Enjoying the indestructible book

No monkeying around. Maybe a little!

One month old Aiden.

Early Summer blooms have arrived.

Dappled Willow

Salix int. 'Hakuro Nishiki'

from Britt & Matt's Wedding last May.

The forget-me-nots are from our daughters wedding last May.

New field stone path I laid with 14 stones transported from VT to NH.

It goes to the side door at the garage.

Japanese Painted Fern from Mom's garden.

 This is the small flower bed we dug up last year

so that the perennials would have more room to grow.

The iris and lilies bloomed for the first time since we moved in.

The white foxglove was dug up from Vermont.

Wine & roses weigela in foreground with broom in the back.

We flew to Florida just as 22 inches of snow arrived in NH.

An afternoon stop at Cocoa Beach.

We spent a relaxing week taking in the beautiful weather and tropical fauna.
Glad we weren't home in New Hampshire with heavy snow creating power outages.
We only lost three large oak limbs in our yard.

Was away, got a nasty cold, visit from Irene...everything is back to normal

We went to St. Louis for of a National Tax Conference. It took place at the Hyatt which is right on the park. Just a walk across the road to the ARCH. Well, I failed to take any good pictures of the arch. It's actually so massive that it is quite a challenge to get a good shot. This one is actually taken in the negative.
And of course you can't be in St. Louis without visiting the Anheuser Busch brewery. Just a few miles down the road. This is the original Brew House from 1891 still in operation today.
On our first day in the city we had beautiful 80 degree weather and headed for the Missouri Botanical Garden. We walked for a good two hours and then had lunch in the new cafe.
This fence surrounds the formal rose garden. I love these fun blown glass rays of sun. And we saw other blown glass pieces incorporated through out the garden.

This is the Jewel Box located in Forest Park, home of the 1904 World's Fair.

Half way through the week I got the head cold. I'm guessing I just was not careful enough about washing may hands while in the airport and plane. Coming home on the plane I was so congested that the pressure in my ears was unbearable. When we landed at 1am I couldn't hear out of either ear and that lasted for two days.

We escaped any major hit from Irene. She just left 3 inches of rain and leaves everywhere.
And we are happy to report that our daughter & son-in-law are fine in coastal Stella NC they are now waiting for the power to come back on.

New beginnings

The wedding on May 28 was wonderful.
(She made her bouquet with broaches and hydrangea: click the photo to see it better.)

Off to North Carolina to live.

Found an apartment with central air!!!!

Adopted two butterscotch kittens in need of a family.
Palmer and Arnold
Lemonade and Ice Tea
White feet & belly and all Tan

Lots of catching up, but I'll make it short

Of course, more renovations!
this time putting a pipe up thru the floor, counters, cabinets, ceiling & into attic

THANKSGIVING IN NEW YORK CITY!

Relaxing after the busy Holidays.

SHE'S BACK...after a summer internship at Epcot.

We're celebrating her return to New Hampshire.

Our daughter on her last day as a Culinary Intern At Epcot.

Leaving was easy, saying Good-bye was tough.
Roommates for a summer.

Spring thaw

The ice is melting quickly on the pond.
This barn and pond are on the farm where I grew up.
The farm house and barn belong to another family now.
The pond and the 60 acre woodlot are still family owned.

The water flows over the spill way on its journey downstream.

Just a few days away can do wonders!

As we were nearing the end of the house move and closing I got this need to get-away.
At the last minute we decided to have Thanksgiving in Key West. I'd never been there and it was perfect. Yes, there was Turkey but we didn't have to cook it and it had a Cuban flair.
We stayed at Duval House. It was wonderful! Quiet, yet right in the middle of everything. We couldn't have asked for more on a spur of the moment vacation.

Beach : Part 2

It was low tide at 5:40pm.

The gulls were very busy "clamming".

The water was warm and oh so relaxing.

Wandering about Vermont

We happened upon this quaint public garden as we were passing through Grafton Vt.

A nice place to stop half way home from the Townsend Dam after going to the cousins party.
After fresh grilled corn on the cob, hamburgers and tons of salads the younger cousins had GIANT marshmallows. I have never seen them so large...the size of your fist.
Then we stopped at my mom's place and picked 2 quarts of her blueberries. Yummy!

Owl Print

A wayward owl flew into an Orem Library window during a snow storm on April 17th.
My brother who lives in Utah emailed this incredible photo from the local paper.
See the Daily Herald for the full story.

In coming mail

Don't you just love the back.

My Girls : The Hens

Carole at Fowl Visions recently posted about WHY she has chickens.
I realized that I have only posted once that I have hens.

I have four girls.
Two white leg-horns and then Blackie & Red.

So, why?

Well, being a farm daughter I seem to have this in-grained need to do chores and care for farm critters. I can't think of a better way to get the morning started then lugging fresh water & feed for them every day. In return they give me eggs, laughs, friendly pecks and joy.

My family thinks I'm crazy.

I built their little chicken coop my self with scrap lumber I rescued from the town dump.

It's not large, about the size of a dog house with one window and a door with a ramp out into their fenced yard. The view above is looking in through the nest box door. The lights give them the hours of light they need to keep producing eggs (14) as well as warming the place in the freezing temperatures we have here in winter.