Friday Happenings

Here in Maine we're a pretty laid back bunch for the most part. We don't get to riled up and take things as they come. This winter has been a bit challenging for even the most seasoned Mainers as we have had over 100 inches of snow in some parts. Now as you all know I love the snow but not everyone shares my sentiments but that's not where I am headed with this.

In Bethel Maine they REALLY know how to enjoy the snow. Bethel is in western Maine near the New Hampshire border and in the snow belt. The skiing is amazing there and draws crowds from all over Maine, NH, Mass, NY and beyond. Again I digress..

What I really want to show you is what they do there to celebrate the snow, they build the world's largest snowman or in this case snow woman! Her name is Olympia after our Senior Senator Olympia Snow. Note how her last name fits right in with the occasion, I'm sure that was planned at birth......ahem...

This is a small part of what was said about this massive undertaking:

With the temperature in single digits, several hundred people including busloads of schoolchildren turned out for Friday's dedication of the 122-foot-tall mountain of snow.
Mark Bancroft, who donated the 150-foot crane used during the project, noted that it has been a tough winter with high fuel costs and nasty weather.

'What does Bethel, Maine, do when it gets tough? We build a snowman!' he said to the muffled applause of mittens and gloves clapping together. It took more than a month, dozens of volunteers and tons of snow to create Olympia. Jim Sysko, a civil engineer, oversaw design and construction.

The final product is the talk of the town. People especially liked the lashes created from old skis donated from the Sunday River ski resort. Olympia's eyelashes are made from skis and her bright red lips are painted tires.

Yesterday Hubby and I attended a funeral of a friend was was almost 102 when she passed away several days ago. We had been neighbors for years and her granddaughter and Son grew up together almost seeming like brother and sister at times. This was a woman that quit school in the 5th grade to go to work to help support her large family. She married her husband and together they ran a department store here in our small town for many years until their retirement. She was a lovely Christian woman that lived her faith and not just talked about it. We were told yesterday that she spent two hours in prayer each morning praying for family, friends, missionaries, public officials, her church leadership, people with needs etc and etc It puts me to shame to say the least as I have never had one day in my life spent in two whole hours of prayer. My prayer list is fairly long but certainly nothing compared to this fine lady. What a legacy she left and what a prayer warrior we have lost.

I'm getting ready to go down and visit the snowbirds in Florida with one of my sisters. I want to be all packed and ready to roll the day before as T's birthday is going to be while I am away so I want to have a celebration here the night before we leave. T's favorite it turkey dinner with all the fixings so that will be the menu. Yesterday I picked her up from school and we went to the mall to do some birthday shopping. I have most if it done but needed a couple more things and she wanted Crocs so I needed her to try them on.

We needed a snack so she wanted a Slushy. Those things should be outlawed! Blue frozen sugar. To say she was bouncing off the walls after that would be an understatement. I wonder if it would help me when I need a burst of energy to say, clean the house?

This photo was in our newspaper recently. This horse has a tail that is 12 feet 6 inches long! How does one take care of a tail that long? Do they bind it up in one of those little tail thingys? Fill me in horse people!!!

We're getting ready for another craft fair so had to take some pictures last night to put in with our registration. We asked T and D to model our hooded towels for us but D wasn't having anything to do with that so T did it. This is our puppy and frog.

Have good weekend everyone! :o)

Tuesday Talk

Don't let anyone tell you that raccoons don't like their comforts! This was taken one summer when I looked out and this little raccoon was asleep in one of the deck chairs. She stayed there for a long time, was still there when I went to bed but gone in the morning. She did come back several times and take a nap and eventually started bringing her babies. I'll try to find a picture of them too.

Many of you will remember the movie Peyton Place that came out 50 years ago. Of course I was just a tot and didn't know about it until about ten years later and watched it on video. It was quite risque at the time, they sure would be shocked now at what is on the TV and in the movies wouldn't they? I guess my interest in the movie and the subsequent follow up movie was the fact that I went to boarding school about 10 miles from there and went through Camden every time I went home. The Camden web site visitcamden.com has a write up and has this to say and I quote:

The 50th anniversary of the filming of Peyton Place in Camden took place last summer on the weekend of June 15 through the 17th, 2007. The movie, which garnered nine Academy Award nominations and launched the careers of more than a few cast members, was Camden’s first brush with Hollywood.

I know there are a lot of you readers out there and this might be a fun read for you even though it is more then 50 years old. Have any of you read it???? The web site talks about the actors that made a name for themselves, my favorite was always Sandra Dee.

The shop where I purchased my gown for my senior banquet was the shop featured in the film, under a different name of course. Camden is a beautiful little coastal town with quaint shops and a beautiful harbor filled with lobster boats. It's one of those picturesque towns that the tourists enjoy but haven't taken over like say Bar Harbor where the huge cruise ships come in and mob the little downtown.

The turkeys are back in full force after the big storm over the weekend. I love how the males fluff up and show off their finery. The ones is these two pictures are fairly old as you can see the tassels hanging from their chests. The older the bird the longer the tassel. I doubt if their life span is very long with all the predators that enjoy them for dinner but these two have been around for a while. The grand kids enjoy finding the long tail feathers in the summer time.

I'm still on barn duty at the stable. Have been feeding and doing chores about every other day to help out. Tomorrow is supposed to be freezing rain and slick roads so I doubt I'll get up there. Jean, the owner, is coming along quite well with her eye but still isn't able to do much as far as lifting or risking getting into the hay dust. Her son and husband are doing everything that I can't do.

The horses all look good and we are thankful that we aren't having a winter like last winter with the outbreak of the strangles. We had a couple of months that were horrendous with all the fevers, pus, sweats and temperature taking. Buddy was the sickest and it was touch and go with him for a few weeks but the old boy pulled through thankfully!!! :o) Our dear gentle giant, what would I do without Buddy????

I'm looking forward to the mini horse show in Ocala next week. I may just have to put a couple of them in my suitcase and bring them home! Brace yourselves for pictures galore! I'll try to restrain myself but with something as cute as minis it's going to be hard not to take tons of pictures.

Someone asked me about the teeth cake in my last post. I don't know who made it, it was a forward that someone sent me with a bunch of funky cakes and that one caught my eye so I had to put it in.

The Weather Outside Is Frightful!

We sure got hammered with snow this weekend with about a foot and a half on Saturday. It was one of those all day storms that just keep going and going. To my eyes it was beautiful. To the eyes of the owner of the local ski slope it was more then beautiful as it means a couple more weeks of income. With the incredible amounts of snow we've had this winter it's made for the best skiing season that we've had in a number of years.



We made good use of it by going snowmobiling this afternoon. Nine of us went including T and D and two of their friends. D was with me and was fine until he fell asleep on the way home, something about the hum of the machine and the nice fresh air that puts him right out.


It was gorgeous out there this afternoon. It was about 30* with the sun shining so it wasn't cold for us at all, in fact with all my snowmobiling regalia on I was a bit overly warm. The snow was fluffy and soft, clinging to the branches as we went through the woods. Son and T were the first in line so they were covered with snow from hitting the low branches that were heavy with the new snow.

It's almost surreal winding through the woods on the trails, going over bridges with the streams running below you. With the hum of the machine and your helmet on you don't hear anything else and it is peaceful and white. It's much warmer in the woods too as you are protected from the wind that whips across the big open fields. The air is fresh and brisk which gives your cheeks a nice flush of color, especially the youngsters. There's nothing any cuter then a tot with cheeks red from being out in the snow.

I had lots of visitors to my feeders on Saturday. When it storms it brings them in from far and wide. I put out about three times the normal amount of feed to get them through the storm. See how tightly they were packed into this open feeder!

No these aren't my choppers, this is a cake! Can you believe it, I think it is a hoot! Do I need to get a life or what???



A couple of you asked me if I painted the mural on the playroom wall. I would like to be able to say yes I did but that is not the case. A friend of mine painted it and it is one of my treasures. Sure looks like you could walk right up that road to the barn doesn't it?

I hope this cartoon doesn't offend those of you that are delicate in nature but I grew up in the country and an outhouse was a way of life until we got 'indoor plumbing'! We had a 'three holer' back then, two larger and one small one with the obligatory Sears catalog in there more for looking at then for....ahem....well you get my drift.. Our outhouse was attached to the house and barn by a long corridor so we didn't have to go outside to 'go'..... So I thought this cartoon was a howl!

I hope this finds you all well and having a good start to this first week of March.

Friday Happenings

It's Friday afternoon and T just got off the bus from school. She spent the night here with us as Son and DIL went to see Elton John in concert last night in Portland about two hours away. D was with his other grandparents at the lake getting spoiled I'm sure! :o)

We're supposed to get another big snowstorm tonight and into tomorrow. They were saying a foot of snow but now it's up to possibly 16 inches. I really don't know where we are going to put it all especially on the main streets and sidewalks. I gave the turkeys a much bigger feeding today to tide them over as they won't come out in the storm, they will be hunkered down in one of the big pine trees out back. Also will put out more for the deer too as they won't come around if it is really bad out there. Read in the newspaper today that one man feeds about 200 deer!!!!!! That's a lot of grain to be putting out!!!

I like bluejays. Now I know some people think they are hogs and drive off the smaller birds but I have enough feeders out for everyone so I like them. They are the most beautiful shade of blue. Notice the second one has a seed in his beak.

I have been filling my feeders at night when I go out to put deer grain out but come morning sometimes they are empty and I know the birds aren't coming out after dark. Early one morning I caught this gal helping herself! She would hit it with her face and knock seeds onto the ground and then eat them.

This is Rocky the black and white lamb. He weighs a little over a pound. He is named that as he kind of got off to a rocky start in life. He was born premature and his mom rejected him. He lives next door to my sister so she gets to check in on him regularly. His owner is bottle feeding him and he is doing really well! (Now strains of Eye Of The Tiger should be playing..) More pictures of Rocky in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.




Haven't we all had a day when you just have to scratch where it itches?

LATER

It's very quiet here tonight. Son, DIL and D came to pick up T and stayed for dinner but now they have gone home. The Elton John concert was amazing with just a piano, no back up singers, bands or orchestra. He sang for two and a half hours. Anyhow what I was leading to is how much energy little ones have. We have a playroom downstairs and one of the kids most favorite things is just this big thick lead rope that is hooked to the ceiling that they can swing on.

They do this by the hour when they are here. So much for the fancy schmancy toys.

Now Noodles on the other hand likes his fancy schmancy cat condo. He has claimed it for his own and spends a good part of the day right on the top in the sun. This guy likes his comforts. Munchie, not so much, she would rather be upstairs under one of the beds out of sight of the grandchildren!

Hope you are having a good weekend. Just think of us up here in Maine digging out from another storm!

Give Away Winners!

Today is the big day! I had Hubby draw the names out of the basket for my give away. I want to thank all of you that participated. The winner of the cookbook is Tina at Palm Tree Fanatic and the horse book goes to Barn Goddess at Ramblings From the Reservation! Congratulations to both of you and I hope you enjoy the books as much as I have! Just e-mail me your snail mail address and I will get these right out to you. thediz@roadrunner.com

I've been knee deep in horse poop this week. The owner of the stable where I keep my 5 guys in the winter has had eye surgery and still has another one to go. I guess she has a bleed behind one of her eyes where they did the cataract removal. She has been unable to lift or do much of anything so we all have been helping out with barn chores.

This afternoon the horses were so cute when they came in with a dusting of snow on their backs. They were very impatient as we were about 30 minutes later feeding then usual so there was a lot of snorting and blowing going on. Funny how it all quiets down once they have their face in their feed bucket. There is something very calming about listening to horses eat, I've always loved it along with the smell of the hay and grain. (I know, I know, you city gals are rolling your eyes and thinking that I need to get a life!)

This morning when I got up to feed the turkeys the sunrise was just beautiful. I ran back in and grabbed my camera and got a couple of shots. This was with the 500 lens. Doesn't it look like a big ball of fire in the background?

This little guy was sitting patiently for me to throw out the birdseed and peanuts. Actually he's a she and she's not very little! I think we have little ones on the way by the looks of her 'bump' as they call it now days.

I needed some catnip so went into Pet*co yesterday to pick some up. Mistake. Big mistake. They had some great looking cat condos and I have been wanting one for Munchkin and Noodles. Well, let's say it hardly fit in the backseat of my Tahoe.....

Can you see Munchie in there on the right hand side?



Now they both are in there. They have such fun climbing on this thing and sleeping when the sun is shining in the window.

Had to go feed the stable horses again this morning. If you want to feel popular walk into a horse barn in the morning at feeding time! There are lots of whinnies and happy faces. Buddy is starting to shed already and I got a ton of hair out of him after he had his breakfast. Must be that spring is coming even though it sure doesn't look like it today. We got hit with another 10 inches of snow last night. Yikes! I think I will go out and make a snowman as it's the really heavy, sticky, wet snow that makes for a great snowman!