Weather

 We have had some crazy weather! Flooding, flooding and more flooding! I live on a creek that most of the year, is a quiet, slow and shallow creek. Not so this spring. We had flooding like I can't remember. The road just 1/2 mile up was closed. The photo I  took was several hours after it got bad. That is one of many problems we had in my area. I had to go back roads to get to town and even then I drove through water. I am happy I was driving an suv.

My back yard took a hit too. I have never seen the creek that high or angry. At one point it decided to send some of it's over flow through my back yard. Thankfully the water didn't leave a mess on my yard. My neighbors weren't so lucky. Their yard got washed away. What a mess the water made. Where there was grass is now a huge pile of stone and debris. They are thankful it did not affect their home. As am I.    On a happier note, we had an impromptu gathering at our fire last week. One friend stopped, another called and before we knew it we were having a small party. My wonderful husband brought home pizza and my friends husband stopped. We sat at the fire later than we should have as it was a work night and some of us had to get up and go to work. Happily, I was NOT one of them. I don't do well with out my sleep. Does the word bear mean anything? That's what I am on less than seven hours. One of my favorite things is a bunch of friends stopping and having fun. I have to say, I have the best friends! I treasure each one. On that happy note, Till next time.                                                                 

Spring Flowers!

 The last two days have been heaven sent. The temperatures reached toward sixty and the sun was glorious. As the snow melted away it uncovered a wonderful sight. My crocuses (crocii)  were blooming! What a wonderful sight to see. Flowers in mid March. I also noticed my gardens are a mess. I believe more so than usual. This winter has been a long hard  one. What with all the sand, stones and assorted items thrown on the road a lot of it has congregated in my garden. The snow blower, so often used, deposited drive way gravel in it, leaves that would not fall early are piled up and road sand the plows threw about are all making it look a little sad. But among the stones and leaves are shoots of spring bulbs pushing their spears up to meet the sun. I don't remember planting so many but will welcome them when they start blooming. There are several different colors of tulips, many different types of daffodils and others
I can not yet identify.  Along with the flowers there are many birds of many colors returning. One of  my personal favorites is the Red Wing Black Bird. I love their colors and their song. Another is the beautiful bright orange oriole. They are one of the last birds to come back. When they show up I know summer is almost here. In our yard we have a large weeping willow tree where the orioles build their elongated nests every year. I love spring and everything that it entails. Yes, even the mud doesn't get me down. Here in the "Hollow" mud means spring. Till next time.  

YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!

Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day. The birds were having a great time picking the seed off the ground and flitting from tree to tree. This is a photo I took yesterday morning. Wonderful! Today is a different story. Over night we received about 22-24 inches of snow. Wet, heavy, nasty snow.  Where there were no snow banks are now banks almost as tall as I am. Our driveway has been cleaned out twice and the snow is higher than my window sills. 
This next photo is after. I wonder if it is the same bird? He doesn't look very happy does he? The way he is cocking his head makes me wonder            
if he is as upset with the weather as I am. We can only hope that as March has come in 
like a lion it will go out as a lamb and stay that way. I'm sure the little guy in my photos will agree. Till next time.

Slowly But Surely

 Spring is in the air. At least today it is. Sheets, fresh from the line is one of my favorite things. Nothing can duplicate the smell or feel. I believe I am experiencing early onslaught of spring fever! Yes, there are still snow banks and lots of cold but here and there you see hints of spring. The willow trees are turning yellow, birds are returning and I am starting to do spring cleaning. On my agenda this spring are two rooms. That means two rooms to rip out the ceilings, insulate, re-sheet rock, paint, replace windows, replace 

floors and trim out. That means two rooms get emptied into my living room. Can we say huge mess! One of the rooms is my library. I started cleaning off book cases and trying to down size. I gave away five large bags of books and it doesn't show. At what point do we look around us and say enough? When I'm at camp I do with a lot less stuff and enjoy it. What if we did with less in our daily life? I am NOT suggesting that we give everything away but maybe live with just a bit less. HHMMM! I think I can. That is of course not the house in Florida I am looking to buy. That is an investment in our retirement. Winter there, summer here. In my mind it can't get much better. Wait! Then I would have two houses full of stuff! I give up. You can't separate the girl from her stuff. Speaking of stuff, my beloved lap top is going in for repair. Even though I still have my PC, separation anxiety is setting in.  Thats it for now. Till next time.

MORE SNOW!!!!!

 Yes, more snow. The weather man says 6-12 more inches. Our schools aren't closed yet but I do believe they will be announcing an early dismissal. The wild life is getting ready. The bird feeder is very busy as is the suet feeder. Between the birds and the squirrels it is quite a show! The sassy blue jays are trying to take over but the other birds and the squirrels are standing their ground. I opened a window close to the feeders and all took off with the exception of one very bold squirrel. He continued to eat even as I talked to him. Cheeky little thing he is.

 So far I have counted three squirrels, four blue jays, three cardinals, several chickadees, some juncos and one lone mourning dove. I have taken so many pictures that my camera battery is dying. I love my digital camera. It takes beautiful photos and the ones that aren't up to snuff, I delete! Love it! I will leave you with one more picture of my traffic. Till next time.

Time

I don't know about you but I live by the clock. I have clocks 
all over my house. Some are decorative, others utilitarian. 
Some are big while others are small. I even have a travel clock I take with me where ever I go. Why? I ask my self that sometimes. Of course, like every one else I have appointments, work schedules etc. But there are times when I have nothing looming on the horizon, no schedules, no must do's but I still am glued to the clock. When I'm on vacation it takes a few days to forget the time and relax. We all need time away from the clock. Time to relax, time to reflect and time to be quiet. That being said, I love clocks. Pictured are just two of my clocks. The first one my mother gave me and the second is my newest acquisition. They are my favorites. I searched over a year for the clock pictured on the bottom. I knew exactly where I would put it and how it would look. I am very happy to say my expectations were met. 

My question is now, what do we do with our time? Do we spend time with our families? When we get through with a busy day how do we spend our last few minutes before sleep captures us. Is there a loved one who could use a minute of chit chat? Is there a phone call to an old friend we could make? Yes, we all need quiet time but "others" in our lives need time too. Today I am challenging myself and any one reading this to make time for some one we care about. We will all be blessed by this gift of time. Now it is time to finish. With no pun intended, till next time.

Flowers

I love flowers. As a matter of fact, I work part time in a flower shop. A dear friend of mine owns it and I have worked with her, off and on for many years. Last week was Valentines Day so we were very busy. As Valentines day is also my birthday I am always suspect of orders with no name. One order was florists choice. I looked at the price level and started working on it before I caught on that it was for me from my son who was vacationing in Florida. I handed it off to my co-worker and told her to finish it. Of course there was a lot of laughter about it. There is a satisfaction in making so many people happy. Each arraignment is done with the customer in mind. We try to make even the smallest bouquet special. After all, whether large or small they deserve our best.
That's it for now. Till next time.

AGAIN!

Yesterday was a wonderful gift. The temperature reached 52, the sun was out and we finally saw the ice melt off our sidewalks. Today is a different story. It is 15 degrees, it is snowing and the wind is blowing so hard you can't see across the road! What a change in less than 24 hours. Living in central New York you tend to get used to it but that's not saying we like it! The photo on the left are of deer tracks on the lawn. I love seeing them but pity the poor things when the weather is so bad. Speaking of pity, my poor husband is out snow blowing the driveway as we have about a foot or more snow in it and we have guests coming for my mid winter cook out. Yes, I am still having it. The only difference is I will be cooking the meat in instead of out. The way the wind is blowing I doubt the grill would get to cooking temps. The menu is, BBQ ribs, tenderloin steaks, macaroni salad, potato salad, home made baked beans and watermelon. For starters there is, smoked atlantic salmon, spinach artichoke dip, cheese and crackers and fresh cut pine apple. We will not go hungry. This time of year summer food tastes so good!

In my last post I mentioned the bird feeder. This is a photo I took last week. There are two of them that tag team to get every bit of suet out of the suet feeder. They are such goofs. I can't help but laugh watching them. Today they have been in hiding but the birds have been out trying to fuel their little bodies against the cold. So far I have seen mourning doves, juncos, blue jays, cardinals and sparrows. The birds also love the suet. The seed feeder is always very busy (the squirrels also love it) They are lucky I like them!
The time is getting away from me. Time to get cooking. Enjoy your day and til next time.

Winter

The days are getting longer and the sky is
starting to get lighter. The winter sun is often peeking through the trees. Here in The "Hollow" seeing the sun is a reason to celebrate. Today we celebrate. The weather man has finally taken pity on us as the temperatures are supposed to climb into the 50"s for a couple of days. I fear we will pay handsomely for the warm temps but we will enjoy them while they are here. I saw a flock of robins yesterday and the bird population at my feeder is growing in number and species. Speaking of my feeders..... maybe tomorrow.
Even the "old man in the tree" is looking for some warmth. As spring gets closer his smile gets bigger.I don't think I would like snow sitting on my face as it does his. Most of the time he doesn't seem to mind. He just keeps watching and waiting. ( as do we) February is a long month. Yes, I know it is only 28 days but after a long winter it can seem never ending. The hope of this month is that when it FINALLY ends, March will be kinder to us. I have been giving my gardens some thought and hoping that winter has been easy on them. Last spring I had to replace some key plants but over all they did well. I have hopes of being able to share some of my plants this year. Several years ago a very kind lady shared with me and now I hope to do the same.
I will leave you with thoughts of spring and flowers. Till next time.

SUN?

It looks as if the sun is going to shine today. That doesn't happen to often in this neck of the woods. The temperature bottomed out at -1 this morning but it is already warming up. It won't be warm enough to get rid of the snow but we will take what we can get. The snow is good for making snow angels. This angel is my grand nieces first. She and her parents spent a wonderful Christmas with us. Bailey loved playing out side. The cold never seems to bother little ones. The day she made this the wind was blowing and the temperature was around 12 degrees. How she cried when we went back inside

Here is a photo of Bailey and her dad. We walked down to see the creek, which at that time was frozen over. As much as I hate the cold, I have to admit that the creek is lovely this time of year. I would love to have them visit in the summer but their work is done in the summer so that isn't likely. Being a rancher is a lot of hard work. I admire them for their commitment to the work.
I marvel at the deer this time of year. My back yard looks like Grand Central Station for deer! The entire yard is filled with paths and holes where they dig for food. They particularly love my patch of myrtle. I fear my patch will be much smaller come spring. I do love watching them so I guess there is a trade off. Also come spring there will be fawns playing in my yard and hopefully more wood chucks. Last year there were five babies running around. The deer would walk right up to them. Neither seemed to mind. As you can tell, my mind is on spring. It has been a long hard winter so far and a nice warm day with sun would be a blessing. On that wishful note, I need to sign off. Have a wonderful day. Till next time.

Gifts

Gifts are a wonderful thing. I love gifts. I love to give gifts. I love to wrap gifts. Even a small item beautifully wrapped brings joy. My thought is that everyone deserves a well wrapped gift.Tonight I will be wrapping for a friend. Friends themselves are a wonderful gift. A good and trusted friend is worth more than any possession or thing. I have been blessed with several of these good friends. These precious "gifts" are always willing to go above and beyond for me. They are always ready to lend a hand when needed and to share a tear or a good belly laugh. This season of love reminds me what is most important in my life. Above all Christ is on the top of my list. He is the reason for the season. With out Him there would be no hope. I have hope.

This wonderful season also brings me gifts. The best gift I could receive is in the form of family. My niece, her husband and their sweet 21 month old baby girl are on their way to spent Christmas at my home. To say I'm excited would be putting it mildly. They have a ways to come so I am wishing them traveling mercies. The path from Kansas to New York is a long one and I pray their trip is an uneventful one.
Well friends after a quick check of the time I see it is time to get a move on. Till next time. Merry Christmas

A New Season

The summer flowers are gone as are the fall leaves . What remains is hope. Hope that the winter will be an easy one. Hope that the coming year will be an easier year. Hope that the hurts of the past will lessen as the days pass. As it is well into December my thoughts turn to Christmas. I love Christmas! I love the lights, the trees, the gatherings and most of all I love the reason for the season. This is a season of celebrating the birth that changed the world. Time is set by His existence. I will celebrate the birth of Christ. Gifts come and are soon forgotten. Gatherings are wonderful but are also soon forgotten. But the Son of God is never forgotten. He is with me every waking moment and every moment of my long dark nights. My life has meaning and is better for having a Savior.That being said, I decorate. My sweet niece once told me that Christmas threw up in my house. She later explained she meant it in the nicest way. I have to admit she may be right. I do decorate everything. I even help friends decorate. I love the gold, silver, blues, reds and greens that you see at this time of year. Did I say, I love flowers? Poinsettias are a personal holiday favorite. Therefore I use several to dress up the old place. I have baskets of them. They are placed any where I can put one.
Did I also mention my tree? I love my tree! There are about 1200 lights, 1000 ornaments and 200-300 hard plastic and glass icicles hung one at a time. Yes, it takes a lot of time to do everything but it is worth it. There is a wonderful young friend who helps me put my tree up. He has grown up helping me. At 16 he still comes and says he will continue to help as long as he is able. Timothy is very affordable too. He works for peanut brittle. We work for a bit then take a break to make a batch. Then we go back to work for a while and it's time for a tea break. His father is English so he has a great appreciation for good tea. Even as young as he is I count him among my dearest friends.
Well friends, I am getting tired so I'll sign off for now. Until next time.

???????

This morning, along with the flooded yard, brought another duck. What kind of duck? It will take a smarter person than me to guess. Take note of the top knot, the white throat and white wing tips. I do believe he came from the same place Lucy (last summers goose) came from. He didn't seem at all bothered when I walked up to take the photos so I think I can safely assume he is a domestic duck. My husband and I had great fun watching him this morning as he swam around stopping only to eat. I do wish the pond was already in.


That's it for now. Click on the photos to see them bigger. Till next time.

Hope!

This photo is the site of my pond. (I hope) The low spot behind the tree collects water every time it rains. Of course the tree will have to go but my son wants it for fire wood so that will be an easy and cheap way to get rid of it. I have called the person who will be doing the digging and am waiting, not so patiently, for his visit. Now that it seems it might be a certainty, I am getting nervous. Will it hold water? What will be the bottom line? Can I really afford this? The one question I do NOT have is will the birds come. This is where the next photo comes in. As I already stated, the area gets flooded when it rains. This is what happens then.
DUCKS!!!!
I wish the pond was already in so they would stay and nest but in a few days the water is gone and so are the ducks. Next year! The ducks will come and hopefully stay the summer. Have I mentioned, that I love ducks? Ducks, geese, birds in general. They are great fun. If anyone wonders, I will not be getting domestic birds. Last year with Lucy was a roller coaster. She spent more time in the road than the yard so she went back to her original home. I am very happy to say she is alive and well with her new mate.
That's it for today. Spring has sprung and I have things to do. Till next time.

Spring

The last year has been a very difficult time. I lost my Mom, an uncle, a couple of friends, my beloved cat and a very special aunt. Needless to say, I haven't been myself. Am I fully back? No, but I am better. There is something about spring that gives you a renewed hope. Here in The Hollow, spring has come early. There is a new joy every time I look at my gardens. Many of my plants came from my Mom so as I see them push their way above the ground I see a bit of what she loved. She also loved the birds. As do I. This cardinal was sitting in the very top of a tree singing his heart out. I am happy to report that there were several answers to his call. The wood peckers are almost living on the suet cake and the chipmunks and squirrels are finding their way into my feeder. Yes, they know how to dump half a feeder at a time. Do I mind? Not at all. It is great fun to watch them jump and hang off it or try to balance on it. I have yet to be quick enough to snap a picture of their antics, but do have a hope that sooner or later I'll get one.
There are many beautiful crocuses blooming. Yellow happens to be one of my favorite colors so it was a happy moment when this little pretty bloomed. Of course the purple ones are also lovely. The honey bees seem to think so too. There were dozens of them on my flowers. Today is a good day and the hope is, that there will be many more to come. I will be posting again soon. Until then enjoy.

Beautiful Day!

What a beautiful day in the "Hollow!" It is warm, sunny and almost feels like spring. I wish it were spring and the cold, wet, snowy, winter was behind us. The hill in my photo looks beautiful now but in winter all the snow that falls there ends up in my driveway. Not so beautiful. Because of the great day, I am putting up all of my outdoor Christmas decorations. It is so nice to put them up in a t-shirt instead of slogging through several feet of snow, trying to use a ladder, then ending up in the urgent care. (not that that has happened) The lights will not be turned on until Thanksgiving night. (except for a brief test lighting)

That being said, I mentioned in my last post that my phlox were still blooming. Here is a photo to prove it. Not a lot of blossoms but for November 8th it is almost miraculous! I will miss my flowers.


A few days ago, I got in a friendly, fun filled, discussion with a friend about who's hamlet is recognized by the state. I think I won as we have a sign and she does not. In my friends defense, her little hamlet is on the old maps. (as is mine) Here is a photo of my sign. I did not put it up, the state did. So I reason that if the state put up the sign, my little bend in the road is official. Hers is not! What say you?



On that note I see it is time to get a start on supper. Because of the beautiful weather we will cook outside and eat by a lovely fire in our fire bowl. If we are lucky our neighbors will join us. Till next time.

More snow!

We are having another fun filled day here in the "Hollow." They tell us that the snow will stop and then we should have a nice weekend. I love nice weekends. Our Halloween was uneventful. We travel to our sons house to see the littles in their costumes. They are so cute! Speaking of littles in costume, check out my sweet grand niece. I personally think she is the cutest!

My gardens are all put to bed with the exception of my phlox. I think I have backward flocks as they are still blooming! Really! Hot pink mixed with snow and dead leaves. I've said it before and still say it. The "Hollow' has it's own micro climate. Not a good thing in the winter as the snow loves to collect in my driveway. We also get snow when no one else is getting it. Whats with that? Enough of snow! I hate the stuff. Come on retirement and a warmer climate! Till next time.

Snow!

October 16th and we had snow! YUCH!!! Of course it didn't stay but the fact that we had it at all I find rather disgusting. As you could guess my garden has become a sea of stems and leaves with a few interspersed flowers that don't seem to want to let go. I think it is time to replant my three amaryllis bulbs and see what happens. Some years I get beautiful blossoms and others nothing. HMMMM. Speaking of blossoms, my Christmas catus is loaded with buds. I have never had so many. Must be it likes being thrown outside for the summer and ignored. I'll take a pic when the buds open.


The "Hollow" has a new member. His name is Tama and he is a beautiful burmese mountain dog. He visits with his mom quite regularly. He even has his own baby here. Right now he is only 15 pounds but he is expected to get up to 115 or so. What a sweet and beautiful animal he is.


My cats aren't even too afraid of him. That is unless he gets them to run. He loves that. I should say he has three cats at home so he is not mean towards them. He just wants to play.
I'm keeping this post short as there are a couple of hundred things I need to get done in the next hour so, so until next time.

I'm Back!

It has been some time. I was reeling from my moms death and buried myself for a while. It is getting better but I will always miss her. Forge Hollow has passed from summer onto fall. Fall has been as rainy as summer was. I long for sun. Lots of it. My garden was and still is quite lovely. There is a dahlia that is almost as big as a dinner plate and it's color is a dark red. Wonderful! The phlox are blooming again as are the fever few and shasta daises. In my new garden the mums and lavender are blooming and the smell and color is great. As for Lucy, she has gone to her original home. She liked to spend too much time in the road so for her sake she went back. I still miss her but it is best for her. The pond is on hold until summer. Then I will welcome wild geese and ducks. That way I hope I won't get to attached.
We had a bit of fun here in the "Hollow" last night. A hot air balloon came down across the road from my house. It was beautiful. I think I would like to take a ride.


As this summer has been a trial, I have spent a lot of time in the mountains. I have a very good friend who owns several cottages and he asked me to camp sit for him. Of course I said yes and headed north. I got to live on a beautiful lake and listen to the loons and get paid for it! A tough job but some one has to do it. I found it very restful. The view I had while there was great!


He asked me if I would be willing to watch the cottages next summer a few times. My reply? Does a bear ---- in the woods! Of course I will. I am not nuts! I took a quick trip up yesterday and the colors were spectacular. There is nothing more beautiful than upstate New York in the fall. The weather may stink but it is beautiful. That's it for now. Till next time.

HOME!!!

Lucy is home! Where she has been for the last 14 days is any ones guess. She isn't telling. Suffice to say, we are happy to see her. I can't believe I missed her goosage!



The garden is growing like a weed. Come to think of it so are the weeds. I really need to give it some major attention. The lavender is a deep purple with a scent that can only come from fresh lavender and the lily I took a pic of is a deep wonderful red. I did manage to mulch half of the garden and place stepping stones. Now on to the rest of it. As soon as it stops raining that is. Sunshine please!

The fever few in this pic is from my mom. She had three different varieties. So far I have two growing and flourishing. They are a beautiful plant that is great for cutting. What a pleasure it is to pick bouquets from my own garden. I see that the time is flying by so it is time to sign off. Till next time.