Hi..it's me...Paula!

 

My last High School Reunion..The ones who were nice then haven't changed...all still dear friends!

Fall in Upstate New York

I have been making Smileboxes to send to friends..thought I would post one on here for everyone who thinks of New York as the Empire State building, subways and museums and Broadway plays.... Upstate is a world apart!

Autumn pond 1

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Butterflies and Summer's End

Well, summer is about over and I never even came back to keep up on the news of the garden..a bit of a disappointment in some ways but all in all, we did manage to grow some tomatoes despite the early blight which destroyed the tomato crop in most home gardens and even some of the larger truck gardens in the area.

We do have some beautiful kale, swiss chard, and a few rutabagas and parsnips still growing, the broccoli was good but about petered out now, the brussel sprouts are gaining and will be ready in a week or two, I will harvest the largest ones first and leave the plants in the ground as they will continue to grow til hard freeze and I get all the cucumbers I can use. We even had some tomatoes to share with the kids, for some reason the small salad varieties did the best this year and we have picked a LOT of them.

Our oldest daughter and I had a wonderful visit to a Butterfly House last month...what a delightful place, can't wait to go back...and next time, I will make sure that the memory stick is in the camera, not here on the desk!

We are getting ready to leave for Rockport next week, what a joy to see our dear friend, Marie, and taste those wonderful breakfasts again. The weather looks as though it will be cool [well almost cold by the middle of the week] but since we always wait until Fall when the main tourist season is over before we go out, we will have to take whatever weather shows up I guess! Will post when we get back.

Time For the Green Life Again

I can't believe a year has passed since I wrote about our small garden venture. We are back at it this year, having enlarged the garden to a bit more than twice the size of last year's effort.

The weather just won't cooperate with us but "never give up" has always worked in the past and tomorrow [if it doesn't rain tonight] will see the last of the tomatoes planted, maybe a few melons if I can squeeze them in someplace and the bedding plants for my cut flower garden. Then on to the combination pots, a couple of hanging baskets and oh yes...mustn't forget to find a place for the black raspberry plants I bought at a local fresh produce and flower market near here.

We have noticed that every time the economy is bad, the number of gardens rises..many more people trying to grow some of their own food and of course that sometimes costs more than buying it but at least it is fresh and you can pick it when you want it. The best part is knowing what has or hasn't been sprayed , poured or dusted on it, we try to be as organic as possible but the tomatoes need copper to stave off the blight as long as possible and this year we are spraying our old apple trees a few times, hoping for more useable apples in a year or 2.

Last week we drove down into Pa. to decorate graves. My grandparents, great grandparents and some much further back are buried there and it is one of our yearly rituals to load the trunk with flats of annuals, trowels, jugs of water, gloves [which I never wear] and invite any of our daughters who can make it go with us for the trip. This year the older 2 went with us, first to Neuman Cemetery in Great Bend and then over the bridge to Rose Hill in Hallstead.

After the planting, the day goes like this...first to McDonalds to wash up and have breakfast or lunch, depending on the hour we get there. then off to a fantastic little dollar store to pick up a few choice goodies. This year Denise and I bought little garden hooks and tiny humming bird feeders to hang on them [along with other assorted stuff]. Deb bought 3 pair of $12.00 sunglasses for $2.00 each and I bought a few other of odds and ends that I thought I needed.

My Great Grandmother Annie would have loved this day, she never came home from Binghamton with out a shopping bag full of goodies from Woolworth's 5 and 10. Maybe she was with us in spirit that day. I hope so.

Then up the road to Susquehanna Pa. where we always visit 2 neat little shops, one always has historic postcards reproductions, small fireworks, great embellished tee shirts, and lots of different items that one never sees in the big department stores and of course NEVER in WalMart.

I bought some photos of the huge viaduct at Lanesboro, and some of the old Joseph Smith home where Joseph transcribed the Golden Plates from behind a sheet back when he lived in this area. Denise found a package of little night light that must be at least 40 years old..we had that kind when the kids were small and was so delighted to buy them as they reminded her of home.

Then across the street to a small shop that sells all sorts of inexpensive vintage glass, old plates and dolls, a few stuffed toys, books for 50 cents, sometimes vintage clothing and linens, old prints and pictures, one never knows what we will find but there are at least a few "must haves" everytime we go.

Denise bought some tiny pitchers for her collection, Deb found some decorative bottles in little wire frames to hang in her windows [I bought a couple of those altho' my house overflows with "stuff"] and a couple of other goodies [she always finds something unique].

I bought a DVD of a tour of England [PBS] for 50 cents.... Denise found that and found a couple of tours for Deb one of France, the other of Paris..we will take her along next year..lol...

Enough for tonight..hope tomorrow will be good weather so I can plant and plant and plant.....

Stillmeadow

Good morning friends, today I am adding a few pictures of Stillmeadow, home of one of my favorite authors.

Her books are still in print today and evoke memories of a different time and way of life [and thinking] and if you love the past, you might try reading some of the Stillmeadow books.
Look down on the right to find the album and check back later as I have many pictures to add. I have reread her books so many times, I still find them to be such a joy.
Her cookbooks are great but I love best the story of how she and Jill found the old 17th century house.

MORE CHRISTMAS in the COUNTRY....2008
Double click to enlarge and scroll to see all.

Country Christmas

We visited a beautiful old country home today..and while we were there, I took a ton of pictures, in between eating and visiting..too many to show individually on here, but these are for Country Christmas lovers everywhere.
Lots of beautiful chalkware, trees all around the house, decorations from around the USA and Dad, grabbing a quick nap. Double click to enlarge.
Enjoy!

Here We Go Again

Another year..another list...of things to do, things to hope for and promises to keep, well all I can say is I hope I have more success than I did last year!

Time to declutter and take stock...time to try to keep in touch with distant family, time to start some new plants and hobbies, time to get back to exercise program for my osteoporosis [ugh] , time to do more of the things on last year's list that kinda fell by the wayside...oh well perfection wasn't built in a day.

Perhaps it would be better to think a bit about what I did accomplish in 2008..that should only take about a minute or so. I did get some good pictures, I did do my donations to my favorite charities although I had to cut back on some of them, I did manage not to gain back all the weight I lost year before last and I did keep all of my old pets in reasonably good health for another year. Kept most of my roses alive, ate more broccolli, and changed my Calcium to one that should work with my Nexium. Added more VIT D, walked almost every day in the good weather, had a wonderful week at Cape Ann and made cookie and bread trays for a couple of neighbors who are having a rather bad time right now. Guess that's it for 2008...

Oh...Spruce is the wolf I have adopted from Wolfhaven for the past 3 years..he is a beauty and my donation helps care for him and keep him safe.

More next time.

Christmas 2008

Muffin had an exhausting day! The whole family has finally headed to their homes and now just Norm and I, Tootie and the 4 house cats are left to enjoy the tree lights, the cookie plates and the PEACE and QUIET!!!
Buddy is sleeping over the heat register and April and Lucky are probably in the back room EATING again.
What a lovely Christmas we have had, spoiled somewhat by the fact that our oldest daughter was just too sick with a sinus infection to come over..but never fear, she feels better today and Saturday we will celebrate Christmas all over again.

What's New

Well, the annual Christmas confusion is upon us again. I am trying to do a little less and enjoy what I am doing a little more. I am nearly done with shopping and even getting caught up with wrapping this year. Have almost all cards mailed out except for those for my wonderful Vet office, the girls at the local bank and the libraries who offer so much pleasure all year around.

Also time to renew my Best Friends, adopt a Big Cat rescue and donate for Spruce, my Wolf Haven friend.

Then something for Smile or Care and one of my Indian Reservation Elders help and I will be done...and totally out of money!

As long as I can give something away, I will always be rich...even though my pocketbook is empty!

My house is full of Christmas and my heart is full of love..can't ask for more than that....

A wonderful Christmas to you all. and "God bless us everyone"

HAPPY ALL HALLOW'S DAY

Yes, I know it's a few days early but I am so far behind that Friday will be here before Monday this week, I'm afraid!

I just inadvertently put the Hallowe'en pictures for this page on my old AOL Journal page which is now on Blogspot as "The House on Long Hill" so will see if I can find a few more for this page [there is a link on here for my other blog if you want to go to the other pictures].

Let me see what I can find...well, I'm not too happy with the way these came out..will try to get time for a few more later this week.

We took a short drive today..well 130 miles, and I took some more Fall shots..a few are really nice so will get a some of them later for those of you who aren't lucky enough to have such beautiful Fall color in your area. The leaves are mostly off now except for the Oak trees which are exceptionally lovely this year and the bright yellow Beech leaves which tend to hang on longer.

What happened?

I have not been able to post to the dashboard

here for almost 2 weeks..ever since I added my AOL Journal with a similar title.

I hope to keep up with both of them and miss adding goodies for the special Friday fun!

We spent several days this past month on taking short day trips to enjoy the gorgeous fall colors. I am a tree hugger/lover and here in the Northeast we have some spectacular days to store up in our minds and pictures to get us through the ugly months of November and March which are usually dull and drizzley..is that a real word?

A couple of pictures from this past week for your enjoyment....one is from my collection of "Old Barns of New York", the other is at Old Ferry's Mansion, which is now a throughbred horse farm where some of the top winning horses of the racing world are at stud. It is a beautiful place and we saw many lovely horses...along with a few hundred geese! They show best if you click to enlarge.

Hope to be back soon with more......

Beautiful Fall in Upstate NY

Another lovely day...I love Edna St Vincent Millay's line...

"O World, I cannot hold thee close enough"

That says it all for days like today, a perfect day in every way!

Only God Can Make a Tree!

The trees are glorious right now...even though I had a pile of work waiting at home I couldn't resist a last ride to enjoy them and try to capture some beauty for the long winter days ahead.

Right Around Home

My husband and I decided to take a ride in our own Chenango County today, the sky was blue, the trees are still beautiful but the leaves are starting to come down much too fast to suit us so we took our water bottles, a few snacks and away we went.

First stop, a tiny old country cemetery where I would love to rest...it is the most peaceful and beautiful cemetery I have ever seen. It is rarely used anymore and sadly neglected by the town, many old Revolutionary and Civil War veterans are buried there so the town did put up a monument to remember those who fought..many of the individual stones are lost or broken so this is better than nothing I guess.

From there, we did a 65 mile round trip and I spent all afternoon jumping in and out of the car,nearly decapitated myself when I heard a loudly barking dog closing rapidly in on my heels and threw myself into the car just as a pickup roared by with a 190# German Shepard hanging out the side window, barking like an attack dog! My neck will never be the same!

A Favorite Old Barn

I never tire of photographing old barns...they tell a story of a different time and a different life. sadly, they are fast disappearing and many of them are beyond repair. This old beauty has had a side replaced and it looks as though someone loves it enough to keep it from becoming just a pile of old rotten boards. Looks as though it may have been a small horse barn at one time.

Indian Summer

This has been a wonderful week...threw away money with wild abandon...well, not really but we did splurge on a half-tank full to take a half day trip on a most gorgeous day so I could add to my pictures of old barns and to my newly added interest, old country and small town churches.

Along the way I also managed to get pictures of some rivers, a few still vivid trees and of course the true harbingers of Fall, in Upstate NY, PUMPKINS!

Ready for Fall?

Well the quick answer is no of course, but as I stop to think about it, I know my body and heart and brain can feel it coming whether I like it or not!

Rather than hate the idea, I will welcome the differences it will make in my life. Since I found out over a month ago that I now have osteporosis, along with several other conditions which old age is wishing upon me , I have to make some changes in my life and lifestyle. I have found a couple of good message boards which I check daily, ordered 3 new books which I feel might be helpful, and went on my annual vacation to Cape Ann, Ma.

A 6 hour ride each way made for a miserable back both ways and some extra soreness the day after both trips but was it worth it?

YOU BET! This year, we took Tootie, our little rescue dog and she had a delightful time and more attention than ever..everyone stopping us to ask ?'s, and admiring her and asking what breed she is so they could get one as cute. She is part poodle, part Yorkie and maybe part something else..anyone's guess is as good as mine!

We covered our usual haunts and retraced our steps back to Old Marblehead..this year was much nicer day than last year and I did get some more gravestone photos from the old Burial Hill Cemetery.

Will write more in a day or two and add more pictures but I have been using my new Food Saver to freeze a few bags of veggies for this winter and need to head for the kitchen to finish up for the day...

See you soon.....