Girls night out / reflections on the year

Went out to dinner and Borders with a great new friend last night.

My gardens have been so wonderful this year in that they were the inspiration for so much. Mostly, it was through sharing my gardens that I received the best of it. I got to meet so many new friends. That was an unexpected gift to me starting in May with the very first visitor to my gardens, Krissy!

When you get older, at least for me, you get into a routine with your life. You go from day to day and it's all about the same. When you step out of your routine, WOW!! Amazing things can happen.

There was so much that I experienced this past year. Now I just had the thought, why am I totally changing directions on this post?? Oh, Yea!!! It's New Years Eve today, so this is the last day of 2008!!

OH MY, another year gone by! And such a one at that!!

And the child shall lead .......

And my first child did lead. He led me right to this blog site, and into establishing the basis of my gardens venture!! Thank you, D. You are not in my daily life, but you are always in my heart.

I have been blessed this year by so many wonderful people. A great big hug goes out to all, and with it a THANK YOU for all that you have brought to me. The love that you have shared has multiplied exponentially and expanded all over!

I have been filled with joy and gratitude for all in my life and all yet to come.

I have been exploring new blogs and finding so much out there that I want to learn about and get involved with. At my age, I thought that I was pretty well set in my life. But no way!! There is so much to learn about, so many people to meet, and so much yet to do.

My mother is still around and getting ready to celebrate her 87th birthday next week. SO that would give me another 27 years. 2 of my paternal aunts lived to be 98 - that would be 89 more years. So much time to see and do so much!!!

WOW!! Life is just wonderful, with all it has to offer!!

So did I mention I had an awesome night??!! I went out with a friend, who so wonderfully provided transportation, as I have been finding it harder to be out driving at night these days. We had dinner and then went to a knitting group at Borders - What fun to sit among such a great group of women!! All ages, all kinds of talent!!! Great conversation, great kinship!!!

Thanks, Gretchen, for your generosity of spirit and your infectious love of life!! I get to share with you each week the joy of watching your knitting club at KPHS develop. You have created a place for teens to come and learn how to knit and crochet and gain from your wisdom and love. You are a wonderful teacher and on this last day of 2008, I thank God for you in my life and in Mia's life. For you see we lucked out, she just coincidentally got to have Mia in one of her Science classes this year!!!

Winter Yucca

This is the view out my living room window. This lonely Yucca is surrounded by the sheet mulching that will be full of new friends in the spring. It appears stranded out there.



On closer view, you can see other plants also waiting out the cold weather.



When a deep blanket of snow arrives it cushions the yucca's stately spears and hides the surrounding low lying plants. I am enjoying the different sights this winter season is presenting.

The wonder of snow in a winter garden

A few photos to share from the snowfall last week. Remember the Clematis blooming on this?



Now my Climbing Hydrangea is all snuggled in under this blanket of snow!




Wouldn't you know that our cat Pia would get left out in the snow??!! She hunkered in in a warm spot in our storage area under the sunroom.




What a beautiful contrast this Yucca makes all buried in snow. A few of its stems are floundering under the weight of the snow, but will pop back upright as soon as it melts.



You can just make out the lighthouse bird feeder which has been very busy on a snowy day, with all the traffic to and from the trees!!



We are surrounded by such splendor, all wrapped up in snow!




This is the view from the sunroom. Isn't it great that I was able to get all these photos by just running in and out in my pj's?




Finally donned my boots and a light poncho to find photos to take. Here's my sheet mulching, all smothered, and I imagine glowing below with all the moisture and weight!! At this point we had about 8-10 inches of snow, with more to come the next day!!



Now tell me if you could find a more beautiful sight! Look at this stately Spruce, all bundled in snow! It's framed by the red Crab Apple. This is as pristine as it gets, before hubby gets to have a go at it with his snow blower!



This is the view from the front door. Our poor stunted white Dogwood, really shows up in the winter, but the reason for the stunting will be for another post. Notice how the Rhododendron leaves uphold the show! Those are the red shrub roses on the sides of the Dogwood and the Yucca is beyond. You can just make out the pink Tree Peony to the right of the trunk.




And in the distance towards the left are the raspberry bushes that I did not do anything with in the fall. I will prune them down in the spring, when I can distinguish between new and old plants.



This is the large Pine just behind the pool. You can see how it is overburdened by the show, dragging its branches down to the ground. This is a pretty typical situation around the gardens after a heavy snow. And when it is wet, it gets to be a problem. (This will also be in a future post) Right now I am trying to stay with the beauty of snow, not the problems it brings.



This pine next to the Climbing Hydrangea looks so tiny under the snow. It is actually now taller than Mia, which makes it 5 feet plus! You can see all the Hydrangea branches going this way and that, especially at the bottom of the tree!




Here's that splendid Butterfly Bush which was always covered in butterflies and Hummingbird Moths just a few months ago! Several of the lower branches are completely stuck down to the ground by the snow. When hubby plows the driveway the snow blower just flings its all up into the air, landing on this poor specimen. When the snow melts quickly it does not create a problem, but when it lingers, .......




Here's the Red Twig Dogwood, which is right between the Hydrangeas along my front path. This is one of the best shrubs fro New England.



For when it snows the red branches make a beautiful showing! This close up gives a closer view.




This is one of the Hydrangeas I moved in the fall to right in front of the front door. you can see the new buds which have formed right at the ends of the stems. These will be producing those beautiful blue or pink flowers next spring.



Wow! There is a lot to see in my winter gardens. I find that I notice so much more when I have camera in hand. This winter is becoming an adventure in and of itself. An adventure to see all that the winter has to present to me.

We're getting ready

St Joseph is the patron saint of selling houses, didn't you know!!

Well, I did not. But my daughter found out and buried St Joseph in her yard. You see they had their house on the market last year for several months, with no action at all. So when they put it back on this fall, they were looking for a quick sale. JD had lost his job (still looking for a new one) and they decided to move in with us while they regroup and decide on their next move. They had very little activity and often no one showing up at all for their open houses. Finally after St Joseph got planted they had a nice young couple show up after Thanksgiving who fell in love with the house. They just signed a P & S this week!

SO this big new storage shed is beginning to get filled with their things as well as lots of ours in the great mission of getting this place ready fro them! Almost ready, with a bit of a delay from the holidays. February 1st is to be the big day.

How great will it be to see those bright smiling faces of our grandkids each morn!!

Gifts from the heart

My older daughter is somewhat fussy about her things. She knows what she does and doesn't like. I am not always sure. I kind of sway whichever way the wind is blowing some days.

I love making things for people. I find it very boring to go shopping to buy gifts. When making a gift for someone, I find myself focusing on that person while the process is underway. I think about what I am doing and how much joy it gives me to be sharing myself with that other person. I have gotten into the habit of making items throughout the year for kids for the upcoming Christmas. When I was fostering and having a house full of kids for the holidays, I had no time for much individual time for any one child. They all needed more than any one person could have given. I did the best that I could. But when I had long term kids here I found that they loved having me make things just for them. So I would make small lap afghans in their favorite colors for Christmas. I wish I could scan one of the pictures of 5 or six girls on Christmas morning, holding up their afghans for a photo op, with such joyous smiles on their faces.

I am now finding it very difficult to come up with new ideas of things to make for Mia since she has had so many hand made gifts over the almost 12 years that she has been in our lives.

That's right, it will be twelve years on December 26th since Mia first came. And I am now reminded what it is that I wanted to do for her for Christmas.

Finish her book. I wrote her a book a few years back and never got around to getting the binding done as I had lost the full use of both hands after a fall. Well, I have now had the corrective surgeries and now need to finish it for her to have in final form.

Now it is December 27. I never had the time to do the book, but we will work on it together. We worked together on baked items for friends and family for the holidays.

A lesson I learned was not to try out a new recipe on December 24th. It may not turn out the way you want it!!!

Persistence, pertinacious

Okay, so it is December 23rd, two days before Christmas. I finally got some holiday energy over the weekend, undoubtedly from my wonderful fourteen year old, Mia, who never fails to provide a smile when desperately needed.

On this day I was reminded about persistence. As I started this post I was reminded how cold is gets in winter. How cold?? Well, it is so chilly in here the chain on my eyeglasses is too cold for my neck!!!! And from one who suffers from hot flashes that's saying a lot. Usually I love anything that can cool down my too hot neck!! But cold is cold!! LOL

I gave us all a Christmas gift of more heat and turned up the thermostat to 64 while we were home! My lower thermostat is definitely working on saving us lots of money. We had one oil tankful in September, and only needed half a tank this month. i am so very grateful fro the mild weather, as it has helped so many of us cope with this economy a little better.

So persistence was the word on my mind as I sat down to write this. And why, you might ask?

Well, I challenge my family each year to do their gifting without spending much money, or none at all. But really, how can you not have lots of gifts under there??!! Well, when you have to get into more debt to do it, it becomes ridiculous! When you have lots of financially sound years you get used to a certain way of living. Then when the hard times hit, it is very hard to change what has become pretty routine. I did buy some items fro gifts, but also made lots of things for my loved ones. Many things were easy and done early. Others were not. So the week before Christmas found me working on a knitted skirt for Mia and a scarf for JD (my son-in-law).

Well, I finished the knitting of the skirt and set it aside to focus on the scarf. Wouldn't you know that I would forget it!! It just needed some finishing. Luckily I noticed it Christmas Eve. And even more fortunately, Mia is so understanding, that she didn't mind it on Christmas Morn, when she took it out of the gift bag (I made bags years ago when the house was full of foster kids - That one busy winter has saved me so much time on wrapping gifts over the years, not to mention the money saved on gift wrap, tissue paper and scotch tape!! So I just have to tie up the loose ends of the skirt today and it'll be ready to wear.

But the scarf, oh, the scarf, that was another story. Many years ago I mad a beautiful knitted scarf to hubby, using a design of seed stitch and cables which her really loved. I decided to do a similar one for JD. He chose a color (green), from yarn I had on hand. And I started to knit it. I started it in October, after I had finished hats for my five greats nieces and nephews.

I have been knitting again, after many years not being able to, due to arthritis developed in both hands after a bad fall. Now, after reconstructive surgery on both hands I have been able to knit again, slowly at first, but now I can do it almost every day. Knitting takes more hand strength and agility than crocheting. I have been doing both since I was a teen - WOW!!! Okay, it is very hard to get ready to say this, but that is about 47 years that I have been doing both! (I must mention here that I am not LOL !!!, I am in shock at that thought!!! 45 years, wow111, that went by fast!!)

Also, since I had the first hand surgery and was sitting around recuperating for a long time our pets have been behaving very differently. Our dog, Abby, got just a little too comfortable lying next to me on the couch while I became a couch potato, in recovery mode. So once I got through the worst of it I started to get her trained to be off the furniture. She is part beagle and sheds mostly white fur, so anything I was making would be covered with it, which just gets to be a bother when working with a dark color yarn.

And we have 5 cats here, 4 of them litter mates. Because they grew up together they pretty much just play with each other and don't pay us much mind. That is until I was sitting around all the time recuperating. Then one in particular, a large yellow tiger, started getting up on the couch with me. Over the course of the last tow years she found a great perch, my arm rest and staked it out when I was in no position to argue much. Once I was more clear headed, I found it hard to get her to try another spot, anywhere but right under my arm!! But she had staked it out and would not budge. So we have gotten used to each other, a bit. That is, until I started to do hand work again. Doing crochet was not so bad - it is a short needle that is used, so it was easy to work around this cat on my arm rest. Then the cat, Kia, would start laying her head on my elbow as I was working along, then on my shoulder, then half her body joined in!!

Eventually she would become so heavy I would have to oust her off the couch, but she always came back. And the purring. She just snuggles up and gets her motor going!! When I think of it I scratch her real good. That ofter settles her down into a comfy soft purring mode. When I am busy and trying to accomplish something and have my hands both occupied she gets more pesky, wanting my attention.

This is where her persistence becomes more obvious and quickly gets into the annoying stage.

So it is that I was trying to get this scarf done fro JD. It is dark green and while working on a dark color I strive to keep it pet fur free, which is very hard to do in this pet full house!! LOL

Usually I can crochet a scarf in about 1-2 hours. I do a bunch for the holidays for charities. This scarf, for my beloved son-in-law, was not to be completed so fast. I forgot just how long it takes to do a scarf with a complicated pattern. And I had not counted on my hands not bearing up to the process. Had I bit off more than I could chew?? Would I give up on the project?? Maybe in years past, I might have set it aside, to linger in that place of unfinished, best intentioned things, which have taken up so much space in my house in the past.

But this year, when I was working so hard to not buy present, I was determined to get it done. So When I used up the first skein of yarn (8 ounces), which is a lot for a scarf, I measured it and found it to be 5 feet long. Surely that was a great length for a scarf. Well, when I had hubby try it on, I saw that it fell real short on him, and he is shorter than JD!! Did I ever mention that my hubby is 6"1", which is pretty tall. And Did I fail to mention that JD is about 6'4"??!!! Well, the scarf at 5' was just too short, so I had to work on.

Getting down to the wire I worked feverishly to get it done, even taking it to one of Mia's school functions to work on!! And the cat, dear fat Kia, would not leave me alone to work on it. She would jump up on the arm rest, then crawl onto my arm, start chewing the yarn, and playing with the ends of the knitting needles. Try knitting with two needles while maneuvering around a fat cat on your armrest!!!! What would I do!! Well, push her off to the floor, of course!! And what would she do? Well, jump right back up, again and again! I would find myself getting so frustrated that I would be yelling at her to leave me alone. And any of you who have cats know that that does not do a thing! They never heed anything you might say or do. Not like a loyal dog! At least Abby would lay at my feet, not get tangled up in the yarn I was working on!!

So I found myself looking up the word persistent in my trusty thesaurus, and these are the words i found:

persistent: dogged, insistent, patient, persevering, pertinacious, tenacious

I love a good thesaurus!!

Pertinacious, what a great word, never heard it before. It means holding resolutely to an opinion or purpose, or obstinately persistent.

Okay, now I'm having one of those light bulb moments!!! So tell me, do you think a cat can mimic a person's behavior. Because now that I see the meaning of the word, pertinacious is a great word for describing me!!!

SO, what I was getting so annoyed at in my cat, is what my behavior is like to others, on occasion. Okay, so now I have a word for it, still need to get the scarf done!!! At 5 1/2 feet hubby thought it was still not long enough.

Long story short, finally had JD try it on when it got to 6 feet, surely that would be long enough. I had him do it at night in an unlit room, with the scarf on the wrong side, so he couldn't really see it, and it was too short!!!!
Finished length ....... 6 1/2 feet!!!!! Got it done by getting the cat comfortable on my left side, spread eagle on the couch seat, rather than on the arm rest, with a battle each session to get her repositioned!! Then had to spend the time to remove all the cat hairs throughout the long scarf!!

Now on to a patchwork quilt for Mia's new bedroom!!!

Mia, this one's for you

Dear, sweet, Mia,
As I thinking about Christmas I was reminded of a very special Christmas so many years ago......

I was in the middle of a post and this is how it progressed.
.......
I am now finding it very difficult to come up with new ideas of things to make for Mia since she has had so many hand made gifts over the almost 12 years that she has been in our lives.

That's right, it will be twelve years on December 26th since Mia first came. And I am now reminded what it is that I wanted to do for her for Christmas.

Finish her book. I wrote her a book a few years back and never got around to getting the binding done as I had lost the full use of both hands after a fall. Well, I have now had the corrective surgeries and now need to finish it for her to have in final form.


Every year I used to tell her what it was like for me to have her arrive on our doorstep on the day after Christmas. And it evolved into a book.

This is her story:


(Prologue)

This book is written for Mouy Lim, My sweet Mia, My Christmas Angel! You started this book One day you said, "Mommy, tell me about the "Christmas Angel"." And you kept asking & asking & asking.......

(dedication) To:
The most precious angel on earth. You have brought such love, joy & laughter Into my life. You have touched countless people with your smile, Your warmth, and your boundless love, For all of life & everything in this universe. No matter where you are or what you do, You are so well loved and are so loving that Everyone who comes in contact with you Will also be given the gift of knowing "My Christmas Angel." You have the spirit of an ageless sage, blessed with a compassionate heart.

You are so well loved & Love so well in return.
You have become my daughter Nothing can ever change our bond.
How much do I love you?
Bigger than the whole, wide, world, Now & Forever.
12-26-00
(many of the pages go with accompanying photos)

My Christmas Angel



Just before Christmas in 1996, the phone rang.

It was DSS.
They wanted to know if we would take a little girl, two years old.
They told us she would come to live with us the day after Christmas.
Her name was Mouy Lim.

We said YES

The other girls in our house were so excited!!

Grandpa Bear was so excited.

We were SO EXCITED WE COULD NOT WAIT!!!

We wrote a letter to Santa Claus
to let him know we were getting a
new little girl the day after Christmas.

Dear Santa Claus
We are so excited!
Mouy Lim is a two year old girl
who is coming to live with us the
day after Christmas. Can you bring
some toys for her? We don't know
what she wants, but I'm sure she
would like a doll & a teddy bear.
Thank you , Santa.
Love, Marna

On Christmas morning we found presents
under our tree that Santa Claus had left,
for Mouy Lim.

On the day after Christmas

the doorbell rang.

I opened the door,

and there, in Marlene's, (the caseworker) arms,
was little Mouy Lim, with her black fly-away hair,
in a big high pony tail, with her bigger brother's
sneakers on her tiny feet, and his too big jacket
on to keep her warm on such a cold winter's day.

With Mouy Lim were her two big sisters,
Sarith and Juliet, who came along to meet
us and to see where their baby sister would
be living. Sarith and Juliet were happy to
see Mouy Lim's nice new home and to
meet her nice new family.

We sat at the dining room table,
so that Juliet could tell me what
I needed to know about Mouy Lim.

Sammy and Crystal took Mouy Lim
and her sisters in to see the Christmas
tree, with the presents Santa had left for her.

I picked up Mouy Lim,
and held her in my arms.
Such a tiny little sweetheart!

we brought everyone upstairs,

to see Mouy Lim's new bedroom.

we showed them the living room playroom.

We went down cellar,
to show her the cellar playroom.

Before going back upstairs,
I had to turn off the lights.
One of the lights has a light chain,
and in order to turn it off
you have to pull the chain.

When I pulled the chain
to turn off the light,
Mouy Lim looked up at
the light with big questioning eyes.
It was as if she said, "Hey, what happened?"!!

So I pulled the light chain
to turn the light back on
and I said, "On."

Mouy Lim's whole face started to light up!

Then I took her hand
and put it on the light chain
and I told her she could do it.
She pulled it
and I said, "Off" as the light went off!
She got very excited
and pulled the chain again and again,
and as the light went on and off,
I said, "on" and "off"
and her face got all lit up
and her eyes got big and bright,
and she looked at me,
and I gave her a hug and a kiss
and I looked at her .......

And that is when
I fell in love with ...............

My Christmas Angel!


Post script: In February, 2002 we obtained permanent custody, after a long court battle.
On May 4, 2006 we adopted our sweet Mia.

Merry Christmas

Wow!! I can't believe Christmas is already here again! How fast time just flies on by! I am posting this a day early, and it is still all white here. Our Welcome sign got frosted by a bit of snow with the recent storms.




Santa seems none too worse for wear after the two snow storms that hit over the weekend.




Me, I've been busy knitting, baking, cooking and shoveling, but mostly enjoying hearing from family and friends. How wonderful to be remembered! How much joy to be remembering all those who have touched my life recently and over the years.


Here's a real Christmas tree for all to enjoy.





My Christmas wish for all is that you are surrounded
by love and laughter on this wonderful day!!


M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S

A morning before Christmas

Please bear with me and my sense of rhyme!!! LOL!!


It's a morning before Christmas and what do I see?? Snow all around and wind blowing the tree.




I look out the window and see white splendor all around.




Our cat, the only creature leaving prints on the ground.





The snow, oh, how white,





creating such a magnificent sight!




Lucky for me these stairs, free from a mound
let me get out real quickly for shots all around
Just need my boots, out quick for a peek
get back inside, freezing, such a geek!!




While hubby is busy, battling the snow
I'm inside basking in my 61 degree glow!





As he pauses while gloveless, a tough job to do




Mia gets out there to do her share, too.




And me, yes, you guessed it, with camera in hand
Shooting many photos, while she takes a stand.




Hubby still busy plowing away




His car, waiting patiently for what you may say.




For the day that it gets to be all snug as a bug
In the comfort of the garage, not needing to be dug.
An empty garage, fit for a car?
How did it happen? Who did it? What star?
My hubby, of course,
worked like a horse.
Cleared out my tools, cleared out the mess.
Got it all ready, for me, I confess.
Came home after long day at work and dug in.
Created this spot, neat as a pin!





And yes, hubby still working, making a path
While thinking of a long soaking hot bath.




Remember our very long driveway, so much fun in the sun?




Well, it takes a very long time to get ready for a winter run!!

One of the benefits of my garden changes

In my venture into permaculture I made several changes around the gardens. One of the changes was to incorporate zones into my gardens. This entailed figuring out what plants/things needed to be closer to the house for easier access throughout the year.

First I moved my herbs to right in front of the house. I have been posting about how much easier it is to get at herbs still growing when they are right outside the front door. Well, that only works so long as you can actually see them. When they are covered by about a foot or more of snow, it becomes a little more difficult.

I can remember my Aunt Ida May, up in Gardiner, Maine, going out into her gardens in the middle of winter to shovel out her Brussels sprouts to serve with a great homemade meal! She would have benefited from the zone idea so as to not have to struggle through about 50 feet of gardens to get to her vegetables!!!

I will work on seeing what herbs might be viable under the snow, but not until after the holidays. Spent about an hour starting to dig out the hot tub yesterday, and that was hard enough with all the snow here!! But once we get it snow free it will definitely be worth it. There is nothing better than soaking in a hot tub in the midst of snow!! And when the snow is falling, it becomes a very spiritual experience!!!

So here follows a picture out my sunroom door. The stairs go out to the garage and then on to the gardens in the back. Luckily I thought far enough ahead and moved an old garbage barrel right behind a lilac bush to provide a place for out compost during the winter.





Now John doesn't have to plow a path to the compost bin!! I found that we needed to drill a few holes for drainage in the bottom. Once I got the snow cleared off the top it was so much easier to use than trudging out through all the snow to get to the larger compost pile!

3 degrees, or Baby, it's cold outside!

As I was noticing a great icicle in front of a window, I thought how nice to try to get a photo of it. Only today, I was chilly inside and decided to take some photos from inside.

On checking the weather I see that it is only 3 degrees outside! Interesting as the sun is already warming things up at 8:00 AM. So it must have really been cold when I first put the dog out at 5:00 AM today!!! LOL (On checking again at 9:30, it is up to a balmy 6 degrees!!!)

Being in a chilly state of mind I walked around the house from window to window snapping photos of what's outside today.

I got many photos before having to recharge my batteries, which gave me time to get some posts started. Two hours later, I am back to get to this post. Photos will have to wait to be downloaded. (What else is new, but really I have lots to get done today, two days before Christmas!!) Just found out last night we need to come up with 9 gifts for a Christmas eve gathering at a neighbors!! Luckily it's a Yankee swap, so we know just what to things to bring!!

Just finished up a very special post for Mia for the day after Christmas. You will have to wait until then to see it as it is a special anniversary gift for Mia. It will be twelve years on Friday since she came to live with us!!! (Joined by a few tears of joy)

A bird playing in the snow

Early yesterday morning there was not a sound to be heard, not even a mouse. Looked out to the glory of the snowfall and caught a movement in the distance. Upon closer look, helped by my glasses, I saw it was a small bird, playing in the snow. It flitted around on the ground and up and down among the low branches.

"Aha," I wondered, "Will it keep playing while I go find the camera?"

To my delight, it did. To my frustration, taking the picture through the window proved a disaster. The flash reflected off the window and ruined the shot. Not to be deterred, I figured I needed to get out into the weather to get the hoped for shot. Went to the sunroom and peeked my head out - the location was blocked from sight!

Went to the cellar and out the door, with snow on the steps, I brushed it aside with my slipper - minus coat, hat and mittens. I reached around the hottub and got the bird in sight. Lucky for me it had stayed playing. Got my photo, froze in the process, but all worth the effort as I captured such a nice sight!



Turns out it was a Slate-colored Junco - I had to wait until later in the day when a group of them came around the house to get bird seed we threw out on top of the snow.

Unable to get a clear close up. Tried my new digital binocular camera that's been sitting around for months. Got photos downloaded, with new software. Hit the wrong key and deleted them all!! Will try again another day!!


So now I had started, couldn't leave it at that. Had to get more photos, more sights to be seen, put on my boots and went out just like that. (in pj's!!) LOL

Forgot that it was so cold - only 10 degrees. Got my photos quick as a wink!!

The Juncos were the only birds out yesterday, in the snow and then in the rain. They are very skittish. Katelyn and I threw out bird seed on the steps, but she kept getting too excited when they ventured any closer and she kept scaring them off!! We settled for watching them from a distance through the windows!

10 degrees

10 degrees outside, and what do I do??
Head out in pj's, with camera in hand.
Start with slippers on the step, then need to venture more.
Change to heavy boots and traverse in the snow!
No jacket, hat or gloves, no, not for this hardy soul.
The thought of the photos I'll get keeps me warm in my soul.

(When I get back inside the 61 degree warmth seems like a sauna!) LOL

New England weather

New England weather is always unpredictable. It is never consistent. This is a picture from yesterday, towards the end of a snowfall of 8-12".




And this is last week, the same view, at the end of a great rain fall where we were totally flooded.



And today it is snowing again, with a prediction of 6-12". We may or may not have a White Christmas, depending on what path our weather takes the rest of this week!! We never know if we will be digging out from under a bundle of snow or running around outside in shirt sleeves on Christmas! But that is the beauty of New England, always keeps us guessing!!! Got to get baking our Christmas cookies today!!

I'm trying

You know how us mothers try to do it all??!! Well, with the holidays, a teenager and my daughter's family of four getting ready to move in, I am finding it impossible to do it all. I'm sure it has something to do with my advancing age, also.

But I have to admit that I am unable to do all that I want to do on any given day! Doesn't that sound odd?? Or oddly familiar to many of you??!! LOL

Anyway, I have given up, and just take each day as it comes at me. Such a surprise to see that I hadn't gotten to a post in so many days. Please forgive. My heart is with everyone out there, just have not enough hours on any day these days!!

We surprised Mia with a complete room makeover, masterminded by her older sister, Paula. What a boost that has given Mia. We had the great reveal Monday night - to her complete surprise, joy and amazement!! Our great friend, Dawn also came and helped out, as did JD, in taking care of the kids while Paula spent so much time working on it over here.

So my apologies for not getting to my postings. There are so many waiting to be done, and I will get to them as I am able.

A path into the woods

Here is the start of yet another new path.



We are surrounded by thick woods on two sides. At this time of year I can easily see into the woods, almost to the brook which divides us from the next lot on the south side. Interesting, right at this moment I can't remember the name of the brook. AHA!! Looked it up on our map it is Meadow Brook. It goes into Crocker Pond, which is a great conservation area off Route 1.

This is pretty much what the surrounding woods look like from any given point around the yard. I have never cleared the area as I have first and foremost wanted it to be available to all the creatures abiding with us here on our little plot of God's earth. This is at the end of the season with all the greenery gone for the winter.




And this is what it looks like at the beginning of the season. By mid summer the wild flowers/weeds get to be upwards of six to seven feet tall, making it very difficult to find your footing to travel inwards.




SO, this past season I got to spend time browsing around the woods, exploring all the flora, seeing what is all about in my own little wetlands. It is very hard to get the area without climbing over and under all sorts of growing things. As I was getting into paths this year, I thought how great it would be to be able to traverse the woods more easily with a set path. Then I could even have an established way in for others to be able to enjoy all that it has to offer (and keep them on a path, and off the delicate plants within)!

So when I was collecting granite for my endeavors I noticed a pile of oval pieces which were from the sinks being formed. And I had one of those light bulb moments! I thought of what great stepping stones they would make for a path into the woods!!




This path will be extended throughout the woods, thanks to the generosity of a wonderful granite supplier.



This is a beautiful section of ferns which are such a beautiful sight on a hot sunny summer day!



And this bed of Flat Topped Aster is so much fun to enjoy!




I will also be needing to do some pruning of dead growth during the process, then it will be much easier to get around! LOL!!



Mia and I had done some this year, but there is always more to be able to look forward to.




And on this snowy day, I look out on the woods and think of the hours I will be spending there in only a few short months!! And the thought that I will now be able to share it with others is the icing on the cake!!

STAY WARM!!!!!