May 9: Dropped in from vermont to open the house and take my Scamp trailer out of the barn. Curt and i fished a dead deer out of the lake right by the dock and dumped it out in the woods. It stank. Be back soon…
Adam
May 29: Memorial Day Weekend
One-day working day (in between rain showers). Everything looks good after the winter. Curt has mowed the grounds & picked up fallen branches. Dead tree near barn (in well) needs cutting. Phoebe’s are nesting. Stone wall next to small dock is “drifting”. Adam had opened house.
Wildflowers in bloom:
- Foam flower, white, yellow, blue violets
- Mitreworts, Canada mayflowers
- Strawberries, Jack-in-pulpits
- Crowfoots, Trilliums – (past prime)
- Goldthread, Star flowers
- (and others un-identified)
Joanne & Ken
June 16 – ’05: A big turtle in the driveway!
June 17–19: Jason, Sean, Daniel & Abby visit.
June 26: Mt. laurel is absolutely in perfect full bloom!
6-27: I love you and your tractor
Colin
June 30 – July 3: Hot days at first changed to perfect blue sky, warm sun and invigorating breeze. We walked the quarry overlook trail, the trail to the big tree, big meadow and old house trails, and to the fenced-in area. Saw red berried elderberry (personous?), fresh bear and deer tracks, blooming partridge berries, hawkwoods, mountain laurel – Wonderful early summer with wonderful friends. Love, Donna
July 16, 2005: This place is really cool especially the big lake.
… Leonard
July 16, 2005: I had an awesome time here! It was loads of fun and it’s so beautiful out here. It must be cool to live here. Thanks for letting us stay.
Nikky Leonard
July 16, 2005: Being here was awsom. You have a really nice house and staying here was great. The nature walk was really fun. I hope we can come back sometime. Thanks alot.
Aly L
Steven
July 16, 2005: Thanks for having us, I wish we could have stayed longer. I’ll keep you in touch about our trip across the great big state!
Thanks, Linda Cotta (Leonard)
July 17: On our 3-day stay we picked raspberries on Jason’s land, walked around the lake, made a wooden bowl, went swimming and boating, and dug up berry bushes to take back home. Masha is staying a week longer while the rest of us drive home
This was the first visit for Ana & Crystal and our favorite things were swimming & boating. I am amazed at the abundance of ferns & other plants I have no experience with. We shall return!
Love, Crystal, Ian, Masha
July 25, 2005
I LEARNED HOW TO SWIM BETTER. I WENT ON THE PADDLE BOAT BY MYSELF. WHEN WE WENT PICKING BLUEBERRIES I FOUND A PLACE THAT HAD SO MANY BLUEBERRIES!!!
MASHA
6¾
(She also did some beautiful cross-stitching!)
July 29, 2005
Jason underwent surgury for a ruptured appendix in Arlington, VA.
August 2nd, 2005
A week feels much too short. What beautiful land and wildlife. I have enjoyed everything and meeting everyone. I don’t know what boring life at home will feel like. Thank you for letting me stay. I hope to see everyone again sometime.
Christyl Watters
PS… it’s early, so my writing is a sluggish mix of cursive and print, sorry…
Daniel & I were here a much too short week.
Caroline
6 August 2005
Ford-Whites arrived Saturday 31 July in a record 12 hour drive from Chicago. Lakota our border collie (6 mos) did a great job on the road and had a wonderful time becoming part of the Teco/Sera pack. High points of the week: Dorney Amusement Park, exploring Rock Run, Paul & Wendy getaway to Eagles Mere, blueberries, feasts, fishing (Nate 16″ bass, Colin 14″ bass, Casey 8″ bass), weeding the lake, bonfires, sprained ankle, Hoagland Branch, trampoline, great weather, stars, turkeys. Connie our au pair from Switzerland was with us all week and threw herself into the routine with vigor and enthusiasm. Great week that went by too quickly.
— Paul Wendy Nate Colin Casey Lakota & Conny
I came here with Paul, Wendy and the kids. I had a great time with all the family members. It’s a very nice part of the country and familiar to Switzerland. It was like a preparation to go back home. Thanks to everybody for this nice week. It was very nice to meet you all.
Conny
8/9: Another pleasant stay at my #1 vacation spot! Bringing Christyl was wonderful; though I’m still unhappy that she couldn’t stay longer. Did everything possible, as usual, including a trip to Dorney Park! Played frisbee, ate lots of food and generally had a nice, relaxing time. Though, I lost both of my Monopoly attempts… I’LL BE BAAK! (Oh, and i dominated in ping-pong)
8/9: This summer was one of the best summers ever here at Shunk. So far Charlie, his girlfriend Christyl, my mom, Daniel, the White-Fords, their babysitter Conny, Mark, Nina, and Isaiah. Unlike last year the weather has been wonderful and like Charlie said he dominated me in ping-pong. Also the Hendersons took us to Dorney Park. We have done countless other things while I was here. Great to be here.
– Thomas Eisenhood
Nina, Mark and Isaiah (“Dr. No”) were here for our longest time ever – more than 2 weeks. It was wonderful! Isaiah is a 2-year old imperialist and everyone very tolerantly put up with (and sometimes made fun of) his whining. Lots of berry picking and eating, walks in the woods, a little kayaking, swimming and paddle-boating. Having just sent in my book MS I’ve been able to relax and enjoy. In the middle of our visit, Mark went off to Philly for the ASA. He will spend the coming year training for next summer’s Scrabble games so maybe he can win next year.
Nina, Mark and Isaiah (2).
08/28/05
To All–
Thank you so much for having us visit our favorite lakehouse. You are so much fun. The girls loved the addition of Adam’s trampoline & I enjoyed my bowl turning lesson. Issy also loved playing ball with Tiko & Seera, so they will have to return also.
Abbe can now climb quite high in the big tree, so we’ll see what the future holds.
Thanks for all! Love, Diane, Claire, Abby, & Issy
8/28/05: We all had a wonderful time! Thank you so much for the great company, great conversation and great location.
Love Claire, Diane, Abbe & Issy
I love you and I like you. It was fun. Love Abbe
Issy
10/19/05: Another summer (into fall) went by too fast. I replaced some bridge decks, built a few more bridges, cleared some paths (the Quarry Vista Trail, for one) and made heaps of raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, and elderberry jelly, as well as some apple butter. Off to Vermont tomorrow for another winter of snowboarding at Okemo.
Adam & Teco & Seera
10-30-05
One last trip up to see the new addition to the end porch. Very nice indeed. Also, I came to collect the two bushels of apples which Adam had picked. (Northern Spies)
Snowed here last week & the roof was covered when I arrived at noon. Leaves are mostly down—making way for different patterns of light. It’s been a beautiful day. Ken is in Calif.