Monday, 9/1/08

Today is September 1st!  It is also Labor Day.  We have been on the boat for a year!  We moved onto the boat on 9/1/07.

Heather left this morning.  She is going back to Albany, NY.  After she left, we walked to a church to see it.  The Daileys met us there.  Unfortunately, it is closed on Mondays.  So we all walked to a store and then took a taxi back to the boat.

The Daileys came back to the boat to sail with us.  We sailed to the mouth of the Charles River, and then we sailed around the harbor.  There was a strong wind, so we went fast.  It was fun.

In the evening, we went to dinner with the Daileys and the McNeils at the Chart House.  Dad works with Mr. Dailey and Mr. McNeil.  I got a nice 7oz. prime rib off the kid's menu!  I have never seem prime rib on the kid's menu before.  It was good.  I am happy.©



Tuesday, 9/2/08

Today was a boring day.  Chris and I did school in the morning while Mom did laundry.  I got finished with my math tests for the year.

In the afternoon, we ran errands.  I stocked up on Icebreakers (hey, I was out!).  I got the cinnamon flavor.  They are awesome.  Mom wanted her nails painted (she hasn't had them painted in weeks!), so I read for an hour.  Today was a very, very boring day.  I am happy.©



Wednesday, 9/3/08

Today was the best!  Yesterday was nothing compared to today.  We rented a car and drove an hour to Old Sturbridge Village.  It is a New England village from the 1830's.  The people are in costumes, but are not role playing.

First, we looked inside a small house.  The lady inside let us help her grind coffee in a mortar and pestle.  Then we walked to a lady outside who was dying yarn in big pots over an open fire.  She put stuff like wood or walnuts in boiling water with yarn. It was cool.  We visited her many times during the day to see the progress.

Next, we went into the Fenno Textile exhibit.  Inside, I felt all sorts of silk, linen, flax, cotton and wool.  We didn't stay in there long.

Another thing I enjoyed was the Blacksmith Shop.  I got to help pull the bellows!  When he was done making the nail, he gave it to me!  It is different from what you would call a nail.  The head is square and the shaft is an elongated pointed cube, not round like we are used to today.  Chris got one too.

I also liked the Tin Shop.  It is different from a blacksmith, because they use tin, not iron, and they don't fire anything because tin bends.  I didn't know that.

At the Gristmill, the man ground up corn, oats and grain.  Chris got to help shovel it into a barrel.  It was cool.  Chris got paid in grain.  He fed it to the sheep later in the day.

The farm was fun.  We saw them milk cows.  I have never seen people do that.  They use the milk for butter and cheese that they use and sell right at Sturbridge Village.  Chris and I found an apple tree and fed some apples to a pig.  It was fun.  I learned that an ox is just a neutered male cow.  Because they are neutered, they work better and they are tamer.

The buildings here are very old.  Most of them are original.  They are either from the original Sturbridge, or they are from other areas of New England in the early 1800's and were brought here.  That is cool.

The musket firing was cool.  The man shot three times.  He fired blanks.  It took about 20 seconds to reload and fire which means he could fire about three times a minute!  Wow!  The gun room was also cool.  I saw the coolest guns.  The weirdest one had 7 barrels.  It was too heavy to accept into the military.  Still, it was cool.

The potter was fun too.  I got to make a bowl on the potter's wheel.  The man pressed the pedal and I worked the clay.  He helped me some.  It was very hard, but I made a bowl.  That was a special treat.  Click here to see it.  Click here to see Chris' small container.  They will light the kiln this weekend.  They only light it once a year.  They will fire about 700 pieces and sell them in the store or use them there in the village.

All around the village, there were games that were played in the 1800's that you could try.  One of them was walking on stilts.  I got quite good at it.  There were also the Game of Graces and Beating the Hoop.  We played those too.

We also saw the Carding Mill where they make wool finer and smoother so it can be made into yarn and quilting material.  We went into a bank, a store, a law office, and a few homes.  It was all neat.  I am
J



Thursday, 9/4/08

This morning there was a mishap with school and it took a long time to finish.  When we were done, we went to Macy's to buy clothes.  It took a long time (it always does).

Now, we get to the good part of the day.   We walked to some fountains.  They shoot up in a pattern.  About 5 minutes after the pattern is done, it starts again, but in a different pattern.  At first, I tried to run through and stay dry.  It was too hard, so I tried to run through and get as wet as I could.  That was easier.

We went to Mamma Maria's for dinner.  I am happy.©



Friday, 9/5/08

This morning, we met up with Mrs. Barbara McNeil at Macy's.  We all walked to a museum about the Blacks in the north during the Civil War era (1861-1865).  It was boring.

This afternoon, we moved our boat from the mooring ball to a slip in the marina.  The marina is allowing boats on the balls to take a slip because Tropical Storm Hanna is coming.

After we got all tied up, we went to the Hay Market.  We bought a lot of fruits and vegetables again.  While Chris and I were washing berries, Chris said, "I don't want to see another strawberry in my life!"  We probably bought 1000 berries total. (I made that up, we might only have 500!)  We had berry smoothies tonight.

After that, we went to the fountains.  I had so much fun.  I am happy.©



Saturday, 9/6/08

Today was boring.  Tropical Storm Hanna blew in so it rained almost all day.  As you might guess, we did school.

The only fun thing that happened was fishing.  We fished at the end of the pier using a sabiki rig.   That is a long line with 5-10 hooks.  The hooks are tiny with sparkly fish skin.  We caught Spanish sardines.  They are shiny and are about this big:
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We threw them back.  It was a lot of fun.

In the evening, Dave & Leslie from s/v Blue Yonder came over for cocktails.  After eating, Bro and I watched Sky High on the portable DVD player.   I am happy.©



Sunday, 9/7/08

We did two fun things today.  One was the Mapparium at the First Church of Christ, Scientist.  It is not related to Scientology.  I forget why it is called that.  Okay, back to the Mapparium.  It is a globe that is made of glass and bronze.  But you are inside it, so you only have to turn in place to see the whole world.  The globe is how the world looked in 1935.  I saw that in 1935, almost half the world was owned by Great Britain.  I think that would make Great Britain the most powerful country at the time.  The world had 138 countries in 1935.  Now there are over 200!  I didn't know so much has happened in 75 years.

The second thing that was fun today was dinner.  We had a big, late lunch, so dinner was ... bananas foster (a rare treat).  It was awesome.  I am happy.©
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