These photos were taken Christmas morning, on our very last job.  Rockport has a tradition of binging Santa by horse drawn carriage to Dock Square on Christmas, where he gives a nice bag of gifts to all the children who come out to see him.  In years past, Bruce Drohan did this job, and now he has moved to Tennessee with his beautiful Belgians.  This will be the only time I could do the job, for I too am moving out of state- to Maine.  I hope very much that it will not be the end of a tradition decades long for Rockport, but as of now there are no likely prospects.  It was a very bittersweet moment.  Several weeks later, my carriage was bought and trailered off to Natick by the Capital Whips carriage company.  Coincidentally, the photo my husband took shows the carriage in almost the same spot.

It is taking a strong stomach to sell the equipment I spent so many hours refurbishing, and then used for years of happy memories with the public.  It is not clear yet whether Rob and I will pull together a new business once we get established in Maine.  For the record, let's add a photo of him driving the carriage at the Dickens festival just before Christmas.  I am pleased that we developed the job into one we did together for several years.  Now we would like to experience having horses at home at last, and use our wagonette to drive along Appleton Ridge next summer. 

The North of Boston Dickens fellowship has invited us to provide rides during their festival on December 8, 2012.  All the details are on http://www.dickensnorthofboston.com/

This was a wonderful family friendly event last year, and Gerald Dickens, actor and grandson of the famous author, gave some vivid dramatic readings.
The rides leave from Old Town Hall from 1-4:30, tickets are sold at the event, and hot chocolate is provided to warm you after your ride.

Navy's in town

August 13th saw the arrival of four fine training schooners in the inner harbor, carrying navy sailors.  Rockport hosts these ships each summer and shows them a warm welcome.  Families of the sailors come for a chance to see their young men on shore leave, which is how this grandmother and granddaughters came to ride in our carriage to a fine lobster dinner at the American Legion hall. 

Hammond Castle, 6/9/12

 This is one of the loveliest venues to bring  a couple, and then take them for a quiet ride after their ceremony.  Not only do you have the sight of the wide ocean just beyond the castle wall, you have the sound of the surf and a buoy's bell ringing through the woods.  Hesperus Avenue is bordered by forest on the inland side, and we had the quiet sounds and fresh woodland smells to accompany us.

 Curley stood still like a perfect wedding horse should, while Don was at the reins. 

Steven and Amber popped the cork on their congratulatory bottle of champagne, and sipped while they relaxed on their post nuptial ride.

Sunday in Rockport

 I get such a pleasure out of meeting people at the train.  This was a surprise for Taylor, organized by her suave boyfriend, Louis, and we had such a beautiful day.  She is playing "guess which hand the carrot is in".  Curley will always guess right.

The Srokas planned way ahead for their ride during the vacation they took here.  We went along the beautiful shore road on Marmion way.
 They said they look for a carriage business wherever they travel!

Here are some photos from that wedding.  Lana and her dad Bob were calm and collected and ready to go.




After the wedding Lana and Michael enjoyed a short moment of peace in the carriage on the way to the Common, where they took some photos.  then, off to the P.E.M. in style!

Today Randy brought his fiance, Nancy, on a special carriage ride during her visit to the area. The weather wasn't too freezing, and Curley wasn't too tooo dirty this time. It is really hard to clean him up when the weather is cold- not shower weather- and his winter coat is so long and thick. We did just this one ride, so Curley got home in time for all the horses coming in for supper. We left the farm at 11 and got home at 4 and did a one hour ride. Thank you, Randy, for asking us to help make your visit special. It was fun to go around the McIntire district at Christmas time.