Ash New House         Slides

Pumpkin slides  Remembering Pumpkin by Dick and Sandy

2024/02/13 To celebrate Valentine's Day, we were at Litchfield beach in SC where there are special shells to be found.
1) Shortly after Dick took this photo, he backed up rapidly to escape on oncoming wave, tripped, then fell to the hard low-tide sand.
2) The result was a broken hip, at the spot indicated in this xray which was taken after the hip was repaired.
The break was clear through the femur, allowing the left leg to rotate about 30 degrees.


The nearest hospital was less than 10 miles away. Dr Rowley operated the next day and he did a fantastic job - less than a year later, the hip is as good as it was before the accident. After 4 days in the hospital, Sandy brought him home to Ash. The plan was to let Dick lay on a mattress in the back of the car, but that was vetoed as unsafe by hospital personnel.


1) Christy and family came all the way from Maine to commiserate wth Dick.
2) Less than 2 weeks after the break, Dick was able to do some knee bends. This links to a 12 Meg file which can take a while to load.
3) Bob Long installed a railing so Dick could go do the front stairs with no assistance other than his crutches. So 3 weeks after the break he could get into the car and drive!


1, 2) Nancy Blaire came in mid March for her annual visit to NC. Sandy had been tethered to the house most of the time to aid Dick, She was finally able to escape for some R&R to Holden Beach where she and Nancy spent a night in a mini-house next to Holden Beach.
3) They also did a day trip to Sunset Beach.


In April, Christy, Liam and Grace came for our annual week at Sunset Beach. They were joined by Angella.
Dick joined them and even made it to Crab Cratchers restaurant in Little Ricver, SC.



In early May, Dan came down for about a week to help get the house ready to sell.
He put new flooring in the living room and den, plus installed a MrCool heat pump.


1) We returned to NH for the warm seasons in late May and soon went to a school concert where Grace contributed with a flute.
2) A beautiful rainbow framed the inn we once owned.


Cookout the end of August at Secret Beach


Back in Ash, Sandy was at the closesline and wondering what that loud strange sound was; turned out to be a timber rattlesnake a few feet away. Fortunately he was not agressive, just wanted Sandy to back off. Our neighbor Tyler Long dispensed the snake.
By the way, Dick was close by but did not hear the snake warning rattle. Deafness could be deadly!!!
We also had an opposum visit a shed - we thought he was cute.


Sharky's resturant has been in Ocean Isalnd for decades, but we just discovered it. We had a good pizza and great views.


Sandy's shelling





Mushrooms seen on our NH property