Turnpike pics

I promised some pictures from the trip home from OnlyDaughters on the PA Turnpike.
1.  Scenery and the PA Turnpike.

2.  Electricity generating windmills around Somerset.

3.  Flashing sign board along the Turnpike notified us that a car fire was up ahead.  Firemen were working to make sure the fire was out and a young man was sitting on the guardrail at the side of the highway.  It didn't appear that anyone was hurt and that's foam, not snow you see.

4.  Heading toward one of the four tunnels we go through going to and from OnlyDaughters.  There are two tunnels that are "back-to'back" and two "separate ones.

5.   Heading into the tunnel which has two lanes going each way.
 

6.  Inside the tunnel and headed out.

A quick shot of some of the scenery along the side of the road.

This morning was cold but it has since warmed up and the sun is shining brightly.  Easter will be quiet here at The Puddle Pond and I'm hoping to work outside some on Saturday.

Hope you have nice weather and a good weekend wherever you are.

Grandparents Day!

Guess what!  I don't think I'm smarter than a fifth grader and definitely not smarter than an eighth grader.

The school Grandsons #1 and #2 attend has an annual Grandparent Day.  The senior high school celebrates the day first (Wednesday), the middle school holds their celebration on the next day (Thursday) and the junior school closes the celebration at the end (Friday).  Grandson #1 is in his last year of middle school and Grandson #2 his last year of junior school. 

The visitation at the middle school covers almost the entire school day.  Our day started when OnlyDaughter dropped us off at the middle school.  

 Once inside, name tags were secured to blouses and jackets and attendees gathered in the hall at the base of the big circular staircase.  (A film in which Russell Crowe will star (Fathers and Daughters) will have some filming take place at the school with this stairway being featured.  Extras are being solicited from the junior school student body so Grandson #2 has completed the paperwork and hopes to be lucky enough to be selected.)

 We spent the morning moving from class to class beginning with Social Studies.  Below is a picture of the library where Grandson #1 is studying poetry.  We used IPads to research poets and selected Edgar Allen Poe's, The Raven as our choice for the class.

 Mid-morning we were all in the gymnasium for a choral and jazz band concert.  Grandson #1 didn't tell us that he had a solo but he was standing long enough that I managed to get his picture.  He did a great job.  He plays the trombone and it thrills me that the boys enjoy music.  OnlyDaughter began learning and playing the flute in fourth grade and continued through her senior year of high school.

 After the concert in the gym, we headed to the band room where there was practice for the spring concert which will be held on April 23 at 7:30 PM.  It was nice to get a preview of the selections they will be playing that evening since we won't be there in person.

The afternoon classes included science and an experiment in the lab and the last class of the day was Chinese which was a fun, lively class. 

 On Friday, OnlySonInLaw dropped us off at the junior school at the start of the day.  We enjoyed coffee and cookies and then drifted to the gymnasium for an hour of presentations by each grade.  Pre-kindergarden through fifth grade students entertained us.  Grandson #2 wore his red vest as a member of the band and played Linus and Lucy for our enjoyment.  He's just turning the corner in the picture below so he's a little blurry and his best friend is right behind him. 

 The picture below is a picture of a picture on the bulletin board where he is featured with a fellow classmate as Safety Captains.

We had a fun time with Grandson #2 during our morning visit.  We got to see the experiment the students conducted hydrating crystals with various liquids and then spent some time working on word problems which I really enjoyed.  

How different school is these days from even when OnlyDaughter was in school.  I love seeing what the boys are learning and seeing them interact with their friends and teachers.  Next year's Grandparents Day will be here before you know it.  

I'll be back with another post of some pictures taken on the trip home from our visit which included a nasty car fire along the berm of the Turnpike.  

Where oh where?

did most of the month of March and half of April go!!!!!

 I'm not really sure.  Here are the 1st of April pictures of The Puddle Pond.  There was ice on a small area of the pond then but no longer.  Everything is starting to get green too since these pictures were taken.

 Two Canadian geese and two wood ducks have been spotted at the pond.  The geese may nest and lay eggs but any ducks that have never stopped long enough to lay eggs and hatch them.  Maybe this year will be a first.

 There have been quite a number of blue birds checking out the housing arrangements at the edge of the woods (boxes provided courtesy of Mr P) and at the feeders at the deck.  The males are so vibrant and blue.  Hopefully, the will take up residence in some of the bluebird houses around the property.

 Some of the activity that took place around The Puddle Pond involved uncovering our septic system in preparation for a cleaning.  Unsure as to whether the clean-out box was under the deck or just outside the deck (it was outside the deck), decking boards were removed.  Check out the mud wasp nest that was on the side of one of the joists. 

During these past four weeks or so, Chance, the resident feline, had a well checkup and then promptly became sick with some sort of bug right before we were headed to OnlyDaughters for a weekend visit.  A quickly scheduled visit to the vets, a shot of antibotics, a shot for nausea and some subcutaneous fluid injections saw her right.  We delayed our departure and instead of leaving on a Friday evening, left on Saturday morning after assuring that she was almost back to normal.

A long weekend visit to OnlyDaughters came and went too quickly. Winter just couldn't seem to let go here in the midstate until this past weekend and unfortunately it returned yesterday afternoon.  

A second visit to OnlyDaughters was made last week.  It was Grandparents Days at Grandson #1 and #2's school.  I will return with photos of that weekend visit in my next post.  

I hope you are having a good week wherever you are.

Have you seen the blood moon?  I'm not sure what time it was visible last night but the night before the weatherman noted that it would be best seen at 12:50AM on Monday morning.  Forget it!  Since I get up at 5AM during the week to get ready for work, there was no way I could rouse myself at that time to see the blood moon.  

Til next time.