Watching the Geese Gather

Every morning I travel the highways north across the state line. I am fortunate to live in a beautiful area of rural Maryland. Corn fields and ponds are around every bend in the road.

In the early mornings and the late afternoons, our resident geese migrate or more to the point, commute from their daytime gatherings to the safety of their overnight lodgings.

It's a special treat to hear their calls and to watch them teach their offspring to navigate. When I am outside at sunset and watch the local flock returning for the evening, I am reminded of the wonderful film..."Fly Away Home". I must admit that every time I watch this movie....I cry.

Wylie - The Afghan Mutt

Wylie, the Afghan mutt, was rescued in February by a convoy of British soldiers on patrol in a Kandahar bazaar, where a dog-fighting crowd was beating the smaller dog with lumps of wood to force the last fight out of him.

Back at Kandahar base, it was Australian Federal Police officer Narelle Jensz to whom the soldiers turned.

Follow the link above to read the story. Donate if you can. Send the link to your friends.

Missed the Perseids...AGAIN!

I'm usually up by 5:00 every morning. Even if I wanted to sleep in an extra half hour or so, Mya, will make every effort to wake me up to be sure that her breakfast will be served on time!




Staying awake and lucid past 9:30 at night isn't possible, so I tried to get a glimpse of the meteors before dawn. Didn't happen, but I was gifted with some gorgeous colors!





Now, if only I could get a talented fiber artist to dye me a few skeins in colorways to match these sunrises!

Ground Hogs - Zero \ Me and my Garden - Eleven

Anyone out there with a deep and abiding love of Groundhogs better close this blog right here and now.

For anyone else that has done battle with the beasties over control of their garden and the produce it yields,....I have a tale of VICTORY to share!

If you live in Maryland and are lucky enough to have the land and the time to work a vegetable garden you may have had the experience of watching and waiting for that first lovely, juicy heirloom tomato to ripen.



Here in Maryland, if you are very careful and listen to the weather reports for frost,..you can plant your tomatoes in April. Most of us, wait until May. If you plant early and are lucky , you might actually have a tomato to savor by the 4th of July.

For the past three years, I've watched my tomatoes ripen, decided to harvest a few..."tomorrow", only to discover on my morning walkabout that some dastardly, dirty, sneaky groundhog has decided to taste test my tomatoes and left it hanging on the vine. ARGHHH!!

This year I decided to fight back. We hired a "hunter". He brought his rusty, clanking traps and assured me that I would be planting my fall garden in two weeks.

ELEVEN groundhogs (who knew?!?) later....I have just finished planting my broccoli and I am even trying for cucumbers and green beans. (Have you priced cucumbers lately?.....84 CENTS each! Green Beans at $1.99 cents a pound!)

Thank You, Mike!

I can taste those Cheese and Tomato Sandwiches......RIGHT NOW!

Playing with Blocks

Simply addicting. Found this pattern for a Mitered Square Scarf on Yarnarians Blog and now it's the "go to" project when I just want to do some comfort knitting. Nobody's name is on this yet. I'm still adding blocks but it just screams "Baby Blanket".

I'm thinking that if I add some yarnovers to the blocks and some interesting color combinations, the pattern could become a very lovely shawl.

Harvest Moon - FO !

Promise made, Promise kept!



What a very good feeling. My lovely 93 year old friend needed a gift to celebrate the arrival of her 8th great grandchild. I was very pleased to be able to contribute to the occasion. It was a challenge to get it finished before the birth of Ellie Kate, but we did it!

Mya wants to know when her blankie will be finished!

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Spent the morning watering the blueberry bushes. Thank you, Eddie! He got tired of hearing me complain about carrying 5 gallon buckets of water out to the front field to water my babies. So last year he set me up with a 25 gallon water tank that runs off of the JD 180 battery. What a blessing! So while the tank empties, I pick.

Time to start baking blueberry tarts and freezing blueberry pies!

Lazy Hazy Days of Summer

Lost in the black hole of the USPS

Man, oh Man, oh Man...NOT AGAIN! Weeks and weeks of work and worry....gone, somewhere else. And...I paid to have it disappear! Can it get any worse? Finished, blocked, gift wrapped and Priority mailed the Classic Lace Baby throw to my niece for the birth of her first child. Never to be received and never to be returned to me...the sender.

Next gift I knit will be hand delivered, in person, from my arthritic hands to theirs.

This really s**ks.

Squirrel Standoff

Mya faces off with the local squirrel feeder/strawberry bandits. She stood her ground and protected the home front. A most loyal and protective cat!

The Porridge of Regret

The full quote:

You may sup the porridge of regret with the spoon of sorrow.

This resonates on too many levels.