. Plus, on the way home we took a little detour through Salem to buy small batch ice cream at the Salem ice cream stand. Good stuff!

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This year Joel got really serious about gathering wild raspberries. In years past he’d bike past a raspberry patch and fill up a water bottle, but this year he drove to the patches—mainly found by the side of the road on reservoir land—and filled up cake pans. He probably picked over 10 pounds of these amazingly tiny, fragile berries. We stayed up late several nights making jam, raspberry ice cream, two batches of chocolate raspberry ice cream, chocolate raspberry tart, and then tossed them into cereal, too. The season is short but these berries are so much better than anything you’d buy in a store.

Filed by admin at 12:34 am under Joel, food
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Joel has been thinking about making doughnuts for a long time and his recent trip to Seattle’s Top Pot really but the bee in his bonnet. Last night he made the batter and this morning he fried them. They were awesome.

Filed by admin at 1:54 pm under Joel, food
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