Thanksgiving in the barn

We did things a little differently this Thanksgiving and had the dinner (for 35) in the barn. In the pictures you see Alden, Perry and Harold chopping potatoes which Harold boiled outside on our steam cooker. The stove belonged to Grandma. After 49 years, it was finally replaced this week but with the help of a friend we hooked it up to a propane tank and cooked its last meal outside under the bandsaw for the whole family.

Also, the barn looked great and when all the food arrived it certainly was full of beautiful, delicious dishes and a fantastic turkey. The preparation was fun and everyone in our families pitched in and helped make it all happen. It was a great day and we hope to do it again sometime. Happy Thanksgiving!

Harold is off on a five day October sail

"Sailing alone around the room..."

The author of this post is covering a sailing event in beautiful Bermuda, but I believe that Harold Burnham left this a.m. for his annual sail with a group of men aboard the Pinky Maine. Just prior to leaving he had a really busy day getting the boat he will be working on this winter into the barn. Although the author was not home while he was managing this task, it was no doubt done with a lot of sweat and muscle with the help of friend John Drake and most likely Harold's father, Charles.  Today, he is out of the Essex River and on his way to Martha's Vineyard with friends Davis Griffith, Michael March, cousins Tom and Steven Hastings, Pierre Erhard, and Jim Aaron.  No doubt they will have a mug up and a lot to gab about. Oh, I forgot that men don't gab..or do they?  Well, many of the men on this sailing trip do have something in common. Wood.  Jim is a sawyer from Western Mass, Pierre is an aborist and tree warden from Wenham, MA, Davis is an artist who works with wood , Tom and Steven are involved in forestry and Michael sails a wooden boat.  If they have something to talk about that they all enjoy talking about it will be wood and any variation on that theme.

Schooner Built in Fast Forward

So far in this blog we have not really gotten into the details of schooner building and the many aspects of it. We hope to remedy this as Harold begins building his new Pinky Maine which is currently in the design phase on his desk upstairs. Today's blog just offers a chance to see a wonderful glimpse of the schooner Isabella which was built here in 2006. This short film was made by Stephen Hastings, Harold's cousin and is well worth a look and was no easy feat for Stephen putting this together as he had a camera taking photographs every 20 minutes or so for about 8 monts. What he pieced together from photographs is amazing. Do notice the rising tide and snow on top of the miniature captain's head. This video is fantastic!

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1148149/the_essex_built_schooner_isabella/