Brrr...

We took a walk down to the Puddle Pond this morning and Mr. P snapped a few photos.  There is ice on the surface of the pond but it is certainly not completely frozen over and it is thin.


The dock hasn't been cleaned off and shows the amount of snow we have had since Wedneday of this week.  The wind is howling and as we walked down the path, six or seven deer ran across the corn field behind our property.  

Here are some pictures taken prior to Christmas and the snowfall that came down afterward.  There were a number of deer in the back yard moving through to the spot where they like to bed down.

These two deer were in the front yard on their way to the back and their resting place for the day.

This is just one of the many paths they make in the woods on our property.  There are tracks on the path we walk on which veer off onto different arteries into the woods.  

See Mr P, they didn't get them all in hunting season again this year.  Just wait until they start in on the garden again in the summer!
Stay warm today and remember only one more day (after today) until we are in the new year!

It's snowing, again.

We have returned from a visit to OnlyDaughter, OnlySon-in-Law and grandsons #1 and 2 over the Christmas holiday.  Our trip began in the morning of Christmas Eve day when we headed to western PA.  The tree was decorated by the grandsons and was grand.  There were lots of packages for everyone tucked beneath the tree.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care! Even the dogs and cat have a stocking to be filled.

Grandson #2 was up at 6AM ready to begin tearing into the packages.  Grandson #1 was somewhat sleepier but no less eager once he came downstairs.  Grandson #2 got the gift he "really, really" wanted which was Da-do Bricks.  Grandson #1 got a few Lego sets which he loves making into finished products.
Mr. P and I got lots of gifts.  One from the boys is very special.  The boys have been learning blacksmithing with their Dad.  They presented us with two hand forged copper bowls.  They often make us a gift and we use the Christmas plate they both had a hand in decorating for us one year.  Grandson #1 did artwork on a plain white mug when he was not quite three years old and presented it to me for Mother's Day in 2003.  I still use the mug daily at work for my hot tea.  The artwork is a little faded but no less special to me.
A very special gift from Only Daughter was presented prior to Christmas when she called to let us know that a book she has been writing will be published.  She also has a short story that will be published as part of an anthology of short stories.  Congratulations OnlyDaughter!  You've always been a writer but now everyone else can read your words.

As mentioned in an earlier post, OnlyDaughter and OnlySon-in-Law got their motorcycle licenses this summer and became the proud owners of two Harley Davidson motorcycles.  Preparations were underway to store them for the winter and we thought our best view would be from pictures taken by them.  Not so....they took us to the garage to show us the bikes and before we headed back for home, I got a ride with OnlySon-in-Law on the back of his Sportster 1200 Custom while OnlyDaughter followed on her Iron 883 who was followed by Mr P.  The bikes were put in storage and we all got a lift back in the car with Mr P.

This flag was purchased way back when Mr P worked plowing snow in the winter for a living.  We no longer hang the flag to scare off snow but just because we like it.  I don't mind driving to and from work in snow (I don't like ice though).  I haven't had to drive in any of the snow that has fallen this week since I took the entire week off work which has been nice. I love being in the house with a cup of hot tea and either a book to read or some knitting.

Happy Holidays to all!  The New Year is right around the corner.
Have a good weekend and enjoy the snow this weekend if you are getting what we are getting.

Gosh...

when did December arrive?  The 1st of the month picture of The Puddle Pond was missed.  Since then it's been most busy.

The annual Volunteer's Appreciation dinner at the library where Mr P and I volunteer has come and gone.  The theme this year was an Irish Christmas.  The librarian provides a meal and entertainment for the evening.  Our menu consisted of Irish stew (really beef stew), salad, Irish soda bread and mint chocolate chip ice cream with cookies for dessert.  Entertainment was provided by The Irish Blessing, http://www.irishblessingband.com/ a family band playing traditional Irish music and dancing traditional Irish dance.
As always, it was a fun evening and good to see those folks who volunteer on various days of the weeks that we sometimes only see a few times a year.

Yesterday was the last day for antlered deer and doe season with a rifle this year.  There will be a period of bow hunting around Christmas time but there don't seem to be many bow hunters here in our immediate area.  Possibly the deer pictured below were spared this year and we will see them over the winter.
As I walked up the driveway this morning to meet my walking buddy, R, several deer crossed over in front of me.


The next two pictures are for Grandson #1.  Check out what Pappy got for the golf cart!  Now the seats will stay dry when it rains - an all-weather cart.

My coworkers and I celebrated the holiday a little early with lunch at The Hotel Hershey in the Circular Dining room http://www.thehotelhershey.com/photo_gallery/index.php.  The Hotel will be closing down on January 2, 2013 for renovations.  The decor and ambience at the Circular Dining room is such a treat and we are hoping the changes are not too drastic.
Two more luncheons with coworkers are scheduled before Christmas gets here.  One in the upcoming week and one the week after.  I don't know if it's better to have them spaced out over three weeks or get the gluttony over in a shorter time span and then get back on track watching what I eat and walking more.

Our home sits a good distance back from the road so any decorations for the holidays are not always able to be seen by passerbyers.  There is a grapevine wreath with lights on the side of our garage which can be seen from the road.  One of our neighbors, who has since moved, always commented on much he enjoyed seeing the lit wreath on our "barn" (his term for our garage) each year.  

 The next few days and weeks at the Puddle Pond will be spent finishing preparations and shopping for Christmas.
Hoping you are staying warm and dry wherever you are and having a good weekend.

Good Morning Moon!

The moon this morning when I left for work.  It's shrouded behind the trees but was big, full and bright.  I was treated to a beautiful pink view out the window at work this morning when I arrived.  No picture but trust me, it was gorgeous.


 

My Mom and I started this jigsaw puzzle two weeks before Thanksgiving and continued working on it when she visited for Thanksgiving dinner.  It's a stretch to think we are halfway done and I have my orders not to touch it until she gets back.  I'll make sure to take a picture when we finish it.

If it's as cold where you are as it is here, I hope you are keeping warm.

Lookout Bambi!

Today was the first day of rifle deer season, specifically buck hunting.  The does need to be wary beginning on Saturday.

When I left for work this morning, it was raining hard.  The closer I got to work the rain turned to big snowflakes.  Later in the morning, Mr P was looking out the windows toward the back of our property and saw this doe.  You can see the dusting of snow on the ground which is still there because the temperatures never got above 34 degrees during the day.

Behind the first doe, four more followed for a total of five.   I'm sure the herds need thinned out but hate to think of them being hunted.  Oh well, buck season lasts for two weeks and I'm unsure how long doe season lasts.    

Thought I would throw in a picture of the table (sans food) set for our Thanksgiving dinner.  My Mom was our guest for the day and we enjoyed the usual dinner - turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with a baked sweet potato for me, corn, brussel sprouts.  In lieu of pumpkin pie for dessert, there was a delicious coconut cream pie.
Mom and I worked on a jigsaw puzzle that we started a few weeks ago while Mr. P watched football on the TV.

We had a little celebration at the library tonight to wish one of the regular Tuesday night volunteers a happy holiday season.  M will be in attendance at the Annual Library Volunteer Dinner on Friday evening and then leaves for warmer climes the next day until next spring.  There was hot cider and pumpkin roll and the librarian gave her an adorable crocheted robin to take along to remind her we will be awaiting her return in the spring.
Stay warm and have a good rest of the week.

The return trip

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, the return trip of my recent walk would follow and so here it is.

Can you see the groundhog looking out from his den?   On the trip out, there was a rustling sound off to my left when I stepped off the two lane highway with the wide berms onto another side road.  This groundhog was out of his den and there was a black and white cat facing him down.  I couldn't believe a cat would take on a groundhog but they were staring at each other and preparing to square off.  I called out to try and chase the groundhog back into his den or send the cat along its way. No luck.

Animal lover that I am, I envisioned a nasty fight breaking out and bloodshed.  Next step was to throw a stone close to one of them.  After several tosses the groundhog retreated into his den and peered out at me.  The cat didn't budge and in fact, crouched down making throaty, threatening noises at me.  That decided it .  The cat was on its own!  I continued on my walk expecting to see a maimed or dead cat on the return trip.

Imagine my surprise when, on the way back, I saw the cat gone and Mr. Groundhog staring up at me from his den as I lectured him on not fighting in the future.


Another picture of the turning point on the walking route.  The horse farm that was in the last picture in the previous post (on the right) is now off to the left of this picture.  The road curves to the right somewhat as you can see and there is a rise in the road just out of sight.

Here we are, around the curve above and up the rise, walking towards the two lane highway with the wide berms.  That highway is just visible at what appears to be the end of the road in the picture below which intersects with the highway.  Mr. Groundhog was almost at the end of this road on the right hand side just down an embankment.

Well, we've walked along the highway and turned onto the road which intersects (eventually) with the street where I live.    Some areas of the road below have heavy tree cover which makes for slow snow melt in the winter because the sun doesn't reach the roadway to melt it as quickly as the areas that see the sun.  However, it's one of the cooler spots on our walk in warm weather because of all the shade.

Finally, we're on the home stretch of our walk.  My driveway is the first one on the right hand side as we continue down this street.  You're welcome to stop and put your feet up,  have a cold drink of water or if the weather is cold, a hot cup of tea or coffee.
I hope you enjoyed walking along the route that my walking buddies and I follow.  Today's walk was especially nice in the balmy, sunny weather.  

Snow flurries are forecast to begin early tomorrow morning which could make my morning commute to work interesting but later this week nice weather is to return.

A book I put on hold at the library was ready for pickup today and I can hardly wait to begin reading it.  The BBC television series "Call the Midwife" is based on the book "Call the Midwife, A Memoir of Birth, Joy and Hard Times" and I've been waiting a while for my turn to read it.  The series I watched on public television was delightful.
I hope everyone had a good day today and a good week this week.

The Walking Route

On a recent Friday, I took the day off work for some appointments that were rescheduled due to Hurricane Sandy.  My appointments were in the morning and the day was absolutely gorgeous.  After lunch, I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and take a walk along the usual route taken with my walking buddies, R and R.

This post will be part one - the trip out with another post being the trip back.

This picture was taken at the top of my driveway as I turned left onto the street.  You can't really tell but the area on the right before the pine tree is very swampy with lots of wet, mucky mud.  Cat o nine tails grow there during warmer weather.  I point this out because last weekend when R and I headed out at 6AM in the semi-dark, a car was plopped in the swamp.  The mishap had occured hours earlier and the driver had crawled out of the car in knee deep mud, let the homeowner know he was sitting in his swamp and departed for home on muddy feet.  Neither one of us was eager to use our flashlights to look in the car to see if someone was needing help so we turned around quickly and sought assistance from Mr. P.  We were able to continue our walk knowing all was okay.
At the tee in the road which you can just see at the end of the road in this picture, I made a left hand turn.


Off to the right hand side of the road, there has been some logging taking place.  This picture is for  Anne who loves heavy equipment at  www.frayedattheedge.typepad.co.uk

This is part of the road traveled once the left hand turn is made off my street.  As you can see Friday is trash collection day in our area.

At the end of this road, a two lane "highway" with fairly wide berms needs crossed and traveled on for a short distance.  At the end of this piece of highway, another left hand turn is made towards the Alpaca Farm.  There will be no pictures of the alpacas unless I get in the car and make a visit to the farm which is open to the public and also has a gift shop of items made from alpaca hair.  

The left hand turn takes me to a rise in the road and at the top of the rise, is a barn and farmhouse just beyond the pasture on the right which is my turning point in the walk.  The barn used to house a lot of horses, both the homeowners and horses being boarded.   A terrible fire several years ago burned the barn and there was a loss of many of the animals.  We would see some horses out grazing after things were somewhat reconstructed but now we see very few.  

While we don't see the horses any longer and there are no other farms on the walk were we would see sheep or other livestock, we do see a few regulars - cats, dogs, chickens and a goat.  In my next post I will show you the critter I came upon on my walk on this particular day who caused me to chuckle.

Yesterday's walk was in very cold, windy weather with a few snow flurries thrown in for good measure.  Today's walk was the same minus the wind and snow.  Flurries are forecast for Tuesday of this week.

Hope everyone in the US had a nice Thanksgiving and good weekend.  

Unscathed and blessed

Hurricane Sandy hit the eastern seaboard of the US last week and we were in it's path.  Fortunately, this area was relatively unscathed.  The rain came down, heavy at times, over serveral days.
My work was canceled on Monday and Tuesday of last week.  Unnecessary travel was discouraged.  Everyone waiting in anticipation of what would happen next.

 The second picture below shows the water level in The Puddle Pond towards the end of the onslaught.  The water flowed out the outlet pipe, into the stream which you can see in another picture below and then out into a much larger pond a neighbor has on his property.

Our main worry was the roots of the trees getting saturated and the wind then uprooting them.  The only casualty was a tree that fell on the path to the pond which was easily moved.  Any others that fell came down in the woods and caused no problems.

Our thoughts are with those in New Jersey and New York who were hardest hit by this monster storm.  Having helped a close friend's family in 1972 to clean up in the aftermath of Hurricane Agnes, I can remember vividly the smells, mud, junk, etc that was present afterward.  I can't begin to imagine what the feeling would be to have no home to go back to.

Directly below is the 1st of the month picture of The Puddle Pond.  You can see how high the water level reached.

Mr P took many walks down to the Puddle and around the property during the storm and the photo below shows the rain falling.  You can also see at the top of the hill the work that continues on those  power line towers. Most of them have been completely erected but the electric lines themselves have not  yet been re-strung.  What a big, imposing eyesore they are compared to the towers they replaced!  Work on them is at a standstill probably because of the muddy ground and the possibility of getting their heavy equipment stuck.

Here is a portion of the stream that runs along part of our property and you can see the water running fast and furious.  Normally, there is very little water flowing down this stream and it's quiet. 

Deer hunting season began here recently (bow and arrow) and the bucks are in rut (mating season).  The forsythia planted down at the Puddle has suffered quite a big of damage from bucks rubbing their antlers to remove the "velvet" which is itchy.  These plants should revive themselves next spring but they certainly took a hit.

Last weekend the last of the ripe figs were plucked from the fig tree.  A batch of fig preserves had been made previously and gifted to several people who were interested in trying it.  There were enough figs in the final picking to prepare one more batch of preserves.  One of the gals I volunteer with at the library, who also happens to have a fig tree, insisted I would be able to get enough figs to make another batch of preserves.  Her insistance was self-serving in that she wanted to sample the preserves.  Do you hear this MW?  Your pint jar of preserves will be hand delivered to you on Tuesday evening.  The two jars in the back are the leftovers from the processing of the last neck pumpkin.  The rest of the pumpkin was baked into two pumpkin pies.  

The pumpkin along with a jar of the preserves is for OnlyDaughter, OnlySonInLaw and Grandsons #1 and #2.  I don't know if the boys will want to try the preserves but they will surely eat the pumpkin bread their Mom will make.

My walking buddy, R, and I went on our walk yesterday heading out in the dark.  Daylight Savings time ended and the clocks were turned back an hour overnight.  Our walk this morning began in the semi-light we usually have about halfway through our walk.  The downside is that it will be dark shortly after I arrive home from work in the evenings making it much harder to get out to walk.

 I'm looking forward to watching "Call the Midwife" tonight on PBS.  What a delightful BBC series!

I hope everyone had a good weekend.  The Williamsburg posts will return sometime this week.

Wet and windy

Let me start of by correcting information in my post yesterday.  The wind speeds are to be between 30-40 mph (sustained) with gusts at 60+ mph.  Rain has been falling all day.  It was a lighter rain earlier today but now there are sheets of heavy rain coming down.  Winds have also picked up in frequency and intensity as the day moves on.  It's now dark outside but we can hear the wind howling in the trees around the house.
The power blinked off and right back on about an hour ago and it's probably only a matter of time before it goes out again and doesn't pop back on.  When the power blinked, the motion detection light at the garage came on so Mr P went out to set things right so the light goes out after a few minutes.  As he was headed back in the house, he heard a big crack off to the left of the house back in the woods.  Damage will be assessed tomorrow in the daylight.
The Governor canceled work today and also tomorrow.  I had already taken tomorrow off work to go to some appointments.  One appointment for tomorrow morning was confirmed by telephone early this morning.  Later in the day, the other appointment was rescheduled due to the weather and as we were having dinner, the earlier appointment was postponed and will be rescheduled on Wednesday when everyone feels things will be getting back to normal.


What to do with an unscheduled day off work?  I tidied up the house, ran the vacuum in some rooms and then settled in front of the TVto watch the news of the storm as it slammed the Eastern seaboard.  I also worked on a crocheted afghan that I started earlier this month.  I love to knit and while I can crochet, I don't do as much so it takes much more concentration on my part.  


Last Thursday was the day I turned another year older.  OnlyDaughter, OnlySonInLaw, Grandsons #1 and #2 and all the four-leggers in their household had a lovely arrangement of fall flowers delivered along with a big box of chocolates.  I will try to get another picture of the vase which will become a candle holder once the flowers are done. 

The flowers below were given to me by my coworkers and there was homemade carrot cake (my favorite).  Mr P got me new sneakers (leather so that my toes don't poke through so quickly while the tread is still good on the soles).

Thanks to all family and friends who took the time to wish me a happy day.

I will be back tomorrow to report on where things stand with Hurrican Sandy.  Hope you are high and dry wherever you are and also not caught in the snowstorms some areas of the country are experiencing on the fringes of the storm.

We Interupt the Williamsburg Posts..

to bring you news of Hurricane Sandy.  Currently still out in the Atlantic Ocean, models on television show that we will be hit with heavy rain causing flooding and high winds causing power outages.  Rainfall predictions for our area are for six to eight inches between now and Tuesday.  Winds are to get up to sustained speeds of up to 70 mph.

Mr P mowed the lawn on Friday to mulch the many leaves laying on the ground to get rid of the potentially soggy ground cover.  The front porch is stacked with firewood, leaves have been blown from the house roof and the gutters cleaned out.  A much needed trip to the grocery store on Saturday for the normal weekly shopping made me think that everyone else decided to get to the store exactly when I was there.  There was no bottled water in any size container on the shelves.  Good news was that I didn't have to wait in line to fill the car up with gas but business was brisk at the pumps too. 

Right now, there is work tomorrow but that could change as the week progresses since the storm brought inland by Sandy is to cause problems for more than just a day or two.  We feel fortunate to have a whole house generator so unless a tree falls on the house or the generator, putting it out of commission, our problems should be kept to a minimum. One of our main concerns is saturation of the ground around our home which is wooded and then winds that easily topple trees, pulling them up by the roots. 

No pictures in this post since I have none at this time related to the storm.  I'll try to keep you posted on the happenings as the week moves on during the Frankenstorm, as the news media has dubbed this monstrosity.

Fortunately, my walking buddy and I got out for our early morning walk both yesterday and today.

Hope everyone had a good weekend and the Williamsburg posts will continue shortly.

The End of the First Day

The Magazine at Colonial Williamsburg was built in 1715 and equipment necessary for defense against Indians, slave revolts, pirate raids and riots was stored there.


 

 

All the weapons stored in the Magazine are in working order.  The array was vast and interesting.

The building in the background on the far left is the Capitol.  More on that building in another post.  The Fife and Drums marched from the Capitol to the Palace Green in the afternoon.  Some of the players (fife and drum) were very young in age.

We walked through the tunnel below on the way into the city and again on the way out at the end of our day, only much more slowly having walked a lot that first day.  

We left the City looking forward to a repeat visit the next day and a chance to see what had been missed on this first day.