HIGH WATER

I took a picture this evening from our bathroom window. The high water is about 100 yards from the house. The sign says " Turtle Crossing ". In the summer we have Snapping turtles and Painted turtles that lay their eggs in my garden.
The creek has been rising slowly all day, and we haven't had that much rain. I'm sure it's from all the snow melt up stream. There is more rain coming tonight, so no doubt it will be higher by morning. I was out walking this evening and saw a pair of Wood ducks, and of course I didn't have my camera with me!

ORCHIDS & A CHRISTMAS CACTUS

It really isn't a very nice day today. Cold, damp and quite windy. Temp. at 4:15pm is 52º. Better than 32º, but overcast and a good day to stay indoors. The creek behind our house is rising too from the rain last night, but most of the snow has melted, and that will help so the water won't get too high.
Have a good evening everybody and stay warm.

ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL DAY !

This raccoon was foraging around in this stream. When we stopped to take his picture, he tried to crouch down low so we might not see him. We saw at least 5 raccoons out and about. Country streams

Goldfinches are everywhere. They especially love Thistle seed.

You can see another male Goldfinch getting his bright yellow summer plumage.

SPECTACULAR SATURDAY

What a beautiful day ! Temps in the mid 30's. We took a ride this afternoon. We watched trains for a while seeing 6 in about an hour. On the way home we took the long way and just enjoyed the nice weather, for tomorrow there is the prediction of rain.

Turkey Vulture>

These grapes are still sleeping !

An Amish saw mill. They were done working for the day.

An Amish school

Then we spotted this old sugar shack.

EVENING SUNSET IN THE COUNTRY

MORE WINTER

My poor Rhododendron thought warmer weather was coming. LOL. This week-end the weather folks are predicting temps in the 50's. Bring it on !

The Mourning Doves searching for seeds in the snow. We got 2 1/2" last night.

Not a very good day to be outside. Rain, snow, drizzle, more snow etc. Tonight it's 31º, all snow and we expect maybe 3" by tomorrow morning. Guess the Narcissus will have to cover up their little heads to keep warm for a few more days.

LOOK WHAT I FOUND

This afternoon I took Tauqua for a walk on the upper nature trail we call the Llama Trail, and coming back toward the house I spotted some Narcissus peaking their heads up through the snow. Can Spring finally be on it's way ? We can only hope...

A RIDE IN THE COUNTRY

A nice day for a ride. It started out sunny, but then before we got home it was trying to snow. Gary took the pictures of the barns, and I drove. We saw a large flock of turkeys crossing the road, and these two were the last to go across.

Temp this morning was 8º. Tonight it's 33º and rain/snow. Oh where is spring ?

A sunny day...

We took a ride down into Pennsylvania to a large shoe/boot store. Gary needed new shoes, and this place has the best shoes for his feet. Throughout the store they have many stuffed wild animals up along the walls. Each one has been perfectly done, and positioned as if they were alive. I've included a few. The last picture is another old barn.

Temp 10pm 18º and clear skies. Rain for tomorrow.

Have a good night all.

A huge turkey.

This Grizzly looks pretty mad !

Another vintage barn we saw today.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

The snow rabbit....
We took a walk this afternoon down to the creek behind our house. This melting snow pile looks like a leaping rabbit if you tilt your head slightly to the right..
A beautiful day ! Cold 14º at 7am, but sunny. I'll take it.

Two Canada geese on French Creek. These two nest here every year.

How about tree bark ?

More left over ice on the weeds.

HAPPY EASTER

We're just about ready for the Easter Bunny. The girls were over this morning, and we colored eggs. Then they put tattoos on all the eggs, plus their hands and their arms. We had a grand time, and they were very good Mommy....
When I was young I always would go to one of my girlfriends house before Easter and her mother would help us dye Easter eggs using material. She had cut out little shapes about 2" each from material she had saved throughout the year. We would wet the material and then place many of the pieces on the egg. Finally we took a piece of white cloth and covered the egg, and tied it in a knot at the top. The egg was then lowered into boiling water and vinegar. I don't remember how long we kept it there, but when we took off the white cloth, and the pieces of material the egg looked just like a stained glass window. Of course 50+ years ago the material would bleed through, and those eggs were beautiful. Another method we used was yellow onion skins done in the same way. Wrapped around the egg and then covered with the white cloth and boiled. The end result was a yellow and brown pattern. Really neat !
Hope everybody has a wonderful and safe Easter.

A frequent visitor.

What a beautiful day it was here till about 1:30 this afternoon. The sun was glorious, even though there was a cool breeze. We took a ride out into the country and spotted these two. As we rounded the next corner there actually was a herd of about 10-15. I read in the local paper tonight that the deer harvest this season was far below normal. This is so true, and if you venture out toward dusk on any of the back roads you will see great numbers grazing in the fields. This has also been an easy winter for them to find food. There is plenty of corn left in the fields.
Temp at 9:15pm is 28º More snow headed our way tonight.
Tomorrow the girls will be over, and we will color Easter eggs.

Still it won't go away !

Does this look much like Spring ? NOT ! Last night we got 2" more snow , and it's been very cold and blustery all day. Temp right now 27º

As soon as this weather straightens up a bit and the nights stay cold but the days get above freezing, we'll take a drive and see if we can get a couple pictures of a working sugar house. This is Maple Sugar time, and maybe some of you have never seen how they make syrup the old fashioned way. Speaking about maple syrup, when all the kids were small and we lived in a 100 year old farmhouse, we decided to make our own syrup one spring. We had about 6 Maple trees on the property and we pounded a nail into each tree. Then we hung a glass gallon milk bottle on each nail. Under the nail Gary drilled a 1/4" hole into the tree itself, inserted a short piece of plastic tubing into the hole and we waited. The sap ran so good, that we had to empty those bottles at least 4-5 times in a 24 hour period, even getting up in the night. We strained the sap to remove any dirt particles that had fallen into the bottle, and then decided to boil it in a big kettle on the kitchen stove... This was a HUGE mistake ! That sap splashed all over the stove, all over the walls, and even onto the floor. Because the stove was so hot all the sap that came in contact with the stove surface burned, and made a real mess. You can't cover the kettle because you need the liquid to evaporate, and it needs to boil not simmer. The clean-up was not a fun job believe me., but the syrup did turn out very good. The next year we collected sap again, and this time we boiled it in our milk house, on the cement floor on a burner fueled by a propane tank. Much cleaner.

Winter is back !

30º tonight...Well, I thought/ hoped winter might be winding down, but if you could see outside right now you would know better. When I took this picture this morning there was plenty of bare ground, but as we speak it is snowing like mad, and the ground is all covered again ! The first day of Spring is tomorrow, and maybe more snow for us...
I bet this little old building was a busy milk house in it's day. It resides in front of a really decrepit barn that is falling down. It made for a beautiful picture though. I'll post it this week.

THE BOSTON STORE

This is a picture taken from 8th and State Street, Erie Pa of the Boston Store .
From its opening as a small millinery shop in 1885 to its heyday in the mid 20th Century, the Boston Store became not just Erie's largest department store, but the center of downtown, the most popular meeting place, and an Erie tradition.
The most popular meeting place inside the store was under the huge bronze clock that hung between the main and first floor. You always heard folks saying " Meet ya under the clock " This store was a grand place to visit. It had 5 floors of the finest quality merchandise. I bought my first ever coat with my own money earned from X-ray school there, and I was so proud. I kept that coat long after I was married, and finally my Mom threatened to burn it if I didn't throw it out. It had it's buttons replaced many times, and the pockets were holy, not to mention the worn areas around the sleeves and the collar ! I did have a difficult time parting with that old coat.
There was the swishing sound of the pneumatic tube system that carried messages from one floor to another. I loved to just stand and watch them fly by, and up through a hole in the ceiling to a destination above.
The Boston Store had the entire 5th floor filled with toys. Gary remembers going up there as a youngster to watch the Lionel trains that were on display at Christmas.
The 6th floor had a beautiful restaurant called the Tower Dining Room, and offered fine dining at it's best. Santa always showed up there at Christmas time and you could have breakfast with him.
On July 7th 1979 at 5:30pm the Boston Store clock tower (in my picture ) rang for the last time.
The store was all remodeled a few years ago and now houses offices and apartments.

A wonderful tradition and a piece of Erie history.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

This is O'Brian the Shoe Cobbler.
This leprechaun is rather jaunty in his battered green hat. He sits on a stump at the cross in the road, hoping to drum up some business for his cobbler shop. He watches for people with pained expressions on their faces and suggests that their shoes are too uncomfortable. He repairs the shoes, gives them his tie, which is a shamrock, and wishes them the luck of the Irish.

Another orchid in bloom

This orchid is called the Brassavola, better known as the Lady of the Night. It is so named because of the delicious fragrance at night. I read that it does this to attract the night flying insects. The scent is very strong of Hyacinth and cloves, and can be detected from several feet away. As soon as daybreak appears, the scent disappears.

Two Fat Cats

This is Maggie and Azrael waiting for their supper. I am putting them on a diet, but they don't know it yet. Shhhh, don't tell them.. Maggie is almost 15 and doesn't hunt any more. In fact she doesn't do much period. She waddles around the yard in the morning, looking for anything to eat, and then she will spend the rest of the day sleeping up high on the hay in the barn. Now Azrael on the other hand is a terror to anything that moves and is smaller than she is. They are good friends.

Bailey the Woodland Gnome

This is Bailey my woodland gnome. I collect Tom Clark Gnomes, and this special little guy works with me in the greenhouse (GH). He has been there ever since we finished building the GH. Gnomes especially love working with plants whether inside or outdoors in the flower beds or vegetable gardens. Due to the fact that Bailey is so small (4" when he stands up), and Azrael and Maggie are ever on the prowl outside, he said he was frightened to be out there where they might spot him, so he asked if he could help me inside. I was delighted. I gave him the job of inspecting all the plants to see if any of them needs watered, and also keeping a sharp eye out for any unwanted bugs. He will alert me too whenever he sees a new flower bud appearing.

In case you don't know anything about gnomes, they can live to 275 years, and longer. I'm not sure of Bailey's age, and you can't tell by looking. The men all have beards and can fool you into thinking they are older ! All gnomes have a footprint of a bird stamped on the bottom of each boot. This is so they can't be tracked while escaping from an enemy while running through the woods. They also work only at night, and this picture was taken early this morning. He is already snoozing atop his favorite stump. I very carefully cleared away all the foliage from in front of Bailey so you could see him. He likes to sleep where he will be hidden from any other humans which is behind all the plants. His ever faithful friend Murtle is at the base of the stump and casts a watchful eye over Bailey so he won't fall. Murtle will let Bailey ride on her back from plant to plant when it's time to go to work tonight.

Stay tuned for more adventures of the gnome clan.

Hard At Work

You Go Girl !

This was the result. The egg scale is an antique and we have had it for about 30 years. The weight of this egg pegs the scale at over 2 1/2 oz.
Another nice day. Temps in the upper 30's, so plenty of snow melted, and more sun. YEA !

Is this really March ?

Here is Gary snow blowing a path down to our burn pile. More sun today. We really have had some nice days, but I am so ready for warmer weather, and for all this snow to disappear!

Frozen Fog

This morning we took a ride early to see all the frozen fog. The temperature was 13º, and the fog was so thick we had to wait till about 8:30AM before we could see well enough to drive. It was really beautiful.

The rest of the day was sunny and now the clouds have moved in and there is snow on the way.

Freight Station

This old railroad freight station is near where we sometimes watch trains. It was built in the 1800's and it is being restored.

Here is an old barn I photographed last summer. I have a CD with old barns, and some of them aren't long for this world. I do more modern ones too, but I especially like these barns that have seen better days. They just have so much character. I like to imagine what kinds of animals spent the winters in there.