Now I like all of the seasons. But just as everyone else, I have some that I like better than others. I am thinking that winter is right at the bottom of the list of my personal favorites.

But something that we usually don’t think about is the wildlife and plants. I am guessing that they have the same thoughts as me.

Here is one of our resident eagles, Earl, sitting in his favorite tree. On this particular day Earl is sad because there is ice all over his favorite fishing spot. I wonder what he will eat for breakfast?

Here is what he is looking at:

And then there are the fish. It is the oddest thing. They go into a state of hibernation. They just sort of lay around next to each other in the deepest part of the pond. But then if we have a nice warm winter day, they will come up and swim all around!

If you look close you will see the netting that I cover the pond with. It keeps out the leaves and any predators that might be looking for a free easy meal! Sorry Earl……

I love all of the plants in my backyard. But there isn’t really much to look at in the winter. Here is a shot of one of my banana trees. In the summer they are green and HUGE!

But at the end of the day I am still an optimistic sort of fellow. So I can find good in just about everything. My favorite things about winter?

a: no weeds to pull.
b: I have more time to work in my shop on wood working projects.
c: I can spend more time at the gun club without thinking about all of the landscaping chores waiting for me at home.

And as Mr Rogers used to say:

“It’s a good day in the neighborhood”.

What is life without hobbies? Just a lot of work. And you know what they say about all work and no play!

So it’s not like I don’t have any hobbies. But sometimes they just grab you and pull you right in!

So I go down to my gun club to sight in my monster 12 gauge shotgun for the upcoming deer season. Now usually I have the club to myself during the week days. But this day there was a man sitting at the shooting bench with an odd looking gun. It had a paint job like a car, and it was on a very fine bench rest, and it had something HUGE on the end of the barrel. He also had the back of his vehicle open. It looked like a gunsmith shop. LOL

So not wanting to be rude, or interrupt his train of thought, I patiently waited for him to take a break. When he did I struck up a conversation with him. He is telling me about his gun and the world of bench rest shooting.  The next thing I know he says “here, you shoot it”. I said no, because he has already told me that he has about $5,000 worth of stuff on the bench. But he insists, and the next thing I know he has me in the chair, setting the gun up for a shot.

So I get her on the bulls eye, and gently squeezed the trigger. I look through the scope and the bulls eye is gone. Shot right off of the paper!!!!! Now that was a whole lot of fun! So he senses my excitement and lets me shoot some more. Next thing I say is “I have got to have one of these”!

So I do a lot of research, and this same man helps me through emails. I finally figure out what I want, and he has one that he will sell! So I ride to his house to take a look at it. He has a man cave that would be the envy of any man. He has a bench set up in there, and he opens a window, and starts shooting on his personal range! He tells me to take the gun home and try it. If I like it I can buy it. Now remember, this man has only met me ONE time! What a trusting man. Just like the old days!

So I shot the gun at the club by myself, and I loved it. Mailed him a check and I am now a bench rest shooter!

The gun is an Anschutz 1411 Match 54. It was built in 1973. It shoots .22 lr ammo. One shot at a time. Here are a couple of photos of her:

I can not believe the shape that she is in for her age!

Here is one of the first targets that I shot with her:

I was really impressed for this being my first time! Looks like I am in for a whole lot of fun!

On our first fall trip to the Outer Banks we discovered a smell that we just had to recreate! If this smell was in our yard, we could close our eyes and be in the OBX!

The smell was actually from a flower of the Silverberry. (The real name is “Elaeagnus x ebbingei”). At first we were told that it was the Russian Olive. And I still think that some people there may call it that. But at any rate it was the most fragrant plant that I have ever smelled. And it smells so good that you just can’t seem to get enough. We could smell it just about everywhere that we went on the Outer Banks.

So when our vacation was over and we were heading home, I stopped at the first nursery that I saw. I asked the man about this bush that was so fragrant. He said that he did have them, but that they probably would not live in Delaware. My heart sunk. I was disappointed to say the least. I asked how much they were. He said $10. And I said “I’ll take 4″! So if they don’t live I am out forty bucks. I was more than willing to take the risk.

So as I was planting them I had mixed emotions. I was hoping that they would live, but there was a lot of doubt. To make a long story short, they are doing fantastic. They grow very fast, have tons of flowers, and I even started a new one from a few cuttings. Success!!!!!!

And the smell? Out of this world! I can close my eyes and I am transported to the OBX! I hate to trim them, because the more branches there are, the more flowers there will be. And the greater the smell will be. My lot is just over one and a third of an acre. These bushes are on a small area on one side of my lot. But you can smell them from just about anywhere on my property.

These would make a great privacy hedge. But for me, I am just in it for the smell! LOL

I guess that I am not the only one who likes them. The bees love them!

It certainly has been a busy week! First an earthquake and then a hurricane. I will be glad when all is cleaned up and back to normal.

However, I am not complaining because we made out well with both disasters! Just cleanup. No damage.

Here is a video that I shot the morning after Irene hit. It was still pretty breezy.
 

And here are some photos of the wind cleanup project.

The water itself looks a little murky, but other than that you might not guess that there had just been a hurricane. It is a little higher than normal!

We have been living in this house for almost 12 years. I think that I put these Wood Duck Boxes up the second or third year.

I got them from the State of Delaware Department of Natural Resources. Anyway, we have 4 total housing units and each year they are all used. Needless to say we always have plenty of Wood Ducks!

But the rare thing is to actually see the little chick Wood Ducks come out of the box. Today was only the second time that this has happened for me. So I ran in and got the Nikon so I could share it with you.

Actually when I discovered the event, it was just about over and the hen had already left. I was coming down the side yard with the weed wacker, making all kinds of noise when I saw them. But I did manage to see a few come out of the box and watched the parade go over to the hen.

Here is a movie of one of the stragglers:

And here are some photos:

The last time I saw this event the hen had 10 chicks. And I am pretty sure that this one did as well. I also saw another hen hiding in the cove with another very large group of chicks. I am thinking that they may have made their debut today as well!

It will be a lot of enjoyment for us watching these chicks mature. Sometimes the hen brings them up in the yard to look for scraps under the bird feeder. They are very small and very vulnerable to the predators, such as snakes, eagles, and hawks. Only about half of them will make it.

I also saw my Green Heron out there while I had the Nikon so I took a few photos of him.

This year for the first time I caught that rascal looking in my fish pond for a snack. I let him know that they were NOT for snacking! LOL

Also there was a Piping Plover looking around for some treats so I took some photos of him. I have never noticed any of these hanging out on the shoreline until this year.

I also saw my King Fisher in a tree at the shoreline, but I could not get a shot of him. Maybe next time!

They say that swans mate for life. So like people it is a sad day when a mate is lost.

Today I found a lonely swan on the ice. He was just sitting there. Looking kind of lost.

So I grabbed the Nikon and went down for a few shots. Well even in his lonely state, he knew that he did not want to be bothered by me. So he casually walked away.

I just could not get it out of my mind. Sort of like Johnny and June Cash. He was just lost without his mate.

I guess that I still need some work with that video!

Well it’s been a great year, but we are looking forward to an even better new year!

First I would like to say that we have many things to be thankful for!

Margo and I have a great marriage. After the first several dates I could not stand to be away from her. And you know what? After all these years, I still can’t stand to be away from her!

We have four great children! We very rarely ever hear the word “step” in our house, but 2 were Margo’s and 2 were mine. They are all still the same to us! I am sure that we were not the first mixed family, nor will we be the last. But it works for us!

Margo and I are not just lovers and friends, but a TEAM! We do every thing together, we have the same money, and the same goals! And for that I will be forever thankful.

Most people have traditions. We like to have seafood on New Years Eve. Sometimes with friends or family, or sometimes just the two of us. This year it was just us! Not saying that I don’t like company, but it was nice for a change.

OMG, this year we had lobster, clams, crab, and chicken wings! We also bought shrimp, but we will have to eat that tomorrow!

Wasn’t a great day for Larry, but it was for us!

So what about 2011?

Well we want to lose some weight.  Not really a lot, but just enough to be healthy. We will probably strive to make more money online. And who wouldn’t want more money?  Can always use it. And we have decided to do more raking. What? Random acts of kindness. I have always been the type of guy that likes to make peoples day. Sometimes all it takes is a little joke. But that little joke could just change somebody’s day. So this year we will pay for someone’s meal, groceries or coffee who is behind us in line. Or maybe pick out someone in a restaurant and pay for their meal.   To put a smile on someones face is all that we would need in return.

2010? It was a great year, but better thing are coming!

What could be better after a nice dinner than a shot of Amaretto and a cup of coffee?

Why a shot of homemade Amaretto and a cup of coffee!

Margo got me started on making homemade Amaretto. When I met her she used to make Kahlua. Nothing fancy, but good. Now I wasn’t much of a Kahlua drinker, but I loved Amaretto,  so I set out to see if I could make my own.

Sure enough, I figured it out. But of course that was not enough. The presentation was lacking. So I had to figure out how to make labels and cap off the top to make it look professional.

The labels were fairly easy to make. I used mailing labels turned sideways and they just stick on (after some cutting). I use a tasting cork to seal the used wine bottles. And then I put the foil wrapper on and dip it in boiling water to “shrink” it and the process is complete!

They make nice personalized gifts for the holidays or special occasions. I have even had friends ask me to make them some for special occasions! LOL

So now I am ready for the holidays! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

It is no secret that we like to get away. My wife wanted to go to Lancaster County in Pennsylvania. RCI had a Gold Crown Resort in Hershey called The Suites at Hershey. Since it is the only timeshare around the area and it is a Gold Crown, it was very tough to get into. But we finally got in last week!

And we love to travel in the fall because of the fall colors and the absence of screaming kids and other families. LOL

The bad thing is that the park was closed and so I did not get to ride any roller coasters! We were right next to the park so each day when we went out we could see the park. Sort of like the park was rubbing it in.

Here is a picture of the empty park.

Here is one of the wooden roller coasters that I did not get to ride.

And here is another.

Here is a panoramic view of the park. If you click on the photo you can see it larger. (Depending upon your browser you may have to click on the photo again to enlarge it.) Just use you “back” button to return here. You can see the candy factory in the background.

This picture was taken at the Hershey Gardens at The Hershey Hotel up on the hill overlooking Hershey. Beautiful fall colors!

In this last photo you can see where we stayed. The three white buildings on the far left with the red roofs are The Suites at Hershey. The only thing separating them from Hershey Park is a set of Outlet Stores in between.

We did get to see some Amish Country as well. I should have taken more pictures, but now I will have an excuse to go back!

You know what I like about living on the Eastern Shore and being out in the country? You just never know what you might see!

Today I am working on the computer and I glance out the window and there it is. A parade of wild turkeys! They were just out for a morning walk. So I grabbed the Nikon to see if I could get a few shots.

Now these turkeys had their own agenda and they weren’t really too interested in what I was doing at first. But as I got closer they sensed that I was not a part of the parade, nor did they want me to be. So they changed direction and started to mosey on into the woods where they had a little more cover.

And that really suited me just fine because I had already been about as close as I wanted to get. I did not want to end up on the 6 o’clock news as the guy that was attacked by a herd (or is that a flock) of pissed off turkeys! LOL

And I can understand what they were probably thinking. Maybe this guy is looking for a new friend to have for Thanksgiving! Ummmmm?

Sometimes living out here is like being in the middle of a wildlife sanctuary, and that suits me just fine!