life – Page 32 – This Old House 2

Run for the Cove

” The Cove Center for Grieving Children was founded in 1995

by Jim and Mary Ann Emswiler and therapist Renée McIntyre.

Their vision was to create a program in Connecticut

to support children and families in their grief process

and to help prevent children and teens from experiencing
the devastating side effects of unresolved childhood grief.”

http://www.covect.org/

I had the privilege of being asked to take photos at their annual Run For The Cove event this morning at Hammonasset State Park – it was a windy, chilly, beautiful day at the beach – so many smiles, so many groups showing their support…

I went down to the water afterwards and to my surprise…

there was a man out there… windsurfing? Kite surfing?

I would not be surprised if he were frostbitten tonight.

He’d probably tell you the conditions were perfect.

Brrrrrrr.

This and that

It’s an odd Fall season this year… apple picking in 85 degree temps, the colors in the foliage are muted, some of the trees have already lost their leaves, never having turned their traditional golden hue. We’ve had some glorious weather, but it’s not the usual for this time of year. So many natural disasters around the world…this past winter was horrendous here in New England.. summer was brutally hot, Irene blew through and burned and toppled trees… and now this Indian Summer. Global warming?.. I don’t know… Global SOMETHING, for sure.

All of these pictures were taken in the last three days…

It almost appears as if these were spread among two seasons.

It’s as if the Earth isn’t sure where she’s at.

I’m just throwing a chicken pic in here because I can.

The girls are giving me four eggs a day now, and have become friendly.

They finally figured out where their food comes from, I’m guessing.

No chicken will ever be a brain surgeon, this I know to be true.

The new tree hydrangea we put in is turning a beautiful dusty rose…

Opie hasn’t grown much of a winter coat yet, temps too warm.

The mini’s HAVE grown their winter coat.. and are hot on these very warm days…

Ben isn’t shivering yet when he’s kicked out in the early morning to do his business…

This time last year the hill was ablaze with color…

The fire bush still puts on it’s show.. love this shrub.

A dirt road along a reservior nearby… normally red and gold. We used to be able to ride horses along the road, it was beautiful. The water company owns the land, ( they actually own a third of our town land) and decided horse poop might pollute the streams that meander into the reservior, and so we are no longer allowed to be in there.

In my thirty years of trail riding,

I don’t think my horse has ever pooped in a stream.

Just sayin.

They’ve put up gates and wire to deter trespassing. It’s discouraging, the continued loss of trail systems for horse people. To think it was once, and not that long ago, the main form of transportation. Now deemed a nuisance.

A little Chip update… yesterday we had a meeting at the next

Dog Days Adoption Event site – Oct. 29th & 30th at the Branford Elks Club.

Lorin brought Chip along so he could get some fresh air and

be part of an interview with a reporter.

He was perky, wagging his little butt and tail around

as he greeted us, and his skin is much less angry.

There is even a fine coat growning and, and it appears he has a white spot on his chest.

Crappy photo from my iphone, but you see the love there.

So far he’s tolerating the Ivermectin treatments, Amen for the small but important things.

Some might say I’m making a big deal out of an abandoned mangy puppy.

No.. the really big deal is how people have come together to

help out an abandoned mangy puppy. Score one for humanity.

I’ll be taking pictures here tomorrow…. if you’re local and you walk or run,

this is a great event in a beautiful setting. Come join the fun and get some exercise.

The blogging community is dominated by women…

why that is, I’m not sure. Perhaps we’re more willing to

“put ourselves out there”.

I’m always pleased to see a few members of the other gender

join in… won’t you please welcome Andy of The Little White House..

http://thelittlewhitehouse-andy.blogspot.com/

As you southerners would say… Y’all have a great weekend.

I just like saying that. 🙂

Trust

There was a bonfire here again the other night

for about 15 fifteen year olds.

Because we live “out in the sticks”

our teens can’t easily congregate on someones stoop, or meet at the movie theatre

or down at the local park

or out in the street for a game of stickball or baseball,etc.

So I don’t mind when my son asks..

“can I have a bonfire tonight and invite a bunch of kids over?”

Now that the kids are in High School

I don’t know every single one… they are divided between the private HS

and the public, but co-mingle often, which I think is terrific.

When one dad who I have never met showed up to drop his daughter off,

I was waiting at the side door gate to greet them as they came.

I wanted the parents to know my husband and I were home and

would be keeping an eye on the group at the bonfire.

This particular Dad came up to me after driving up the driveway to the bonfire..

(it’s up on the hill)

… “why so far away from the house??”

I said.. ” that’s where we put our fire pit. It’s a clear view from here though,

we can see that the fire is under control and can keep an eye on the kids

from a distance. We will also go up to check on them here and there. ”

I joked that the firepit used to be right out the back door

but the kids wanted it more than 15 feet from the living room couch.

He said

“I don’t give a sh*t what the kids want, who’s the boss.. you or them?”…..

I assured him we’ve done this before and it went very well.

He shook his head and left after complaining

to one more mom as she arrived.

He could have taken his daughter home,

I would have been OK with that.

But it made me think.

How much trust is OK to give your teenager?

By the age of “almost sixteen”

I got myself to school and home on a city bus,

met my friends at a city park often to “hang out”,

had a waitressing job at a catering hall

that sometimes wasn’t over until 1 or 2am.

I also worked at the city zoo running the pony track.

I alone was responsible for tacking up a couple of ponies

and keeping other people’s kids safe and entertained.

And we didn’t have cell phones then either.

Mom had to trust in where I was.

And I survived. We all did.

Did we make mistakes?

Hell yeah.

In some ways I think we are “making” our teens younger

and less responsible as things are now.

In other ways I realize they have access to so many more

harmful things. So many more options with modern technology.

But they alsodon’t have as much to do.

You might not agree with me, and that’s OK.

Did the Dad have a right to be concerned for his daughter’s safety?

Absolutely.

Do I still think it’s acceptable to let a bunch of kids who

are almost driving age sit up on the hill around a bonfire

behind my house

and figure a few things out for themselves?

Without a doubt.

And I know mistakes will be made…

Mistakes… Life Lessons…

hopefully not the worst kind…

but also…there’s gotta be a little trust.

And some expectations.

Reality in small doses

This weekend both chicks were in the nest

and I reveled in it.

Oh, they were here and there, riding lessons,

bon fires, football games,

but at the end of the day… they were in their beds,

we were all under the same roof.

It occurs to me… too frequently as of late…

that this will soon not be the case.

College girl will graduate this year and we looked at a possible

condo living situation in another town she is kind of excited about.

HUH??!!!

The manchild came home with his school portrait package on Friday..

and I wanted to say..
Who’s THIS??

He’s growing in leaps and bounds…and when we viewed

said condo… he said..

“This would be pretty awesome, I could share it with one of my friends!

And.. I’m thinking of taking a year off from school before I

go to college. I could live here!…”

HUH??!!!!!!!!!

and.. I don’t think so.

(insert alarm bells, fog horns, sirens, whistles and cuckoo bird calls)

and throw in a Xanax. or two.

I’m so not ready for this.

I know it’s healthy and natural and

the correct order of things …

to have ambitions and dreams

and to set them in motion.

Oh, I hear the banter from some of my friends…

“Can’t wait for the kids to move out of the house”

“Won’t it be nice to have the freedom again“

Not me… I miss the playdough on the counter
and matted in the rug.
Stepping on legos…
braiding ponytails..
playground playdates…
trick-or-treating!..
Oh, do I miss the trick-or-treat evening strolls
through neighborhoods full of excited ghosts and goblins
(more like power rangers and Belle of Beauty & the Beast)
all armed with bags full of loot and rosey cheeks..

I’m a bit envious of those who look forward to the empty nest.
It would be so much easier to let go, you know?

More about Chip & How to get your dog to stop pulling.

Thanks to your generous donations, Chip went back to the vet for much needed Xrays of chest and Hip. Turns out the hip looks fine and is just sore from being in a small metal crate while he was in Florida Kill Shelter and then vet down south. *sigh?!*…. His lungs do not show signs of pneumonia… perhaps asthma from poor living conditions. The meds that have to be applied to his skin appear to sting him when applied.. but they are necessary. He’s already been in Lorin’s whirlpool for Epsom salt and oil bath. Here he is this morning, chewing on a donated nylabone. She has beds in each room because he is still so emaciated he cannot comfortably lie on a hard floor.

So… How to get your dog to stop pulling when you go for a walk? As you all know, Ben is a dane, which translates to BIG FREIGHT TRAIN pulling on little old me when we go for walks. I hate choke collars, especially on a dane with very little coat hair. Traditional harnesses tend to make them pull against it, hence more strain on the walker. But THIS harness.. the Easy Walker… works like a charm. I mean, there is NO pulling. None. And.. it’s extremely humane. Nothing tugs at or pulls on the dog. Something about the way it’s designed (actually clipped to the leash on the front chest portion of the rig) gives the dog the feeling that he CAN’T pull, so he doesn’t. Or something like that. Ben has not pulled on me once since I started using this harness and it doesn’t seem to phase him at all to have it on. It’s not tight, fully adjustable, and comes in different sizes. I got it at a feed & grain store. ( I am not being paid to advertise this… it’s just a really good product so I don’t mind spreading the word. )

I think this might be upside down.

Snaps at the front…

No pulling. It’s amazing how it works.

This is the Parmelee Trail at Parmelee Farm.

All photos today brought to you by my iPhone

Steve Jobs, you were an amazing man. The World will miss you.

Reality Shot

It’s one of my least favorite chores in the house.

I love to cook, but hate the clean-up.

Sometimes that mess will sit till the next morning…

much to the Mr’s chagrin.

What about you… are you a “get it done before bed” kinda person

or can you “let it sit.”.

What is it about hair

You get it in places you don’t want it…

You don’t have enough of it in places you DO want it.

You spend alot of money to get rid of the unwanted hair

and you spend alot of money to enhance the desired hair.

What a circle jerk.

I have never really fussed with my hair much… a few haircuts a year..

Sometimes I just cut it myself, because I’m not really a salon girl.

Same basic style for many years with a little change now and then.

I like it longer, but lately I need to be realistic.

I’m no spring chicken,

and the hair is beginning to show it.

So last week I made a last minute call to the local hair salon,

where I could get a cheap cut, same day.

It was…. a cheap cut, same day.

Wasn’t happy.

Bobble head doll with a bob comes to mind.

I tried to live with it.

Yesterday… I drove past a fancier “SALON”

and then turned around and pulled into their parking lot.

Made an appointment for later in the day

and said… FIX THIS.

It’s short, …and glamorous I am not,

but I think I like it.

Do I look older? Maybe.

Do I care so much? You know… the answer surprises me.

I don’t.

PS.. I love my sister.

When I got out of the salon I sent her this pic…

and she said…

That’ looks like you’re driving!?

Because she cares, you know 🙂

Umm.. I wasn’t. yet.

When Vivika, a local quilt artist who I befriended during my Artisan Gallery days, commented on my DMV Pen post yesterday, I asked her if she had seen the pen machines when she was there. This is her response, reposted with permission. I had to laugh, but can you IMAGINE?

_________________________________________________________________________

Yes, the pen machine is there, and it was almost empty on my trip. The full day went like this:

12:15 Arrive and slide through the front door into a sardine can of people (Hamden was closed, so they all went to Old Saybrook). It was impossible to tell where the lines began.

12:30 Found the right line. Whew! Realize there are no forms, start to leave, nice lady gives us one. Score one for humanity.

3:10 Reach the front of the line and talk to DMV… finally. We watched handicapped, old and relatively young people nearly collapse from standing in line with no fresh air on a 90 degree day.

3:12 Get picture taken, sit in one open seat and wait for test. Watch the tattoo parade.

3:15 Doors are locked so no one else can get in. Man with the electronic ankle bracelet unwraps his legs from his girlfriend and takes his drivers test. New reality show is born.

4:15 Grace goes into room to take test. Airconditioning finally starts working.

4:16 People who arrived at 3:15 go in room to take test. I hate them! However, they exit first and stomp out of the DMV with no permit in hand. Score one for karma.

4:48 Grace leaves DMV with newly minted permission from the state of Connecticut to dent our cars and add $2000/year to our insurance policy…

It was a red letter day!

Vivika Hansen DeNegre
http://vdenegrequilts.blogspot.com/
http://theprayerflagproject.blogspot.com/

You can’t make this stuff up

The significant other went to the motor vehicle department here in Connecticut the other day to fill out registration paperwork. When it came his turn to fill in some forms, he naturally went for the pen. You know.. the kind that are attached to a string, stuck to the table? All three on the forms table where dried up. So he went to the counter to ask for a pen that writes.

He said: None of your pens on the form table are working, can I have a pen to fill out these forms?

She said: I’m sorry, we don’t lend pens anymore. You’ll have to buy one over there at the pen machine for 50 cents.

He said: Are ya kiddin? I have to BUY a pen to fill out your forms?

She said: That’s the way they’re doing things nowadays around here, sorry.

Other customer said to Him: You can borrow my pen….. for 20 cents!

So, you Connecticut folks….. next time you have to head over to MV, make sure you bring a working pen. Or two quarters for the machine. Apparently.

The View

There’s a dreary rain falling

on one of my favorite events of the season..

The Durham Fair.

candy apples! fried dough! The Lions club Corndogs!
craft tents! The tractor pulls! (um, no not really)
The chickens, cows, goats!
Last year REO Speedwagon, tonight KC & the Sunshine band!!

Do I curse the rain?

Or do I get out there and dance in it…