...And Now The Big One

The big one being the Riverbound Nature Sanctuary Project, an event hosted by Teeker and held at the  Riverbound Farm in Cheshire, Connecticut, which we attended on May 5th.  I absolutely loved this event, because not only did we get to find boxes, yak with boxers and eat some good grub, but we all gave back to a place that houses many boxes.  It also has some great nature walks, a scavenger hunt, and all sorts of info and displays about wildlife and birds.  I'll start with many of the cool display pics, then I'll tell you about our day.

Ohhhh, Mighty M!  This one's for you!

An old colonial brick oven and fireplace inside the old house.

An extensive display case of different birds' eggs.

A Dazzling Duck Display.



If you come across a skull in the woods and don't know what the animal was...



I'd have many more of these, but half the pictures came out fuzzy...

My pictures don't really do the house and displays justice, and there were many more things in such a small space, loaded with info and put together by people who you could tell care about the project.  So, on with the day!

BB3 and I headed down Friday night to Oxford, CT, and spent the night at my Mom's house.  We got up the next morning and headed over to Cheshire, and were welcomed right away - Teeks greeted us and led us right in to the house where she introduced us to Eric, who was looking forward to our arrival so that he could put us to work, and Loretta, who runs the place and keeps an eye on Eric.  ;)

After a very warm welcome, I got a tour of the house and grounds from Eric, and we discussed what work needed to be done and what we had available to us, while BB3 got started on pulling weeds from the flowers beds.  I started by replacing some rotted bench seats, and while working on those, I was introduced to and joined by Grumpy, who came along with Hez and Chthiker.  This is my kinda guy, and not just cuz he's called Grumpy!  He's also a carpenter, and we joined forces and got busy.  Next, we went to work on the "kissing bridge", where I started removing dozens and dozens of 6 inch lag bolts from the worn-down bridge planks, while Eric and Grumpy cut planks and brought them down to me.  Then, Grumpy and I proceeded to install the new boards, and after that was done, Eric and I shored up the arched bridge supports.  Then we packed up the tools and headed back to the house to get some grub - by then I was pretty hungry, and there was plenty of great food waiting for us!

The pics a lil fuzzy, but that's Eric on the kissing bridge.  No.  No kisses from me.

After eating, it was time to get things cleaned up and packed up inside the house so that they could close the house for the day.  Fortunately, that didn't mean that the grounds were closed for the day, so I joined up with BB3 and we went boxing throughout the property.  Out on the trails we met up with several others, and finished the day by boxing with a few others and getting to make some new friends.  And BB3 and I were the last ones to leave for the day, and left after thanking and saying goodnight to Loretta.

The Teekster and Mama Irish Chick in the house.

A nice view of the river that flows along the property.



One of the many bird viewing areas on the grounds.

Special thank yous to each and every one of you that came out to this event - I know from what I saw that every person that came out pitched in and helped with the work in one form or another, and in my book that is one of the highest forms of boxing gratitude that could possibly be done.  And here are a few other things worthy of some special thank-yous:  Thank you to TallDave, Thimbelinda and SLJ for making and donating those awesome headbands that helped raise money for the farm, AND for making a very special box and stamp for the event!  (Pride and humility both fill that compliment. ;)  Thank you to the Teekmeister for putting together yet another fantastical and caring event - is there such a thing as a professional LB event planner?  If so....  Special thank you to Eric and Loretta, for not only watching over this gem of a place, but caring about it as well, and opening it up to us boxing wackos!  Thank you to Grumpy for jumping right in and lending a hand.  Thank you to MVIV, the LevreaultFam, TD and Teeks for spending time with us at the end of the day.  Thank you to everyone who brought the vast amount of food!  Thank you to Tigs for not being there so that I could pick on you for it!  BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

And so, thus ends the tale of a beautiful boxing weekend.



WRONG!!!

We went back to Mom's house, and the next day, after we had coffee, packed up and said our good-byes, we hit the road.  But before leaving, we planned one stop along the way, and I'm glad we did.  We headed over to Wells State Park in Sturbridge, MA, to get a series by TD and TL.  While we were on the road, I was debating whether or not we should stop or just head on home.  Almost last minute I said to myself, "Just go - you'll kick yourself if you don't."  So we stopped.  And boy, was I glad we did!  It was a great series in a great park, and we also found a couple bonuses along the way!  And some of the views alone were well worth it...

Thanks for reading, Y'all!!!