Wow. We sure have packed in a lot in the past 5 weeks. We had a couple of parties in Ct to attend with old friends that were a joy to see again. Other than a few more lines on all of our faces, things have not changed too much.
Emily got to see her old house and walk through the inside. The new owners were gracious enough to invite us in and even had a few questions that only the builders (us) would know. They have kept the house even better than we could have and they both must have green thumbs since the landscaping was much improved.
We got some health insurance and have all started to get medical exams to determine how we fared outside of the USA for 6 years. Emily was fitted with braces for her teeth and is thrilled (NOT) to be entering high school with a mouth filled with metal. Her school placement testing went better than expected as she will waive normal 9th grade Algebra 1 and Physics and take all subjects except gym and Spanish at honors level. We are very proud parents!
Tom has been clearing overgrown brush and fallen trees around the Ludlow mass cottage and trying to get it livable for the coming cold winter. Already replaced were 3 rotting floor joists and heat tape is being installed under the house to keep exposed water pipes from bursting (again). Kim and Emily have been scrubbing ceilings, walls and floors of 6 years (or more) of dirt and making new curtains. A washing machine was wired and plumbed in the barn and the house refrigerator needed replacement.
We all got Samsung Galaxy S4 or S5 smart phones and are slowly discovering all the magic they contain. Smart TVs are being researched as Tom is trying to figure a way to eliminate cable TV altogether by using streaming internet. We found no good reason to re-connect our land-line phone, so good riddance to another bill!
We have held some discussions with the town and uncovering the bureaucratic hurtles we will have to overcome to build another house on our 40 acres of land. Surveyors, lawyers and architects are being contacted. We attended a local Ludlow fair and Emily did pretty good at rock climbing.
We will continue to shuttle back and forth between Ludlow, Ma and Groton, CT until the boat is hauled out near the end of August. 0ver 60 boxes have been off-loaded into our dear friend’s basement and 4 carloads have been brought north so far. The water line is slowly rising as we uncover parts of the boat that have been buried for years. Tom is trying to remember the winterizing steps and how many gallons of pink antifreeze will be needed. Going south until the butter melts was a much better plan!
We got a little more press; this time from Nordhavn, the boat builder. Here’s the link but it was mostly a copy job from the Maryland newspaper piece:
Well life goes on and we will continue to chip away at becoming dirt dwellers again. Once Emily is back in school and the boat is out of the water, things should settle down a bit…We shall see.
Tom
