A Very Good Watering!

Courtesy of tropical storm Irene, our jurassic-sized hosta looks quite happily soaked.  I have NEVER seen this hosta look so thoroughly drenched before!  The water usually just beads up and rolls right down the leaves.  I just love how shiny the leaves got.  I guess that's what hours upon rain will do to a plant...

Shells by the sea shore

So, we were originally planning to go to the beach today.  Yeah, with hurricane Irene looming.... not so much.  Instead we have been taking things off our patio and moving potted plants to keep the wind from getting to the too much.  Keeping with the spirit of going to the beach (I can still daydream right?) I rooted through all my pictures and found this one that I took at a beach down at the Cape earlier in the year. 

Look... a wagon wheel!

You know how I was just talking about how funny things just stick with you?  Bonus points for anyone who recognized the title of this post as a line from the PSA about kids eating cheese in the 1980's.  It just popped into my head when I was looking at this picture the other day and I couldn't resist making reference to it.  For those of you who are curious yet unaware of this PSA, please let me enlighten you:

Piney Goodness

Another picture from our trip to Maine.  A closeup of an eastern white pine tree.  This brings me back to the leaf project I had in 5th grade when we had to learn how to identify a bunch of local trees and collect sample of their leaves.  I will forever remember that this tree has 5 needles per bundle because of that project.  It's funny what weird things you remember from middle school.

Floating Fog

Took this picture this past weekend while on a schooner cruise out of Boothbay Harbor in Maine.  Hubbie and I don't get to sail on larger vessels all that often so being able to spend two hours on the Eastwind was a lovely treat.  We had lots of fog in the harbor when we set sail, which offered some challenges to my picture taking... nevertheless I prevailed and was able to get quite a few I am happy with.  So, expect a few days worth of nautically themed images, I'm sure you can handle it :)

Is it deer week or something?

So, I'm seeing a trend here... I have seen no fewer than 8 deer in the past week.  I'm starting to think they are looking for me rather then the other way around!  First, I saw a doe and three fawns in my apartment complex.  Then this weekend I was taking a walk down the driveway at our place in Maine and I scared the heck out of this, what I'm guessing, is an adolescent deer.  Actually I didn't even see him for the longest time.  All I heard was a sudden galloping of hooves through the leaves off in the woods next to the driveway.  I looked in carefully but couldn't see anything, so I started to walk back to the house.  I just happened to look into the woods one last time before giving up and I saw him.  Cool huh?  That was probably around 11am on Saturday.  Later on that day, when hubbie and I were driving back to the house after going on a wonderful schooner cruise (pics to come), we drove by a field near the house and saw at least three more deer munching away on the tall grass.  One ran off right away and two lingered just long enough for me to get my camera, get out of the car and walk about two steps.  I swear one of them jumped about 4 feet straight in the air as it bounded off into the woods.  It was really REALLY cool to see so much wildlife in one weekend!  Too bad I didn't get any pictures of the last set.  They just moved way too fast for my camera without some prior planning to adjust shutter speed.  Oh well, I'm pretty happy we even saw them at all!

Title... who needs a title? Lol

This is another photo from my walk through Heritage Park in Sudbury, MA.  There is a nice wooded section that loops you around and back to the pond with all the easily frightened frogs and I just loved how the sun filtering through the trees made the leaves glow and the path bathed in light.  It's so neat when it seems like you are walking through a tunnel of leaves that are glowing :)

Greenhouse or Bluehouse?

Snapped this picture when I was buying produce at our local produce stand, Ferjulians.  I just love shopping there and I always bring my camera when I go.  They grow so much of their own product and only substitute for the items they do not cultivate themselves.  Just this week I bought some of their bell pepper, carrots and picking cucumbers for a mere $3.50...  crazy I tell you!  They have only had this greenhouse for a year or two so now they really have lots of room to store plants as well.  Ferjulians is where I get all my baby herb plants every year and they always turn out to be good hearty plants that produce very well. 

Bravest Frog Ever

I took a walk through Heritage Park in Sudbury, MA on my way home from work this week.  It is pretty small as far as parks go, but contained a small pond where I saw a this great example of one of my favorite animals, the frog.  Considering just how many frogs I scared into jumping back into the water before even seeing them, this one must have nerves of steel.  He sat resolutely while I kept creeping closer and closer to get a good photo.  It's actually quite funny if you see all the shots leading up to this one.  It's like I was the frog paparazzi!  The series of pictures is below if you are interested:

Fuzzilla!

Saw this cutie pie baby alpaca when I was up in Maine earlier this summer at the Fiber Frolic in Windsor, ME.  Had a ton of fun there and saw many vendors local to my home in MA, which was a happy surprise.  This little guy must have been so happy to be without his heavy fleece.  I can't imagine how hot things get for them in the summer.

Sheep Marking My Way

Got these wicked cute crocheted sheep stitch markers when I was up in Maine back in July.  They are so darn cute I can't stand it!  They are currently adorning a project I am knitting for a friend's new baby.  I am excited because this project is teaching me some very cool techniques that I have never done before.  I love learning new things!  I'm such a dork....

From Garden to Garden

Many people I know have gardens... some small, like mine, while others grow so much they can hardly keep up with all the ripe produce erupting from the ground.  Because I have a garden and tend to hand make gifts, I think one of the nicest gifts someone can give is something that they took time to make or grow.  A friend of mine who has a lovely garden was kind enough to give me this very large tomato and two well proportioned cucumbers this week.  I sense a batch of cucumber salad in my future... I'll have to come up with an equally excellent fate for my little red friend here so I can appease my husband until our own tomatoes ripen.

An Early Morning Stroll Through the Neighborhood

Seeing this doe and her three fawns last week completely made my morning.  I was slowly navigating my way through our plethora of speed bumps on my way to work when I caught some movement off to my left.  These four beauties were hanging our right in the middle of the complex and my driving by (albeit slowly) scared them off.  They weren't too frightened of me though since I was able to fumble for my camera and take three pictures before they wandered over the hill and back into the woods. 

This picture was the best of the three, which isn't saying much, but at least the fawns are in focus unlike anything else I took of them.  Of course, I took the one good picture of them when they were behind a tree... typical me.  What's really funny is that one of my friends was asking me about the wildlife I had seen recently and I had told her that we really don't get deer where I live... it's too busy.  Well, guess I've been proved wrong, lol.

Menotomy Rocks Park

Took a nice walk with a good friend this week at Menotomy Rocks Park in Arlington, MA.  We wandered, ate some yummy cookies from a local bakery and almost got trampled by a couple very cute and exuberant yellow labs... overall, a very nice evening walk.  We'll just have to to explore it more on a weekend sometime.

Storms are brewing

Left work one day to find this beautiful combination of mixing cloud banks and the almost setting sun.  I think there were some serious storms on the way to us that night.

Ginger Dressing

Hubbie and I have this thing for the ginger dressing that is served on the house salads at Japanese restaurants.  I have no idea why is it so stinking good: It just is!    I really liked how the sun was filtering in through the shades onto my salad.  Apparently it gave just enough light to take a nicely exposed shot.  Took the picture on my iPhone while having dinner with a friend at Tai Pei Tokyo Cafe in Somerville, MA.

Illuminating the Cake

I took this when celebrating a a belated birthday with a friend last week.  I just love candle light and how soft and natural everything looks in it.  The flames are especially neat because you can see them shift from the hotter blue at the base to the cooler red as they extend upward.  Science is cool!

True Love

Saw these initials carved into a tree when I was on a leisurely walk through a local park.  While I hate to see the trees defaced in any way, it was a sweet thought that someone would want to share their love with those passing by. 

Shadow of a Photographer

I thought this was a really neat way to capture myself in a portrait.  There aren't many pictures of me out there and quite honestly, I often prefer the ones that are like this, the idea of me and who I am, rather than ones of actual image.  I don't quite know what that says about me, but whatever... when it comes down to it, it's a cool picture and I'm leaving it at that!

Low budget odor control

Had this lovely view on my way into work this morning.  They must smell REALLY bad!

Poolside

I have been spending quite a bit of time at the small pool in our apartment complex.  I've decided, as I have in previous years, swimming is exercise that really doesn't feel like it.  So, I've been trying to swim a 1/2 an hour a day weather permitting.  So far, it's working out pretty well.  5 days in a row isn't too shabby in my book.

Bumble Bumble....

Yet another picture from the Elm Bank show.  There are so many great things to take pictures of there.  Cars, plants, insects and people abound!

So yeah, 365 pics a year? .... Right!

I'm going to have to work on this... lol.  I haven't posted here in ages and I think it is mostly because I have been taking all my pictures with my iPhone lately.  While it does take nice pictures most of the time, they just aren't good enough for this blog.  Soooo, I'm going to try to start taking the big camera out with me again so I can start documenting all the neat stuff I see.

Below is a shot I took at The Elm Bank Car Show back on June 26th that I go to every year with my hubbie and parents to celebrate Father's Day, albeit a little late.  Oddly enough, I also became an aunt that day, hence why I can actually remember the date.  Hopefully I will  have pics of my nephew I can share soon!

How can a flower be so darn happy looking?

I don't know why, but there is something about gerbera daisies that always make me smile.  I can't help it, they just do. 

These Turtles Have the Right Idea

So, yeah.... this isn't a picture that was taken today or even this week.  There is no way it could have been because there HASN'T BEEN ANY SUN this week.  So, in the interest of cheering everybody up and returning  my own sanity I decided to post this picture from two weeks ago when my mom and I went to Garden in the Woods.  It was actually nice out then.  I wanna sun myself like the turtles are.... wah :(

They do

I didn't exactly have the best seat in the house for taking picture at my friend's wedding, but I was able to get some neat shots that I probably wouldn't have even thought to try with a better view.  I love how this one came out.  I was stuck behind some very tall people and could only snap picture in between heads, so I ended up cropping this one down to take out all the extraneous people and focus on their hands. 

A Very Soggy Garden

I returned home from a lovely wedding weekend for one of my college friends to find a very soggy garden. My plan had been to actually plant all the lovely herbs I bought last week.. but I couldn't exactly do that without becoming a swamp monster in the process.  Instead, I just took pictures of the water droplets on our hosta.  The leaves on his hosta is absolutely gargantuan... I think it might be prehistoric.

Pretty Mother's Day Flowers

 
I found this beautiful hydrangea when I was out looking for flowers for both my moms this past weekend. I just adore how this one has both pinks and blues mixed together.  Very neat!

Leafy Beginnings

Took this beauty when wandering through The Garden in the Woods with my mom last Friday for a quick early Mother's Day photography walk.  While the garden wasn't in full bloom yet, it was still quite a nice walk and we were able to get some reasonably good photos.  I especially liked this one showing the beginnings of leaves on all the trees against the blue sky.  We haven't had a lot of that lately, so it's great to capture it when I can.  It seems like even nice warm days can't stay cloud free at this point. 

In the Countryside

Recently I took a trip down to Avon, CT for a baby shower for my brother in law's wife.  The shower was held at Countryside Park, which consists of about 17 acres of land, two ponds and a small building that town residents can rent for small events.  As my family is wont to do, we arrived early and explored the general area until the rest of the shower goers arrived.  We were very fortunate it was such a nice sunny day and were able to enjoy the covered bridge and lovely air.

Sushi sushi!!!

Spicy Tuna Tempura 

Valentine's Day Tulips

No, my hubbie didn't get these for me for Valentine's Day.  He got me chocolate dipped fruit instead.  Actually I bought these beautiful tulips on the way home from work so we would have something nice and spring-ish to look at over our modest heart day dinner.

Pretty Soft Things All in a Row!

Some of the pretties I saw at the WEBS Superbowl event on Sunday.  So much yarn, so little cashola!

Soups On!

A couple of weekends ago I made onion soup for us and we have slowly been polishing off the leftovers.  I took a picture a week ago when I made my last bowl because it just looked so darn good!  Man, now I want more onion soup.  Dammit!

Slaving Over Onions

Welcome to what I spent almost an hour babysitting yesterday morning.  I decided to make onion soup and let me tell you, when you have this many onions to caramelize and this little pot real estate, you are in for a long haul.  I think we need to invest in a dutch oven. Brian made a small amount of these tonight in our cast iron pan so I could have them on my pasta and I swear they only took him 15 minutes.  Grrrrrr....  speaking of onions, I believe a bowl of my soup is now calling me.  Melty cheese and french bread hear I come!

Remembering How to Draft

It's been quite awhile since I spun anything on my lovely spinning wheel.  So, I decided I should get back to it!  This was the Australian Merino I decided to start with last night.  It looks quite different from anything else I've ever spun up.  The edges of the single aren't particularly distinguishable from each other. Normally it's very easy for me to see the separate strands as they wrap about the bobbin, but these just blend together and look altogether way to soft and comfy :)   Hopefully this will be to my finished yarn's benefit and make it uber-soft.

Hot Breakfast on a Weekday

 

Both hubbie and I had a snow day today, so among other fun things, I decided to make us a nice, homemade french toast and bacon breakfast.  We just might have gone out to the Price Chopper to procure ingredients at 11pm last night in anticipation of today's free time.  Turned out pretty well and as an added bonus, I got to finally do some photography for once.  Maybe today will entice me to keep it up.  Sorry I've neglected you photo blog.  Please forgive me?