Where to begin ???

No photo today. I don't have a picture of a pile of merde. Perhaps I could find a photo of the Gouverneur and Connecticut's legislative body. That would be best.

Oh my gosh, just reading the list of new taxes for us dumbbells who still live in Connecticut. It is more outrageous than I realized. Check out the story on the front page of The Bulletin. The best tax is a cremation certificate which was $40 ( I had no idea you had to get a cremation certificate from the state!) is now $150. We'll have to institute a Plainfield bonfire which can be kept in constant readiness and just throw the corpses on it. Periodically the ashes can surreptitiously be dropped in the Moosup River where they will be gently carried out to sea by way of the Quinebaug, Shetucket and Thames Rivers. Alas it may not help the doomed citizenry because the State Legislature will give union jobs to new hires to dredge for the remains in the Atlantic and charge a dredging fee before the muddied ashes are carted off to be sanitized at the Sterling tire burning plant where the remains will finally be allowed to go up in smoke to the Promised Land. They can't possibly go to hell because they've lived in Connecticut all their lives and have therefore paid the entry tax for heaven. I imagine that many bars and lounges will no longer have live music or dancing. Why would lounge owners want to pay a 3% cabaret tax? Let the customers take their music, dancing and exotic pleasures to the local parks then the legislature can hire more police/taxmen to collect the cabaret tax from each individual who is enjoying himself. The least Connecticut could do is allow legal bordellos and opium dens which they could tax to the max. Middle child has already received instructions from THE STATE to take inventory on all beer, wine and liquor on hand and send the bastards all appropriate taxes on the stock. There are so many more taxes it will be surprising if I don't get a tax bill for blogging. In THE STATE'S infinite wisdom the taxes on electricity, which were already the highest in the country, are going up. What wonders the voters of Connecticut have wrought. Perhaps by 2012 Connecticut will be a ghost state and taxes will no longer be a concern. The diesel fuel tax will only be 46.2 cents a gallon. What a break! I'd better stop here before I get sick and have to go out and buy some nonprescription drugs and pay the latest, greatest tax. But, egads, if I buy today and I buy a lot of over the counter drugs I may beat the system that goes into effect tomorrow!

Quote: Kings ought to shear, not skin their sheep. __Herrick
Id est: The STATE ought to shear, not skin its sheep. ___Quelque chose

Pretty good weekend . . .

Gloomy, rainy Friday but still managed to have a great day. Picked Kiddo up at noon so his Dad would have some time with him at Richoni's. He's eating a pretty good breakfast now! I taught him how to roll the pancakes at McD's and dunk them in syrup. So we finally have a hotcake breakfast eater along with his infamous hash browns. We got home and it was cold and gray. He immediately had Grampa outside so he could practice shooting his Uncle's old compound bow. He hasn't enough strength yet to pull it back all the way but he did get it to go through a cardboard target and stick into the garage! He got a kick out of that. I had to go out and watch while Grampa handed him arrows. I've ordered an archery glove and arm protector because I remember when I used to shoot the long bows and my arm would get skinned! He may not need it but he does need the special glove to protect his fingers. I don't want him to quit liking archery. It's a good sport. After his reading and Xtramath on line he, Grampa and I played Wii Resort sports. Grampa beat us pretty handily and when I left them for some housecleaning they played Ben Ten as a team. Kiddo really liked having Puppy's Pop for a partner and not Mémère. They kept running through bad guys. When I play he has to stop the game and let me off while he continues on his own! I seem to hold him back! He kept praising Puppy's Pop, "You're good Grampa! Keep following me. Now fight." It was fun just to hear them. The kid's getting so smart that when he wants to watch TV in the evening he asks for Red Green! After we brought him home yesterday we packed up the Dodge and went to the old Sterling school where Puppy's Pop flew and I changed my walk to around the parking lot. I also took some photos so he can show how he's managed to fix up his own private flying field. What a character. The sun did come out yesterday and it was a beautiful afternoon and evening that we spent just enjoying our Moosup cottage.

Quote: The truest eloquence is that which holds us too mute for applause. ___Bulwer

Room with a View . . .

Latest view from Kiddo's room, bathroom and master bedroom! Don't get much betterer than this!

The Bluebird Family Show . . .

Puppy's Pop's incredible Bluebird Family Show continues! We watch the three young ones and their parents zipping around in a feeding frenzy across our small domain. He also put up part of his Grampa Rose's weather vane on which he hung a shallow birdbath. He was doubtful any birds would avail themselves of the pure, sweet well water. But, ah ha, the bluebirds beat the finches to it and take baths daily! As I write I can see one of the young ones on the corner of the roof over Ma Tante's room hunting. He is shimmering even though the sun isn't out today. I'm watching him through our 100 year old wavy windows! The Fox Family is still littering. We find carcasses all over the place, especially squirrel. That is a well fed Fox Family. Pretty soon Grampa thinks that the second trio of bluebird eggs will hatch and we'll see the first three help out with the feeding of the newbies. He's never had the pleasure of baby birds growing up in our yard and helping out with the chores. They've been hatched here but always take off into the woods and we rarely saw them. I sometimes wonder if having the tamaracks felled last fall has opened up the yard so much that the wildlife is more abundant. Perhaps we can just see what's going on better! I find that I don't miss the trees except when I recall Pa and Mon Oncle Joe taking them from the forest and planting them some sixty years ago. Will be helping out in Groton on Tuesdays for the summer. Yesterday we spent a lot of time in the pool. He pooped me out. The Kiddo and I walked to lunch at Richoni's. He had a hamburger and fries and I my BLT. Not sure what we'll be up to today. The weather looks quite gloomy. Maybe we'll just empty out his bookcase, take out the baby books and go to Borders for some Black Lagoon and Freddie Fernortner books. I'll bring his too young for him books home with me and put them in the old Encyclopedia Britannica bookcase we bought before we were married! The encyclopedias were sent off some years ago when Grampa and I cleaned out the upstairs and paid to have all the stuff carted away! We knew at the time that we were paying to have some good stuff carted off but it was worth it. Too much stuff! It's still accumulating as I write!

Quote: No cord or cable can draw so forcibly, or bind so fast, as love can do with a single thread. __Burton

Wii . . . Wii . . . Wii . . . all the way home . . .

Puppy's Pop took this photo this morning. A bit hazy because I haven't washed the kitchen window!

What a ball! Kiddo and I went to Game Stop in Killingly Commons and came home with the Wii Plus, twelve sports games and three controllers and numchuks. Grampa, not too thrilled, none the less helped to set it up. It was almost perfect but we didn't realize what the first screen would look like and so when it came up we thought it was the opening screen to the Sony. I went to get Uncle R. in Lisbon and he dug out the old Sony remote and we were soon off and running. That was when I realized that Grampa had actually found the right button to push on top of the Sony but we hadn't recognized the screen! So Uncle set up three Miis and set the time etc and I thanked him profusely as I brought him home. It's so nice to have someone we can turn to in cases when I don't read all of the directions! Kiddo and I synchronized the controllers and he even got Grampa to play! Woot! Before he went home this morning he made his Mom a birthday card and made his Dad a Father's Day card. His art work is pretty neat and he wrote some nice thoughts in side both cards. Kiddo also got a chance to see the Daddy Fox, I think, stalking squirrels close up. He was just sitting patiently under the dogwood tree watching the bird feeders but the squirrels and birds just never showed up! Smart ones. We just returned from the old Oneco School where Puppy's Pop has gotten permission from the First Selectman to mow a flying circle. While he flew and some people came to watch I trekked over to the Cemetery to walk. I think the tick I picked up the other day was from walking around the unmown fields by the school so the cemetery was a good choice. I got a chance to say a personal hello to Gram! It's a very well kept cemetery and very old. I didn't have my glasses but I did manage to discern a birthdate of 1801. I'm certain if I took the time to look there are some much older dates. Very peaceful and calm walking just above one of Puppy's Pop's old fishing haunts, a damned cove on the Moosup River. (There were at least seven young men jumping off of the Route 14 bridge when we drove by. Still some local yokels. Neat'o!)

Quote: The very impossibility which I find to prove that God is not, discovers to me his existence. __La Bruyere

Always something new . . .

Was very rudely awakened at four this morning by three of the foxes hunting and screeching near the picnic table. Gees, there goes the neighborhood. No peace for the wicked and all that rot! I had to open the door to scare them away and into the woods near the waterhole. Puppy's Pop saw their digs when he went to help our neighbor across the street do some heavy lifting! The Fox Family lives on a hillside near the old trestle. The neighbors also find dead carcasses all around their yard. Good hunters, but the suckers are noisy as heck. The best new cause for surprise; ta da! The Bruins won the Stanley Cup in the seventh game and away from home! Now that is truly miraculous. I've come full circle as I watched them win 39 years ago when we only had one child. How time has flown by. A shut out; a short handed goal; a goal when the Canucks had pulled their goal tender! It had everything. The Bruins were on a mission and completed it well. On a completely different note I went to get a check at the CU to pay for our car insurance. The Credit Union just had an update and all was supposed to be hunky dory. Not! It now takes 20 minutes for the check to print once it is in the system. She waited on three more people before giving me that info! So I took the $1589 in cash, dropped by the bank, came home and wrote out the check! What's modernity doing for you lately? Let me know. We could write a funny yet dreary chronicle! Almost forgot, took a deer tick off the back of my leg this morning. Merde! Merde! And encore, Merde!

Quote: Sunbeam of summer, what is like thee, hope of the wilderness, joy of the sea! -One thing like thee to mortals is given, the faith touching all things with hues of heaven! ___Mrs. Hemans

Yay ! ! !

Fantastique! Went to my yearly cardiologist appointment at 8:45 this morning and I am so healthy that after my 2012 appointment he may set me free! That will be great; one less doctor to see. We celebrated with breakfast at Old Tymes where I ate my very favorite Cinnamon Crisp dunked in hot apple juice. Life is just super! We made a few stops on the way home for odds and ends. The odd at Staples cost $72! Ink cartridges for the Epson. Outrageous. The end never even made it home; an 18" inner tube for a lawn mower tire. Even Tractor Supply didn't have the right size nor did they have denatured alcohol nor a five ounce syringe. We saved so much money today! We then went to the old Sterling school for flying and walking. Walking was rough since I roamed the perimeter of the old playground fields which are not kept very well mowed. But I enjoyed the views of the Moosup River, the old swimming hole at the point and the scads of blackberry bushes. I had been enticed to go with Puppy's Pop by a suggestion that we would stop for a coffee on the way home. Naturellement, I misunderstood the offer. I was supposed to walk to Lizzy B's while he flew and that would be my coffee outing. This hearing problem is getting grave! I did manage to work in the garden for a few hours yesterday and attacked the weeds. I also transplanted nasturtiums, zinnias, sun flowers, and green beans. Since the ground is so wet and we haven't seen much of the sun lately I think my transplants will survive. That is if . . . the foxes stop lying around in the garden during their nightly hunting sessions! Puppy's Pop has found at least two dead squirrels, two baby Orioles and a mole near the horse shoe pits and I have found squashed plants in the garden! So much for the lovely wild life! I saw one of the kits lazing under a tree near the water hole and decided I would see if I could get close to him to get his portrait but he took off. I think I'll continue to make my presence known so they do run away from me and the garden! Enough of this odd togetherness!

Quote: You will find poetry nowhere unless you bring some with you. __Joubert

Laissez les temps gris rouler . . .

The Spring that never was is turning into the Summer that never shall be! Fifty five degrees at nine in the morning is strange and hard to bear! I did ask for rain for the garden but we've been inundated! Hope it doesn't float off to Hoyt's and down the bank into the river! Started yesterday with an early trip to Groton and the dentist's. I flossed the temporary bridge right out of my mouth! So Grampa dropped me off at the office and then brought Kiddo home earlier than usual. Getting just a tad sick of these extra dental trips. We've almost got all the work I need complete then perhaps I can go back to twice yearly visits! Later in the day I plodded my way to Putnam for a fund raising concert for Les Filles du Saint Esprit at good old PCA. Our old high school is now a home for retired nuns and they always need funds to keep up the old building. Josée Vachon, a French Canadian chanteuse, was the main attraction along with a chicken barbecue put on by the Knights of Columbus. Older brother and his wife met me there and enjoyed the music and company. My friend S from Killingly High, president of the local L'Union St. Jean Baptiste, was helping out so I didn't get a chance to talk with her much but I did meet her son who just graduated from UCONN with his Doctorate in Physical Therapy! What a great accomplishment! He's only 30 years old and has finished his military service as a German interpreter in Iraq. Seems odd but I guess multinational forces really are a tiny part multinational! Who'd a thunk it? The concert was held indoors because the weather was abominable. So I sat in the gym where I used to play basketball umpteen years ago (the guards couldn't cross the center line and the referee's rosary beads used to rattle around as she worked the sidelines.) Did manage to see some of our classrooms which are now dining rooms and living rooms for the nuns. The place is immaculate, no pun intended, and in better shape than it was 50 years ago! Neat concept, turning school into retirement home! (Someone, please get it!) And speaking of getting it, we took a walk after dinner in the pavilion (where the tennis courts used to be) to the grotto. I saw a small covered four wheel vehicle of some sort as we approached and I said " Please don't tell me that someone was cured and left their wheel chair here!" On closer inspection it proved to be a water hose caddy. I seem to be getting worse as I age! I thought big brother would choke. Was really pleased to meet Miss F who taught Kindergarten at All Hallows. She looks wonderful and asked about the kids. Also met Jackie and Peggy, friends from childhood days who still live in the old neighborhood. Hoping to bring Peggy, who spends part of the year in Florida, to see my younger sister sometime this summer. What a treat that will be. Pretty scatterd thoughts but that's it for today.

Quote: We love music for the buried hopes, the garnered memories, the tender feelings it can summon at a touch. __L.E. Landon

Good reason to go to Zip's . . .

Garage Primrose courtesy of older brother's wife.

Had to go to Zip's for breakfast this morning so we could go to Stop&Shop in a vain search for Pina Colada Jello! I'll leave it to your imagination to figure out who needed the Pina Colada and Marguerita Jellos! While at the diner twelve Michigan bucket trucks plus crews stopped in for breakfast. They are cleaning up after the spate of storms in some of the northern parts of Connecticut. (An aside: Two nights ago we had thunderstorms and the new Killingly High was hit by lightening killing the power. It seems that the school has been built on a hill, on ledge and no lightening rods were installed! Incroyable!) We had some pretty good thunderstorms last evening and Puppy's Pop and I enjoyed the show from the porch while sipping Lemoncello. Nice! Some of the strikes were directly overhead but most seemed to be about five or six miles away. I was glad that Grampa decided to stay put and not go off to Coventry, RI for horseshoes. He did call to give a heads up on the weather blowing across Moosup on it's way to them. We ended up with some heavy rain which was greatly needed. I've been watering the garden but nothing helps out so well as a good rain. Grampa also put the air conditioners in two nights ago so of course the storms have cooled the air and I've got the windows wide open today! Called Kiddo last night to let him know that I had a box that came in the mail. He gave me instructions on how to carefully put the box away so he could delve in when he gets here today. "Just don't open it, Mémère!" were his final words on the matter.I doubt he'll want to stay after school today to play in the playground. We'll have to hurry home to pack his bag and get to Moosup so he can see his latest Bakugan! Still so much fun!

Quote: What a pity flowers can utter no sound? __A singing rose, a whispering violet, a murmuring honeysuckle, __oh, what a rare and exquisite miracle would these be! __H. W. Beecher

Just plain wonderful . . .

We've been really thrilled watching Mom and Dad Bluebird teaching their three babies how to fly and also get their own dinner and breakfast. Last night we sat out for over and hour watching the little ones perched on Lex's run as their parents flew around, and down collecting bugs and upon occasion sharing them with the little guys. Then the babies flew off and tried to do the same as their parents. What a sight! This morning as we returned from Lizzy B's and drove up the driveway the fragrant multi flora roses, which clog the woods but are beautiful and aromatic, were the perfect backdrop for the Bluebird Family as they flitted about getting their bug breakfast. What a pleasure for us to have the time to watch nature taking it's course. Now I'll have to get back to the mundane tasks! Washed windows in the computer/Kiddo room yesterday and it took a very long time! I removed both sets of windows from each of the three window openings plus washed the curtains. It all looks nice and bright now. If it lasts for more than a day I shall be happy! Washing windows in this old homestead is so much work! Don't know when I'll have the fortitude to tackle another room. Puppy's Pop had an appointment with pharmacology at the VA in Providence yesterday and they have finally cut him loose for at least a year. The niacin in a proper dose and his diet of oatmeal and cutting down on red meat has done wonders. He's down to his weight when we got married! Would I had the same gumption as he!

Quote: What we need most, is not so much to realize the ideal as to idealize the real. __Hedge

Good visit; good people . . .

I had to order some new Bakugan ( little, strange balls that transform into characters from Vestroia) because Kiddo has newer Bakugan than I and he always has more G power than I do and beats the heck out of me! With his help, naturellement, I ordered three on line. Two of them came in early so I called him last night and he guessed why I had called. So I have a request to bring them to his house tomorrow. What a shock he's going to have! My little Wavern has more G power than his Double Hydranoid! Hip! Hip! Not sure why I do enjoy his game so much. The little balls are really quite intricate and he often has to show me how to close them. We also have to do a lot of addition to see who the winner of a match will be. In any case we have a lot of fun and he puts up with my complete lack of how to play the formal game. He laughs when I make up things to say as I try to beat him. He knows all the formulaic chatter and body motions. I just do a lot of goofy stuff!

Got a chance to see older brother, his wife and eldest daughter yesterday. It was a very good day. I toured their beautiful grounds and after lunch, topped off with the best home made lemon meringue pie and great conversation, D drove C and I to see the terrible tornado damage in Southbridge and Sturbridge. It is absolutely astonishing to see huge old trees completely uprooted and others just twisted into sticks. Somehow the people in the homes were miraculously not hurt although many of their homes were greatly damaged. D said that it was a small tornado. That has to be a terrifying experience. We were able to drive up a very high hill and look down on the destruction. What an awesome force is nature. Man is so puny in his limited role on this earth. You can not control the forces of nature. It makes me philosophize. There is no evil on this planet per se. Without man and civilization there can be no evil just nature unfolding as it must. The evil we do have is in man. I guess we are angels and devils all in one. It's tough trying to be angels all the time! But the angels were out working hard to clean up the devastated parts of Massachusetts.

Quote: The laws of nature are just, but terrible. There is no weak mercy in them. Cause and consequence are inseparable and inevitable. The elements have no forbearance. The fire burns, the water drowns, the air consumes, the earth buries. And perhaps it would be well for our race if the punishment of crimes against the laws of man were as inevitable as the punishment of crimes against the laws of nature, ---were man as unerring in his judgements as nature. __Longfellow

Newport Creamery . . .

And the fun is gone. Our exotic dancer waitress is gone. What on earth are we coming to? Gee, it's hard to just get in a normal day around these parts! The weather was so good this morning that I skipped Mass and went walking in Sterling as Puppy's Pop flew to his heart's content. It wasn't even windy. We've forgotten what non windy days are like. I've been walking indoors this week even though it's been sunny because the wind was wicked. I never dust or vacuum twice in a week, never. Except I did this week because the pollen was so bad everything was dusty yellow and we were both sneezing our heads off. I even washed the Pontiac this morning after my walk because it too was a disgusting yellow-gray mixed with bird poo. After that we left for Harbor Freight in Warwick to pick up a U.S. General A/C Manifold Gauge Set. Then I lucked out because I talked Puppy's Pop into a stop at Newport Creamery in Coventry. He only wanted a coffee but I settled for a fresh home made chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich. How delicious. That should keep me for a while. I checked the garden and everything is growing, even the potatoes! It took them a while to appear. Even the nasturtiums have finally popped out. They should look pretty as a border to my taller flowers and they are edible! Hoping to see big brother tomorrow but can't get a hold of him to find out if they'll be unbusy!

Quote: When once a man is determined to believe, the very absurdity of the doctrine confirms him in his faith. ____Junius (Not sure if Junius was thinking of religion but I'm not. I'm thinking of liberals and their agenda.)

Just because . . .

Some of these shots will be blurry as Grampa took them as G. wielded us round the Darlington and York countryside on our first visit in January 2009.

Puppy's Pop is out this morning checking on his bluebirds along the power lines so I'm left all alone. The trout in the river, yes, the trout singular,has been eluding him regularly.
Quote: Men of all ages have the same inclinations over which reason exercises no control. Thus wherever men are found there are follies, aye, and the same follies. ___Fontenelle

Of tornado watches and a doe . . .

From the bottom. Deer walking along before I get home from Groton. Middle shot. I've just gotten home and have no clue what's happening! Top shot. I tried to get some photos as she sauntered around the left side of the garage. They were horrible, but I kept this one where she's checking out the swallow nestlings in a bluebird box.

Glad the tornado watch is over. Brother called from Southbridge, MA to see if we were all right. Nothing of consequence happened in Windham County that we know of but he lives in South Worcester County and Sturbridge has some damaged homes. Springfield, MA also has quite a bit of damage, not sure if there are any casualties. Hope not. We did have a short thunderstorm at supper time and it is still very humid and overcast but that's it. I expect it to stay that way!

I got home from Groton about 5:15 and Puppy's Pop got my attention and had me look up the hill to the right of the garage. There was a lovely doe having a walking feast. She was not shy. I went in and got the camera because she just sauntered across the top of the yard to Ma Tante Blanche's side. I took 76 photos and they were all terrible. I used the wrong setting and I'm not steady when I'm trying so hard to be steady. Damn.

Younger sister just called to check up on any storm problems which we thankfully don't have. She's also doing fine but the weather has been devastating just north of them. She's still in a tornado watch until 11pm.

Quote: The sobbing wind is fierce and strong; its cry is like a human wail. ___Susan Coolidge