Category: Uncategorized

The Graduate

 
What a day… so proud of these kids.
They’ve known each other since kindergarten and they’ve shared so much
.. as the best of friends, teammates, classmates.
Our families have also been close, sharing their trials and triumphs,
looking out for each other’s children…
Indeed, it takes a village.
 
It was a beautiful day to celebrate these awesome young men,
their accomplishments and their future.
 
 

 
 
 
 
I love that face right there.
That look says a thousand things…



 
 
Cousins… and their girls.
Life awaits! …..

 
To M & C-  We are so proud of you both – two fine young men who
will no doubt grace this world in abundance with your intelligence,
wit, kind nature, strong work ethic,  good will and humor. 
 Go forth and live the life you imagine.
 Hard work, determination and living what you love are the key.
 
Love you always  xo
 

 
 


About the chick click

 The chicks are growing so incredibly fast! Yesterday I renovated their condo to include a third room. First two rooms were Weber grill boxs courtesy of the hardware store, and the new addition is a refrigerator box courtesy of the appliance store down town.

 Where I go from here with their living quarters is still a mystery, because they can’t live among my hens in the actual chicken coop until they are about 16 weeks old, lest they get henpecked and bullied. We certainly don’t want that.

 Video taken yesterday, they are almost all feathered out already at just five weeks! 

Happy tails

 
 
 But first, let me thank every one of you for your kind words,  advice, commiseration and understanding yesterday. I hesitated to put it out there, the emotional battle and anger  I still wage with myself  on that particular subject.  Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out and sorted, it unravels again.  However!… I have taken heed of some of your advice, and today is a new day.  As a matter of fact, today I take that person for cataract surgery, with a positive attitude and good will in my heart.  And so it shall be.
 
 Now, on to the happy tails!
 
 I conducted two home visits yesterday here in my own town, LOVE when dogs are adopted by locals.. I get to see them again in their happy homes or out and about locally.   Once I walked into a store about 10 miles from  here and behind the counter looking out at me was a little Jack Russell face I recognized.   He went to work daily with his new dad, the owner of the store!  Great to see.  
 
 
 Here is Roger (now Tanner) with his new mom…
 
 
 
seen below when they first met at our adoption event…
She walked into Tractor Supply and Roger just crawled into her lap.
Just like that..and right there the decision was made.
 
 
 
 
And here is Odie…formally known as Reggie.. with his new Dad at home.
He is LOVED.
 
 
 
This was Odie at our event, getting to know his new mom!

 
See the look on his face?  Are YOU the one?
She certainly was.
 
 Hooray for the Underdog!
If you would like to support what we are doing, we need all the help we can get.
Every dollar helps us get another dog out of the kill shelter
and into the arms of a loving family.  There is a safe to use DONATE button
on the website… Please visit..
 
reddogproject.org
 
 
 
 


Thorns

  I want to know my truest self as a kind, considerate, compassionate individual.  If you read my drivel often enough, you know I spend a good deal of my free time helping shelter dogs find homes and contributing to my community in various ways.  Leave a place better than you found it –  I love that simple line.   It feels good to do so, it nourishes my soul… sounding as corny as I can get here today.

  But sometimes.. I get it all wrong. Thorns on the rose, you know.

  Again… if you read my drivel often enough here… you also know I speak my mind quite openly and without apology. I am opinionated and I am stubborn and I am stuffed full with emotion…… always have been, forever it shall be.   This is a good thing most often… for that fire helps me get  the good things done. And then there are times.. like yesterday.

  I started out with good intentions. I knew what I was walking into.. but as I drove to yesterdays destination I told myself I was not going to let emotion dictate my behavior.  A certain elder relative and I have had a difficult relationship through the years. We are oil and water.    The stubbornness we share.    Because of the thorny issues between us, it is hard for me in his waning years to find compassion and do what I know is right….that is…  Find compassion to do what he needs done and leave the emotion out of it.  Sometimes I succeed, and sometimes I fail miserably.  Like yesterday. 

  For many years this person has chosen to live haphazardly and has, for reasons still unknown to me, chosen to live a life with “Poor Me” underscores.  He lived according to his own set of rules and did what he wanted most often enough without much regard for others.  He followed his passions , was blessed with good health until he ruined it, but did not nourish friendships or family relationships. So in the end, there isn’t much if you can no longer chase your hobbies.  Where the -poor me- came from is beyond my understanding, and maybe even his.

   So now… I am (as is my husband, because without his support it wouldn’t be possible) the one and only lifeline, his key to still living independently.  I don’t know that he realizes it, but at his age and in his condition, it really doesn’t matter, does it.  I should have long ago realized that a leopard is a leopard is a leopard.  Throwing it through a washer is not going to wash away the spots.  Acceptance is what I usually think I have found.  Sometimes, though,  I lose it. Like yesterday. 

  I walked in, saw what I already knew would be there and thought I had long ago accepted, felt his attitude building as I asked questions, felt my own attitude roil and bubble and then.. burst.   I should have just…. shut ….up.

 Instead, I probably shamed an old man.   And now I feel horribly about it. 

  

 

Follow Frasier

 
 

 
 

 
This exotic looking flower was all by itself
in the middle of the woods.

By the stream there are several beautiful wild flowers in bloom…


 
 

 
 
 
In this picture below, there is an owl!
We’ve seen him two nights in a row now,
he must live here in the woods behind the farm.
 
Can’t spot him?
 
 
 
 
 
Let me crop and blow up the image……
 
 

 
 
The woodpeckers favorite _restaurant _ below

 On our way back out of the woods, lets stop in the equipment barn
and I’ll introduce you to Big Red..a real old work horse here at This Old House.
He’s babied, I can tell you that.
This weekend he was hauling mulch,
you’d never know it.

 
and THIS thing below.. is the Cupola we saw at the Thrift store not long ago.
The Mr. is fixing it up so that it can sit on top of the barn
it’s currently stored in.  There were quite a few bullet or bee bee holes in it
along with some rust…
 
I could stand inside of it easily.
 


 
 
 

 
The bugs are biting, so lets follow Frasier down to the house…

 

 
Have I told you lately how much I love my dogs?
 
..and this one in particular, I think because his journey was not always
an easy one through green fields and trickling streams with a welcoming place to
come home to. 

 


Down Country Roads

 
   I may swear at the typical dreary spring weather or long winters we get here in New England, but in truth the list of what I love is far longer than the issues I complain about.  The old stone walls and foundations and quarries, etc. are among my favorites.  Houses dating back as far as the 1600’s are a treasure too. Many 1700 and 1800’s houses are fully functional and the history present because of them is something I would miss terribly if I were to move away from the area.
 
 We’re on our third day of dreary rain, but it’s good for the newly planted things outside and the trees who are pushing out their spring leaves and flowers.  The guy and I took a ride over the river -just because- yesterday, traveling back country roads we have not paid much attention to before.  We both love exploring areas not far from home to discover hidden gems like one.   I was standing on a bridge crossing a river as I took this picture of a lovely 1800’s home… what a beautiful spot to come home to, no?
 


Rain kissed

 
 

 
 
 
Two baby blue eggs and a pink..my chickens gift to me last night.
 
 

 
 
..and a quick chick update…
can you believe how fast they’ve grown from fuzzy little chicks
to more than doubled in size and feathered?
It’s been just four weeks.
 
Bellatrix and Hermoine seen here.

 
 
I went to the feed and lumber store yesterday for wheels for the livestock gates.
They didn’t have any… so I brought home one more chick..
because sometimes that’s how I roll… 
 
See that little black head sticking out in the rear on the right?
She’s a Black Star, an excellent egg layer and a pretty chicken.
A leftover from the feedstore’s -Chick Day -,
 I had to give her a home, you see. 
 
She snuggled right in with the rest.  Who wants to give her a name? 

*sigh* … sheees baaaaaack.

 I knew she couldn’t keep it to herself.  How long was the only question.  All these years later…. like 16 or so?  …. here we go again with the Lewinsky Clinton Circus.  She’s finally writing her book, telling her story.  Don’t we all know every single sordid stupid detail already?  The Tripp tapes?  The blue dress?  Revolting Cigar use in the oval office?… blah blah blah blah blah.

 She says now that while it was a consensual relationship, she was definitely taken advantage of. I beg to differ, Monica.   Yes, our President was stupid beyond belief at that particular point in time and I will not try to defend him here. However, you were in full control of keeping your blue dress clean and your reputation unshattered if you had just had the respect to keep yourself away from the married President of the United States, regardless of his own ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLY ASININE POOR DECISION MAKING abilities at the time.   I mean, really, Bill… WTF, a 21 year old intern?  And you thought it wouldn’t leak out?  Like she would keep screwing the President of the United States to herself???  You couldn’t wait till you were NOT the President of the US before doing something so stupid?  I had faith in you. I still think you had some greatness in you, but you f-ed it up big time, Dude.  BIG. 

 Anyway, I … will not…. be buying…. a book from THAT woman.

  We were all saturated in every sordid detail of that ridiculous circus and I doubt there are any revelations worthy of our attention.  As for all the Hilary haters who like to blame her for some part in that, or keeping Bill around afterwards..  well, she had no control over the proverbial cigar and she paid a very high price for two other people’s stupidity… You may have your opinions, but the truth is none of us knows all the details in their marriage or anyone else’s for that matter.  In my opinion she handled that situation  with more class and restraint than a lot of us are capable of, me included.

  Please, Monica, just shut up and stop playing the victim. Your 15 minutes of fame were up a looooong time ago.  Just..go.