A long educational road came to an end this month as Bob's final sextant "sight folder" was accepted by the United States Power Squadrons, a boating education and safety organization. The USPS has five "grades" of members, starting with "Seaman" (qualified in boat-operation basics) through "Pilot" (qualified to navigate near-shore, where landmarks are visible, and ending with "Navigator" (qualified to navigate offshore, where position has to be found by taking sextant sights on the sun, moon, some planets [Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn, usually], and any of a number of stars [in general, one tries to pick ones which are either bright, easy to identify, or both!]; these days, of course, position is also fixed by reference to a GPS unit, but it's both fun and necessary to know the celestial backup). The "sight folder" for the "N" grade requires a minimum of 23 sextant sights, plus accompanying tabular data to establish position and a plot of the results. It's pretty involved!

Because Bob has also taken all available "elective" courses (ranging from Engine Maintenance and Cruise Planning to Marine Electronics and Instructor Development) he is officially an "SN": Senior Navigator. He will officially be recognized as such at the November Conference of District 7 of the USPS.

June was also, of course, the time for our summer trip to Vermont. This year, there were some special features to the trip, including a two-day visit to a really spectacular garden.

Before the Vermont trip, however, Bob finally got around to replacing the driveway light (photo: left), which had been vandalized a good many years ago. The new one (not quite as tall as the original) really looks nice and it's great to have a welcome-home light when we return at night.

To the right, a picture of the road "up the hill" at Mother's, showing the local plumber's shop (he also sells maple syrup!).

Meanwhile, back in Minnesota, the grandchildren were growing fast! Alexander Jeffrey (left) was keeping Christopher and Carly busy and Olivia Catherine (right) was bringing joy and giggles to Jeff and CeCe.

We'll be seeing them soon as we plan a trip to Minnesota before the summer is over.

Penney found this little nuthatch on the ground (with a hungry-looking hawk circling overhead) after it apparently hit a window. She was able to grab it before the hawk did ands helped it to recover its senses and fly off.

When she wasn't rescuing birdies, Penney was visiting auctions (a rug for the guest room, a desk for her study, and a slot machine for her room at school [don't ask!]).

Bob, meanwhile, tackled a huge limb (right) which had come off one of the massive pine trees along the "road side" of the property. He got it cut into chunks and stacked; the bigger sections were left for neighbors with a sugarbush (pine is the favored wood for boiling maple sap down) and a wood splitter!

The entrance to the gardens at the Gordon and Mary Hayward home in Westminster West, Vermont. The Hayward gardens are on the local "garden tour" benefitting the senior center in Westminster, so Penney volunteered and we both enjoyed the gardens greatly.

Gordon Hayward has, in addition to a genius for design, a well-developed sense of humor as seen in the frog musicians playing around the birdbath.

There are other frogs around, too!

Here's a sample of the interior of the gardens. Elements are carefully chosen and located for texture and interest. We're toying with the idea of hiring him to design a backyard garden for us; it would be expensive, but worth it; the man is amazing..

Here's Mom waiting for her hot dog at a roadside stand that was recommended to us.

For more Vermont pictures, click here.