Happy Halloween

Last year trick-or-treaters overwhelmed us. There were kids and parents everywhere. We ran out of candy at 8 o’clock. This year it is now 7 PM and we have had only 3 kids come. Maybe it’s because it’s a Saturday—who knows? There is still time for things to pick up….and as I type 4 more kids showed up. One was a 2-year-old, about Sophie’s age, who got upset when her older brother stepped up and said “trick or treat.” And got candy. She softly whined that she wanted some. Her mother to asked her “what do you say?” She meekly said “Trick or treat”. She got her candy.

It’s always a problem deciding how much candy to give to each kid, especially the first ones. You don’t want to have a lot left. You don’t want to run out and you have no idea about how many kids will show.

Penny and I celebrate the 40th anniversary of our first date today. Well, we didn’t really celebrate. We just noted the occasion in conversation. Yes it was on Halloween. Scary, isn’t it?


Kitty Update—the outside kitties have not shown for 2 nights now. I saw Marmalade and Velcro 3 nights ago. The food is disappearing from the feeder at the normal rate so I assume the cats are eating.

Crummy Friday

My body is in the twilight zone for colds. I don’t have a full-fledged cold but I’m just sufficiently affected that I don’t feel like doing anything. I feel in my head like I have a fever because my middle ears are involved but I don’t have a fever. I’m tired but not enough to nap. To top it off our family has all gone home taking their joy and warmth with them and leaving the house quiet and empty.

I’ve managed to get the sunroom back to its normal configuration and the kitchen and den are OK. That’s about all I got accomplished today.

I’m hoping to get some good sleep tonight (if my itchy throat lets me) and have a better day tomorrow.

Empty

Everyone has gone home now and Penny and I are back to our empty nest. We miss everyone.

It was a complicated week logistically. On Monday Karen and Tim came in separate cars so Tim could go back to work and Karen could stay a couple of days. C&C drove straight to Pensacola on Tuesday for Nana’s funeral then stayed overnight with us while Tim drove home. C&C joined us for lunch at Harbordocks on Wednesday and headed home from there. Karen, Sophie and Lucy stayed until about noon on Thursday. This past weekend was Kerry’s Halloween party and Lucy’s baptism.

Now everyone can take a deep breath and get back to their normal schedules—at least for about a month. Then it will be Thanksgiving time.

I was able to get in some quality time with Karen, Sophie and Lucy. I miss having Karen around—even after all these years that she’s been on her own. I enjoy our discussions and hearing her opinions. We always slip easily into interesting conversation.

I had to provide Sophie with some distraction many times. She is reacting to Lucy becoming an interactive person and doesn’t like losing the center of attention. Added to that adjustment was the upset schedule and lack of sleep. This weeks games were turning her upside down, playing the piano and watching videos of herself on the computer. We watched her dancing, talking at the pumpkin patch and riding through her daddy’s legs on a tricycle. (very tight clearance there).

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

She likes singing “take me out to the ball game” and ‘I’m a little tea pot.” We went to the schoolyard and Sophie managed to swing on a regular swing by herself.

Penny made spiders out of Oreos with Sophie. I’m sure she’ll mention it in her blog. Here is a picture of the results.

Lucy is now smiling and gurgling intermittently. Karen describes it as “just getting interesting.” She said that Sophie was just getting to this stage when she had to return to work and put her in daycare. This time she has a whole month to enjoy “interesting”.

Sophie had a cough, Christian had a headache and fever and I have something going on in my sinuses. Otherwise everyone is healthy.

I took a beach walk this evening after everyone was gone. The temperature was in the high 70’s and except for a few fishermen near the parking area the beach was wide open. The sunset was not spectacular but I haven’t been to the beach in a while and the walk was relaxing. Of course I took pictures.

Only Marmalade was here tonight for feeding. Our next door neighbor’s cat has been exercising his territorial terror campaign and has frightened the others away. As a sidenote I had to reload the feeder tonight for the first time since we left for Vermont on October 1st. It fed the animals for exactly 4 weeks.

God Smiled, God Wept

This past week was a mixture of God’s graces.

The first event was Lucy’ Christening which was a happy family event. Here is video of the baptism.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The second event was Nana’s Funeral. God graced us with her presence for over 80 years. I was fortunate to have known her for the last 36 of them. I know my family would have been much the worse if Nana had not been here. We might not have had Christy if it weren’t for her influence and her family’s assistance to us during that period of our lives.

The day of the funeral was dark and stormy until the ceremony began. Then the Sun broke through. God was telling us the weeping was over and it was time to once again smile . Nana was back home again, walking in a field of Irises with Papa Bear and Re Re—catching up on whatever mischief they have been up to in Heaven.

Pumpkins and Holy Water

It was back to Jacksonville this weekend for a Halloween party and a baptism.

It was a quick trip. We drove over on Saturday leaving beautiful Fall weather and catching up with the rain that swept through our area on Friday. I took brother Lou to the bus station on Friday in the middle of a heavy rainfall. Eglin parkway, a main road here was one big puddle.

Fortunately most of the rain was over when we got to Jax. We stayed at Kerry & John’s on this trip.


The festivities began at a pumpkin patch and moved on to Kerry’s house. Kids and adults were everywhere. It was great fun.

Sunday was Lucy’s Christening with a brunch afterwards at Pinera Bread.

It’ been a busy week and it continues this week with Nana’s funeral. By the time this month is over we will have seen most of my family and relatives.

Are There Bears in Kenwood?

Yes, there are. We got a call from our neighbor She said grab your cameras—there are bears in our backyard.



We did. It was dusk so we didn’t get great pics but we got some. 3 bears at various heights in the tree. No Goldilocks.

Kitty Separation Anxiety

I’ve still got days of vacation that I haven’t documented but today was dominated by 2 cats; one outside and one inside.

Last night, our first night home in over 2 weeks, 3 of the outside cats were here.  Buzz was a no-show.  Early in the evening only Marmalade was there so I fed her half-a-can of food.  After that she stood outside the door and screamed until I fed her the second half.

This morning Marmalade was still there and still quite vocal.  I had the kitchen window open because the weather is good for that.  I fed Marmalade again this morning.  I feed them more often when we get back from an extended trip.  I also pet her some.  Then I went inside and started emptying the sink.  Marmalade kept meowing at me.  She got up on the roof and peered down into the window as if she were trying to figure out a way to get to the window.  It is 4 feet above the patio with only the angled window glass that keeps rain off the feeder.  Nothing to climb on.

About a half-hour later I was again in the kitchen and Marmalade again was very vocal—calling to me .  All of a sudden I hear a thump and there is Marmalade front legs forming a “V” clinging to the screen of the kitchen window.  She meowed at me and then looked around and down with an “why did I do this and how am I going to get down?” expression.  It looked a little like this except for the panic on her face.

  Finally she just let go and dropped down to the patio bouncing off the angled window glass on the way down.

I went outside and pet her for a long time after that and it settled her down for the rest of the day.  I’ve never seen her act like that before.

Tonight all 4 cats were there.  Maybe Marmalade will be calmer now.

The other anxious cat is, of course, Brie.   Brie is much more clingy and friendly when we return from trips.  It’s as if she were almost a normal cat.  She sleeps with me, she cuddles with Penny and she is always with one of us.  This fades after a week or so.  We enjoy it while it lasts.

Vermont 09 Fri 9th

The rain held off this morning so Penny and I ventured out under overcast skies to go once again to the Cup and Saucer for breakfast. I had the pumpkin pancakes.

After breakfast I decided to visit our favorite local leaf peeping sites. First it was the small lake that always presents beautiful reflection opportunities. In spite of the gloomy skies both Penny and I took some pictures.

Next it was off to the site of a couple of barns. No pictures here. It was too gloomy and the trees had lost many leaves. Then we went by the little pond we visit each year and followed the dirt road that runs by it up over the mountain. There are wonderful views from this road and on a sunny day we will likely return here.

We then returned to the cabin. I did laundry and Penny checked E-mail and the blogs she tracks. She went on to make more ravioli and a big pot of spaghetti sauce. I cleaned the fireplace and restocked the indoor wood supply.

The rain did arrive around noontime. It rained lightly on and off all afternoon and then became steady by evening. It’s supposed to rain into Saturday morning.


Our plan for tomorrow is to head down to Jacksonville by 9 AM to get Penny at least 1 pumpkin pie.  Then we take pictures of the Alpacas.  The rest of the day is open for now. Marty shows up at his cabin in the afternoon. Debbie, Kathy and Joe show on Sunday.

Vermont 09 Thur 8th

Weather today—partly cloudy? We are off to on our most ambitious day of covered bridge chasing

The first thing we saw as we left the cabin’s driveway were 3 deer wandering down the road outside the cabin.

We began our bridge quest by driving up to Windsor VT and the longest covered bridge in the world. It spans the CT River to Cornish NH.

I wont bore you with specific details on each bridge but by the end of the day we visited 10 bridges. We had clouds and sunshine and found the most scenic bridges we’ve seen.

Why do we seek out bridges? It’s a great way to see the countryside. The directions to the bridges are not always exact enough to find them with ease. It usually takes a combination of GPS, map reading and dead reckoning. It gives us a goal and a reward when we succeed in finding one. We’ve been down many narrow dirt roads and come upon some surprisingly beautiful scenery.

Tomorrow is supposed to be another rainy day. It’s funny the weather forecast is usually right on with rain and misses mostly with sunshine.

Vermont 09 Tue 6th-Wed 7th

Today (Tue) we went back to Woodstock. Once again the weather service got the prediction wrong. Instead of sunny it was mostly cloudy. I find it interesting that we’ve traveled here often enough now that we have an established routine.
First stop is Quechee Gorge. There was actually sun here but since it was morning only one side of the gorge was illuminated. We stop at a Vermont general store here and look at all the stuff (cheese, maple syrup, fudge) they have for tourists (flatlanders) to buy.

Second stop is the covered bridge in Quechee and the Simon Pierce Glassworks. Inside their building is a showroom for all their crystal products, a pottery, a team of glassblowers and a restaurant that overlooks the weir and covered bridge. We like to wander around and look at all the expensive glassware, marvel at the skill of the glassblowers and watch the potter throw a project. We end our visit with a walk out on the restaurant’s deck.

On this visit it was lunchtime when we left the building so we pulled the car up next to the river and listened to our audio book while we ate the lunch we packed. We had considered eating at the restaurant. They had crab, scallop and shrimp pot pie.

We actually passed the next covered bridge we saw. We had stopped there every year and have lots of pictures. The cloudiness today would not provide any additional worthwhile pictures.

We spent some time walking around Woodstock. It’s a nice little town with interesting shops, a town green and it is small enough to cover completely with an easy walk. We didn’t take a lot of pictures because it was cloudy and we did document Woodstock nicely in our previous visits. We took advantage of the short periods of sun to take shots of the most colorful autumn displays.

We headed back to Wilmington by a different route than we came in on. We were once again chasing covered bridges and we found 2 of the 3 we sought.

Wednesday--------------

The weather prediction for Wednesday was correct—rain. The rain came in torrents on and off all day. We started the day with breakfast at the Sonny's Cup and Saucer, Then we used the day as a catch-up day. Penny and I both blogged. We ventured out for a pizza lunch at a place in downtown Wilmington. Then we drove down to Jacksonville to see if we could find the alpaca farm owned by a guy we met at the Cup and Saucer.

We found it just as a heavy rain began. All the alpaca ran for the barn—no pictures today. We will be returning to the area on the 10th to get some Columbus Day pumpkin pie at a church sale.  We will try again then to get a picture of the animals.

We spent the rest of the cold windy rainy day at the cabin. The strong wind and heavy rain stripped many leaves from the trees. At times it appeared to be raining leaves. Fortunately some of the leaves here held tightly. The birch trees seem to be the hardest hit. The wind howled all night and in the morning there were branches down and lots of leaves carpeting the ground. Overall it is not a spectacular leaf peeper year. It is still pretty.

Vermont 09 / Monday 5 Oct

Sunday eve I checked all the weather predictions for various cities in VT and NH. It looked like east-central NH would be the best bet for some Sun. There is another cluster of covered bridges there and if it was the best weather area we would go there. One thing about the weather predictions here is that they are usually wrong. Mostly they miss the timing of the arrival of weather and often the duration is different. I will adjust my plans according to predictions and hope for the best.

Monday morning another check indicated that the White Mountain area in northern NH would be partly cloudy. That’s supposed to be a beautiful drive, so with the weather OK I decided to give it a try. It would mean a full day of driving. This was the most distant destination in my pre-trip planning.

We ate breakfast at the Cup & Saucer Diner. That’s the place with pumpkin pancakes. Both Penny and I got them with “real Vermont maple syrup”. I guess the state makes them say that.

The drive up was uneventful. It was obvious that southern VT had only patchy color. The colors increased as we headed north and when we crossed over into NH there was abundant color with much more crimson than we had seen in VT. The only troubling part of the drive was that it was mostly cloudy all the way. The sun would peek out here and there but never stay.

The route took us by another covered bridge so we detoured to find it. My GPS requires a house address for an input. When I know the road but not the address I just put in “1”. That gets us to the beginning of the road. In this case the bridge was at the other end of the road so we had a nice scenic drive to get to the bridge. The drive was nice; the bridge a good one.

After 2-plus hours of driving (most of it quite scenic) we arrived at Lincoln, NH, the beginning of the Kancamagus Highway (Rt 112) in the White Mountain National Forest. There is a ranger station here where we picked up information and chatted with the female ranger. A suspension bridge was at this site and we ventured out through the crowded path (2 busloads of leaf-peepers) to cross the bouncy bridge and take our first pictures of the day. The bridge was big but still rocked with every step. Penny could not stay on it long or it would have spoiled the day. She got all the pictures she wanted.

The drive has several well-marked scenic locations—some had adequate parking, others were tight. I would hate to be here on a peak weekend. The traffic would spoil the visit. Here is the way a website describes the drive: “New Hampshire's National Scenic Byway with the tongue-twister name--the Kancamagus Highway--is New England's most superb scenic drive. You can call it "the Kanc" for short, as locals do, and you can revel in the pure pleasure of motoring through this thickly treed mountain gap, as more than a million visitors do each year. The 34-mile road cuts an east-west channel through the 800,000-acre White Mountain National Forest. When the dense stands of leafy deciduous trees exchange their summer greens for the dazzling shades of autumn, they are illuminated against the immutable evergreen of their coniferous counterparts, making this a most dramatic and beloved leaf-peeping route.”

Here is what we saw:

Hancock Overlook:

Pemigewasset:

Sugar Hill:

Upper Falls :

LowerFalls :

You can see by the pictures that sunlight was spotty. The lighting made good pictures difficult. We were patient and sometimes the sun graced us with its appearance. Other time we got great “moody” shots. Rain chased us and caught us several times.

On the drive home we drove through alternating heavy rain and bright sunshine—perfect rainbow weather. We spotted this full-arch rainbow. I pulled off the road and took pictures in the rain. Penny joined me.

Later I spotted 3 deer beside the road feasting in someone’s garden. I had forgotten how large the deer up here are compared to those in Florida. A little further down the road I saw 3 wild turkeys. Next we passed a lake and there on an island was someone’s home.

So we had more than just nice scenery to make the return trip interesting.