This post is a summary of the final couple of months of 2016, which has been quite a year for us. Of course, the very best part of 2016 was our time in Malta, but we have enjoyed so many blessings and are so fortunate to have our health and the ability to live a full and interesting life.
We finally got our house sided starting in October and finishing in November, just before the first significant snowfall. When Grant owned our house, he and his friend Reed sided it in wood tongue and groove boards stained reddish brown. It looked nice, but did need to be stained regularly and maintained, which we didn’t keep up on. The big drawback of the wood siding is that the woodpeckers feasted on it, drilling huge holes all over the house as they hunted for insects. There was also significant rot in places where water collected. We had started pursuing siding just before Christine had her hamstring accident a couple of years ago, but the project got put on the back burner. I finally called a company for an estimate, and after considering our options, we signed a contract with Robert J. Greene and Son. A two-person crew started the job, Don and Eric, and they did a wonderful job. We couldn’t be happier with the results. We went with brown, vertical vinyl, so the house doesn’t look all that different, but it does now have a snazzy, updated new look to it.
The crew came up with the idea of putting a horizontal piece all around the house at the near 10′ level so that the job could be completed without any seams in the vertical pieces (the siding length was 10′). Very clever, and a good way to avoid potential water seepage down behind the siding at the seams.
Now, all we have left is to decide what color to paint the front door. We have different opinions about that. Any suggestions?
Another big event was Christine getting a new (used) car. This was very traumatic for her as she loved her 1999 Avalon. But it was starting to require major repairs costing lots of money. We looked at a couple of used Avalons at the Toyota dealer and didn’t see anything exactly to Christine’s liking. She told the salesman what was important to her in terms of color and interior and he said he’d keep an eye out for what she wanted. A lot sooner than she wanted, the salesman called and said he had a 2013 Avalon, low mileage, with color and interior that she wanted. We went down and test drove it and Christine decided to buy it. However, the difficulty in trading in her car prevented this from being an exciting event. But, I think over time, as she learns all the features of the newer Avalon and gets the car adjusted to her needs, like finding a nice cushion for her seat, she’ll like it.
We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner with my brother Grant. Friends Reed and Judy were home from Anchorage. It’s always nice to see Reed and Judy. Also, Grant’s friend Nancy joined us as well as Grant’s friend Bob. As always, Grant puts on a good dinner and it was an enjoyable gathering.
Christine and I enjoyed a nice walk at Chenango Valley State Park the first weekend in December. We had a break in the weather, no snow, and so we took advantage of a clear day to walk around the lake at the park.
We’ve had an unusual amount of snow so far this winter. We’ve shoveled many times already. And, I’ve used the honking big snowblower several times as well. Although it is a big machine and I still have to wrestle with it, I’m glad I have it because several of our snows were the heavy, wet stuff, too heavy to shovel by hand without hurting one’s back. Christine caught me in some photos clearing off the side deck , which must be done in order to get to the grill, which we use all winter. I checked the newspaper to learn that we’ve received 59 inches of snow so far this season. Last year, our total was only 32 inches for the whole winter.
I went out to Geneganslet Lake for a board meeting on December 10. We don’t get out to the lake much in the wintertime. But it was fun seeing the lake just starting to freeze over and snow around the cottage. We have a goal of spending as much time as possible at the lake this summer. We weren’t there much last summer so we have a lot of time to make up at the lake.
On Christmas Day, we went back to Chenango Valley State Park for a walk along the towpath with our friends Reva and JoAnn and their dog Louise. This is starting to be a tradition for us and we so enjoy being with Reva and Jo.

Christine and I then returned home to spend a quiet day in front of the fire working on a jigsaw puzzle and just generally laying low, our favorite kind of day.

On Boxing Day, we went to brother Eric and Ronna’s house to celebrate Christmas with the Bests. It was a nice evening and I think we all enjoyed ourselves.
On December 27th, we drove to Burlington, VT to have a short visit with Eve who was spending her semester break in Vermont. She was housesitting in that wonderful house on Lakeview Terrace overlooking Lake Champlain. It’s a great house in which to just sit and stare out the window watching the weather, the lake, the mountains and anything else that catches one’s eye. We had a soak in the hot tub and enjoyed a yummy dinner prepared by Eve. We spent the next morning at the house reading and generally lazing around. Eve prepared a wonderful lunch for us and then Eve packed up and we drove her and her stuff to her friend Megan’s house where she’ll stay until New Year’s Day when she flies back to London. We took a stroll around downtown Burlington, a really great city. We then went to the movies and watched La La Land. It got such great reviews but we all thought it was rather mediocre. We met Megan for dinner at Tiny Thai in Winooski and had a lovely evening. Christine and I enjoy Megan and it’s fun to see Eve and Megan together as dear friends. Thursday morning we met Eve for breakfast and then had to bid farewell. It was a nice visit and its great seeing Eve. The drive home was awful due to the weather. It had just started snowing as we were leaving Winooski and it snowed pretty much the whole way until south of Albany. Thank God for snowplows, which I followed for long periods of time both on the Vermont roads and down the Northway.
One of the things I did a few weeks ago was put out several bird feeders. I’ve done this in past years, but for some reason Christine and I are really loving seeing all the bird activity at the feeders this year. Christine’s office window looks right out at the feeders so she gets a good view. There is often a real frenzy of activity which is mesmerizing to watch. I am interested in photographing the birds. I don’t have much experience and I only just point and shoot out through the window, but I really am wanting to learn more about bird photography. I need to get a tripod, and our friend JoAnn offered a loaner, so hopefully I’ll get outside and get some better photos. But here’s some of the photos I’ve taken in the past few days.
Aren’t you excited? Now I’ll bore you with a zillion bird pictures.
So this ends our 2016. It was an incredibly memorable year for us. In addition to Malta, we did a number of fun things and visited interesting places. We are really blessed, and very lucky!
Here’s wishing you all a very Happy New Year! I don’t think any posts in 2017 will be as fun and interesting as the Malta posts this year, but I’ll try to provide you with some reporting of what goes on in our lives during the year. Thanks for reading.
Happy New Year! I love to read about all the exciting things you do. I also love birds and LOVE your bird pictures!