#22 A Visit with Kinfolk

Friday, May 3, Bob Schwaller, our brother in law, met us at the airport and took us to his and Joyce's home which is an incredible farm in Naples, Maine. Bob married Joyce following the passing of my sister, Shirley, in 2006. Joyce had been a dear friend to both of them for many years. They became friends back when Bob and Shirley were living in Boston.

Bob and Joyce live in a recently remodeled six bedroom farmhouse built originally in the 1890's. Like many Maine homes it has an attached barn so the livestock can be fed without going outside. Maine winters are very cold and livestock must be kept in the barn in the winter, Their barn is huge and has 100 years worth of collected stuff. They have ambitions to clean it out someday thinking it might be a perfect place for a house concert with Bob's son Mark's band, MELODEEGO. We would fly up for that if it were at all possible.

They are in the midst of constructing a new carriage house, a two car garage with an adjoining apartment. I expect to see Bob and Joyce spending a lot of time here when next we visit. It's their own design.

The small red building is her sister's old pottery studio. Her sister, Dianne, raised her children on this farm. The house had not been remodeled at that time.

We discovered that not only did we have a week's worth of dirty laundry but everything we owned was wet from the rain in Fort Lauderdale. We became quite a sight with this spread out everywhere. It was a beautiful sunny day and all dried quickly. How lucky we are to have family in Maine.