J's Thoughts and Musings

Home Christmas shots

2011-12-12T21:55:00.000-05:00

I am still playing with my camera and going for some fun, colorful Christmas scenes from around the house. While taking a picture of the poinsettia, I discovered why the cats were sick last week.

And this is my favorite, I like how the angel reflects the lights. And then there are a few in this badge that I liked. My son thought I was crazy...

www.flickr.com

November Water Reflection Shots

2011-11-27T23:07:00.000-05:00

The only color is in the reflection of the sky and pines in the brook.

I love the textures and shapes in the photo.

On Friday, I noticed the red berry reflections in the brook and brought along my camera for Saturday's walk. The sky was overcast, but there were still reflections to be found.


Initial shot of berries reflected in the water.

1/2 of the pond was iced over.


Out back by the Beaver Pond

When cats hoard

2011-11-26T23:32:00.001-05:00

It's even better when the mice can be found floating in the water bowl.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone just because I can.

Photography and my First World Problem

2011-11-03T19:40:00.002-04:00

I am enjoying the idea of labeling First World Problems, in my daily life. They are problems that only people in privileged, technologically advanced societies have, in comparison to real problems like food, shelter and safety. This website has more information: Know your Meme.

This was my First World Problem of the week, I was going in to work on the evening shift and had to bring my mini van in for new snow tires and then get home in time for the delivery of a new wash machine. ( There goes the mortgage payment that we didn't have to pay b/c of refinancing this month...)But what I really wanted to do, was to go out and take pictures of the ice that was forming on the trees overnight as we are in the midst of melting. Which is kind of weird for us to have a mud season in November. After all of my early morning errands, I did get a couple of pictures. They may not have been what I wanted, but it's all good. Because, I do have a roof over my head, a job and my health, plus a great family. No real problems here this week.

My goal for this winter? To get a better close-up shot of our resident cardinal.

Early Snow

2011-10-28T21:29:00.000-04:00

How sad to see the autumn leaves weighed down by snow. It's even sadder to hear that we have a bigger storm in the fore cast for tomorrow evening. Leaves + snow = power outages.

This is even sadder, we haven't taken care of our summer things in the yard yet, furniture, kayaks and gardens.

A Compliment, Kind of, I think....

2011-10-25T23:42:00.000-04:00

I was on the phone today with middle son, "How do you like the pictures that I sent you this week?"

"Nice pictures"he replied.

Did I just take the compliment and say thank you? Of course not. Here's the rest of the conversation:

How do you think I am doing?

He pauses and then says, "Well, you are taking pictures of trees in New England in Fall, kind of hard to take a bad picture."

Okay, so I probably took some literary license with the last statement, but that's what I heard and he's right. It's been fun taking pictures in the fall, so many colors.

Even in my front yard, it's gone wild with flowers.

And in our woods, where some of the flowers were tossed in as weeds this summer.

But snow is in the forecast along with a frost and the colors won't last. The wind and cold will change all of that. Usually the flowers above only last a week after blooming and I got a week more due to the warm weather.

Donating our Family's Memories

2011-10-14T20:11:00.000-04:00

Today I brought five boxes of stuff to a yard sale being held by the Marines here in town. In those five boxe, there were our VHS tapes from my children's collection. We have one VHS and don't watch them anymore, time to let go. My goal is to get rid of stuff we don't use.

The first day I started cleaning there were some tears involved as I remembered those days of using Mary Poppins as a babysitter (such a long movie), The Little Mermaid when I had placenta previa with my second pregnancy and first son was 2 and it scared the crap out of him, Winnie the Pooh and son# 2 and Mighty Ducks and son #3. Also included were the movies that grated on our nerves for bad acting and animation- Hot Wheels, Stuart Little and that one Winnie the Pooh with Cressy bird. But then I got a little militant about the number of movies we ended up with, what a racket that was. Where was Netflix when I needed it? About 20 years in the future, lesson learned: don't get sucked into new technology!

Cat Nap Sounds Good

2011-10-13T20:54:00.000-04:00

I am jealous of my cats. How sad is that? I just want a 1/100 of their nap times to catch up with my sleep. One day of just sleeping in the sun, that sounds like a pretty good life right now. Either that or 24 hour days need to be 28 hours so I can get everything done.

Autumn Colors

2011-10-12T21:57:00.003-04:00

Autumn NH Pond, a photo by jennymcb on Flickr.

We are due to get rain and wind tomorrow and I wanted to get some pictures of the autumn colors for my sons. Living in California and in Georgia, they won't get to experience the colors. The colors are muted this year and I used Iphoto to boost the contrast.

I had the day off today and spent most of it getting some schedules and work blocks done as I have a big project for the next 8 weeks to work on. I decided to take my camera along with me when I went out to pick up my weekly CSA vegetables. A quick loop off the main road took me to the local reservoir for this picture. I have always been a sucker for foliage shots reflected in water.

My garden is looking wild with my Mums getting ready to bloom and the Asters popping out.

I would like to try to do a photo diary of my front garden by the street. It's the one that I don't do too much since it's where I have had exposure to poison ivy. Luckily, I have a great husband who helps with the weeding.

This last picture is of our poor tomato plants, the best two tomato plants that I have ever planted. The crop has been never ending. They love being in the sun and at the edge of the porch to catch all the rain! Looks like I need to pick some more.

Quick Trip over the Pond Again

2011-10-07T20:34:00.001-04:00

I love my new camera! Had a wonderful trip to England last week with my friend and we dropped her daughter off at college in Buckingham. What a cute village.

The trip over was uneventful until at 2am on the plane, I got a pain in my leg that wouldn't go away. By the time I got off the plane, on the tube for the ride into London, train to Euston and taxi to Buckingham, I could barely stand the pain. At this point, I was on 8 hours of sleep for two days, not a good thing. We went to an Urgent care and no blood clot from the flight, just an inflamed nerve. ( That's what I get for being tall on a plane!) But with the right meds, I was up and walking the next day. Turns out laying down was more painful.

Mags is there for the next two years. I am jealous of what she gets to experience! It's a nice place to live and only an hour from London! I loved the small food stores and the weekly market we went through on Saturday morning.

My friend is an experienced photographer and we spent a morning in Regents Park where we took many pictures of the gardens. Absolutely beautiful. It was nice to spend a quiet morning away from the crowds that were everywhere in London. Earlier this summer, I got a Canon EOS REBEL T3i .
It takes great pictures, but there is definitely a learning curve to using it.

More pictures to come later.

Summer Time- Loving it

2011-08-07T21:17:00.001-04:00

How can you not enjoy summer?

Friday night deck night where we get to hang outside with good food, drinks and meeting someone new each week
Saturday morning- trying a new water sport, paddle boarding where yes, I could stand up on the board to paddle myself down the river. The best part? Perfect weather and diving off the board to enjoy swimming in the river.
Saturday lunch - Lobster roll, sitting outside with friends
Saturday afternoon- Reading (napping) in the hammock
Saturday night- watching two movies at the same time with my husband while I crocheted some squares
Sunday- Going to the NH League of Crafts fair up at Sunapee park with a friend with similar tastes so we were able to browse as long as we wanted! ( Bought a beautiful leather pocketbook that is like a small back pack and a ceramic garlic pot)
Sunday evening - Went out for an ice cream cone at the farmstand and now watching the Red Sox on TV.

Now that's what I call a perfect summer weekend! I hope that I can hold on to that summertime glow next winter.

Lucky Dog

2011-07-31T17:18:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we had a couple (J &T) come up from Massachusetts for dinner with us. We have known this couple for over 25 years and unfortunately do not get to hang out with them as much as we did before we had kids. When I invited them up, they mentioned that they had a dog and could they bring him. Well, I did say that I have four cats, but since they are indoor and basically clueless about other animals, I told them to bring him on up.
The background on the dog is that he was part of a divorce where neither person wanted him since he is such a nervous pup. J being the good person that she is, heard the story and after just losing a dog that she and her sister shared (long story, but call it a well-loved dog), she and T were still missing having a dog around and took in Sonny. T is Sonny's earth, sun and universe, he just adores T and the feeling is mutual. J is just okay when T is around but Sonny adores her when T is gone. The dog is well loved and just plain lucky to have found the perfect family. Sonny was very well behaved and doesn't look like he is 10 years old.

Punky, King of the cats

And what did our cats do with a larger creature in the house? Well two were in the basement the minute Sonny came into the house. Mini checked it out when Sonny was out and Punky hung around to assert his tough guy persona, picture big fur and growling in the same room and then perched at the top of the cat condo while the dog was outside to keep him in his sights.
It was an enjoyable visit and made me miss having a dog. (Especially since I have at least one stinky cat who thinks he/she can pee on stuff!)

It seemed like a good idea

2011-07-27T10:47:00.001-04:00

At the time.....My husband and I went down to trim two spruce blocking the view to the ocean, he had jeans on and I in shorts. You would think that after 40 years that I would figure out that briar thorns hurt. My legs now look like they always look after a week in Nova Scotia, maybe next year I will remember to wear jeans. But in my defense, it was hard to pack jeans when it was 100 degrees at home.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone just because I can.

Beating the Heat

2011-07-22T20:12:00.001-04:00

"If you don't like the heat, then get out of the kitchen."

It was 85 degrees at 1 AM when we left our house and seven hours later, 65 and foggy in New Brunswick. I'd say we made it out of the "kitchen"!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone just because I can.

Cookies when Words won't work

2011-07-20T09:45:00.001-04:00

My friend was diagnosed with a brain tumor last year. She did what she could for treatment when we all knew the outcome due to the type of cancer. She is home now with family and I did the only thing I could think of for her kids who are the same age as mine. Made some cookies.
I hate cancer.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone just because I can.

Just because I can

2011-07-16T17:21:00.001-04:00

Three years later, I finally can blog from iPhone. Why now? Because I can!
Will the content be any more exciting? Only if I don't catch the auto correct mistakes.
This is how exciting it gets on a Saturday.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone just because I can.

This is what I get for following directions

2011-07-11T19:38:00.001-04:00

I bought a new camera this weekend and followed the directions where it says to take the battery out when not in use. Silly me, I always have a camera ready to go in my kitchen, I know, dumb place, but it's the center of our life.

This morning when I was saying hello to all the cats and went out on our three season porch, something caught my eye! This little deer passing through to join a larger deer in my neighbor's yard. All these years of my hosta being chewed down, I have never seen a deer in my yard and now that my hostas are nibble free, I finally see a deer in my backyard. Luckily, my Sony cybershot was within reach and I got a couple of photos.

But I do wish I had my camera so I could have gotten a picture like this one of the pond I pass each day on my way to work!

Sunday Afternoon at the Beach

2011-07-10T21:27:00.001-04:00

Sunday Afternoon at the Beach, a photo by jennymcb on Flickr.

What a beautiful summer weekend and we were off to the beach this afternoon. We weren't the only ones with this idea! I just love the beach in the afternoon, when all the kids are winding down. Just my husband and I went as my 18 year old was too cool to go, just as well since we ended up at a seafood place for dinner. There's nothing better than fried clams, shrimp, haddock and calamari after a day at the beach.
And no, spray on sun screen is not a good choice for first time beach goers. We were there from 2 PM to 6 PM, glad we weren't there any longer.

Mystery Plant

2011-07-09T20:41:00.001-04:00

Untitled, a photo by jennymcb on Flickr.

Bottom left plant in bucket is a mystery. I think it may be zucchini? I used dirt from my compost bucket, so it could be just about anything!

Pomp and Circumstance

2011-06-12T21:49:00.000-04:00

It's amazing to think that after 12 years of school, each of my three sons were taught how to walk on their last two days of school. Seriously, to graduate, they had to learn how to walk. You would think that lesson would come before the American Revolution or Geometry.
All kidding aside, yesterday was the my youngest's graduation from high school. I wasn't sad, but relieved! Just as my son was ready to graduate, I was just as ready for him to be done and moving on to his next chapter. For the largest class ever in our town, his class endured a lot of complaining by administration and teachers about the size. Just get over it and teach! But someone was doing something right ( parents, thank you very much!), 93% of the class are going to college with 14 entering the military as either ROTC, recruits and 2 going to West Point.
The ceremony was made personal by the speeches given by three students, their chosen teacher speaker and the superintendent. Maybe I am becoming used to the pomp and circumstance, but I think that by the third one, I have realized that graduations are not sad occasions, rather, they are ceremonies to celebrate a transition. So yes, I am glad that my sons were all taught to walk and that now it's time for my bub to learn to fly out on his own.

Back again

2011-06-05T21:38:00.001-04:00

Well if you read my post about 3 posts ago, you will know that we experienced a loss in our family last fall. The winter wasn't much better as Poppa ended up with surgery in December which we didn't think he would survive. Well he did, but not without some complications. After a month in the hospital and a month at Rehab, he came to live with us for 6 weeks then moved into an assisted living apartment where he spent 10 days before ending up back at the hospital. It was only 5 days later that he died at hospice house. Pretty sad that everyone there remembered us, but nice to be greeted with hugs. But as my youngest son said, once Poppa came to live with us, that he was not getting better, was not happy and didn't we notice it? I guess we were just hoping that once he was back living on his own with people his own age that he would get better. It just never happened. Basically, I feel like we have been living through a really bad Danielle Steele book, what more can be thrown at us? Or as my husband pointed out, it's like living a quote from My Cousin Vinny, " let me see, what else can we pile on? Is there any more shit we can pile on to the to of the outcome of this case?! (Stares upward to indicate him thinking of anything else) Is it possible?! (looks up again)"

There's been plenty enough now to keep us busy, the apartment got emptied out within the month and now we just have their house to take care of until it gets sold. Meanwhile, I have been working on squares for Share a Square and the first batch went out yesterday.

I did the drive again down South with my parents to Florida and then back again a month later. Both times a stop in Savannah gave us time to visit with 2nd son who is doing well at school. He is home now for 2 weeks and then we drive back down again with some furniture and another stop to Gettysburg with our two youngest. Working full time is challenging, but I love my job and it keeps me on my toes. Our youngest son is graduating high school this week and we will be empty nesters this fall. Now that is going to be an interesting concept!
Meanwhile, after a winter of stress eating, I joined a weight loss program through the hospital where I drank HMR shakes for breakfast and lunch while eating dinner. The dinner choices were limited, but it's working, so I don't care. 19 pounds later, I can live without alcohol, fake sugar, diet soda and red meat. Really, it's quite okay. Now I just have to get some exercise and I will be all set!
There's my musing for the past 6 months, not much, but more than enough for us.

Blogging, The Art of Staying Fresh and Exciting

2010-12-08T20:54:00.000-05:00

Before there was facebook and twitter, there was blogging. Bloggers shared talents such as photography, book, movie, travel, recipes and enduring life. We wrote our lists of 13 on Thursdays and entertained each other with lists from our lives, mostly funny, some that were sad and few that were educational. There was more of an international flair to what we were doing and we had other bloggers that we regularly read, even if we didn't always comment.

But the camaraderie of blogging was taken over by the quick, one line responses in twitter and facebook. I find that Facebook and Twitter took away the entertainment of blogging. The time spent on facebook just seems to take away from the time spent perusing blogs and links on blogs. Given the choice, I like blogging better. Even though I write into a black hole with 1 or 2 readers, at least I am writing more than 2 sentences. However, the down side to blogging is that some events in life are just too personal to send it out over the internet for all the world to find and read. So even though my blog is quiet, I do still read blogs on my reader. I hope that blogs continue with more people returning to the sharing of their exciting (or even not so exciting)lives.

Presidential Turkey pardon and other lame holiday stories

2010-11-24T23:30:00.000-05:00

This morning we got to see a turkey being cooked on a morning business show which, gee, I haven't seen that story before. Nor have we seen the Butterball hotline story, but then we have, every single year. These types of repetitive story lines just demonstrate that television writers take an early holiday vacation and leave interns running the show.

In the afternoon, it was President Obama pardoning the turkeys. Do you think he really likes that part of his job? It's truly a lame story every year. As I sputtered in my brain about this tradition, I realized that I am consistent...in 2008, I blogged about the tradition. Every time I hear this story, I feel bad for the president.

Enough with the complaints, enjoy your Thanksgiving with family and friends. Take the time to give thanks for the good in your life and to share that with others.

Lost- 3 hours of time

2010-11-17T23:18:00.000-05:00

Between yesterday and today, I lost 3 hours that I will never get back. One was at the last sports night that I will ever have to attend for my youngest son. There is just so much patting one self on the back that I can take. Plus, it's the same talk given each year and our Athletic Director just needs to give up the mike. Then there was a 1 hour gone in a meeting today that was pointless. I wish I could rewind the past two days and skip those hours.

Life and Death

2010-11-11T22:49:00.000-05:00

One of my expressions at work for not getting something done is that life got in the way. In the case of blogging and the past 6 weeks, life and death got in the way. Six weeks ago, life was pretty grand, I got to go out to California to visit with my oldest son who got a "real" job and the opportunity to stay out west while also staying with an old friend who lives in Venice beach. It was a great visit as my old friend was one of the best techs that I have ever worked with and even if we don't politically agree, we enjoy talking about everything else. Plus, she's pretty mellow, along with intelligent, my kind of friend. She has been a wonderful support person for my son who works right across the street from her. I got to enjoy the beach, the sun, the sights and a tour of Sony studios, an excellent vacation.
While away, my husband told me that his Mom wasn't feeling well and that his Dad wasn't too much better. She was seeing a doctor for blood in her urine, while Poppa had stomach pains. Well, I thought, they're both seeing doctors and should be okay. It wasn't until I got home, that I realized that this could be serious. Meme had a cat scan done on Wednesday and no one called with results, she was in the ER by that Sunday night where we got the first bad news. I don't want to get into details, as the news got worse as time moved on. Two weeks later, Meme was in the hospital, with metastatic cancer and we were scrambling to get her into hospice as my father in law was diagnosed with gastritis and was unable to care for her at home. The four grandchildren who lived away were called and flew home from all around the country to visit with Meme while she was still able to enjoy their company. The day after the last grandchild went home, Meme's health took a turn for the worse at hospice and she peacefully passed away last Friday morning. We term the time from the initial ER visit as the quickest/longest time. The illness was so quickly overtaking her as we waited for results.
Meme was 85 years old, she lived life to the fullest and was the homemaker who ruled the nest. Her family was the most important thing in her life. We are happy that we were able to honor her life by following her last wishes, no treatment and a simple funeral. During her time at the hospital and hospice, we had the chance to learn even more about her life. Fortunately, the hospice is located on the hospital campus where I work, close to family and accessible to us 24/7. The end result was not surprising, it was just that 6 weeks ago, it was unimaginable that it would be so quick.
So yes, life and death got in the way, but I was off doing what I felt needed to be done at the time. Coordinating my sons' quick weekend trip home, cooking for the family and visiting with my Mother in law. This was the important life work that goes along with being part of a family. The housework didn't get done, the leaves didn't get raked, bulbs weren't planted and I did what needed to get done in the short time that we had left. It all got done after Friday.
I guess some writers would have a lot to write about given the emotional roller coaster I was on. It's just not my style to write in such emotional detail. But this is what I can say, I am proud of my sons for coming home to visit their Grandmother and to make her smile. She loved them all equally and I gave her permission to haunt them everyone once in awhile. To which she replied, "No, I will haunt you instead."