Our one and only girl

Our lovely and sweet granddaughter, who recently participated in the Miss Massachusetts Outstanding Teen contest.  She is a great athlete, student, daughter and granddaughter.  She enjoys baking treats and selling them, for the benefit of our local animal shelter.  One busy girl who seems to excel at just about everything.  We are so proud of her!

 

The promotion ceremony

Our new grandson, Wyatt, has slipped right into his family; and he appears to be almost a duplicate of big brother Westin at that age!  Both blessings!

Dad  was recently promoted to Lieutenant at the MA State Police Headquarters, with the whole family enjoying the tour of the main headquarters and the proud moment!

The Administrative Assistant gave Westin his very own campaign cover before the ceremony!  Could this be a future trooper?  Time will tell.

 

Another beautiful soul was sent to us!

Wyatt joins his big 3 year old brother, Westin.  It appears that we have a clone!

What a sweet and calm baby.  He sure is a blessing to everyone!

 

Our youngest grandchild....so far

The truth about being a police officer!

The media, now that we are past the reporting every minute about Covid-19; has been having a field day.  They're spending a lot of time posting every single instance they can find of police officers doing something wrong, so that they can smear the profession.  In some cases it has worked, as mayors in some cities are acting very agreeable to defunding police, and other ridiculous ideas.  They are caving to the pressure of groups of people who don't have a CLUE as to what their lives would be like without the police forces in their cities and states.
Here is a Facebook post created by my son.  We support him in every way with his career choice and his tenacity!  A lot of people NEED to understand exactly what officers do on their jobs.  It is my humble opinion that most people in their jobs do not have to encounter such things, and frankly, could not cope.   So, here is my son's post:

June 19, 2020

As I ponder the start of year 20 on the State Police, I feel very fortunate to have scored highly enough on the exam and had a clean enough background to make it into the academy, and enough drive to make it through 26 weeks without dropping out and resigning (as 56 of my fellow recruits did - a loss of 28% of the class). 15,000 people took that test in 1998, and only several hundred made it all the way. I’ve lost a handful of classmates so far who died from cruiser accidents, cancer, heart attacks and suicide. Another handful had to retire early due to job-related injuries. I’ve worked at a few barracks (Sturbridge, Middleboro, South Yarmouth, Dartmouth) and a couple units (Bristol County Detective unit-Homicide squad, and Crime Scene Services). Going through the Academy at age 27, I first worked some private sector jobs where I met some good people, but I have to say that, overall, the coworkers that I have met and worked with in the State Police and related professions (municipal police, campus police, Sheriff’s, State Corrections, Federal agents, firefighters, crime lab, and Asst. District Attorneys and their staff) thus far have been of the highest caliber in their personal and professional lives, more so than anywhere else I have been employed. It’s been a great 20 years. I put away a lot of murderers into prison, helped too many people to possibly count, and have seen terrible things that nobody should have to see. I’ve seen and put my hands on about 800 dead bodies, seen every manner of suicide, dead infants, toddler autopsies, people burnt beyond recognition, a kindergarten aged girl lying dead in a basement in a pool of blood with her throat sliced, a teenager’s brain in the street after a school bus ran over his head; I’ve been into disgusting hoarder houses, stepping over needles in heroin den apartments, and I’ve seen the worst of people. Been called every vulgar name you can think of by arrested subjects who were out of control of their emotions. But, I’ve also seen the best of people. Strangers helping others. Heroic efforts made by police officers and citizens alike. I’ve been hugged by family members of homicide victims who appreciated the measure of justice I helped them get with an arrest and conviction. I have always and will continue to treat all those I encounter with kindness and respect, but I will not hesitate to use the appropriate tools at my disposal to control those people out there intent on hurting or killing me or others, or infringing on all of our rights through their illegal behavior. However, by far, my greatest accomplishment in the last 20 years is this almost 3 year-old little boy right here. 

I saw the best post on Facebook yesterday

With all of the videos of peaceful protests, violence and burning and destruction, I saw a great post on Facebook.

"With all that lootin, no work boots were taken."

HAHAHAHA  We need a laugh during this pandemic and outrageous public behavior.

When yeast can't be found in stores:

Watson Caran told HuffPost, “To create a wild yeast starter from nature, my suggestion is simple: 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup flour, put in a wide mouth quart-sized jar.” Watson said to be sure to use filtered or spring water since chlorinated water will kill the yeast. Next, she said, “mix well and cover with a cheesecloth or plastic wrap. About 24 hours later, feed the starter with another cup of flour and enough water to get the same consistency as before.” She said to look for bubbles, which will indicate the process is working. The starter will be ready to use as a yeast substitute when it floats on top of the water in the jar.

Easter 2019 during the Covid virus lockdown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba69webBT-0

MAKE YOUR OWN MASKS, instructions below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xueb4VHqXQU

Corona virus

Well, we're smack dab in the middle of the Corona Pandemic right now across the country.
Every channel on TV has bad news for all of us, along with warnings regarding how to stay safe..

Those who are first responders or those who work in hospitals, dentists, clinic workers, are all at a great risk.
The poor clerks at the supermarket are trying their best to cope with all of the customers, one after the other, without any slow down.
I know that they are also being exposed to all types of people, with all types of germs.

Most churches are reaching their parishioners by using live video broadcasts so that we can all join together online to pray and hear scripture verses, even join in with singing songs.
It's a tough time, but we will get through it.  I just hope it doesn't take too long.

Young people had to come home from college, and I feel badly for those who were all set to graduate this year.  It will be a non-event, rather than the traditional celebration.
Those who have lost loved ones cannot even have large family gatherings during funerals.
The Corona virus has cut everything short and intruded into so many lives.

The news never lets up on TV and online with tips of what to do and how to stock up to get through a few weeks of staying home, only to go out to the grocery store.
The store employees are striving to get the job done, but a lot of shelves are empty, especially in the larger stores, such as WalMart.

I noticed that the expensive meats are still on the shelves, whereas the cheapest meats are being snatched up quickly.  The same goes for the dairy aisle.  The more expensive organic milk sits idly on the shelf.

After a couple of trips to my local markets I have come to the conclusion that everyone in New England lives on pasta and bottled spaghetti sauce, along with most types of bread.  Another nearly empty aisle in the market is the soup aisle.
I have taken to grabbing a few things that I've never tried in my life, just because the choices were slim.   Maybe this will open up a whole new way of trying new foods for me.
In any case, I must say that I have seen a lot of politeness in the stores, and people are respecting the requested 6 feet space away from other shoppers. 

There is a togetherness happening, which is great, and we see it in all emergencies.
Although people are anxious, they are showing strangers and friends that they care and many are offering part of their stash of food and paper products, willingly.

Amid all of our prayers, I believe that we will quickly conquer this terrible virus, which has already harmed so many families and taken so many lives.

Lord, keep us all safe.

New Phone Hands-Free Law in Massachusetts

https://turnto10.com/news/local/hands-free-law-goes-into-effect-in-massachusetts?fbclid=IwAR00olOQBV6lp_JpCWWCvXcH03UeN69vuacNnJum-9cTcwRR39-Gx7FQWN8

Here is the link to my son, Sgt. Laliberte, being interviewed regarding the new law.

Walking away...

 Westin James Laliberte, age 2

Xander Robert Doherty, age 4, and Dad

It's hard to say what the draw is for me about pictures showing people from the back.  I've seen them, and taken them myself, as the person is sitting with their back to me, or caught walking away.  I guess the plus is that they are not posing, and sometimes unaware that they are on camera.

But in particular, when it comes to children, there is something mystical about it...at least for me.  I don't know how other people feel; no one has ever mentioned it to me.

One day I was visiting Plymouth, MA and saw a mother sitting on a bench with her two little kids, one on each side of her.  I simply took their picture because it was so appealing.  I didn't ask their permission, I just did it.  It was charming and meant so much.  I did ask the mother if she would like me to send her the picture I had just taken.  She gave me her email address and I sent it to her, after which she thanked me via email.

In the above pictures, I see my grandsons not just walking, but walking away.  Walking right into their future selves, happily strolling forward to lives unknown to us.

Maybe it's because I'm getting older (72) but I also see them in these pictures as walking away from me.  Not away from my love, but physically walking away towards their future grown up selves, leaving me behind to feel the loss, but also the pride and thankfulness that overwhelms me as I watch them go.

From the way back machine at the Sun Chronicle newspaper, Attleboro, MA

It's what I used to do. 
We typed up copy from the reporters and it would come out in this code. We had to memorize the alphabet in the code; because you had to be able to look back and read some of the tape if you thought you made a mistake, or got up for some reason, came back to your desk--you had to know where you left off. If you caught a mistake or felt like you hit the wrong key, you could find the word, and just blank out the mistake with all holes, then just continue on typing. We typed in a continuous stream, hitting indicators to mean bold face, or a new paragraph was beginning, etc..
We typed commands such as "quad left, return", or right, or center, to indicate where the lines should end up on the proof. We didn't relish sports columns, as we had to add certain spaces, such as an en or an em space here and there, to make sports columns of numbers line up correctly. Then we would wind up the tape, as in the top pic, and feed it through a "computer" the size of a refrigerator, and it would justify the lines, (spread out the words as evenly as possible, so that the width of the column remained even) then that justified tape would go to the linotype department. When fed through the linotype machines the letters, numbers, words would come out formed into the appropriate paragraphs, in hot lead. That's what would be used to print on paper. 
No one remembers this procedure today, I'm sure. We would hit "shift" before a capital letter, then "unshift" immediately after that, and continue on. 
At times the proofreader would be getting backed up a little and since we also learned the proofreading marks, indicating changes to be made, such as OSC (out, see copy, or take this word out, so that it matches the original copy), or underlining a letter three times, would mean to capitalize it, for instance. Little squiggles resembling an e in cursive would mean to remove a letter. The proofreader was an older lady, sort of the type you would cast in a movie as an old librarian. She had been doing her job for years and didn't want any help from us (20 somethings). 
Occasionally, we'd head over to help her proof some copies, and she'd say "Oh no you don't, Girlie, I can do this myself." She didn't trust any of us; but she had to accept help, as we were sent over to help get things finished up. Lord knows we didn't really want to sit next to her for 15 or 20 minutes with her critical, glaring eye and her suspicions that we were just too young and inexperienced to do her job. lol. 
But we did it; and she was always glad when we left after getting caught up, and we returned to our own department. Her name was Bea.

ORANGES!

I got out my handy-dandy Tupperware orange peeler and sat down with a great-looking orange. I usually have a navel orange for breakfast, maybe two. I love them, which is great, because my doctor gave me a list of things to consider eating to improve my daily calcium requirement.  

I took the handy-dandy peeler, which is a long, slender plastic gadget which Tupperware has been giving out for decades. One end is flat and narrow, not really sharp; and the other end has that fabulous hook on it which sinks right into the thick peel of the orange and you can trace it down the length of the fruit, making neat lines. When you have finished, you can grasp a piece of the peel near one of the ends, and peel down, sometimes, almost a whole fourth of the peel. 
Mostly, I end up ripping a lot of it free from the fruit with my fingers. I slice and think. I think about that sweet orange. I also think that I'd better not find any seeds this time. That is a big disappointment to me. So, I glide down the length of the fruit, just like drawing vertical paths from the North Pole to the South Pole. 

Then, because I am a picky eater, I attempt to scrape off the ivory-colored residue which seems to cling to the fruit. I know it's not necessary...but that's my regular habit. While doing this morning routine, I felt that something was just "different". However, I continued on, waiting to taste that wonderful fruit. As a matter of fact, I am known for telling people that an orange is the perfect food! Yes, I really do think that. After all, it is something to eat, something to drink, nice juice, it comes in a handy container, and I like the color! What's not to like, right? 

I peeled my orange, started to separate the segments and....and with great disappointment, ate a grapefruit.

Getting things done in the back yard

 Well, Bill and I finally put together our fire pit today.  We've been wanting one like this for a while now. We already had the base, those reddish garden blocks you can see there, so there was no measuring or digging down in to the soil.  We went to Loew's and saw one of these pits on display.  We decided the size would be just right, so the clerk there put the exact number of blocks (36) onto a pallet, along with the 12 blocks that go on top, along with the steel inner lining.  Well, we drove carefully home with the pallet and all of the accessories in the back of our pick up truck.  Once home, Bill lifted most of the blocks off the back of the truck into the wheelbarrow.  From there, I took most of the blocks and lined them up in a circle, using the steel lining as a guide, to make sure the circle of the first layer was the right size.  Some blocks had to be backed up, or snugged in a little, to make the circle exact.  Then I removed the liner, and we continued on, laying the second and third layers atop the bottom circle of blocks. We staggered the blocks, as you would with bricks, for instance.  After we put it all together, we both agreed that going back to get another layer (12 more blocks) would be advantageous because it would be just a bit deeper.  Bill went back and brought home the last layer, and I stayed home getting prepared.  I removed the top blocks, then the liner, which has a lip which overhangs the 3rd row.  Then you place the final row on top, which consists of slightly different blocks.  So, basically, I undid some of our hard work to accommodate the arrival of a little more height.  Got it all together quickly, and since Bill returned the pallet to Loew's, the clerk gave him two extra blocks.  At least that's why we think he gave us those. I used those deep in the center of the pit, which will support a grate from our other, smaller pit.  That allows for putting paper, cardboard, etc....down at the bottom, leaving room for some air to get to the small sticks, then logs which will be above.  I put just a few sticks in there, and lit some paper underneath, just to try it out while I was doing other things.  It worked great, and we are glad that we went four rows high, rather than three.

 My veggie garden (I hope) will be having it's best year yet!  Recently, we had 5 very tall pine trees removed from the border between our yard and our neighbor's yard.  We planted those trees, the size of little bushes, about 40 years ago.  Previously, my garden had to wait till about 10:30 or 11 each morning to get the benefit of full sun, because the pine trees cast so much shade.  This summer will be different, with full sun as soon as the sun comes up each morning, and I am excited to see the difference.  Thanks to my son and DIL, they gave me this watering timer, as one of my Christmas gifts in December.  I had admired theirs, and thought it seemed to convenient.  OK, I already had my garden started, but I wanted to get it going, and add some plants, rearranging some things, before I got set up with the automatic watering.  Heretofore, I have spent every morning, and every afternoon, standing there for 30 or 40 minutes, soaking my garden.  It's hard to do that in the intense heat; but I back up enough into the nice, shady areas in my yard, and shoot the water over the distance.  Well, I had to put two batteries into the new gadget, and sit in the dining room, carefully reading how to program this timer.  I felt a little intimidated with all of the directions and pictures in the instructions included; but alas, I programmed this little friend to turn on my water at 6 a.m., and again at 6 p.m. every day. It does have a feature where you can change the programming because of rainy days.  In any case, I took it out and put it onto the outdoor faucet, then added the hose to the bottom of it.  It sort of looks like a camera, doesn't it?  I set it up, and wondered how well this would work.  Well, I'm happy to say that as soon as I had attached it to the faucet, I had it programmed for 6 p.m., and I was finished with it at 5:55 p.m.  I sat down and watched it come on as it promised!  YAY!  This will save me a lot of time and work each day.

Here is my garden at its current stage, receiving the long-awaited water, on this brutally hot day!   Just love my veggie garden each year.  This year I have a Stevia plant (the sweetener), cucumbers, peppers and several types of tomatoes.  You can't beat eating out of your own garden. 

This just about sums it up!

Long Time No See

I just took a look at my blog and realized how long it's been since I entered anything new.
So, what's been happening lately?
Well, our first grandson has done the rounds investigating various colleges to which he has been accepted.  He looked and toured, and then settled on UMass Amherst.  He felt like this was the one and something just "clicked" when he toured that campus.  Good for him!

Our youngest will be 2 in just a few months.  He still looks like his father, my son; but he is now sporting a full head of curls.  Most babies in our family start out with very little hair, so it's a long time to wait to see what these little baldies will finally look like.  Everywhere he goes, people admire his blue eyes and his curls.  He is such a little blessing.

Our one girl is entering her second year of high school, and as always is an outstanding student, more athletic than anyone else I know, and of course, a beautiful girl.  She is always participating in something, and always seems to be a leader.  That's how she's always been.

Our next guy, who is 10, is my hockey hero.  It amazes me to watch someone grow up trying to crawl, walk, run, then turn into an expert at skating.  He is aggressive and fast on the ice, and those attributes help him become such a good hockey player.

Facebook has changed over the years; and unfortunately, not for the better.  I am really trying to avoid getting trapped in conversations filled with political arguments and faux news.  It's really become a field of land mines over at FB.  Lately, I have been picking up my formerly-loved poetry skills.

I remember when I was doing massage therapy, I would sit down and write a haiku each morning before my day began.  I have had the overwhelming desire to incorporate that into Facebook lately.  A haiku can tell a lot in just three lines.  Characteristically, a haiku is a story told in three lines of 5, 7, and 5.   I enjoy posting poetry in this form, and sometimes I don't even have to count on my fingers. Haha.

We recently had six extremely large trees taken down from our yard.  One near the driveway, had been reaching and hovering over our neighbor's yard, and the other five were pine trees between our yard and our next door neighbor's yard.  I can remember planting them when the kids were little, and we hadn't lived in our house too long.  We wanted to plant trees everywhere for shade and just to make the yard look better.  When we planted these trees, they looked like little, short bushes.  Then they continued to grow and looked like Christmas trees for years.  Then they got taller, and taller, and taller.  Yikes!  I cut the lower branches as they took up a massive amount of room, and it was hard for my husband to mow near them.  With the lower branches removed, it seemed better for a few years.  One thing that I noticed was that my veggie garden suffered from a lack of bright sunlight until about 11 a.m. each day during the growing season.  I just accepted that, as I didn't want to change the garden location.  It was pretty well established and got sunshine for the rest of the day, and I liked where it was in relationship to the rest of the yard.

During the winter, we really started to think that in case of a bad storm, those ultra-tall trees might break and land on our neighbor's roof, or our roof.  We decided that it would be best to say good-bye to them and they were cut down a couple of weeks ago.  The tree company also ground down the stumps for a better result.  Wow!  I haven't seen that much morning sunshine in the bedroom window since we first moved in here.  Also, my vegetable garden is reaping the results with great sunshine from the start of the day.  My plants don't have to wait until nearly noon to bet the benefit of the hot sun.  Therefore, I think that this will be my best garden ever, this year!  Pics to follow when the vegetables are ready!  (I have already been collecting strawberries, and quite a few of them.)

THIRD GENERATION BIKER IN OUR FAMILY!

My first grandson, now a senior and looking at colleges

Driving off to high school for his senior year

He took his first steps at my house 16 years ago.  I still remember that day.
They were visiting from Philadelphia, where he was born; and I took him outside in the back yard to get him to walk barefoot on the lawn.
When he leaves for college next Fall, I'll remind him that it was a special day at my house when he first walked by himself.
Every year, I see him and now his two siblings off to school.  I wave and say "Angels...go with him!"

We waited years for this little blessing. Soon he'll be 1 year old!

The day of Westin's birth, and I got to hold him.

A little pumpkin hat at the hospital. Late September, all ready for Fall.

Mommy and baby. I think he's praying.

Someone got into the powder.

Look-alikes, Westin and Daddy

Enjoying his crib

Out for a ride

Riding a horse at 10 1/2 months