Life in the Bristolwood

I was awakened to a somewhat familiar, albeit nearly “foreign” sound! As I listened, I could hear my heart thumping within me with *delight*! As I faded back into a sleepy slumber, I remember thinking “Is today a HOLIDAY?

This morning, as I was working around in the bedroom, I saw S-N-O-W! I (of course) got so excited, I grabbed my camera (which is working fine!) and snapped a picture! This was the first of several “rounds” which continued throughout the day.

You can see that the ground was turning white, but, alas, the sunshine came out, and the snow disappeared as quickly as it had made its entrance…..Throughout the day, the winds came from the west, growing in intensity to the point that they sounded like a large truck driving up the road!!

We went out this afternoon at about 2, and had several errands to run. By the time we got home at about 7, the snow was coming down and sticking. As we passed the mountain, the hydrants looked like they were working full bore! After the pathetic winter we have been experiencing, I don’t blame them! (I remember the year we moved down here…1992…..the guy who did our excavating said the mountain had its best year the year before, opening at Thanksgiving and remaining open until May. He knew, as he worked at the mountain operating the snow cat.)

Tonight, I went out to the woodshed to grab some firewood, and it was just so pretty! On my way, I came across a little patch where a mole must have been burrowing under the snow…..I don’t remember seeing moles around here, so perhaps it might have been a mouse?

After getting the firewood into the bag, I stopped at the doorway and took this picture……

OK, so even if you don’t like snow, you gotta admit that is a cool picture! And, of ***COURSE*** I carry my camera with me to the woodshed! I carry it with me nearly everywhere, as you just never know when you might capture a great shot! Yup, that is what caused the good batteries to “expire”. I carry it with me everywhere!

Well, Mark is thinking perhaps my camera might just be OK! When we went to Lewiston yesterday, I had placed the camera down on the floor by my feet. This is also near the heat vent.
(As an aside, when we first bought the Explorer, Mark burned the side of his calf seriously enough to land him in the hospital for a few days. Unfortunately, his feeling is not very acute in that particular area.) So, as we drove along, my camera was in the case, baking.

This morning, Mark plugged the camera into the outlet, and it behaved meticulously! He tested the batteries, and they were all “on the edge”. Mark said he thinks I fried the batteries!!! I recharged them all again and they are just finished charging. Since it is late, Mark wants to check the camera out in the morning. I did cheat just a “bit” and put a set into the camera to see what would happen….it WORKED!!!!

So, hopefully, after playing with it tomorrow, the camera will work! And, I will (FINALLY) download my pictures!!!

Yesterday, I was digging around through “stuff” in the bedroom and found a pamphlet from the New York State Power Authority. It was something I had picked up somewhere, and it gave info on a power plant located near the American Falls. I told Mark we ought to take a field trip there today, and he agreed.

I packed a picnic lunch and we were off for a day of fun! We stopped along the Thruway and had subs (I actually made them right there in the Explorer!!) and chips. We had to eat inside the car as it was raining. We folded one of the backseats down and I was able to sit back there and make the subs to order! hehehe I even remembered to bring along a sheet of freezer paper to use as a work surface on top of the cooler!

We got to the power plant at about 3. It has lots of interactive and informative “gizmos” and we really enjoyed playing! There was also a short movie (about 12 minutes) that showed the actual construction of the power facility. It was built in only 3 years, and when one considers the amount of WORK that needed to be done, it was nothing short of a miracle! The plant began operation in January, 1961, 2 weeks ahead of schedule!

So, you might be wondering….*WHY* do I want to CRY??? Well, I was careening about, merrily taking pictures when my Olympus camera just quit working. I had charged 2 sets of batteries for it last night. I wanted to be able to take a lot of pictures. When we got there, Mark asked me why the camera was acting “funny”…..I tried it out and it was OK, then it just starting doing weird things. The LCD screen kept turning off, then the lens refused to open all the way. Then, it refused to close. I am not sure what is wrong with the camera, but it is 4 years old and I would hate to think that I HAVE to replace it. Mark will take a look at it tomorrow, and perhaps he will see what is causing the flaky behavior.

So, there you have it. We enjoyed ourselves today, but I have no pictures. Michelle has some on her camera, so perhaps tomorrow I can see if there are some good ones.

Oh, as an aside….one of the coolest things at the power facility is a camera that is postioned on the Niagara River. The people that work at this facility are so amazing…they were so friendly. One of the guys told us that yesterday there were fishermen down on the river catching Atlantic Salmon that weighed in between 30 and 40 pounds!!! They watched them from the cameras! Mark was able to hone in on some fishermen in a boat….the camera can zoom right in….we were able to see the fishermen up pretty close. Sometimes (when it WORKS) technology is SO cool!

Since I couldn’t think of a more suitable title for this entry, the date shall have to suffice!

Remember Fonzy on the Happy Days tv series in the 70′s? He used to have the most difficult time uttering the words “I was wrong”. Try as he might, he could only get out the “wrrr” sound!
Well, today, it was “be…be…beau..”……um, it was a nice day! Yeah, it is hard to call a 54 degree JANUARY day “beautiful”, but if this was a *typical* January, I guess it could have earned that title! As Mark and I walked out on the porch this afternoon, I could barely believe my eyes as a little honeybee flew past us!

I got a package in the mail from my friend, Linda, from Canada. She sent the family several little goodies for Christmas, mostly FROM Canada! She included two little ornaments that have simply fascinated me. They are created by a Canadian artist named Betty Singer for a company called Samaco.

http://www.samacotrading.com/sites/samaco/collectibles/bettySinger/index.html

Although I could not find these little treasures on the site, they are simply beautiful! The detail is amazing, considering the figures are only about 3 inches tall!

Here is Father Christmas….

And a closer detail of his face and the little Scottie in his arms.

And here is Mrs. Claus…..

In this closeup of Mrs. Claus’s face, you can see the detailing…..

And did you catch the little Scottie in the bag near her feet?

Linda says these are from a collection appropriately named the “Highland Collection”, and new ornaments are added each year. I will certainly ask Linda to grab a new ornament each year for me…. they are just so sweet!

Hope all who made resolutions are sticking by them, and if not, well….there is always NEXT year!

When I got out of bed this morning, I became acutely aware of the fact that I *can* choose what my mood for the day will be. So, I decided today would be a day to count my blessings! Not too hard to do….any of us living in the US of A has much to be thankful for; we are such a rich nation with far more than our share of needs and desires met.

I went downstairs and washed the dishes…there are ALWAYS dishes in the sink to be washed…..then I sat at the table for a few minutes of what my mother used to call “quiet time”! As I sat down, my eyes landed on a flower arrangement I made on December 30. I had gone shopping at Wegman’s for a few things, and (as I always do) checked out the flowers there. I was so drawn to one arrangement. It was simply a few large white carnations with some filler that was dipped in gold “dust”. The arrangement just kind of took my breath away! So, I copied it!

They didn’t have any of the large white carnations, so I settled for the minis. I bought the same vase, the same filler, and the minis.

When I got home, I was amazed at the GENEROUS amount of carnations I got for $3.99. There were TONS of them! I cut them and the filler, then began placing them into the little vase. Oh, the arrangement at Wegman’s also had a few ferns in it, but I figured it would be OK without them. They had tied a narrow golden ribbon around the vase, but I didn’t have any gold ribbon.

I settled for a wide white ribbon with golden trees on it. Here is what I ended up with….

The Wegman’s arrangement was $14.99, and mine wound up being about $11.00. The difference is that my little arrangement is much fuller! So, I am well-pleased! Carnations always seem to last such a long time, and with these white ones being “natural” (as in, undyed) I think they last a good long time, indeed!

As the temperatures were on the incline this afternoon, I decided that I would NOT complain about no cold weather and no snow. The creepy part, though, about this weather is that it still gets pretty cold at night, so I need to make a fire in the Jotul every morning. The not-so-bad part is that there is literally TONS and TONS of kindling in the woods. We had some pretty wild winds here last month, and the net result is that the woods is littered with treetops and broken limbs all over the ground. They make it a snap to start a fire, so I cannot complain about the work involved!

And, speaking of the woods, as the day progressed, I decided to take a little jaunt through the woods…

This is a little path that winds through the woods, taking us down to the “lower 10″ acres of our property. The path used to be much wider, but over the years, with some substantial downpours, the drainage ditch to the right became wider and wider, making the path narrower and narrower! This time of the year, without all the foliage, you can see the hills across the way. It really is quite pretty!

As I mentioned earlier, there are lots of dead branches and treetops that blew down from above, making the job of finding kindling a *breeze*!

As you follow the footpath down the hill, there is this small spot where the land actually is pretty flat. I had always thought this would be a lovely place for a cabin…The land naturally rises a great deal from the road, allowing one to look out and down a bit. It is just one of many pretty little spots on our property.

As you can see in these little pics, we have trees falling over every winter. I guess it was the wind that knocked these down, as there has been no snow to do any “harvesting”. We always say that God sends angels to harvest trees for us to keep *me* protected!!!!

And, just a couple of pictures looking up into the woods. As you can see, we really do have an endless supply of firewood. No matter how quickly we process the wood, there is always more waiting for us to discover it lying on the ground or leaning against another tree!

I think I mentioned on my blog before about how the oak trees here just do NOT want to give up their leaves….I think I can *hear* this particular tree uttering, “I will NOT go nekkid!!!!”

To end my little walk in the woods, I came around to the front of the house. There, the little stream was merrily winding its way down through its bed….the light of the sun was playing on the water, nearly blinding me as I looked!

As I entered the house, it really didn’t seem so important anymore that there is no snow…..And, I was able to count many, many blessings!!!

I thought I would post a “happy” picture to welcome in this new year. No, this isn’t my house….it is a house across the street from the home of my parents. We welcomed in the new year at my parents’ and I could not resist snapping this winter (WHERE?????) wonderland of lights!

Last year seems to have flown by so swiftly. I am not sure where it went, nor what I was doing as it passed by so quickly, but I am learning with each passing day that time is certainly not much of a friend! It neither stops for us, nor allows us to catch up with it!

I have made no resolutions for the new year. I always disliked doing so, as they usually fall by the wayside. I don’t like making plans and not being able to follow through because of my lack of “sticktoitiveness” or circumstances beyond my control which cause my plans to be put on “hold” ……better to just try to be and do my best with each passing day! I know there are many attributes I need some work on, so I will merely strive towards those. The Lord knows I have so many faults and I pray He will help me overcome some of those in this new year!

I got up early this morning, and my mom was already up. We took the dogs for a walk, and that was a really great way to start 2007! It was something I so appreciated, as it is terribly hard to walk in my neck of the woods. It was nearly 50 degrees when we took this walk, and that just seemed so bizarre. Usually, January brings REALLY cold weather, so this was almost surreal!

Well, here is to another new year! May you be blessed richly with peace, love, happiness and all things good!