Suprise!

I looked out the kitchen window when making coffee this morning at 6:20am and what did I see? This!

Right away I knew what it was. The ground is too unlevel for me to go out there to get my picture at the front of the critter, so I did a zoom shot. Sorry no front-end view but I couldn't take the chance of falling on the slippery and wet grassy bank. Maybe when my daughter comes over she can poke him back into the lake. 

 I can't say how large he is, but it's certainly not a baby.

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Naturally Green

     

"We have gone; we have fled

out into the world we go;

we have left our home,

and we will wander

and roam, until we find

a new haven. Then we will 

in turn put forth a new generation.

People will curse us

they will say “Damned Weeds”;

but we know we are not damned

for we are the beauty

of nature and we too are

children of the Mother Goddess

as people themselves are."  Author unknown

Picture Story

Today is Friday. I think, according to the multiple pine cones on the trees a hard winter may be in store for us here. Almost all tall and aged trees have them growing abundantly.  I took my first rideabout on the lake road this morning and had chats with 5 neighbors who were walking. The temperature at noon is just 70° and it is dry out!  Of course, there are many many more photos of the treetops but I just had to show you a few. 

And then there were other sights of nature moving on through the season.

All in all it was a good ride!

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"Tis the Season!"

For blueberries that is! My friend the potter sent me some photos of his blueberry bush fruits and they are really beautiful this year. He also showed them in a pot that he made, and it is a combination of beauties for sure! Now I must admit that they are NOT my favorite fruit. I much prefer Loring peaches or dark cherries or apples. I do however, find the beauty of these berries - in fact all berries are beautiful, aren't they?

Of course I had to 'play' with his berry photos. The closeups of them is marvelous and I sure like magnified images of nature's beautiful creations.

All photos without additional 'add-ons' are courtesy of Al.

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Critter

Found in my carport today. Scooped up into paper cup to take photo for ID. It ended up taking a long water ride down the slide that starts in the bathroom! All gone! Hope there aren't many more or their larvae lurking nearby.  

Longhorn Beetles

“Most species are characterized by extremely long antennae, which are often as long as or longer than the beetle's body. In various members of the family, however, the antennae are quite short.”

“All known longhorn beetle larvae feed on plant tissue such as stems, trunks, or roots of both herbaceous and woody plants, often in injured or weak trees. A few species are serious pests.  The larvae, called roundheaded borers, bore into wood, where they can cause extensive damage to either living trees or untreated lumber (or, occasionally, to wood in buildings; the old-house borer, Hylotrupes bajulus, is a particular problem indoors).”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longhorn_beetle

Successful Mission To Space

I was sitting on the edge of my seat while watching the lift-off and landing of the first human flight into space taking place. This first human flight into and return from space was emotional and I KNOW my Mister was watching it as well, in his own way. He loved the space programs, the skies, the planets and air adventures. 

As the crew came out of the capsule I had a strong urge to hug each of them and push away the others in my way so I could! I wanted to jump up and down with Wally. An extremely exciting moment of a lifetime happened !

What a historic day! The entire flight was so much more than I had expected and was a job well done!

Many years ago I created my versions of what space would look like to me.

 

Learning Curve Yesterday!

GOT MY GUMPTION UP THIS AM!  Figured out how to clean the AC filter & the dehumidifier filter! Yay! Then got brave and lifted the seat on the golf car and plugged in the one line to a HD extension cord that I had plugged into the socket on the carport pillar. Then I propped up the seat with the board that is stored in the back basket and found the cord with the plug that goes into the panel under the seat bench where driver's legs would be when sitting.  A green light came on near that socket and I knew it was charging. The charger is carried under the seat when it is down - not at all like the set up we had at the beach, but I had watched the Mister do it several times and now I think I can again!  This charger is very different from the beach ones! I haven't been for a ride yet, but plan to soon. I also had to dig out my bottle of CLR mold and mildew stuff to remove all of the mold that was starting to permeate the backrest. There was a lot! I had to use my vegetable brush and almost a whole roll of paper towel. Satisfying morning. Pooped me out! 

Tomorrow I plan to attack the vacuum cleaner. I do not like the new one he bought because he thought it would be lighter and easier to maneuver. I will use the old clunker Oreck. It needs an overhaul. The new one is a PIA to clean the stupid tube. I know how to change the Oreck bags. Some day I'll enlist a friend to take it to the store in Vestal for an overhaul because it IS hard to push now. Probably just stuff stuck around the ends of the brush thingy. Not gonna try it!

Missy came today and did some fishing and swimming. No rain!  I sent her home with some suspenders as she was saying that her husband needs them. Just starting to clean out a few items like that.

Two neighbors with golf cars (gasoline) stopped by when I was out on the porch and we all had a small chat session. Things are starting to normalize if there is such a thing! 

There was a beautiful and very large lonely doe browsing my beachfront last evening. I grabbed the camera, and was about to get a great shot when the low battery light came on and it shut off! She moved on and gobbled up my neighbor's Hosta flowers! Then she sauntered up into the woods.  Lost that opportunity! I'll have to keep my eyes out for her again around dusk.

Darn Humidity!

The old log cabin is like a sponge! It absorbs the moisture in the air especially in the summertime. The toilet is flushed only if 'necessary' as the exposed pipes and tank sweat terribly. I run the A/C on low to help keep the front rooms drier than they would be if I didn't. The two bedroom doors and the bathroom door are kept shut even though the ceilings are open to the rafters. The tile on the floors is glued down over the concrete slab. The floor is ALWAYS cold. Now cold and damp.

Years ago there was a VERY old dehumidifier in the bathroom that had a pipe draining into the ditch behind the cabin. The ditch was usually very wet and soggy so when the old appliance died, I bought a new one and plugged the hole in the log and just take the container out every morning and dump it into the toilet. That container is heavy! It doesn't tell in the manual how much it holds, but I'll bet at least two gallons! Now the container, which slides in and out like a drawer is giving me grief. It comes out OK but doesn't want to go back in with ease. Wiggle, jiggle, jam, kick, finally in! Next year I hope to have a new dehumidifier. P.S. My electric bill will jump up really high due to both of these darn damp retarders! Oh well.

I have the manual and sales slip too! Purchased July 8, 2008 at Walmart. Used 13 years. Price $176.44 + tax. I'm leery of checking prices for today! 

I'm not complaining and have NO desire to live anywhere else. I'm surrounded with memories and love.

The Mister at Rest

For those of you who attended Ed’s Remembrance Service, Thank You. For those who weren’t able to be there, I know you were, in spirit.

For those of you who attended and participated in the service, Thank You. It was a beautiful tribute and ceremony, executed perfectly with sincere feeling and meanings.

He rests now in Beatrice, warm and dry at home with his cedar evergreen sprigs giving him immortality. He is still with me.

Acacia

Gere  

Garden Favorites

Hiding in the corner!

Rose Campion is often mistaken for Lamb's Ear because of its color and texture but the leaves are narrow. It has long stems that can grow as tall as three feet! The little one inch hot pink blooms really stand out. I did not plant this. There has never been one here before. I think they are called "volunteers" meaning that the seeds either blew in from another garden or a bird left some. It has other names such as mullein-pink and bloody William! 

From the internet (Circa 1828) "A beloved old plant once called Mullein Pink and Lamp Flower, as the felted leaves once were used in the making of wicks. Its brilliant magenta coloring is electric in combination with the silver-gray leaves on branching stems. An easy to grow, long-blooming and low maintenance plant, simply deadhead or cut back to its leafy rosette after flowering, leaving a few to self sow and renew your plantings. Summer Bloom."

Source: https://www.selectseeds.com/heirloom-perennials/rose_campion_seeds.aspx

I saw hummingbirds drinking nectar from the Hosta this morning. I just wasn't quick enough to capture them.

And...for good measure!

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Preparation

A simple display of a fully-led life is ready to deliver for the remembrance ceremony tomorrow evening. My beautiful handmade "Beatrice" raku pot will be the centerpiece and contain the cremains. 

A meaning of the name Beatrice is "bringer of joy and blessings." Surrounding it will be several photographs displayed in simple see-through frames. It is what my Mister wanted, a small gathering with a Masonic service.

Here are a few of the photos I've chosen. The retirement gift of a pyrography art piece on wood done by a local artist in 1998 is included (shown below) and perhaps his favorite hand tool, a mechanic's wrench will be there. I'm not sure about that yet. He was a tip top mechanic all of his life. 

Words and Pictures of Today

When I go to bed at night, and before actually going to sleep, my mind works very hard and I just cannot stop it. The wondrous thing is that ideas for a blog come and the actual writing of each thought is imagined and very clear. There are sentences and words in full descriptive forms. Does this make sense to you? Well anyway, to give you an idea of what I'm trying to convey here is that the thoughts and words that come as I drift off to La La Land, never ever come back as good as they are when they are expressed to me at that time. I never remember those words the next morning. They came and then disappeared. I simply cannot pull them up again and use them at all. 

Now for daytime thoughts and words - nothing very exciting, but here I go....

First of all I'm OK. Getting used to being alone and not lonely. It certainly is different, and thought-inspiring at the same time. A lot of the paperwork is done, the private memorial service is in two days, and my lifestyle is undergoing some change. 

For the first time I picked up the camera as the ferns around the flowerbeds in front of the porch gave me inspiration as did the tiger lilies that a neighbor planted by the dam spillway several years ago.

Hopefully my eyesight will remain good, even though my ambulatory skills are diminishing rapidly. I was always told that change is challenge. Yes it is!

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