The Murdock Muse - Fall, 2012
Nancy and Bob Murdock, Editors - murmuse2@yahoo.com

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MUSE INDEX Dropdown menus LINKS Previous issues What's New Who's Who Birthdays and Anniversaries Muse readers' own websites Muse History Fall 2012 Photo Gallery Nancy's Quilts

CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE: HOWLETT/DEANGELIS REUNION 2012 (Polly Joubert) Click IRONWOOD, SUMMER OF 2012 (Darrel Murdock) Click TODDLERS (Mer Murdock) Click NEW ARRIVALS (Bob Murdock) Click MY GOLDEN BIRTHDAY (Ian Murdock) Click TRAVELING PLANS (Margery Aukstikalnis) Click Part 2 REUNION AT BARRE FALLS (Teddie Doane) Click IRONWOOD UPDATE (Bob Murdock) Click THE AUTUMN FALL (Gene Murdock) Click HALLOWEEN 2012 (Nancy A. Murdock) Click UPDATES FROM OMAHA (Christel M. Jones) Click HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANCY! (Barb DiStefano) Click

Muse Editors 2012 photo Nancy's 80th B-day quilt Gallery photo Quilt index

Polly John & Cathy Reunion Hosts Gallery photos

2012 HOWLETT/DEANGELIS REUNION Polly Joubert Although the weather man had threatened with forecasts regarding rain, July 7th turned out to be a beautiful day. Many of the same faces were seen at the reunion and we were fortunate to have some that were returning after a couple of years and some new faces. I was very happy to see a good portion of my family including Rennie and Dianna, Kevin and Lori, Shannon and her other half, Nick Jewell, Matthew and his other half Kendra Emond (who is pregnant with my first great grandson,)Robin Labrie who is Warren IV’s other half (also carrying my great granddaughter). I couldn’t be happier. Matthew and Warren are both working in construction and travel to MA to work. Shannon also works in MA and commutes from Nashua where she and Nick live. Kendra is an optician in Concord and Robin is a medical assistant in Tilton. Rennie is still working for a realtor with lots of property to care for and he and Dianna work at a Farmers Market selling locally grown beef. The farmer that raises the beef pays them in meat which is wonderful for them as they eat all natural foods. They have a large garden for their own veggies and always have very healthy meals… Kevin and Lori drove up from Whitman, MA but Danielle and Melissa had to work so couldn’t join us. Kevin work for the Travel and Tourism Bureau for the State of MA and commutes by rail from Whitman into Boston each day. Lori works for Boston financial where she has worked for many years. Danielle is an office manager at a moving company and Melissa works for her. I understand they are both doing very well. Kevin Jr recently moved to Georgia to be with his girlfriend who had been living in Whitman until recently. Scott and Regina came up from Douglas MA but Scott’s mom Paulette was not feeling well so didn’t come with them this year. I’m hoping she is feeling better and will join us again next year. It’s always nice to see Scott and Regina and Scott has mentioned that maybe Greg and Carla will come next year if they know the date ahead of time. I’m hoping to see them and maybe some others we used to see at the Templeton cottage . Our hostess Cathy Howlett retired this year from Prototek. Now it’s time for her to have some “ME” time. Good work Cathy, you will be sorely missed with all the knowledge of the company you had in your head… John has retired too and has had a lot of work done on his property including in the house and in the yard. In the house Rennie has done some restructuring in the kitchen area by removing a wall to the den making one large kitchen area with a large table for holidays with his family. His dream of a large orchard is now a reality as he has had everything taken out between the yard and the outer “field” which was once all woods. It is beautiful and with fruit trees starting to grow and a garden area for vegetables it’s a beautiful sight. Now let’s hope the deer don’t chew on those nice little fruit trees. Cathy and John’s family all attended and did a lot of the work preparing for guests to have plenty to eat. Lorraine (Lori)came up from Norwood, MA with her family including Amanda Rogers who is a pizza chef in the Norwood area, Alyssa who works in a Dunkin Donuts (one of my favorite places) I love that coffee.., Patrick Rogers who is enjoying some ongoing training, Nicolas Brown who is in the 7th grade and plays the cello beautifully, and the little angel of the group Jessica Brown who is 6 years old and graduated from kindergarten this year. Lori is the evening nursing supervisor at Clark House in the Norwood area. Amanda was the sous chef along with Chef Sean Howlett this year. Amanda’s boss sent 20 lbs of mouth watering sirloin tips to enjoy. I certainly enjoyed them and took a few home to snack on that evening. Thanks Amanda. Sean and Kris came from Center Barnstead, NH with their adorable family. Kris works in probation and parole in Dover, NH. Kris is quite an athlete and will be doing a triathalon this year. Wow, good luck Kris…Their son Tommy takes after her and is also going to be in a triathalon for children. Way to go Tommy. Tommy is in the 5th grade and made the honor roll this year again. Joey is in the first grade and just loves school and loves to sing. Little Madeline (Maddy) is coming right along with her swimming lessons and swims with her face in the water. (Better than I can do) Sarah Howlett has decided to make a move from living in Portland ME and working in the neonatal ICU back to Chichester. She will be staying with mom and dad while she attends school for legal nursing consultant. She feels this will be a good move for her and is looking forward to getting started at school in Concord, NH. We all wish you the best of luck with the new endeavor Sarah. Sarah’s very good friend Jessica from high school days dropped in at the party with her cute little baby boy. My husband Stan Joubert and I enjoyed seeing all the relatives, friends and extended family again this year. Stan is retired and once worked as a mechanic on tour buses, school buses and large trucks. When he retired from that work a number of years ago he and his late wife had a craft business. Stan made small crafts from wood and Dot made quilts, dolls and other crafty things. We still have some of Stan’s cute village houses that he made and handpainted. He’s no slouch when It comes to crafts.!! He also made clocks with very unique scenes such as lighthouses, trains etc. Now if we had a good outlet here maybe he would do that again…hmmmm. We have a little three foot light house in our yard that was here when we purchased the house and he recently painted it to look more like the lighthouses along the Maine coast. It looks great… I know it’s a difficult thing to enter into the Howlett family at this late date but I just want everyone to know I have a very talented husband. Warren and Nancy Leary attended again this year with their friend Donald Parker. It’s always nice to see old friends. They arrived with lots of shrimp and cocktail sauce which I enjoyed immensely and even took some home for later. Cathy’s two sisters, Fran Gill and Marge Mackesey drove up from MA. It’s always nice to see them and hope they continue to come each year. Tom Mackesey who works with computers drove over from Rindge, NH. John and Lisa Mackesey from Maynard MA are two of our regulars too. Always nice to see them. John works in landscaping. Their son Tommy was also in attendance and disappeared playing with the group of boys.

Deeogee Boy

IRONWOOD, SUMMER OF 2012 Darrel Murdock (August 11, 2012) I am happy to report cool, fresh 70 degree air right in the middle of August. We finally got a 24 hour light rain to re-green our lawns, too. As I recover from back surgery done mid-July, the one thing I am supposed to do is walk a lot. It's been my pleasure to do so, on the country roads lined with ever-changing wildflowers. The white daisies that were everywhere have been replaced by towering goldenrod and blue asters. Before the daisies, blue and purple lupines had dominated fields and the edges of roads. The county finished the work on our road with the grass seeding of the boulevards this week. It took a while, but the water and sewer lines were all replaced, the road and our driveways freshly paved and our culvert system re-piped and curbed. The deer and chipmunks have left our flower gardens intact after the discovery of an away-spray that actually works, and we tossed a fence up in the back around our new vegetable garden. Our new little puppy Deeogee Boy loves to accompany us on walks, also gets very excited running around the back yard while a black squirrel throws apples at him from the trees. Last night we enjoyed a bonfire until we heard some predator growling in the field next door. Then we watched the fire from a spot closer to our house. Tonight we will watch the meteor shower and hopefully catch a few on video.

Charlie Chloe Ozzy

TODDLERS Meredith Murdock (Sept. 23, 2012) I have three cats at home. Charlie, 14 years, is old and tired, and a very good boy. However, Chloe, 4 years, and Ozzy, 5 months, act like toddlers. For instance, at this very minute, Chloe is determined to stop me from typing so I’ll play with her because Ozzy fell asleep. Last night I went in the tub and Chloe jumped up on top of the toilet tank to watch me (and tell me to get out - after only two minutes.) Ozzy jumped up next to her, causing her to growl like a tiger. So did she jump down in irritation? No. Did Ozzy jump down when she growled at him? No. They sat there alternately glaring at each other and at me until I had to get out. “Oh, Mer,” you say. “Just close the bathroom door!” Uh huh. The last time I tried to close a door between the cats and me, Ozzy pulled on it from underneath and rattled it so hard I thought it might break. Meanwhile Chloe was meowing piteously. The cats are shown on the left. They look pretty innocent, right? The tray table in front of my bedroom steps and the kitty party in the formerly clean living room happened recently two different days while I was at work. I can tell you Charlie had nothing to do with either mischief!

Raegen Gallery photo Cameron Gallery photo

NEW ARRIVALS Bob Murdock In year 2012, so far, the Muse editors, Nancy and Bob, have been blessed with two new great-grandchildren. On January 8, Jerod Davidson and Heidi King became the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl, Raegen Aubrey Davidson. She was 8 lb. 4 0z. at birth. Our daughter Valerie is grandma. And on June 14, Jason and Bevin Murdock presented a jolly baby boy, Cameron Kristopher-Francis Murdock. He weighed 9 lbs. 7 oz. at birth. Our son Darrel is grandpa.

Ian, 2008

MY GOLDEN BIRTHDAY Ian Murdock My health is quite good. It's been improved ever since my hernia repair and the long overdue trip out to see you folks. A regimen with less salt and sugar and such, and more nature sedate-walks, has also had a beneficial effect. On top of that, I've found some success and minor fame as an Internet joke writer captioning various photos. One of my little works, which went into circulation just yesterday, has garnered over 10,000 Facebook 'likes' already. It's a way for me to learn a salable craft, maybe the only one at which I might truly excel. For my birthday Mer bought me a seat at a weekend-long comedy writing seminar in October, hosted by a former "Tonight Show" writer. Slowly but surely, I'm heading in the direction my life was meant to take. I'm in motion! It was a good birthday all around which even included a sail on Coronado Bay with Natalie on a yacht captained by one Robert F. Murdock. "Golden" is a fair way to describe it! And may I say, it was really cool to get a card with your handwriting on it. I'm reminded of a long-ago Minnesota Christmas, when you put a music LP marked from Santa Claus under our tree and little Detective Ian spotted the forgery in your familiar hand. Still believing in Santa at the the time, I could only scratch my head and wonder how you would dare interfere with his official business. Ah, memories!

TRAVELING PLANS Margery Aukstikalnis (August 9, 2012) We are leaving Monday by RV to go to Hubbardston for about a month. Jack's 50th class reunion (high school) is 9/22, and we are going to spend some time visiting with family and friends through September. On the way we will stop for 3 nights in Joplin, MO and visit Roy, Tamera, and Khendra. We are very excited about this stop as Roy, his family and I have become very good friends through Facebook. We will miss Dyllon, as he is leaving for "boot camp" or whatever they call it these days, in the National Guard. He just graduated high school in june, turned 18 yesterday, will enter the Guard on August 27 and hopes eventually to join the police force, either in or out of the Guard. He is a great source of pride to us and his parents. Patryk and Darcy did a fine job raising him. We are planning a family gathering Sept 16th at Barre Falls Dam, Feel like taking a ride? Our trip back to AZ will be more leisurely with stops in NJ to visit Jack's brother on Long Beach Island, then down to Palm Bay, Florida to visit friends of ours, then we will slowly travel the coastline (weather permitting) to experience the culture. State parks in Texas always catch our attention, and we expect to be home sometime before 11/1. The good news is we now have Verizon Wireless Broadband Hotspot, so we take our internet on the road with us! Also cell phone 603/508-7140. Home on the road!! Hope you are well, and we will try to keep in touch as we travel.

Click here for Part 2 of the Fall 2012 Muse.
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