Tuesday, December 29, 2009

THE DAY OF THE DINOSAURS - AT LAST

THE DAY OF THE DINOSAURS – AT LAST came a few days after Christmas.
It is hard to believe… the birthday dinosaurs and John Deere trucks, fire trucks and heavy equipment are finally out of the van and have been opened by 2 very energetic little boys! What will I do when I don’t have to move the big green dinosaur in order to put the cat’s cages in the van… will I miss the sirens going off on the emergency vehicles every time I hit a bump in the road???? I won’t know what to do with all the empty space in front of the fireplace. Now before you think these kids are spoiled rotten (even if that is the case) let me give you my excuse… several of the dinos were for Caleb’s birthday back in April. We were all packed and ready to go – cats in the kennel – everything – and his Dad called and told us Caleb had pneumonia. Trip cancelled. So, we made plans to go over for Briar’s birthday… Briar’s dad couldn’t get the time off in August, so we aimed for September. This time I was very, very sick. I was still going to try – Lyme’s is not contagious, but my doctor convinced me that if I tried, it could kill me. It is a long trip – 312 miles back door to back door. Once I got better – or well enough to travel – the weather turned very nasty, and we have had a nor'easter every week-end since, and now, there is snow. Sigh. Don’t remind me that I learned to drive in Maine – that was a hundred years ago! So, Ed drove his wife and the boys over here. Caleb finally got to play with his birthday dinosaurs and his Christmas dino-bones. He also likes snakes. We tried to keep this out of his grandmother’s range of vision… Briar was mostly into grab and rip. I guess that is typical for a 4 year old. A couple of times he just opened a package and threw the contents aside while grabbing the next package away from Caleb. The men had fun just trying to figure how to get the things unscrewed and unfastened and out of the boxes. Cousin Joseph liked the noisy ones with the flashing lights. Men never really grow up, do they? I am still not quite sure what this is – just that it was high on Briar's wish list. Caleb had fun with the dinosaur puppet. Eventually they worked their way down to the books and school science projects. Since they were mostly about dinosaurs, they were a big hit, too! After the initial ripping open frenzy was over, Caleb very kindly cleaned the papers off the floor and put the stuff in a trash bag. Don’t you just love it when they get a little age and become helpful? I didn’t have to clean up a thing!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

MY CHRISMOUSE GREETING

THE DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS... a poem, of sorts, with apologies to many...
(copyright js 2006)

T’was the day before Christmas
And all thru the house,
Few creatures were stirring,
Just Rascal and Mouse.

The stockings were hung
Though no chimney was there
In hopes that St Nicholas
Or someone would care.

The kitties were snoozing
Asleep on my bed
While visions of tuna fish
Danced in their heads.

When out on the lawn
There arose such a clatter,
We all jumped to see
Now what was the matter?

A coon or a possum?
A dog or a fox?
Was there an invader
Inside the cat’s box?

Who is it? A giant?
A man or an elf?
My thoughts made me laugh
In spite of myself.

The cats went in hiding
Behind this, under there,
Their fur was still flying
On currents of air.

“Now Rascal and Hadji,
be good little boys.
Come on out of hiding
And play with your toys.”

But the noise it continued
More thuds then a shout
Even Spook was in hiding
And would not come out.

I ran to the driveway
To see what was the matter,
What was the sourse
Of the thuds and the clatter?

I watched as my neighbor
Unloaded some wood
In our once upon quiet
Tranquil neighborhood.

I calmed down the critters
Tried put them to bed
Telling them they were safe,
“Rascal, get off my head!”

“He won’t scare away Santa,
You’ll all be all right.
It takes more than that
To give Santa a fright.

“He’ll be here, I promise,
Curl up and sleep tight.
Merry Christmas to all!
And to you a good night!” Bah Hum Bug!


Get those things off me - NOW!

Saturday, December 12, 2009

MORE WATER!

MORE WATER! My friend Dorothy Perrucci took these shots while on her morning walk. These are near her house, about a half a mile from me. This is a yard, really... not a lake! Anther yard...
Then they had some shopping to do - or maybe it was just an excuse to drive around and see how deep the water was in other places - this is our local Family Dollar ... the moral to this story is NEVER BUILD DURING A DROUGHT. See where the road is supposed to be?
This is the former Meat Barn. One of my girls worked there years ago when we had a cloud burst and her car had water all the way up to the seats! This place got a bit wet! See? The water is all the way across the south bound lane of 13.
And I love this one - this is a reflection turned upside down. Is that a cool shot or what? Thanks for sharing, Dorothy!

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

SPLISH, SPLASH and QUACK!


WELL, ONCE AGAIN, it has rained - and it was enough rain to close the schools. We have had another 2.74 inches of rain in the last 12 hours. Now as an isolated event, that would not be a problem, but it seems to be a weekly occurance lately. We just had a mini Nor'easter over the week-end (see the Santa Train) and have not dried out from that or the couple of nor'easters before that one, starting with the one that lasted 4 days a few weeks ago. AND... they say the one we are supposed to get THIS week-end will bring SNOW with it. Snow before Christmas is a rare event here and usually is an omen for a very cold winter. At this moment, it is 62 degrees, but it hit freezing 2 mornings ago - there was a fine film of ice on the birdbath.









Anyway, as a record of this last 12 hours - here is my "waterfront" and back property - or at least as much of it as I could get to. It was over my boots in places, over a foot deep in a few spots that I could get to - but with the ground so soft, I did not see any point in wading thru the mud and water to see how bad it was. I just stuck to the acre closest to the house. All the barns were surrounded by water. There are little islands where the mulch around plants has built up the land a bit. The blueberry "cage" is an island. The pathways back in the woods look like little streams. Buddha appreas to be sitting lakeside. Again, many of the leaves and sticks are floating on top of the water so it LOOKS like you might be able to walk thru it, but in reality, the water will go over your feet to your ankles. Surprise! I was not out there alone... the geese were flying over, thousands of Snows, heading south. It is always a treat to see and hear the Snow geese.

Sunday, December 06, 2009

WONDER WHERE I'VE BEEN?

WONDER WHERE I'VE BEEN? Come over and visit us at http://onley-spots.blogspot.com/, at the Santa Train!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

THANKSGIVING DAY

IT WAS A BERRY FOGGY DAY. I just had to take my camera out and walk around. The pileated woodpecker was out there banging away - sounds are so different in the fog, have you noticed? But, I was never able to get close enough to get a shot of him. I love the softness of the colors... the contrast in the things close with the grays of the background. The maple out front is almost bare... this week-end's nor'easter pretty well took care of that. But I love the color combinations with the maple and Yule Tide. I was surprised to find this beauty open at the edge of the woods.
I hope you had a good, safe day.