wordless wednesday- blooming confusion

My lilac bush is all mixed up!

A Sept 26th bloom.

kickin back with my cannon

I thought that since yesterday was such a glorious weather day I'd take a walk with my hubby out and about on our property. It was 70 and sunny here and even better; it is pretty much going to be that for the remainder of the week.

It's been a long time since my camera (it's a cannon) and I have been together for a serious outing so I took her along. I hope you like the picture I took while we were on our walk. Nothing fancy just the good ole outdoors!

Mother Nature at her best....

We have about a zillion (slight exaggeration) of these trees on our land. And I'm allergic to every darn one of them!! Achoo...

This is our pond, we really don't fish there and it's never cold enough to ice skate there either. Bill was saying today there's so much poison Ivy around it we should really get some goats to clean it up.

I'm sure this old fella used to stand sure and tall by the ponds edge years ago. It's just an empty shell now but I bet the creatures enjoy its presence. 

I know I enjoy its beauty.

These are some type of wild berry that were growing by the pond. What an amazing color!! I'm not sure what they're called or even who eats them. We were rather surprised to find them intact since the birds and the wildlife are abundant here.

This picture of the broken branch is actually taken from above looking down and the background is actually the waters reflection of the sky and the trees above

And these are just plain beauties aren't they? Really who could resist taking a picture of these Black Eyed Susan's?

I know what I did today to relax and enjoy myself, how about you?

I'm stumped!

I have been totally stumped for something to write about on this blog this past week.

And here I had plans to do something shockingly witty for my 300th post which is not gonna happen now!

I've got nothing, nada, goose eggs!

I've come to the conclusion that the more I force myself to try to write the less likely I am to do so.


Out of desperation I decided to write a post about not being able to think of anything to blog about, pitiful right?

Seriously though, I know this head isn't an empty vessel; it has all these bits of ideas floating around in it, nothing cohesive though.

Why is it then that I can't seem to access those bits creatively? UGH!!

So in the spirit of the theory misery loves company, tell me....has this happened to you?

Do you do anything special to push thru it?

Any tips or advice to help a gal out?

In search of a new homepage...

Ever since I went public with my blog on Google I've used many of their products; from G-mail, and Google +, Google Calendar to i Google which I use as my homepage. Now i Google is going to be discontinued as of next year.

I found i Google to be very convenient and simple to utilize. On my homepage I had my e-mail, my reader and the weather, nothing fancy but it worked for me. I could change the backgrounds with the seasons or with my moods which was something I did frequently.

I will admit to having another private e-mail for family and friends that isn't public and has nothing to do with Google. I'm imagine most bloggers do the same thing. But the other e-mail  provider doesn't have the type of home page that fits my needs.

Deciding not to wait until next year; I began searching around a bit and found something that fits with my needs. Have you ever heard of Netvibes? I've set up my new homepage with them for now but that doesn't mean I'm not open to suggestions if you have them.

Do you have a special place that you call homepage? What do you have displayed on your homepage? (ex. mail, news, weather). Do you care if there are options for backgrounds or are you the plain type?

I'd love to hear what everyone else is doing.

finally!

I was such a long hot summer and frankly I'm ready to move on. Bring on the fall! This summer was so darn hot and the focus of our summer entertainment and joy - our garden ended up being a real let down this season. Week after week of 100 plus weather didn't do much for our veggies except bake them and wilt them to death.

I'm a bit relieved that the summer season is over and happy to move on to the cooler weather which I'm happy to say has finally arrived here in our area. Ya'll know how much I hate being in the A.C so having the windows open especially at night for sleeping; there's nothing better!

I've hung up my fall wreaths on our doors and displayed our little fall chachkies to make the house look a bit more festive for the season. I like the change of seasons. I get a burst of energy and a bit excited about the beauty of the changes we'll soon be seeing.

Tell me dear readers, do you like the change of seasons?

I've got some plans this fall which include attending a concert with my cousins, a 50th anniversary celebration for my Aunt Marie and Uncle Doug in NY,  and a wedding.

Do you have plans for this fall? Do tell...

wordless wednesday- I shot this turkey myself

Using my digital camera, hehe!

crap on wheels

Yesterday I walked out my front door and was nearly knocked off my feet by the most horrible smell. I came to find out the farmer about 1/2 mile away had spread bio-solids on his farm. What does that mean? The man is spreading treated human waste as fertilizer and is stinking up our neighborhood. Crap people, could it be any more gross?! But there's more....

I have to tell you waste treatment plants give this shit away at no cost so it's saves them money as opposed to buying traditional fertilizer. Is it any surprise that our government claims it's safe? You can read the fact here and make up you own mind if you want to. However I've read about communities right here in the United States that claim it isn't safe at all. They claim that the use of human waste on farms has caused illness, contamination to ponds and ground water.

I'm against this practice. And if you smelled what I smelled you'd have to wonder how someone couldn't get sick just being in close proximity to this stuff. Then there's the silent danger. Trace heavy metals from  our household pipes gets processed with the waste and then is spread on the land and added to the soil during the fertilization process.

When you live in a rural area like I do where everyone has pets, horses and cattle who drink water from ponds (filled with fish) and live off their land. I find it hard to believe this wouldn't be a concern. Frankly I worry about my ground water and my food sources. Namely, I don't want him or anyone like him being my food source.

How do you feel knowing that the vegetables or meat  (from animal grazed on the same land) which your buying at your local market may have come from land  that fertilized with human waste?

“oh shit it's shit” 
― Stephen King, Different Seasons

Something wasn't quite right about them

New neighbors moved in next door to us two years ago during the summer. They're a couple a bit younger than me each have kids that are adults from previous marriages so it's just them in the house. Just them and lots of cats and a snippy little dog who I can attest is an ankle biter. When they moved in we went over with some fresh ground coffee and some new coffee mugs to welcome them to the neighborhood. After that however our contact was limited.

We'd bring them fresh tomatoes one month and maybe the next they'd drop by to say hello or to check to see if their cats were getting along with our cats. Other then the usual mailbox hello's and waving pulling out of the driveway that was the extent of our interactions.This Christmastime we were surprised when they asked to borrow money, not something we felt comfortable doing so we told them no. Then a few months back there were a few occasions when she'd knock very early in the morning ask for a ride to work saying their car was broke down when it was brand new, strange, but Bill gladly obliged.  

We had decided long before that there was just something off about them. Did you ever just get a feeling? Nothing tangible just a nagging feeling that something wasn't quite right.

This past holiday weekend my house was full with family, eating, the kids were playing and the adults were enjoying a cold beverage. The weather didn't cooperate so we were indoors, music playing, voices raised in family banter. 

And the neighbor knocked. And now I finally know what the "it" was that I always sensed.  She was coming here because he had hit her and pushed her around. My husband confronted him and he denied it, not surprised! I'm not sure if she wanted the police involved but clearly she was afraid enough to flee to my house.Without missing a beat Bill called 911. Believe me when I tell you Bill didn't ask her if she wanted him to call he just did. 

He'd been on enough domestic calls when he was a cop to know they were needed. Sad thing was we couldn't physically keep her here and she took a walk down the block to clear her head. Shortly thereafter the deputy arrived but we didn't go over or interject ourselves in that part of the situation. I'll be curious to see the arrest list in the paper next week to see if he's in there. 

I know this relationship is one of many many years. That fact doesn't mean I'm not gonna try to say something or do something. I also know a place she can go where he can't get to her where there's people trained to help her. My friends daughter Mary works in a local battered woman shelter, it's safe and there's counseling available. I'm going to bring all the information and give it to her at work. She needs to know there's help available for her. I'm sure she's feeling pretty alone and isolated right now.

I'm also not naive and I realize she's gotta want help.  Lets all pray she does. 

 Sad thing, isn't it?

RING....its a paid solicitor!

I try to practice generosity. So tonight when the phone rang and the person said they were a paid solicitor for the Virginia State Police I didn't hang right up on them. Well, I don't usually hang up without saying "thank you for calling but I'm not really interested or I'm afraid I cannot afford a donation at this time."And although  I can't always be charitable to every person who asks for a donation I always try to be polite.

In this case the Virginia State Police have a special place in my heart since they responded to my children's accident. I will for as long as I live appreciate the twenty troopers who responded to the accident as well as their supervisors,  their efforts will never be forgotten by our family.

OK,  now I'm rambling back to the story. So the maybe a bit too nice man who during the course of 45 seconds went from calling me Mrs Forbes to Jennifer to Jen asked me for a donation. The donation was for Troopers to give teddy bears to kids after accidents and for other things, there was a list but the details escape me at this time. Anyhow, for obvious reasons explained above I asked him to hold so I could consult with my hubby as to if and how much we'd be willing to donate and then it dawned on me to ask something; a really important question.

How much of each dollar donated goes to the State Police and how much goes to the solicitor's organization or overhead? Wouldn't you know he then asked me to hold so he could put me on the line with his supervisor. Supervisor comes on the line. "this is Dan how can I help you?" So I asked him how much of each dollar donated goes directly to the State Police?  What to take a guess?? As it turns out the State Police only get 10% so I declined to give a donation. 10% is a terribly small number don't you think?


So what do you think, paid solicitor or paid thief?

How do you get those pesky phone callers wanting money off the phone at dinner time? Do you have a special response?

My husband prefers to ask for their home number so he can call them back at dinner time ;0


Seriously do you check out your charities before donation?

what's been going on

The house is quiet!  It's been 16 days since Bill and I have had our home to ourselves. It's been a constant revolving door of company starting with our granddaughter Ava  almost 4yrs old who visited with us for the entire time. What a trip taking care of such a young one after all these years!!

Ava at the park...

And if that wasn't enough..then just before Labor Day a bunch of others arrived; my sons, daughter, son in law, other grandchildren. and cousins and dogs arrived; may of whom are from other states and stayed for days.

Ava and her cousins, Adam and Emanuel and Rapunzel

Ava and my daughter Heather and her husband Bo

My granddaughter Ava and my cousin Colleen having a bubble party
in the kitchen

I found it hard to find any time to get on the computer with all the goings on. Needless to say there was no new blog posts for me and very little if any commenting. Sorry people!

I wanted to come on and say hi. Write a quick post today since I feel kind of bad that I've neglected all of my blog relationships and this blog. I even lost a follower; my first...boohoo :(

Anyhoo, my house is as back to normal as it is ever going to be, just wanted to let you know I'm back!