HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR FRIEND

RTHDAY TO YY HAPAY BIRTHDPY EDDIE!
HAPPY BIOU!
hAPP

It is a beautiful time of year.....last week it was cool and sunny everyday and at night it was black velvet with diamonds.
It was the kind of weather I love.
I was outside working in the yard with Mom and my assistant. Murphy hung out on the tether with us. He shines in the sun!
I walked Murphy and enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine on my skin. It is the kind of weather that makes me never want to be inside again.

Mom and I also worked on organizing my desk and work area, and hung up the art which has been sitting in a corner of my bedroom for years. I am so excited to see my collection again and to remember who gave them to me, or where I got them and who made them. Three of them were made by my Uncle who I love dearly, two were made by one of my dearest friend's father. Many things remind me of my grandmother and our travels and time together. It all makes me so happy.

I have a big event tomorrow, having alot of people to the house. Nervous and excited!

We put hay down in the yard to keep the burrs down. I am hoping this will be an outside and "on the porch" party, hoping it doesn't rain. It did rain off and on since last night, and we have needed the rain...but....just for tomorrow...just for my event....please, please, please...let the special weather come back and make it fantastic to be outside again.

Just came back from seeing Julie and Julia at the mall. It was a movie that I did not want to end. I loved it! It made me see the world with hope. When I got home I walked Murphy down my dark country road and admired the dark and the stars. The moon is low and waning...looks huge and orange and delicious.
We walked in the dark, just up the block a bit and back. The air is so perfect, so sweet and light, like a butterfly kiss. I just breath it in and smile.
I am so in love with the air here. I was fantasizing about getting a camp site on the lake and going to bed, out in the air, and waking up, out in the air. I was in the park a couple weeks ago and saw a family sitting on the shore. Their chairs in the water and a cabana tent over them for some shade. The sun was very bright and warm and I could have happily fallen over in the water and splashed around. I was not up to walking home with sand in my pants, but it was fun to think about it. Murphy got his feet wet...he would like to go swimming too.
I wish I could share this feeling of happiness.
There are people in my life who don't know how to find it, see it, enjoy it. I wish I could help them, but it doesn't seem they want to be helped.

I worked my butt off this weekend, I threw things out, and dusted and rearranged furniture and turned the entrance area of my house into a warm and inviting and organized place. It took two days of hard core work and I could still tweek it a bit, but I am pretty happy with it. My Mom came out and stayed with me and helped helped helped. I am so grateful. She worked hard and kept me on track.
Thanks Mom!

Moon, Stars and Cooler Days

Aaaah! 69 degrees, no humidity and blue skies!
Yes, summer took too long to get here but when it did get here it was too hot and WAY too humid! We had four ozone alert days in a row and I thought I had found my way into an alternate universe!
I admit, I wanted summer to get here as much as the next person, but when it did get here, I did not have time to go swimming, my family was gone from the camp, those very hot humid days did not come with sunshine....

I am just saying....summer this year was not the summer I had in mind and I therefore retract my previously made statements in which I expressed a desire for the heat of summer. I am heretofore happy to enjoy sunny days, with highs in the high 60's, open windows and sparkling reflections off the water which I enjoy walking to when it is not 80 degrees.

It was COLD last night! We got down in the 40's I put an extra quilt on the bed and it was perfectly lovely sleeping weather! I had the dog, my husband, and even the cat at one time, snuggling up to me. That is how I roll.

And have you seen the moon?

Tonight it is perfectly quartered.

It curves like a cartoon cutout and when it is low on the horizon, it has been orange, like a slice broken off an peeled fruit. It is delicious and two nights in a row I have driven home after dark and it has lingered directly over my house as I hurried home to my nest.

I imagined what delicious item it might be pouring over my house. My first thought was cream cheese. The next thought was orange soda. I think I have settled on an orange waterfall of light. Recently I have come to love the color orange and my house could use an infusion of light and vibrant life...I think the image of an orange waterfall of light is the image I will keep in my mind.

The stars have been outrageous. All summer, the sky has been too over cast to see the stars. Last year I took alot of late night walks on our dark country road, this year I was not inspired. Perhaps star watching season has finally begun again.

Summer Arrives

Summer has been a long time coming this year. On July 4th I stood by the Harbor in the wind with my jacket wrapped around me, thinking a cup of hot cocoa would hit the spot....on JULY 4TH!!!

I have been busy busy working two jobs and I have not been able to enjoy enough outdoor time, though to be truthful, I can always say I don't have enough time outdoors.
That is why I moved here...more time with family and more time outside.
I have taken a few toodles and stopped for picture taking. Will post soon.

Spring Marches On

Good morning! It is gray and cloudy with rain in the air and temps in the high 30's....c'est la vie in Northern New York.
My maple tree has bright red buds popping all over the ends of her naked branches and with the rain and gray they are showing up like neon this morning.
Had a flock of Pine Siskins come through over the weekend...fierce little goldfinch wannabe's...they kept the goldies off the sock feeders all weekend!

On Sunday it was sunny and gorgeous. I did not want to come indoors...I didn't want to put on a jacket either, but eventually I had to...still not that warm. So funny that I am looking forward to warm weather...I who have hated summer most of my life (except when I would spend it at Beaver Lake).
I weeded a bit, I walked my sweet baby Murphy, I dawdled outside talking with a neighbor, I checked out the shed and inventoried my gardening tools. Didn't get alot done but the air was so sweet and addictive I didn't want to go inside.
I did manage to get 14 tons of laundry done. My friends were talking about the joys of hanging laundry out to dry - since Hubby took down our line posts, I don't have to feel guilty about not going the extra mile to line dry our sheets...though the potential savings in electric costs certainly appeals to my slightly frugal nature.

Time to go to work. I had a second job at the local market for a very brief period of time, but decided not to keep it....too much effort and not enough payback. I had to stand for four hours straight at the cash register at $7.15 an hour. I was working a full day, then going to the grocery store and realized it was not smart...there are not enough hours in the week to work a seven dollar an hour job and make an impact on my family finances...I was going to wear myself out and not really help the situation. So I quit...I was still in training so I was not leaving them in the lurch with shifts to fill, and it wasn't that the job itself was unpleasant...the girl who trained me was lovely and smart and a good teacher....once I got on the register and was doing something instead of just standing there, it was easier. But I was having to cancel my chiropractic appointments and never be home in the evening; it was the smart thing to do. Normally, I would have worked myself into the ground and illness before giving up - I consider this progress.

Hubby will help me learn about posting and selling on ebay. I think I can see myself doing that - need to get on ebay and see what sells - what is desirable in today's market.

OK...off to the "salt mine"!

Snow Geese - Harbingers of Spring

Acres and acres of white snow geese flocking in a field in Henderson, NY.

This was like something out of a science fiction movie...if I had not been there I would have thought it was a special effects project.

Look What Popped Up!

Look What Popped Up!
Originally uploaded by Gertibird

This was one of those moments that made me love the life I chose in this rural world.
My friend is an engineer and works with me for the Village.
Another friend told me he was playing with his chainsaw, cutting up the left over trees that were brought down during the wind storm early last fall.
I drove by and was so tickeled by the sight of those giant mushrooms I begged and harrassed and threatened to come over and steal one....
And Sunday he and his two adorable boys showed up at my door with my very own mushroom - hand carved and installed in Flying Squirrel World.
Everytime I look out my kitchen window I giggle.
I am so in love with this oversized fungus. I have always loved things that are over sized or things that are miniature.
When I was alittle girl, the Children's Museum outside Boston had this display with an giant sized phone, giant sized glasses, giant pencil and paperclip...(Very Land of the Giants - another favorite of mine) this was a magical place that I went to as often as I could convince my parent's to take me.

It is almost time to begin garden preparations. I have had a back problem for the past couple of weeks and know that I am on the mend but do not want to do anything to aggravate it. I have also been tired...just keeping up with a few chores has been about all I could accomplish these days. Don't know if that is stress, or because I am in pain, or because I am sleeping in the recliner...probably all of the above.
So for now, I walk around and check things out and look for green noses coming up...so far only daffodils about two inches tall and the tiniest hint of the ancient iris population.
We have had lots of sun this past week...it is deceptive because the temps are still in the 30's. Hubby said there was a dusting of snow early this morning when he took Murphy out.
Still wrapping my mind around what Spring means up here.
Still loving it...snow flurries and all.

Woke up this morning to minus 27 degrees.
Yes you read that right.

Luckily I did not feel that temperature since my house is reasonably tight and warm.

My shower has been on the fritz, but friends are helping my husband fix it today.
He had urology studies done this week and next month he has to have another test and a procedure. He is trying to keep a good attitude, but it is hard.

When we go outside, Murphy runs into the front yard and throws himself down and flips himself over and rubs his back in the snow. He loves the cool scratchiness of the snow when it has thawed a bit and refrozen.

Mr. Groundhog saw his shadow in Pennsylvania, but apparently Chuck in Staten Island did not AND he bit Mayor Bloomberg! Go Chuck!!!
Just on principle I think politicians should be bitten once in a while. Especially, billionaire politicians.

I have a new boss at work - a new Mayor...my third in 18 months. Yes, it is a thankless job that pays next to nothing. And me....I hate change.....
I better get better at rolling with it....

OK - I am off to warm up my toes by the radiator.
Happy Trails to You!