August 21, 2007

Hi from Stowe, Vermont. My sister and I drove up yesterday for 3 days. We were to be joined by our niece but she had an emergency situation and couldn't come. We have been visiting shops and galleries, eating too much good food and laughing a great deal. We drove to Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream factory today as well as the Cabot Cheese factory store and then drove to the top of Smuggler's Knotch atop Mt. Mansfield which is the highest point in Vermont. We stopped along the way at the gondola and rode to the top of the ski area. I shot some nice pictures.

Sunday was my family reunion picnic held at my son's house. There were about 20 people there. The kids went swimming in the pool. We nibbled on grilled kilbasi and grilled shrimp then had a traditional picnic meal. My grandchildren are all growing up.

My big surprise is - I have a contract on a house in Hartford, New York near my sister and brother in law. It is just a little doll house, 980 sq. ft., totally redone top to bottom. It is situated on 1.6 acres with a large gamble roofed barn that will actually house the motor home. I will attach a picture of the house as well as some from our trip to Stowe.

August 18, 2007

I'm off to the races......Saratoga that is! Six of us are going for the day. Whoever wins big, buys dinner.(: I tried out my new camera yesterday. Attached are some photos. I will take some at the track today too. Tomorrow I moved the coach to Pawlet for the big family picnic on Sunday. All my children except those from VA will be there. It will be a kinda substitute for my not being here at Christmas or Thanksgiving. I might try for Thanksgiving though. Not sure yet. I still can't give away my surprise but am patiently waiting and praying. No, I am not getting married! Trying to stand back and trust God in these things is always a challenge since we as humans tend to become vested in the outcome.

Heard some good news this week on CA patients I have been praying for. Still waiting to hear on others.

No clams for our picnic since there is an outbreak of Red Tide in Maine at this time. We have RT in the Gulf too. It renders the seafood toxic for a time.

My last post posed some questions on the photo with the little colored dots in it. Click on the photo itself and it will enlarge, then you should be able to zoom in. Those boxes are honey bee boxes stacked up near a hedgerow in S. Hartford. I plan to go down there and paint them. Now that I have my telephoto lens back, I can show you closer shots. Have a joyfilled day.

august 14, 2007

Have you seen any meteors yet? I have been out twice around midnight of late. Although the sky was crystal clear and the Milky Way was incredibly beautiful, I didn't spot any shooting stars. Honestly, it is difficult for me to stay up for it. Funny while I was reading the new Harry Potter book, I was burning the midnight oil every night. What a great book! The ending was perfect for the series too. I haven't seen the latest Harry Potter movie yet. I don't get to the movies while I am here in Hartford often. I see many movies in Richmond though. My sister and hubby and I just returned from one of the weekly free concerts. This one over in S. Glens Falls. It is getting cool now and the sun sets earlier. It was great music though.

I went biking today. Took a different route south on route 40. It was a great ride. I took a few pictures too. We need rain here now. The corn is way over the eye of the elephant but it is turning up begging for water. My friend has two families of wild turkeys with their young hanging around. Today as I rode, I spotted a dead coyote by the road side. He looked very large with a healthy coat.
I am still looking for a small house in this area. I may have found one. More on that later.

Sebastian is getting a shampoo and a trim tomorrow. I get my hair cut on Thursday. We usually end up having our hair cuts right around the same time. My family is going to get together on Sunday for a picnic. The weather looks like it will be in the 70's which will be nice. The weather always changes up here in August. Nights cool way down and the days are crisp but warm and dry.

I went to Cambridge NY on sunday to see my granddaughter ride in another horse show. She did well in the heat. She is a lovely rider. Then on Monday, I drove to Hebron, NY to watch another granddaughter take her riding lesson. I have three now who seem to be following in my "stirrups". It makes me very happy to see them taking up riding. I was self taught until I was in my forties. Then i began to take formal dressage lessons. I read everything I could, listened and watched others since I was a small child. These young girls are very lucky to have the training available to them.

My grandson who is in the Army Corp of Cadets at VA Tech made it through his course in Air Assault at Ft. Knox. He came home with his wings and feeling good about what he had accomplished. 20% of the class dropped out in the first two days. Heat of over 100 degrees and the tests the Army throws at the cadets plus living on MRE's would not appeal to most of us.

Here are a few shots---- Oh! I just ordered a new camera so I will have a telephoto lens once again for those great close ups. My camera is almost always with me.

August 6, 2007

I am still currently in Hartford, NY with my sister and brother in law. I have been away visiting my family in Albany, NY and they don't have wireless internet. It has been a bit of time since I last posted. I saw two great movies while in Albany; The Bourne Ultimatum and No Reservations. I went to the Knickbacker arena to watch my grandson play hockey for LaSalle. My daughter and I went for a long bike ride of Slingerlands. There are several lovely residential communities there and checking out the landscaping is always fun. But I am back here in Bearfoot sorting mountains of paper that have accumulated whilst I have been playing. It is cloudy and threatens rain today but still quite humid. I am planning a family reunion to be on August 19th at my son's home in Pawlet. I think there will be nearly 100% attendance excepting my daughter and her family from VA. She will be back teaching part-time by then and my granddaughter is working. My grandson who attends officers training at VA Tech is currently at Ft. Knox training in Air Assault helicopter training. Please include him in your prayers. The conditions, weather and entire Army program is designed to present these young trainees with the harshest conditions possible. 20% of the cadets dropped out in the first 3 days. He will be there for 3 weeks if he makes it. It is difficult to witness the tremendous toll taken on a beloved young man in my family.

My granddaughter, the horsewoman, is at horse camp and attending a few shows. She has done very well for her second season of showing. She is an excellent rider. Having been a competitive rider myself, I know the rigors of training that she is enduring. I also know the disappointment as well as the excitement of winning and losing. I hope to attend at least one of her shows this week.

Some of the Vermont schools as well as Virginia are starting their teachers early and my girls go back this month. Seems like a short vacation for them. Some people are critical of the hours that they suspect teachers put in but I'm here to testify to the extra work they do all year long. Grading papers each night, staying at school late in the day for meetings and tutoring and going back two weeks before the students return. They don't get paid enough for what they do either.

The images are taken at my daugher's home in Florence, VT. The granddog is Denzel.
Keep smilin', keep dancin', keep prayin'.......

July 24, 2007

A change! Posted one of my watercolour paintings. Hope you like it.
I have some photos to post as well. I was taken on a tour of Hartford via ATV. What a thrill! We stood still by a beaver pond for over a half hour hoping to see some beavers but I think it was too hot for them to be out and about. We did see a flicka and a hawk which I couldn't identify. But I saw many many wildflowers - blackeyed susans, daisies, bee balm and some I couldn't name. I forgot my wildflower book. We shared a lovely picnic on the hillside with a view that would take your breath away. A lovely day!

Today I visited the Mettawee Nursery in Dorset taking my young granddaughter who is 7 with me. We thoroughly investigated the fairy garden and I took many pics. See this site for same. We went home and after picking black berries, we built a small fairy house. We plan to build more after I go to Michaels crafts for some houses etc. Several years ago in VA, my young then granddaughter and I built fairy houses all around my yard. We used sea shells, pine cones, shiny ribbons, little berries and nuts. We strung shiny sequin ribbons from tree to tree. It was lots of fun for both of us. Yesterday, my sis and her grandson, me and my granddaughter went to the movies to see Ratatouille. I totally enjoyed the animated film about a chef rat. I don't know if the kids liked it as much as we adults did.

Tomorrow night is the Kenny Chesney concert at SPAC. My sis and I are going which should be a good time. Here are some photos--- One shot is taken from the Algonquin Rest. on Lake George where we celebrated my sister and hubby's 44th wedding anniversary.

Trip to Queechee Gorge and VINS

Ijust realized I hadn't posted any pics on our trip to the Gorge or to the Vermont Institute of Natural Science last week. A perfect day complete with a hike down the trail to the river at the bottom of the gorge and an ice cream cone. Enjoy!

July 19, 2007

Yesterday was my eldest child, my son's 48th birthday. We went to dinner at the Dorset Inn located on the Green in quaint little Dorset, VT. The food was wonderful. I had diver scallops and a fresh beet and pistachio salad. Yum! Of course, I had to indule in a chocolate terrine with rasberry sauce for desert. It isn't any fun having a birthday party if you don't eat cake!

Today is rainy and cold once again. Last night coming home, the clouds were hanging over these old mountains but the moon and venus peaked through. There was even some red colour left from the sunset earlier. I had hopes for sunshine today but doesn't look like it will. I have some projects to catch up on inside. Tomorrow I will move the coach down to a local campground to dump the waste tanks and then pick up my car to go over to my sister's house. Tomorrow is their 44th anniversary and she is giving herself a party. We have all expressed a need for an over 55 party which is reminiscent of our winter gatherings in Naples. We will have some "heavy" appetizers which will serve as a meal. We will probably be inside though since it looks like rain again.

My granddaughter here in Pawlet is leaving on Sunday for horse camp on Lake St. Catherine in Poultney, VT for 3 weeks. While she is away, I will have an opportunity to play with her younger sister as well as the other younger ones in the area. We are considering taking a camping trip to Parc Safari in Canada. I am not much of an amusement park person but apparently there is a great deal to do there.

I finished a sketch of my granddaughter's chow dog who was shot last year. We found a frame for it yesterday. Now I am continuing to work on a painting of a frog for my grandson who is 12. Since I started this project, I discovered that he really likes turtles better. But since he is a lover of all things natural, I guess the frog will be ok.

We visited Tylord farm in Benson, VT the other day. Saw the devastation first hand since they had a fire two years ago and lost 7 valuable top stallions. They are gradually rebuilding their foundation stock. We also visited the UVM Morgan Horse Farm, took the tour, watched some training and schooling and visited with the trainer. Always fun to go there. Lunch followed at Mr. Ups in Middlebury, VT. We were seated on the Otter Creek. There is always a wildlife show going on there. I am posting some pics.

Keep smiling -

July 12, 2007

I brought Bearfoot or I guess I should say, Bearfoot brought Bash and me to Pawlet, VT yesterday just before a T-storm came rolling through. My plan was to drive to Dorset for a dump run but I wasn't about to mess with all that in the rain. I came directly to my son's, took the car off and turned this rig around so I could back in in the driveway and into my "spot" next to the house.

We went to a 90th birthday party last night in the deluge for Alma Baker, my daughter-in-law's grandmother. She is a special lady. She was also a good friend to my mom when mom was alive. They met at my son's wedding 24 years ago. It was an immediate friendship that lasted until mom passed 3 years ago in May. She seemed to be a bit overwhelmed by the party and sad as well. I told her to forget about the numbers and focus on the fact that she is well and aware. I spent sometime talking with an old classmate of hers who is from Raceville, NY, near Grandville. What a special woman she is! Still does her own mowing, gardening, mulching etc. She is an organic gardener. She also drives herself anywhere she wants to go, her words. She doesn't hear well but what brilliant blue eyes she has and incredible spirit.

My bike went into the shop in Glens Falls last week. They finally got it fixed and I picked it up yesterday before I left Hartford. New chain, new gears, new seat and an air pump = $121. The seat and air pump were something I really had needed for sometime. I don't know if this seat will fit my buns but hope it is better than the other one. On long rides, one expects to be a bit saddle sore but not to the extent that I was. I may sign up for a bike tour in northern Vermont in August. I hope it will be a way to meet other singles my age with similar interests.

I plan to spend sometime with my middle daughter who lives in Florence, VT for a couple of days. We want to explore a few things and maybe go to the Blues festival in Brandon. Then I want to take my horse-loving 14 yr. old granddaughter to the E. dorset horse show. I will hang out here in Pawlet until next week. I need to be back in Hartford for my sister's anniversary on friday.

So it goes.... Enjoy the photos.