Fog horn

Could only hear the ferry going by the shore

Walked 2.221 miles this morning.... yes I bought a pedometer...;-D

The cats own Ocean Beach Park before people get there

The Seagulls and Canada geese own the beach

The black cat almost got the squirrel before it got to safety in the tree

The black cat was still waiting at the bottom of the tree on my way back...did he think the squirrel would just fall into his mouth?

There is a house with two glossy purple sentry type pigs on the porch near us...with a dark Green Saab 9000 in the yard........hhhmmm

Talked for 2.5 hours yesterday with my old roommate from college, "Midget" and she lives very near New London...we'll play next time I'm down. Nice to know we can still exchange clothes...hehehehe.

Time to pack..have a great week all.........we'll be in Stamford until Sunday then home in VT

It's 287 steps from the apt to the laundry and back. I also walked around the "block"...by car it's just about a mile...oopppsss strike that...I added a few more intersections. I'll probably walk on down to the beach later.

So today is my First Born's birthday.......goodness how in the world did 32 years go back without my feeling a whole lot older!! (pppssssttt his and Morgan's blogs are undergoing some server changes of late.........)

Sooooooooo.........Happy Birthday, Demian!! Yup..left that card home too but at least I had one bought!

I found a couple of places to amuse myself lately........Martha does a Wednesday Sentence Smackdown which amounts to forming a sentence using all seven words she supplies. I played. I have yet to play Thursday Haiku Smackdown....I just don' thave the talent for that 5-7-5 syllable/line thing as yet but I like to read them. Ok, Ok..maybe I'll try one. This week's Host is Shiz Enjoy for those of you who claim to be bored.......fun reading.

update: well maybe not the haiku one today..it seems to have deteriorated some...not so funny.

Stove update: Looks like I'll be running on 3 burners for the rest of this week but by the time we come back there will be a new stove in place. Well it IS rather old. I think I can manage...I manage with 2 burners at HOME for heaven's sake and I don't even do too much real cooking here.

BTW..I'm trying something different with my comments...feel free. I wish lifetime of impotence for the comment spammers too.

Sometimes things happen and you sort of just scratch your head and say, "wow!" Last night I was heating water for pasta when all of a sudden there was a loud pop and flames and sizzling. The end result was a hole in the pan with a blob of melted metal on it and the coil on the burner was melted and severed. Maybe the water I was boiling could have put out the fire if the oil in the water had not created the flame to begin with? hhhmmm...things to ponder..

Update: Yes there was still plenty of water in the pan when it blew...not like I had boiled it dry or anything!! .....and yes, my comments are turned off again thanks to a certain spam commenter finding my blog again. Feel free to email me with comments.....sigh.

So far I've paid our bills and it's cloudy and cool.

However, I can relax knowing the dumpster is being hauled away from our home this morning and it wasn't exactly FULL to the brim. Actually it settled under the weight of crap so it no longer was filled to the brim anyway. I also had a little room left where I had saved room for the freezer stuff. The bad news is there is still plenty of stuff to get hauled out of the house. I had started to go down to get some more but I just couldn't. My mind had said I was going to be done after the freezer and I just couldn't muster up the strength to start again. ...maybe another day/year. No Risa, I didn't take a picture of the full dumpster...it was too humiliating......and I forgot.

hhhmmm...you know, I could empty out the clutter from the upstairs part of the house...I DO have room in the cellar now for stuff....snort. No, No!! It's going out the door! pppsssttt...I even have room to play in the work bench area of the basement...found that rocking chair I wanted to cane too. Cool!

More good news...my friend, who was part of a couple responsible for Greg and I meeting, will be at her family's summer place not far from here this week...I see playing in my forecast regardless of the weather. this plac eis so much more fun than Nowher, NY.

Have a good day all.........

Coffee of the day...Kenya still........someone needs to roast some more today.

Liz, Aidan and I went to see the miniature horses in Hinesburg yesterday. The pasture we found these in only had about 25-50 horses in it...I can't say for sure since the grass was high and they aren't. Rumor has it that this pasture is the "delivery room" and we saw 3 babies. One of them was still pretty darn wobbly. Very cute....we'll have to go back frequently to check on them!

...and in the Humor Department.....snort.

...and in the Toys for Frani Department....I think I need this.

...I still have to dump the contents of the basement freezer into the dumpster and then it will be full. ahem...*I* wouldn't eat anything from in there. I wonder how much our electric bill will be effected when we unplug a 25 year old ( read: NOT energy efficient) chest freezer....stay tuned. I should be more than humiliated by the amount of stuff I carted out of the basement...however, I'm just darn impressed with my carting all that stuff out!

...Off to get a move on with the day.....have a fine weekend all......see you from new London.

I know they are a PITA big time but I would only wish the kind of pain I've been going through on hackers and worm creators and the like minded ilk ..to last for the rest of their lives. That everytime they touched a key on their computer, it laughed at them and typed gibberish so they could never create another thing ...oh yeah...and I wish for them a lifetime of impotence. Yes I'm cruel...but I'm also very ticked off.

I have finally managed to be able to update my anti-virus software..I am running a scan as we speak...xxxfingersxxx

Computer worms and viruses remain a waste of time and talent and I can't for the life of me figure out where the payback is for someone who creates them. They can't possibly know they are driving me stark raving mad ... maybe they do...there they are living "on the edge" so to speak...just waiting for some semi-gray haired 55 year old Granny to jump out and strangle them with her bare hands! Just think of the thrill in that! You the man! Gggrrrr.........

No jury would convict me either....

So in the meantime...I'm using my old laptop and doing what I can to protect IT and our server from becoming infected....I'm not convinced it's safe yet and I'm still working on mine to get it cleaned up.

I'm still filling the dumpster in between deleting/renaming bad files and going to Montpelier to help my MIL with her move into a Residential Assisted living facility.

ohhhhhhhhh and I got my suitcase back from Dakota all fixed and all for the price of shipping.......;-D

It's hot and humid out...90s yesterday and again today ...eeewww

I might take a picture of the mountain of molded styrofoam box inserts I have in the garage...maybe not. I've found the whole basement experience rather humiliating. You'll be pleased to know I have only found one dead mouse but no living creatures. Unless of course you count mold. hmmm those are not of the creature variety are they. Whew. I'd like to say "never again" but I know us....

Have a good day all ...I'll either be heaving out more stuff or searching for worms...all about the same I guess.

I was awake a lot last night, mentally filling the dumpster with "things"...the problem is I just don't know where to start. I can't think of anything more humiliating than filling this thing up with debris from our home...oh wait, yes I can....not having enough room in this one for all of the stuff we need to be rid of. If you don't hear from me soon, send in the rescue squad and have them search the basement for my remains.

So here's recipe I found online just in case chicken feet is all that's left in your grocer's counter.

Chicken Feet Stew

2 pounds chicken feet
5 potatoes cut into eighths
4 onions, quartered
3 carrots, sliced
1 cup green beans
3 bay leaves
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut nails, wash the feet. Place in a stockpot, cover with water.
Add potatoes, onions, carrots, green beans, bay leaves, salt and
pepper to taste. Simmer until tender. Remove bay leaves before
serving. 6-8 servings.

We went to see Great Granny Morna (Mornanna) on Saturday...

Then we played with Aidan and Lizzie on Sunday...funny how it didn't feel very strange to be sitting on the sidewalk with two little critters and some sidewalk chalk even after 20 years........;-D

We played on the new to us from the neighbor's yard swing set and slide....hrumph.. someone didn't think we needed the big plastic green turtle sandbox from the other neighbors....

We also finally made friends with ~Elmo on Monday morning...Knoel was still keeping his distance even after Maura gave them their food every morning and evening during their visit..ingrate kitties!

Whew! I finally got the photo of Kieran in the duck right before they left Monday morning! We were even out of there by 11:38am on the way to New London for the week.

Speaking of photos...we went through some old photos I had of my mother's. Maura is really into having us tell her stories about when we were little. I told her about dressing up my cats in doll clothes and playing with them like dolls. Fortunately I was able to find a photo of a kitty in the doll carriage!! We found quite a few other ones to hoot at...me the day before Demian was born! " Stand back...she's gonna blow!" Who WERE those hippie looking people?? Good lord!

sooooo in today's fun and games....Since the ISP went down early this morning, I took a walk around the neighborhood and ended up back down at the beach. Lots of buses of school kids were there for their end of year picnics. Too funny watching all the "posturing" going on as these young folks go about the business of attracting the opposite sex. or not as the case may be...there was plenty of minature golf, eating and arcade gaming going on as well.

However, I found lots of boating activity going on including another submarine going out and a couple of sail boats imerging from the mists. Hmmm...sure looked like pirate ships to me.

Lots of deep purple Iris were planted right outside the game building at the beach...how pretty!

So all my "landscaping" efforts have gone for naught.......yeah the plants are still there but all my newly placed topsoil floated away into the driveway. Looks like a real washout...leaving rocks in it's wake. Geesh. Maybe this is why I don't do that gardening thang.

In other news....Looks like Phish's summer 3 day concert in Coventry, VT will be it's last ever.......again.

Further news......I think I am finally done with all the check-ups and ins and outs and arounds now. Somehow I was not encouraged yesterday at radiology as I was being pulled and stretched and mauled all the while being apologized to by the technician as she complained she has to rush us all through because of the 7 minute scheduling between patients. If I have to go back for rescreening because of their haste, I will NOT be thrilled.

Summer tires are on my car...oil change, State inspection done AND a new water pump...that ought to keep him happy for a while. Cars like to get attention from time to time.

hrumph.....I'm not doing well on eBay lately. Didn't help that our ISP was down last night when I needed to make that last minute bid.

Update on our Tivo ........ I think I'm liking it. Thanks to Maura I'm already used to the remote and it's workings from being at their house. We've got some Dora the Explorer, Oswald and Blue's Clues all recorded for their visit. We also watched "24" Season finale last night then popped over to watch the second half of the movie "Reversible Errors" that we were recording...ended up only a half hour delayed once we skipped over the commercials. I liked that. ;-D

Time to get a move on...have a fine day all.........

Quite honestly, I liked it when Vermont was the only state without a Wal-Mart... sneaky bastards slipped into Brattleboro when no one was looking. Of course, there are those who would claim Brattleboro isn't exactly IN Vermont any more than Chittenden County is, but be that as it may, someone is looking out.

Let's just say that the boys found the catnip within minutes of my unloading it onto the porch. Someone tore it to shreds..it was a nice healthy looking little plant! I won't accuse anyone in particular but ~Elmo WAS seen stalking something in the yard and he never was much of a hunter before. Pathetic.

It can stop raining any time now, thank you. I dislike rain and besides, I feel sorry for the UVM grads and parents who have to sit out there in it for commencement ceremonies this morning.

Huggies Baby wipes dry up after a year and a half.......imagine that? I'm trying to get the upstairs ready for visitors next weekend; the door to that bedroom wasn't open for more than 5 minutes when a little kitty cat was found sound asleep curled up in the corner of the crib. ggeesh. Oooooo we'll get to take "Kieran in the duck" photos! (photo is Maura Jan 2002) I think someday I'd like to make an album of Kids in the Duck photos through the years. I might have mentioned before that that duck was given to my brother by our Grandfather Whitten when he was a baby ... um that baby turned 64 in March. Not only my brothers and I and our children were in the duck, but my 19 cousins and theirs kids (upwards of 50)have been in the duck. Anyone who ever went to visit my parents with kids in tow were in the duck. Even I can think of several babies I've had in that duck in the years since I've had the duck here. I think it's worth a try. Hey Cori...send it on the Ryan in the duck photo!

In the meantime, I had to go downtown yesterday to get a new water filter for our coffee maker; it was then I realized it was commencement weekend. All those groups of threes (parents with offspring) clogging up the sidewalks and mallways. You'd think after being here for 4 years, someone would know where they are going! Anyway, I found my filter..who would have thought that William-Sonoma sells it for $3 LESS than Pier One Imports.

I'm getting an itch for a dumpster again........wonder why being in Morgan's room does that to me. ........or going into the basement...or the laundry room, or the dark room...or the living room ...or the bedroom..or the guestrooms....the porch.......sigh.

I ordered the pie safe. At least the coffee will have a container....well some of it will.

Jack Monte - December 2001

Aidan Robitaille - September 2003