we have a new neighbor

We always have deer around
.
And birds.

And a few desultory porcupines, complaining their way (It's hard to be covered in spines! There's very little supportive hugging.) through the orchard.

In springtime we see turtles and hawks, eagles and monarch butterflies. Barney  (I have a suspicion he is Barney II, or at least Son of Barney by now - how long do garter snakes live?) makes an appearance every once in awhile, and gulls, terns and the odd loon show up on the river. Cormorants and even a few herons. Squirrels.

Maybe a raccoon now and then. Oh! And crows. We do see crows, and some of the biggest blue jays you've ever seen in your life.

Tonight, though, we discovered there's someone new in town. Someone we'd never met before.

 (a very blurry picture of a lovely pair of wild turkeys)

She politely even brought one of her young'uns to show us as well.

They seem to be hanging out in the watershed. Maybe I'll take some grain down and scatter it.

Y'know, to be neighborly. And welcoming.

an afternoon of fortitude

Our property used to have a road running smack through part of it. A regular old country road, and people still remember driving it, how it wound around through the apple orchard and trees and gave you glimpses of the rushing river and then the woods and back again.

But that was awhile ago, and if you didn't know, you wouldn't know that cars used to vroom through the space where the deer now come out and graze. Wild strawberries and raspberry canes tangle where the old ruts used to be - the grass grows thick over the rest.

There is one, lone sentinel telephone pole left. Unattached to anything, it stands guard over a grove of pine trees and the edge of the watershed.

(Why is there a telephone pole at the edge of the field, all out by its lonesome? Because the power lines followed the roads.)

We had lots of long sticks left from different batches of wood-cutting and tree-thinning and the over-zealous beaver we had visiting us last spring and so this afternoon, after I got home from work and the cries of 'play with me!' started, the kids and I

the kids and I built a teepee.

It's big enough so they can both get in it and stand up.

They're pretty chuffed. Big plans of sleeping out overnight once we're finished (I want to take vines and weave them through, then toss on a couple of old sheets to cover it all.) and games of fort have already started. The doorway is on the other side, in an area shaded by pine branches, so the entrance isn't obvious.

It's much more like a real teepee that way.

seventy-six trombones

Okay, there weren't THAT many. Actually, I'm not even sure there were any.

We were at the front part of the parade. The First (and hopefully annual) Christmas Parade for the town nearby, and the kids were dancing with excitement. Rosey had never seen a parade.

(Yes, it gave me pause too. In thinking it over, I think she's right. Deplorable.)

Cass was just excited to wear a Santa hat and toss candy at the crowd, and fool around with his buddies. But he walked with me behind the float his sister and most of the other kids rode on pretty steadily, and hurled candy canes at small lookers-on with frightening abandon.

Schools are out for Christmas break, so it was the Parent Support Group for our village school that put together the float. It was quite the holiday scene: red-flannel Union-suited Santa, Mrs Claus looking merry and twinkling in her mob cap and shawl, an elf petting reindeer, and a group of children, all decked out for the holidays, ringing bells and shouting Merry Christmas to all.

In front of the float? A fire truck. Behind? One of the churches had a float. There were dogs and hockey players and Shrek Claus. There was a gingerbread house float and the Kiwanis, pulling a holly-bedecked French Fry booth. There were fire trucks galore, the RCMP, and a mock-up of a Christmas tree lot.

In short, there was everything. Everything a small-town parade needed.

It was wonderful.

And I can't wait can't wait for next year.

toy giveaway

I'm giving away a Mastermind toy over on my review blog! Leave a comment to win. U.S. and Canadian addresses can both enter!

lord love a duck

Finally!

After three days of threatening skies and dripping and misting and cold winds and fog (lord, the fog!!) and putting extra blankets on the bed (and it's almost July, for Pete's sakes, I had to dig the extra blankets back out) and stuck-in-the-house kids and wet grass and 'can't we just go to the playground and see if it's too wet?' and general malaise which even cookies couldn't cure.....

It's raining like a freaking monsoon out there.



Here's to sunshine.

thursday night commercial, scene thirteen

I can't stop smiling when I see this. Can you imagine seeing this in real life - being swept off on a tide of energy, surrounded by laughing, smiling people?

I would have danced too.

thursday night commercial, scene seven

This just makes me laugh.

a tale of two days and catto del grando

So Wednesday morning I was shrieked awake by forty pounds of deliriously happy girl, all tousle-head and flying blankie 'IT'S MAX AND WOOBY DAY! IT'S MAX AND WOOBY DAY, MAMA!'

And after I peeled up my eyelids and it finally registered that the reason I couldn't see her wasn't blindness but that it was five-thirty in the freaking morning and it was still dark in my bedroom, she was too excited to go back to sleep.

I explained (rather patiently, I thought) that MAX AND WOOBY AREN'T THERE YET and NO, WE DON'T HAVE TO LEAVE NOW and LEMME ALONE, KID, YOU WILL BE AT ONE WITH THE BUNNIES SOON. Mollified, she went off to her room to tell ALL her babies about the rabbits and I fell back to blissful unconsciousness for another few hours.

So Wednesday night was all bunnies. And it was good.

Max and Ruby photo by Natalie Mansfield-Herman (thanks Natalie!)

She was blissful and excited and happy beyond belief.

Thursday, Cass and I were ready to see the monsters. And the aliens.

Cass is awesome to take to the movies - awestruck, doesn't yell or steal the armrest or the popcorn, and likes to watch the trailers (like his Mom) so a great time was had by all. An ice-cream rounded out the night. I think we'll be at the theatre a lot this summer.

Then there was today. The old girl Kate has been ill, so we hoisted up her stripety protesting ass and took her into the vets, where they dutifully checked her out. And what looked like thyroid, acted like thyroid but wasn't thyroid last year is now (taaa-daa!) thyroid.

And holy God, I think they charged me a set sum based on how many stripes the cat had.

Katie says: I love the vet. But let's have him come to our house next time.

At least this time they didn't want a sample.

It appears my grandiose old dame has finally become an elderly cat. She's earned it though - I've had her (we think) seventeen years, and our family would be poorer without her. So I will happily pay the vet bills as long as (I'm borrowing from Johnny Virgil here) she doesn't know she's sick. Even if that means pilling her. For the rest of her life. (sigh)

Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings....

thursday night commercial, scene five

A trio tonight for your viewing pleasure....




Tip o'the hat to Major Bedhead


That little boy's laugh at the end gets me everytime...

thursday night commercial, scene four

tip of the hat to Erin of The Looney Bin






A girl robot....



Seen anything that tickled your funny bone lately? Let me know!

thursday night commercial, scene three

tip of the hat to kimmy k



keep 'em comin', y'all. These are great!

thursday night commercial, scene two

This one won't make you cry.




I...uh....resemble this commercial. Slightly. I have better hair. But the morning attitude? Trust me, there's not a radio station in the world that's gonna make me happy to hear La Cucaracha before coffee!


hee.......