2015 Year in Review

Our year started with major projects preparing our house to sell. In April, Barbara underwent extensive spinal fusion surgery and Bill helped during her recovery. By summer, we resumed most activity and enjoyed special times with family and friends. For most of the fall, we joined the caregiver team helping Barbara's mom. She passed away December 11th of Alzheimer's or a related disease and we will have a memorial service for her December 27th in Vero Beach FL. She's sadly missed.

Barbara & Bill at Chesterfield Gorge, Mass.

Carrie, Bill, and Kate at Pemaquid Point, Maine

Barbara at Monhegan Island, Maine

Bill with Al & Miriam Tillman at McKee Botanical Garden, Vero Beach, FL, Oct 13

Kate's transitioning from living on her own to living with her sister next year. She's serving at a fine Italian restaurant, Il Casale. She enjoys martial arts, church, running barefoot in the woods, fine cuisine, and meeting new people. Kate and Bill backpacked in the White Mountains and we all had a glorious time together in Maine at some of our favorite places.

Kate at Pemaquid Point, Maine

Kate doing a handstand

Kate backpacking in the White Mountains

Kate at a friend's wedding

Carrie, our world traveler, used both her Spanish and French while continuing her Economics studies at Boston College. During the summer she studied Spanish in Peru and interned in Bolivia. Then she took classes this fall in Paris and traveled around Europe whenever she had free time. She experienced Inca ruins, French cuisine, an alpine village, magnificent architecture, acclaimed art museums, romantic castles, and so much more.

Carrie at Machu Picchu, Cusco, Peru

Carrie at the Eiffel Tower, Paris, France

Carrie in Barcelona, Spain

Carrie in Lyon, France

Well, we didn't move in 2015, but plan to in 2016.

In Remembrance of Barbara's Mom, Miriam Tillman

Miriam Evelyn Tillman, died peacefully at her home on December 11, 2015. She was born in Orange, NJ on June 21, 1933 to William and Cecelia (Conlon) Hedden. She grew up in Millburn, NJ and the Vailsburg section of Newark with her brothers James and William. On February 20, 1960 Miriam married Alfred J. Tillman, and they remained devoted to each other for 55 wonderful years.  

Miriam graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Douglas College (now Rutgers) in 1955. She taught at Vernon L. Davey Junior High School in East Orange, NJ.

Following their wedding, she and Al moved to Mt. Tabor, NJ where she continued teaching until she paused to raise children. She became president of both the Women's and Garden Clubs of Mt. Tabor and co-founded the Mt. Tabor Nursery School. She and Al built a vacation home at Beebe Pond in Vermont. In 1974 the family moved to North Granby, CT where Miriam remained active teaching. Then in 1977 the family moved to Orchard Park, NY where she focused her career on early childhood education. The family moved to Temple Terrace, FL in 1984 where she became a pre-school director. Upon retiring, she and Al sold their home and bought an RV, in which they lived full-time for six and a half years, traveling extensively throughout the country until finally settling in Vero Beach, FL in 2003. 

Miriam loved skiing, hiking, boating, birding, and traveling and was particularly adept at developing travel itineraries, including a summer-long excursion with friends through Europe in 1956. Her artistic flair was revealed in gardening, flower arranging, cooking, sewing, quilting, and photography. She served in the various roles in the churches she attended and later participated in Community Bible Study. But most of all, Miriam was filled with love for her best friend, Al, and the rest of her family and friends.  

She's survived by her husband Alfred Tillman, her daughter Barbara Ruh and husband Bill, her son Edward, and her other son Ronald and wife Sue. In addition she leaves behind four grandchildren—Kate and Carrie Ruh, and Sean and Ashley Tillman—and also her brother Jim. A private memorial service will be held for her on December 27, 2015.

Massachusetts - Crane Beach

Wanting a place to hike with no snow or mud, we chose to go to Crane Beach in Ipswich MA.

Twenty-two years ago we walked this beach on a windy day in April.

Barbara April 1993

Barbara April 2015

Not as windy this time.

We ate our lunch on the boardwalk.

We've gone to Crane Beach many times, but were interested to learn about the adjacent land managed by the same land conservation group.  Here is a little video about the Crane Estate at Castle Hill: Crane Estate video.

The thing that probably surprised us the most was how Richard T Crane Jr built an Italian Renaissance-style villa, but his wife didn't like it.  He told her to give it ten years and if she still didn't like it he'd tear it down and build a different mansion.  And that's what happened.

Connecticut - Logee's Greenhouse

Last week Barbara and her friends letterboxed at a greenhouse in Danielson, Connecticut – an unassuming place at first glance called Logee's.

[Image from the web. There was a little less snow when we visited.]

It's the type of place you might just drive by without giving it much notice.  In fact, the town we live in has a number of greenhouses and used to be known as one of the largest carnation-growing towns.  So we are used to driving by greenhouses or just making a quick stop for garden supplies, but this greenhouse is more than a garden shop.  It is what they call "a destination greenhouse."

The clues to the letterboxes take you on a tour of the facility with an opportunity to learn about some plants along the way.  Gardenias, Jasmines, Bougainvilleas… and so much more.  Common plants and some very unusual plants.  Interesting herbs and beautiful fragrant flowers.  This particular greenhouse is known for its tropical potted plants.  Here is a Bird-of-Paradise.

They have a Lemon Tree over 100 years old that still bears fruit and a Washington Navel Tree that actually bears 10 different types of fruit.  Imagine having one tree where you can pick grapefruit, oranges, kumquats, tangerines, and limes from the same tree!

The letterboxes were fun, too.  We were sorry the one in the "hobbit hole" was missing, but liked the display.

All in all, it was a fun outing and an interesting place to explore.