Tour of Lake Winnipesaukee*

This past weekend, we spent at a little camp on Lake Winnipesaukee.  It's a lovely lake, very quiet and peaceful (this time of year -- don't go up on the Fourth of July, and avoid the hot spots like Weirs Beach and Ellacoya State Park if you want quiet).

It was also Bike Week, so we didn't leave the lake except to drive home.

Okay .... the pictorial tour -- these were taken on my phone, so I couldn't zoom as much as I would have liked on some.

Sunrise -- I was sitting on the dock as the sun peeked over the horizon:

There are ENORMOUS dock spiders here.  Even I, who am not spider phobic, have been taken aback by their size.  THIS is actually not the spider, but the skin he just shed.  The spider was hiding down below and I couldn't get a good picture.  They're about the size of the palm of my hand (including their legs).

A bald eagle nest on Blueberry Island. We saw the male flying quite a bit as the island is near where we were staying. In this picture, the female is hanging out with the kids.

Some folks who own property on the lake actually stay all summer without going home. Hence the need for a post office on the island.



Dakota loved riding on the boat, except when it got choppy -- then she climbed into my lap (and yes, she fits... just barely).



Where the rich folk live: Governor's Island.

You could buy your own place there -- this house is for sale.  It's only $12 million!

I love all the little islands -- most with one house on them.

And thus ends our boat tour of Lake Winnipesaukee.  I suspect you'll see more photos from up there, as we'll be spending a good part of our summer in that neck of the woods.

Have a great day!

Graduation!

Today is a big day for the kidlet... she's advancing out of eighth grade and moving on to high school.  She's excited, nervous, sad, stressed.... I must have been hugged fifty times last night.

It's hard to believe that this is graduating from 8th grade:

The Garden

I decided to try something a little different with my veggie garden this year.  You  see, my garden never has enough room, and after digging up the area for the strawberries this year I was out of steam and had little desire to expand the veggie garden.

It's pretty big, but not enough if I want to plant enough to can and freeze:

So, I took some of the plants that don't grow much in width and planted them elsewhere... in my flower gardens.

I used this place:

To plant six eggplants:

And here along the front of the house I planted beets (which I forgot to take pictures of -- but which have lovely red/green foliage):

And here where I have mostly flowering ground cover, I planted six peppers:

That was a few weeks ago.  So far?  I've lost two beet plants and three eggplants and I have no idea why.  More, the rest of the eggplants and beet plants aren't really growing much.  One pepper got smothered by grass clippings when my DH mowed (for thirteen years, I've asked him to NOT mow clippings into my garden... he still doesn't listen) and may not make it, but the others are going strong and most have actually flowered.

Next year, I'll try something else in the circle garden.  I'm not sure if the sprinklers killed the ones that died or if they weren't getting enough sun.

In my main garden, I keep finding plants "topped". I had two tomatoes that looked like they were broken off.  The first time, I figured it for a chipmunk, the second time I was ready to cry.  I started digged the plants up to make room for new ones (which I realized was a bad move -- tomatoes will come back from being topped), and as I dug, I found a cut worm.  BAD (and now deceased) bug.

So, a week later, when one of my cucumbers suffered the same fate, I dug around the roots and sure enough, I found a cut worm.  I've never really had a problem with them before, so am frustrated.  I do NOT want to treat the place with pesticides, but alternatively, I'd sure like to have some plants survive.

My admiration for the pilgrims grows every year I try to garden out here.

=======================

This and That

Last night I dreamed someone stole Dakota out of my car at the gas station. I was looking at the security video, holding her leash and hoping she'd just jumped out. Then I saw this guy grab her, crying and struggling, from the back seat of my car. It upset me enough I woke up, heart pounding.

I'm still upset and keep looking to make sure she's right here with me.

In other news, I thought I'd share some pictures from my street from my latest walk.

My neighbor has an old bird's nest in his tree -- I know it's from last year, because the year before it was there but got ruined over the winter, so the birds must have rebuilt it. I hope they move in again this year. I'm going to try to remember to check it again in a few weeks...



We have this strange phenomena that happens every now and then -- this ant swarm thing. On the edges of the road, there are cracks and sometimes, from these cracks we get ants.



Lots and lots of ants...



I don't know why. It's the strangest thing. I suppose I could Google it.

DH has a co-worker who has a bazillion strawberry plants that he's going to share with us. I said to DH, "Didn't you tell me growing strawberries out here was hard because the birds and beasts get them?" and he responded, "What plants of yours DON'T the birds and beasts get to?"

Uh. Yeah. There is that.

So we're going to grow strawberries.

And lastly, if you haven't already, go congratulate Maria Zannini on her latest contract. She's had a rough time of it lately (parvo, tornadoes, computers) so the good news was a welcome change.

Have an awesome weekend!

==============

The Cunning Voles of Doom -- STRIKE AGAIN!

So ... just when you think it's safe to plant again, guess what moved in? See the tracks?



Yep ... they've moved into my flower garden over the culvert -- where I've had creeping phlox cascading over the bricks every spring for years:



Wanna see what it lookes like THIS year?






They may LOOK cute, but they are PURE EVIL.



================

Spring

We've had weather in the high 70s all week. I've raked, weeded and admired my early spring blooms.




I've walked and picked ticks (I now refer to my walks by number of ticks -- today I had a fourteen tick walk, yesterday's walk was a nine tick walk -- oh, and to those of you who mentioned Skin So Soft, though you're right, Dakota is VERY sensitive to scent, which is why I can't use citronella and natural tick repellant that smells like cloves).

What I haven't done is figure out how to multiply hours.

I need a clone.

How are you doing? I'm trying to visit at least a few blogs every day. I may not get caught up, but I'll be less behind.

Murphy Visited

Oh ... what a day yesterday was. I won't go into details (they might make me cry), but suffice it to say Murphy showed up and he was worse than usual. Not just for me, but for my DH as well. The stars were aligned crooked over our household.

Lexie has been feeling uber needy lately. I mean, it's nice to have a cat who wants to hang out with me, but I can't have her in my lap 24/7. If I sit down anywhere, she wants up, if I walk around, she's under my feet. She'd definitely settled in well, though. And I think she and the dog might actually end up being friends in the near future, though Lexie is definitely boss (cats usually are):



There was no coming up for air yesterday, and probably won't be today. I'd really like my life back, please.

===================

This and That Thurday

Got "The Happiness Project" at the library yesterday. I need it.

My fridge has been running non-stop since last night. You know how, when you open the freezer and the cooler is running, it will stop when you open? Mine doesn't. For HOURS it has just run, and run, and run. Fridge and Freezer part. I finally pulled it out and unplugged it because the noise was making me crazy.

Do refrigerators reboot? I really, really don't want to buy a new fridge right now. This couldn't have come at a worse time.

Dru Ann asked yesterday if I had a publisher for "Now and Forever" -- Dru, I'm going to self-publish it (I said that in one of my previous posts somewhere). I decided I didn't want to place the sequel to something with a different publisher.

Maria Zannini wisely gave me suggestions regarding the cover art, which I'm taking. There's a particular cover design that I love. "One Love for Liv" *sort of* has it (though I really don't like that cover). So, I think I'll go with that. It's distinctive and pretty. Now, I just need to decide what I want to PUT on the cover.

Dakota and Mom's kitty, Camille, got to meet yesterday. They did really well, all things considered. Dakota was very calm and submissive ... right up until the cat swatted at her. At that point, she decided the cat was playing and started to do play bows and head flips.

Camille was not amused. But she didn't run and hide. She held her ground. She's not in the least bit afraid of the dog. She knows who the house belongs to, and it's not Dakota.



Dakota's tail is a blur in the photo because she's wagging it like crazy.

It's a good thing they seem to tolerate each other, because it means I can still bring the dog for visits now and then.

There's a chance of ice on Friday and a chance of power outages. So, if I'm not here, that's why.

That's it for me. I should probably go plug the fridge back in now. *sigh*

=======================

You Are a Rat Catcher

Not the most glamorous job in the world, but the Middle Ages weren't exactly glamourous! You have the skills, intelligence, and craftiness to be a successful rat catcher. You are willing to take risks and go to some pretty sketchy places in the name of your career. In modern times, you would make a good detective, pilot, or firefighter.

What's Your Medieval Profession?

Awwww... poor rats. I think they're wrong in the overview, too.

===============

Sacrifice

Some days I see things that make me feel awed a bit. I didn't have a good day yesterday, due to a great number of things so maybe, emotionally, things hit me differently.

It was FREEZING here in the afternoon (still is) and extremely windy, so I was taking the dog out on a different side of the house, through the back garage door, so that I wouldn't have to stand in the wind and weather while she puttered around looking for the exactly right place to pee.

I looked up and saw this on the squishy, padded weather stripping -- it's where it won't be exposed to the bad weather (except when I open the door) and it was one smart mama who put it there.



Yes, it's a spider egg sac, and yes, I'm leaving it right where it is. I hope it hatches a hundred spideys in the spring so they can help keep the insect population down a bit.

But that wasn't what touched me... it was what was just below the egg sac. It's all very "Charlotte's Web":



Mama stayed there with her egg sac, protecting it until she couldn't anymore. Good mama.

And then that made me think of this article I saw online yesterday:

Idaho Teen With Cancer Trades Her Life for Her New Son

So whenever I think things are hopeless, I can remember the good things people do at the risk of their own lives. People and, apparently, spiders. *G*

The world is an abundantly cruel place and nature especially so, but there is beauty and kindness and love that can be found if we just know where to look.

======================

You Are "Carpe Diem"

You are very open to the world. You try to say yes to as many opportunities as possible. You are a pleasure seeker. You're a bit of a hedonist, and you enjoy the finer things in life. You are easily distracted. There's so much going on in the world, and you think focus is overrated. You are energetic and lively. You stay high-energy throughout the day.

What's Your Motivational Phrase?

This couldn't be more wrong...

==============

It's Starting to Look A Lot Like Christmas

At least it is at our house...

We got our tree on Friday and, after some issues with lights not working (again) and buying a new set (again) after DH spent a good two hours trying to figure out why the original set would work, we decorated the tree on Saturday evening.

DD asked if I thought the tree would be prettier if it had a "theme" or if it was all the same color ornaments, etc. One of her friends has a tree that is decorated in some theme every year -- usually the same color balls and ribbon.

I said (very adamantly) "NO".

Our tree is covered in memories. I have an ornament on there I made when I was a toddler. I have an ornament that I got from a friend for DD when she was still in utero (technically her first Christmas, lol). Ornaments from family. Handmade ornaments. Every one of them comes with a memory, and nothing can replace that.



We did have a brief blip in all the good cheer when DD unpacked the stockings and found Breeann's. There were tears and sad times. We put her stocking with her box of ashes, sniffed awhile and then moved on.

This helped:



When do you decorate for Christmas?

I have to take Dakota in to the vet today. On Friday, we found a suspicious lump on her head that wasn't there before. It looks like a pink wart... sort of. But the fact that it appeared so quickly and isn't going away (even after four days) means it could be something more serious. We're very "lump" conscious here because Bailey was lumpy (and we had to biopsy every one). We don't even think about it, just whenever we're petting the animals, we automatically register any lumps or bumps. This thing is right on top of her head, so there's no way we would have missed it before.

We're hoping it isn't anything serious (:::cancer:::) but prefer to be safe. Because I needed another vet bill. *sigh*

I found fresh turkeys on sale at the local store yesterday: $0.39/lb! I bought three, then spent the afternoon deboning them and running them through my grinder for ground turkey. DH didn't get a deer this year, so our freezer is going to be very empty. He strongly suggested getting a couple more turkeys today since the price is good AND it's from a very good company who uses no antibiotics or growth hormones.

I have two huge stock pots of turkey broth done as well (plus all the meat from the legs, wings and bodies that I couldn't get off when it was raw) and am thinking about trying my hand at pressure cooking turkey vegetable soup. We'll see if I have the time or inclination any time soon...

What did you do this weekend?

=======================

You Are Successful

Mellow and wise, you like to be with others but also to be alone. You seek a balance. You are hard working and enterprising. You find staying busy satisfying. You have high standards, and you are fair to everyone. Manners are important to you, even if that's old fashioned. A bit demanding, you expect proper behavior from others. Your standards are tough but fair.

The Wild Eye Makeup Test

That's pretty much spot on...

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Post "Snowtober" storm Report

Okay ... I'm finally officially back online, though much of my town is not. The library only got power late yesterday afternoon, and the place I do agility was still closed last night. Our local Super WalMart lost power for three days and had to toss all their frozen and perishable foods, though they probably could have just put them all outside in the two feet of snow, lol...

The local school district was closed Monday and Tuesday, but opened yesterday. Manchester was closed until today, and the Nashua schools are still closed.

DD's school opened on Tuesday, thankfully (would really stink to already have three snow days to make up in June ... I swear, kids are going to be going to school all summer at this rate). Sadly, her school was vandalized -- someone spray painted graffiti on the two little school buses they have and on the doors and windows of the building. It's already been cleaned off, but made me very sad.

Some pictures:

My driveway immediately following the storm (yes, there's a car under there somewhere):



And the back deck -- we got about two feet of nasty, heavy, wet snow:



Some random pictures of tree damage (we had a small tree on one of the power lines up the road a mile or so, which is what killed our power).





One house on the way to school had a tree drop on it (Mom, you'll know it -- the blue house with the gingerbread bright yellow shutters) and now has a tarp over the roof, and one street about a block from DD's school was closed because a huge oak was down. No matter where I drive, branches still litter the sides of the road, trees are broken and there are leaves and debris everywhere.

I'm pretty sure this storm caused worse damage than the ice storm in 2008 and the wind storm last year.

We had our generator, thankfully, but I admit to getting nervous when the few gas stations with power in the area started running out of gas. In the past couple of days, too, generators are being stolen in huge numbers, even when they're chained up. I'm always saddened when hard times bring out the worse in people instead of the best. I did see one picture in Amherst where a woman (on Sunday) who had power was inviting folks to her house to watch the NE Patriots game. Just stuck a sign out that said "I have power and the Pats ... fans welcome".

In any case, this doesn't bode well for the rest of the winter, but I'm betting there's a run on generators this coming week. *G*

Tomorrow I'll talk NaNo.

=====================

Lexie, Geese and NaNoWriMo

Look who ventured upstairs to keep me company this morning.



She's on my lap now, and making it tough to type. The last few days she hadn't come upstairs at all, and any time I went downstairs, she'd yell at me: "MEOW! I'M LONELY!"

So last night after the dog went to bed, I dragged Lexie upstairs. She immediately ran back down, but eventually slithered up again, looked for the dog and made herself comfortable. I've tried explaining that my dog is the most harmless thing in the world, but she's not buying it yet.

Still, this morning when I opened the basement door (no, she's not allowed to roam at night -- neither was Breeann) she popped right out. Of course, the dog was up so she ran back down, but she hovered halfway down the stairs (way to tease the dog!) and waited. Once Dakota left, she came back up.

Silly girl.

And fall is definitely here. We're getting flocks of geese coming through as the venture south. I was at the library yesterday morning around 9 a.m. and there were a couple dozen on the lawn below, grazing (and finding the occasional apple -- it's an old apple orchard):



I know they're hard to see, but my camera on the phone doesn't zoom. I've cropped it here:


DD goes on her first field trip today. I admit to being a little nervous ... it's something I did hundreds of times as a kid and never thought about whether my mom worried about my safety (on the road ... not so much at the place). Still, this is good for me, too. Gotta let go of your kidlets at some point, right?

Charity Tahmaseb commented yesterday about my issues with waiting on my Samhain submission: You could, of course, take your mind off things by writing something new. I believe NaNo is coming up, no?

Yes, yes it is!! And yes, I'd love to try NaNo again. I really, really love NaNoWriMo ... I have a month to plan. Maybe I'll even (*GASP*) write an outline! I'd still love to give Geoff (from "One Love for Liv") his HEA. And it would be wildly appropriate to finish his story during NaNo, since that's when I originally wrote Liv.

I'll have to give it some serious thought. And for those of you who've read Liv: What kind of heroine do you think would be perfect for Geoff?

===================

You Are Confident

You know what you want, and you're not quick to change your mind. You have strong opinions that are set in stone. You love being the center of attention and having your moment. You don't shy away from the spotlight. You are focused and committed. You never lose site of your goals. You enjoy challenges... in fact, you seek them out. You like to put yourself to the test and see what you're made of.

The Toast Test

About 90% right!

======================

Happy Labor Day

Not much to say today... it's been largely uneventful. Lexie is still settling in to the basement, though I think we'll be letting her out (under supervision and with all the doors to the bedrooms closed) soon. Hopefully she and Dakota will get along.

She's very, VERY affectionate -- the shelter had reported that she didn't like being picked up, which is completely wrong. If you pick her up, she crawls up on your shoulder and nuzzles your face. DD is loving her to death.

Here's a picture I finally managed to take of her -- she doesn't sit still much:



Had a bad time last night missing Breeann ... she was really MY kitty and I kept thinking about the time I didn't spend with her. You know -- regrets. We always have them. The times she asked to sit on my lap and I was too busy. I wish I could have every one of them back. I really miss her. Never realized how much of a fixture she was until she wasn't around.

Give your pets, your kids, your friends a hug today. It's never a waste of time.

=====================

You Are a Crime Drama

You may seem quiet and withdrawn, but you're paying attention to every single thing around you. You intuitively understand people. You are an amazing listener. You are very tightly-wound. You can get completely wrapped up in your job. You're the type of person who always finishes what you start. You like to wrap things up completely.

What Kind of TV Show is Your Life?

About 75% right...

=====================

Worried...

Everything I know I learned from my cat: When you're hungry, eat. When you're tired, nap in a sunbeam. When you go to the vet's, pee on your owner. - Gary Smith

Worried about my kitty...



She spent all day yesterday vomiting. I pulled her food after the first two times, but she didn't stop. This morning she's lethargic and wobbly -- probably dehydrated and exhausted. She threw up again at some point last night and shows no interest in food (and she's usually a pig), though she did drink a little.



The vet opens at 8:00 ... I'll be calling immediately. My girl is seventeen years old, so we worry. DD is sure she's going to die and is distraught.



All thoughts and prayers are welcome.

=====================

Unwanted Neighbors

It's wonderful to me that bees have this simple, age-old thing going on. -- Peter Fonda

Remember when I mentioned Dakota had been stung by a yellow jacket? I knew something was up, because every time anyone walked on the two steps leading off my back deck, a few yellow jackets would buzz around. Yesterday, I asked my DH to see if he could find the nest.

He found it... and it was amazing.



Directly underneath the top step, those buggers made their home! How could we not have noticed earlier? Why did we only see real evidence of them a couple weeks ago? Incredible. It was truly beautiful and a work of art. Is it just mind-boggling that hundreds and bees could create something this complex? I wish there had been a way to eradicate the bees and keep the hive to look at, but alas there was not.

DH spent a couple hours getting rid of it. First he emptied a can of wasp killer all over it. He had to crawl under the deck to do it -- it's higher on that side, but he still had to squat and it didn't allow for being able to shoot and then RUN, so I was terrified he'd get stung. He didn't, though he did whack his head on the deck once.

After a few applications of poison, he pulled out the hose and soaked it. Next, he dug out a 8' long 1 x 1 stick we use as a poker for our burn piles, stuck it in and yanked it out then whacked it like he was played croquet.

Here's what it looked like at that point:



We had larvae all over the lawn and some really angry bees, so DH turned on the sprinklers... but first he ran the mower over the nest a couple times, just to make sure it was demolished.

I've been told that they tend to return to the same spots, so I'll have to keep an eye out there next year, because I really REALLY don't want something like that to happen again. We are so lucky none of the rest of us were stung and that Dakota only had ONE.

In other outdoorsy, nature-type news, I'm pretty sure my tomato crop is history. I went out yesterday to pick the two tomatoes I finally had ripe and discovered that chipmunks had helped themselves to those two lovely, red fruits -- eating half of each one (why they couldn't have eaten ALL of one and left one for me I'll never understand). I have about a dozen green roma tomatoes, but that is all. My dreams of canning several quarts of sauce have disappeared. And I had planted thirty plants! *sigh*

My squash and cucumbers, on the other hand, appear to be coming along famously. We picked another dozen cucumbers yesterday, and two nice summer squash. I have at least half a dozen butternut on the winter squash plants, and depending on when we get our first frost, I may have more.

But I really, REALLY wanted tomatoes...

How was your weekend?

==========================

You Are Mashed Potatoes

You like the simple things in life. You think complexity is a lot of fuss and often overrated. You take the slow and steady approach whenever possible. You never like to be in too much of a rush. You are conventional and orthodox. You are the most normal person you know. You like and prefer solitude. You are your own best friend.

What KFC Side Are You?

That's surprisingly close to right!

===================