Harewood is tremendous . . .

Had a great day with all and sundry! Will be off on the morrow. I'm having trouble again posting the link to Harewood so . . . Just go to www.harewood.org. I think that will work. A bientôt!

Alnwick Castle . . .

Went to Alnwick today, the home of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, which is about 50 or so miles North of Middleton St. George. D. decided we should visit the gardens first and that was truly brilliant because although it was quite cool and spitting when we arrived it turned out very rainy when we decided to go inside the castle. We ate lunch at the castle, lamb burgers! Very delicious. What an extraordinary day. The castle dates to 1096. It's just incredible what lives the old walls have seen! The present Duke of Northumberland and his family live in the castle and we were allowed to enter many rooms, in particular the library, dining room chapel and rooms so full of great paintings. I really think that I would enjoy living in such a castle. Kiddo would have such a great time. We were going to stop in at Hadrian's wall on the way home but it was raining so hard that I told D. it wasn't worth the trouble. When I get to the wall I want to be able to feel it, walk along it, commune with it . . . in the warmth of the sun.

We stopped at Morrisons and picked up some pizzas for supper. We have a Gooseberry wine and a Damson Plum cooling but we'll have those tomorrow evening to celebrate our stay here with this our youngest and her generous friend G.

Oh, and did I mention that the first two Harry Potter films were filmed using parts of Alnwick Castle! That is so neat. I'll have some photos for the blog after we get home and I download them to the computer. I don't have the photo kit, yet, for the iPad. Even Grampa has condescended to work on it.

Gorgeous day . . .

Went to Hollywood Bowl in Stockton to celebrate D.'s passing the first third of her Microsoft Certification. What a blast! Grampa won two out of three. I think I was last for all three strings. G. and D. had a discussion about "strings" versus "games" and it seems that strings is New England colloquial and game is used every where else in the known world! That was fun. After our strings we went to dinner at Franky's & Benny's. It's a UK chain but everything about it is American! Only problem we had is that they were having three, yes count them, one, two, three kids birthday parties! It was almost ludicrous but we did manage to hang in there and the food was good. I had lamb shank and was so hungry from the bowling and 4 miles of walking in Middleton St. George that I ate every single bite plus drinking my Cabernet.

We took our daily walk about town and then it was a perfect day for some gardening! I weeded one of the neat stone walks in the garden. It was already looking good but I'm thinking I helped to make an English garden just a bit perkier! How great is that? Super! Also played cards out in my special corner where the winds only blew the cards away once. D. And G. made fish and chips for dinner. It is served with Mushy Peas. I have to admit I did a double take when I saw them but they were delicious! They are the brightest green imaginable and, yes,mushy. But decidedly delicious with the fish and chips. They taste like a thick pea soup and I do love pea soup. Mémère would have had a conniption fit to see green peas but I'll be buying some when I get home. I'd probably eat more fish if I had mushy peas to cut the taste!

Just got back from the Oak Tree pub. It's very bright and sleek. It seems rather strange that it's a family place. There is a playground for the kids, picnic tables and the ubiquitous pool table, and bien sur, the big screen TV belting out the latest music video. It's not a big place place but just right for the neighborhood. Next time Grampa and I will have to try them out for lunch.

Bright, clear, crisp day in England . . .

Oh, and one more thing, box wine! I can't believe how good the Cabernet Sauvignon is. It's Silver Rock from Bulgaria. Excellent. OK we're on our way to pick up the paper and some eggs!

I keep forgetting the camera. I'd really like to photograph what we can see of the gardens but perhaps that wouldn't be good manners. I believe that almost all of the neighbors in Virginia Court are working or at school so it's a bit of a pain to ask if it's OK to run around the streets with a camera! Perhaps tomorrow I'll take it into the village so I can show you what Londis and the pub look like. We did run into some monster rabbits, pheasant and horses!

And . . . ta . . .da . . . youngest child has passed her Microsoft Certification Test! Now she has to start studying for the next one :( I have to try writing something in French because I have a different keyboard I can use. Alors je vais essayer d'écrire une phrase avec des mots qui ont besoin d'accent mais ça ne marche pas! Merde! Et je ne suis qu'une vieille mémé! C'est très difficile mais je crois que je comprends un petit peu. Mon doux seigneur tout ça et bien bizarre!

Love The Daily Telegraph . . .

Walked into the village today to pick up The Daily Telegraph and some milk.Grampa and I are sitting in the Conservatory reading and enjoying the garden while D. is studying for her Microsoft Certification Test which she will take tomorrow in Leeds.

Found some great products: Tuc, Flora and The Skinny Cow. Tuc is a very tasty, crispy, buttery cracker. They were served on the KLM flight from Amsterdam and we bought some at Morrisons when D. And I went shopping. I'm quite certain that Kiddo will love them if I can find them at home (probably on line.) Flora is used in place of butter and is truly delicious but when I tried to buy it at home I wasn't able to get it. If I remember correctly it is made in Northern Ireland and only exported to European countries. The Skinny Cow is the absolutely best hot chocolate I've had other than Memere's home made. G. and D. managed to fix their washing machine so we've put in our wash. We'll have to hang it out to dry as most people do not have dryers. Everyone seems to hang the clothes on an outside line and if it's raining it's hung in the garage or around the house!


I think I'm finally getting the hang of writing on the iPad and making any corrections I need, yes!

Addendum:

The trip to the horse races is off because after our walk to town it rained all day and was rather cool. Just came back from B&Q Warehouse which is so much like a Home Depot I wonder if it's the same company? Also picked up some supper as we've eaten just about all of the leftovers we were supposed to have for supper! Bummer for the cook.

Of trains and other bits . . .

Took the train to New Castle today and the sights were almost better than going by car. I think that Puppy's Pop was able to get some good shots of Cathedrals, rape oil flower fields, sheep, rooftops like in Mary Poppins, and lovely towns. We didn't have any luck at the Apple store. They're not going to have anything until Thursday night, really useless for us. But we did get a chance to walk around Eton Square which is a shopping mall and then go to lunch at a noodle place. That was very delicious and quite cheap, only 21 pounds for the three of us. G. Is working this week so we've been running around with D.

The weather has gone from summer to normal and we're glad we brought some long sleeves and jackets. D. made a trifle for dessert and we pretty much devoured it. Our walk to the Oak Tree Pub was a lark! We were too late for the lunch crowd and too early for the supper crowd so we walked to the airport! It's only about a mile from home. Quite handy. Naturally they have beer and wine so we sat outside and watched a C 130 do go arounds.

And we were off this morning riding around the English country side. What a beautiful land. We drove through picturesque villages and farmland that is so different from home. The villages are compact, with their attached houses and every one of them has a wonderful flower garden surrounded by hedges. The fields are separated from each other by hedge rows or very neat walls. The fields of rape seed are startling in bright yellow. I shall have to look on a map to see exactly where we went. Even last year we never drove by any place that wasn't cultivated in some way.

I haven't been to the pub yet but Grampa and G. spent our first afternoon there while D. and I got our groceries. Still got up late this morning, 8:30! Wow, I'm getting lazy. Have already gotten in a good walk going down to the base of the waterfall and then climbing up to the top. I'll see if I can find a link so you'll have an idea of how beautiful it is.

From Middleton St. George

Well, I'm going to try to write this on the iPad. My only difficulty is that the screen takes a very light touch and I often end up with too many letters in my words!

Spent part of yesterday shopping at Morrisons in Darlington then daughter and I went into downtown so I could have cool, sweet, creamy ice cream. It is so amazing to me that everything is so beautiful and clean. The weather is very warm, too warm for the clothing we've brought so today we went back to Darlington and I picked up two blouses and some sandals. Of course the weather will return to cool starting tomorrow! I also needed the sandals to keep the ferrets from biting my feet. I like to go barefoot but don't when Harriet, Dabs and Wiggles are out!

The house is very nice; two bedrooms and a bath upstairs; a really nice living room with a fire place; a comfortable kitchen dining room and my favorite room of all, the conservatory! It's a sun room looking out on the garden. The back yard is just beautiful. It is completely hedged in with neat stone paths and trimmed trees and a wonderful waterfall.

Slept like a baby from 9pm to 9am and ate egg sandwiches for breakfast! Daughter made barbecue for supper last night. It was delicious; chicken, lamb and kebabs.

The scenery as we drive around is spectacular. There are fields of golden rape seed that is used to make cooking oil. The yellow is so bright and the fields are miles long that the sight is breathtaking. Of course we always forget to bring the camera!

I can do it . . .

Yea! J.showed me how to do this! He has an iPod touch so he knows what I should be doing. So cool. J. is middle child's step son. A super young man. Proud to have him in the family.

2010 XDL Lake Havasu "Luke Duke"

Much to do . . .

Nenana river rocks.

Still haven't heard from the Blogger Forum about how to get the iPad to write in the spaces I want it to write but I'm sure that the youngest child will be able to set me straight! I'm going to have to charge it before we go. I'm so proud of myself because I've already got it down to less than 50% on the battery. Lots more reading to do.

Trying to get packed and yet still be ready for my two days with Kiddo. I'm always afraid that I'm going to forget something. As long as I don't forget the passports I guess nothing else matters, oh yeah, and credit card! I've got a red, white and blue ribbon on my carry on and then I thought I probably should use some other colored ribbon. But then, they can think that I'm French. But then, that could be horrible! Oh, not going to ponder that one too much.

We'll be off to the track to see if we can fly and get in a walk before the sky opens up again. Should be nice by afternoon when I'll be picking up Kiddo and bringing the Saturn to the garage for some key lube or something. Perhaps I'll go early and help daughter out in the kitchen. She's pretty well pooped out and I can at least run the food to the bar for her. In a couple of weeks they should have a full time chef. That's a yes, yes, yes, yes ad infinitum!

Quote: The true idea of self-restraint is to let a child venture. __The mistakes of children are often better than their no-mistakes. __H. W. Beecher

Very cool . . .

Weather and iPad are very cool! Spent so much time yesterday and today just playing on the iPad, not with it, on it. It's a bit like a musical instrument. Boy, do I ever have a lot to learn. But . . . I am able to read and send emails, go on line to our home page, read books that I've downloaded for free, listen to the music I had already downloaded from iTunes and look at some of the neat photographs that I've taken from Facebook friends! All pretty darn cool for only one day!

Finished up the garden yesterday with flower seeds. Hart's would not hold any plants for me until June 1st so I just went to Agway in Plainfield and bought the flower seeds instead of plants and four humongous tomato plants. They would have held the tomatoes for me but I decided that Kiddo needs a job while we're gone. I called him last night and he agreed to water our tomatoes while we're gone and we'll pay him $.50 a day. We went to lunch at Richoni's today and brought the tomatoes to Kiddo's house and placed them close to a sunny wall. His Dad wanted to know if we'll pay even when it rains. We agreed! Tough bargainer that son-in-law.

Speaking of Richoni's, they put in a new computerized cash register system but they haven't quite got the bugs worked out yet. It's really a great idea, as far as I'm concerned. The bar tender no longer has to walk to the kitchen to place a food order and all of the prices come up automatically so no one can charge more or less than anyone else. Pretty neat. I'm still having some residual problems with the key in my poor tired Saturn and Richard's Service Center will take care of it tomorrow when I go to pick up Kiddo. Nice.

Quote: Be wise; soar not too high to fall, but stoop to rise. __Massinger

Yes! The iPad is here . . .But I don't know how to get to the body of the blog?

Another great show . . .

Three male humming birds have been going at it. I noticed it yesterday when I was resting on my 'mood swing.' They were attacking each other and almost wiped me out as I was walking up the driveway from the garden. At dinner Grampa and I had the perfect view of them still dive bombing each other and then taking off like maniacs for the other feeder in the dog wood tree. Now, at my slow paced breakfast they're still going strong. We haven't seen too many females so I'm not sure what's going on. Grampa has three humming bird feeders and an oriole feeder so they don't have to fight but they seem to be having a blast zipping around the yard.

Was going to plant the garden tomorrow but yesterday was such a gorgeous sunny, mild day that I completed the work except for the tomatoes, snap dragons and zinnias. I'll get those as plants when we get back from England. I walked at the Track yesterday while Puppy's Pop was flying. I was slower than usual but got in all three laps. Then we went to Canterbury to see if Westview on North Society Road was open. Nope, they're out of business. What a shame. I wanted to order my Whoppers (tomatoes) and my flowers from them. They had the best plants in the area. I'll stop by Hart's on Route 14 today and ask them to hold some plants for me. I hope it'll work out. Sometimes, when I've been late getting the garden done I've had trouble getting the plants I wanted. I've already planted the dahlia toes, Marketmore cucumbers, Indian corn (have to get another package as there were a whopping 19 seeds in the one I had!), green beans, radishes, Swiss chard, beets, field pumpkins and crook neck squash. I'm already salivating just imagining the pleasure of eating our home grown veggies. Nice. I thought I'd be really sore today after spending more than three hours working outside but I'm feeling great.

I'll walk inside today even though it is beautiful out because I'm waiting breathlessly for FedEx. Yes! The iPad should be in today. Someone must sign for it or FedEx won't leave it. It's in transit from China by way of Anchorage, Newark and was in East Granby as of late Friday. I hope I don't go over board buying all sorts of applications for it. But I think I'll have to have a couple of games! Can't wait to start playing with it. It was so sleek and neat at the Apple Store in New Hampshire.

Quote: Error is sometimes so nearly allied to truth that it blends with it as imperceptibly as the colors of the rainbow fade into each other. __Clulow

Thoughts . . .

Having taken a very small part in a FB discussion of atheism I've been trying to codify my thoughts. Man is not perfect and cannot be perfected. He has not changed in any significant way. The same qualities and imperfections he was born with are with him today. We still see the same personalities that have existed since the beginning of man's time on earth, whether it began with the Troglodytes or Adam is not important. The only perfection that exists is Nature. Not Nature in its rapport with man but Nature, pure and simple. The seeming complexities of natural phenomena are due to man's attempts to harness her. She cannot and will not be harnessed. She may seem to be complying with humanity but she cannot work that way. Man can only divert nature not change her in any way. That there is a Master Plan at work in the entire universe seems to be an absolute; the alpha and the omega with all the fine gradations flowing smoothly on from the infinite to the infinite. Pure science, free from the human penchant to have to control all aspects of life, is man's need to appreciate the beauty and perfection of his world. He cannot change Nature but he can use it to improve his appreciation of his puny existence. Religion, when it is honest should be the same as Science; an attempt by man to understand his imperfectibility. When man's physical being transcends this worldly universe he may become part of Perfection. So, perhaps, God is Nature is Perfection and man only arrives when he leaves.

Just about sleepless . . .

Had a great Friday, even though it started out gloomy and cool, by afternoon it was sunny and almost 70 degrees. Kiddo managed to be good at school all day. One of the "girls" fell down trying to follow him out of the cafeteria, his Star of the Day helper. Gee, this does not bode well for the future! He wanted to stay and play after school because the "girl" was going to stay around for a while. Too, bad. So sad. We had to leave really fast for Moosup before EB and Pfizer traffic got awful. Once in Moosup we played baseball and street hockey. He's not too bad. He rode his scooter around the driveway like a maniac and skeeched up a storm on a couple of beat up plastic vehicles. I calmly watched from my perch on the swing. By the time bedtime came around I figured he'd be tired. Grampa and I certainly were but I was still reading about frogs and reptiles at 9:15 when he finally called it quits. Then at about 2:45am he had a nightmare and it got tough. Finally at 4am I had him get in my bed and of course his head touched the pillow and he was fast asleep until 8am. I swear I never let any of our kids get in bed with us. I guess I'm getting daft. The problem was he knew he was going to Cape Cod today with the family and he was so excited about it he just couldn't rest, consequently, neither did we! But it's still fun. He cracks us up with his antics and stories.

Was way too windy to fly today so we just went for a walk. I had to call it quits after only one go around. That crazy left hip or something just didn't want to let me walk comfortably. It feels great right now. I hope that doesn't mean more rain. I want to plant the seeds in the garden before we leave next week and too much rain and cold will hinder my endeavors. I don't like being hindered in any way!

Quote: Pedantry crams our heads with learned lumber, and takes out our brains to make room for it. __Colton

And this is high tech . . . ?

Have to laugh. Our prescription insurance has changed from Medco to CVS Caremark and to celebrate this wonderment CVS sent us letters with a new valuable benefit. So Grampa and I pocketed out new ExtraCare Health Cards and I called the number they gave us in the letter so I could transfer my existing ExtraCare balance to the new card. (This is an old card I use, when I think of it, to buy odds and ends when I go to CVS to pick up prescriptions that I don't get by mail.) Now after pushing a minimum of 3 buttons I finally arrived at, of all things, a real honest to goodness lady! She was very pleasant and I explained I was doing what the letter from CVS said I should do to transfer my existing balance of coupons, Extra Bucks, and 2% back when I shop. She was delightful and I thanked her for not being a robot. She looked up my ID and said, "Sorry, but you are not authorized to have a card. The letter was sent to you by mistake." How neat is that? She gave me another number to call and this time I did get my robot who told me that "You have 0 points and they will be available July 1 at the register." So what have I learned from this debacle? I'm not sure. Perhaps we'll just throw away any offers of "cards" we receive. I've got a side pocket in my purse to hold all of the damnable things and they are a pain. But . . . that said . . . I must admit that the Rite Aid card we were using got us great discounts on Tuesdays because we are senior citizens! Oh, woe is me. They just changed that card too and it'll be interesting to see how that gets messed up.

Of other more pleasant topics. Kiddo was so thrilled yesterday when he told me at lunch that he had been named "Star of the Day" in Kindergarten. Star of the Day gets to name a helper and he named a nice tall girl he likes as his helper. He also explained that's why she was sitting with him at lunch time! And the social shenanigans start. By afternoon when I went to walk him home from school (he runs, I walk) the day had fallen to pieces. In his folder of papers his teacher had made him write, " I will listen to Mrs. F." Mrs. F had written quite a long note on his paper explaining that Kiddo was among a pack of kids that did not go sit on the carpet when she told them to do so. Yikes! Mom has to sign the note and return it to school today. I wonder what devilment today will bring?

Quote: The joys of meeting pay the pangs of absence; else who could bear it? __Rowe

Yes . . . we have sun!

I made a copy of The High One from a photo in a book. Denali, Mount McKinley, was always in the clouds when we were there.

Didn't feel like accompanying Puppy's Pop to the Track yesterday. It was a looming, cold miserable sky with a few drops of moisture at around 12:30 pm but I went. The red winged black birds were few and far between. They knew better than to be out in the treacherous New England weather. But I got my entire walk in and Luke, the stunt biker came along and he was freezing too. Spent most of the time while Puppy's Pop was flying just tuning his bike. Never got to see him ride. It looks as if we'll be bumping into him often. It's such a good place for motor sports of all kinds. The kids that play there at night had a bonfire with the old couch they had put on top of the rubble. I guess they tumbled it down and set fire to it along with the discarded tires. Now Grampa doesn't have so much to haul away!

Good new today. The iPad should be here Monday and best of all our phone came in from youngest child. She sent us the Samsung SGH-E900 that she used to use. It's pretty neat and very high tech, for us! She sent the sim card and battery which we installed (Grampa did it because I always have trouble with that stuff even if they give me pictures to guide me. The pictures seem to confuse me more than if they just wrote the directions down in words. What the heck is wrong with words? I guess they'd have to translate the directions into too many languages so they go with little stick pictures that have given me a "stick picture phobia." But, c'est la vie, and with Grampa's help I always survive even though I put the wrong thing-a-ma-jigs in the wrong slots. The phone is on vibrate but I don't expect to use it unless we have some kind of snafu in Europe. D. has preprogrammed the numbers we'd need so we're set to go.

Couldn't figure out why the monstrous, LED signs on 395 were warning me about a route 12 road closure when I was going south in Norwich. Now I've got it. Train derailment. Seems incongruous. I never even think of trains doing so much hauling around Eastern Connecticut but they do. It's supposed to take them a few days to get it all straightened out. Nine cars derailed on a Providence and Worcester freight train near Bundy Hill where the tracks follow the Quinebaug. Some of the cars tumbled down the embankment and others knocked down some power lines. No one was hurt. Quite a mess for our rural area.

Must be off to Sacred Heart soon. Not too much time left in the school year. Their last day in June 11. How nice!

Quote: A panic is a sudden desertion of us, and a going over to the enemy of our imagination. __Bovee

Rain . . .

Ptarmigan, Alaska state bird, can keep its body temperature at 104 degrees even when temperatures drop to nearly 30 below. In winter it grows feathers that cover its legs and feet and is almost pure white. In summer its plumage changes to this brownish gold.

Not very windy today but it sure is raining. That makes perfect sense since we had the garden plowed and the rain will cause the winter rye that was turned under to grow instead of rot and fertilize! Just more work for the agriculturally inclined. So what!

Went up to Zip's this morning and helped our nice waitress who lives in Plainfield decide how she's going to plant her vegetable garden in a raised bed. Her husband isn't being helpful and the kids won't eat what she plants but we enjoined her to be positive. Just throw the stuff in the ground with some Miracle grow and let it go. I'll bet she has a grand time and will have to give some of her harvest away! Will go do a little food shopping today. We're always running out of milk! I must be going through about a gallon myself and Grampa always needs a small container of "red cap" for his coffee.

Had a superb dinner with younger brother and his wife yesterday evening. Even stayed out over two hours! Yikes, Puppy's Pop is getting civilized! We had some wonderful St. Croix wine from a winery in Ledyard. J. helps the man who owns the vineyard and gets paid in kind. Very cool. It was a nice red wine, smooth and tasty. Very easy on the palate. Yes, indeedy, we did enjoy it. Now I'm begging to go to the vineyard! For dinner J. cooked up some scallops and cod fish with mashed potatoes, a la Pa and a nice fresh mixed salad. Just perfect. I'm not a great fish eater but I had to go in for seconds. It was that delicious.

Will be going to Groton later in the day. Hoping middle child's ankle problems are going to be taken care of! A bit stubborn, that child!

Quote: What stories of sentiment in that butt of raciest Sherry! What a fund of pensive thought! What suggestions for delicious remembrance! What "aids to reflection" in the Hock of a century old! What sparkling fancies, whirling and foaming, from a stout body of thought in that full and ripe Champagne! What mild and serene philosophy in that Burgundy, ready to shed "its sunset glow" on society and nature! __Talfourd

Still cool and breezy . . .

Got quite a bit done today even walked at the Dog Track! That always feels good even though I have to push myself to complete my three rounds. Went early to get a haircut and picked up some more exercises for sciatica from the hairdresser. Her husband has been suffering for a long time and claims that these exercises have helped him tremendously. They certainly can't hurt. I'm better but not 100%. I've just got to be careful not to pick up anything too heavy! That means Kiddo. Darn.

We went and picked up our spirits for the next two weeks and then I hemmed two pairs of jeans that have been sitting around for almost a year because I was too lazy to get out the ironing board and the scissors! But they're all set for the trip. They're really comfortable. Mr. D. came and turned the garden this morning. But it was 29 degrees earlier so I'm not sure if it'll be OK for me to plant my seeds before we leave. I'm going to give it a try but I'll not put in any plants. That'll be asking for certain trouble.

Going to younger brother's home for dinner this evening. That will be pleasant. I like not having to think about making supper!

Quote: The learning and knowledge that we have, is, at the most, but little compared with that of which we are ignorant. __Plato

Yucky . . .

Haven't had one of these days in ages! 50's, partly sunny, windy and I had a Doctor's appointment for 10:15 am. Got into the office about 10:50 and didn't leave until noon. Yikes! I had a slight ear problem, that's it. But, oh well, it's pretty well fixed so when I got home we left for Ritz Camera in Warwick because my wonderful Konica/Minolta won't let us use the eye piece any more. I love that camera and so we thought we'd get it fixed where we bought it. As we left I said to Grampa, "You know what? How much you wanna bet Ritz doesn't exist any more?" He just laughed. Well, of course, they don't exist in Warwick or Waterford, CT anymore. The closest one is in Southbury, CT and they no longer fix Konica/Minoltas (which, of course, has been bought by Sony.) A bit of sleuthing on line and a call to Cooper's Photography in Norwich led me to Precision Camera Repair in Enfield, CT. They'll repair the camera for $200. We're going to give them a try because we paid a heck of a lot for that camera in 2004. But the lady told me that pretty soon they won't be able to get parts etc. so I'd better get used to the idea of a new camera in a few years. Double "Yuck." I can't win today. So, I'll just quit right now before something else goes wrong. Even supper was a bummer. The Sesame Chicken that was so delicious yesterday was, (you got it!) yucky tonight! And the insurance bill came in for the Hot Rod! At least the wine was good along with the Suphedrine!

Quote: The man with but one idea in his head, is sure to exaggerate that to topheaviness, and thus he loses his equilibrium. _A. Hill

Rapacious wind . . .

Denali in the clouds. And you expected it to be otherwise?

45 degrees, very windy but sunny. Yep, just a Spring day in New England. Almost feels like Winter. Glad I don't have the garden in yet. Uncle R has already lost quite a few plants. He started his garden way to early. I've got Mr. D coming this week to plow ours and then I'll plant the seeds next week before we visit the youngest. I hope even that won't be too early. We'll have to get the plants when we get back in very early June. It should work out alright.

Walked at the Dog Track yesterday and had to skirt the two new ponds! We had quite the thunderstorms in the morning. But as soon as Puppy's Pop ascertained that the storms were over we headed on out. It was the best flying weather because there was no sun and just minimal breeze. I kinda plodded my way around because I'm still a bit poky. Maybe that's the new me? I hope not!

Went to breakfast at Lizzy B's and was given a beautiful red/peach rose for Mother's Day. Very nice. They always do something special and on Father's Day they give the men a lottery ticket! Going to spend the day, after Mass, getting caught up again with three magazines and perhaps going for a walk here at home since I think it'll still be too windy for the Dog Track. We'll have Chinese for supper so I don't have to cook! Cool beansies.

Quote: A mother's love is indeed the golden link that binds youth to age; and he is still but a child, however time may have furrowed his cheek, or silvered his brow, who can yet recall, with a softened heart, the fond devotion, or the gentle chidings, of the best friend that God ever gives us. __Bovee

Running ragged . . .

The exquisite, extraordinary, exciting, exemplary, expressive, exuberant, Athabascan story teller on Primrose Ridge. Naturally Denali is in the clouds behind her.

Been a very busy week. Must be out of shape because I've been pooped just trying to keep up with my "duties" at Sacred Heart. Quite a few of the "helpers" don't show up any more so those of us who do get to run around like crazy. Still so much fun to be with those kids. Kiddo spent a good part of yesterday with us as he had a half day of school. So we all went fishing in Oneco next to the old school. The fish had a ball eating all of the worms! But we had a good time. Walked all around the old school property to check out their horseshoe pits, baseball diamond and playground before heading home to take out from Riverview. Of course we had to walk in the woods here at home, check out the records on the sun porch, race around the driveway on the scooter, play baseball with Grampa and lots more. I think that's why I'm pooped even though Kiddo likes to do "stuff" with just Grampa I am allowed to watch! I took some photos of him so he could make a card for his Mom. Puppy's Pop distracted him by throwing Fruit Loops at him. That was a good thing because I couldn't get any kind of natural smile from him. I'll send the photos by email. The card came out nice and he wrote his own sentences!

Quote: Dew.__Earth's liquid jewelry, wrought of the air. __Bailey

Up so early . . .

Woke up before the birds this morning and starving. Went to Lizzy B's before 7. They almost keeled over when they saw me get out of the Dodge Ram at that most ungodly hour. And . . . did my two mile hike before 8. Wonders shall never cease.

Yesterday brought all kinds of nice, neat new things: the humming birds are back, the rose breasted grosbeaks are back, the property is absolutely stunning and . . . . I ordered my iPad. Yes, yes, yes! I can't wait, but I have to wait. It should be here anytime between May 12 and the 18. I hope it's on the early side because I want to play with it before we leave for youngest child's domain. This is so exciting. It's an iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G 64GB. Oh what fun this is going to be! It's fun just waiting impatiently for it to arrive. I don't have to have a contract with ATT in order to use their telephone connection so I'll start out small and see how it goes. The England child told me that they'll manage to connect us to their Wi-Fi or some such thing while we're with them. Just an overabundance of happy feelings. Can't believe that this is because of technology! I'm straying from the path of normalcy. Can't wait to read some books on the neat contraption!

Puppy's Pop is off to the VA for his eye exam and I've got to be off shopping at Big Y. Will be staying late in Groton this evening because it's Cinco de Mayo and middle child has no idea if they'll be extra busy at Richoni's. That's OK. I haven't seen our Kiddo in three weeks and I'm ready for some good times.

Quote: One of the most wonderful things in nature is a glance of the eye; it transcends speech; it is the bodily symbol of identity. __Emerson

Private stunt bike show . . .

Wild lily of the valley.
Lilacs!
Creeping phlox as seen coming up the driveway.
Dodge Ram and Dogwood

Couldn't believe it. As Grampa was setting up for flying and I started my walking at the Dog Track I ended up seeing the best stunt bike show going! A young man was doing every trick imaginable for a full 45 minutes. He was stupendous. A trucker came in and was catching the show on his movie camera. After Grampa finished flying and the biker had put his bike back in his truck we drove over so I could thank him for the show. "No problem!" says he. Says I, " When can we see this on YouTube?" "Look for it on Versus" says he. "How will I know it's you?" says I. "We'll be the second segment," says he. So now I have to figure out what Versus is (a TV channel perhaps) and then watch for a show about stunt bikers. He said he'll see us at the Dog Track again because he's seen Puppy's Pop flying before. That'll be so neat. I was going to ask him if his mother knew he was out all alone messing around doing crazy stuff like standing on the back of the bike and jumping onto the seat, and doing rear wheel only turns while standing up no hands needed. But I just thanked him. That was all I could muster up.

The yard looks so nice I may have to go take a picture of the creeping phlox on The Rock. Got some more housework kinda stuff to do and newspaper reading.

Go figure. It was a Pakistani that tried to blow up people in New York near a stage show of the Lion King. Can you believe that he may also be a Muslim? Surprise. It wasn't a tea partier. Oh gee. Better luck next time.

Quote: Fanaticism is the child of false zeal and superstition, the father of intolerance and persecution. __Fletcher

And we're back . . .

Braided river.

Grampa is trying to get the lawn mowed before we have more rain. Louisiana weather followed us all the way home even from Memphis to Detroit and then on to Providence: the hot and muggies are here! Don't expect it to last though. Just checked the asparagus and it's doing just fine. Uncle R stopped every other day to check the house and picked the asparagus as it ripened. The rhubarb was also picked along with some chives. That's great. Keeps everything nice and young and fresh. Just did a bit of weeding and cleaning up the sticks in the yard from the winds that were here last week. The wild strawberries are in bloom along with the purple violets, silver dollars and lily of the valley. The dog wood is in full swing. Yea!

Went to Richoni's for lunch and it was super. Had an excellent Margarita on the rocks with salt and a Ruben on the grill with fries. Yummy. The cook very graciously gave us some potato salad to take home. We'll have that tonight with kielbasa and fresh asparagus. In the mail I finally received the creche I had ordered quite a while back. It is so beautiful. Just Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus. It is designed by Patience Brewster, the same lady that designed the 12 Days of Christmas that I bought some years back in St. Francisville. Just beautiful. I've put it out on the big desk because even though it's not the right season, I love it. So that's all that matters.

Quote: If there be one thing pure, where all beside is sullied, and that can endure when all else passes away - if aught surpassing human deed, or word, or thought, it is a mother's love. __Spadara