Oxford Bulletin

Having sold the Beaconlight in March 2005, we now focus our energies on the Oxford, the house in which we take the greatest pride.

It is always a pleasure when one’s efforts and hard work are recognized. We are delighted that the Oxford as been awarded once again the Out&About Recognition of Excellence - the "5 Palms"

and “Editor's Choice” Award - for the 10th consecutive year.

We also received the "Editor's Choice" Award 2007 by the Cape Cod Travel Guide. This prestigious guide has a global circulation and is considered to be the pre-eminent guide for the Cape and Islands.

In January 2008 we received a Pink Choice Award for excellence in service to the gay and lesbian community.

But most importantly, we are truly thankful that the Oxford continues to enjoy the patronage of many returning guests who have come to look upon the Oxford us as their "home away from home". It really is a joy seeing so many familiar faces returning again and again. We feel more like hosts of a never-ending house party rather than as two owners running a business.

So along with Potter, our golden retriever, we very much look forward to welcoming old and new friends to the Oxford in the coming months.

Stephen and Trevor

APRIL 2008 and unlike last year, spring sprung ahead of schedule. This gave us chance to get into the garden to clear away the winter debris to allow the new growth to pop. And pop it did. Within a matter of days the front garden transformed from a dull brown into a lush green with splashed of blue, yellow and white. The wisteria is just about to bloom and the roses are all pruned and showing strong growth. I love the spring. Trevor has really gained control of the garden and loves pottering every opportunity he gets. If you visited the Oxford last year, you might have noticed the brown staining along the front and back deck railings, caused by the iron bacteria in the well water we use to water the garden. So, to minimize this we’ve installed a drip system in the back garden and repositioned the spray nozzles around the front garden to spray the garden and not the railings. Dah! With that done, we repainted all the railings, back and front, and they now look crisp and fresh. The hostas around the fir tree in the back garden are just pushing through the soil so in a couple of weeks the back garden should look spring-like.

On April 15, we celebrated Trev’s parent’s 66th wedding anniversary. They’re both in their late 80’s but still show their love for each other in so many little ways. Trevor’s brother Martin and his wife Shari arrived in London a week later to spend time with them before heading for Athens and the island of Santorini to celebrate Shari’s birthday.

Pete, our manager from last year paid us visit for a couple of days over his spring break. He’s doing really well teaching English at a Montessori School in Springfield MA. He loves the kids (6th and 7th grade) and gets on with the other teachers, always a good thing. We’re really happy to see him back teaching and doing what he loves to do. Long may that continue.

On a sad note, Bill Ingram, an old friend of ours, passed away after a long illness. Bill and his partner Ray have been together 50 years and it heartbreaking to see Ray look so lost and deeply sad. Bill had a full life - Boston fire chief, Provincetown volunteer fireman, Town Electrical Inspector, Master Cabinet-maker, and building supervisor for several town projects including the airport and senior citizen home. He loved traveling with Ray, and had friends from all over the world. We will miss his famous, infectious laugh, his kindness, his warmth and friendship.

On a happier note, we welcomed Carl Bretton to the Oxford as our new manager. We first met Carl at the end of last year when he came and stayed for a several days with a really wonderful lady called Christina. Christina is seriously ill with cancer but you would never know it from her amazing energy, lust for life and incredibly positive spirit. During their time with us, we talked about the coming year and our need for a new manager. The rest is history. Christina has become a very special person to us and hardly a day goes by when we haven’t talked or emailed each other with gossip and fun stuff. We’re really looking forward to a great year with Carl on board.

MARCH 2008 and we headed to the UK for a family visit. The main reason was to celebrate my Mum’s 80th birthday on March 6. Actually, she started celebrating the previous weekend with a party given by her neighbors of her assisted living complex. By the time we arrived, the celebrations, orchestrated by my two sisters, Angie and Roni, were in full swing. For her actual birth day, we treated her to a day at a really amazing health spa called Whittlebury Hall where they pampered her for 8 hours. After a family lunch and an afternoon of more pampering, we ended the day with chocolate cake and champagne. After a days rest, we ended her week with a family dinner in a smashing little restaurant in Angie’s village of Pury End. My Mum likes nothing more than having her family around her, and from the smile on her face she had a great time.

We also visited Trev’s folks several times that week and made our usual trips to Marks and Spencer for some necessity shopping as well as several pub lunches. The good news is that all UK pubs, restaurants and bars are now non-smoking so eating out is truly a pleasure.

The following week we headed to London and stayed with Gary and Richard, two friends we holidayed with last November. We spent our first evening with another great friend Charles dining at the Greenhouse Restaurant in Mayfair. What a meal we had! Great company, good conversation, a spectacular menu and delicious wine – you can’t ask for better than that. Later that week, we saw ‘Avenue Q’ which was a lot of fun and had dinner with another long time friend who we haven’t seen in over 7 years. Before we knew it, it was time to head home and the beginning of our 15th season as inn-keepers.

FEBRUARY 2008 and the month didn’t start as we planned. We had arranged to visit friends in up state New York and then head on to visit Trevor’s brother and family in Toronto. Just two days before leaving, I woke and couldn’t move because of the pain in my low back. But after several days bed rest, heap powerful medicine and visits to a physical therapist, I was back on my feet and feeling as good as news. Unfortunately the two week window we had before a busy Valentine’s weekend and the planned vacation evaporated. As the saying goes, ‘ If you want to make God smile, tell him you plans!’.

But the good news is that Trevor’s brother Martin and his wife Shari decided to come and visit us instead. Not quite what we had planned, but it was great seeing them. Two friends, Janet and Sara, also surprised us with a visit. Janet has had a tough time with knee surgery, but is now back to her old self and happily chasing Sara around the block (just kidding).

We celebrated Trevor’s birthday on the 14th with a dinner party with several friends. As Trev’s the better chef of the two of us, he prepared a gourmet meal ending with a ‘piece de resistance’ of a white chocolate, amaretto and fresh raspberry trifle. Throughout dessert, all that was heard was the sound of cutlery against china.

Four days later, we celebrated our 10th anniversary as owners of

the Oxford.

Wonder-lust seems to run in the Mascilo family and this time it was my nephew Sam hitting the trails. He left for a 6 week back-packing vacation of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. Fortunately, he has his sister Katy to give him tips and places to visit following her 3 year experience in the same countries. But I think my sister Roni was just a little anxious seeing her son and heir heading East with just a back-pack, a few travelers checks and a lot of energy. I’m sure that between his Facebook and cell phone, we’ll soon hear from him if he runs out money or runs into trouble.

After a busier than usual February, we ended the month getting ready for a trip to the UK for a very special event. But more on that next month.

JANUARY 2008 and after the festivities of Christmas and New Year, we were both ready for a less hectic time. The weather played a big part in helping us decide what to do and where to go. As it turned out, we didn’t go anywhere but did some refurbishment in the guest house.

January 1, 2008 turned out to be a day of mixed blessings. The great news is that Peter, who was our manager for most of 2007, left us to start as an Grade 7 and 8 English teacher in the Montessori School in Springfield, MA. So with his first couple of weeks lesson plans prepared, his Dad came down to take him and some of Pete’s belongings to Springfield. We were very sad to see Lil’ Pete head out but more than thrilled that he was returning to teaching which we know is his vocation. His reports we received throughout the month about his pupils, other faculty members and life as a teacher just confirmed our feeling that he’s back on the right path. We really miss his humor and wit, not forgetting his ability to mimic all sorts of people, in the nicest possible way of course.

For past guests who remember Tim Babcock who was our manager at the Beaconlight for several years, well, he was in town for the month rehearsing and then performing the lead role in the award winning play “Doubt”. He received rave reviews from local, Cape and Boston papers. He looks really well and clearly loving his life upon the stage.

We had plans to visit Rochester New York for a few days and then Toronto to visit Trevor’s brother and family but things didn’t work out quite the way we planned. A few days before we were due to leave, we worked out together, nothing to strenuous you understand, but later that evening my low back didn’t feel so good. By the following morning, I couldn’t get out of bed because of the pain. After being diagnosed over the phone with having acute backache (dah!), I started on a regime of muscle relaxants and pain-killers that put me into a very peaceful frame of mind! One week later, I had an MRI that showed two compressed discs between L5 and L6. So it’s just a case of the spasms reducing, a bit of physical therapy and I’ll be as right as rain.

So we spent our 34th “unofficial” anniversary in our cottage with a bottle of bubbly and a delicious supper. Who could ask for anything more!

On the Pink Choice front, we presented the 2007 Pink Choice Awards to 18 properties in the USA, Australia, France as well as a number of properties who received a “highly recommended” rating from their guests. What was as pleasing was the blog and press coverage the awards received from national and international newspapers in UK, Europe and Australia.

DECEMBER 2007 and the month started much like those of previous years wish getting the house decorated for the Holly Folly weekend and the holiday season. The weather cooperated and temperatures were unseasonably mild. We also had Charles, a trusty helper from the UK, acting as foreman and elf supremo, and generally directing the light display. Despite his help (just kidding) we managed to get the house decorated, two Christmas trees and outside lighting and garlands twinkling with gay abandon.

Our very special Carnival guests, Charles (elf supreme remember), Rich and Kevin, Irene and Kathy, Peter and Kevin and Phil all helped make this weekend the fun it always is. John, Paul and daughter Olivia celebrated their twelfth Holly Folly with us. Olivia had a tough year with a new fatal illness but she is fully recovered and looking as lovely as ever.

Unlike previous years, we were not heading anywhere. Instead, my Mum, sister Roni and nephew Sam flew in from the UK to spend Christmas with us. What a treat. The best Christmas present I could have had. They arrived on the 17th for a ten day visit. We really didn’t do much except a little shopping – with the exchange rate being what it is, Roni and Sam went on a shopping spree at the Wrentham Outlet Mall – and a lot of woodland and seashore walks with Potter.

We also had a sprinkling of guests two of which stole our heart. Christina and Carl arrived for a weeklong stay before the holidays and what a couple they are. Christina is really poorly but you would never know. Her warmth, love and energy was so infectious that almost immediately we were captivated by her and fell under her wonderful spell. Because of a weekend snowstorm, they had to extend their stay with us, an added bonus. I hope and pray that if ever I have to face the challenges facing Christina, that I do so with the same positive energy and joy for living as she does.

The family returned to the UK just in time for us to get the house ready for the New Year guests arriving. We had a really great house this year which made the celebrations all the happier. It also took our mind of the fact that Peter, our manager, was going to be leaving on January 1 to begin the next stage of his journey. He will be teaching English to 7th and 8th graders at the Montessori School in Springdale MA starting on January 2. More about that in the January bulletin.

It just remains for Trevor and me wish all our friends around the world a very happy New Year. We hope it brings you all that you wish and happiness, good health and contentment throughout the year.

NOVEMBER 2007 and just like previous Novembers, the month turned out to be a busy one. After a hectic October, the first few days of the month were peaceful and quiet. This gave us time to catch up on a few projects that we stored up during the summer. Nothing major mind you, those will have to wait until the New Year.

Traditionally, November is quiet, so we traditionally take a short vacation after the end of season. This year we headed for a 10-day vacation in Nevada, Utah, and Arizona with Gary and Richard, two close friends from the UK. We’ve known Gary for over 20 years when he was a General Practitioner trainee in Trevor’s medical practice in London. About 5 years ago we met Richard and last year, we attended their Civil Union in London.

On Nov 10, we all met in Vegas and immediately headed to Springfield in Utah, a small town just outside Zion National Park. By the time we drove the three hours to our first hotel, it was dark and getting late. What we hadn’t realized is that there was a one hour time change, so that by the time we a freshened up and thought about dinner, most of the restaurants in town were already closed. Thank goodness for the local pizza shack; great pizza and a couple of cold beers really hit the spot. When we opened the drapes the following morning, the view from our room was spectacular. We were surrounded by mountains of red rock and trees in their full fall color. When we arrived the previous night we had no idea of the beauty that awaited us.

That morning we headed to Bryce Canyon. We were totally unprepared for what we saw. Bryce Canyon is one of the most amazing landscapes I’ve ever seen. I can’t adequately describe the beauty and majesty of the canyon, so I’m not going to try. Just know that if you every get a chance to see it for yourself, DO IT!

The following day we attached the famous “Angel’s Landing” climb in Zion National Park. Now, you have to know that Trevor is terrified of heights; he actually froze half way up the tower in Siena. So, when we started the climb we had no idea what we were letting ourselves in for. The first stage was gentle, giving no warning of what was to come. Our first challenge was climbing Walter’s Wiggles, a twisted series of 21 switchbacks leading from Refrigerator Canyon to Scout Lookout, 1000 feet above. And this is where the story really begins! The distance to Angel’s Landing is only 500 feet but to get there you have to climb long pathways only 3 feet wide with 1,000 foot drops on either side, or scale the rock face holding on to chains driven into the rock. And guess what, Trevor made it to the top. How? By sheer determination, and by no looking down. I’m just thankful he kept his eyes open. The view from the summit was breathtaking and a place to catch our breath. The return journey was as difficult at the assent, just in reverse. Two tips if you ever decide to make the climb, don’t do it during the middle of the day, it’s far to hot; bring plenty of water and wear good shoes.

Our next stop was the Grand Canyon, which turned out to be a little disappointing. I think it was because of our experiences in Bryce and Zion National Parks and because the Canyon is just SO big. Of course, it was spectacular but it was difficult getting any true feeling of its size and scale.

We then headed for a two-day stay in Sedona. We really lucked out with our guesthouse called Boots and Saddles. If you every plan to stay in Sedona, we couldn’t do better than staying here. We attempted to climb Cathedral Rock but we started to late in the day and had to abort our climb two thirds of the way up because the light was going.

Our last two days was spent in Vegas, and as Gary and Richard had never seen the city before, we acted as official tour guides. We stayed at the Mirage, which is looking tired compared to other hotels on the strip but it was convenient for getting to places. We saw the latest Cirque du Soleil show “LOVE” based on the Beatles music. It was a bit like the curate’s egg – good in parts.

We all returned to the Provincetown just in time to prepare for the Thanksgiving festivities. We celebrated our favorite day with 10 friends which included five guys from the UK, two from Germany, one from France and two Americans and a couple of converts (us). We over-catered, over-ate and over indulged but did we have fun!

No sooner had we put pay to the last of the turkey when we started decorating the Oxford for the holiday season. The weather was pretty decent so hanging the outside lights was a joy. We decided that less is more so kept our lights untypical minimalist. Whilst all this was going on, the blue spruce tree in the back garden had a much needed haircut. She now looks slimmer and tighter, and the arborist said that the tree should thicken up nicely over the next couple of years.

The good news is that we completed all our outside tasks in time for the arrival of our Holly Folly guests and the frigid weather that descended on us on December 1. How’s that for timing!

OCTOBER 2007 and the weather was quite wonderful. I know people say that the Brits (even the ex-Brits) are obsessed by the weather but, come on, it really has been a fantastic fall this year. I thought last year’s was great but this year takes the prize. The foliage wasn’t quite as rich as in previous years but that’s because of the dry summer we had this year. I guess you can’t have it both ways.

Business continued at a pace and we had the best October to date. I suspect that the weak dollar accounted for the increase in European visitors this year so as they say, “it’s an ill wind…” As I’m sure many of you know, October is the town’s Events month, starting with the annual Mates Weekend, followed by Columbus Weekend, Women's Week, Fantasia Fair, Round-up Weekend, and all rounded off with Halloween. There was great energy in town which seemed busier than it was in June.

Trevor headed back to London for a week to be with the entire Pinker clan for his uncle’s Memorial Service. Uncle George (aka Sir George Pinker) was the Royal Gynecologist for many years, taking care of HRH Queen E II, Princess Diana and other members of the extended royal family, and abroad. He delivered a number of royal and celebrity personages including Prince’s William and Harry. Sadly, George passed away in March after battling Parkinson’s disease for several years. The Pinkers came together from Canada, South Africa and the States and it was one of those hatch, match and dispatch occasions when both sides of the Pinkers came together. Trevor’s parents are now the head of the family so for them to have three generations together was quite something. The Memorial Service was quite the social occasion with over 800 family and friends attending. A soprano from the Royal Opera House and the London Chorus sang and several dignitaries gave readings and told stories about George’s life. The story I love goes that during the interval an performance at the Royal Opera House a lady went into labor. The house manager knew that George was in the audience so he rushed into the Crush Bar and asked in anyone knew Sir George Pinker. At which point 20 70 women raised their hands. Lovely story. The day after the service, all the Pinkers were names in the Royal Court Circular of the London Times, now there’s posh for you!

On the Pink Choice front, we had a great article published in the Cape Cod Times which generated great traffic to the site. The exciting news is that we’ve been asked to work with a large Canadian ad agency to be part of a national media campaign for the Canadian Tourism Commission. This should keep us busy during the winter months!

SEPTEMBER 2007 started with wonderful weather that continued through the month. We had such warm weather that it really didn’t feel like the early fall. It was hard to believe that only two years ago we were reeling from the devastating news of Hurricane Katrina and Rita. We kept out fingers crossed that this season didn’t live up to the expert’s forecasts. The Labor Day weekend was fun. The Annual AIDS Support Group’s Silent and Live Auction raised close to $100,000! Yipeee! The garden continued to bloom and looked better than ever, thanks to Trevor’s TLC. We had a wedding later in the month so keeping the flowers coming was a priority.

This is always the month when European friends come to visit. Michael, from the UK, stayed for several days and this year it was our time to cook him dinner; we had a lot to live up to after his gorgeous gourmet Thai dinner he cooked for us last year.

Tim and Jeff tied the knot in the front garden with their families and friends looking on. It was THE perfect weekend, the sun shone on the happy couple. Their families and friends were some of the nicest people to have stayed with us. I won’t forget the look on Tim and Jeff’s faces when a flotilla of peddle rickshaws turned up to parade them and their parents along the length of Commercial Street.

I can’t believe that it is a year since my sisters and I moved my Mum into her new home. The amazing thing is looks like a mini-version of our family home in Torquay. Over the summer, my sisters and a gardener landscaped her little patch of England, making it more user friendly for a lady of Mum’s tender years. She likes nothing more than sitting in her garden chair with one of her many cups of milky coffee and keeping an eye on the sparrows, hedgehogs, squirrels and magpies that try to gain control of her garden.

Pink Choice is going great guns and keeping our brains working. I’ve started writing a monthly blog for a British gay/lesbian up market site called refresh - www.refreshlite.com It give us good exposure to the UK GLBT market and allows to push US destinations to the Brits, particularly with the dollar being so weak.

AUGUST 2007 and a great month it was too! I know the British are renowned for fixating about the weather but it was a pretty decent month. Compared to last year, we had very few high temperature/humidity days. In fact, we actually had the first tastes of fall during the third week of the month, cool, sunny and calm.

Before going any further, Trevor and I want to thank so many of you for your cards, emails, calls and flowers following the sad news of Jessye’s passing last month. It’s taken a while for us to stop welling up every time we did something that normally involved Jessye and your thoughts and words helped enormously. I’m also happy to report that Potter is back to her old self. It took her nearly 2 weeks to come out of a real funk, and it was clear she missed her playmate and comforter. Pots really didn’t understand why Jessye was no longer around. On walks she would keep looking behind her as if to see where Jessye was. We do miss Jessye very much and thank you so much for sharing in our loss.

Now on a more up-beat note, let’s see what happened this month.

First, we celebrated the first anniversary of PINK CHOICE – www.pinkchoice.com It’s hard to believe that it was one year ago this month that we launched the site during the Carnival Parade on August 17, 2006. Since then, the sight has grown substantially in size, in membership and the numbers of visitors to Pink Choice. New destinations and properties are being added each day and we are beginning to see evidence that other sites and blogs are noticing our presence on web. Two months ago we took on a media consultant to help us spread the Pink Choice name.

And talking about Carnival, once again we enjoyed a houseful of great friends and fellow exhibitionists, who return year after year for this fun and crazy week. The theme this year was “Fairy Tales”. We chose “Alice in Wonderland” or as we called it, “Alicia in Wonderland”. Well, when you have Michael as Alice, (and a pretty fabulous Alice he was too), we just had to rename the principle character. Each guest took on other characters – Sir Charles as the Queen of Hearts (nothing like type casting) and a perfect likeness to Julia Childs, Ed and Bill as the twin Kings of Hearts, Rich and Kevin as Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum; Irene as door mouse; Kathy as March hare, Peter as the Cheshire cat; Trevor as the White Rabbit and yours truly as the Mad Hatter. Sadly, Duncan wasn’t able to work his magic this year because of other commitments which he couldn’t escape. But Trevor came up trumps at the last minute with created a mobile tea party complete with huge teapot, cups and saucers. The parade along the three miles of Commercial Street was a hoot and the city fathers guestimate that this year over 80,000 people lined the route. Check the photographs on this site in the Guest Scrapbook.

During the Carnival week we also celebrated the 3rd wedding anniversary of Peter and Kevin and the 1st wedding anniversary of Irene and Kathy, followed by the 3rd wedding anniversary of Rich and Kevin. The bubbly flowed for days!

August was also the debut of Tim Babcock, our manager of the Beaconlight for 4 years, in a production of the one man play “I am my own wife” by Doug Wright. I say one man but he had the challenge of creating 35 characters. All I can say is that he was absolutely FANTASTIC. For the first time, I stopped watching Tim the actor, instead I witnessed the telling of a transsexual’s life story as told by Charlotta. The play is extremely challenging on many of levels but from the critic’s reviews, Tim met each challenge head on and triumphed.

We also had a visit from Keogh and his partner Tim now living in DC. Keogh was our manager here about 4 years ago and he is now heading towards his PhD studies. He looked as handsome as ever and he was really happy and excited with his life.

Now here we are, on the last day of August, heading towards the Labor Day weekend and the onset of fall. If the weather stays as delicious as it is today, we will be very happy.

JULY 2007 started with the annual July 4th week. Perfect weather and would you believe it, no mosquitoes! What a difference a year makes. Potter went into her usual quivers at the first sound of fireworks so we spent the evening trying to keep her calm. We heard the fireworks were spectacular this year and even the synchronized rain didn’t dampen the spirits of the thousands of people lining the harbor to watch.

After the holiday week, we settled into full houses and the return of several guests we hadn’t seen for a long time - Gari and Pete from Toronto, Bill and Jody from Palm Springs, John and Roman from Dallas, Don and Joe from Schenectady, Paul, John and Liv from Hartford - to name but a few. Two very special friends, Jan and Sara, popped in for supper whilst on the Cape for a medical conference. On July 29, they had a civil union ceremony in Princeton on the day of their 11th Anniversary.

July is also the month for the annual visit of the Belz family - Eddie and Lori, and their two daughters, Talia and Sivia. Talia is growing into a really beautiful little lady, full of energy, imagination and questions. Her baby sister Sivia has grown amazingly over the past year – as babies do! Sivia, is just a big bubble of fun and has discovered the power of her lungs. Such a voice and such a wicked smile.

I’ve kept the saddest news to the end. On Saturday, July 28, just three weeks before her 13th birthday, we had to put Jessye to sleep. It happened so quickly that we’re still coming to terms that she is no longer part of our lives. She suddenly went into acute heart failure. In less then 24 hours, there was little the vets could do for her.

Jessye has been with us since 1994, our first year in Provincetown. She’s watch over us these past 13 years, with those deep brown eyes of hers. She was a great sniffer and could spend minutes sniffing the tip of a branch or a patch of moss in the woods. She also loved to roll into her back, legs in the air, and wriggle in the sand on our dune walks. I’ll always remember her performing this maneuver and slowly sliding down a sand dune, on her back, head first. Jessye could hear us opening her cookie jar from two blocks away and distinguish the sound of a UPS or Fed Ex truck coming down Commercial Street. She knew that when they stopped, she got a cookie! Jessye offered unconditional love and in return she was loved by so many friends who have stayed with us over the years.

Jessye is going to be greatly missed by us all.

JUNE 2007 I know I’m a bit tardy with the June bulletin but somehow July seems to have moved along more quickly than usual. Memorial holidays, wedding anniversaries and birthdays are all a happy memory and we gently settled into our summer routine. Lil’ Pete has settled in and keeping us and our guests happy.

After the sad demise of the Birdman Competition last year, together with Greg Daniels of the Porch Bar at the Gifford House, we hosted what has become the annual deck party for the Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project. Over 30 friends from Boston and Provincetown attended and we managed to raise over $5,000 of much needed funding.

This was also a month for celebrations. First, the birthdays.

My nephew Sam received the “key of the door” when he turned 21 on June 14. He’s training to be a tree surgeon and will be attending horticultural college in the fall.

His sister Katy celebrated her 26th birthday in Phnom Penh where she is currently Cambodian co-ordinator for UNIFEM. I heard through the grapevine (don’t tell my Mum I called her that) that Katy is likely to return to the UK in September. This will be great news for the family who I know worries about her a lot. Phnom Penh is not the safest of places!

Lil’ Pete reached is quarter century on June 25. We can well remember his 21st birthday, celebrated in his first year working with us at the Beaconlight.

Jan, a great friend and a regular guest of ours celebrated his birthday on June 6. Then on June 7, Jan and his partner Ron celebrated their 3rd wedding anniversary.

On the wedding front, we celebrated three.

On June 16, Trevor traveled to Canada to attend the wedding of his niece Jenny to another Trevor, Trevor Walz. Because of business, I couldn’t attend but from the photographs I’ve seen, I know it was a fabulously romantic wedding held on the banks of a lake just north of Toronto.

On June 18, we celebrated the wedding of Michael (Brass Key) and Ken (Sotherby’s Realtor) at the Red Inn in town along with over 50 family members and friends. It was a perfect summer’s day, cloudless and calm. Michael and Ken couldn’t have looked happier. We wish them all the happiness in the world.

Then on June 22, we hosted the wedding of Sue and Heidi in the front garden of the Oxford. They filled the house with friends from the south and on a day when rain was forecast, and when it came time for them to exchange their vows, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It was a glorious afternoon, with tears of joy and loads of laughter amongst close and loving friends.

June really was a fun filled month and before we had time to think about it, July was just around the corner.

MAY 2007 My Mum, Dorothy, but affectionately know as DOT.com (it’s a long story) arrived at the beginning of the month for her annual spring visit. She looked great and still has a bounce in her step. Not bad for a sprightly 78 year old I think she brought a pocket of sunshine with her because the weather settled and she enjoyed three glorious weeks. Mum was a great help around the house and as she loves gardening, she spent most days pottering in the beds deadheading and giving us a daily update of what was coming up. We took her for a couple of day trips into Massachusetts and Maine and a couple of trips shopping! And can she shop!

During her stay, our financial adviser and marketing consultant stayed for the weekend with their young sons. Mum loved the little guys and kept them entertained whilst we did some Pink Choice business.

We had one of the best Memorial Weekends for several years. We were full and the weather was perfect - warm and sunny. We had a nice group of people staying and most check in on Thursday and don’t leave until next Tuesday. I had my birthday, the last year of my 5th decade. Next year will be a biggy for my Mum (80) and me (60) so we’re going to have to do something special. Mum mentioned that she would love to revisit India where she spent the first 18 years of her life growing up in Puna, just outside Bombay. So watch this space.

Trev’s scapular has healed after his March fall but he’s developed a strange grinding sound in his right shoulder joint. He’s getting an MRI to see what’s going on but who knows what the prognosis will be. Let’s hope it’s nothing serious and easily mended. I reckon a quick quirt of WD40 should do the trick.

APRIL 2007 and spring continued to evade us with days of cold, miserable weather tinged with just one or two days of warm temperatures thrown in. After several years of help from Tim Callas and his team, we decided it was timely to reclaim control of our little bit of earth and to take up gardening ourselves. There is nothing quite like getting down and dirty in the soil, well, almost nothing! An famous English gardener, Reginald Molehusband, used to reply “The answer lies in the soil” when asked any gardening question. Time will tell. We’ve pruned the roses, cleared vinca out of two small beds fronting the parking lot so we can plant flowering plants we can cut for the house, reseeded the front lawn and reshaping the borders. But you would have smiled at our attempts to calculate the amount of mulch needed for the garden. We reckoned 6 cubic yards would do it but our trusty gardener man giggled and suggested 2 would be ample. We have a lot to learn!

Our good friend Joy McNulty invited us to attend this year’s Seder at the Lobster Pot. This was our second Seder and it was as passionate, uplifting and memorable as the first one.

On April 15, we celebrated Trev’s parents 65th wedding anniversary. Although we couldn’t be with them, Trev’s brother Martin and his wife traveled to the UK to share the occasion. They had perfect spring weather on the day, attended mass in the church where they were married, followed by lunch in the hotel where they first met. Martin said that they received so many flowers that they could have opened a florist shop.

Trev’s scapula is healing nicely and considering he broke only 6 weeks ago, he’s already regained 85% of his mobility. He swears that it’s the acupuncture treatment he’s getting that’s helping to speed up the healing.

There are new owners of Perry’s Liquor Store on the corner of Commercial and Tremont, just three minutes from the Oxford. Scott and Tom ran a highly successful restaurant in Maine for over 11 years before venturing into the wine and liquor business. Besides offering a great range of wines at sensible prices, they also provide fresh baguettes, pates, sausage and cured meats. The guys are a very welcome addition to our neighborhood and we wish them every success.

I don’t want to keep harping on about the weather but it really has been one strange year spring so far. On Sunday, April 15, we had the storm of the decade. This little monster crept up from the south and covered most of the eastern seaboard. By the time it reached us, it was off the coast, churning nicely, and packing one hell of a punch. That night we were hit with torrential rain, sustained winds of 72 mph and a lunar high tide. Many houses on the shore were really hammered and many were flooded with the combination of storm surge and the very high tide. Fortunately, we lost only a few tiles off the roof. For the next three days, the storm held its grip on us but when it departed, we were rewarded with beautiful, warm, summer like weather, perfect to getting into the garden. Which brings me right back where I started. I just hope the good weather continues for when my Mum arrives on April 30 for her annual spring visit. Fingers crossed!

MARCH 2007 and our strange winter weather continues. Temperatures are on a roller-coaster. Our snowfall has been pitiful but we’re not complaining. That just isn’t be right. Mind you, they always say that “it never snows on the Cape!”

Pete, our new manager, is settling in nicely and together we started the ritual spring-cleaning. Trevor concentrated on making new drapes, duvet cover and shams for the Greyfriars Room. Well, we thought it needed a freshen-up. Another room that got “the treatment” was the Magdalen Room. This time is was a total makeover. The new color scheme is a rich sexy Romanesque faux red that replaces the earthy green that was “in” in the late nineties. Whilst we were at it, we gave the common bathroom a new color too. When we’re on a roll, we roll!

This was also a month for visits. Tony Sabadini who was our manager at the Beaconlight during the nineties stayed for a long weekend. He’s doing really well and studying for his MBA whilst working for a hedge fund company in Boston. Well, it’s the thing you do when you’re in your early 30’s. That same weekend, Mart and Shari (Trev’s bro and sister-in-law) arrived from Toronto for a week’s visit. Shortly after, Emma and Greg (niece and husband) arrived to round off a Canadian family visit. It was a shame that the weather wasn’t more friendly.

With the family settled in, Trevor decided to spice up their visit a little. He took the basement stairs (you know, the ones that are as steep as the north face of the Matterhorn) just a tad too fast, slipped and landed on his right shoulder. After a trip to our local medical facility and told “It’s very hard to break a shoulder bone”, they sent him off Hyannis Hospital because Outer Cape had had no x-ray technician on duty. (Remind me why we live at the end of the world!) Again he was told “It’s very hard to break a shoulder bone”, but the x-ray disproved conventional wisdom and yes, he had achieved the almost impossible and had broken his scapula. A nice break though, very clean. The lesson here is never tell Trevor that he can’t do something! I know. By the time I returned from Boston, he was home with arm in sling and not looking very perky. But Trevor being the man he is, the sling was off by day three and his mobility improves daily. You just can’t keep a good man down!

The month ended with my final sessions with my dentist and orthodontist. After two years of treatment, the braces of off and the retainers are in. All I have to do now is pay the bills, and that feels something like off the third world dept.

FEBRUARY 2007 and first big event for me happened on our return from Florida. On February 5th, and after almost two years, I had my teeth braces removed. I now know how some women must feel when they take off their corsets (do they still do that?) After months of teeth scaffolding, gone went the psychedelic smiles (if you’ve ever had braces, you know the joys resulting from eating salad or broccoli and the colorful smile they create) and on came large and slimy teeth that was gentle on the tongue. It really was a strange feeling! Walking out the orthodontists’ office my mind turned to crispy apples, toast, pretzels and toffee (just kidding, about the toffee) Arriving home, Trevor greeted me wearing sun glasses – he said it was because of my new dazzling smile – ya, right! Sarcasm is sarcasm no matter how you spin it!

After 5 days of turning around laundry, dealing with reservations (a good feeling) and generally getting on top of a couple of weeks of mail – snail and electronic- we headed to London for a week’s visit with our families. And it great week it was too.

We first celebrated Trevor’s birthday on February 14 (yes, he’s a Valentine’s baby) with a day at Blenheim Palace, just outside Oxford in the village of Woodstock, followed by dinner in a 17th Century Inn deep in the heart of Northamptonshire.

Blenheim Palace holds all sorts of memories for us. On the way, we passed the hotel where we first clapped eyes on each other, 33 years ago. It’s changed a little but not so much that we didn’t recognize the place. The Palace is at the end of the High Street flanked by beautiful cream-colored stone cottages, a century’s old stage coach hostelry called The Bear, and a street more suited for horses than cars. We entered the grounds through a stone archway that immediately opened onto the vista created by Capablity Brown in the 18th Century, complete with a man made lake and two three arch stone bridges going no-where. The House was built by the first Duke of Marlborough, as a gift from Queen Ann following his defeat of the French at the Battle of Blenheim. OK enough of the history lesson! Blenheim is very military in design but quite stunning. Winston Churchill was born there, the Spencer Churchill’s have ties with the Vanderbilt dynasty and the current Duke (the 7th) lives in the East Wing (well don’t they all). As you would expect, the gardens are quite wonderful too; formal, fountains, statues and views going on for counties.

The following Saturday, February 17, we celebrated Trev’s Mum’s birthday (good manners prohibits me from writing her age) The thrill for me was taking Beryl and Ken to the Great House in Sonning, the place where they met 72 years ago. The hotel used to be called the White Hart Inn and it sits on the banks of the upper reaches of Thames. It was a lovely lunch, made all the more memorable by the unintentional mirth created by the hotel’s organization of lunch service. It’s too long a story but when you come and visit – remind me to tell you – but don’t feel pressurized.

The following day we have a combined Mascilo/Pinker family lunch complete with a skype call to my niece Katy in Cambodia where she’s still working with UNIFEM. 18 hours later we were heading back to Boston and sub zero temperatures. Oh joy!

We ended with month with a start on the annual house spring clean and Trevor making new drapes, shams and duvet cover for the Greyfriars Room. It's a new look and we hope you like it.

JANUARY 2007 and “there is no such thing as global warming” tested the ostrich heads with a crazy mix of extreme weather, both here and all across the country. Even the UK suffered a tornado, 6 inches of snow, then 50+ degree temperatures. We decided to close the guesthouse for the first two months of the year to give us time to do other things, but more of that later.

It’s a year since the new HVAC system was installed and so far it has worked perfectly. It’s also hard to believe that we still have PINK CHOICE under wraps and feverishly working on the site with our designer Vin, Bobbie and John. The exciting event for us was presenting the first PINK CHOICE Awards to the 2006 winners. Actually, “winners” is not quite the right word as the recipients receive the award based on the number of reviews received and the scores given to their properties by guests staying there. You can read all about that by going to the site www.pinkchoice.com and checking out the Pink Choice Blog in the bottom left hand corner of the home page.

The next major decision of the month was “where do we want to go to celebrate our 33rd anniversary?” This year we decided to have a working Pink Choice vacation in Florida and use the time to market the site to guesthouses in Ft Lauderdale, Miami and Key West. That turned out to be one learning experience that was, largely, very positive. We stayed at the Villa Venice www.villavenice.com in Ft Lauderdale – a great guesthouse just two blocks from the ocean and Alexander’s Guesthouse www.alexghouse.com in Key West – really smashing and at the end of Fleming St off Duval. We did good with our choices.

The weather was a little iffy but when you’re going door to door encouraging owners to sign up to the site, cool is good. We spend our anniversary relaxing, having a massage and diner in a local diner, which was an “interesting” experience. Put it this way, for an up market restaurant, the staff needed a little guidance on opening a bottle of wine, and that it was not necessary to fill the ample wine glass to the brim. Having filled my glass to the brim and clearly attempting to do the same with Trevor’s glass, I suggested that half full was quite sufficient. Without batting an eye, he took my full glass and tried to pour some of it into Trevor’s glass. Interesting service I thought. It would have been entertaining but not their wine prices.

We also managed to have lunch with Flavio in Miami on one of those trendy restaurants on the strip. The waterfront was in full swing with preparations for the Super Bowl parties that following weekend. All in all, it was a good couple of weeks. The majority of guesthouse owners signed onto Pink Choice, and we managed to get a break from the NE winter weather.

DECEMBER 2006 There is always a sense of urgency following Thanksgiving, just to get the Oxford decorated in time for the holiday festivities and Holly Folly. This year was no different. Fortunately, the weather was kind so decorating the outside of the house wasn’t the Artic experience it has been in previous years. The other bonus was that we had two British friends, John and David, staying with us and their help was stellar. Within three days we had the house sparkling with lights, Christmas trees and garlands.

John, Paul and daughter Olivia celebrated their ninth (or is it their tenth?), Holly Folly with us. We have watched Olivia grow from a little baby into a lovely little girl over the years. This year, she graduated to her own room! Our other regular guests, Rich and Kevin, Irene and Kathy, Jim and Phil and Peter and Kevin all helped make this weekend the fun it always is.

No sooner had they left and we were heading to the West Coast. We spent the first few days in Las Vegas and managed not to gamble once. Could this be a record? We had some great meals and took in a couple of shows. “Ka” at the MGM Grand was amazing and as good as any of the Cirque shows we’ve previously seen. “Phantom of the Opera” at the Venetian was quite stunning. Staged in a purpose built theater that cost $45 million to build and the production cost over $35 million, the show is shorter than the London production and with no interval. I guess they wanted us back at the slot machines as quickly as possible!

Our next stop was LA. We went specifically to attend a concert at the new Disney Concert Hall given by a very good friend, David Higgs. David is one of America’s top organists and he performed a organ recital of Christmas organ music with the American soprano Cyndia Seiden. The hall designer Frank Gehry also designed the organ façade and we had the pleasure of meeting Manuel Rosales, the organ builder. The day before the concert, we sat in on the dress rehearsal. It was odd just the three of us sitting alone in a 2,500 seater hall listening to David and Cyndia fine tune their program. The following evening, in a packed hall, we shared two hours of great music. The concert was one of those lifetime memories.

Then back to Provincetown with just enough time to do the laundry, repack and head to Toronto for the Christmas holidays with Trevor’s brother Mart and his family. On the way, we had an overnight stay with Duncan (ex-manager) and his partner Rob in Schenectady. Both looked good. Rob is busy nursing a new musical called “Ace” - he wrote the words. It’s getting rave reviews and heading to San Diego for a three month run. Duncan has his hands full with various theatre projects and the “mansion” he now owns. Maggie, their 16 year old dog, is hanging in.

Next stop, Kingston, Ontario and another overnight stay, this time with Shari’s sister Carole and hubbie Peter. They have a great house on the shores of Lake Ontario, with uninterrupted views across the lake. They treated us right royally. Toronto came next for the Christmas holidays with Trevor’s brother Mart and his family. Talk about being spoiled. We had the best time.

On the way home, we made an overnight stop in Rochester to visit two friends, David and Stephen. David is Chair of the Organ Department at the Eastman School of Music and he gave us a tour of the city and the organ school. The treat for me was hearing and

playing a pedal clavichord – the kind of instrument that Bach and Haydn would have played. Who would have guessed that Rochester would turn out to be such a gem of a city. When we compared their property prices to Provincetown’s, it was a shocker.

Trevor and I wish all our friends a very happy NewYear. We hope it brings you all that you wish and happiness, good health and contentment throughout the year.

NOVEMBER 2006 was a pretty busy month even though the season was beginning to wind down. Right after Halloween, Flavio, our manager, headed back to Brazil to spend a couple of months with his family before heading to Miami for the first part of 2007. It’s always sad when it comes to see him off but he looked like he was eager to see his Mum and Dad again. Who could blame him.

It was also the day that I was diagnosed with having Meniere ’s disease which affects my right inner ear. No one knows what causes it and there is no cure, yet! The symptoms are loss of hearing, a continuous buzz in the affected ear and vertigo, which is the hardest to deal with. The good news is that the disease only affects one ear and there is no record of someone getting the disease in both ears. The bummer is that the disease only resolves when I become totally deaf in my right ear and only then will the buzzing and the vertigo disappear. What a trade off! Fortunately, the vertigo can be controlled by medication, most of the time. So if you see me suddenly begin to stagger sideways, do not think it’s because I’ve had one too many, OK!

One week later, we headed to London to see our families and a couple of friends. The good news is that our folks are doing great. My Mum has settled into her new bungalow and loving the company of her neighbors and the closeness to my two sisters. She’s slowly getting her new home the way she wants it and enjoying the chance to buy new furniture and appliances. Trev’s Mum and Dad are also well and happy in their retirement home. We also took them shopping for nick-nacks and some early Christmas presents.

After spending a few days shuttling between them, we headed into London. Our first evening was spent at a reunion of colleagues I worked with back in the early 80’s when I was Personnel Director for Holiday Inns UK. It was quite the evening, catching up with a bunch of people I haven’t seen in over 20 years. Some are now retired, some have moved on to very different careers whilst others are still working in the hotel industry. With over 80 people there, we didn’t get to see everyone but with plans for an annual reunion, there will be other occasions to put that to rights.

The rest of the weekend was pretty hectic. Dinner with friends on three consecutive nights and a couple of musicals – Cabaret and Wicked. The first was dreadful but the second more than made up for the earlier disappointment.

The London production of Cabaret at the Lyric is very dark. The singing was OK, the dancing mediocre. But why the director decided to inject naked bodies into the show for no apparent reason except to perhaps titillate is anyone’s guess. I think he did it in an attempt to take our minds of the production.

By contrast, the London production of Wicked at the Apollo Victoria was stunning in every way. We loved it! Although the stage version differs from the book, the essential essence of the story was there.

The occasion that had the biggest impact on us was on November 11, Armistice Day. We just happened to be walking into Trafalgar Square at Big Ben’s first stroke at 11.00 o’clock. London’s traffic came to a stop. Not a bus, a London cab or a car moved. People stopped walking. No one spoke. No cell phones rang. Even the wind seemed to drop. The only sound was from the pigeons circling over our heads. At exactly 11.02, signaling the end of the two minutes silence in memory of all those who have died in wars this century, jets from the three armed services flew in formation over the Square. Then a transport plane flew over and unloaded thousands and thousands of poppy petals on to the city. Slowly the crowd, still quiet, began to move towards the fountains in Trafalgar Square where they floated poppy petals in the waters and at the same time, the Charter House School Choir sang an anthem by John Tavener. It was a moment I will never forget.

We returned to the Provincetown just in time to prepare for the Thanksgiving festivities. We celebrated our favorite day with 10 friends and as usual, we over catered and over ate. No sooner had we put pay to the last of the turkey when we started decorating the Oxford for the holiday season. Fortunately, the weather was on our side, very mild and dry, so hanging the outside lights was a joy. Unlike our previous lighting extravaganzas, we decided to go a little more minimalist this year, with half a mind to energy conservation as much as anything. But with only 5 days to complete the decorations, we couldn’t rest on our laurels.

The month ended with temperatures in the 60’s. We had difficulty imagining that we were heading into December.

OCTOBER 2006 and unlike October 2005, the weather has been quite wonderful. I think we’ve had one of the nicest falls in a long time, certainly the best we’ve experienced in thirteen years.

Our month started with an empty house, the first time we had no guests staying since April. It really felt strange not having guests around. But the moment soon passed and the house filled for the Columbus Day weekend with family and friends gathering to celebrate the marriage of Chris and Paul. Chris’s mum, Ann, was the perfect wedding planner and she did a fantastic job. The day was a perfect fall day, the Oxford garden still had color and the ceremony was romantic and heartfelt.

Although we have hosted over 30 weddings at the Oxford, each one has been so different but the common thread is always the real sense of love, commitment and happiness shared by the wedding couple and the family and friends witnessing the joining together of two people in marriage. I would dearly love to invite all those who seem determined to take away our right to marry to come and experience a marriage ceremony that has been denied to us for too long. Maybe then they would begin to understand. I always say a silent thank you to our state Supreme Court for having the courage to put right a dreadful injustice in our state. We can only wait for other to follow, and they will!

As I’m sure many of you know, October is the town’s Events month, starting with the annual Mates Weekend, followed by Columbus Weekend, Women's Week, Fantasia Fair, Round-up Weekend, and all rounded off with Halloween. The energy in town changes with each event and by the people it attracts. We love the month because we get to see many guests returning for a specific weekend that we don’t get to see any other time of the year.

The weekend of Women’s Week was a fun filled couple of days for us. We started by celebrating the marriage of two good friends and fellow guesthouse owners, Jim and David of Christopher’s by the Bay; then we celebrated the 50th Birthday of the great singer Suede at a lunchtime party at Lorraine’s Restaurant organised by her partner Michele, and that evening, we celebrated a special birthday party of another guesthouse owner, Tim, of the John Randall House.

My Mum is slowly settling into her new bungalow and from our calls each week she seems to be slowing organizing her new home just the way she likes it. My brother-in-law finished tiling her very trendy kitchen and when we go and visit her in November, we plan to purchase a new flat screen TV and a couple of easy chairs. Best of all, Mum is quickly making friends with her neighbors (if you know my Mum that is not a surprise) and scooping the pot at the weekly bingo evenings. Trevor’s Mum and Dad are both doing well and we’re looking forward to visiting them our November trip.

PINK CHOICE continues to grow. We now have over 50 destinations, quadruple the number we started with. We have over 2,000 registered members and our ranking on Google climbs upwards each day. So keep spreading the word, go to www.pinkchoice.com, register as a member, post a review(s) of places you have stayed for others to read and if you’ve been somewhere not currently listed, then add the destination. That's the end of the sales pitch. We plan to roll out a couple of enhancements to the site in the coming weeks. One will allow visitors to the site to narrow their search based on specific amenities and facilities offered by a property. The other is an enlarged global directory. We're also looking into creating a Pink Choice Blog and in finalizing the physical look of the Pink Choice Award.

SEPTEMBER 2006 started with wonderful weather. The Labor Day weekend just couldn’t have been nicer. It was difficult to believe that only a year ago the US was reeling from the aftermath of Hurricane’s Katrina and Rita. We’re all hoping and praying that we are spared from similar disasters during this hurricane season.

It has been an eventful month with visits from old friends, trips abroad, entertaining guests and major family events.

We had a surprise visit from Alistair, a member of staff from the 2000 season. He hasn’t changed a bit and still full of the dry English humor we love so much. We also had an even more surprising visit from Tim who needed to get away from DC from some well earned R & R.

Michael, a guest from earlier in the summer, returned and offered to cook an authentic 3 course Thai dinner for us. Well, he didn’t have to ask twice. We invited along a few friends, and what a meal we had! To be honest, I’m still not exactly sure what Michael prepared but it was so delicious and brought back fond memories of our Thailand adventures back in 1998. Sadly, being a professional chef, his portion control was a little too good for my liking and there was nothing left for doggy bags. Damn!

Lesley and Denise tied the knot in the drawing room in front special friends and Kate and Cindy who married in our front garden last year returned to celebrate their first official anniversary. Flavio, our manager, celebrated his 30 plus tax birthday.

Lori, Ed, Talia and Sivia made a last minute visit to town over the Labor Day holidays and we got to see that all for dinner. Talia is growing so fast that sometimes it was difficult to remember that she was only 6. Baby Sivia is a poppet and one of those wonderful babies who seems contented with life from the get go!

My niece Katy returned home to the London UK following her year working with the UN in Bangkok. No sooner had she recovered from the jet lag when she got a call offering her a position heading up the UNIFEM office in Cambodia. She had barely enough time to finish her Master’s thesis when she was heading back to the Far East for another year. The good news is that her boyfriend is working in the neighboring country of Laos so they should get to see each other every couple of weeks.

My major life event was moving my Mum from the house she has lived in for the past 53 years, into a sheltered senior citizen bungalow located a short distance from my two sisters, Angie and Roni. They have been helping Mum down-size her worldly possessions for the past couple of months and by the time I arrived at No: 23 Halsteads Road in mid September, there was just the final packing to do and several runs to the charity shops to be made. My Mum did good and really tried to let go of things she had had around for decades. Even after a lot of struggling and decision making, we still managed to fill the removal truck with boxes and boxes of stuff. By the time we unloaded at No 9 Springfield, it was clear that more clearing of clutter had to take place. After a week with her, the bungalow looked like it had been lived in for years and familiar photographs, ornaments, lamps, rugs, china and glass were back inside familiar cabinets and on coffee tables. My brother-in-law Frank had fitted a smashing new kitchen and bathroom with all mod cons prior to her moving in. Best of all, Mum has an 18 sq foot garden in which to play. Trevor and I are heading back to see our families in November so we’re look forward to spending time with her in her new home.

I spent a wonderful late September morning with my peridontist. Whilst gazing out at the skyline of Boston he screwed two titanium posts into my lower jaw, in preparation for attaching two molar crowns later this year. When all is done, I will be able to chew on the left side of my mouth, something I have not been able to do since having the two molars knocked out whilst playing rugby for my old school team some 40 years plus years ago. Those were the days!

And on top of all this, PINK CHOICE is growing by the day. We’ve had over 8,000 distinct hits on the site in the past couple of weeks with an average viewing time of 9.30 minutes. Our list of destinations have risen from 16 to 47 in 5 weeks. Reviews are coming in on a daily basis and we are seeing positive growth in a number of resorts serving the gay and lesbian community. We are learning as the site grows and enhancing the site’s navigation on a daily basis. So check it out for yourself, www.pinkchoice.com and register as a member and you could win a 7 day vacation at the Oxford with $500 towards travel expenses.

AUGUST 2006 and three words sum up the month – hot and humid. Even though we’re surrounded by the ocean we still had several days with temperatures over 90 degrees and humidity to match.

It was the month we launched our new business, a website called PINK CHOICE – www.pinkchoice.com On August 8 at 12.20 the site went live, 4 days before the official launch on August 12, 2006. We wanted to check that the site worked as it should and there were no last minute glitches or gremlins. All the guys at systemarchitecture.net – Vin, Bobbie, Bill and Ethan - did an amazing job and we can’t thank them enough for the patience and creativity. Who would have thought that Trevor’s epiphany of last October would become reality eleven months later. Check out the site and post a review of your accommodation experience anywhere in the world and if you are one for the first 5,000 charter members, you could win a 7 day vacation in Provincetown.

Just to be sure we didn’t rest on our laurels, Carnival Week quickly followed the launch and with it came a house full of friends and fellow exhibitionists who enjoy putting on silly costumes and walking three miles down Commercial Street in front of over 65,000 people. Now what better opportunity to promote PINK CHOICE could we have and we didn’t let the opportunity pass us by. The theme this year was “Gay Paree” and Duncan worked his magic yet again. This time he created a replica of a Paris poster booth that he attached to the back of our RAV4. We needed to car to carry the 2,000 PINK CHOICE tee shirts we threw into the crowd as we paraded down Commercial St. Our guests dressed as various Parisian/French characters ranging from chefs, Tour de France cyclists, Fifi the maid, a couple of Pierots and of course Flavio dressed in nothing more than 6 dozen pink and black feathers, body paint and a pair of very brief briefs! Did we have fun? You bet we did! After the parade we relaxed with supper and wine, exhausted and happy.

Then on August 21 we celebrated Jessye’s 12th birthday. Of course we had to make a special trip to the pet shop for a bag of her favorite cookies. We took Potter too of course, because you know how she hates missing out on treats!

And then before we knew it, August was fast coming to an end and we were heading into the Labor Day weekend. Just where did the summer go?

JULY 2006 started with the annual July 4th week. The weather was perfect except for the mosquitoes! They were out in force this year partly because of the mild winter we had. Most of our guests had plans for the day so we went with the flow. We decided to watch the town fireworks from the local jetty but Potter had other ideas, She has recently become terrified of bangs and thunder, so just as we were heading out, off went the first salvo of fireworks and off went Potter into a shivering fit. We spent the rest of the evening trying to settle her down. It is really sad to see her to frightened.

My niece, Katy, returned home from her year in Bangkok working for UNIFEM’s Gender and Aids/HIV Program team. I can’t believe that at 24 years old, she has done so much. The only downer for her was having to finish her thesis for her Master’s degree from the London School of Economics. No sooner had she settled into life in London UK, when she had another call from the UN offering her a management position in their offices in Cambodia, this time heading up the Gender and Aids/HIV Program there. She leaves sometime in September. That’s my niece!

Trevor had a major family event, the marriage of his niece Emma and her husband Greg. The wedding was held in St Andrew’s, New Brunswick, Canada. Emma and Greg have known each other since 9th grade and both are teachers. We think they have claim to one of the longest courtships in history. With a forecast of rain for their day, they woke to find blue skies and sunshine instead. And what a wedding! It really was a perfect day.

Trevor returned just in time for dinner with our very special friends from Boston, Eddie and Lori, and their two daughters, Talia and Sivia. They always take a vacation in Provincetown in July and it has become a tradition to share at least one roast chicken dinner with them. We have watched Talia grow into a really amazing little girl and her baby sister Sivia, is just a big bubble of fun.

JUNE 2006 With the Memorial holiday behind us, we've settled into our summer routine. Flavio is working again with us this summer; this will be his forth season with us. He is great to have around, always happy and like us, our guests love him..

Sadly the Birdman Competition no long flies. No insurer was prepared to underwrite the event and without insurance the competition just couldn’t happen. But that didn’t prevent us from holding a small fundraiser for the Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project, the organization that created, promoted, organized and benefited from the Birdman Competition, which was their major fundraiser. So on June 22 we hosted a benefit cocktail party at the Oxford, co-hosted by Greg Daniels, manager of the Porch Bar at the Gifford House. Over 50 friends from Boston and Provincetown attended and we managed to raise over $9,000 of much needed funding.

Stephen is now one year into having his teeth re-aligned, separated and straightened. The latest phase of the process was a bone graft to help raise the bone density on one side of his mouth to enable two implants to be added. Not the most pleasant of experiences but not as bad as he imagined it would be. Earlier that week he had a colonoscopy, which found and removed two polyps. So if you happen to be over 50 years old, it really is a good idea to have a colonoscopy, just to be sure nothing nasty is happening.

So here we are, into our 13th season in Provincetown, and only weeks away from the July 4th celebrations. Our new project is fast coming to fruition and we hope to do a soft launch of our new website, PINK CHOICE.

Last October Trevor had an epiphany in the shower one morning and there started this new project. But let us go back and put it in context.

When we first owned the Beaconlight back in 1994, a small travel publication called Out&About was having an impact on the gay accommodation market. Although highly subjective, their reviews and awards established a standard in gay accommodation in North America and subsequently throughout the world. Their “5 Palm” and “Editor’s Choice” Awards became important marketing tools for the recipients. However, since being acquired by Planet Out their prominence as an arbiter of gay accommodation quality and service has diminished.

More recently, we discovered TripAdviser, a site that enables guests to post a review of their accommodation experience. The more reviews a property receives, the higher their ranking in their specific destination. However, TripAdviser primarily attracts reviews from and patronized by the straight market.

And this is where PINK CHOICE comes into its own.

The mission of PINK CHOICE is to be the most reliable, honest and trusted web site for gay and lesbian travelers seeking information about accommodations targeting the gay and lesbian market worldwide.

We believe we have an understanding of the gay travel market. Since we became guesthouse owners in 1994 we have developed an understanding of the enormous value of guest and travel writer reviews. But as gay travelers, we are often frustrated by the lack of such information for people like ourselves.

There are a number of gay guidebooks available but these often become quickly out dated as businesses change hands or new hotels, inns or guesthouses emerge. With the advent of the internet, there are now a number of sites providing valuable travel information to the straight market but none specifically targeting the gay market.

PINK CHOICE will fill this void so that gay and lesbian travelers will have all the information at hand to not only choose a hotel, inn or guesthouse that meets their needs but to be confident in the knowledge that when they arrive there will be no surprises, and they will be made to feel welcome.

Travelers will also be able to score properties they have patronized against a set of criteria that will then be used to calculate their ranking against similar properties in their price range and location.

At the end of each calendar year, the accommodations reaching a certain ranking in each of the four price bands will receive a PINK CHOICE Award.

Our aim is to soft launch the site in last July 2006. Its success will depend on the gay and lesbian travelers who post reviews of their accommodation experience. The more accommodations that are reviewed, we believe the greater the likelihood that future visitors will travel confident in their choice of accommodation. So to encourage reviews, all reviewers email addresses will be entered into a draw, the first prize being a 7 night stay in a luxurious Provincetown Guesthouse PLUS $500 towards travel costs. The more reviews an individual submits, the greater the chances of winning.

We will be announcing the date of the soft launch in the next 3 to 4 weeks.

MAY 2006 and unlike last year, this May was a pretty decent month. The weather was great most of the time and we’ve had the best May ever business wise.

Stephen’s Mum arrived for her annual spring vacation at the beginning of the month and she was a real poppet helping out around the house and in the gardens; and does she love gardening! Mum has the proverbial green fingers. Twigs she stuck in the ground last year have all taken root. At the end of her first week we whisked her off to Toronto for a long weekend visiting Trevor’s brother and his family. Mum spent last Christmas with Mart and Shari, Emma and Greg and Jenny and Trevor here at the Oxford and she was thrilled to visit with them in Canada.

On our first full day we took her to Niagara Falls which were spectacular and almost convinced Mum that once the water had gone over the falls it is pumped back up and recycled. Is that mean or what? After an al fresco lunch Niagara on the Lake we strolled the botanical gardens which were in full spring bloom.

Over the following days we headed to Down Town Toronto, visited the Farmer’s Market and an impressive new arts development on the site of an old brewery; had dinners with Jenny and Trevor and Emma and Greg in their new homes; visited China Town and generally made whoopee. After our long weekend we headed back to the Cape with enough time to clear emails, repack and head to London with Mum.

Our short London visit was primarily to attend the “civil union” of two close friends, Gary and Richard. Dear ‘ol Blighty has recognized the rights of same sex couples and a civil union bestows the same rights and benefits as to a man and a women. Their ceremony was held in “Sketch”, a trendy new restaurant/bar complex on Conduit Street. Trevor read the same Winnie the Poo poem recited at our wedding two years ago. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. After the ceremony, 60 guests and family mingled, chatted, laughed and photographed sustained with glasses of bubbly and delicious hors d’oeuvre.

The night before we met up with our good friend Charles and as is our tradition itwas cocktails at one of those most English of hotels, DUKES HOTEL in Mayfair. They serve perhaps one of the best martinis in London. Then we headed to dinner at THE GREENHOUSE, 27A Hay’s Mews, in Mayfair. We ate there last year and the meal was as good if not better than our last experience. The ambiance, food and service were spectacular: highly recommended but only when the dollar and pound reach parity!

We also managed to squeeze in supper with Stephen’s sister Roni, two visits with Trevor’s parents, a visit to his aged Aunt on her 89th birthday and supper with Stephen’s family before heading back to the US in time for the Memorial weekend.

Unlike last year the weather got better and better with each passing day. The gardens are in full bloom and look spectacular. On May 27, we celebrated our second “official” wedding anniversary and Stephen’s 58th birthday. It was a very good day! We also decided to give Potter and Jessye a summer treat and had their coats clipped. Jessye is a pleased as punch with loosing all her hair. Potter on the other hand, looks decidedly miffed and even seems a little embarrassed. We think they look so cute and hopefully they will enjoy the summer more without all the extra hair.

APRIL 2006 turned out to be a good month, in more ways than one. The weather was pretty wonderful, at least by New England standards. We actually had a spring this year and with the warmer temperatures, the garden greened up 4 weeks ahead of normal. This gave us the chance to get the deck furniture out of storage, to spread cocoa mulch over the flower beds, much to the delight of Jessye and Potter who have gained a health taste for the stuff, to clean windows after the winter snow and rain, and generally spring clean around the house.

Business was also really good and we had the best April to date. We hope this bodes well for the rest of the year. And this was the month Flavio returned from his winter visiting his family in Brazil. And you know how well he took care of us when we were in Brazil last month. We can’t believe that this will be his 4th year sharing our seasons with us. How time flies!

With the coming of spring, Trevor hitched up with my personal trainer Dean and now works out 2 to 3 times a week. The results are showing already. Mind you, I think he’s discovering muscles he never knew he had, and him a doctor too!

Our good neighbors Emily and Carol invited us to celebrate the Passover Seder with a bunch of friends at the Lobster Pot. It was a truly wonderful evening and one that we will always cherish. The words, ceremony, food and friendship left us with lifelong memories.

Four days later, Trevor headed to London for a weeklong visit with his Mum and Dad. It turned out to be a visit with a “sting” in the tail – so to speak. He had a great time with them and when his brother and wife, Martin and Shari, arrived it was quite the family reunion. All went well until the last 36 hours when Trevor contracted a tummy bug that had ravaged Trev’s parent’s retirement home. He spent his last day in his hotel room shuffling between the bed and the bathroom. The flight home was challenging to say the least. The bad news was that the poor lad turned home and suffered for another 5 days. The good news is that he lost several pounds in weight and what with his weekly workouts’ the physical results are impressive.

This was also the month that Duncan, our previous manager and creator of our Carnival extravaganza’s, took the stage as lead in a new musical production of “A Man of No Importance” based on an Oscar Wilde play. Little did know that four weeks later we would make a trip to Saratoga Springs to see him perform. And what an amazing experience that was! But more of that in next month’s Bulletin.

MARCH 2006 and we were on the Road to Rio (and if you’ve never seen those Bing Crosby and Bob Hope movies, you’re missing a treat) On March 1 we flew to Sao Paulo for the start of a three week vacation and one of THE BEST vacations we’ve had. Grego and Flavio, our manager, were at the airport to meet us and acted as our interpreters, minders and guides. Our main ports of call were Sao Paulo, Rio, Buzios and Paraty but we also managed to spend a couple of days visiting Flavio’s family and his home town as well as the lake side home of Milton and Robson, located an hour outside of Sao Paulo.

We have so many stories, too many to write in this bulletin but here are some of our highlighted memories:

The speed of Grego’s driving through Sao Paulo.

Sipping cocktails in 80-degree temperatures at 11.00 pm, BEFORE dinner.

The “favella” slums next to luxury high rise, many with a satellite dish on the roof.

The welcome we received from Flavio’s family.

Flavio’s nephews face when he opened his Play Station discs we’d brought him.

The lush Brazilian foliage, the rich red soil and the rolling countryside.

Our first sight of a coffee plantation.

Milton’s house on the banks of a fresh water lake.

Playing volley ball for over two hours in warm, pouring rain.

Thelma (Milton’s housekeeper) teaching me to samba.

Speeding over the lake in Louis’s speedboat named “Life”.

Swimming under a waterfall.

Begin pulled across the lake behind the speedboat sat in the center of a rubber doughnut.

Flavio’s first attempts at waterskiing.

Toasting my Mum’s birthday with Caipirini’s under a full moon

Four guys synchronizing bathroom duties in Grego’s small apartment.

The view from Miltons 14th floor apartment across down town Sao Paulo.

The fresh produce market in Sao Paulo.

The espresso in Kopenhagen make with chocolate chips and the best espresso I’ve tasted.

The starkness and height of Sao Paulo cathedral.

Seeing Rio from the air for the first time.

Standing at the base of Christ – the Redeemer overlooking Rio.

The day on Copacabana beach; watching the volley ball games; the beach vendors.

Toasting Roni, my little sister, birthday with cocktails on Ipenema beach.

The face of Flavio’s friend, Giovanni, when he saw the ocean for the first time ever.

The Brazilian policeman who squeezed my pee-pee at a police traffic stop.

The poverty of the outskirts of Buzios compared to the affluence of the main town.

The beauty of Buzios town and sea shore.

The statue of Brigit Bardot, who helped to put Buzios on the map.

The statue of the three fishermen hauling nets set in the water just off the town beach.

Flavio haggling over the price of his swimwear and getting an amazing deal.

The long, long drive from Busioz to Paraty via Rio.

The large cobbled streets of Paraty; a nightmare to walk on.

The dense jungle coming down to the ocean’s edge.

Giovanni doing his impression of Cher on the jungle path.

The kitten with the crossed blue eyes sitting on my lap trying to type on the laptop.

The mountain crossing through the mist from Paraty to Sao Paulo.

Saying our goodbyes to Milton and Robson at 2.00am after a late supper.

Saying our goodbyes to Flavio, Grego and Giovanni at the airport.

We had a wonderful vacation, make many new friends, leaving determined to learn Portuguese properly and to return and explore Brazil a lot more.

Our return to Provincetown went off without a hitch and we arrived back on March 21 to find that the HVAC system had been successfully installed and the contractor Perry Borden had organized a cleaner to spring clean the house for us. Now that is what I call outstanding service! Over the next couple of days we got the house ship shape, ready for a birthday weekend. We had invited 14 guests who have become close friends over the 12 years we have been in business in Provincetown to help celebrate Charles (A British friends) 63rd birthday. We all had good ol’ time!

March 25 was the first anniversary of our sale of the Beaconlight and we closed that part of our adventure when we collected the 80 paintings we had loaned the new owners for the past year. During the following week we installed new flat screen TV’s and DVD’s in all guest rooms. So with a spot of painting, tidying up the garden after the winter and refreshing a couple of guest rooms, we are just about ready for another season.

FEBRUARY 2006 is our month of celebrations. We returned from our week in Puerto Vallarta where we celebrated our 32nd anniversary. It was a bit of a shock to the system returning to 20-degree temperatures after enjoying weather in the 80’s.

On Feb 14 we celebrated Trevor’s birthday and at the end of the week, his Mum’s birthday. His Mum and Dad have really settled into their retirement home and they seem to fill their days with games of bridge, bowls and outings.

On February 18 we celebrated our 8th anniversary as owners of the Oxford. Shortly after, we began the installation of the new HVAC system for the entire house. The one we originally installed when we first bought the house failed within three years. It appeared that the ground water we had to use for the geo-thermal system contained too much iron bacteria and clogged up all the pipe work and heat exchangers. If only we knew! The new system is more conventional and each guest room will be individually climate controlled. All being well, it should be up and running by the end of March.

Otherwise, the month seemed to pass by quite quickly and without the cold and snow of the last couple of years. But all we’re thinking of right now is our trip to Brazil starting March 1. Can’t wait!

JANUARY 2006 and what a difference a year makes. January 2005 heralded brutal sub zero winter weather. This year, the total opposite; spring like weather with temperatures averaging 40 degrees throughout the month. On January 22/23, one year to the day of the blizzard of 2005, we had a temperature of 56 degrees. But we’re not complaining. With the soaring cost of fuel, the warmer weather is a blessing.

We kept ourselves busy with projects. One was clearing our basement and crawl space under the main house in preparation for the installation of our new HVAC system in February. After the total failure of the geothermal system we installed when we first bought the Oxford because the contractor failed to test our well water for iron bacteria, we finally settled in a system that allows each room to be individually controlled and uses much of the original AC ducting. Installation starts on Feb 8 and hopefully all should be done by the end of the month.

Our other project is still under wraps but we will be telling you more about it in the next month or two. We are very excited with what we’re working on; it’s a total departure from anything we’ve done before. If all goes well, it should keep us occupied for the next few years.

After a lot of debate, we decided to return to Casa Cupula www.casacupula.com in Puerto Vallarta to celebrate our 32nd “unofficial” anniversary. Happily we weren’t disappointed. Casa Cupula was as welcoming and friendly as we remembered and Don, the owner continues to upgrade the guesthouse. Oscar, Lugar and Carlos took care of us during the day with snacks and cool drinks delivered with a smile. We stayed in the same suite as last year which has stunning of the Pacific Ocean and the setting sun. we also had fun bumping into several of our guests from Provincetown as well as making new friends from Connecticut and Los Angeles. It really is a small world.

DECEMBER 2005 started with the annual Holly Folly Weekend. We decorated The Oxford inside and out, putting four Christmas trees around the house and in our larger guest rooms. Trevor did his usual "over the top" lighting display around the outside of the house. It looked stunning and well...we pulled of the "Best Christmas Lighting" Award again this year. You can see a couple of photographs of the illuminations in the Scrap Book section on this site. We had a great house of guests for the weekend with several of our summer regulars returning to spend this corner of Christmas together. It was like having a house smashing party.

Immediately after Holly Folly, we headed for the UK for our pre-Christmas swing around some of our family and friends. We stayed with Stephen's sister Roni in Surbiton and made daily visits to Trevor's Mum and Dad who now live in an assisted living home near Reading. We also headed "up North" for three days to visit two guests who have become great friends, David and John. They live in a lovely house just outside of Blackpool and within easy reach of the Lake District. We had a great time; laughed a lot, ate really well and caught up on each other's news and stories. We did manage to keep one day for ourselves to do a little Christmas shopping, to take in a show “The Producers” at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and to have dinner with a special friend Charles at The Square just off Berkeley Square - you know, the one where the nightingale’s sing. We had a wonderful meal with excellent service. Highly recommend!

We returned to Provincetown a few days before Christmas accompanied by Stephen's Mum. Within three days, the Oxford was full with other family members, Stephen's sister Angela and her husband Frank and Trevor's brother Martin, his wife Shari and their daughters Emma and Jenny and boyfriends, Greg and Trevor. For a week we catered for 11 people, lunch and dinner, going to 14 people for Christmas Day and Boxing Day. And amazingly there was very little drama in the kitchen, even though the Yorkshire puddings were “slight” over-cooked, the turkey doing a “little” too quickly and the sirloin having to be cooked in four different ways. The lesson is never give guests options or choices. Of the joys of Christmas! Then they were gone and we filled for the New Year celebrations. We celebrated the last day of 2005 with dinner at good friends Rob and Erin and welcomed the New Year fast asleep.

A happy New Year to one and all; we wish you all the happiness, peace and contentment you wish for yourselves and hope that the coming year brings all the good things of previous years and none of the rest.

PS: If you haven’t seen Broke Back Mountain or Jarhead, both are highly, recommended. (If any one other than Gary noticed the Freudian slip, our apologizes.)

PPS: Sadly, the Coyote Moon Spa and Resort is no longer in business. Such a shame! And we swear we had nothing to do with its demise.

NOVEMBER 2005 This is the first month after a long, fun season when we begin to relax a little and take some time for ourselves. After a really busy October, it was time for us to take a short vacation, this time to a gay spa in Tucson, Arizona called Coyote Moon Resort & Spa. We had a ball! The resort is located about 30 minutes from downtown Tucson and occupies part of a 31 acre desert site. It comprises a main house with lounges, restaurant and business center, a series of accommodation blocks housing three to six comfortable rooms plus a good sized heated swimming pool, yoga/Pilates exercise room, well equipped gym, Jacuzzi, and massage rooms. The day temperatures of 80 degree temperatures and 40 degrees at night were perfect. We did an hour of yoga every morning guided by two great instructors, Tom and Maria, who initially took pity on us but after a couple of days had us doing things we didn’t think were humanly possible. Thank god there are no photographs! The Pilate and stretching instructor was a young man called Jason who clearly was passionate about what he taught. Our room rate included a daily massage from James and after yoga, Pilates, aerobics, weight training, manicure (just kidding) it was just what the doctor ordered. We should mention that James has to be one of the best massage therapists we have ever experienced. The week flew by and all too soon we were heading back to a cold, wild and windy Provincetown. So if you are thinking of pampering yourself then this is a vacation for you and highly recommended.

The day before we left for vacation we received the wonderful news that two very special people in our lives, Lori and Ed had become proud parents for the second time. Lori gave birth to their second daughter, 7lb 13oz, whom they named Sivia. So now Talia will have a sister to share and grow together. We couldn’t be happier and we wish Lori, Ed, Talia and baby Sivia all the love in the world.

We returned home from Tucson in time for our manager, Flavio to make his radio debut on our local radio station WOMR, 91.2 fm or www.womr.org. Stephen has had a three hour classical music show for nearly 10 years but this summer he decided to change his format to a more generic one. He renamed it the Wednesday Afternoon Mix (WAM!) and now plays all kinds of music: classical, jazz, rock, ballads, blues etc. Flavio is from Brazil so it was a perfect fit to create a program of Brazilian music and Brazilian composers. We had a blast and from the calls we received during the program, we had a hit on our hands. Once Flavio overcame his nerves (which took all of 10 minutes) he quickly settled into his stride, explaining the different types of Brazilian music we played and translating the words for us. We plan to do three more programs in the New Year.

The following day was Thanksgiving, the best holiday of the year. This year was a quieter affair to some we have had in past years but we shared our turkey with eight close and special friends. As usual, we over catered and still have half a turkey in the refrigerator!

Directly following turkey day, we started decorating the Oxford in preparation for the annual Holly Folly Weekend which is always the first weekend of December. With only one house to focus on this year, Trevor and Flavio worked on the outside decorations and Stephen on the inside. Fortunately the weather co-operated this year and we managed to get the outside decorated without suffering from frost bite.

OCTOBER 2005 and it’s all about the weather! Raindrops keep falling and falling and falling! It’s been one of the wettest Octobers on record and we didn’t get the worse weather by far. Fortunately, the first weekend of the month couldn’t have been more perfect for Kate and Cindy’s marriage, held in the front garden of the Oxford. On a beautiful early fall afternoon fifty guests joined them in celebrating their wedding which was followed by a reception on the back deck. It was a really smashing day and the happy couple looked stunning.

We felt really sorry for all the people who planned to go leaf peeping this year. The weather turned really nasty from early October with bad flooding in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. We had overcast skies and rain for 8 consecutive days and we didn’t glimpse the sun until the middle of the month. Fortunately we missed the worse of the rain and we have the added benefit of living on a sandbar. So flooding was minimal, so far!

October is now the town’s events month, starting with the annual Mates Weekend, followed by Columbus Weekend, Women's Week, Fantasia Fair, Round-up Weekend, and all rounded off with Halloween. Each one brings different energy to town and we get to see many guests returning for specific weekends.

Stephen’s Mum made her annual pilgrimage to visit with us. She is always fun to have around and we’re continually amazed at her energy. Two weeks just flew by and Trevor returned with her to the UK to visit his Mum and Dad for a week. They spent the weekend in Bath, visiting old neighbors and seeing the sites. It’s hard to imagine that it was a year ago that Trevor’s Dad scared the b’Jesus out of us when he suffered a bi-lateral subdural haemotoma. Now one year on he’s as good as ever.

We ended the month with a great family wedding. John and Paul have been guests of ours for over seven years, ever since Olivia came into their lives. Every Holly Folly, they joined in the celebrations in town and we got to watch Olivia grow in one year increments, each year a little taller, a little more aware of the occasion and a little more lovely. This year, they broke with tradition and stayed with us during the summer and it was during this visit they decided to legally marry. To our great delight they asked if they could hold the ceremony at the Oxford and then decided to book the entire house for the family and close friends. On Saturday, October 29, they exchanged their vows and rings in the drawing room and became the twenty eighth same sex couple to legally marry at the Oxford. The warmth and love that filled the house was truly palpable and even the Nor’easter that blew throughout the day couldn’t dampen anyone’s spirits. It was a very special day and one we will fondly remember.

We would dearly love to invite all those who still try to take away our right to marry to come and experience a ceremony we have been denied for too long. May be then they would begin to understand.

Then it was Halloween (need we say more) and who would have guessed that on the last day of October, we would be in tee shirts, walking our goldens, Jessye and Potter on the dunes in 65 degree temperatures, under clear blue sky and glorious autumn sunshine.

SEPTEMBER 2005 started with wonderful weather and a wonderful wedding. Tom and Bruce tied the knot in the gardens of the Oxford in front of their extended family and friends on the most perfect early fall day. The bluest of blue skies and warm sea breezes were the order of the day and they provided a wonderful backdrop for a very special wedding.

Of course the event that overshadowed everything this month was the devastation to people, animals and property that Hurricane Katrina unleashed on the Gulf coast followed by Hurricane Rita. Our thoughts and prayers go to all those who survived these horrific disasters and we hope we will be able to offer more tangible and practical help in the New Year.

This was our first year since running businesses in Provincetown that we haven’t had the seasonal exodus of staff. Fortunately Flavio is staying with us throughout the rest of the year until he returns to Brazil to visit his family for a couple of months. But he plans to return to us for the 2006 season.

Lil’ Pete is now in London for three months on his teaching secondment at the Hempstead secondary school. His last email was really great to read; full of excitement about being in London for the first time, discovering a city from all perspectives and teaching within a different education system.

We also had a surprise visit from Alistair, a member of staff from the 2000 season. He hasn’t changed a bit and still full of the dry English humor we love so much.

Stephen's niece Katy is now totally settled in Bangkok with the UN. She’s off to Cambodia at the end of the month as one of the organizers of a Pac/Asia conference on AIDS education. Sam, Stephen’s nephew, went up to Oxford to start his BA degree. Oxford seems to be a magnet for our family.

Jessye had minor surgery on both eyes and is almost back to normal. Potter sensed she wasn't too well and stayed close just to keep an extra pair of eyes on things.

We started the month with a wedding and ended with another. Kate and Cindy tied the knot on our front garden infront of 50 family members and friends. The weather could not have been nicer, one of those beautiful early autumn weekends with unbroken sunshine and warm breezes.

AUGUST 2005 Three words sum up the month – hot and humid. Even though we’re surrounded by the ocean we still had several days with temperatures over 90 degrees and humidity to match. But when we remember the dull, cold weather of last August, we’re not complaining.

The first big event was celebrating Trevor’s brother Martin’s 60th birthday on August 13. Trevor flew to Toronto as a birthday surprise and joined the family and friends for “Marty’s Party”. From the photos it’s quite clear that a great time was had by all.

Then we were into the week of Provincetown Carnival 2005. Because the parade is always held on the third Thursday of August, Carnival came earlier than usual this year. This year’s theme was “Hero’s and Villain’s” and the Oxford’s entry was “The Trojan Horse” – you can see more photographs of our entry in the Guest Scrapbook (bottom right hand corner of the home page) Duncan Morrison (who used to be our Manager at the Oxford) surpassed himself this year. To the amazement of our guests and neighbors we watched him create the horse from a pile of timber and fiberboard. The horse stands over 12 feet high, 12 feet long and 5 feet wide. It is a beauty which we named “Camilla”. We chuckled when we watched him convert 8 broom heads into the horse’s mane. Then came the parade. Warriors, togas and slave boys, oh my! (Thanks Katy) It's true, Provincetown sure ain't Kansas! Over twenty guests and friends walked the three and a half mile parade route starting in the East End and ending at the Coast Guard Station in the West End, just a block from the Oxford. So convenient for getting Camilla back to her paddock for the night. Flavio, our manager, danced the entire way, adorned with feathers and little else. A real crowd pleaser! We were really thrilled to win the top prize this year “Best Overall Float”, in our opinion justly deserved by Duncan for all his hard work. We’re still waiting to hear what next year’s theme will be, we’ll keep you posted.

This was also the month for visits from several guys who have worked with us over the years. Lil’ Pete Scaramuzo was the first and he’s heading off to London, UK for four months on a teaching secondment; then Tim Plant stopped by whilst enjoying a long weekend away from his hectic life in DC; Tony Sabadini, our manager at the Beaconlight several years ago, visited and is now heading back to university to take an MBA, and lastly, Keogh Visconti flew in from the West Coast to celebrate a friends 40th birthday and to enjoy Carnival week. He’s also returning to university to read for his PHd in comparative literature. We’re always so pleased to see our adopted family and to see how each is growing and flourishing in their lives and chosen careers.

Then on August 21 we celebrated the 11 birthday of Jessye, our golden retriever. Of course we had to make a special trip to the pet shop for a bag of her favorite cookies. We took Potter too of course, because you know how she hates missing out on treats!

And then before we knew it, August was fast coming to an end and we were heading into the Labor Day weekend. Just where did the summer go?

JULY 2005 started with the annual July 4th week. The weather was perfect except for a few bugs! This was our first July 4th without the Beaconlight and it felt a little odd. Most of our guests had plans for the day so we went with the flow and enjoyed our first July 4th with friends in the East End. It was a little odd watching someone else worry about the catering and making sure that everyone at the party had a good time. We certainly did. The town fireworks were as spectacular as ever and walking back to the Oxford through the thousands packing Commercial Street was an experience one only needs to have once in a lifetime!

Stephen's niece, Katy, finished her Masters at the London School of Economics and three days later she received a call from her boss whilst she worked in Fiji asking if she was interested in working for UNIFEM in Bangkok as part of the Gender and Aids/HIV Program team. And guess what, Katy left for Bangkok on July 27. This gives us another good reason to revisit Thailand. As if we needed one.

Even though we no longer own the Beaconlight, the really nice thing for us has been the steady stream of guests who came over to see us at the Oxford. We do miss all the fun we used to have at the Beaconlight and it means a lot to us to see guests who have become friends over the years and who want to take the time to come visit. We also had our annual visit from Eddie, Lori and Talia from Boston, MA who are very special to us, as well as two very special ladies, Janet and Sara, from Princeton, NJ.

We also managed to get a head start on our walking float for next months Carnival 2005 – “Hero’s and Villain’s”. After a false start, we have a great theme which unfortunately we can’t divulge at this time. All we can say is that we could be heros or villains, it just depends whose side you’re on. It also goes without saying that it will be huge, spectacular, and awe inspiring, and with over twenty friends taking part, our biggest walking float yet. Watch for photographs on our site during August.

JUNE 2005 With the first big holiday behind us, we've settled into our summer routine. Flavio is working again with us this summer; he has worked with us for the past three years at the Beaconlight. He is great to have around, always happy and always finding something to do.

The first event of the month was the annual Birdman Competition, held on June 5. This will the third year it’s happened but it almost didn’t! Just 36 hours before the event, the insurers pulled out saying that they decided not to underwrite water events any more. After a lot of frantic phoning, the event went ahead but instead of jumping 30 feet into the harbor as planned, the competitors jumped into a local swimming pool. The important thing is that the Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project raised over $10,000 in much needed funding.

Stephen decided that it was about time to sort his teeth out (like they ever needed sorting?) It’s a long story but his dentist told him that he had too many teeth for his mouth which resulted in crowding, which resulted in over-biting, which wasn’t going to get any better as he got older. The answer, to pull a tooth and attach braces to make his teeth align properly. So now he is like a teenager (he wishes) and has to change his diet to food that he can easily chew. The good news is that all should be well in about 18 months time.

We had a celebrity staying with us. Alastair Appleton, the presenter of “Cash in the Attic” on BBC America stayed with us over the second weekend of June. He is a really smashing guy and even better looking in real life than on TV. And this is possible. He was filming a new TV show in New York and Boston and decided to grab a couple of days on the Cape.

So here we are, into our 12 season in Provincetown, owning and running just one guesthouse now and hoping to have a little more time to enjoy the summer. We’re also planning our next project which is a drape/curtain making business called Provincetown Interiors – “Sewing up the cutting edge”. We thought we could capitalize on the skills we’ve developed over the years and make drapes for other people. There seems to be a market for it at this end of the Cape, so we’re going to test the water this winter. It’s the kind of business that we can switch on and off when we want to, and one that could keep us occupied in the winter months when the guesthouse business is at its quietest. Watch our site for further information.

MAY 2005 New England in May; cold, wet and darn right miserable. Having spent a week in the sun in San Francisco, the Cape’s spring weather came as a real shock to the system. But after a week back in Provincetown we heading East for a week in the UK. We flew back with Stephen’s Mum and spent the week with Stephen’s sister Roni, catching up with his nephew Sam’s stories of his six months in Botswana, spending time with Stephen’s other sister Angela in Towcester and visiting Trevor’s parents in their retirement home in Sindlesham. Navigating the M25 during rush hour was quite an achievement; we’ve forgotten just how crazy English drivers can be.

At the end of the week we managed to grab a couple of days to catch up with friends in London. First we met up Charles, a long time guest of ours who took care of us right royally. First it was cocktails at one of those most English of hotels, DUKES HOTEL in Mayfair. They serve perhaps one of the best martinis in London. Then we headed to dinner at THE GREENHOUSE, 27A Hay’s Mews, in Mayfair. The meal has to be one of our top ten gastronomic experiences. The ambiance, food and service were spectacular. Highly recommended but only when the dollar and pound reach parity!

The following day we grabbed lunch at Fortnum and Masons, then headed to the Apollo, Victoria for the first matinee performance of “BILLY ELLIOTT – the musical”. What a great show! Music by Elton John, which was just OK, but the staging and dancing were outstanding. Be prepared and come armed with boxes of Kleenex, this is a real weepy of a show! That evening we met up with two good friends Gary and Richard who took us to a new Vietnamese/Thai restaurant called HAKKASAN, 8 Hanway Place, just off SoHo. London’s restaurants seem to be getting better and better. We had another great meal, in great surroundings. The one thing we remarked upon was the high level of security there. Don’t quite know why.

Then it was back to Provincetown and getting ready for the first big holiday of the year. The weather still sucked; delivering two Nor’Easters in as many days just before the holiday weekend. The gardens looked really good up to then even despite the miserable cold weather. But the storms put pay to the tulips! But, then the weather broke and the Memorial Weekend was bathed in sunshine and warmth. What timing! It was strange for us to have only one guesthouse to worry about, but we’re not complaining.

On May 27, we celebrated our first wedding anniversary and Stephen’s 57th birthday. That was a very good day. We also decided to give Potter and Jessye a summer treat and had their coats clipped. Jessye is a pleased as punch with loosing all her hair. Potter on the other hand looks decidedly miffed and even a little embarrassed. You can see for yourself just how much if you check out their photograph in our scrap book. We think they look so cute and hopefully they will enjoy the summer more without all the extra hair.

APRIL 2005 After all the work related to the sale of the Beaconlight, April started on an anti-climactic note. What with the anticipation, packing, moving, storing etc, suddenly we seemed to have time on our hands. But we’re not complaining.

One good thing we did was to revise our wills and trusts, something we had been meaning to do but somehow never getting around to completing. We found a great attorney in Boston who specializes in estate planning, trusts, medical proxies, living wills etc. Acting upon his advice, we now have everything in place.

Then on April 18, Stephen’s Mum came for her annual spring visit. Three weeks this time, with the middle week spent in San Francisco. And what a week it was! We stayed at the Mark Hopkins on Nob Hill and just about did all the sights; China town, the Italian quarter, the piers, Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Japanese gardens, a concert at Grace Cathedral, and loads of really great eating. Mum set the pace each day and we struggled to keep up. We also managed to meet up with Gary (our last manager of the Beaconlight) and his partner Helio. Gary is now General Manager of a smashing hotel just over the Golden Gate Bridge called the Mill Valley Inn, part of the Joie de Vivre Hospitality Group – www.jdvhospitality.com they both seem really happy in San Francisco and it was great to see Gary progressing his career so positively.

After a week of great Californian weather, we returned to New England and more rain and cold weather. But it gave us all time to recover from our week’s vacation.

MARCH 2005 was a month of change. If you haven't already heard, on March 25, we sold the Beaconlight to two guys from Washington DC. This was not an impulsive decision but one that originated with a discussion with a financial consultant in August 2004. The logic of preparing for our more senior years was easy to accept. What was much more difficult was the process of letting go of owning a wonderful guesthouse that has been an integral part of our lives for the past 11 years.

Although negotiations with the new owners took several months to complete, this month was crunch time, when we had to clear our amassed clutter from the house. That was more daunting than either of us expected. But by March 25, crawl space, basement, loft and assorted nooks and crannies were emptied of all our stuff. What we didn't want to pass on to our nieces and nephew went to the local Thrift Store.

So now we have down sized our lives to focus on running the Oxford and to plan to do new things at the end of the year. We have an idea for a new business venture and plans to go build a home somewhere as part of the Habitat for Humanities Program.

Stephen's family are doing new things. His sister Roni qualitied as a massage therapist and reflexologist after studying for the past two years. If you've never experienced a foot massage, you have a treat in store; it comes very highly recommended!

Katy, his niece, is coming to the end of her MA studies at the London School of Economics.

His nephew Sam is thriving in Botswana and loving every moment. He's off on safari in April before heading home in May.

Stephen's other sister Angela, is settling back into life in the UK after spending several years working in the USA. Frank, her husband, has just been been appointed as a senior driving instructor for the Thames Valley Police Force. Guess who won't be stopped for speeding any time soon - just kidding.

Trevor's family have been busy too. His brother Martin and his wife Shari spent most of the month in England finalising the sale of their parent's home.

His nieces Ema and Jenny have both bought their first homes with their respective partners; now how is that for timing!