Happy Birthday to Jules!

Happy Birthday to Jules! He's one year old on the 8th of May and he's the best dog (even when he chews the sofa cushions and steals our socks).
This particularly flattering photo of the Birthday Boy occurred because he lays on his back and was trying to gnaw on my shoe. It serves his right as he's now immortalized as a trully deranged being. I was fortunate that the camera was at hand.
Here's another picture-  more complimentary- of Jules and I on our morning walk. Contrary to appearances, he is not a St Bernard but doing what comes naturally. Being a retreiver mix, he will pick up and carry anything, in his case beer. Not being a beer drinker, I informed him that I'd prefer he find and carry a nice Pinot Noir or Bordeaux.

Oh! The Things You'll See... or Smell

I have been going for a walk every day for years. Generally these walks take place after breakfast and before I do anything else (like work in my studio, go riding, go to work etc). This is such an ingrained habit that if I occasionally can't go early, I spend all day anticipating my walk. I feel it in very fiber of my being.
This winter was a peculiar exception. We had (obviously!) just moved and it snowed what seemed like every day. I wasn't sure where the local hiking trails were located and in any event there was so much snow (as in over my knees) that walking was almost impossible. It was more like wading. To boot, the road was treacherous as it had been plowed so often that it was dangerously narrow and the banks were too high. (People are terminal speeders...)
So I'm happy that the eventual thaw allowed a return to my 14+ year morning ritual. Jules and I have discovered really wonderful places to walk- like at the very end of our road where it turns to dirt and just keeps going. Besides the great exercise, I get to see all kinds of stuff.
Last week I was accosted by the smell of a very dead thing indeed. I am lucky that I interceded before Jules decided to roll in- our taste! the superbly rotting snapping turtle.

What's For Dinner?

Often when we have friends over to dinner, all hell breaks loose and they start seeing things.  For example, our friend Joe stopped by for a chicken dinner and he pronounced the chicken's internal cavity to look like a grotto and the next thing we know, the Babee Jeesus has appeared. Thank the goddess for digital cameras that allow us to document such modern day miracles!



Fascinating Faucet Symmetry

I notice one day that the bathroom faucet downstairs looks like the bathroom faucet upstairs. Well of course I always find a million other things to do so I never empirically compare them by taking a picture of the one, than the other. but I keep wondering. Just one of those weird quandries to keep the brain working!
In the meantime, I like where the corner of the sink meets the mirrors and keeps repeating. Makes a trip to the bathroom fascinating!

Fruitful Gifts

Anyone who knows me knows that one of my primary reasons for owning a house was my constant chant of "I want fruit trees! I want berry bushes!" And so we have begun the vegetable garden and started to lay out beds and borders...
The other day I spied a UPS package in a very vertical shape and checked to see if it had been mis-addressed as we hadn't ordered anything. Lo and behold, it was a simply wonderful gift from my friend Laurie in the form of a peach tree- and not just any peach, but a "Belle of Georgia". We were thrilled as we can begin our orchard. What a great gift because everytime you pick and enjoy fruit, you can remember the thoughfulness of a friend. The peach tree has been planted and guy-wired (as seen in above picture) in our "agricultural triangle".
My sister Beatrice and her partner John gave us some raspberry shoots from their yard, so we're off to a flying start. We are still at work erecting the perimeter fence.

Wildlife A-Go-Go

Bob and I were having coffee at around 3:00 after attempting to erect fence posts around the vegetable garden. (I say "attempting" because what with the wind and being two partially geometrically challenged artists, squaring the garden proved nearly impossible. Don't ask!) Anyway, we were taking a break when Bob says, Wow, that's the biggest cat I've ever seen" and I look out the kitchen window and see a bobcat casually sauntering directly across our yard. Yikes! I think I was expecting a neighbor's tabby...
I ran upstairs to grab the camera but of course, when I return, the bobcat has disappeared into the swamp. I swear it was wagging its (very stubby) tail.
I've been curious to see exactly what kind of wildlife we have here as many animals are moving back into Connecticut. When I was growing up, we only saw a deer occasionally and a fox rarely. Nowadays deer are absurdly common as are turkeys, coyotes, and bear (even panther sightings are rumored). I have sincerely mixed feelings about all these visitors... I think we have to acknowledge an uneasy co-existence.

The Aliens Have Landed

So I forgot to mention that our stairway is a portal to another dimension. Hey! At 2:30 in the morning, everything looks like a cosmic gateway.
(This special effect on the hallway is courtesy of our lattice work security panel at the top of the stairs.)