Yes, spring has sprung. The grass is green and growing, the trees are blossoming, the flowers are blooming, the heat hasn’t come on, the fans are out and the hummingbirds are back. Each year we put the hummingbird feeder out on MM’s birthday, we have seen a few but not the every day visitors to set your clock by…But yesterday as I hung the laundry one little macho fellow was buzzing and chattering, he definitely didn’t like me around his territory. I thought he was going to dive bomb me, instead he kept his distance and made his point. Of course I apologized and quickly got out of his way.
Beginnings and better than endings. I’m talking season today. Here in New England, after the winter we look forward to the spring; its green growing flowers and trees, after the spring; we long for beach days and cookouts. Fall; we welcome the relief of heat waves and colors bursting in the trees; and of course winter brings fun in the snow and a white Christmas. True New Englanders would not think of living anywhere else.
This year our February and March snowfalls have piled up and if it were December, I’d be in love with it! However it’s spring and my enthusiasm for snow has diminished greatly, replaced with come on spring. Perhaps it’s the winter long break downs of the plow truck and a snow season with more debits than profits, knowing there will be no recovery. It’s more like the end of a vacation you are not looking forward to laundry and unpacking. Why is the drive home from a vacation so much longer than the drive to a vacation?
So Mother Nature is it too much to ask for snow in the winter and sun in the summer. Light spring rains in the spring and brisk winds in the fall. You don’t always have to be unpredictable. I know “March comes in like a lion and leaves like a lamb.” And I am so looking forward to your spring lamblike weather.
On our recent trip up the east coast we saw lots of green grass growing and many trees blossoming , so please don’t be late. 
Saturday evening as I drove by Assawompset Pond in Lakeville, a beautiful full moon hung above the frozen water in the pink sky. I had my camera and quickly stopped for a great shot, but I didn’t have my zoom lens. I settled for a few shots thinking maybe they will come out and was on my way. Well, they were less than I expected but I planned to return on Sunday and get the shot I knew would be waiting. Now I could have looked up the time of the moon rise….but I felt if it rose at 4:45 on Saturday it is likely to be around 5:00 on Sunday…so I just went at 5:00. There was no hint of a moon…at 5:30 still no moon…at 6:00 still no sign. So we went for a drive through the causeway around the lakes, it was very dark and still no sign. Now we try to calculate knowing full well that the moon rises and set predictably every day. Dividing 28 moons into 24 hours or is it 24 hours into 28 moons. How about 365 days by 13 moons per year? Well I’m sure you figured out we had no clue as to the formula for finding our answer. We called it a night and headed home before long up pops the moon to our right. OK stop away from lights and try for a shot. I do have the zoom lens but now it is so dark I need a filter, which I don’t have. I disappointedly take a few shots. You see I wanted the pink sky just at sunset over the blue ice with green tree horizon. Well maybe next month because I know a great place to see it again and I’ll leave the calculating to the astronomers that have it plotted out for the next 50 years. Also January’s full moon is called the Wolf Moon. Interesting enough at 10:00pm on Saturday night I heard what I thought was coyotes in the back woods making quite a racket. At 3:00am MM heard it again really loud he dressed and got his spotlight…but when he got outside it had stopped. He was sure we would find where they had taken down a deer in the woods. We didn’t. Again Sunday night at 10:00pm big howling a bit deeper in the woods; are they hunting or celebrating the Wolf Moon?
Three days of single digit temperatures and wind chills in the below zero range have kept the new heating system working well, maintaining the house at a cozy 70 degrees. Three new thermostats are set at an amazing 70 degrees. Prior to this new system the thermostat was set at 64 degrees summer, winter, spring or fall; never to be changed. We did have a wood stove that kept the house quite warm and when baking something in the oven often lead to opening the doors for relief. Now hot water is flowing steady and all this is draining our new 100 gallon tank at warp speed. After two months we needed a refill, and with this cold the next refill could be soon than later. Home heating fuel is about $3.65 cents right now….LP gas was $2.62 last fill so we are saving per gallon but are we using more fuel? Though there is no turning the clock back on this we will have to keep an eye what will be.
So for now I paint, read, cook, watch the birds, build puzzles and enjoy a warm cozy home.
I love Christmas carols. I know most of the words so it’s easy to sing along and I love a sing-a-long.
My musical biography started with my oldest brother’s record player. He worked at Morton Hospital, cashed his check and headed to the record store downtown; then return home with a new 45 each week. There were a lot of Elvis, Chubby Checker, Bill Haley, Beach Boys, and my favorite Buddy Holly. American Band Stand after school and Ed Sullivan provided lots of opportunity to jitterbug and twist around the living room. In high school my mom got me a guitar for Christmas and I tried very hard to be player. I even auditioned for the school talent show, but could remember the words to Puff the Magic Dargon. When I got married we had a reel-to-reel tape player with lots of Beatles, Joan Baez, and Carly Simon. Then with the children we jumped right to cassettes( no we never had any 8 tracks) with Michael Jackson, Olivia Newton-John, Phil Collins and my favorite Men at Work. I did enjoy the MTV video of Thriller. I sent boxes of cassettes to the secondhand store. Next we had CDs and I have about 15 Christmas Albums, I thinking only my older brother would have more. Now we have: ipods and iphones, ipads and laptops, Youtube, and Pandora. How are you hearing the sounds of the season?
What Christmas means to me ….it’s the most wonderful time of the year…time to deck the halls with mistletoe and holly… rock around the Christmas tree… dream of a white Christmas…go for a sleighride…let it snow, let it snow, let it snow… march to the little drummerboy…come home for Christmas….cause Santa Claus is coming to town…hark the hearld angels sings…..a child is born in Bethlehem.
So have yourself a merry little Christmas…cause you’re my Christmas present.!
We Three Kings…
T’was the night before Thanksgiving
And all through the house
The recipes from the kitchen
Had spattered my blouse…
The turkey was resting
And waiting for spice
Rosemary and sage
Go oh so nice….
The pies on the shelf
Just waiting to be tasted
It’s a sure bet
They won’t be wasted…
The table is set and
When William arrives
He’s ready to eat Olives and
tomatoes the size of his eyes…
And Harry will want
his legos to build
A turkey with tail
And feathers all frilled
There will be magic
And football and oh I can’t wait
To thank our dear Lord
For the good things we ate!
My home is small and after 40 years of gathering stuff it is even smaller. The windows are small and impossible to clean. The first thing I do every morning is open the kitchen door and look outside, if the temperature is favorable I’ll leave it open. Then into the TV room and open the curtain to sliding glass door with a pleasant view of the sunrise. . Again, if the weather is nice I will leave that door open also. I want sunshine. Next I get my coffee and sit down to enjoy the birds at the feeder. What a way to start your day.
Because the kitchen is small and always been a busy place when the family stops by for dinner. The boys use the slider to go in and out. Like most kids they’re not so sure if they want to be in or out. The door itself is a bit heavy but the screen is easily opened and closed. One warm day not long when the boys were here, the adults in the kitchen, we hear a CRASH and then howling. We rush into the TV room…Harry is half in half out and the screen door is very warped. (We think his brother closed the door and he didn’t know it.) His mom soothes his bruises
, he must have super powers to bend the door like that. He settled down quickly and we bent the door back. Later when everyone was outside, there was Harry running and spinning and using his super powers outside. Right where they should be used.
I know it was just a few weeks ago I was singing the praises of August; but today I’m in love with fall. Top Ten reasons Fall is Fun
10. Football, even though I’m at the bottom of my Fantasy Football League
9. The Leaves, photographing, painting and even raking.
8. Pumpkins, plump orange pumpkins who doesn’t love ‘em
7. Mums, every color of the rainbow
6. Birds at the feeder and hearing the geese head south
5. Cooler weather just right for sweaters
4. Playing tennis
3. Art classes
2. Cooking and warming the house with the smell of fresh bread
1, Drinking coffee in my pjs watching the school buses go by…because I’m retired!
Beautiful day at the park with the little boys. Acorns and toads and treasures oh my! H spotted frogs in the cranberry ditch but was persuaded not to jump in and catch them. W found the biggest acorns and wanted an acorn hat. Luke got to splash in the water, so everyone was happy. The colors are not at there peak but with a little photo shop they can be.
The AE will arrive at 10:49 am tomorrow. Today at 58 it is quite chilly. The robins, titmice, and finches are gorging on the hornbine berries, the cars need a wash and I am warming up with a cuppa tea. Still in shorts and sandals but with a nice warm sweater. I do believe the hummingbirds have left for warmer climes. Will change the feeders and start with the sunflower seed. The full Harvest moon is still a week away. What few pumpkins I have are still very green. A little water-color practice for the first day of fall.
