Life in the Bristolwood

 I haven’t been to a parade in years…..so, please forgive me for putting on so many photos…just trying to give a feel for a parade in “Smalltown, America”.  No further words!

If you never take the time to click on photos to expand them, please do today! I was so excited about these two pictures, although they could be much better….

The first is one I took early this morning. Since the kids were all sleeping, I grabbed my camera and went down by the road, where all the Indigo Buntings seem to hang out. I heard one a little farther down the road, so I traipsed off towards the singing…

And, late this afternoon, I heard a bunting outside the bedroom window. I am always game to catch a better picture of the Indigo Bunting, but as I looked, I realized I wasn’t looking at an Indigo Bunting at all! This is Indigo’s cousin…..this bird is called Lazuli Bunting.

I first spotted a Lazuli Bunting, named for the stone “Lapis Lazuli”, a couple of years ago as I walked along down by the road.  I had mistakenly thought it was an Eastern Bluebird, but only recently did I discover that the two buntings, both brightly blue-colored,  are often found living near one another.

As you can see, the discerning factor between the bunting “cousins” is Lazuli’s bright red breast. Okay, enough birdie excitement…I will now work on an entry for the parade we saw today!

This morning, Mark wanted to make a visit to the cemetery where his dad was laid to rest. My father-in-law used to talk this place up like crazy….he would tell us it was like being in a huge park!

The first business of the day was placing a flower arrangement at the gravestone. I get the honors of doing this every year.

With my camera in hand, I decided to wander around this cemetery just a little, as I never really looked around before. Near my father-in-law’s grave is the Korean War Memorial. (He was a Korean War veteran.)

Those big boulders have some nice etchings in them. Nearby is a memorial to servicemen and women, as well as monuments remembering firefighters and emergency people, as well as law enforcement people.

I continued my little stroll over towards this pretty gazebo.

And the path led to this water feature.

There are lot markers near this area that are in what seem like tiny areas. My best guess is that perhaps this area is where folks who were cremated have their ashes buried….The marker below (apparently the two lucky ducks are still here!) made me chuckle! Who would have thought one would find some humor at the cemetery?

As I walked back, I wondered about the statue I spotted in the distance. This cemetery only allows flat markers….no statuary here….but, this statue was really a marker for deceased infants. It was quite hard to see all the markers, realizing many of these little ones only lived a very short time.

Ben invited a couple of friends to spend the night tonight, so we picked them up on the way home.  A little later, I drove them over to the park to work off some of that super youthful energy!

How is this for a  gorgeous view?

There were so many wild Honeysuckle bushes growing all over throughout the woods. And, oh, were they fragrant!

One of Ben’s friends is a shutterbug, so both he and I grabbed our cameras when we saw this beautiful Trillium. I never saw so many plants all clustered together….and so BIG! My plants look tiny, comparatively!

Yeah, this one needs no explanation, as we all know the “nut doesn’t fall far from the tree”…Or, is that, “apple”?

If you expand this last photo, you can see a big, juicy Bumblebee working away on the pretty apple blossoms.

As you can see by the photos, we are enjoying our three-day-weekend, weather-wise. Tomorrow, the kids are going to a parade for Memorial Day.  Hopefully, we will be getting some sleep between now and then!

My entry on my blog was somewhat shameful yesterday. I think anyone could sense the depth of sarcasm and misery I was experiencing. And, that is after I “checked” myself, trying *not* to be sarcastic or miserable!

Life has been kind of slowly handing me a bit much these days….Mark has a wound that has yet to completely heal, even after about 5 weeks. For some unknown (to me!) reason, I have been going to bed the past several days with heartburn. Then, the news of a little girl being killed in such a tragic way…..well….let’s just say that yesterday is best left in the past.

Today, I got up and went out fairly early to mow the lawn. It takes a good hour, but now that Miss M. has requested I mow a “little extra” for when she wants to have a bonfire with her friends,  the time has increased by about another half an hour. So, I mowed around the house today, and tomorrow will be the swingset area. After I finished mowing, I trimmed bushes in the perennial garden and I think I must have removed about half of the wild Bleeding Heart! I can’t believe the thing has already spread out of control and it isn’t even the end of May!

I emptied the pool cover of all the rainwater and “green grunge” from the trees. The kids will be anxious to get the pool in operation soon, and that cover had to be cleaned off beforehand.

I helped Mark for awhile, then packed a couple of orders. Then, at about 4, Miss M. and I were off to go shopping. Although the day wasn’t nearly as warm as last month’s really unusual temperatures,  one could feel it warming throughout the day. I must admit, after having to make a small fire in the woodstove the past couple of days, the warmer temperature did feel welcome!

As we set out, the skies were very blue with puffy white clouds….

Since we all know it is unwise to shop for groceries when feeling hungry, I had Miss M. call Applebe’s Carside To Go.  Mark and the kids had planned on me picking up pizza on the way home when we were finished shopping.  Since heartburn and I have been a little too “friendly”, I told Mark I was not going to eat anything Italian, Mexican, or otherwise spicy or tomato-y! 

I ordered Smothered Chicken, which is a chicken breast with peppers, onions, mushrooms, and cheese on top. This came with Applebee’s great mashed potatoes and some veggies.  I was so hungry, I ate my entire meal without photographing it! (gasp!)

One of the most nonsensical things a person might do is shop on Friday evening when it is a holiday weekend! It takes about 1/2 an hour to get to Canandaigua. So, the trip is about 1 hour. We didn’t arrive home until about 8:45. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked at the time….BUT, I know I stood in line at the deli for over 1/2 an hour, and I waited in lines to checkout for at least another 45 minutes.  If I add all the time I spent waiting, I guess it makes sense we were gone nearly 5 hours. And, that was with no “unnecessary” stops to take photos!

Since we live amongst the hills and trees, sunsets are not seen here! So of course, I had to stop….

Well, no heartburn! That is a happy beginning for me! Mark told me I will have to eat Smothered Chicken every night until my stomach behaves normally once again! Not sure I could do that much Applebee’s, but my, what a thought!

Today has been a somewhat introspective, if not sullen day for me.  Besides hearing bad news, the weather has been in a very dismal pattern that is far from “cheerful”!

This afternoon, I looked out my (chronically) dirty window to see the Goldfinches happily feeding at the Niger “sock”.  I can’t believe the intensity of the male’s “gold”. He would be more appropriately called Rocking Intense Yellow! Finch if I had to give him a moniker!

As I was working in the living room later this afternoon, I heard the very distinct chirp of a Cardinal.  I decided I would take my camera on the front porch with me, and if the bugger flew off, so be it!

I edged my way over to look at the side of the house. What I saw was (I think?) an immature male feeding on sunflower seeds that had fallen to the ground! He really gave me and the Nikon the “once over”……

Then turned so I could see his full handsome physique. Isn’t he pretty? I am thinking this is a male, as the bird was small in stature for a cardinal, and its feathers look a bit messy.

So, I am going to sign off and just relax for a little bit. (hmmm….maybe not….I just remembered a load of clothes in the washing machine.)

This morning, I was so saddened to hear of the death of one of Steven Curtis Chapman’s little adopted Chinese daughters. The whole thing was a terrible, terrible tragic accident and the family needs much prayer, I am sure.

Rather than hash out the story here, I will provide this link regarding the story.

Chapman recently released a wonderful song entitled Cinderella which he says was inspired by his adopted daughters. It is a beautiful song that touches the heart of any father who loves his “special girl(s)”. It can be found on You Tube,  if you care to take a look. Just go there and type in “Steven Curtis Chapman”.

Mark always tells me that in this world, there is no end to sad stories.  I do believe he is correct….

Since the weather refuses to cooperate and become a bit warmer….sunnier…whatever…..

I have decided that with the United States holiday called Memorial Day coming up on Monday, I would share a recipe. “THE” recipe, from Land O Lakes. If, perchance, you are going on a picnic, (the weather this weekend looks like we will be hopping from November chills to July }}}heat{{{!) or, if you would love to razzle-be-dazzle a chocolate lover-in-your-life, this recipe is for you! Mark says it seriously is “over the edge”!

Fudgy Candy Topped Brownies

• 3/4 cup margarine (I only buy butter, so butter it is at our house!)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1- 12 ounce package semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt (I never, ever add salt, but it is in the recipe)
• 2/3 cup coarsely chopped peanut butter cups

Heat oven to 350 degrees, Fahrenheit. Place margarine and sugar into large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH until mixture just starts to boil; stir until well-mixed. Add 1 cup of the chocolate chips and stir until melted. Add eggs and vanilla, mixing well. Add flour, baking powder and salt and mix well. Stir in remaining chocolate chips.

Pour batter into ungreased 8″ square baking pan. (I use a round 8″ cake pan since I have no square pan!) Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs. Sprinkle chopped peanut butter cups evenly on hot brownies. Cool completely before cutting.

***Now, since I don’t often happen to have peanut butter cups sitting around the house, I made these yesterday and decided to “improvise” with some chocolate/peanut butter frosting. I melted about 1 tablespoon butter, along with 1/4 cup peanut butter, and 1/4 cup chocolate chips. (cocoa powder would also work in place of the chips) I then beat this by hand, mixing in enough confectioner’s sugar to make a stiff frosting. I then added 1 teaspoon vanilla and thinned it a bit more with some milk. To say that this frosting was just as good as the candy is by no means an understatement. I guess perhaps the candy would look a bit more impressive for a special gift.

So, there you have it~

Now, for those of us who take our camera everywhere….

I walked down to the mailbox shortly after noon. As I grabbed the Nikon, I thought to myself, you had better switch out lenses…..put on the long lens.  Feeling in a hurry (will I EVER slow down???) I just left the lens on that was already there.

I got all the way down to the mailbox when I heard an Indigo Bunting singing just as sweetly as could be. It was across the street, in a bush. I whistled as I walked over with the camera poised. The little bird looked so tiny, and it just sat there, singing beautifully! I snapped several photos. And, not ONE of them is any good. DRAT!

Here is my beautiful Fuchsia, instead!

What could be more challenging than another day of our ugly weather? Well, how about waking up with a miserable headache? Unfortunately, that was the order of the day. I suffered through a tension-type headache (in the back of my head and down my neck) until it finally subsided at about 4 this afternoon. I hate headaches like that! And especially since I didn’t feel overly-stressed at all!

We had a few breaks today when the sun poked through the clouds and the brisk winds of yesterday were only a (bad) memory. When the sun came out for a little, I took the Nikon outside and looked around to see what I might see. Unfortunately, those beautiful songbirds that come to the feeder make themselves invisible when I come around with a camera. I can hear them in the trees above my head, but to actually see them is another story!

So, I settled for a honeybee on a dandelion. Interesting….this afternoon, as I was looking at the weather, there was a blurb about honeybees featured. It said that one of the reasons they seem to be diminishing is because they don’t have as acute sense of smell as they did previously. The culprit is smog.

I have several color combinations of Columbines growing in my garden, but this purple one is by far my favorite! It also happens to be the first variety to bloom!

I thought it was so perfect the way these wood violets planted themselves at the base of a tree….neatly nestled against the bark.

Since I felt so miserable for the better part of the day, when Michelle mentioned getting a pizza for dinner, I jumped at the chance! We drove down to Naples to pick it up, and I drove on down a little south of the village to take a couple of photos……

The first is looking northward towards the village….I was too lazy to pop out of the truck, but when I saw the road reflected in the rear view mirror, I really liked the way this came out……

I asked Michelle to take a photo of the powerful-looking sky and she really got a few nice shots. This was my favorite.

We stopped at the little produce market and I got a wonderful Fuchsia plant. It is so big and beautiful. Tomorrow I will photograph it and put it up. For now, it is getting late and I am so exhausted from my busy (not!) day!

|Last night’s weather forecast called for more bad weather today….But, being somewhat of a “Pollyanna”, I thought perhaps things *might* be better than the weatherman predicted.

I awakened at 5:30 am, which is my regular “rise and shine” time. Yikes! The house felt as though it was freezing! After taking care of the Scotties, I rushed about making a fire in the woodstove. After about an hour, the house was toasty warm and feeling so much better. However, on the last trip out to the woodshed, I was slightly disturbed by the hail falling on my head! (tiny little pellets, but this is May!)

Later in the day, when I walked to the mailbox at about noon, the trees were swaying like crazy and guess what greeted me once again? Yes, another bout of hail! Ugh….

The kids had youth group tonight, so after dropping them off, I went for a short trip onto some back roads….as I drove, there were bright blue patches of sky above me! I saw some of the most outstanding views I have seen in this area. No, I didn’t photograph them, as they are special “treasures” that I will keep only in my heart. (unless someone comes along for a ride and begs to see them!)

I wound up down in Vine Valley once again, and the lake before me looked as though it was troubled and about to “boil over”! I got out of the truck to photograph it, and it was all I could do to push the door open. The wind was simply overwhelming!

As I struggled to stay erect, I saw three Mallard drakes bobbing about in the water….it was rather amusing trying to photograph them, as it was a game of “now you see ‘em, now you don’t”! Their little heads would appear, then disappear!

As I opened the door and hopped into the truck, a little Robin landed on a fence across from me…..it looked as though it was staring in wonderment at me! (probably wondering why this insane woman was at the beach on such a day!)

I sat in the truck, talking on the phone to Mark (who was sensible enough to remain at home!) when suddenly a whole waterfowl parade passed before me! It actually consisted of several Mallard ducks, four sets of Canada Geese with their little goslings, as well as a whole flock of swallows swooping all over the place!

Those little goslings are incredible…..they stay right in line with their parents, never wandering this way or that! Amazing…..perhaps we humans could take a few lessons from the geese!

Tomorrow’s weather is promising to warm up a bit. We will see, we will see! |