Precarious Eggs

Whilst outside enjoying the unseasonably warm weather my son called to me to come look at something cool he had found.  This always makes me nervous.  The great outdoors can have numerous 'cool' things that make me want to vomit.  It's true.  So, I took a deep breath and steeled myself for the worse and walked over to my son.  What I saw was amazing.

I presume they are spider eggs.

Hanging from a tight rope.

As much as I hate when I unsuspectingly walk through a sticky web I think webs are amazing and beautiful.  And, now, these egg sacs hanging from a thread (a very sturdy thread) just add to my amazement of spiders and the things they can do.

This is 'cool'

I stood out in the snow and cried

It's snowing here in the northeast.  Who's been dreaming of a white Halloween?  Which one of you was it?  Well, it's come true.

Pumpkin seeds roasting on an open fire...

Doesn't have quite the same ring to it, eh?

The snow will probably all be gone by tomorrow, but it is beautiful to look at.  I love the snow.  I love watching it fall.  It is very soothing.  Like watching fish swim, or horses graze out in the fields, or sun shining on your face.  Yes, watching snow fall makes me smile, just as much as that first sun-shiny day after a bitter cold winter.  Is it because I am a gemini?  I like winter and summer.  Fall and spring.  Snow and sunshine.

Today was a grey, miserable day.  It rained all day long.  We spent our day running errands and dodging raindrops and loafing on the sofa watching TV.  Maybe it wasn't so grey and miserable.  But, in terms of weather, it was grey and miserable.  And then, just a few minutes ago I looked out and saw snow.  Actual snow flakes falling from the sky.  It was magical.  I ran outside and looked up.  It was beautiful.  And, then I looked over at Hoss' tree.  Yes, he has a tree.  Or, had...  He passed away a few weeks ago.  I miss him every day.  I look at Hoss' tree and it makes me smile and cry at the same time.  I guess that is the definition of bittersweet.  Whenever Hoss was out back and wanted to relax he could always be found lounging under his tree.  I think he liked the shade of it on a warmer day and the soft buzzing of bees gathering pollen was probably soothing to him.

As I looked up in the sky and watched the snow flakes come down and felt the coldness of them melt on my face and land on my hair... in that moment I knew Hoss was in heaven.  Who else would be sending me down gorgeous snow flakes this early in the season?  Hoss was hanging out with St. Francis and was thinking of us.  He wanted to let us know that that he was thinking of us.  I felt him all around me.

Snow was Hoss' absolute favorite.  Just as much as he liked to lounge outside under his tree on a sunny day he loved to lie outside in a blizzard and chill.  Hoss was the king of chillaxing.

We could all learn a thing or two from a St. Bernard.

I anticipate this winter being quite a bittersweet one.  And, so, I stood out in the snow, turned my face up to the falling snowflakes, and cried.


I love you my darling.

I miss you.

Baseball Dissection

My son loves baseball.  Like, A.LOT.
He loves it so much that, one day, he decided to dissect a baseball.
He wants to know all the ins and outs of baseball-figuratively and literally.

So, we start with an old baseball that was starting to come away at the seams

 By the way, I took all these photos with the Instagram app on my iPhone.  If you don't have it downloaded, do it now.  Ok?  Then come back and read the rest of my post, because, well, that would be the polite thing to do...

My son ripped the leather along the seams

 My daughter helped pose the ball.  This is very important to her.  The girl can pose.  

and inside was a ball.  A ball of yarn

And let me tell you...it smelled!  Really bad.  Like mold and mildew.  

 And, underneath the yarn was a ball.  A ball of rubber. 

A rubber ball.  

 Stinky yarn.

Baseball innards that looks like a face.  

Picasso style.  

What did you do this summer?

Oh, us?  Well, thank you for asking.  Let's see...

Oh, yes, we experienced an earthquake.  That was quite a day.  I thought a tree was falling on our house and we were all going to get squished so I gathered my chickens and ran outside.  My friend, Jen, who is a SoCal native (that's SOuthern CALifornia for us cool people) told me that this indeed is the wrong thing to do in an earthquake.  As she is a SoCal native (again, we're cool) she has experienced a few earthquakes and told me that I should have gone under a sturdy table, or in a doorway, etc...  I am sure you've heard all of these before.  However, being that I am an East Coast native (or, EaCo since I'm cool--right?  That's something that we all say?  No?  hmm... still cool though ;)) I have never experienced an earthquake, but have experienced trees falling over so I ran outside to save myself from being squashed by the tree that I am still sure was going to fall on our house.

Got it?

Let's see, what else did we do... Oh yes!  Survived a hurricane.  You may have heard of Irene?  Now, I use the term 'survived' very loosely.  We have a backup generator and our power only went out for a few hours so we were much more fortunate than some homes and families.  Besides torrential downpours, a few tornado warnings and gusty winds, we fared just fine.  Our county has been declared a disaster area, but thanks be to God, we do not need any assistance from FEMA.

So, we had a memorable summer.  This past August, I have been told, was the second wettest August on record.  So, with all the rain and destroying winds, my poor tomato plants are not doing too well.  They took a thrashing, and well, I just don't want to talk about it.  So much for my homemade salsa with tomatoes from MY garden.  There's always next year--I hope!

I will leave you with one image, and then we are not to speak of my tomatoes anymore.  Too sad...

EaCo represent!

Old Time Movie Stars

We recently experienced a lovely vacation on the Chesapeake. 
Maryland.
Which I once pronounced Mary-Land.  
Once.  
I now pronounce it like everyone else.  Merra-lind.  
Makes no sense to me.  
Like Arkansas.  Should be pronounced R-Kansas.  


Anyhoo, whilst there my daughter channeled old time movie stars.  It was quite delightful.  There must have been something in the water.  


First up: Lucille Ball

Then, the beautiful Grace Kelly:

And finally, Deborah Kerr:

I won't post the photo of Deborah Kerr in this position, as that would just be inappropriate--she's got Burt Lancaster all over her.

Trash Picker

My son has an affinity for Mc Flurry's.  
The ice-cream concoctions that are blended with goodie goodness sold at that fast-food joint you might have heard of.  

hmm...really shouldn't finish a sentence with 'of'.
...of which you might have heard.  There, is that better?

So, after a particularly hot and sweaty baseball practice he politely asked (as all teenaged boys do *ahem*) if we could stop and get a Rolo Mc Flurry.  You heard it right peeps.  A Rolo Mc Flurry.  That would be ice cream blended with delicious caramel Rolos.  

Hold on, I'll be right back...
Love me some caramel.  Or, do you say, carmel. ??  I love them both.

Now, back to my story:
I graciously said 'yes' and off we went.  He finished it on the drive home and promptly threw it in the trash when we got home.  Such a good boy.

A while later we thought the house seemed particularly quiet.  


It's only when it's particularly quiet do you realize how noisy a puppy can be.  There was no scurrying across floors, no stealing socks out of laundry baskets.  It was just oh so quiet.  So, we called our little darling, just to make sure she was still in the house and hadn't snuck out to play with a goat (yes, our neighbor has a goat--that's a story for another day).  After calling out, "Virrrrr-ginnnnn-yaaaaa" this little head popped around the corner:

Did someone call me?  Pay no attention to the cup on my snout.  

It may be stuck, but I don't mind.

It's oh, so DEE-LISH-US.

Today

Today we went to the beach.

It was glorious.

We ate fish and chips.

We played in the water.

We collected shells.

We laughed and sang and ate.  

This picture has me in tears.

These are my babies.

When did they get so big?

I don't like it.

Not one bit.

Well, I love the photo.

But, not the getting older and bigger stuff.  That needs to stop.  

Container Garden

While I wait for this:

to be turned into:

(kidding) (maybe not)

I have these:

  

Some tomato plants (thanks to my wonderful neighbor friend) that I have in a container on our back deck.

I also have these:

Zucchini plants.

The tomato plants are starting to bud.  Is that the right term?

These are the Jelly Bean variety so they will be about the size of a grape tomato.  

Can't wait!!

Hello again, hello

hello?  you still there?  

I'm actually sitting down at the computer to blog.  

hello?

is this thing on?

Come back, please...I'll try to be more regular.  Of a blogger that is.  

Miss you.

Love you. 

Mean it.

Love From Me 2011

I mentioned the Love From Me book in my last post and I just wanted to let y'all know that the book is ready for purchase.  

You can view it here.  

I think it looks gorgeous.  I have already placed my order and cannot wait to have the book in my hands.  

Just to be clear--I get nothing from the sale of this book.  All proceeds from this book go to The Rose Fund which is a registered charity in Nova Scotia, Canada.  

It is a wonderful charity for cancer patients, please read about it here.  

Love From Me

There is a wonderful woman in Canada.

Actually, I am pretty sure there are lots of wonderful women in Canada, but the particular one I am talking about it Sara Harley.

Sara was diagnosed with cancer in November 2010 and instead of wallowing in a 'woe is me' attitude she thought, 'how can I provide inspiration and support to others with this disease?'  Inspired by this thought she decided to create a book of inspirational artwork and photographs that would lift the spirits of the readers.  

And, you know what she called it?

The Love From Me project.

Isn't that a wonderful name?  All we need is love...love...love is all we need... (everybody now)

To get artwork and photographs for her book Sara blogged asking for submissions of peaceful, inspirational themes.  She also created a Facebook page and asked for submissions.  If you are on Facebook please like her page and you will have access to information regarding the book's release, etc...

Now, yours truly (that would be me) submitted a photograph and it was accepted to be part of Sara's book.
Yay me!

And, the even more wonderful thing about the Love From Me project is that all the proceeds from the book go to The Rose Fund c/o the Health Services Foundation in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia.  You can read more about the Rose Fund here.

Please go to the Love From Me blog page and read all about it.  You will see a list of the book contributors too.  Check out all their blogs/websites--you'll be glad you did!
You can also check out Sara's personal blog here.

Love From Me~

PS: Isn't this a wonderful logo?
You can read the story about how Sara created the logo here.

Landscaping: Phase 1 of 15,6879

Our house is situated on a somewhat wooded lot.  Those woods have been encroaching on our yard for the last decade and now it has completely taken over.  

Well, not completely, but almost!  

For the past few years I have been getting estimates and meaning to have some trees cut down and the underbrush cleared, but it never seemed to happen.  

Well this Spring I finally pulled the trigger.  

Men came with chainsaws and cut away at the underbrush:

Men climbed with chainsaws and sawed off branches:

and then climbed higher:

oh, mylanta!  

(c'mon, I know you watched Full House.  Gotta love those DJ Tanner one-liners)

This is around the time when he called for his Mommy and a bottle of milk:

no lie...

This is where he kissed it up to God and 

swung!

From one tree...

to another...

and, yes...while he is swinging around like Tarzan, he has a chainsaw tied around his waist.  

Mommy!!

TIIIMMMMBBBBEEERRRRR....

Good catch!

Then:

Did I mention this is where I would like to plant a garden...

Now:

Wish me luck!

Meet Virginia

Last summer my family started talking about adding another to our fold.  

My husband said 'no more 2-leggeds.'  

And, as much as I begged and pleaded, he would not budge.  

Apparently it takes two to tango so there was not much I could do about it on my own.  

So, we opted for another 4-legged animal.  

When we found out Hoss has cancer and may only have a few months to live we thought, maybe we shouldn't get another dog.  I talked to people who had gone through it before with their animals and they said that we should go ahead with our plans.  

So, we did.  

Virginia.

She's a Goldendoodle.

My husband had meetings in DC and Virginia and got this little cutie in Virginia.   

We named her after her place of birth.  

Bringing her toy to Hoss.  

Not quite sure why she brought it to his tail end, but she's a baby, so she's excused.  

Curling up with Hoss' paws.  

Hoggin' the bed.

  

Anything But a Face

One of my favorite sites, I Heart Faces, is having another contest.  Usually their contests have to include a face, but this time they said no no no, anything but!  So, I immediately thought of this photograph:

It is my mother and her newest grandson.  I just love how both hands have wrinkles on them.  Circle of life.  As you may remember my mother is suffering from Alzheimer's so this photo is a little extra special.  I just love that she got to hold her grandson, even though she won't remember.

xo