Summer is winding down......

The shadows are getting longer...even for Gidge!

Wow! What a terrible blogger I am! I guess the nagging and guilty conscience of starting something and not finishing it has finally persuaded me to get ‘er done. Thanks, Dad…all your seemingly endless supper time lectures about finishing what you start were not totally wasted! I think what has really done me in, is Flickr. Ever since I got an account with them, I just plop the photos in and I’m done. That is just lazy and like I tell Jim, that is an excuse, not a reason for not doing something.



Pretty soon the frost will be on the gourd..oh wait..it's on the punkin!

Here we are close to the end of another summer. For most people that is a sad thing, but I’m not usually too sad to see them go. This one had some very hot days and I don’t think too many of us enjoyed it. Thank you Delaware Electric Coop for not giving me a stroke when the bill came in this month! That poor AC was a chugging along nonstop several days last month and it was still 85 degrees inside! So, I will not be sad to see that kind of weather go. I know we are not out of the woods yet, but every day brings us closer to fall and cooler weather.







Oh how I wanted to pluck this last, lonely beauty from the tree!

Finding interesting things to photograph this time of year can be a challenge.  It's kinda of in between the verdent landscape of summer and the awesome colors of autumn.  That leaves us with dying plants, harsh shadows and bugs.  Bugs make great photo subjects but trying to get a good shot is like trying to get a good shot of a toddler!  And I'm convinced it boils down to one thing...dumb luck!  So, I figure if you keep trying you just might get that one awesome shot and if you don't, keep trying anyway!

I finally got that kayak I wanted and have so enjoyed going out and paddling around some of Lower Slower’s ponds. It has afforded me time to just think and relax and reflect on things. I’m not a particularly busy person but it seems that my mind is always in 10 different directions; thinking about what needs to be done right away, tomorrow or 3 weeks from now. I also spend a lot of time thinking about the next vacation. Sometimes you just need to “be” and relax and quit trying to force things into those compartments in your mind.

I do enjoy this time of year even if we do get a few more toasty days. I always looked forward to going back to school and meeting up with friends again. I didn’t get to see too many of them during the summer; only the one that I could ride my bike to and luckily she was only a couple of miles away. I always looked at the new school year as a fresh start, a time to try and get it right this time! I think I have still carried some of that with me into adulthood. Labor Day is kind of my, take inventory, clean out the closet, see what is working well and what is not and get off my butt and fix what isn’t time.  I know most people do that at New Years, but hey, what can I say, it takes me a while to get with the program!





pretty soon we will see more of you!

It’s been an interesting year so far. I’ve met new people and developed deeper relationships with people I have know for a while. And like most things in life, some of it has been good and some not so much, but regardless it is a very important part of life. Those experiences create who we are. I always am curious as to what makes a person tick and I want to know their “story”…’cause good or bad, we all have a story. I firmly believe people come and go in your life for a reason. Some become part of your life and some are just passing through. I don’t want anyone to just pass through my life. I want to hang on to them and find out how they are supposed to fit in my life. I liken it to how my Mom used to holler at us kids when we kept running in and outside to play, slamming the screen door with each pass. “Either stay in or get outside!” I want everyone that comes into my life to be a “stay in”.  They have to be in my life for a reason, so sit and stay a while and let's figure it out!  The best part could be just around the corner!

The upcoming fall and winter gives us that down time to think and reflect and remember what is important in our lives.  And to dream about what the next great adventure might be! And what cool pictures are out there just waiting to be taken!  Bring it on!!!

better not fiddle too long, winter will be here before you know it and the ant is already way ahead of you!!

Easter 2011

I feel as if I missed Easter this year.  I was doing well until this past week when I came down with a respiratory ailment that has knocked the wind out of my sails.  But the plus side is that it gives me "think" time too!   I enjoy the "prep" work of Lent and especially enjoy attending services during Easter week.  It's as if your homework pays off!  I thought I would wake up dying for a Coffee Coolatta (medium, light, no whip) as that was what I gave up for Lent.  But...I didn't.  I'm sure the craving will hit once I am back at work and my co-worker is out on the road and willing to swing into Dunkin' Donuts for me. 

One good thing about Easter being later in April this year is the Lilacs!  I have been watching them all week and they have come out this weekend.  They are beautiful and smell heavenly.  I was worried that I had pruned them back too hard last fall, but if anything, they seem more vibrant and full this spring.  You were right sister dear!!  

Easter wouldn't be Easter without CANDY!  That is probably why Easter is my favorite holiday!  There is always such a pretty selection of candy starting February 15th!  I like to just go and look at it...and every once in a while, when the devil is riding me hard, I'll buy something.  I'm pretty proud of myself this year.  I only succumbed to that temptation a few times and I had a little help from an office Easter bunny who left things on my desk!  Bad Easter Bunny...you know who YOU are!   

As a child, I loved waking up Easter morning to find my basket that Easter Bunny hid somewhere in our house.  I loved the hunt as much as what was in it.  My mother always put those nasty marshmallow peeps in my basket and they'd get gunked up with the plastic straw.  Yuck.  Every time I see those in the store I think of how they looked in my basket. I usually made a good haul and they never let me have a lick of it until after mass.  Just like at Christmas, no presents until after mass.  And no, it did NOT teach patience!                                      

We used to have this very large old black walnut tree in the yard that was hollow at the base.  Dad told me that was where Peter Rabbit (a.k.a. the Easter Bunny!) lived.  Imagine my horror to wake up one winter morning to the sound of a chain saw cutting down Peter's house!  When I got dressed and went outside, the neighbor was there hauling Peter's house away.  I was beside myself.  How could Dad cut down Peter's house? Dad said that Peter had gone to Florida because the winters were too cold any more. Peter knew his house was being condemned and that he had already made alternate living arrangements at the neighbors.  He must have told it very convincingly because I did believe him...even though I did feel just a bit betrayed.  Peter did find our house the next Easter so I guess it was okay after all.   In later years, Dad and I often had a good laugh about ole Peter.  Every time I see a picture of the farm with that tree still standing of think of Peter and wish him well.

What Easter would be complete without an Easter Lily?  This year I was given one as a gift from a very special friend and it made me stop and think about this Easter tradition.  I remember the church being filled with them at Easter...so many the smell would almost make you queasy.   I also had a friend that gave me one when my dog Lucy died.  I planted it over her burial place in the yard and every year since it has bloomed. So, I would have to say that these Lillie's are about remembrance, both fond and sad memories.   And I love knowing that I will see this pretty white face in my garden again next spring!

This year I tried to stay out of the candy as much as possible during Lent.  And like most well thought out plans it had a few pitfalls!  Like shopping for candy for my Godson and his sister.  I don't know how that coconut nest got in with my purchases...but it did...so I had no choice but to eat it!!!!

ahhh! confectionery perfection!

going...

going....

Gone till next Easter!

South to Yellowstone

I had been to Yellowstone before...several years ago and was looking forward to the trip to see it through a camera lens.  You definitely look at things differently.  Light is SO important. To that end I begged Jim to get up at 430am to view the full moon totally unobstructed by articificial light.  It was SO worth it.  The quiet and crisp air created a moment I'll never forget.  I was happy to stand and at the edge of the pull off area and just be.  It didn't matter that the picture didn't turn out like I wanted, the one in my memory is PERFECT!

We left that area to head south into the park.  Right around sunrise we were at Lake Yellowstone to capture the sunrise.  A very nice time of day, most of the wildlife photographers are not up yet to clog the roads and hog the views.  My goal on this trip was not to get a lot of wildlife photos-I will leave that to the professionals.  I just wanted to try and capture some of the beauty of the countryside.



Instead of my usual wild ramblings I think this post will just be some of my photos from Yellowstone that I thought were good.  I hope you will enjoy them!

Big Sky Country

That farm on the horizon is over 2 miles away!

I never knew what that meant.  I heard it a million times and thought, "How can the sky be bigger in one part of the country and not the other?"  Well, I'm hear to tell you-I get it now.  It is bigger.  Like you can reach out and touch it.  It surrounds you and makes you feel very small.

Just about to the top..over 1.5 miles from the start!

There are so many beautiful things to see, touch and smell in this lovely state of Montana.  We started our vacation at a little inn near Whitefish.  The weather was not very cooperative but we made the best of it.  We decided to check out the mountain top ski resort near town.  To our delight the ski lift was open and running so we decided, what the heck...It wasn't raining at the bottom and I could see clouds at what I thought was the top.  We hopped on and off we went, up, up and further up the hill. A little over a mile! The view was incredible!  As we neared the top I could see a cloud hovering near the summit and we went right into it and through it.  So exciting...and cold...and wet!  But WOW! I can now say I literally had my head in the clouds!!

Would do it 10 times over!

The next day we went out to the bison range south of Kalispell.  It's about a 20 mile loop inside the range on a narrow, windy, dirt and sometimes poop filled road.  Too cool!  You can really get a feel of what it must have been like 100 years ago before modern trappings.  It was so peaceful to stand in a grove of ponderosa pines an hear nothing but the sound of the wind through the boughs.  Nothing like the wind in the loblollies-it's much louder and more fearsome in the ponderosas! 

You can look to a neighboring hill and see a herd grazing.  It was such a pleasant drive to wind your way through the range.  The views were incredible and changed at every turn in the road.

Not just for Bison...







The sun cooperated for the most part that day.  One the way back we darted in and out of rain storms and as we approached Flathead Lake for the trip north back to Whitefish, I was getting rather put out that the weather was crappy.  We rounded yet another curve in the road and there in front of us was the most spectacular rainbow that I have been blessed to see.  As I was sliding down an embankment and slogging through the knee high weeds to get a better picture, I was reminded that you can't get a shot like this without the rain, so thank you Lord for providing this once in a lifetime opportunity!!

We tried to take in the sites at Glacier but the weather was against us.  Not to mention that the Road to the Sun was closed.  Not due to weather, but for maintenance.    I'm sure it is beautiful when the sun shines, but it wasn't too bad in the rain either!

It sure is different from Delaware!

What's in YOUR backyard?

mine...mine..MINE!!!

I guess I'm trying to squeeze out the last days of warmth and light of summer and have been spending my evenings (weather permitting) in the backyard.  While sitting out there listening to the neighbor kids playing or another neighbor cutting grass I noticed that there are some pretty interesting things in my backyard. Stuff I tend to overlook when I'm in the middle of weeding or trying to get Gidge to fetch the ball.

I have for years enticed hummingbirds to my yard by keeping the feeders clean and filled with fresh nectar.  This year the diligence paid off and I got a herd!  (I know that several birds are a flock, but these miniature buzzards have the feeding habits of hungry cows so to me they are a HERD!)There were always two at the feeder and as many as six at a time.  They provide quite a show with their bickering and chasing each other and get quite feisty when I had the audacity to let the feeder run out.

 

Gidgette enjoys the backyard also.  She likes being wherever you are whether it is 100 in the shade or not!  I think someone forgot to tell her that she is a dog!  Thank goodness she is cute because that is the only thing that has saved her bacon on more than one occasion.  Chasing the ball is all fun and games until it rolls close to where a neighbor cat has visited and then that little pea brain is off in another direction and the ball is long forgotten! 

I know she enjoys being in the yard almost as much as I do, but I can't trust her off a leash so she gets tied to the side view mirror on my car with her 30 ft training leash. That is all well and good but her sense of direction is somewhat skewed and she has an uncanny knack of wrapping herself around trees, chairs and bushes. cute...but TOTALLY clueless!

 

One thing about ole Gidge is that she has an uncanny knack for finding unusual things.  Usually dead, stinky things but she did fine something cool this time.  It showed up near the lilac bushes one day and she found it for me.  A few days later it was gone.

sunflower bud

Beside my herd of hummingbirds, I have finches that love the thistle in the feeders but they are also instrumental in disbursing the echinacea seeds and sunflower seeds.  The sunflowers also provide a nice perch for the hummers too!

This summer also produced a large number of dragon flies.  I saw several different varieties in the yard, but this one seemed the most camera friendly.  I'm not really sure what their purpose is, but they sure are neat to look at.

Spiders always amaze me. I'm sure if I had better sense, I'd be a bit more respectful of them than I am.  Last fall I stood at my kitchen window and watched in amazement as this little spider, no bigger than a pencil eraser, built a web from one side of the window to the other and completed it in a matter of minutes.  If I could only get the general contractor to move like that, I'd be in business!  Jim found this one hanging out in the shrubs out front.  He always hung on the back of the web (might have been the front, and I was on the back!).  I tried several times to get a good shot, but I think I ticked him off or he got eaten because he's gone now.

I love a bargain.  I purchased this butterfly bush at a flea market in PA.  I've wanted one for years and finally decided to get it despite the dire warnings from DNREC about it being an invasive.  They don't know how resourceful I can be with a pair of loping shears and a shovel!  I have yet to see a butterfly on the bush but these weird little bee buggy things seem to really enjoy it.  I'm sure next summer they will find it and I will be posting lovely photos of butterflies.  Like I always say...if you're gonna dream, dream BIG!

One constant in my yard is the clothes line.  I don't own a clothes dryer...as I tell all my incredulous friends when they moan about their electric bills being high because of the dryer...air is free and I aim to get my fair portion.  Nothing beats the smell of clothes hung on the line to dry and if I cart a bug or two into the house with the laundry, oh well, it gives Gidge something to chase around the house until it succumbs to her dog slobber. Not only is it economical and earth friendly to hang the clothes out-it also serves as a means of assessing the weather!  It is a good way to gauge how cold it really is in the winter.  If they freeze before I can get them on the line, yes, it is pretty cold, other wise-look alive and get to moving!  Fresh air is good for the soul and I haven't lost any body parts to frost bite yet!!

We also have many visitors in our yard.  Last week Jim told me that the neighbor's roosters came for a visit.  (Gotta love Sussex County!). I think they came to fertilize the lawn and to eat a few crickets.  We also get another regular visitor and her name is Gracie.  The world's most friendly boxer and thief.  She has carted off any forgotten toys of Gidge's and she nabbed one of my garden clogs off the step a few weeks ago too.  Dang dog!

Verbena after a rain shower

As long as the weather holds out, I'll enjoy my yard and all the little treasures that it holds.

2010 Delaware State Fair

Yes! Funnel Cake is a food group!!

It's hard to believe another Fair has come and gone.  As a child, the Fair was definitely a highlight of summer.  It was something we saved for and looked forward to for many weeks.  It was the proverbial carrot at the end of the stick for my parents as well...it was held over our heads to encourage our cooperation in getting chores done with the minimum amount of fuss.   I always felt that the Fair had a little something for everyone.  The midway for the kids, the crafts and canning things for Mom and Dad liked the animals and old cars.  That was back in the day when they had antique cars instead of antique tractors like they do now.  It was always hot and dusty even with all the wonderful upgrades that the Fair has made it is STILL HOT and DUSTY!  This year it was VERY hot!

Whisper in my ear...

When I started my job at the Fair, I thought I knew a lot about the Fair and how things work there.  HA!  I quickly learned about livestock people and exhibitors and vendors and the little quirks they all had.  Who knew?!  Even though I was there only for two Fairs, it was a GREAT experience that I would not trade for the world.  I made some very good friends and learned that like most organizations, there are always a core group of people that get things done and the Fair has a very dedicated core group of volunteers that really make the Fair what it is.

Quilt display in the Dover Building

I learned a lot about "territories" at the Fair.  As a patron, you had animals, exhibits and the Midway.   I learned that within these categories there are many subcategories with a clearly defined pecking order that was established long ago and still rules the day.  And heaven help the person that questions that "order". 

I remembered some very sage advice from my former boss, "Pick your battles". That has turned out to be the very best advice I have ever been given! I learned that these people have a method to their madness and even though I was certain I could improve things, it truly was best to go about any proposed changes with the utmost care and tact.   I try not to show favoritism toward any particular area of the Fair, but I have a very special place in my heart for all those wonderful people that make the Dover Building such a great portion of the Fair.  To me it captures a little bit of all that is good about a Fair.   There are hand crafts, arts 'n crafts, childrens displays, culinary, flowers, and fruit, farm and apiary.  Each has their own little area in the building that they lovingly decorate and create a showcase for all the people who exhibit.   

'round 'n 'round we go....

Look at that Henny...we dun GOOD!

if only you could have smelled this yummy cotton candy!

 There is so much more I could write about the Fair but it would take more words than this blog can hold to adequately thank all the hard working volunteers and wonderful staff at the Delaware State Fair, so it's best to keep it kinda short and add more photos this time!!

my bovine beauty