Stormy Weather

Wow - did we have a round of storms this afternoon. Started with the radio announcements about tornado warnings in Suffolk and it didn't take long for the "warnings" to turn into the real thing! The pictures on the news tonight (which the local coverage is still on now!) looked like something you would see out of Kansas or Oklahoma. Terrifying devastation! You just have to feel sorry for all of those who lost so much - houses just completely gone and ripped off of their foundations. Even the chopper pilot was having a hard time putting it into words. Just a sad, sad situation.

Family and Politics

That's a loaded headline, isn't it?



This past weekend we went to the burbs of Philadelphia for hubby's uncle's 85th birthday celebration. On the way there, we decided to stop by another friend's house just a few miles from where we were staying. Said friend happens to live about 2 blocks from the Paoli Train Station that we drive right by. Little did we know that Barack Obama was having a "whistle stop" rally at the station when we arrived at the site. So we got to our friend's house and walked back over to the train station to listen to the candidate. Very exciting! I would have never guessed I would get that close to the man. We only caught about 10 minutes of his speech before he roared away on the train. But, how cool was that? Here's a picture I was able to snap before secret service men made me "keep moving."


The birthday celebration was wonderful. There were 12 folks at the dinner which was held at everyone's favorite restaurant in Paoli - San Nicola. We had a semi-private room in the back of the restaurant and were there for hours and hours. The chef himself came out to wish our guest a Happy Birthday. And of course, the red wine was flowing freely and the food was magnificent! The birthday "boy" was very touched by everyone being there (we surprised him - he didn't know we were coming) and really enjoyed his special night.

The road trip to Philly is never any fun. It took FOREVER to get up there Saturday - we've never seen traffic like that. Coming home wasn't as bad, but you're always ragged out on the drive home. You know the feeling - like you're never gonna get there. But we did so I'll stop whining now.


This weekend (if Mother Nature will cooperate) will be spent in the yard and the pond. I have some ideas for the front flower beds and I have a lot of work to do. And the pond still needs that final tweak on the waterfall. And we now have to fish out all of the pollen balls in the bottom of the pond too! It makes for very dark water and is not so pretty right now. As soon as everything is up and running properly and fish are thriving, I'll post some new pics.


Gonna check some email and get some dinner. Buon Appetito!

Spring Fever

What a beautiful day this has been. The sky was crisp and clear, there was a good breeze - although a tad chilly - and everything is in bloom. It's good for the soul to see the renewal of nature around us - all of the trees pushing out their new leaves, the perennials poking through the ground and the flowers in bloom.

So far, the pond is working fine - or should I say the waterfall is working fine. We're going to let it go another week or so then we'll go in and "adjust" the waterfall a tad. It's working fine, but it needs to be a little bit wider than we have it now so it lines up with the edge of the waterfall box. We'll get it all straight in time to put some fish in there this year. I miss my fishes. Not that I got so attached to the other ones, but it is very soothing watching them sliver around in the water. I think Zippy misses them too.

Gosh - it won't be long before we're whining that it's too hot outside, right?

Hello Sunshine!

We finally saw the sun again! Hallelujah! I was beginning to feel like a mushroom because it's been rainy and drizzly for about the past 5 or 6 days. But yesterday, the sun came back to visit. Sure made for a great day and lifted everyones spirits. However, the weather doom and gloom folks on the local news are predicting yet more rain tomorrow (another Saturday shot?) and again the first of the week. At least we're getting some of that rain we were wishing for a few months back

Spring is upon us and we haven't done much of anything around the ol' ponderosa. "Hopefully" we will get to repair the tilted waterfall in the pond tomorrow before the rains set in. And I am really behind in getting all of my potted plants out - I usually have all of that done by Easter. Although, Easter was early this year so I don't feel quite so bad. I am hoping to get it done before the end of the month if the weather will cooperate. I'm going to try and keep it simple this year (that's way I say every year) and just put out my favorites: a few geraniums, maybe some begonias, a pot of basil, a pot of rosemary, some petunias for the front steps and maybe a tomato plant (I'm thinking some cherry tomatoes or sweet 100's this year).

Schatze is really showing her age. She is having a real hard time negotiating the three steps in and out of the house and garage. She likes the front steps better because they're wider and she has more of a landing to get started on. She slipped going up the garage steps the other day and all she could do was just kind of hang there until I could get to her and pick her up - only a matter of seconds, but it must have felt like an eternity to her.

Well - at least if it rains tomorrow we can catch the NCIS marathon on USA Network! Here's hoping for good weather (I think - that's a toss up!).

Rainy days...

Another rainy weekend day - just like I like 'em. But didn't get to relax too much today - it was rather busy around the ol' homestead. We had the carpets cleaned this morning at the same time the groomer showed up for Zip and we decided to give Schatz a bath too. A tad chaotic, but we got through it. But before anyone showed up, it was up early at 6am and moving all of the "small" furniture out of the way. Then there was the vaccuming and when the carpets were done it was mopping the wood floors, cleaning house, dusting, etc. Just entirely too busy for a Saturday. So tomorrow, I'm gonna relax. We're having brunch with a few friends and then we're gonna come home and chill out and watch the Nascar race. Going to relax on my Sunday.

Whoo Hoo - a NCIS marathon today on USA Network. Just gotta love it!

It's only 9pm, but I'm feeling tired. Must be my age showing.

Hump Day

Well, we've made it to mid-week. And again, we're on that weather roller coaster ride. We had 75+ temps yesterday and today it barely reached 60. Will it ever end? I know, I know - I'll be belly aching in a few months that it's too hot, right?

One of my very dear friends at work who broke her wrist just got a new cast this week. She was in a full length arm cast up to her shoulder and now it's just below the elbow. She can actually bend her arm now. And I know she's hurting - maybe trying to do too much? But it's a pretty lime green cast - one that you wouldn't dare write on.

I have spent the last couple of nights looking for a B&B in either NC's Crystal Coast or the Eastern Shore around Cape Charles for a little weekend getaway here sometime soon. But with prices of just about everything out there climbing up and up, we might put that on hold. Maybe a quick flight to NYC - we can fly free and hubby has a cousin in Long Island City - so lodging is not a cost. We'll see. I'm just getting that itch to get away for a few days. It's been a long, tiring winter and I could use a change of scenery.

The pond has been put on hold until it gets a scad warmer...it's rather chilly to be playing around in water that's been sitting outside all winter. Brrrr. Maybe this weekend if it doesn't rain too much. But I love rainy weekend days to just lie around and do nothing.

OK, time to make the coffee for the morning and get ready for bed...4am comes awful early!

Ciao.