Only 3 more weeks!

Time to get out the suitcases and start making some lists. In a few short weeks we will be able to sit outside in these chairs!

And view the sunset from the balcony.......

Christmas present for the cats

We went to visit my brother & his family & my Mom this past weekend and Karen ( my SIL) had bought a gift for her cats , but they wanted nothing to do with it. So she gave it to me to take home for our cats. This is a photo of their cats, Pink & Blue. Well, my cats loved it! It's a cornucopia shaped crinkily bag--it makes alot of noise & has catnip in it--I put it on the floor & there was a waiting line to get in it!

Squeak taking his turn...

And Tuck almost totally inside--he's the one that likes to burrow in & under things! The 3rd cat barely had a chance at the toy!

Enjoy!

Christmas dinner is a big part of the celebration of the holiday--we will be with my family for the weekend after Xmas. This is a photo from Christmas 1949 at my grandparents house. Around the table from the left--my Great Aunt Anna, my Mom, my sister, my maternal grandmother Hazel at the head of the table, my Aunt Kay( still alive at 95!), paternal grandfather Walt & mom's cousin Mary Jane
have a magical day !

Merry Christmas

I am working crazy hours the next few days so here's a card for all of you--thanks for your friendship & readership! here's to a great new year!


http://ecard.ashland.edu/2004admission/index.html
Merry Christmas to all and to all a blessed New Year !!!!!

Another Christmas memory

My Mom, me & my sister setting up the tree in 1950 or 51. I'm facing the camera. We had just moved to this house--my paternal grandparents had lived there before--my granfather was a builder & had built most of the homes in the neighborhood. We had lived in a 4 family house until this time--2 other families were couples that my parents had known throughout HS --they had daughters the same summer that I was born--we still keep in touch sporadically. We moved from this town to one 20 miles away, but in the early 60's that was like the other side of the country. Brings back so many wonderful memories surrounding happenings at this house!

Fine feathered and furry friends in the snow

As long as the cats & dog stay in the house we have lots of birds in the trees and on the feeders.

They finished off the suet cake that was up for them. Will have to add to my list to get when I go to town.

Spotted this little guy up in a birch tree next to one of our feeders keeping his eye on all the goings on.

The snow has stopped ....for now!

Here's what it looks like early this morning (well, at 7 am--I took a few photos & all are blurry--could be that I'm bleary-eyed!)

These 2 I took last night about 4:30 pm. I took a video and tried to upload, but it was too long! We ended up with approx. 9-10 inches.

The plow guy came around 4 or 5 this am so we can get out --I have to work 3-9 pm!

A link for the video--watch in high quality if possible....at the time zI took the video, it was snowing heavily--1-2 inches an hour!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPUrp-Twb9w

I think we'll be able to build one of these today.....

Snow fort with friends & family-- 1958
Not that I want to! We are expecting 10+ inches of snow to start falling at any time. Today is my only day off til after Xmas & I was out early running errands so I'd be home before the snow. The grocery store was just starting to get busy when I was leaving.
Photo taken in 1958 when I was 10--I enjoyed being out in the snow then; now , not really.....My brother is on the right with me next to him.
Don't worry--for those of you missing the snow, Iwill brave the elements & take some photos! PS It's now 12:30 pm and the snow has started

From the vault of Christmas past.....

Thsi is my sister & me--I'm holding our cat--Susie Lou-- these are shots for our family Christmas card--- 1950!

Susie was not cooperating--she was very inquisitive!

Also from 1950--in front of the fireplace at our house.

It's all over but the cleanup....mostly

A tree crew came through Sat. afternoon & cut the trees off the lines so the power company could come in & fix the lines. What a mess!

They leave everything where it falls--Alan went out with his tractor & pushed stuff off the driveway so we could get in & out.

You can see in this photo the pole is still leaning & the wires are are still hanging--another crew will be back to fix that!

One of our neighbors will be down today to start the cleanup--we're borrowing a woodchipper for the small stuff & he wants the bigger logs--has a log furnace ( not sure exactly what they are called) & will burn any type of wood in it--this is white pine.

We were blessed that it wasn't worse--many people in NE are still without power and have been told it could be a week or so before they have it back!

Ice Storm 2008

We have been without power for a few days--our neighbors all got it back last night , but we have trees down (6) over our lines so it will take a little longer. The internet & cable came back on with the power--we have a generator. So I thought I'd post a few photos I took yesterday of the destruction at our house. We were lucky that nothing hit the house or barn!

You can see the power line running along the bottom of this photo. Our entire town was without power for about 24 hours--started getting it back yesterday. We are alot better off than many because we have a generator, 2 woodstoves and a gas stove to cook on. We were supposed to go to see my family for the weekend, but that got cancelled since we can't get out the driveway!

It's nice to live in a small town at a time like this--our neighbor left one of his vehicles at the end of our driveway in case we needed to go anywhere, another neighbor took Alan to Torrrington to get more gas for the generator. And the same guy stopped a CLP crew this morning & told them about our situation--They just showed up to start cutting away the trees!

We are thankful that it didn't last any longer & are grateful for our neighbors that keep checking on us!

Looking towards the house......

P.S. 1:30 pm-Power is up & running --one of our friends just stopped by with a chainsaw ; checking to see if we needed any help clearing debris--how nice!

Stocking up for the winter

Just happened by the back door & saw this guy under the bird feeder having a little snack. Luckily my camera was nearby!

Santa's Jigsaw puzzle

Just received this from a friend; I thought you might enjoy!



http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=ER13610552

more holiday decor...

We went to a surprise 80th birthday party over the weekend. It was held at the Old Newgate Coon Club--a private hunting club that Alan belongs to. They have 600+ acres of land , 2 ponds and a large house for functions. The deer mount is in the barroom--there is a bear mount just to the left of the fish in the background--also with a bow on it! The couple that lives on the premises do a great job keeping up the place--the clubhouse is an old mansion--about 9 rooms plus their 5 room apt..( the party was for the guy that lives on site)

early morning Isla

I took this picture one of the last mornings we were on Isla in Jan. 2008. Along the malecon near the Roca Mar. Probably was between 6:30-7 am.
Only another month or so before we'll be back!

PS Bizarre weather here in NE this week--Mon. it was a high of 10 degrees; yesterday was up in the 40's; today looking for highs in the 50-60 range, but by Fri we should have snow sleet or rain & ice! We have plans to visit my family this weekend outside of Boston--about a 3 hr. drive, I hope it's not too bad because I won't frive if it's too icy! The majority of the drive is on the Mass. Pike & 495 & the other drivers worry me more than the weather!

Library photos

I was asked to take some photos of our library--the CT Library Assoc. wants pictures of the library for a display in the state Legislative offices. The library has a small balcony area where most of the non-fiction books are housed. I thought that would be the best place to take the photo from. This is looking into the main room--there are 2 other rooms --both children's areas. Our library is part of the town hall/school complex.

These masks and prints you see hanging in the photos are the works of Tom Hanford; he does musical programs for young people ( http://www.tomhanford.com/)

The quilt on the wall is a bicentennialquilt done by different townspeople. Each square depicts different places and activities around Goshen

A dusting of snow....

Overnight Sat. we had a dusting of snow. It then flurried all day yesterday. Only 2 inches from all that! It turned very windy in the afternoon, but it's New England and it's supposed to be 60 by Wed.!

Rafe with his favorite toy of the moment--it's a weghted balll with a large ring ( like a pacifier) on the top--only problem with it --it stays outside & isn't very pliable in the cold weather!

A view of our barn & the snow.

More christmas decorations

A few more shots from around the store. We are expecting a little snow this weekend--1-2 inches. Kinda hope we get it because it really doen't seem like Christmas time here. I spent the day yesterday in Greater Hartford shopping with a friend ( and helping her set up a new computer & DSL)--I was very happy to get back out here in the country! The powers that be that say people are scaling back for Xmas weren't out yesterday--all the stores I went to were busy and it was during the week!

Hope this puts a smile on your face!

Poitou Donkeys

Poitou ( pronounced pwa-too ) donkeys were near extinction in the mid 70's , but efforts were made to save the breed. I couldn't find the photos that I have of the donkey from here in town. I took my camera with me when I went out the past few days and of course, none of them were out where I could see them. So I went to the trusty internet to find a few photos.

I know you can't really tell in these photos, but they have big beautiful doe eyes--very expressive! I guess one reason I like them is that they are different.

A favorite winter photo

Have been hunting for old pet photos to scan & I came acroos the negative for this picture. It's over 22 years old--we've had 2 dogs since this one--the one we have now tht's 6 1/2 & another Lab that lived to be 16. The dog's name was Maggie ; the cat is Kodak--they were both part of Alan's family when I met him.

Pretty flowers

Hunting for some cat pictures I happened across these two photos that I had taken a few years ago & enhanced. Don't remember what software I used to do this, but I like it! The roses photo was taken at Elizabeth park in Hartford, CT--the oldest rose garden in the US.

This photo was taken in Rockport, MA--just some pretty flowers I saw along the street on Bearskin Neck.

Action Wildlife

We have a place here in town that was the vision of one of our residents. It's called Action Wildlife. http://www.actionwildlife.org/index.htm It's really like a zoo, but owned by one individual--his dream is to show people animals from around the world--from their website--
"Formerly a dairy farm set on 116 acres of land, the transformation into Action Wildlife is the result of one man’s impetus and entrepreneurial spirit - Jim Mazzarelli. Mr. Mazzarelli began preparing the land about 8 years ago so that exotic animals from around the world could survive and prosper in Goshen, Connecticut. The animals that are selected to join the cast at AW easily adapt to varying extremes in climate and landscape. Several breeds of animals have the capability to develop thicker coats during the colder months and then revert to thinner coats during the warmer months. Those animals with thinner coats are sheltered in a barn throughout the colder New England winter months.
From a roadside view it is apparent the amount of time, planning, money and sweat that has gone into the development of the facility. As a non-profit organization all fees charged for admission, hayrides, pumpkin sales and petting zoo visits are applied to the overall costs incurred, which when estimated covers only 25 percent of our total cost to feed and maintain the animals, including veterinary fees and farm equipment costs. "

The calf at the top was a new born when I took the photos & the goats above are part of the petting zoo, housed in a separate building--used to be one of the cow barns.

Has a pair of beautiful black swans!

And different animals with unusal horns--some are supposed to look like this and the next one is an abberation! There is also a large museum of taxidermied ( is that a word?) animals that Mr. Mazzarelli has hunted all over the world & brought home to share--animals that you would never get to see otherwise. I'm not real big on big game hunting, but he has them set up in dioramas that are spectacular! I try to go once a year because there are always new animals & I especially love to see the baby ones--west highland calves are adorable!

My other favoite animal is a Poitou Donkey. The Poitou Donkey (Baudet du Poitou), while arguably the most recognizable donkey in the world, is the least known and most endangered. From an inventoried 44 animals (worldwide) in 1977, there are now an estimated 400 pure and part-bred animals in the world today. The Poitou is instantly recognizable for a number of characteristics. Most notable is the long shaggy coat; always dark brown or black, with no cross or stripe, but hanging in long cords or shaggy hanks. Surprising enough, 2 places here in Goshen have these donkeys. I have a photo of one of R.W. Commerford's & I will find & post later.

PS--I just adjusted my font size--made it a little bigger & easier to read...what do you think?