June 2022
As you can see from the June monthly blog, it is way behind. It was going well until I lost my phone the night before I left to go to New Jersey. I was up all night looking for it, until the taxi came to get me at 5:30am. No possibility of staying home, family comes first! A very scary feeling not having my phone. How dependent we are on them for our lives! Still not found, so I had to buy a new one when I got home. I am still having problems with some photos to get into the blog. There are so many ways of attaching them to the blog. Hopefully, I will be able to figure them out and add photos to the blogs.
Here's the good news during June, so I am thankful for that.
June 1, I have a new lodger, Elena, a Russian professor who has been teaching at UNC for a year. Her rented place expired and she liked the privacy of the room and ensuite at the back of the house. Quiet, overlooking the woods.
June 2 began the excitement of family coming down for Kate's graduation. Salemson Grandparents, Steve and me, step grandmother Joan, Aunt Betsy, came from Wisconsin and New Hampshire. We had a delicious Greek meal in Chapel Hill. My favorite dish - salmon.
June 3 - Trinity High School Graduation Morning started early - 8:30am to the school gym for seating. 12 family members were allowed to be present. I was not counted in the 12, as am a string faculty member, so we squeezed in an extra family friend.
After the graduation, we had elevenses at my home before the fabulous catered luncheon at her dad's house with the rest of the family and friends.
June 6 - Back to teaching with private and Music School of Arts students.
June 10 - Booster #2 added to 2 vaccinations and booster #1
June 22- Disaster day - lost my iPhone.
June 23 - 2007- Never to forget my beloved brother John who died in Fishoek, South Africa. Dearly missed. John was so good to me all through my ups and down when growing up, wherever I was. Many wonderful times with him, Betty and the family in various countries. How exciting flying in the little Cessna 150 around the valley to Salisbury (now Harare) and especially to the Victoria Falls. With Betty passing away in 2019, I am thankful for their family who keep in touch with me. We get together whenever possible, and keep in touch.
June 23 From Chapel Hill, a Taxi at 5:30am to airport to New Jersey for Zoe's 8th graduation. An easy flight, and a quiet day, apart from giving a NC cello student through Zoom in the afternoon.
June 24th - Zoe's 8th grade Graduation - not as pompous as high school, but a great atmosphere with lots of hollering and laughing. Unfortunately we could get any good photos as it was such a large area in the gym and we couldn't get any close shots.
We didn't linger afterwards as we were getting ready for our trip the next day to New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts. Elisa had made a special meal followed by presents and cards. Dan and I took off to hear an outdoor concert by the New Jersey Symphony. It was a good concert in the park location and for those who enjoyed the program - Rodgers and Hammerstein "A medley of Sound of Music" Sousa's "Atlantic City Pageant March" and a young solo violinist playing the first movement of Mozart's Concerto #3. At the end of the performance, the city sent up fireworks for at least half an hour!
June 25 - started with a Yoga and Goats session in a beautiful park.
After swift showers, it's off to New Hampshire through the night. A slight stop after we left the interstate. It's difficult to slow down from 70+ miles an hour to 35 miles an hour to drive through quiet villages/towns around 11pm, but sure enough, we were stopped by a very nice policewoman, all by herself, to remind us we were over the 35 limit (44.) After getting all Dan's information, she smiled sweetly and said she hoped we would have a good visit to family, but to slow down! We got to Betsy's cottage at 11:30pm, hard for her, as she is an earlier riser.
June 26 - Sunday was sleep day
June 27 - Zoe's birthday, 14 years old!
Betsy and I went to Plymouth, a small town which is the home of the Plymouth State University, 1871. Nestled in the mountains, a gorgeous place to live in and learn.
Together we got some goodies for the birthday dinner, Elisa baked the birthday cake and a lemon crumb crust. Yum, yum.
June 28 - Dan had arranged a trip on the Cog Train on Mount Washington. Fabulous scenery, and a fun ride going up and down. Difficult to stand up going up the mountain, not quite so difficult way down. Sadly, at the top of the station, clouds descended so we could not see the magnificent view over the mountains and forests. However, as we went down, the clouds disappeared and we were rewarded with the view after all.
Someone told us about a literally Grand Hotel not far from the train, so of course I was the first to suggest Afternoon Tea! Yes, the hotel is grand, in a beautiful location near the mountains, but NO AFTERNOON TEA? Not even a cup of tea or coffee. We had shandies (Zoe had lemonade), but even those were not the standard of a good pub.
Going up the mountain takes a lot of leaning forward when standing!
The Ladies' Compartment of the Cog Train on the way down. (Males were allowed!)
June 29 - Driving north to Maine to visit Elisa's aunt Maddie, husband Brian and their family. Dan was kind enough to avoid the interstate, which meant we meandered along the villages and small towns, seeing so many English names and wooden homes. We arrived at the town of Ogunquit, where Maddie and Brian's gorgeous home overlooking the sound between the land and the ocean. Maddie likes to walk too, so she took me around their town. It's on the coast of the Atlantic ocean, and a very popular tourist area, on the classy side. It used to be an artists' colony, but now it has gone up even more with galleries and fancy shops. We walked along the Marginal Way, a cliff walk with coastal views and a lighthouse. For dinner we went to an Italian restaurant and had a good meal.
June 30, Dan and I did the walk the same as Maddie, except we went a bit further and got lost, making us late for a lunch date with the ladies. Well worth it, all though! Then it was time to go back to New Hampshire to get ready for the next excitement.
So that's the blog for June, lots more in the July blog!
Love from Jane.
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