June 15th and it's sunny!

I know, that shouldn't be news, right?  Overall it has been a nasty wet cold spring in Maine and I am sick of it. I admit we have had some nice days but not enough when you consider we only get 5 months of warm here. But it's sunny here today and I will be outside as soon as the overgrown grass has dried up a bit., so enough whining.

Enough whining about the weather, anyway. We are still dithering about our vehicle woes. Well, I'm dithering-J has set his mind on a new van. Our mechanic looked it over and we can't justify the cost of fixing it when it will probably last only one more year. Next up is Ameranth's car, which is registered (in MA) but not inspected or insured. We'll have that looked at and hope that it doesn't need anything major- I have power of attorney for her for just this situation. (I have had an uneasy feeling about our car for some time now).

Speaking of Ameranth, after 3 weeks of walking, she is now in Ohio and much relieved to get out of the claustrophobic hills of western Pennsylvania. She didn't realize that was the problem until she was into a more open, rolling hills type landscape. The stroller she is using has been a big improvement over last year. Although pushing it up the side of mountain roads has been challenging, her back, knees and feet thank her every night. In fact, Anna is pooping out first these days- something I never would have expected! She has stayed with and talked to a lot of friendly people, including a passing policeman who gave her some pepper spray on a key chain. I thank the nice people who gave her rides around towns they didn't think she should be walking through, who fed her veggie food and offered her showers  and yards to camp in.

Boomer says 'hey'.

Friday, Friday

It’s Friday, Friday
Gotta get down on Friday
Gettin’ down on Friday
Everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekendTomorrow is Saturday
And Sunday comes after...wards
I don’t want this weekend to end.

Oh come on, it was only a matter of time before I used that!  (Most of my relatives are probably wondering what this is and what's wrong with me - Google Rebecca Black if you must- that will help with the 'what this is' part)

It is indeed Friday, and I am heading down to MA to flower shop and plant with my peeps. Ms M and Minnie, to be precise. Both have little experience with gardens  so I offered to help them out and am looking forward to it. Ms M wants color now and perennials for no fuss and less future planting so I have been digging up lots of mine to share. Sectaurs and Minnie have a very small yard and the previous owner put in lovely perennials; they just need annuals for some color out front.

The big question is was "will I take Boomer down with me?" Right now, I think no. He would love to go for a ride and visit Mabel, although sometimes they irritate each other, but usually the passenger diverts his attention from annoying the driver, and J is staying home.  I've got an hour or so to decide.

Speaking of J, he is a happy camper since he has the day off and has finally fixed our lawn tractor. Turns out it needed a new sparkplug and air filter, but the biggest thing was a new fuel filter and clearing out the clogged gas line. And boy did we need the grass cut. We only managed it once when we had our one sunny day in May, and that was two weeks ago. We are finally getting our warm spring days but it jumped right to muggy hot weather. But I am definitely not complaining!

Ameranth is fighting the mosquitoes and humidity in Maryland on the Great Allegheny Gap trail, and walking about 10 miles each of the first two days. Anna is not as happy to be back hiking since she can't run loose as she did on stretches of the Erie Canal. Besides being all brush and woods, Ameranth is worried about poisonous (venomous?) snakes lying in wait for her precious pup. She saw one (not poisonous- she thinks) crossing the road in front of them and it reached from one side to the other- about 6 feet, I believe.  I suggested she whack two sticks together for safety, ala The Parent Trap. She was not amused.

J just came in so he'll cut my hair, I'll take a shower and head south even though Weatherbug just warned me of a severe thunderstorm watch. Ms M is on the phone with J and she warned me traffic would be bad since I was leaving so late. I told her I couldn't leave any earlier now, har har.

She's on her way!

I drove Ameranth and Anna down to R.I. this weekend to visit family, then over to Connecticut on Monday to my cousin Marlow's house. He's her ride to Maryland as he had to drive to PA for business and generously offered to take her down today. Thanks again!

On Saturday we went to a beach a couple of miles from my folks to get a photo of the pair on the Atlantic Coast, midway up the Narragansett Bay. This area used to be the Quonset Naval Air Station, developed during WWII and closed in the 70's. The airport is still there, but it's mainly small private jets now and much quieter than it was when I was a kid. Most of it is an industrial park, with new cars coming in on huge container ships, and other businesses of varying sizes. The town got the golf course, and has opened several beaches, a boat launch and a very nice bike/walking path. Blue Beach was deserted on Saturday so Anna was able to run free to chase the seagulls.

Ameranth reported the water to be freezing, and the day was not terribly warm, but at least it was sunny. We had not seen the sun in Maine at all, for the past week. Of course, it rained again Monday. Hopefully the weather will finally dry up and she won't be soggy all day as she starts her walk on Wednesday. 

Small Target Audience Alert- aka Geekery ahead!

As Ameranth planned her trip she thought about what she wants to accomplish. Her goal evolved from a coast-to-coast jaunt to wanting to explore the back roads and find interesting people and places as she wanders westward. I mentioned before that the Rockies combined with bears has convinced her that she doesn't want to walk that part of the map. Not that she couldn't, but that she doesn't want to. I totally support that conclusion.

After she decided to find quirky, famous or historic sites to visit along the way, she thought it would be fun to record them as accomplishments as in an MMO(massively multiplayer online) game with quests and waypoints on the way to the completing the mission or endgame.  So Ameranth has her website set up with her mission and her character sheet. She has some beginning quests and is open to suggestions as to other places she should visit. She'll collect a souvenier or take a picture at each quest marker, and record them in her journal as well as online.

I mentioned that it made me think about comparing her trip to Guild Wars, the game we both play. There are some similarities in the GW landscape and the areas she will be walking through.

Guild Wars starts off with a tutorial set in a beautiful pastoral setting. This area teaches new characters how to use their skills, travel and level up.

I figure the Erie Canal trip serves as her pre-searing area and that she is ready to hit the 'real' game now. In Guild Wars the first area is an arid, ugly, burnt version of pre-searing and it's a shock to end up there after the lovely beginning of the game.

Since Ameranth really has no desire to walk through highly populous southern New England, and even less desire to hit NYC or Baltimore, I'm considering that area Old Ascalon, and she's getting a 'run' (being run through a game area by another player instead of fighting your way there yourself) to western MD.  Here she'll be crossing the Appalachian Mountains, which would correspond to the Northern Shiverpeaks in GW. 

(Although we certainly expect that there will be no snow) After swinging by Pittsburgh and touching base with a cousin there, she'll head west and in game than means she would be hitting Kryta, another green part of the Tyrian world. We hope that the flooding will have subsided by the time she gets there, and that she doesn't end up under water.

It will depend on her route and quests how far south she gets. Since she and Anna don't like the heat, she will probably not get to an equivalent of the Maguuma Jungle, although there are arid parts there too. Though the mission chain in GW goes further west, it is possible to skip that part of the game and walk to the jumpoff mission to get overseas to the desert areas.

Here you will probably hit level 20, the highest level and complete your attribute points. You're a seasoned player, but the hardest gameplay is still to come. As in 'real' life, it's much easier if you have learned to play well with others and cooperate to reach goals by this point.

The game hits the mountains again and finishes in the Ring of Fire islands. Ameranth has yet to decide how and where she'll finish up- but she's got plenty of time!  A quest she would like to achieve would be to visit the office of Arenanet, the company who made Guild Wars, in Bellevue, Washington. (How geeky, eh? But we've been playing this game for 6 years and counting, and are impatiently waiting for Guild Wars 2 to be released.) It's just those darn grizzlies and those very high mountains that stand in her way.

I may have stretched this analogy a bit, but I'm having fun with it and look forward to adventuring vicariously with her, as a commenter said earlier.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

So we are experiencing an "extended stretch of ugly weather" as the Sunday paper's weather forecast put it. It's raining now, has been raining and looks like it will rain forever, world without end, amen.  Unless that Rapture thing happens.  J and I were talking about that and I said I think 'they' (the Rapture-ites) are going to be very disappointed- or the rest of us are going to be very surprised. J voted for the disappointment having the better chance of happening.

In other depressing news, Boomer is a dog without a pack, and he's not happy about it. Ameranth has been in MA since Thursday, dogsitting, and Boomer has been an only dog, oh what a lonely boy. I thought he might be happy without another dog to share our attention, but no. He wants more, more, more. The rainy weather has made walks shorter and less frequent as well. The first day I brought him to the pasture, he ran to the water, then looked around, a little lost. It's not as much fun running when you don't have someone to chase.

You probably can't tell but in that second picture, he is shaking himself as he runs and there is a mist of water surrounding him. He likes to sideswipe me and soak my pants leg as his next step, leading to a circling dance of avoidance. 

Behind him is a willow tree that we transplanted soon after we moved here. It was an offshoot of a tree that my parents had in their yard, planted when I was small. I remember my great-grandfather helping, and that the hole seemed huge when I got to stand in it. Maybe that's a false memory, but I like it. I like the connection between generations that I see when I look at the willow now. 

I got this wisteria from my mother as well- the wisteria from hell- It has never bloomed in over 20 years, and has tried to take over the nearby spruce trees. Last year we cut it down- we thought- but it refuses to yield.  I spotted this new growth and I guess we have to make the effort to uproot it soon.

We also need to tackle the new sumac popping up in the white violets. This is back where our extended chicken yard will go.

We've had some changes recently, some good like finally getting that bedroom finished and some sad like losing Rosie. But the biggest change to come will be later this week, when Ameranth and Anna take off on their next adventure. 

Since their trip last year hiking the Erie Canal in New York from Albany to Buffalo went well, she has decided to go forward with her big trip- walking cross country. Ameranth has spent the last year working and living here to save money for this. I'm driving her down to R.I. to visit with family, then to CT where a cousin has very kindly offered her a lift to MD, where she will start her walk westward.

She will be loosely following the American Discovery Trail. Despite her love of symmetry (or, a leetle touch of OCD) she decided that she doesn't have to start at the trailhead in Delaware, which would have her walking through several large cities. I believe the plan is to dip their toes in the Atlantic Ocean (via the Narragansett Bay) and hope to do the same ultimately in the Pacific. Common sense dictated the decision to not walk across the Rockies and bear country, so Yay for that! As of now, the goal is getting to Shoeshine in Boulder, CO and making further decisions then.

I've been asked why I am supporting her in this. First of all, Ameranth is an adult and has been planning this for several years now. I gave up pointing out reasons not to do it, and confine myself to pointing out what I think are sensible ways to stay safe and making sure she has what she needs- or what I think she needs. Secondly, it is a pretty cool idea and I think she's going to have quite an adventure. She's footloose and fancy-free right now and knows the opportunity might never come again. She wants to do this before "settling down and being a grownup for real". 

 

The house may be less cluttered, and may be a little quieter, but we'll miss having her here. Her, and her little dog too.

Winter Fun

One of the bloggers I follow, Kelly from In Real Life, is training for a marathon and showed lovely pictures of her outdoor run. In the winter. In Canada. I salute her energy and determination, and I look forward to following her progress.

My own interactions with winter have had their highs and lows this year. The 'highs' I showed last week as I conquered Mt. Porchroof and cleared the slopes.

We left the ladder in place, partly in case we needed to rake the roof again, but mostly because we didn't feel like wrestling it out of the snow bank. The snow bank that I had made much bigger and that the dogs have decided is their preferred route on and off the porch.

 

They also like to pose up there, pretending to be Yukon King watching for Sgt. Preston, I presume. While I had to help that snow off, (thanks to us messing up the pitch while building the darn roof) a nearby shed roof took care of itself, unnoticed until ...dun dun dun..the Great Escape!  Sitting at my computer facing the porch window, I saw a flash of black from the corner of my eye. I looked up to see Boomer running towards the corner of the yard- the corner of the yard where the shed roof meets the fence! 

It was still too high for Boomer, but the other two were already out of sight. Anna and Rosie were on their way to the local sushi bar, right across the street. Jack Traps sells bait fish during the winter and I don't know if he dumped his dead fish, or customers left them, but there were frozen fish all around his giant ice trap flagpole, from minnow size to 5 or 6 inches long. Anna rolled, Rosie gulped. 

I grabbed a shovel and went to move a mountain of snow while Ameranth headed out to get them. Then she walked over the fence to tackle the other side. (That's a six foot fence, by the way) The 2 inch crust of ice that let the dogs stay on top was not enough to keep us from plunging thigh deep in snow as we shoveled. I trenched further along the fence as well, since I was there and I knew the successful escape would have Rosie trying again.

Sure enough, when we took them out back the first thing they did was run to the corner, then Rosie prowled the perimeter, raising her nose to assess the height. We thought she couldn't make it out and we were sorely mistaken. A few minutes later the other two let us know Rosie had flown the coop. Rosie now has her bathroom breaks on a 20-foot leash and I am hoping we have a thaw soon.

Ameranth and I had a hard time not taking this personally, seeing that we had all just come back from an off-leash walk in the woods. An off-leash walk that ended with the two huskies running into a low part of the field, out of sight, then popping up to cross the road into a neighbor's yard. Thank goodness the house is empty, since they were right up on the steps making themselves at home. 

Once more, we swore that they could never be allowed off leash again. At least not together- Anna is good at listening to Ameranth when she's alone.  Rosie gets her 'wolf look' and starts slinking away, pretending she doesn't hear a thing. Later she rests her head on my leg and promises she will never stray again. She needs a 12 step program. Actually, that's what she's on right now- she can take just about 12 steps on that 20-foot lead!

Random Ameranthness

Ameranth just got up to yell at the dogs who are outside barking madly. Or so she says. If they're outside, I have no trouble ignoring their shenanigans, but she frets and complains and finally calls them inside. It's obvious she is not a parent.

She had the day off and I didn't. That is so unfair of the scheduling computer, who is making me work 6 days and Ameranth only 4 days this week. I am older and need the downtime. She is younger and needs the money. (I need the money too, but she is still younger).I must say she did do the dishes and make waffle batter between lolling around all day.

I neglected to mention a milestone passed last week. Ameranth won her first Scrabble game- at least she said she had never won before, and why would she lie about that? She had the game well in hand the whole time, and I noticed that she was very quiet as we got closer to the end- I think she was afraid of jinxing herself. She also pointed out that there could be no excuses- it was morning, no one was tired, etc.

I forgot the ibuprofen this morning- bad mistake. Live update- J dramatically exclaimed "You always have tablets here! Why can I not find one?"  Since I had just written 'ibuprofen', I immediately thought he wanted pills of some sort, though I had no idea why. He came in and explained that he wanted a notebook to which Ameranth replied " Tablet, Dad? What, are you living in the 14th century? Do you want a quill to go with it?"   You know, we really do have civil conversations sometimes.  Sometimes.

This was supposed to be a Random Tuesday post, but it ended up being all about Ameranth. Which is apropos since she is very often pretty random herself.

November Birthdays

I had to wait for Ameranth to upload the pictures from her camera, making our birthday pictures  a little late. J's is on the 1st and 30 years later, Ameranth was born on the 7th. As you may know, Rosie ate J's original cake last week and then I was busy learning how to work again, so they shared the spotlight last Saturday.

I found a bottled glaze for the Boston Cream Pie, which worked pretty well. It heats in the microwave, was easy to apply and tasted pretty good, so that turned out okay. Ameranth's cake was a layer filled with bananas and pudding and topped with more pudding mixed with whipped cream.  Both were yummy.

There was a little discussion about eating them on Saturday, when Ameranth's birthday was not until Sunday, but I told them I wasn't waiting until then to have a piece, so start singing.  Neither wanted the song, so I got ready to cut the cake. What an uproar!  No candles???! Alright already. Sheesh.

                             I sang to them anyway.

And then nearly caused another riot when I unthinkingly went to put out the candles. Hey there! Step away from the cakes, we'll do the blowing out around here!

And here's Ameranth modeling her present.

Travels with J

We visited R.I. this weekend for a niece's wedding and had a great time. Ameranth drove separately with Anna, since on her way home she stopped in MA. and picked up Mabel, Ms. M's and Mr. C's beagle. They left Sunday evening for a vacation in Romania and Moldova, which is where she served in the Peace Corps 10 years ago.

So, yes, we have 4 crazy dogs for the next 10 days- what fun! But that's another post for another day. (When I can write it without having Mabel's parents freak about my harsh language- because I'm sure it will go more smoothly as the week progresses- If you guys are reading this- don't worry, she's fine, just......insistent).

Back to our traveling. J was driving so that meant I was the stewardess, since I could access the cooler and snack bag. Because, goodness gracious, you can't travel 4 hours in a car and not eat!

J: Would you open the potato chips, please?
Me: Okay, just a minute. (trying to be vewwy vewwy quiet with the bag so the dogs don't know he's eating)
J: And get a bottle of water?
Me: Sure (Twisting behind the seat to open the cooler that is propping up the folding kennel which keeps Boomer from hijacking the car)
J: Do you have the Swedish Fish right there? (A treat we buy for road trips)
Me: Yes! Which do you want????
J: I thought I'd have both- fish and chips!  Ha!

So the next day Ameranth was with us as we ran some errands and headed back to my folks' house, down a narrow road lined with stone walls and trees (much, much too close to the road, I might mention. I've noticed older roads in MA and R.I. often have no shoulders and have huge old trees within six inches of the pavement. Maine roads have shoulders that are filled in and graded each year, plus shallow ditches to push the snow off into, before you get close to any kind of shrubbery).

As we drove by a horse farm, Ameranth remarked at how large and pretty the field was that ran from the road down to the farmhouse.
J: It used to be bigger.
Me: No, it didn't. 
J: Yes, it was-it was sold.
Me: No, that's still a farm- The field is the same size.
J: Some of it was sold- it's smaller.
Me: J, the field is the same friggin' size!
J: No, it's not.
Me: It runs from the same stone wall at the road down to the same old house! How can it possibly be smaller?
J:

I think at this point Ameranth tried to leave the car, but the Boomer barrier prevented her from reaching the door locks. 

Bonding

Ameranth's summer job is over so she has a little free time before her next one starts. This means we've had some strange conversations quality time lately, beginning while at our computers this morning.
    
Me: Enough of the blog reading! I must go brush my teeth!
 Ameranth:  I have to brush mine as well!
 Awkward pause.
 Me: That is not a mother/daughter activity.
 Ameranth: No indeed -one person at a time, contrary to what HGTV would have you believe.

( We both laugh at the people who insist their new home must have 2 or 3 bathrooms because they can't brush hair/teeth/shave at the same sink- Has no one ever heard of taking turns and planning? Sissies)

Later in the grocery store, debating the merits of sherbet vs ice cream (did you know that watermelon sherbet has virtually the same calories, fat, etc as ice cream? As A. said, why are we even looking at the sherbet then?):

Ameranth: Why does everyone put peanut butter in chocolate ice cream? Why not in vanilla? (She doesn't like chocolate, except in milk, or brownies, but not cake or frosting, or ice cream, except chocolate syrup on the ice cream is okay )
Oh what's this? Maine Lobster Tracks!

Reading the ingredients: Vanilla ice cream, lobster colored (red) chocolate, caramel... Pooh, that's just like a peanut butter cup.

Me: No it's not.
A: Yes, except with caramel.
Me: No, that's not the same at all- there's no peanut butter!
A: It is too- there's chocolate around the caramel.
Me: Let me see that package- oh, okay the chocolate chunks are filled with caramel.... It's still not like a Peanut butter cup- It's like a Rolo.
A: Okaaaay.

We didn't get that flavor.

Finishing up at the yogurt cooler:

A: The problem is that a big cup is not a filling meal, but these little cups are a good snack, plus they have 3 flavors in this 12 pack so I'll get them.
Me: Okay, let's go then.
A: But, I'm not sure how I feel about the blueberry flavor....and is this the best bargain?
Me: Well, the price per ounce is cheaper in the bigger cups, but you said you liked the smaller portions.

At this point the lady next to us is laughing as she picks her choice off the shelf. Show-off!

Ameranth: The problem is there's so little choice, besides the kiddie brands.

I mutely stepped back and spread my arms to indicate the 12 feet of space devoted to curdled milk.

Ameranth: That's enough of your sarcasm!
 Me: That wasn't sarcastic- I was merely displaying my incredulity.
                                

Dutch Island trip

As threatened promised, here's what we did Sunday. For many years J's family has made a day trip to Dutch Island but this was the first time for Ameranth and me. One of his brothers lives in FL and brings his boat up every year when they come to visit, usually around the Fourth. The island trip is often done during the week, and we are not around. Last year J went out, but I didn't, probably because we had the two devil dogs with us.

As I said, J's family grew up with a boat and had visited the different small islands in the area many times, so he was excited about getting the chance to revisit one. There are ruins of Fort Greble near the center of the island so he, his sister Trish and a couple of nephews hiked in. The nephews went back after J and Trish assured them they would be fine returning by themselves.

No surprise, they got lost. I think I may have mentioned J is directionally challenged, and I've been told the sun was overhead and of no use for navigation. Ha. They milled about for a bit, then headed downhill towards the shore, any shore, coming out quite a bit away from the camp. Staying by the water, they circled back, and the nephews eventually found them, guiding them back to civilization and a beer.

J told me the island was around 4 miles long- after I saw it, I checked Google- just under one mile long, honey. Around 100 acres. But it is lovely, and the family had staked a claim to a little cove just behind the lighthouse at the southern tip.

We drove down to a beach just across from this end, and waited for a pickup, after meeting two nieces, a nephew-to-be and their dog, Henry. It was fun going down there because we lived on that road before moving to Maine, and Ameranth remembered walking down to swimming lessons. Although she was just 6 when we moved, I'm not surprised she remembered the walk- it was at least 1/2 mile, (I'm being conservative, since I mocked J, but I think it was closer to a mile) and uphill both ways. No, really, the road goes up a long slope, then down steeply to the shore.  Sectaurs would be in an old-fashioned heavy stroller, and I seriously worried about losing control and tumbling down that last bit.

That's the bridge to Jamestown, a much bigger island, in the background. This beach is where the URI Bay Campus is located and this is their dock:

 There is a little beach to the north which has a sandy bottom, and that is where the kids had their lessons. So they weren't dealing with a slippery rocky bottom, just cold salt water, tides and waves. (When they started lessons at the lake in Maine, they wanted to know when the tide changed) J insists that the water in Groton, CT where he learned to swim is much colder than the water in the bay here. 

Anyway, after a looong wait in the broiling sun, our transportation showed up and we all got on board without much fuss, even Anna and me. A zippy ride over and we disembarked just as well.

We could only stay a little while, since we were double-booked and had to get to my side of the family for a relaxing end to the day.  I don't know what kind of boat the FL brother-in-law has- it's not huge- but the RI b-i-l has a Boston Whaler and man, that ride is a lot bumpier! I'm not sure why Boston Whaler drivers seem to feel that they have to speed directly across any waves or chop, but we got back to shore extremely quickly and didn't bounce overboard as we feared.

All in all, it was a very nice weekend, beautiful weather and the extreme heat wasn't so bad with a shore breeze.

NOW I remember a good thing about work.

The air conditioning. It was so cold there that I wore gloves and a hat in the winter, but in July, it sure was nice. Except I just remembered that it was too cold to actually dress for the muggies for the drive in, because then I would have frozen again. I think that negates the good part.

Fortunately, the AC in the van was working just fine for our weekend trip to RI, and the weather couldn't have been better to be on the bay. J's family had their holiday party on Saturday and high tide worked out nicely for boat rides for most of the day.

The house is on a cove which ends right beyond their driveway in a marsh, so there is little wave action but a nice breeze. Growing up, J and siblings swam here and I believe even dug clams that were safe to eat! The dogs still swim, and oh, what dogs we had! 4 yellow labs from Florida, one of their offspring who lives in RI, chocolate lab Henry from NY, Mabel from MA, the 3 dogs who live there, Anna who came down with us, and Max, the goldendoodle from next door.

No fights and everyone stuck around, (except for visits with Max to meet his parents) but we heard that old goodie "Mabel, Mabel, get off the table!" (with the second line "the quarter's for the beer" unspoken) more than once. 

That picture looks like fighting, but Anna and Mabel (who belongs to Ms & Mr C) are old friends and that's actually Anna inviting a chase.  The labs would fetch a stick as long as anyone was willing to throw one.

One got going so fast, he actually walked on water!

Okay, not really, there is a big rock just under the surface, but it sure surprised me the first time I saw that!

Lots of family there, cousins from 16 to 37, and a few in the next generation as well. My in-laws and I commented that we were now the "old folks"- how did that happen? I've been coming here for the 4th since 1977 and it really, really doesn't seem like that long ago. Until you do the math.

           She's  waving bye-bye, not "talk to the hand"! 

For some reason, this shelter was erected on the lawn:

                            Then lifted onto the deck:

These brothers found it a lot easier to retrieve an errant frisbee than when they were a couple feet shorter!  Oh yes-the one on the bottom brought his girlfriend and announced that they had become engaged just hours earlier!

It was a very nice day and we even got Mr C to agree to a group picture before they left. He's a tricksey one.

The next day we went to Dutch Island, but that's another story.

Whoa-oa-oa! I feel good, I knew that I would

I finally got a chore monkey off my back and my heart is soaring. Okay, okay that's a little over the top- it was just something I had to get done and put off all week. Amazing how things kept cropping up that I just had to do first.

The last few days were very achey ones too- stress (over serious stuff or not) does not play well with fibro. The weather has finally gotten to summer-like and I am very ready for that too.

Speaking of getting distracted, having Ameranth and her computer in the same room as me and mine can lead to major detours! She apparently reads forums where she feels the contributors are wrong, very wrong- on the Internet, can you imagine!- and she sputters a lot, to keep herself from setting them straight.

This afternoon I heard: " Oh, I have problems- ooh, what's that?"  So her moments of angst are short-lived, as are her productive moments. It's like little birds are circling her constantly and sometimes the black, angry ones land on her shoulder, then a pretty bluebird comes to chase them away. More happy birds than sad ones, thank goodness.

                         Ameranth and J on our back porch

We are off to get some replacement hens tonight- not sure exactly how many, since I was told he could do a better deal than advertised if I took all 9 instead of 6, so he could be done with it. J is upset that I didn't ask him what the deal would be, but I figured I'd wait and see, since the guy was a rambling talker and if I don't like the deal, I'll only pay for the six.

I have now gotten into the summer pattern of me shutting the hens in at night, so we should be fine. During the winter J does it, but the hens stay up later than he does now!

Another Random Tuesday

RIP Floyd

I didn't want to talk about it, but the Weasel won another round last weekend. Floyd seemed to be the only victim, but we noticed yesterday that two hens were not their usual perky selves. When I let them out this morning, they just stayed on the floor, and this afternoon J found one had died. I like to think Floyd took one for his team.

When I came downstairs and Ameranth informed me we had no eggs, I asked her if they had checked the coop.

A: "Yes, that's when Dad found the dead hen- oh, and he didn't move the body"

Me: "Oh  poo- he never likes flinging the dead hens"

A:"Well, who does?"

Turns out J had a reason this time. The horse owners had their little girls up at our end of the pasture and he didn't want them to see the dead bird. He did dispose of it later.

J scored a hole saw holder that the store was throwing out, so he installed that today. He took some pictures and asked me to resize them for emailing. Busy with supper, I told him I would do it later. 

J: " Okay, I just want to send the email tonight to show off the new saw rack. I'll just send it to my brothers."

A: "What, your sisters don't appreciate a good rack as much as they do?"

Ba dum dum.

And in case anyone cares- all those yellow things are his hole saws:

My peonies are blooming and haven't been mashed by rain as they usually are. I got these and 4 blueberry bushes from #5 two years ago and they have settled in well. 1 blueberry died, but the others have new shoots this year and I saw one cluster of flowers.

Here's J's garden goddess:

And this is an older peony being overtaken by the evil multiflora rose.

I guess that's all the random I have today.

We're home again, and so is Ameranth

It was a very nice weekend in R.I.. It didn't rain too much, and we didn't have to be outside when it did. (Apparently home got a lot of rain Saturday, with a tornado touching down about 30 miles to the west of us) The baby shower for a niece was fun- we didn't have to play a single game, just eat and watch her open gifts.

My nephew is in the Army, and they know it is a boy, so there were camo sleepers and Boston Red Sox onesies that were really cute. Plenty of size ranges too so they shouldn't need to get much more than diapers when he shows up next fall.

This photo is blurry but I wanted to show a family trait. This sister-in-law gave me this not-so-candid shot, and then I went around the corner to get a picture of the grandmother in waiting. See if you can pick out her sister in the next photo.

Re is the one above, and the past 12 months have been quite a trip for her. She was diagnosed with breast cancer, and successfully treated for that, her son got married and is now expecting a baby, plus he got a 6 year old son as a bonus with the marriage.  Definitely started off low and improved as time passed!

I'll end with a picture of J and Ms. M taken at the house where he grew up. A 3rd sister lives there now, and it is still a family gathering place.

Oh, yes. Ameranth got a ride from a nice woman who was going to Boston from Rochester Sunday evening. She was nice enough to drop Ameranth off at Ms M's house at 1:30 AM, and we swung by and got her on our way home.