New Hampshire Kitsch and Scenery (maybe a few from Vermont and Maine... okay, and Canada...)

Construction traffic in Whitefield NH caused cars to sit with this vista...

there are worse things in life

*

*

What's left of an old mill in Littleton NH...

note the telephone to the left of the door

*

*

Bar Harbor Maine with Marilyn

I think the top one is Gorham Mountain

*

*

Tree split by lightning strike

House burned down by owner of the restaurant I used to work at

Scenes (all 4 above) from Lunenburg VT, saw mother and baby turkey's

but they scrammed before I got the camera out

*

*

Burlington Vermont, Church Street

(like a colder Faneuil Hall)

*

*

On ride from Saint Johnsbury VT to Lancaster... not sure what town...

there are actually a number of phone booths here

cell service is incredibly iffy

Oscar in Dalton NH

not far from our home

*

*

Danville Vermont... stopped for "Marty"

*

*

Canadian border crossing (including self portrait at gate)

Street scene in Montreal--

in way background is stage where Mes Aïeux was playing

my new favorite band (...Christmas gift hint...)

*

*

Cabin we almost rented in Jefferson

and view from porch

*

*

Mister Darcy enjoying sun in Kate's porch

*

*

Mount Orne Bridge in Lunenburg Vermont facing Lancaster NH

the bridge is the state line and is on my street

*

*

What Cannon Mountain's ski hills look like in summer

Echo Lake in Franconia Notch

*

*

View from my really high perch at Lost River Gorge

My new Pastor, Father Ray, going into a cave in the gorge

*

*

Some family in Littleton collects and displays gas pumps and paraphernalia

*

*

Frog at Kate's (saved from mower by Bridgette)

*

*

Edmund Muskie Memorial (Rumford native)

Rumford Maine on way to Bar Harbor

Penacook Falls to upper left

*

*

"Gringo's", Mexican place we ate in Bar Harbor

More Bar Harbor (above)

Plus hiking and a squirrel...

Bottom one is Marilyn picking blueberries with children

*

*

Traffic jam in Lancaster: cows being crossed on North Road by children

Town has no stop lights, this is longest I ever sat

*

*

First real foliage as seen out my living room window

Going up Mount Prospect in Weeks Park, Lancaster

Shot by Theodore Roosevelt, moose hangs in lodge at top

and view of Mount Washington

*

*

Israel River as seen from Main Street bridge (top)

and snowmobile bridge near my home (bottom)

View from pulling out of my driveway... don't know which mountain is seen,

but it's part of White Mountains

and the view as you descend to enter Lancaster from Whitefield

*

*

45th Parallel in Colebrook NH (way up by Canada)

*

*

Christmas in Lancaster: gingerbread house competition at library

My decorated mountain bike

*

*

*

18 Days Later (since I left Bridgewater)

Being on sabbatical from real life and trying to start a new one has been hindered by lack of funds (economy in Great White North is worse than in Metro South), so no pics or stories will be about nights on the town or a lot of sight seeing.

Rather, it's the little pleasures God provides on a daily basis.

Cats, Car and Boy all packed to go

*
*

Oscar behind the lens

*

*

Lancaster Fourth of July Parade replete with creepy clown, self advertisement, adorable senior center float and a dumpy pickup... go figure

Kate & Oscar

This kid was a brat and yelled at his grandmother...

if he had tossed candy to the children, I would have thrown it at him!

*
*

While Oscar was in Tennessee I spent a few days at my Shea cousins' house in Falmouth... and innumerable hours were passed on this couch or on the bench overlooking Round Pond...

I read two books (a recent record)

*
*

Covered bridge, view from it

Oscar just LOVES sight seeing!

Oscar and Matt look like The Outsiders

*
*

The cats are cooped in a bedroom while we're at Kate's... they don't know what to do when they're let out on furlough

*
*

What a colorful, majestic lightening show over mountains looks like through eye of old camera that has been dropped too many times

*
*

Helping Kate's friend, Rich, move his stuff

*
*

Tiny frog in Kate's yard

~~~~~~~

Things I should have taken pictures of but didn't:

• Molly's visit
• The awesome phone hanging on the outside of a condemned building in Littleton (next to town trip I will)
• Our little dinner party when Kate's Mom, brother, SIL and niece came over for lasagna
• The delicious eats Kate and Molly made (waffles, cookies, bread, pizza.... yummm....)
• Trivia night in Newton

*

*

*

"Super Friends" Relay for Life Team

Friday, June 19th to Saturday, June 20th
Bridgewater/Raynham Regional High School Track
Center Stret, Bridgewater

Our team consists of Me, friends of mine, Life Teen teens, Life Teen leaders, our fun pastor Father Joe and anyone else who would like to join us!

Check out our Facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=83865426225&ref=ts

and visit the American Cancer Society to sign up:
http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?team_id=501587&fr_id=16383&pg=team

It's $10 to officially join on the ACS site,
and $10 to Maura to be part of the Super Friends
the second $10 will be used for team shirts and incidentals

If you cannot stay the entire 20 hours, don't worry about it.
You can come late or leave early-- we still want you to join us!



*
*
*

Tri Parish 50/50 Raffle

Winner could get $15,000!

Drawing on Saturday, May 16 at Social in Saint John’s parish hall
(ticket stub is admission to social)

$10 per ticket

Winnings have the potential to be up to $15,000!

... the other half of the money will be split
between the three parishes of the Bridgewaters:

Saint Thomas Aquinas, 103 Center Street, Bridgewater
Saint John's, 210 Central Street, East Bridgewater
Saint Ann's, 103 North Main Street, West Bridgewater

Tickets available at all three rectory’s and at Saint Basil’s Chapel at BSC

And you can buy them from me! See me at Mass or give me a holler!

***Already buy one and think you're all set? Think again!***
Put them in greeting cards-- better than cash or a scratch ticket!
Put it in a birthday card or graduation card...
help keep those student loans down!
*
*
*

Price List for E-Cycle Appliance & Electronics Drive

Here's how it works:
You bring us your electronics and PAY us a small fee to take them off your hands and that money pays for me and my friends go on a mission to Honduras

PRICE LIST

Refrigerators (doors may be left on) and Freezers $25
Hot Water Tanks and Heaters $25
Televisions: plastic $15, wood $20
Laptops $10
Servers/Towers $10
Floor Model Printers/Copiers $10 each
Air Conditioners (window) $10
Dehumidifiers $10
Stoves $10
Camera/Video/Audio Equipment larger pieces $5 to $10 (smaller, see below)
Monitors $7
Dishwashers $5
Speakers $5
Microwaves $5
Washing Machines and Dryers $5 each
Copy/Fax/Scanner/Printers (table top) $5 each
UPS (computer battery back up systems) $5
DVD Players, Stereos, VCRs $5 each
CPUs, CD Rom/DVD Drives, Keyboards $3 each

SMALL ITEMS
FILL OUR BUCKET FOR $5:
Mice/Plugs, Wires and Parts/Accessories of Computers/Phones of any kind/Phone Systems/Camera/Video/Audio Equipment (larger pieces see above)/Walkmans/Ipods and accessories/Hair Driers/Modems and Routers/Handheld Games/Adapters

Can you just toss your phone or walkman in a kitchen rubbish and not pay anything? Sure you can. But the $1 or $2 we'd be asking you or is equal to an hours pay for a Honduran worker. Just like the commercials we grew up with... "for the price of a cup of coffee, you can make a difference..."

We look forward to your support! Please spread the word!
If you can help post fliers around Bridgewater and local towns (even if just one!) please comment and I'll send you a flier as Word attachment... thanks!
*
*
*

Giant Yard Sale and Bottle & Can Drive to Fund Honduras Trip

Sunday, May 17th
8am-2pm
FAXON PARK
Park Street, Stoughton

All proceeds will help send me and my friends Anna, Juli and Katie to volunteer at the Olancho Aid Foundation in Honduras

General donations are also accepted and appreciated

For more info e-mail Colette117@gmail.com (781)727-9457
*
*
*

Big Ben is FOR SALE

My 2005 Ford Taurus, affectionately named Big Ben, is now for sale

This is what I posted on Craigslist
(http://boston.craigslist.org/sob/cto/1149313545.html)

*******

Fabulous car, I'd love to keep it but just can't. Just want to sell car and pay off loan.

I just bought it in December 2007 (pics are from that transaction, i don't have a camera)

67,859 miles
New Transmission in September 2008
All new tires
New Radiator October, 2008

Remote starter (will be nice in summer to cool car before getting in it!)
Alarm

A/C
Electric windows and seats
Dual front airbags
Spacious trunk
CD Player...... and more!

Asking $7,680
*
*
*

E-Cycling -- Collection of Electronics and Appliances to Send Me to Honduras!

I'm going back to Honduras! Yay!.....
but don't have the money for my ticket. Boo!


So, I've set up a fund raiser for me and my friends pay for our tickets, which means five more volunteers at the Olancho Aid Foundation in Juticalpa.

Saturday, May 16 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Saint Thomas Aquinas Church
103 Center Street, Bridgewater

Instead of bringing your broken electronics and appliances to the transfer station and paying the fee there, give your stuff to us and the fee you pay will go directly toward our efforts. Nothing needs to work!

Here's how it works:

1) you bring us your old appliances and electronics
2) you give us money to take it from you
3a) the guys from the recycling company put your stuff on their truck...
3b) we put the money in our Honduras fund
3c) you know you did a nice thing for someone less fortunate

PRICE LIST

Refrigerators (doors may be left on) and Freezers $25
Hot Water Tanks and Heaters $25
Televisions: plastic $15, wood $20
Laptops $10
Servers/Towers $10
Floor Model Printers/Copiers $10 each
Air Conditioners (window) $10
Dehumidifiers $10
Stoves $10
Camera/Video/Audio Equipment larger pieces $5 to $10 (smaller, see below)
Monitors $7
Dishwashers $5
Speakers $5
Microwaves $5
Washing Machines and Dryers $5 each
Copy/Fax/Scanner/Printers (table top) $5 each
UPS (computer battery back up systems) $5
DVD Players, Stereos, VCRs $5 each
CPUs, CD Rom/DVD Drives, Keyboards $3 each

*
Limited pick up will be available for special circumstances, please contact us in advance. Thanks!
*
Could you just toss your phone and small items in your kitchen rubbish for free? Sure. But the one dollar that phone would cost you is equivalent to an hour's pay for a Honduran... why not help them out?
*
*
*

Lithuanian Children's Relief

Last year I met a lovely nun, Sister Helen Ivanauskas, SJC (flanked in photo by Kevin and Jay from Bridgewater Life Teen) who heads up Lithuanian Children's Relief.

She has a storage facility on the East Side of Brockton (my childhood home) that she fills with donations. When it gets about full she has an 18 wheeler come and take it away. Then the cargo is sent via container on a ship to Lithuania to go to poor villages.

Sister will take almost anything:

Clothes, furniture, books (no books against Catholic teaching), kitchen items, art, toys, musical instruments (last month they loaded a player piano), medical equipment...

Used is absolutely fine, but please don't give items severely damaged. It either causes Sister dispose of it here (at a cost sometimes) or waste cargo space and force the recipients to find a way to dispose of it.

Sister CAN NOT take computers or electronics because they are not compatible in Lithuania.

Because I am enthralled by Sister Helen's work I have devoted myself lately to helping her get donations, sort them and load the trucks.

If you'd like to donate you can either get stuff to me and I can bring it to her or, for larger items, contact me and I'll help make arrangements between you and Sister.
*
*
*

Donation Drive for MainSpring Homeless Shelter

Since Christmas is the celebration of Jesus' birth and He can't be here in person, we should give the gifts we bring for Him to one another.

What would He want?
For us to care for the least of our brothers & sisters-- Matthew 25:34 to 46

The angels appeared to the shepherds, the poorest of the poor considered the dregs of society. He loved the poor, we are to do no less.

I, along with Bridgewater Life Teen at Saint Basil's Chapel are now having a DONATION DRIVE for MainSpring homeless shelter from now till Sunday January 4, just before the Feast of the Epiphany

I'll deliver blankets as I get a car load. Everything else will be given to MainSpring staff when they come to Saint Basil's on the 4th to educate teens about homelessness.

WISH LIST:
(used is okay as long as freshly laundered and in good repair)

• BLANKETS: sleeping bags and twin blankets
• SHEETS/BEDDING: twin (no child's theme)
  
• TOWELS/FACE CLOTHS: bath towels, hand towels, facecloths
• UMBRELLAS: small collapsible kinds—must be portable
• SOCKS/HATS/GLOVES: adults
  
• HYGIENE: whatever you’d buy for yourself—razors, shaving cream, toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant, shampoo, feminine products, handiwipes/Purell, brush/comb/pick, etc.

*******

FEMININE BASKETS:

Shampoos/conditioners, hair ties/accessories, lotions, feminine soaps, sprays (not perfume), underwear/bras (non bloomer/ non hoochie), more feminine products, nail polish, tweezers, makeup (muted colors for a natural look, lip gloss not lip stick, no mascara or eye liner please—we want to lift their spirits not put them on a corner)

We’ll use hatboxes/stationary boxes and the like for baskets

*******
Donations can be brought to Saint Basil's or to my home.
*
*
*

Soles for Souls Walk

3 Mile Walk Sponsored by

The Bridgewater Council of Churches

*

Saturday, October 11, 2008 Rain or Shine

*

Gather at 11:15 a.m. to Register - Step off at Noon from

Saint Thomas Aquinas Church on Center Street, Bridgewater

*

PLEDGES TO BENEFIT

The Bridgewater Food Pantry

The Bridgewater Council of Churches

*

Festivities to follow the walk at Saint Thomas

Live Music, Food and Games!

*

For more information you can contact Maura Chappelle at

MauraAnnette410@gmail.com or (508)697-2008

*

In consideration of the environment we won't offer individual bottles of water.

If you bring a refillable container, we’ll have plenty of water to top them up with.

We will also have paper cups available.

*
*
*

Anti Casino Blog

Don't let a casino come to Middleborough!

http://casinofacts.org
*

*
*
Also, my cousin's wife, Kim, has a Blog I think should interest many.
http://carverchick.blogspot.com

Please check it out the sites and support her and the NO CASINO cause.

Find out what a casino in Middleborough will mean for Bridgewater
*
*
*

If you liked the Honduras pics, please think about helping...

http://www.honduranmission.org

If you were at all inspired by the photos from my mission to Honduras please consider helping--
in person or financially. Click the link above to learn more.

I recommend going to Honduras yourself-- your life will never be the same.

I look forward to your comments-- especially if you're thinking of going.

The chapel in the video cost about $2000 in American money to build--
if 100 people gave $20 each another one could be built in another village.

1 John 1:31-46
*
*
*

Bridgewater Community Resources

*
*
If you live in Bridgewater or immediate area you should definitely check out and join this group. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Bridgewater_Community_Resources/
*
*
*

Sharing My Castle in the Clouds

http://twsblog.wordpress.com

My cousin Nancy is starting a business that she calls "a new triple-bottom-line enterprise based on Nancy's innovative and comprehensive values-driven business concept." Whatever that means.

What I gather from her blog (which I encourage everyone to visit and bookmark) she is focusing on....
... well, I don't know how to describe the mission she is on.
Check it out for yourself!

http://twsblog.wordpress.com Make sure to sign up for the e-newsletter.
*
*
*

Photos from Honduras

In January I went to Guaimaca, Honduras....
I need to go back soon because I left my heart behind.

*
THE CONVENT/GIRLS' SCHOOL

*I may not have been attentive on the convent tour....

*I may even have been a bad example to the other students...


*Okay, I wasn't really helpful.... union break


*My job was literally to move clumps of dirt from point A to point B
*Me and Mohamed fighting as Darth Maul

*
*
LIFE IN THE SANTA ROSA DE LIMA MISSION


*Honduran Coooffeee!
*Father Craig, Sister Marta and Sister Maria


*Our bunks like Madeline (12 women in all in that room--us and 4 nurses)
*Mmm..... more Honduran coffee


*Our little yellow school bus

*
*
MISSION FARM


*Sweaty and gross but exhilarated from picking cucumbers
*Ox Cart ride at farm


*Mary was the mission cook, she also helped at the farm that day
*Yippee! Riding in the back of the pickup--my favorite thing!


*
*
EVERY DAY LIFE IN GUAIMACA


*Feeling rich as I fan my hundreds of limpera, but the Honduran economy is so bad it took almost 19 limpera to make one American dollar. So my thousand limpera was only about $55.oo


*Shopping at a market. Those potatoes were gross!
*Guaimacan "Gap" I got a skirt there for $3


*View from the convent, typical yard
*Bodega--seemed like everyone had a store in their home


*The mission had a flush toilet but that was a luxury. Most homes and churches have outhouses.


*Outdoor shower. No indoor plumbing.
*Growing and roasting coffee was as common as a garden.


*Self portrait while riding in back of a truck
*The BSC group walking from convent to mission


*Typical stove and oven (that's Olga)
*Yard of one of our new friends This particular home is considered "well off"


*Cows have the right of way
*Me and Beth being "King of the World"in a pickup bed


*How many Hondurans can you fit it a pickup?

*Guaimaca has two paved road that intersect and no
working street light. This is sunset over the wires--
pole on the left makes me think of Christ on His Cross


*
*
ANIMAL PROBLEM







*Rare pet animals. All over Guaimaca there were hundreds and hundreds of scrawny street dogs. Basically what squirrels are to us. I came across three "pet" puppies and a handful of kept guard dogs, the rest roamed hungry and procreating. Even the pets are scrawny. The sleeping dog pictured is the nuns' pet Flaco (means Skinny).

*Cats were not so abundant. Between the starving dogs and the often equally starving people, cats are usually dined upon. I looked high and low for cats and kittens and only saw 12 the whole time. One of which was tied up in a home to fatten it like a calf, it was so sad.

*
*
SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL



*One morning was spent delivering food for Saint Vincent de Paul. We brought some rice, powdered milk and cucumbers to the poorest of the poor and they were thrilled.


*Alas, childhood illnesses that are easily remedied in the U.S. become life long debilitations in Honduras

*
*
ESKIMO!



*We ate...er, I ate... far too much delicious ice cream. I love you Eskimo Man!


*Some local kids out for ice cream with us

*
*
SOCCER



*We were foolish enough to challenge the young people from the church to a soccer game-- they slaughtered us!

*
*
DEVOTION OF THE PEOPLE


*These photos can't begin to do justice to the steepness of the mountain hills the villagers would walk miles in when they had the opportunity to attend Mass-- small children and the elderly included.


*We look down on our trucks because I had the brilliant idea of walking part way home so we could have the experience the people do. Man were our legs and lungs sore. That's me crossing a mountain stream.


*Musicians at San Bartolome, at Masses EVERYONE sings and the sign of peace is an experience


*This church was made possible because of the donations of money as well as pews, etc. by American parishes



*Looking down upon the two room, cinder block school that becomes a church when Padre Craig comes
*Father and daughter in their Sunday best


*After Mass everyone sings a few more songs, then Father Craig chats with the villagers as a group.
*Outside they commune even longer. Villages only have Mass about once a month, so they hate to say goodbye to him.



*I kept calling this chapel "the castle". After driving an hour or so up hill we parked the truck and walked up a hill too it.
*Bottom pic is the view of the horizon from the altar that morning. No mortal artist could create that.


*
*
ADIOS


Father Craig & Mary say goodbye to us on the bus. Mary sand De Colores and made herself and us cry
*Coffee was about $3.50 (American) a pound so I filled a suitcase. I looked like a drug dealer.

*
*
INCREDIBLE BEAUTY



*Just some beautiful shots of that incredibly gorgeous country.... all gifts of God...

Chappelle Chake

Diane Kunkel at the Rockin K' Cafe takes such good care of her customers that she created a protein shake based on what I like and order so often.

The Chappelle Chake is her scrumpdiddleicious concoction of chocolate, coffee and peanut butter with a flourish of whipped topping.

Mmmmmm! Good stuff!

Go on in and get one: 132 Broad Street, Bridgewater