Thursday, July 31, 2008

The Con-Man


I see my future
Waiting for me and it's good.
But I'll take my time...

Connor-man's mom's photo - thanks, jules!


~~~
xoabb

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

A Black-Eyed & A Boo Hoo


The Black-Eyed Susan
Such a Beautiful flower
It's my favorite*

*among others...many others...


On another very different note, Mental P, Jules and I went to lunch today...I had the great idea of bringing up the fact that both of them will be losing another family member to college next year. As you can see from the above, they were Boo-hooing, really just Bereft...well, sort of...

Until they began to think about the lack of...laundry...messes in the house...wet towels...petrified food in the sink...borrowed credit cards...snotty comments...O MY!! Just BEAUTIFUL!! I think I see a happy coming on!

~~~

xoabb

ABC Wednesday is
brought to you by Mrs. Nesbitt, et al
Please go here to enjoy the ride with us.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Turklets* and King of the Side Table

A standoff was reached, thank goodness!


I am tickled pink to announce that the turklets made their first appearance over the weekend! It's the first time this summer we've seen them around the house and it was just wonderful to have them finally make their existence known!


Of course, King of the Side Table was also quite pleased with their appearance. I'm sure he was thinking "early Thanksgiving meal - and just my size!" He sauntered over to where the three adults and six babies were, all the while pretending he had no interest in them. 


One of the adult turkeys began to follow KotST.  He/she very effectively moved said cat away from the turklets. Of course, KotST had a look of total disdain painted all over his demeanor as if stalking a turklet was the very furthest thing from his mind. 


Look how far away from the turklets KotST is now.
Job well done, Mr./Ms. Protector-Turkey! 



While that naughty KotSB was kept at bay by the one turkey, 
the other two led the six turklets across the road...


To the stone wall...just a quick leap up...


And off to bed...

~~~

xoabb

*Baby turkeys are actually called ~poults~ and a group of turkeys, 
baby or otherwise is called a ~rafter~. 
So above you have a ~rafter of poults~. 
I like a ~rafter of turklets~ better.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Silvermine...



No haiku today
Hai-can't (sigh)

~~~

xoabb

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Sunday Serenity


It matters not where I've been.
But where am I going, who can see?
How will I get there, who can know?
What will be...will it be?

~~~

xoabb

King of the Side Table...


...is sleeping!  Shhhhh!

He's mastered the art of being able to 
nod off just about anywhere he flops.
He's also become an expert at disturbing my reading time.

~~~

xoabb

Friday, July 25, 2008

Sky Watch Friday...


Sometimes more is seen of what's above, 
when one is looking below.

Click on photo to enlarge it.

~~~

xoabb

Sky Watch Friday is nurtured by a bunch of good folks, under the direction of 
Old Wom Tigley.  Do join us or just come by to see some incredible photos. 


Thursday, July 24, 2008

A Salute to Another Very Nice Man

And a photo that has nothing to do with anything...except I like it...

Oak Tree Fungus Beauty

As you may or may not recall, my only son, Bly, is cursed with losing his wallet. As you may or may not recall, my son, Bly is also blessed with incredible luck in having his wallet always safely returned to him every time he loses it! It's happened again...Oh dear...I must....Oh dear...

TO BE CONTINUED LATER THIS MORNING.....CAN'T FINISH NOW....MUST GO TO BED...PLEASE CHECK BACK!!!! ARRRGGGHHH! (I'll try to make it worth the revisit, really, I will!!!)

8:22 am: I'm back! Got sidetracked last night...MOS told me several weeks ago that a buddy of his from college would be coming here to stay with us for a few days, if that was ok (it was). What he didn't tell me was that friend was arriving last night. Kind of put a crimp in my blogging time. The three of us spent quite a bit of the evening talking about his across-the-country trip and looking through his incredible photography portfolio.

Back to Bly and his wallet:

First time he lost his wallet, a lovely lady found it and returned it to him. Second time he lost his wallet, and returned it to him. Third time? Another lovely man.
Phone rings. I don't recognize the number, but it's local so I answer it. Male voice: "Is George there?" Me: "Sorry, no, can I take a message?" Guy: "My name is Skip and I have his wallet. I found it in the street when I was out jogging. It has his license and bank card in it so I was able to figure out the phone number." Me: "________." Guy: "Excuse me, you still there?" Me, sputtering: "Yes, it's just that this has happened before to my son and
every time some wonderful person has returned it." Guy, chuckling, "Guess he's just lucky."
Fast forward two days later. Bly had spoken to the gentleman with his wallet and told him he was working double shifts and would try to sneak out to pick up his wallet late on the second day. That day, I was sitting at my kitchen table around 6:00 pm when I noticed a lady jogging to the side door. I opened the door...and was handed Bly's wallet. After thanking her profusely, she said it was no big deal as she and her wallet saving hubby were just out for ice cream. They live all the way over on the other side of town. For the third time, not the second but the third, here is proof that there are very decent people left in this world! And that Bly is incredibly lucky. Hey there, big guy, I wouldn't be pushing it. That wallet luck of yours is bound to run out!

Maybe this'll help you keep track of it. Just don't lose your pants!

See that nice convenient loop he can attach to his pants' belt loop?
Think it'll help? Nah, me neither.

~~~

xoabb

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Another Most Excellent Field Trip

ABC Wednesday:

A is for Arthur Avenue
Little Italy in The Bronx
The very best place in the
 world to take a dearest friend
Especially if he happens to be Italian!
GB and Gus.  
Gus was GB's high school coach and amazing mentor many years ago. GB's dad died when he was only five, and tho his mom, Mimi, did a most excellent job, Gus did a wonderful job filling in as his coach and dad-like guider to GB during his high school and college years. Believe me, GB needed all the help he could get (Mimi told me so)! The lovely thing? The two of them are closer now than they were then. Visits are regular and planned events!  
We started the day having lunch at Enzo's. An excellent choice, among many other wonderful restaurants along and around Arthur Avenue. 

Dominick's, right next door to Enzo's, is the restaurant we ate at the first time we came to Arthur Avenue with Gus and his wife a few years ago. Found out today that Dominick is Enzo's dad! Obviously son learned well at dad's knee! The meals at both restaurants were wonderful. The difference? Dominick's is family style; everyone sits at several long tables together and the waiter tells you your choices. At Enzo's, you're handed a menu. I still remember the time we ate at Dominick's, Gus made the mistake of asking our surly waiter if the restaurant possibly had some dish (don't remember what it was). SurlyWaiter replied: "Did I say that when I told you the specials? No, I didn't! We don't have that!" All part of the ambience, and somehow it works!
After lunch we wandered into the Arthur Avenue Market. The first time I was there I fully expected to walk in to a warehouse of produce, meats and cheeses. Instead what greets you is an area filled with men (mostly) rolling premium cigars. Hmmm...a little bit of Cuba in Little Italy. As you can see, watching the cigars being made is magical (don't even begin to tell me how bad the cigars are for you, I KNOW! I'm speaking about the art of rolling one - and it is an art form). Wandering further down the aisle, there are displays of kitchen wares, meats, veggies, a myriad of foods and food related items, it's just unending. Definitely sensory overload!  

Just look at that Locatelli! Have you ever seen such an abundance of such a wonderful cheese? What it does to pasta dishes...ohhh can you imagine the goodness?





The hams and sausages - and procuitto, my beloved procuitto! Look at the abundance! Magnificent!

  
Go on over to my Flickr photos (or click on the slide show on the right) and you can see more pics of the Arthur Avenue Market, along with more of the wonderful specialty stores and restaurants that make up Arthur Avenue. It truly is a place not to be missed! The restaurants are wonderful, but the cheeses, breads, fish, cured meats, olive oils, vinegars....you simply can't find any better anywhere! OH! I forgot! There are pastry/sweet shops as well, but I never got photos! I think we were so stuffed from lunch it just never crossed my mind!  BUT, the sweet shops? The best and prettiest sweets with cappucino, espresso, regular coffee you've ever seen. Then there are the gelato shops...oh dear! Must go back and take more photos of this magical enclave! (Sorry I missed those!!)  I can recommend De Lillo's for your dessert and coffee stop after a meal as we had treats & sweets there another time. It's eye candy, and if you have a sweet tooth like my GB, you'll love it!

Do visit the new ABC Wednesday site - Mrs. Nesbitt (and her elves) have done a wonderful job setting up this new site.  And please click here to find my ABC Wed. Arthur Avenue post over there.

~~~

xoabb

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Haulin' That Bad Boy In...

We had a bit of a tragedy (at least to me) yesterday on my beloved pond. Sometime Sunday morning one of the trees on it's edge came crashing (I would assume) down, covering an alarming amount of the pond's surface area. Of course, it needed to be removed immediately, because even though we four families that keep this pond going are nature-lovers, we are also lovers of beauty, and that downed tree was marring our pond beauty!

To say this tree was large is most definitely an understatement. Look at the pulley system the tree guys had to invent! (Click on any photo for a larger view.)  The first time I looked, there was a guy up in that tree, he was at least 40 feet off the ground, didn't look to have a safety harness (tho I'm sure he did), and he was jumping around on the branches attempting and finally succeeding in throwing his orange rope over a strong branch so the fallen tree could be hoisted from the water/woods. If you look carefully on the right, you can see the truck one end of the rope was attached to. The other end was attached to the tree trunk, as you can see below.

After the rope was attached half-way up the trunk,
the chainsaw cut through it.
As it fell free, the truck started forward.

Up and over to the yard it goes...

The guys get ready with their rope to pull it over solid ground

It took them more than a few times,
but teamwork won out!
The trunk was ultimately hauled onto land,
cut up and hauled away.


Before...

After...
Just a little sawdust left behind.
Those tree guys are good!
And I had a blast watching them
for the better part of my afternoon!

~

Of course, since the tree fell down when no one was awake/around to see or hear it, this begs the question:

"If a tree falls and no one is around to hear it, does it make a noise?"

~~~

xoabb


Monday, July 21, 2008

Out of the Mouths of Babes

As you might recall, I was in NYC last Wednesday to help forward along plans for the Norwalk Hospital Foundation's annual fund-raising gala with our caterer, Gracious Thyme.  Along with Miss LaLa, Jules and I, Maria and Bridget of the Hospital Foundation were also there.  The two of them drove in, so when it was time to go to lunch at Asia Society's Garden Court Cafe, the five of us drove there together. As women (and men from my own personal observation) are wont to do, we gabbed on the way there. Along the way, Bridget told us the following story:

She and her hubby met and married rather later in life and were blessed with a boy child about seven years ago when they both were around the 40 mark, give or take a few years.  
On weekend mornings, the three of them have a long-standing routine that as soon as the boy child (BC from now on) wakes up in the morning, he barrels onto his parents' bed and snuggles between the two of them. Nice!  
Last Saturday morning, BC came in as usual and the three of them are snuggling away when out of the blue, BC abruptly sat up, perplexedly looked at his mom who is lying on her back with her tee-shirt pretty night gown covering her, and asked: "Mommy why are you so flat when you lie down? You aren't flat when you stand up." (Bridget said at this point her hubby turned toward his nightstand and became intensely focused on the books there.) She answered her son:  "Well, that's because my boobs are in my armpits."  (With that, Hubby sat bolt upright on the side of the bed, looking like he knew he's seriously out of his realm.) BC then asked her why that was. She answered:  "It's because I'm in my 40's and that's just what happens, and also because I had you and babies do that to mommy's boobs." BC: "But when mommys on TV lie down, they're not flat." Bridget: "That's because they've had work done so their boobs stay up there and are perky. When you're older and are dating and the girl lies down, if her boobs stick straight up, you'll know she's had work done. But, of course, BC, you'll want a girl just like mommy!" (She said at that point hubby fled the bedroom without a backward glance.) BC: "Ohhhhh. Well, ok!  Let's go make pancakes!"   

~~~

xoabb





P. S.  Judy and her husband, Chef Mark Cummings, proprietors of Gracious Thyme, have taken over the reins of Asia Society's Garden Court Cafe. The Cafe is located within the museum on the corner of Park and 70th and is only open for lunch and Sunday brunch. Please do yourself a huge favor! Go visit and dine in this little gem. You won't be disappointed! We were treated to lunch there and everything we tasted was beyond excellent, from the food to the tea of the day (oh, they also serve wine, etc.).  Yes, truly a "sublime secret spot!"  Click on any of the links for more information.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Sunday Serenity


Classified a weed*,
To me, it's a beautiful,
Delightful flower.

~~~

xoabb

*Above is a photo of Common Chicory.  
You can also go here for more info on it's "weed" classification. 

Update of a previous post:  I've found out what those funny looking ducks are I wrote about a few days ago!  Click here and read the update at the bottom if you're curious!

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Stella Helps in the Garden



Stella quite effectively ignoring Rem's pleas to 
"Please get OUT of the garden!"

My eldest daughter, Remy decided to plant some pepper plants in among my tomato plants. Stella, who is curious about everything helped by lying down only after getting as close to Rem as she possibly could, and then moving whenever Rem moved to another section of the garden so the closeness could continue. Remy decided it was time for a fence to ward off Miss Stella's insatiable curiousity, so off she went to the hardware store.  She returned and began installing the fence. Notice Stella decided to lie down exactly where the next part of the fence was supposed to go. And she had no desire to move.  Each time Rem crawled under the bush to haul Stella out by her collar, she was thoroughly licked to the point she was laughing so hard she couldn't do anything, let alone drag Stella out of the garden. Needless to say, she was fighting a losing battle. A little later in the day, after Remy had finally been able to install all of the very short and flimsy fencing, she caught Stella carefully stepping over that puny fence into the garden, headed for her shady spot. Remy yelled at her and told her she was very naughty! Stella guiltily (and quite easily) jumped back over the fence. Only two pepper plants were trampled beyond recognition in the process. I wonder if we can get our money back...for the fence, not the pepper plants.
  
~~~

xoabb

Friday, July 18, 2008

Sky Watch Friday...

Connecticut's shore...
Such beauty with it's ever
Changing sky faces.

~~~

xoabb 


Sky Watch Friday has a new home! You'll find us here, but don't forget to keep visiting Wigger's World.   Tom and his wife have been nurturing SWF for a long time.



Thursday, July 17, 2008

Ace Bandage


Yep, the foot's done in and so is the shin. Underneath those bandages is a long continuous scrape and bruise. It's bad....it's ugly....and now that I've gotten so damn old, probably permanent as every scrape or cut I now get seems to forever stay pinker than my unscarred skin, so I'm sure it will be bad and ugly forever. (sigh)


Yesterday Miss LaLa, Jules and I trained in to NYC to meet with Judy and Nancy of Gracious Thyme - the fabulous company that is catering Norwalk Hospital Foundation's annual gala fundraising event - to discuss our theme, menu, etc.   
Jules said she would pick me up, so when I saw her in the circle, I locked the side doors and went out the front door.  We have well shaded flagstone steps leading to the front door, and when our sprinkler system goes on, the last step before the pathway gets wet. Algae has grown in the wet shade on this last step. I walked down, purse in one hand, a glass of iced tea in the other, hit the algae patch and went flying! Purse, tea and me splattered everywhere.  Another fine moment of grace and beauty. I'm good at that. Good thing I didn't have on a skirt.
Needless to say I hurt like hell! Jules took one look at my face and asked if I wanted to go to the ER. Of course not - my leg would have had to be dangling by a thread of skin to warrant that. As luck would have it, she had just bought a first aid kit for her car, so we were able to patch me up. Got a bag of ice at the coffee stand and off we went on the train. I iced only my shin for the hour long trip as my foot hurt not one bit. Stepped on said foot to get off the train and thought I would just collapse. It was killing me! I think I've probably chipped or broken one of the many bones that reside down there.  
Got home and it was apparent I wouldn't be doing any of the final prep for the evening meal. (By the way, did I mention GB and I were having 14 for dinner?) Miss LaLa and Jules to the rescue! Those two dearest of friends came over and finished everything for me! We had a most lovely evening (I even got my ankle wrapped by one of the attendees who happens to be a nurse). And I wasn't even allowed to clean up! A most excellent evening! 

I'll leave you with a prettier picture - it's the antipasto platter Jules put together for our apps. last night.  Beautiful! Delicious too!



~~~

xoabb

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

ABC Wednesday - Z...

...is for Zinnia
Yes, my favorite flower.
Well, among others...
Single blooms are nice
But I think I like doubles 
Better - more showy. 
Bugs munch zinnias,
Holes are eaten in petals,
But beauty shines through.
~

ABC Wednesday is brought to us by Mrs. Nesbitt.  
Hop on over to her neck of the blogger woods and join us! 

~~~

xoabb

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

What do you get...

...when wild ducks and domestic ducks "get together" (if you know what I mean) and make baby ducks?

Aside from some obvious pompadorable,

you also get a whole lot of strange and unusual! 

~~~

xoabb

POST UPDATE:  The above are Manky Mallards!  If you hop on over to Charlie's post he wrote about these ducks on 10000 Birds, you'll find a wonderful explanation of these wonderful ducks.  Thanks to Charlie (& Louise who led me there). Oh, and Mike, another writer of 10000 Birds also posted about the ducks - and I'm really not sure mine are Manky's after reading all of this!

Monday, July 14, 2008

Gone Fishin'


As some of you know, we live on a pond.  There are four families that share this wondrous piece of water and it's shores, and we have worked diligently to make this a living, breathing, healthy entity.  As a collective foursome, we decided to "save" this water hole, and for our efforts, we've been told what we can do to further our pond's life, by our local governent, though we four pond owners had that very same intent in the first place.  Ah well, at least on this very minor of levels, there wasn't a huge disagreement on how things should be done! Government...local or country-wide...what a crock!!


Anywho - the above fish is a healthy bass caught in our pond.  It's a testimony to the well-being of the balance of this very dear body of water.  (Oh, and below are some of the 25, not counting all the little ones we threw back, bluegill/sunnys we caught.) 

Whatever - freshwater fish???  Good Eatin'!!!
BTW - I cleaned 'em all - my dad taught me well!

~~~

xoabb

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Sunday Serenity


"People from a planet without flowers would think we must 
be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us."
~
~ Iris Murdoch,  A Fairly Honourable Defeat

~~~

xoabb


Flower pictured above is a Lacecap Hydrangea.
Above is also my entry for Kacey's (wineonthekeyboard

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Ahhhhhhhh....


We've spent the last two days purging our garage and shed. After lots of vacuuming, cleaning, and organizing, along with five trips to the dump, four trips to Goodwill and three trips to various folk's home with their stuff we somehow had, we have a garage and shed that's positively gleaming! Now on to the basement. (sigh)

The above photo has nothing to do with anything. It's from my mom and gorgeous, at least to me.  As she wrote:  "It's hard to get the tomatoes and cukes picked when there's so much needing to be photographed. One drop of dew looked like amber, and how about the brilliant cut diamonds to the side?"  Since I've lost the majority of my photos, every so often I'll be stealing I'll be borrowing photos from my photography-minded family.  Yep, shameless family exploitation at it's best! Oh, I'm sure they won't mind!

~~~

xoabb