February Trip to Massachusetts

Wow. Where have I been the last month? It seems like it flew by. I can tell you where I was for the last week: Massachusetts.

I left warm, sunny Texas for cold, snowy Massachusetts.

I arrived just after a big storm hit. Another storm rolled through after I arrived. I don't think I've seen that much snow since Snowmageddon in 2010. The girls have had snow days the last two Mondays, and they might have another snow day this Monday.

The trip was to help out Valerie. I went last Wednesday and she had surgery on Friday, while Troy was out of town. I stayed for about a week, acting as nanny, chauffeur, and nurse. The snow looked pretty, from inside anyway. Driving around was interesting. The already narrow roads were made even narrower with snow banks.

The coldest part of my week was waiting at the bus stop for the bus. Luckily I bought a new, longer down coat before the trip. I also wore tons of layers.

I made the girls hot chocolate after they were done playing in the snow. I did NOT go out and tromp around in the snow.

The girls helped me make cake balls. I had never done that before.

As we were pulling into the driveway one afternoon, Evelyn spotted some deer. When we realized they were headed for the back yard we went inside and watched them from the window room. The snow was deep--up to the chest of the deer in some areas.

Valerie is doing well. Her surgery was successful. Her recovery will be long and uncomfortable, but I'm glad I was able to go out and help for a while. I just hope the next time I head to Massachusetts it is sunny and warm.

Critter Spotting: Thailand

So we saw lots of critters in Thailand including: cats, dogs, a rat, whatever this boar-looking thing is, peacocks, cranes, herons, a water monitor, a bunny, a duck, chickens, pigs, water buffalo, tigers, bats, lizards, geckos, cows, a turkey, goats, elephants, deer, fish, eel (in a fish tank), baby bears, lots of butterflies, other hoof stock, and lots of other birds and insects.

Nature is So Cool

I found this mostly-dead dragonfly on my way into work this morning. I've taken a ton of photos of it. The pictures don't capture the full depth of strange blue eyes.

Longwood Gardens in June

My parents are visiting and we went to Longwood Gardens on Friday. Ross wasn't feeling well enough to go with us (I know exactly how he feels because he passed his disease on to me.)  The last time my parents visited the gardens was in the Spring--so the Conservatory was awesome, but the grounds were a little barren. This time they got to see everything green and lots of things in full bloom.

These glass fixtures light up at night. There are all sorts of lights set up on the grounds for a special exhibit that Ross and I will have to check out soon.

We saw lots of critters at Longwood, but the most exciting thing we saw was this fox.

It's Been a Long Time

With highs nearing 65 lately snowboarding plans went out the window and we went hiking. I tried to take photos, but the camera was completely dead. I need to get that charged before our trip to NYC. I really can't remember the last time I went to Susquehanna State Park. We didn't go swimming in Deer Creek there last Summer. It has been a long time. Anyway, we spent a couple of hours hiking a couple of miles. It was good to get out and be active. I didn't feel totally out of shape, which is good.

Critter spotting: cows, geese, various small birds, a chicken, sheep, a small snake, flies, and other winged insects.

I didn't see any horses or deer, but I did see their tracks.

I need to make sure and get back there again soon and keep going back. We should go swimming and berry picking there this Summer.

West Virginia

We spent the weekend at Cider Mill House in West Virginia. We'd been there before, and it was just as good as I remember. The owners tried to kill us with food at breakfast. Saturday morning we had: pumpkin bread, juice, tea, breakfast potatoes, crescent rolls, vegetarian sausage, and a zucchini and cheese frittata. Then there was dessert! We had a pear, poached in sugar water and rum, with the liquid over it as sauce, and a cranberry-whipped cream fluff. Holy cow. We didn't have lunch--on Saturday, Sunday, or Monday because the breakfasts were so hearty.  Every morning we had a feast. 

Critter spotting in West Virginia: pygmy goats, guinea hens, chickens, fox squirrels, grey squirrels, various birds, horses, dogs, cats, a donkey, a miniature pony, llamas, and buffalo!

My Joy, Her Torture

I'm so tickled that we have had so many hummingbirds at our feeder lately. I often even see one chase another from the feeder. It seems they don't like to share. I've heard the very silly myth that hummingbirds never stop flying or land. Well, I see that myth debunked every day.

While I enjoy the hummingbirds, Bailey does not. Even if all she can see is its tail peeking down from the far side of the feeder, she cries.

To try to capture a photo of the hummingbirds I sat out on the balcony in my rocking chair--just waiting. A hummingbird came right up to the railing and chittered at me. I don't think I'd ever heard one make noise. I snapped a couple of photos of them near the feeder, but didn't get this one until I gave up and came inside. I got one of two of them, but it was blurry.

I don't like birds, but I really do enjoy watching the hummingbirds. As you see in the photo--my feeder is red, but the liquid is not. It really isn't necessary to color the food, and may in fact be harmful to the birds. I don't buy any special food, I just mix table sugar with water, and they seem to love it (unfortunately, so do the wasps).

I'm going to miss the hummingbirds when the weather turns.

Critter Spotting: Maui

We saw a lot more flora on Maui than we saw fauna. We saw this hen and her 9 chicks in the parking lot next to the beach. We also saw a horse, a donkey, dogs, and a few mongoose. One of the rest stops had at least twelve cats. I saw a mouse--in the hotel room! There were all sorts of different kinds of birds. Ross saw some fish while snorkeling. Oh, and we saw crabs on the beach. On the hike I saw a little black worm, and our private pool had a well-camouflaged frog. And there were lizards all over the place.

Donkey Diner

We ate at Donkey Diner three times while we were in St. John. We ate there on the first Sunday we were there. I really could have just laid at home and had a sandwich, but I'm so glad I got up and we went out to eat. I wanted pizza, and Donkey Diner was close by, so we headed over there. Well, it turns out that on Sunday nights Donkey Diner only serves barbecue. Ross and I ended up sharing the beef ribs. It's rare to find a place that serves beef ribs, so we had to try them. Let me tell you--Brian makes the best BBQ I've ever had--outside of Texas. His coconut curry rice was also divine. Ross tasted Val's and had to order his own. We ended up going back and buying 3 extra sides of rice and taking them home with us for later. At 2 bucks a side, it was a tasty deal we just couldn't pass up.

On Wednesday and Friday nights Donkey Diner serves up pizza. I wasn't as impressed with the pizza as I was with the BBQ. Maybe it was because Brian didn't make it.

Donkey Diner is reputed to have the best breakfast on the island. We tried it out one morning and it was excellent. Ross had BBQ hash. It was eggs, home fries, and Brian's BBQ brisket. Yummy. Val had the blueberry pancakes and Troy and I had (cream cheese) stuffed French toast with mango-pineapple chutney. I wasn't so hot on the (cooked until mushy) chutney, but the French toast was good.

Speaking of donkeys...there are a lot of donkeys on the Coral Bay side of St. John. Every time we would see one on the road we would shout "DON-KAY!" It never got old.

Critter Spotting Update

Well, since the last critter spotting post we've seen lots of different kinds of fish, cats, dogs, huge termite nests, termites, chicks, different kinds of coral, pigs, interesting sea anemone, drunks, iguanas, anoles, parrots, and all sorts of water fowl.

Critter Spotting

In the last two days I have seen: donkeys, chickens, roosters, cats, sea turtles, sea stars, conch, hermit crabs, sea urchins, one sand crab, goats, cows, sting rays, mongoose, lots of different kinds of fish, coral, sea anemone, butterflies, hummingbirds, gigantic bees, ants, tons of mosquitoes, spiders, different kinds of water fowl, cuttlefish, geckos and lizards. I think that an octopus would be the ultimate critter to spot. We'll see.

We Can All Climb Trees!

The Foxes arrived late last night, and today we took them to Susque-hanna for some hiking and swimming. We even got to pick berries on the trail. All of us climbed the big tree on the green trail. It was humid and we were wearing our suits under our clothes, so we were definitely ready for swimming at the end of our hike.

Swimming in Deer Creek was actually really cool. The rocks were hard on the feet though! Some were slimy and slippery, some were sharp, some were oddly shaped and some were covered in a grassy carpet. The grassy carpet ones were easiest on the feet. We had fun with the currents and finding a couple of deep spots. I think we all got cuts on our feet. Laura broke a toenail and I'm missing a chunk of skin from the end of my big toe. Amazingly, it doesn't hurt.

At the end we drove over to the mill and the girls all got to see the Susquehanna River. I found another few fully laden raspberry bushes behind the mill and we managed to almost fill our bag. We had waffles this morning with raspberry sauce and I'll be making some ice cream soon.

Critter spotting: lots of spiders, two fledgling falcons (I thinks that's what they were), lots of other birds, small frogs, fish, a snake, butterflies and squirrels. On the way home we saw deer, cows, and horses.

Up for tomorrow: DC.

More Surprises

I dragged Ross through the raspberry patches yesterday and we came upon lots of critters. We saw a bunch of tiny frogs, dragonflies, a box turtle, a deer, long legged spiders, iridescent spiders, butterflies, fish, and birds. I was much more selective about my berry picking and came home with a bag of very ripe raspberries. I used some of Wednesday's berries to make flax muffins. I think I'll use the rest of the raspberries to make smoothies and ice cream. The blackberry bush had some nice ripe berries and a snake. Yep, a snake, high up in the bush! I reached for a berry and something moved. I noticed a small striped rope hanging by my hand. I called Ross over and he got to see it too. Half way through the hike Ross was sick of the humidity and was done picking berries. At the end we were both really, really worn out.

Surprise!

I didn't think there would be anything to report today, but there were lots of surprises on my hike. The hike went much slower than usual, but not entirely because I haven't had a real hike in about a month. Before I could even get on the trail I was attracted to something bright red on the side of the road. Berries. I always want to eat berries when I find them, but I'm not sure what most of them are so I resist. Not today. They were raspberries! I was picking and eating them, but then I decided to take my sandwich out of its ziplock bag and use the bag to collect berries. I got an entire bag full! So, since I kept stopping all along the trail, the hike that normally would take me less than two hours took me two and a half. I had so much fun. Free, organic raspberries! When I got to the end of the first trail I found another surprise--Blackberries. There was one large blackberry bush, but not many of them were ripe. I found one huge, black blackberry and it was so juicy and sweet. I managed not to get too scratched up--I remember climbing around in the berry patch behind my great grandma's house and getting pretty torn up. I used my long arms to reach as many berries as I could.
These really ripe ones were just out of reach! My bag was full about three-quarters of the way through the hike, so after that all I could do was pick and eat--so that's what I did.
Critter spotting: Today was also a great day for critter spotting. My hearing seemed especially sensitive today (maybe because I didn't have headphones in and I was paying attention) and I caught sight of 5 deer! This particular deer was walking right towards me. I kind of wish I'd waited just a bit longer to take the photo. When he finally saw me he freaked and took off. I also saw a few squirrels, birds, bees, wasps, spiders, and lots of zebra striped butterflies. I finally saw one of the woodpeckers too. I picked a few bugs along with the berries and had to pull a praying mantis nymph and a couple of stink bugs out of the bag.
I don't know what kind of flower this is, but it smelled good, like a tuberose, but not nearly as strong. The bugs seemed especially attracted to it. There are at least four insects in the photo, and I'm pretty sure there is a butterfly on the backside. I sure am glad I forced myself to get out and go hiking today.

On Track

After last week's laziness I'm aiming for 500 minutes of exercise this week.  I'm right on track after hiking a little over two hours today. I think I am learning the trails and I managed to stay on course today.

I hear and see a lot of birds on the trail. I don't know a thing about birds. I'm not really that interested. I hear a woodpecker most days I go hiking, and it reminds me of Fort Worth. We had a woodpecker in the birch behind the house. I'm more interested in the different kinds of mushrooms I see. Maybe it is the food potential! 

I took a couple of different trail spurs today just to see what they were like.  One had a barn along side it and another couple of buildings. The hay field that I walked through a couple weeks ago has since been mowed.

The best part about today's hike was the smell. The honeysuckle is in full bloom and I love it. I'm sure the honeysuckle in Texas has already bloomed.  I miss Texas, but I'm sure going to miss these hikes when we go back.

I keep seeing these berries all over the park.  They look kind of like strawberries, but close up they are spikey.  Strange.

Extended Hike

I was intending to hike for two hours yesterday, but I missed a fork in the trail and ended up hiking for more than two and a half hours! Thankfully I had the map with me, so I didn't panic when I realized I was no longer on the blue trail.

I'm going to rant a little now.  Halfway through my hiking I stopped on a small bridge and looked down into the water. I saw some money floating in the water.  It didn't look quite right, but I climbed down and picked it up anyway (and some more that I found).  When I unfolded it I saw a fake five dollar bill drawn on 2/3 of it and the other third said: DISAPPOINTED? SATAN also Deceives, but JESUS SAVES!  Uh, yeah I'm disappointed. Someone freaking littered in the park! Purposely!  In the water!  I hate religious tracts. I often see them thrown on the ground, but this one is designed to be litter.  The back of the thing of course tells me how I can be saved.  I saved them for the recycling bin. That wasn't the only trash I saw. I also picked up a reflector from a bike, and well, I didn't pick up the diaper and toilet paper I saw.  The toilet paper was under a branch, but right in the middle of the trail!  The dirty nappy had been dropped right on the edge of the trail.  Gross.  People are nasty.

The rest of the hike was great. The smell of freshly 

mowed hay was nice. I mostly saw small things this week:

butterflies, lots of flying insects, beetles, a slug, a worm, caterpillars, 2 dead mice, a small squirrel, lots of flowers, different kind of mushrooms, bright red ticks and mites, and two horses.

Back on Track

Even though I keep hearing that abs are made in the kitchen, and excess food consumption is more to blame for obesity than lack of exercise, I know I still need to work out.  I didn't exercise at all last week. I decided to get back on track this week.  Yesterday I did a 90 minute yoga podcast.  Other than 2 scoops of ice cream instead of one last night, I think I've been eating pretty well this week. 

Today I went for a hike.  I saw a few deer, and one of them didn't mind having a little photo shoot.  I ended up hiking for 2 hours!  I went off trail for a little while and ended up getting pick pocketed by a thorny bush.  Thank goodness I noticed my camera was missing just a few steps later (when I tried to take a photo of a grey squirrel) and I was able to go back and get it.

Up for tomorrow:  The Firm videos.

Hiking, Biking, and Milling

Yesterday was a really nice day, especially after days and days of rain. Ross and his coworkers were going to meet at Susquehanna to go mountain biking.  I decided to go with so that I could hike along Rock Run River.  I didn't start off on a trail, I just wanted to stay as close to the water as possible.  One of the times I was crossing the river I slipped and fell in.  Well, I was just standing there, both feet in the water, with 3 folks on horseback staring at me.  The water actually wasn't very cold, and I managed to shrug off the whole thing and keep hiking.

Ross and his buddies had fun mountain biking. Of course Ross flipped over and got a little banged up.  His buddies were going to continue biking, but Ross said he'd had enough and we were going to leave until Ross noticed that he'd lost his headlight.  We hiked back up the trail to where he had wrecked and he found it.  All in all I got at least an hour and a half of hiking in.

Before we left we stopped at the mill, which was running, to check it out.  It was pretty neat. The mill was grinding corn, and they even gave us some as we were leaving.  I hope the mill is running if and when we go with the Lusters.  Evelyn would love it!

Critterspotting:  On the way to/from the park I saw horses, sheep, cows, and a donkey.  In the park I saw frogs, millipedes, dogs, horses, cardinals, spiders, iridescent green beetles, a large black beetle, a worm, a duck, a blue jay, other birds, some really large ants, and Ross saw a skink.