It's Wine-Thirty!

General malise

It must be in the air.  Cate blogged about it today, or at least that is what I got out of her blog post.  It must be going around.

Although I can trace mine back to August, when my dad died.  Maybe this is part of the mourning process, or maybe not.  Maybe it is just my mind and body's way of telling me it is time to take a break from things that I have previously found stressful, and to focus on what is most important.

Things I have found to be most important:

1.  My husband and kids.  That has always been evident.  I would do whatever I could to keep them all safe and happy. 

2.  My job.  My real job.  Not Bay Colony Farm, which was started for fun, became an expensive proposition, and then a resource draining enterprise.  No, the job that I chose almost 16 years ago, and that I still love.  This job provides us with a good income when I work  and build my client base.  It allowed me to take almost 2 years and work it part time when my father was so sick, but now since DH lost his job in September, is has also allowed me to come back and work full time.  It hasn't been easy, and it will never be easy, but this job is "me", even with all the trails that we deal with.

3.  My immediate family and extended family.  Yes, they should be up there at #2, but since I am the primary breadwinner right now, they understand the need to come third (or at least I hope they do). 

And that is all I can deal with right now.  I have other things that I enjoy doing; reading and cooking, but these come last.  Even fiber doesn't hold the appeal it once did, although I can feel it starting to come back, bit by bit.  I know that I miss the fiber people much more than I miss the fiber right now.  Reading Diane's blog the other day made me realize just how much I've missed people in the fiber world.  But I also understand that I have to take it slow getting back into it, or else, I'll kill the urge altogther.

However, since I found out that the Wool Connection in Avon was closing last week, I made up my mind that I wanted to go down there and buy some of their wonderful patterns that were designed by the store employees.  So we made the trip down on Saturday morning.  I e-mailed Diane before we left to let her know that we were going to be there, in hopes that we could meet up, and she didn't disappoint!  I found Diane right away, and we perused the pattern books looking for those perfect patterns.   I did buys a few patterns, but not the ones I had hoped for.  I guess the WC has been having their sale for a lot longer than they said, because they were pretty much out of a lot of stuff, including large lots of yarn, and just about all of their own patterns.  I did buy a book of patterns that use Brown Sheep yarns, and has 4 designs by Melissa Leapman, but other than the patterns, a sheep tape measure, and the book, that was the extent of my stash.  But it was nice to hang out with Diane for a while, and hear about the latest fiber news.  :)

Don't worry; I still have my fingers in the fiber world;  MA Sheep and Wool is keeping me very busy.  And Marcy keeps me up to date on stuff too.  I won't disappear.  I just need time.  A little bit of time.   :)

Thank you to those that have served

Today is Veteran's Day, which is a day to reflect on those that have served for our country, and given their lives for our freedom.

I spent some time this afternoon down at the Holyoke Soldier's Home, where my father spent the last 20 months of his life.  We were invited to their memorial ceremony, which is dedicated to those that have passed away while living there in the past year. 

Today was very difficult for me.  I have always known that I spent part of the time my father was alive, mourning his impending death, and the suffering that he had from Parkinson's disease, nothing has prepared me for the mourning I would do after his death.  There are some days when I feel a great deal of sadness that I can no longer just stop down and say "Hi" to my dad.  This is always tempered with the knowledge that he is in a better place, and no longer trapped in a body that wouldn't allow him even the smallest amount of easy mobility. 

But to walk back into the Soldier's Home today, after being gone from there for the last 3 months, was extremely difficult.   I know people there that I consider friends.  Men and women who fought in World War II, and the Korean War, along with the staff, whom we grew to love over the last 2 years.  But my dad was missing from that, and it made me feel somewhat removed from everything. 

During the ceremony, they read the names of the veteran's who have passed away there in the past 6 months, including my father's name.  They asked any family member who attended to rise when their loved one's name was called, and we received a beautiful flame colored rose, my mother and I. 

The rose sits on my table, as a reminder of today.  But my heart holds the memories of those friends down there, many of whom will not go back to their homes again, who gave so much to serve their county.

For them, I give them my most heartfelt thanks.  And for my dad too, whom I miss dearly.

Thank you

I wanted to thank everyone that was so kind in sending condolences regarding my father's passing last month.  Your notes meant a great deal to me and I will never forget the kindness and friendship shared.  Many of the notes made me cry, but in a good way.  :)

A lot has happened in the past 3 weeks.  Right after my father's funeral, we left to go on our annual family vacation.  When I say family, I mean my oldest brother Greg and his family, my husband and boys, my younger brother Luke, and we even convinced our mother to come along with us (which was a very good thing for her and for us!).  We had a wonderful time at the beach.  We shared memories, stories (the good, the bad and the embarrassing), and a lot of feelings.  We laughed a lot, and drank some too (cocktails on the beach after 5 p.m. is sooooo nice!).  We remembered how much our dad loved being at the Jersey shore; after all, it was his idea to start renting a beach house 18 years ago so that we could all be together and have fun.  So it was a fitting tribute to him that we go again this year, even so soon after his death. 

Isn't vacation about consuming lots of alcohol on the deck?

Sunset our first night there, looking towards the beach

Our bay view sunset

Nathaniel and Zack working hard at making sand castles

On Wednesday of our vacation week, Atlantic City played host to an air show.  Rather than become one with the huge crowd down on the beach, we went to the roof top of  one of the Tropicana parking garages for our eye level view of the air show.  What a sight to see! 

Looking north towards the Atlantic City Convention Center and Trump Plaza. 

See the crowds on the beach?  And if you look out in the ocean, you can see a line of boats; everyone watching the air show!

The Blue Angels! 

We were at eye level for many of their passes in front, to the sides and behind us.  It was really amazing to see them flying between the tall casino buildings.  Our joke of the day was that if anyone had spent a hard night partying at the casinos, they sure weren't happy with all the noise from the jets all day long.   :)

We also took the boys down to see the concrete ship Atlantus down at Sunset Beach in Cape May. 

We collected Cape May Diamonds which are really pieces of quartz that have come down from the top of the Delaware River.  They were highly prized by the Indians who used to inhabit the shore 300 years ago, and were used for currency in trading.

Our journey out that day included a trip to the Cape May Lighthouse. 

Dale and the boys went up all 217 steps, but since I don't like climbing open circular staircases, I stayed on the ground.     Here is a picture Dale took looking towards Cape May.  Can you see the WWII bunker to the right of the photo?  It is almost in the ocean now, but used to be a lot farther inland than it is today.  I even remember it being surrounded by grass when I was a teenager.  That is how much erosion has taken place down there. 

The kids spent every afternoon after 5 p.m. boogie boarding in the ocean.  Of course having Dale and my brother Greg as a willing participants in helping them catch waves didn't hurt. 

The Boogie Board Crew!

And what would vacation be with out a pedicure and some wild nail polish on the toes? 

Or a picture of what the beach looked like when we left it one evening around 7 p.m. 

Or cocktails on the beach?

Obviously, my brother Luke was having a good time!

And our last evening on the beach; what a sunset! 

It really was good to get away.

Coming home was something else all together.  We found out that the local Bank of America branch had burned down two evenings before. 

And since then, I've been getting back into the swing of things; work, home life, rabbit care, and getting my boys off for their first day of school.  Nathaniel started full day kindergarten (yes, I'm doing the happy dance!). 

I'm just taking things as they come.  I'm as relaxed as I've been in years, and my outlook on life has changed some, even in the past few weeks.  You can't change things that are beyond your grasp, but you can change how you deal with them.    :)

Life's To Do List

Maryse had this Meme on her blog.  I'm tagging everyone who wants to do it.

Life's to do list - Completed items are bolded

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken  a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said 'I love you' and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables

18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment --unfortunately at a funeral.

27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse

29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen an eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster (LOVE THEM!!)
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day.

38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 10 provinces or all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk -- mostly my ex-boyfriend
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your cds
57. Pretended to be a superhero -- Wonder Woman
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60.  Posed nude in front of strangers

61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken 
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo -- but I'm considering it
81. Rafted the Snake Dead River
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in aisles at Rocky Horror.
96. Raised children.
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Created and named your own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over -- I almost did that!
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery - I've thought about it though
104. Survived an illness that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication

106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth -- i wouldn't say "helped" but i watched

112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone

114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse

119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon  -- I hiked half way down, does that count?
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi

128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about 

130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions - no, but I've skipped the last 2
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146: Dyed your hair
147: Been a DJ
148: Shaved your head
149: Caused a car accident

150: Saved someone's life - DH and I were able to prevent someone from committing suicide shortly before we were married. 

I'm over my snit fit

Thank you everyone who sent birthday wishes.  Those cheered my day yesterday.   :)

Actually, yesterday turned out o.k.  DH set about to pamper me all day long, since I'd had such a horrible birthday (not his fault BTW).  He took care of the kids, while I napped, read and generally lounged around.  I did cook steaks last night up at my mom's house for the birthday dinner, but that is about it.  I caught up on some much needed sleep and feel much better today.

Now I'm contemplating what I want to do for a fiber project.  Because we've been cleaning, I've unearthed a lot of yarn and fiber.  I'll be unearthing even more when we start cleaning out my "office", which has also doubled as my fiber area for the past 9 years.  I have lots of fiber in sealed Rubbermaid bins, with lavendar soap as a precaution.  BTW, when you buy bins, do not forget to seal off the "air holes" that are under the handles.  I tape those off with electrical tape, which is really strong.  DH will be helping me decide what yarn goes down to the Soldier's Home in Holyoke, what goes to the kid's elementary school and what stays here.  We plan to turn my old office into the kids play area, and keep DH's office as "our" office.   :)

Other than that, not much else is happening here.  I'm home today with Calvin who has an ear ache, and I'll be taking him into the doctors office at 2 p.m.  Nathaniel is going with my mother, brother and his family down to West Springfield to New England Fire Chief's Exhibition at the Big E.  The newest rescue vehicle for the fire company my brother and SIL belong to down in NJ will be on exhibit, and they want to see it (it goes down to NJ from the show). 

And since I'll be in Dedham, MA on Tuesday, are there any MUST see yarn stores just off of Route 128?  I'll be in class until 5 p.m., so the store much be open until 6 if I want to visit.  Leave a comment if there is one that I shouldn't miss.   :)

Life is not a contest

Some of you know that my husband lost his job at the end of May.  It was a surprise to us, but good things sometime come out of bad surprises.  DH started his new job this week, and goes full time next week.  The new job is a big step up from what he was doing and he is very excited about being the general manager of a company.  His commute will be long, but he doesn't mind.  The future holds lots of promise.   :-D

Part of my decision to end the fiber show retail part of Bay Colony Farm stemmed from his change in career.  With the new job, he'll have less time to help me with the step up and take down at shows, and he'll be gone each weekday from 5:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.  Not that this differs too much from  his last schedule, but if he has to work past the regular hours, then it will mean that I'll be handling more than before with the things at home.

Sometimes you just have to take a look around and ask yourself  "What is important here and now?"

I decided that my family took priority.   You already know this.  My regular job also takes priority. 

And I also decided that a fiber business shouldn't feel like a contest.  Running a retail business was starting to feel like that.  And not in a good way. When running a business is no longer fun, it is time to step away, and take a break.  One fiber artist I know made the comment to me recently that they wanted to do as well with their current line as they could this year, because next year everyone would be copying it.  Such is life in the retail world.

Sure, there are friendly contests that are fun.  Like putting your rabbit up for IAGARB registration.  We joke on the IAGARB list about how the west coast has more registered rabbits than the midwest and the east coast of the USA (we aren't talking Canada and Leslie Samson's beautiful animals).  But we aren't trying to beat each other out, just raise the bar to better ourselves and our rabbits.  Good rabbitry management is the key there, and we all know it.  IAGARB's registration is about how each rabbit does, not pitting my rabbit against someone else's.  And those of us in IAGARB know that.  Anyone can claim that their rabbits produce X amount of wool each shearing, but with IAGARB's system, it is proven.  That is a good competition.

There are SO MANY people in the fiber world that are awesome.  People who are caring, and encouraging.  That is what I've felt from so many of you and trust me, your comments have really helped out a lot, especially in the past couple of months.  I've made incredible friends, including people who don't blog, like Leslie Samson, Melissa Leapman, Marcy and Deanna (both of whom don't blog), but these people I wouldn't know unless I was into fiber.  I feel very lucky to know them, and so many of you, either by the internet or some in person.    :-)

I guess what I've been thinking is that sometimes we just take life too seriously.   And the thought of knowing that the "contest" is over, well, that makes me happy too.   Plus, I'm enjoying the rabbits a whole lot more now that I'm not trying to figure out how much wool there is for rovings.    ;-)   I can just take my time, accumulate the wool for the wool co-op, sit back and relax.

Anyway, since I've decided to kick back and relax, I have felt more like doing fiber stuff (even though I haven't).  With my husband home, we've spent a lot of time outside working on the yard.  Today's project was this: 

This is our "Black forest pine tree".  The previous owners of the house told us that when their friends escaped from East Germany back in the 70's, they brought some seedlings with them from their nursery.  This was one of them.  When we bought our house 10 years ago, this tree and the pine next to it were as high as the roof on our house.  Because we trimed both trees, they started growing.  A LOT!  The pine on the right outgrew the BFP soon, and our beloved BFP started to grow to the left.  This had it leaning towards our house and deck, which was a bad thing.  So we decided to take down this tree today.  You can see Calvin standing on top of the bunny condo there in the orange shirt.  DH's job was to cut the tree down midway on the trunk, and I had the job of driving the truck, pulling on the tow straps attached to the tree (don't worry, Calvin and Nathaniel were safely inside the house during this time).  We were successful, and now it looks like this:

And this: 

We can actually see the entire barn from the house and I can see three out of four rabbits in the bunny condo now too.  And eating dinner on our upper deck is now an option because there aren't so many mosquitos flying around. 

Having my husband home for the past three weeks has really been nice.  Our yard looks better than it has ever looked; the barn has been cleaned and rearranged, and the kids have been having lots of fun in the pool with their dad.

Like I said, sometimes some really good things come out of bad surprises.

I will make this quick

This past week has been extremely busy.  With Easter coming up, my mom and I have made two trips to stores to get the perfect homemade candy.  My brother Greg, his wife and two adorable kids (can you tell that I adore my niece and nephew?) came up last night from NJ and will be visiting until Wednesday!  So Sunday we will be having an Easter egg hunt for the kids at my mom's house.  We've never done anything like this before, but then again, I haven't spent Easter with my brother Greg in 29 years since he graduated from high school.    :)

Not much knitting has been going on either.  I've been so busy that I'm exhausted at night, and even forgot to bring in my knitting from the Kia Pet yesterday!

Today is another whirlwind day of stuff; appointments this morning, and going to see my Dad in the afternoon.  We even bought some vanilla buttercreams for my dad to have on Easter.  We think that he'll be able to taste those, and we wanted him to have some sort of treat since this is most likely his last Easter.

It is a time of change for my family.  Easter reminds us that things change, and while people die and leave us, we will always have them in our hearts.  And it also reminds us to make the most of what we have while we are together. 

Cherish each day.  Remember to tell your spouse, SO, kids, family and friends that you love them.   It is never too late to say those three small words that mean so much to everyone.   :)

P.S.  Thank you so much for the birthday wishes for Calvin!  He was so excited that people knew about it and had a grin from ear to ear as I read the messages to him.

A Watched Pot Never Boils

Four weeks ago, the female rabbits were starting to get overly hormonal with the warmer weather.   Mia had been in a cage with her daughter Velvet since last Spring, when Mia had her last litter.  They had gotten along very well together, until the day I walked into the barn and heard whimpers coming from their cage.  Who do I see attempting to breed, but Mia.  And unfortunately, her daughter was the target of that need for a male love.  So I quickly removed Velvet from the cage (much to her relief) and decided that Mia was due for a date.  A quick trip over to Twist's cage with Mia, and he was a very happy camper!  Bunny dates don't last very long, and Marcy the blogless, has said that we are all rabbit voyeurs, but one must watch until the act is done to make sure that the buck doesn't get hurt by the doe.  Mia was willing, and Twist was able.  One happier buck was never seen.  In fact, after Twist has a date, he turns into my very best friend by trying to get my attention so that I'll bring him another doe.  This type of behavior from him will last several days until he realizes that the date is over.   :)

So now I wait.  Mia is due any day now.  The average gestation period for a rabbit is 31 days, but they can go anywhere from 26 days to 34 days (and I actually had one rabbit go 39 days, and another one go 40 days; yes those were very big kits!).  I'll take about 3 trips a day out to the barn.  I don't believe in micromanaging the does; they know what they are doing and if I see that they need help later, I will then step in and assist.  Rabbits have been birthing kits for many more years than they have been domesticated, and you can actually stop the process by bothering them too much.   But out of all the rabbits I've had, I have only had one rabbit that needed my help because she had an overly large kit stuck in her birth canal.

So now I wait.  And hope that the breeding did take, and that we have a healthy litter of babies by the weekend.  Bets are being made that as soon as the weather front moves in (rain) that she's start laboring, but I'm betting on the pull of the full moon tomorrow night.  We shall see.

On the shopping front:  You all know how I like to shop for yarn (actually, any type of fibers; spinning or knitting), but did you also know that I LOVE to shop at kitchen gadget stores?  Oh yeah.  Let me loose in one of those anytime and I'm a happy camper.

Well, the newest kitchen store opened up in Northampton last week, and it is the Lamson and Goodnow Kitchen and Cooking Tool store located at 34 Bridge Street.  Not only does this store have lots of cool cooking utensils, dishes, and gourmet food items, but it is also offering cooking classes!  The last place I knew that was offering cooking classes similar to these, was down at Johnson and Wales in Providence, RI.  And while I love going to Providence, it isn't just a 15 minute drive down the road like this new store.  I'm already planning to sign up for the Bistro cooking class in May, and the Backyard Barbeque class in June.   

On the fiber front:  Lately, I've been spending a lot of time planning the inventory for this Spring's Sheep and Wool shows.  I'm working on new things to have in stock, including some surprise offerings that you haven't seen from our farm before.   Serious dyeing will commence in the next 2 weeks, and I'm going to be working with dye formulas to come up with some really neat colors.  The Dye Any Color! class we had with Sara Lamb, dye maven extraordinaire back in October of 2004, left me with over 600 dyed yarn samples, and I'm going to start looking those over to see what color combinations I like best.  If you'd like to see more of Sara's work, please check out her blog.

Want to see the latest socks? 

It's time to let it go

It looks like I'll have to buy another ball winder.  Mine is in the trailer (I think).  I last remember using it at NH Sheep and Wool.  Which means it is buried somewhere at the bottom and back of the trailer.  And while the trailer is easy to get to, it isn't easy to get IN to, without someone standing on the trailer hitch so that I don't tip it backwards.  What a PITA.  I think that $40 is a small price to pay for convenience.   :)

In other news, I did some major stash clearing today.  I'm a notorious piler which drives my husband crazy.  And it is finally starting to get to me too.  So I took a deep breath and went to work. I found four boxes filled with UFOs, single skeins or balls of yarn, balls of yarn that the cats have tangled at one time or another, and even UFO's where the rest of the yarn is missing.  Want to know where most of it went?  Into the trash!  I can hear some gasping out there, but honestly, who wants to really try to pair up a UFO with yarn that is probably in a Rubbermaid bin the barn, or save little yarn scraps?  Not I.  And I got a perverse form of pleasure in saying "So LONG!" to all that stuff.  I did pull out all needles from UFO's, since most of them were my addiction favorite Addi Turbos (my circular needle collection was rapidly restored with this major clearing).  And I found needles like my 12" circulars in #1 and #2, which means casting on socks will be easier now that I don't have to use dpns.  I found two skeins of sock yarn that I couldn't part with, and I also found a completed purple mohair shawl that just needs to be washed and blocked.  Three expensive knitting bags were also found, and they are in the washer as I write.  Personally, this was emotionally cleansing.  Letting go of a lot of old stuff and saying "I don't need you anymore!". 

See all these needles?  I also found some Chibi needles, crochet hooks, the sheep shawl pin, and 2 (not 1) copies of the Knitter's Companion.   Of course I would find those books since I bought a copy of it on Saturday at the Wool Connection.  So, if you'd like the new copy that I bought, e-mail me and I'll be happy to trade for another knitting book.

I guess this Spring has me thinking of simplifying things and making my life easier.  I think dumping 4 boxes of stuff has me feeling much better.   :)

The Lone Wall

I saw this yesterday while on a job.  It stuck me as sad and beautiful at the same time.  It is a lone wall standing from a factory in Bondsville MA that burned down in the 1960's.  The smoke stack that had stood for another 30+ years after the fire was demolished several years ago.  I miss seeing that smoke stack, as that too was beautiful and solitary.