Menagerie

Living out in the rural area you find that you see a menagerie of animals. Starting with the chickens and the dog that is usually around everyday. But lately we have seen several other animals. Ones that we didn't get pictures of are a beaver heading for the river, a family of skunks crossing the on ramp to the freeway, a raccoon just off our road, a pair of vultures, a donkey walking down the street and a snake in the grass that I stepped on with my bare feet. We had a picture of a bald eagle in our tree but I couldn't find it right now. Following are the animals that I did get pictures of. I have yet to see a black bear but Jim promises that I will some day.

We have a dairy down the road that makes the best ice cream and has bunnies, cows and pigs to pet. This is not a real cow but it was fun to be this close without the smell.This is Miss Piggy she wanted my ice cream I wasn't willing to share it with her. She really stinks and I didn't enjoy her touching me at all. In fact I was watching Jim take the picture and she came up and touched my arm it startled me and I screamed.

This is our Humming bird feeder. Jim says that by the end of summer they will be so fat that they can hardly fly. There are two of them a male and female. It is so fun to watch the come and eat. For those of you that would like the recipe for the humming bird juice it is 1 C H2O to 1/3 C of sugar.Every year for the past four years Jim has walked out of his front door and found a female snapping turtle laying her eggs. This year it looks like a different one but still we were walking out of the house and there she was. I loved the spinney tail. Jim tried to move her so she would not lay the eggs in the middle of the driveway she wasn't really happy with him. Notice how her mouth is open and she is ready to bite anything that will come close to it. As we were leaving our home the other day we saw a police car with its lights going and the officer out side of the car. Then we looked a little closer and here came a cow walking down the road. Maybe it was going to fast or slow and the cop was trying to stop it. ;) The last animal that we saw and took a picture of is a baby porcupine. The mom was to fast crossing the road to get her picture but the baby was slow enough to get it just before it went into the woods. I am sure the before the summer is over I will find several more animals. We hear in the woods by our home moose, fisher cats, and bears. It is so fun to be here were nature is so close.

Rest of May

Jim was introduced to how I do Birthdays. He had three the first one was given by his oldest daughter Melissa. It was the Friday before his birthday this was because Jimmy couldn't come to the surprise party on his birthday. So that was the first one and of course he got presents there. He had also received cards in the mail and I wouldn't let him open them until his actual birthday. So then on his birthday I told him I wanted to take him out for his birthday so we went to his favorite Japaniese restruarant. After we were seated his kids and most of the grandkids came walking in. He was so surprised. That was great. He got presents there also and he loved it. Then on the following Sat. we had a party out at the house. We had about 25 people here it was so much fun. We cooked hamburgars and hotdogs. Had salads and chips. All who came had a great time. And he got even more presents what a spoiled man. I think Jim enjoyed all of the attention.

The Saturday before Mother's Day we met Jim's brother George (84 years old) and his wife Jeanne at the nursing home where Jim's mother is. Who by the way is 101 and still as bright as ever. George is a snowbird and had just come back from Florida. It was great to meet him because I have talked to him on the phone several times. When we were leaving Jim's mom didn't want us to go so we told her we would be back on Mother's Day to bring her some Dandylions.(acutually they are weeds but the northerns eat them like spinach) She likes them cooked with vinegar, garlic and butter. She was excited for that.

Here is a picture of Jim and his Mom on Mother's Day. We had such a great visit with her. She wasn't really sure who I was since this was the first time that I had met her. She was very alert and happy to have us there. We spent most of Mother's Day with her. I thought this was a great way to spend the day because you never know how long she is going to be with us. She asked me who I was and then turned to Jim and said why didn't you tell me that you were going to get married. Jim said that he just didn't get around to it. I thought that was so funny.

Here is me opening my Mother's Day gift from Julie. I had a great Mother's Day it was nice to be with Jim and his mom.

I really missed all of you and the grandkids.

Going to Maine to look at a boat

Jim said that we were going to find a boat for us so this is our story of searching for a boat.

We decided to go to the islands off of Maine. This is on a ferry boat that is also the mail boat for the islands. There are several islands up there some are private, some are state parks, and some you can live on. We both love the islands and think that maybe someday we will purchase a home on one of them. But for right now we will just enjoy going up for a day trip.

We caught the ferry in Portland, and it was a two hour ride. It stopped at several different islands, the one that we were going to is called Cliff Island. It has a lot of cliffs verses sandy beaches. The water is more gray than in NC but it is still beautiful. The sun was shining and we both got a sunburn. The wind was blowing just a little to keep it cool.
You might ask is this the boat??? No, this is not the boat that we are looking for. However, it is a very nice boat! There are of course a lot of lobster boats in Maine. Up here they pronounce lobster as lobsta. They don't believe in moving there mouths to talk. I have decided that it is a very efficient way to talk but hard to understand sometimes. As you look over the water you will see a lot of floats telling you where you left your lobster traps so that you can come and find them again, later in the day.



Is this the boat? Well, no this isn't the boat either. However, this was a really nice island that had a lot of great homes on it, but not the right boat. It was great to see what the homes look like on the islands of Maine. There were some very small ones and on one island that is a private island had a house on it the looked like it should have been in Atlanta instead of on an island off the coast of Maine.






We finally made it to Cliff Island it was a great island with lots to see and a good selections of boats. But none of these were them. This is a place where the lobsta boats dock and people of the island come to buy the lobstas right off the boats. It is also where they can repair their cages, boats, or anything else. Jim has purchased many a lobsta here. We started to walk around the island looking at all of the nice homes, planning, wishing and deciding that maybe someday.




Finally after walking for a while we came around a corner and there it was! Jim was so excited that he ran right up to it and got in. Isn't it just lovely. I think we could use it to get back to the main land. :)

About this time the camera died and I could not take anymore pictures of the island. We did however have a great day. Laying on a grassy knoll just above the cliffs and ending up napping, writing in our journal and just enjoying each other. I can hardly wait to go back when it is a little warmer. It is so wonderful to have all of these adventures in a new area. To be able to experience some of the places that Jim has gone for so long and has great memories of.

Abby herding the chicken

Abby meet the chicken's yesterday she wasn't really sure what to think of them and they didn't know what to think of her. She got to close to one and it turn on her and fluffed it's feathers and pecked toward her. After that she kept her distance. But still would follow them around the yard. Once in a while she would come into the house but soon was right back out to find them and see if they are okay. Everyone loved the sunny warm day of spring. But this morning we had a trace of snow on the ground again. Just when I think spring is coming it snows again. Jim keeps saying in two weeks it will be warm and green. I will wait another two weeks to feel the warmth of spring and see the green.

Fun in the Northeast

We heat our home with a wood stove and since it still gets in the twenty's at night we have the wood stove going all of the time. When the winter started the wood shed was full as you can tell it is getting less each day. We might even run out but then Jim will disappear out into our woods and chop more wood.From throwing snowballs in the house to carrying in the wood I love New England. Yes, those are my slippers and yes, it is later in the day and I am still in my Jammies. . . Being retired is great!!!!!

Bubbles Bubbles everywhere

After moving all the stuff around the house Jim was so tired and hurt that he decided to take a bath. He added bubbles to the jetted tub and as you can tell it was a little much. So now we found Jim.









To many bubbles? No just enough to lose yourself.














Where did Jim go now??? I am sure he will pop up soon. It is sure fun being married to a wonderful man like Jim even if he gets lost sometime.

Where's Jim

Now that we are married and I am here in our home with all of this stuff. Maybe that is why Jim had a Heart issue. The boxes where piled this high in each room of the house. What a mess!!

Even the kitchen was a mess. We had two and three of everything that I brought. We took two full boxes down to the cellar to see if Laura wanted them. While living in this mess Jim went to the hospital with A-Flutter. He was there for five days and had to have a procedure to correct the condition. Now he is all better and the house is put together. Thanks to Julie's family coming to visit. I work for 12 hours straight to get it taken care of. The eves are full of Christmas and all the closets are full of clothes. Every nook and cranny is full of something. Every room is put together except for my den and that still has boxes in it. But someday it will be done also. For now I just shut the door and don't go in there except when I have to.
Now that the work is all done. It looks great. We still have some pictures to hang. On one side of the fireplace are pictures of his children and on the other side will be pictures of my children. It will look really nice. We are enjoying spring here, even though we had snow yesterday and are expecting some tomorrow. But it is warming up and I love the beauty all around me.