Thankful Remembrance

Remembrance day.

As I sat down to my homemade breakfast this morning I flashed on all the men and woman who are sitting down to KP rations for breakfast - no homemade goodies for them today...

And I thank them all for doing their oh-so difficult job - while I get to stay home and eat free-range eggs, homegrown potatoes, and whole wheat toast with organic butter. Along with a freshly brewed cup of joe.
How much better does it get?

Animal Wednesday - Beach animals and shoes

When we were at the beach this past weekend I took a quick picture of these gulls just floating on the water - I love they way they look so calm about it. Gulls amaze me with their ability to ride the waves, and fly so swoopingly and run on the sand. And who doesn't love the call of the gull - it is one of my favorite sounds. Okay, they can be a bit greedy - but they're upfront about it aren't they?


Right next to the beach was a huge Osprey nest - must be an old one and been used for years. No activity there now (brrr) but still...it was impressive.

When we stopped for coffee we saw this strange site on the sidewalk. Two shoes, perfectly placed, just waiting for their owner to step back into them. Odd innit?

Happy Animal Wednesday all

For those of you who know it, I needed some small time away. And I got it, with good friends on a weekend visit to Greenport Long Island - where there are dozens of wineries. We left Saturday morning, and took the ferry from Connecticut to Orient Point, LI and drove to our hotel. There were supposed to be 4 of us - that's our tradition - but one friend had a family emergency and couldn't make it. Sad, but we toasted her many times.

Here we are driving up to the ferry in Bridgeport...or was it New London. I wasn't driving so I didn't care!
After we checked into our hotel, we started in on the wineries. This was the first one. Now I'm no wine maven but I did not like this wine at all! I thought "oy, this is going to be a tough afternoon" only to find that neither of my more sophisticated palette friends liked it either.

But it was a cute place with lovely flowers and views.








...and crows flying around....



A few other images from the day - I could always find my friends due to that green jacket.

I think this was the last place we went to - the wine was good here.


But to be perfectly honest...



I don't think any of us were feeling any pain by this time.

Sunset over the hills - it was a cold but gorgeous day.

We went out to dinner that night, and I took no pictures. I'm actually surprised that I remembered how to even use a camera - you can see by the last picture that I was feeling no pain!

We woke up early on Sunday and took the ferry to Shelter Island, drove around for a while, walked the beach and picked up/took photos of shells and other beach debris.





This is a random house on the island - very into Victorian geegaws in the town.


I wasn't navigating so why was I in the front seat grinning like a fool....


Oops....better listen to her....


Isn't this road gorgeous?


We poked around the towns some more and then it was time to leave. On the way back we passed farm stands with such gorgeous produce that I had to take a picture or two.

Glossy Peppers

Purple Cauliflower

Homey Brussel sprouts and potatoes

Driving home. Boo hoo....


I had a very relaxing time. It was good..real good. I'm very glad I did it and look forward to next year - all 4 of us getting away again.

Weekend away

I am off for a weekend with two longtime friends. We are going to Long Island to visit wineries and I will probably be designated driver as I rarely drink...especially wine.

I'm at that point where I wish I hadn't committed to going, even tho I know I'll have a good time with my buddies. Just too tired these days with all that has been going on.

Plus I haven't seen my nephews and their family in WEEKS and I miss them dreadfully.

But...I'll take pictures and intend to catch up on sleep and fun.

Have a lovely weekend all

Random Catch up

We have internet service again, and my computer at work is working again - so whatever evil force was at work there, it seems to have calmed down (knock on wood). So here are some catch up items.....lucky you!!

Last weeks portrait drawing class. I only stayed for an hour as I had to leave very early the next day for Florida. But I got two drawings in - and I really liked using white pastel to add the light highlights. It helped to define things and shapes for me. And no, the poor woman is not crossed eyed - she just looks that way here.

While I like glasses as they are good to define areas and give dimension - I hate drawing eyes behind glasses as evidenced by the drawing two down.

As I've been decluttering, I found my high school notebook with this folded drawing. Cracked me up - even then I didn't like drawing eyes!!

So yes...de-cluttering. A random comment from DH had me swooping down on all sorts of crap in my house and making give away piles in every room. This is a pile of books and other items that is/are going to Goodwill for others to enjoy.

And as for clothes - well - I've done about 3 big bags to goodwill. Good stuff mostly but either I have too much or I don't need it or it was a fashion mistake to begin with. OR...it doesn't fit and I'm not going to keep stuff saying "maybe it'll fit next year". Years ago I bought this 1940's lounging dress, and while it fit at the time, it was always tight. Well now it's more than just tight - and I've decided to get the wrinkles out and sell it on either ebay or etsy. I've always loved it but it's ridiculous to hang onto something that needs quite a bit less in the avoirdupois area.

I think it's handmade and it's blue with pink butterflies. It's lovely really......(big sigh)


On another note, I've been working on the Miss Em comics and my goal is to have 48 pages worth of stuff by the beginning of the year. Right now I have 24 finished pages and 10 in the works. If I don't get 48 - it's OK, but I'd like to have more than 35 at the least. Lot's of work here, let me tell you!!!

It's nice to have internet again. I've missed this....

No Animals on this wednesday

boo hoo -

intermittent internet connection means no posts. DH and I are sharing the random signal and I am spending hours on the phone with Comcast.

No animals today for me, but please link here so I can come back and see all your awesome animals.

Out of touch

My internet connection at home has bombed out.

My computer at work died a slow death.

I am on a borrowed computer at work.

So...no browsing time, no comments (or a low level anyway) from me until I get this all resolved....

And a phone call into a computer geek to help me out!!!