St.Paul...in the Fall...

This is the phenomenal St. Paul's On-The-Green Episcopal Church. Not only is the church a beautiful photo opportunity, it also is home to an unbelievable group of people that continually comes together for the greater good, regardless of any previous religious or other orientation. The members call it their ~radical welcome~ as they accept everyone regardless of anything at all. Isn't that just the very best?? I've had the great pleasure of joining this congregation for various events and know I've grown from those experiences. Nope, I've not joined the congregation, and probably won't...but I've loved every moment I've spent within the walls of St. Paul. It's a beautiful edifice which within holds a beautiful message of community and peace...well, at least to me, the non-St. Paul parishioner.

Sky Watch Friday

Do join us!

~~~

xoabb

expect anything!

A 65 Lb. Missourah Lap Dog

Cody, as some of you already know, is my parent's beloved pound puppy. My mother, who is a bit of a dog whisperer, well, whatever you call a woman who, more than once, has thought to herself while on an unrelated errand: "Hmmm...I think I'll go by the dog pound today and see what's there." First time she came home with the adored Cody I (now deceased) and this summer with Cody II. Cody II had a bit of adjusting to do when she first came to her new home. She didn't bark, didn't like going outside, and during the first thunderstorm wedged herself between the headboard and wall in mom and dad's bedroom. They had a heck of a time coaxing her out. 

Then the summer relatives arrived. Cody found her voice and her love of all things children. She had the best summer swimming, boating, fetching, running, jumping into the pond, loving on the kids...and climbing up in laps. Below you can see her first stealthy maneuver...above you can see the end result.  

Reports from the Missourah home front say that all is well in Cody-Land. Of course, Mom and Dad have had to resort to renting a kid every now and then so Cody can get her fix, and mom has had to spend some time firmly explaining to Cody that while she is very welcome to climb up on Bill's lap, Mom's is off limits! Cody doesn't much like that, but she gets to sleep at the foot of their bed on her very own doggie cushion, so that assuages her feelings somewhat. All in all, it's good to be Cody II! Doesn't she look at home? Yup, a 65 lb. lap dog!

Here, being loved on the fly by Dodgie.

(For more Cody, go to Flickr on the right!)

~~~

xoabb

expect anything!

P. S.  Grandma Mae's Potato Salad recipe to be posted soon! And you're gonna LOVE it!

OOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

O no! O dear, O my, O DARN! I took a casual glance at my blog archive, saw the L title, so assumed this week was M. Obviously, it's not. It's O week...I've assumed incorrectly. And I'm sure you remember what occurs when one assumes...One (that would be me) makes an ~ass~ out of ~u~ and, most irritatingly ~me~. So sorry for the obvious oversight. O how onerous of me!

A Missourah~ Meal...

(Midwest is best!)

The bounty of our Missourah Midwest fishing efforts,

fried, of course! We'll worry about calories and 

the less-than-good fat-count...oh, tomorrow, if we must!

Master of the grill: Grand Roger (dad to me).

He's been fryin' Missourah fish for all of us, all of 

our lives...there's no one better!

Of course, family participation always helps...

Especially the young folk -

wonder what she told them to do...hmmm.

No summer Missourah meal is complete unless we have

GrandMa Mae's potato salad. (She always made a boiled dressing

that simply sent (and still sends) it over-the-top!)

Of course, I had to stick my 

30-years-on-the-East-Coast concoction

(heavily influenced by those 

California-health-nut voices in my head) 

into the whole MO meal, thus throwing a ~totally~

 "avocados in Missourah?? Woah! I don't think so!" 

kind of salad into the mix....

And the fam totally tolerated my 

aberration of judgement...I think...

However, our Missourah Meal was ended on a true note...

Fresh Missourah peaches smothered with 

undetermined parentage blueberries.

Who can say ~major~ Mmmmmmmmmmmmm?

Magnificent!!!

(Missourah adventures to be continued tomorrow...)

~~~

xoabb

expect anything!

ABC Wednesday 

do join us!

Thanks, Mrs. Nesbitt!

My Pond

We've lived by this pond for the last 27 years. To say that I love this wonderful body of water would truly be an understatement...

I can't begin to count the number of hours spent over the years fishing with our children, (whether they actually were ours (GB and me) or the children of our family and friends - by the way, those kids are ours too!). The kids swam in it - and how they tried and tried to get a rope swing up and swingin' over so they could splash in, ala Huck Finn, but that wasn't meant to be - alas, no good sturdy tree limb close to the pond edge was ever found. Our various dogs spent hours and hours wading in to cool off in the summer or to fetch balls thrown in the water for them (until GB and I finally got tired of wet-smelly-dog-in-the-house syndrome - thank you Electric Fence Company!). Oh, and there were the marvelous ice skating parties, for young and old, enjoyed over the years! Big bon-fires on the edge of the pond...at night flood lights to light the ice and skaters, and always hot chocolate to warm cold noses and toes. We've fed the swimming mallards, chased the Canada geese back in the pond (their poop really is a big problem) and watched turkeys take running launches from our yard to fly over the pond up to their tree roosts by the home you see across the water (turkey poop is also a big problem). We've seen many deer in the yard and on the edge of the pond. There have been muskrats, hawks, racoons, squirrels squirrels squirrels, bunnies, an occasional coyote or two, and many many different song birds. And I can't forget the many many picnics, outdoor parties, family gatherings, reunions, birthdays, farewells, graduations, weddings, babies...the memories go on and on. 

Looking back, I personally can't forget the photo opportunities afforded me, now that I've become quite interested in this preoccupation. Whether my execution has been good or bad, the opportunity for brilliance has constantly presented itself over the years on and around this exceptional pond of ours. 

I love this pond of mine. 

We most likely won't always live by it, 

but it will always be near and dear to my heart. 

The memories will never be forgotten. 

~~~

xoabb

Do join us!

And Sometimes Color is...

Simply necessary...

...and not superfluous...

~~~

xoabb

expect anything!

Sunday Serenity

Autumn Leaves

...The falling leaves 

Drift by my window

The falling leaves

Of  red and gold...

A lovely live performance here

and especially here

~~~

xoabb

expect anything!

Sometimes Color is...

Superfluous...

~~~

xoabb

expect anything!

Painted Sky (and Hep Me, Please!)

A Sky Watch Friday post

with a perplexing problem...

...at least to me.

(BTW - blurry photo effects are intentional - it's my attempt to create ~art~)

(Don't snicker. It's not nice. My mother told me so. )

Uploaded from iPhoto

Uploaded from my Flickr

Two photos from the very same photo source. One directly from iPhoto on my computer, the other after I'd uploaded the very same photo to Flickr. Why is the one from Flickr so much clearer/better, but not sized or framed correctly, though it's correct when in draft? Why is the one from iPhoto not as vibrant, but sized correctly? Obviously I'm not gettin' it. Hep me please!!! I need all the hep I can git! 

Sky Watch Friday

Visit, find out all about us,

and then do join us! 

Let Them Be!

Remember this old adage?

If you like walks in the woods,

it's a good one to know!

Leaves of three...

Let them be!

Poison Ivy

(Click it to find out more)

xoabb

expect anything!

NO NO NO!

NO NO NO, Sir Frost,

Lovely morning glories say...

We'll live! One more day!

But..

The cycle goes on...

Seasons always wax, then wane -

Soon gone till next spring.

photo taken yesterday, 10/20, @ 7:15 am

~~~

xoabb

expect anything!

First Frost

We had our first frost last night, scattered though it was. Our home is down at the end of a cul-de-sac, the lowest-in-altitude house on the block. My glorious morning glories, (though the blooms are getting smaller the colder it becomes), were in full bloom this morning. The neighbor's lawn just a house up and about 20 feet higher was covered with frost. My thermometer read 41 degrees. Two miles away where I work, 32 degrees. The above photo is of the frost-touched ground-creeping evergreen I saw in the parking lot. Amazing how much the temps can fluctuate!

Snippet from the nurses's office: 

"My ear hurts." 

"How long has it been hurting?"

"20 years."

"Um, you're only 7 years old."

"So?"

~~~

xoabb

expect anything!

My World Tuesday,

a quite wonderful new meme, is  premiering today!

The goal of this is to share some of our personal corners of 

the world with others. What a grand idea!

While my entry is a very small slice of the world I inhabit, 

my corner it is, both photo and words. 

Do join us!

Beauty of the Trees

Played golf the other day. 

My team, no thanks to me, actually won. 

The very nicest thing about the whole day? 

The beauty of the trees. 

Don't you agree? 

~~~

xoabb

expect anything!

Sunday Serenity

"Why did you do all of this for me?" Wilber asked. "I don't deserve it. I've never done anything for you." 

"You have been my friend," replied Charlotte. "That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what's a life, anyway? We're born, we live a little while, we die... By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows, anyone's life can stand a little of that."

~from the novel, Charlotte's Web, by E. B. White

~~~

xoabb

expect anything!

Signs of the Times...And Then Some Lunch

It's really quite depressing...

Picked up our local newspaper, The Hour; turned to the back and started reading.  {Side note - whenever I read any newspaper, I always start with the obits (my favorite section, have no idea why so please don't ask), next read the classified (next favorite section, see previous for reason or lack thereof) then the rest of the paper.} Got through the obits and turned to the classifieds. I was totally stymied. This section, which has averaged at the least 3 to 4 pages in length for as long as I can remember, was all of a page and a half long. The help wanted section, that has always taken up at least 3/4 of a page, had exactly 5 (that's five) ads. And three of those ads were for jobs at the newspaper itself! I find this very frightening, as well as depressing. I hope things begin looking up soon...for all of us - but I don't know....

And now on to a more pleasant subject...

The above is a photo of my Tuesday working-kind-of-gal-that-I-am lunch. (And I'm just sure all of you are thrilled to see that!) It's (obviously) leftovers. It's from last weeks Sunday Family Dinner when we dined on sauteed chicken, spaghetti and a stir-fried zucchini-veggie mix.

I'll have you know, the zucchini and red pepper you see in the above were from my garden, well, such that my garden was - don't get that excited, the whole garden venture was rather pathetic as you can count on one hand the harvest numbers of each, but it's more than we've ever grown before, so I'm very pleased! (Our tomato crop was outstanding! For the first time ever I could share the bounty and that felt mighty good!) Below you will find my new favorite throw-'n-go way to prepare my veggies along with the accompanying chicken: 

For the chicken: 

Pound chicken breasts until no more than 1/4" thick. Season both sides with salt, fresh ground pepper and Italian seasonings to your taste. Heat about 2 tablespoons olive oil in an iron (or stainless steel if you must) skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, saute chicken (don't crowd the skillet) for about 5 minutes on each side. Transfer chicken to a rack place on a cookie sheet and place in a warm (250 degrees) oven. 

Now on to the veggies: 

a red pepper, sliced into about 1/4" x 2" pieces   

an onion, coarse diced

3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced

zucchini, cut in half length wise, then sliced about 3/4" thick

good handful fresh chopped parsley

good handful fresh ribbon-cut basil

salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

olive oil 

When oil is hot, add the pepper and onion to the skillet. Cook, stirring often, for around 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for an additional 3 or so minutes. Add the zucchini and cook, stirring often until the zucchini are browned around their edges and al dente (cooked through but firm), or to your taste. Throw in the herbs and s/p and stir to evenly distribute everything. Taste and correct seasonings to your personal taste. Have you said Yummmmmm yet? 

We served the above mixture over spaghetti (whole wheat of course) - and it was delicious - with the chicken on the side. Of course, we also had homemade spaghetti & meatball sauce for those who wanted to have their sauce and veggies too. Comfort food at it's finest! 

At least with all the financial woes and uncertainties in this world of ours, you can still have a wonderful and comforting meal that is shared with family and friends!

~~~

xoabb

expect anything! 

Sunday Serenity

The Spider's Web
The spider, dropping down from twig, Unfolds a plan of her devising, A thin premeditated rig To use in rising.
And all that journey down through space, In cool descent and loyal hearted, She spins a ladder to the place From where she started.
Thus I, gone forth as spiders do In spider's web a truth discerning, Attach one silken thread to you For my returning.
~E. B. White

Sky Watch Friday -It's Autumn...

Autumn Skies, ever

changing, but often just a

 different perspective.

Look up! What's to see?

The view is never the same!

What lovely Fall skies.

Brilliant Autumn leaves,

the colors are breathtaking!

Prettier than Spring???

~~

Above, three views of the same sky,

photos taken seconds apart.

~~~

xoabb

expect anything!

Do join us for Sky Watch Friday!

 This is the baby of Dot and now nurtured by a bunch 

of people who were gathered together by Old Wom Tiggley.  

A brilliant job well done by all!

Cleverest Boat Name Ever

Living close to the Sound (Long Island that is), we obviously are surrounded by many water crafts. I've seen lots of clever boat names over the years, but the above just takes the cake!  "Moored" on the deck outside of The Black Duck, it makes me laugh every time I see it. (BTW - the Black Duck's pub grub? It's just excellent!)

Update:  Lauren (Mental Mama) commented that The Black Duck was filmed last week for The Food Network's show, Diners, Dives & Drive-ins! Can't wait to see that episode. 

Morning Glory Marauder

Morning Glory Bloom...

 A Naughty Bug Wanders In.

Photo-Op. It's Gone!

~~~

xoabb

Where Everybody Knows Your Name...

Partner's Cafe & Pizzeria

Home of the ~Thinner Spinner*~

*the best thin-crust pizza ever!

One of our very favorite local watering holes is celebrating their 25th anniversary. 

Partner's Cafe has been an important designation for many of we Cocktail Cornerians (among many other folks), for a very long time; and throughout, the food, drink, and most importantly, the commeraderie has remained top-notch. Go there, and believe it or not, they know your name! Owner Tommy (and wife Debby) remembers you (and your exploits) whether you're a guy or gal, (and especially if you've been involved in sports). 

(And if you just give him a minute, 

Tommy almost always remembers your favorite drink, too.) 

Partner's might be a local neighborhood bar, but there's nothing ~local~ about their "grub". The menu's tried and true selections are steady and always good. Their daily specials? Beyond good. Last night I had the blackened tilapia, pictured above, served with brown rice and local, fresh stir-fried veggies. The tilapia was simply outstanding - crusty but moist -  the veggies, al dente - just over the top! Excellent! The quality of the food is always there, no short cuts taken. Who could ask for more from a local pub grub kind of place? And only a mile or two from home. Yum!

Tommy & Deb also, undeniably, 

have the prettiest window boxes in all of Norwalk. 

Wish my flowers looked as good (sigh).

If you're in the neighborhood, 

you really owe it to yourself to visit

Partners Cafe!

Excellent!

~~~

xoabb

expect anything!

Maple Syrup Leftovers

Maple leaves falling

Sap is flowing - soon there'll be

Maple syrup. Yum!

Autumn - beautiful!

Trees at their finest. Again,

Nature reigns supreme.

Sunday Serenity

Ruby red, oranges too

Leaves are turning, how 'bout you?

Best Question Ever...

Cartoon courtesy of John Darkow of the Columbia Daily Tribune

~~~

To reiterate: 

Why would anyone want to be president?

~

Can you possibly imagine being willing to take over this mess?

Whoever does (and I do have my unspoken vote already cast),

May they be well enough learned to have the ability to correct, 

And then sustain this great country of ours.

~

Funny thing - I'm usually not overly moved by political cartoons. I enjoy the heck out of the ones I understand, but a lot of them are just too much for me to analyze in the short term. However, this Mr Darkow...he is good!  The only other time I've felt moved enough to publish a P.C. here, the artist turned out to be the one and only Mr. Darkow. Imagine that! We fellow Columbians...such brilliant minds! (Well, at least  Mr. Darkow's mind is.)

~~~

xoabb

expect anything!

Stormy Autumn Sky

Every fall I wait for my "autumn snowy skies" to begin to appear. It happened last week for the first time this year! I work in an office with no windows - yep, it's awful - so for a period of the day, I'm never sure what's going on in the outside world. I was thrilled to walk out to my car at 3pm and discover this magnificent sky! Tho I knew it wasn't gonna happen, it looked like snow - or at least a major cold front was upon us! Whatever, the sky was perfection for a while.

Five minutes later, around the bend, 

and on the other side of the river...

~~~

xoabb

expect anything!

Sky Watch Friday, 

Do join us!

Collections...

Toeback???

(Written Wednesday evening, 11:00 pm.) I have been purging...well, least making a very valiant attempt at it for the last few weeks. To say I have a lot of stuff would be an understatement to say the least! As jules is always just sayin' to me, I could run a tag sale (garage sale everywhere else but here in the Northeast) from my basement for, oh, years. I do really well getting rid of things no longer important to anyone for the first two or three hours...and then sentimental old fool rears her ugly head. At that point I really have to walk away as I can find a very good reason to save everything. It's not good. 

I have tomorrow off as it's Yom Kippur (blessings to my friends celebrating this most holy day) and that means I can spend the entire day continuing this clean-out. Isn't that just wonderful??

By the way? If you need me tomorrow, 

I will be playing golf. 18 holes. Maybe 36.

(Written THURDAY evening, 10:00 pm.) I went, I swung, I played 18 holes. We will not discuss the quality of my game. The quality of my fun? Perfection! 

~~~

xoabb

expect anything!

P. S.  The above photo was taken at The Skitch Henderson Museum ("An intimate museum dedicated to the collections of this beloved maestro."), which is part of  the Hunt Hill Farm Trust. If  all my collections looked as neat, clean and organized as the one above, I'd keep them!  I do hope some kind-hearted Dutch-speaking person will translate ~toeback~ for me. Can't imagine what that means, and haven't been able to find it online, despite my best efforts!

An L kind of day....

Lichen

I remember a fragment of a science project that said something along the lines of "Moss and Fungus took a liking to each other - and produced a Lichen." Tho I am far from an expert on this kind of science thing, I do know that lichen, pictured above, "is the result of a symbiotic relationship between a fungus with a photosynthetic partner".  I'm pretty sure the players can be moss and fungus, among others. (Go here on Wikipedia and you'll be told more than you ever thought you'd want to know about this.) 

Whatever, all I know is lichen is beautiful, 

whether growing on fence posts, rocks, wherever, especially in the fall.

 If you'd like, click on the slideshow to the right to see more lichen photos. 

~~~

xoabb

expect anything!