Wouldn't it be luverly?

While channel surfing this evening, I happened upon “My Fair Lady” which is showing on TCM. Audrey Hepburn was just beginning to sing “Wouldn’t It Be Lovely?” and immediately I was taken back to my childhood.

Funny how a song does that, isn’t it? And lovely indeed when it’s such a good memory. You see, when I was a young girl, my mother played Eliza Doolittle in a production that that was hosted by our elementary school. My mother, Charlotte, loved to sing and I grew up hearing her voice fill the rooms of our home.

As Audrey Hepburn sang the song this evening, I realized that I knew every single word by heart. When my mother was practicing her act, she played the soundtrack record over and over again. I think I know all the words to all the songs in this movie, because of my mother. She also sang in the local chapter of Sweet Adeleine’s and she had a wonderful, lilting voice.

I don’t think I was ever more proud of her in my young life, than I was the night of that play. She brought the house down with her performance that evening. And I’ll never, ever forget the look of abject happiness on her face as she stood on the stage, a huge bouquet of red roses in her arms, enjoying a standing ovation from the crowd that seemed as if it would never end. I remember it, mom.

I almost wanted to call her to tell her that I remember. Instead, I think I’ll call my father. I know he misses her, too.

Don’t you just love good memories?

Nearing the end of our road trip

This is the third, but I've decided it's not the final chapter of my road trip adventure I took last week with my friend, Karen. I just had such a relaxing time in a new place that I ended up falling in love with and wanted to share it with you. If you don't mind, the story will continue tomorrow for the final time. So here goes.

On the second day, I wanted to travel around and find my way around, maybe take a little hike and get to know the area better. Our new friends we'd met on the balcony of the inn told us of a short hike to a waterfall and gave us driving directions. After a breakfast on the lower veranda of fruit, whole wheat bagel and fresh-squeezed orange juice, we put on our walking shoes and headed out in my trusty Honda Element for points unknown. We found the state park trail head with no problem, and the sign which warned us to be cautious and stated that many people fall, yadda, yadda, yadda. Not to take it lightly, but I've seen warnings like this before while hiking in Shenandoah National Park and I knew that if it got treacherous, I was definitely turning back. So off we went.

But the trail wasn't marked AT ALL and when we got to a crosspoint, there was nothing indicating which way to go. I could hear what sounded like it could be a waterfall off in the distance, but I could hear water in the opposite direction as well. So we hiked back to the beginning where we ran into a local girl that was just leaving who told us that the quicker way to get there was to shimmy through the fence at the end of the parking lot.

So, off we traveled to the far end of the parking lot, but there was no shimmying through THIS fence. It was wedged tight up to a huge rock. She did tell us that she hadn't been on the falls trail for years, so that could explain it. So down we went again, trying to find the trail. Eventually, we gave up and hiked back to the car where we saw another local, an older gentleman, who told us to go back the way we had come, go under the bridge, and then climb up an embankment using the trees to help pull ourselves up. Once up, he said, it's a fairly level hike to the falls. He warned us to be careful climbing up that embankment, because it's rough going. Karen and I looked at each other after he left and we both knew we weren't climbing trees up any embankment. So the falls hike ended there. Now we knew why the people from the balcony said that they only had gone so far, and then turned back!

Back in the car, we decided to head up to Penn's Peak, a short drive away. Penn's Peak is a concert venue that also houses a restaurant and a lively bar. The Black Crows were scheduled to play on the weekend. The view can be seen here in this picture above. I took it off the balcony of the restaurant. Somebody wanted a Bloody Mary but fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on who you are), the bar wasn't open yet.

After that, we drove the quiet country roads, one that was labeled "Fairyland Drive", and wound through a little wooded section. Really nice!

We then decided to check out a B&B we'd seen advertised on a brochure. It's located on the back mountain by Jim Thorpe. Heading up the road to the B&B, we spied a small family coming out of the woods and saw that there was a trail down there. We parked and walked a lovely little trail to a small waterfall and were glad that we finally got to see a waterfall, even though it was just little one! The pictures at the beginning of this post were all taken on this little trail. Up at the B&B, the host showed us around to all the rooms, which weren't booked that particular weekend. The B&B owners are both artists, the husband apparently well-known for his chain-mail jewelry. Their place is called Hill Home Forge and if you click on this link, you can view the jewelry and stained glass and there's a link to the B&B. I didn't take any pictures while there because I thought it would be rude to do so. They have three eclectic rooms in which to stay, the most costly being $175 per night. If you're staying for a couple of nights, they'll teach you stained glass and you can go home with a suncatcher or another small item that you've made yourself. I don't enjoy staying at places where the owners live as well, but if you're into that sort of scene, this place is awesome. Nic's wife, Eileen, took us into their home and our jaws dropped. It's mission-designed with stained glass and woodwork cutouts and the artwork was incredible. Sometimes, when I see things that are this beautiful, my heart soars like an eagle. I've used that phrase since I heard it in a movie I saw over 25 years ago. Quick! Can you name it?

Nic and Eileen East's jewelry collection is extensive and if I had more money to spend, I would have shelled it out for their one-of-a kind glass beaded and silver jewelry, or one of Nic's chain-mail bracelets or necklaces. I had no idea the amount of work that went into making chain mail, and all the patterns he uses. I was truly impressed. Back in town, at one of the shops, we found out that Nic's jewelry was famous in those parts and his wife's jewelry is well-regarded as well.

Later in the afternoon, after a fantastic lunch on the porch at a funky place called "Through the Looking Glass", we visited the little shops in town that were now open. Most don't open on the weekdays until Thursday at 11 am. And they close early! It was my only complaint about the town. You'll be walking along and you'll see a shop, and more often than not, it would be closed.

In this shop, I found some soap that Mental Pause Mama might enjoy. Hmmm, scary graphics. Her friend, Tombstone Annie might like this body cream. I don't know why I thought this, I just did.

We found a nice wine purveyor on Race Street, between St. Mark's Church and the Black Bread Restaurant, that offered tastings and the wine was excellent. The wine shop also featured some vintage photographs of the town in its heyday in the mid 1800's. We bought two bottles of white, one a steal at only $6 and it was getting late, so we headed back to the hotel for another relaxing evening.

To be continued tomorrow!

A ghost story at the Inn at Jim Thorpe

This is the second part of our 3-day stay in Jim Thorpe, PA.

I’ve promised you a ghost story, but what I have is such a small offering, and I hope you’re not too disappointed.

As I mentioned in the previous post, my friend, Karen, and I took a road trip to the town of Jim Thorpe, PA and arrived at the inn on Wednesday and checked into our room. The Inn at Jim Thorpe is very Victorian, and very old fashioned, and Karen summed it up best while walking down the long hallway to our room, and saying “Redrum”. Quick! Who can name that movie? Shimmy Mom, are you listening?

Anyway, it really wasn't a bad feeling. The hallway just seemed to go such a long way and with the carpet and the decor and all the doors, I knew just what she meant.

There were also framed vintage photographs that decorated the walls, and on one wall was the newspaper article I have pictured here, which was printed in October, 1996. It tells of a ghost who haunts two of the rooms (and maybe more) at the Inn. I figured it was probably hype, and didn't give it a second thought.

That evening found us on the balcony having wine with some new friends we had just met. We had room service deliver our dinner to the balcony and had another bottle of wine. Later on in the evening, yet another bottle of wine arrived and we opted to take half of that one back to the room, saying goodnight to our new friends. We didn't have a frig in our room, so I went to the basement to get some ice and then I put the half-empty bottle in the bathroom sink. And then we both fell asleep . . . (don't judge me about the wine, ok? Others were sharing!)

In the morning, we woke up and the wine was gone. The empty bottle was in the trash can, but we couldn't find the cork. I know that I did not get up and finish any more wine, nor did Karen. The only thing I could think of was that the ghost who haunts the inn had decided that we had enough, so she poured it out and put the empty bottle in the trash can. No, really. Neither of us did it and I distinctly remember leaving the wine on ice in the sink!

If you'd like to read more guests comments about the ghost at the inn, you may want to visit this site.

The newspaper article I've pictured above mentions a parapsychologist named Marja Schantz who explains that the ghost is a gentle soul who remains at the inn because she is welcome there. She and her lover had planned a rendevouz there, probably back when it was called The American House. They had each reserved a room on the same floor, but a new employee was working the front desk and gave her a room on a different floor than that of her lover. When he arrived later, he wasn't able to find her. And in those days, it was considered very improper to ask at the desk for the room number of the other. Desperate for her lover, and perhaps for her situation, she ended up committing suicide in her room.

It's a sad story, if it's true. But weird things do happen at the inn.

The Victorian home you see above is the Harry Packer mansion. Harry was Asa Packer's son and a house was built right next door to his parents on Mansion Hill. On the other side of the home is a carriage house. The Harry Packer mansion was used as the model for the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland, which is another interesting tidbit I picked up. They also have a 10-room bed & breakfast that includes rooms in the carriage house, and they host Murder Mysteries there. Sounds fun to me!

Here's my friend, Karen, on that lovely balcony. We spent the second day walking some trails which I'll share with you tomorrow. The weather was perfect for our trip and if you're in the area, I suggest you visit this lovely town.

Oh, and sorry about all the b&w photos; I just thought they lent a 'ghostly air' to this post.

POSTSCRIPT: It's well over a month since I've posted this story and I've just found a fellow blogger who lives in OK, the home of Jim Thorpe. She's got her history lesson posted. Please stop by to give it a read if you're interested in Jim Thorpe, the person.

To be continued tomorrow!

Guessing Game winner announced

Jess has won this week's Guessing Game with the correct guess of a SEASHELL. I think everyone had the correct guess, but Jess was first. See, told you it was easy this week! And yes, I found it out in my yard. I have a whole collection of them. Originally, I found it at the beach at Assateague National Seashore in MD, or maybe it was down in Ocracoke, NC. Regardless, George enjoys picking them up and toting them around the yard. He likes to lick them, too. Don't know why.

So Jess, enjoy your fame! I left a message on your blog today, but couldn't find an e-mail address. So the only thing I know about you is from your blog. Sorry!

Shimmy Mom, you were close . . . but close doesn't count in this world, now does it? Ha!

I'll be back next weekend with something much more difficult. Or maybe not. It's summertime. Things should be easier, shouldn't they?

Now say this real quick: She sells sea shells by the sea shore. Three times really fast.

Tomorrow I may have a ghost story for you.

The Switzerland of America

I left home just before dinnertime on Tuesday, after I picked up the pup from the vet and made sure he was doing fine. It was so very hot here in Maryland and I knew Adrienne had a nice cool pool in NJ. And so I headed over there, and picked up her mom, my friend Karen.

The pool was fantastic and just what we needed.

The next morning, we awoke to an absolutely stunning day. The skies were a bright blue, with puffy clouds and the air was soft and cool. A storm had come through in the evening, whisking all that hot and humid air out to sea. What a wonderful day to travel!

So after breakfast, and after Adrienne left for work, we were off. About an hour and a half north of her home, off the Blue Route (476) in PA was our destination. Karen and her husband, Jeff, have been trying to get me and my husband to come here with them for years. I don't know why we've never been able to get away at the same time, but I'm so glad I finally got to see this place.

Karen directed me to a viewing place that looks down on the town. See that mansion with the bright orange roof? I know it's difficult to see. It's almost in the center of the photo above. That's the town we're headed to. To the immediate right is the Lehigh River, and our destination is the town of Jim Thorpe, PA, hailed as "The Gateway to the Poconos". When I go to a new place and I really like it, I like to learn all about the history. I found out that the town was named after the athlete, Jim Thorpe, who died in 1953.

Originally, the town was called Mauch Chunk, which is the Indian name for "Sleeping Bear" and was founded in 1818 by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, founded by Asa Packer. It quickly became a booming railroad and coal-shipping center. The city was the location of the trials of the Molly Maguires in 1876 which resulted in four men found guilty of murder. The old jail is still there, on Broadway St. It was closed most of the time we were there, however.

In 1954, the town adopted the name of Jim Thorpe, after his widow came to them asking for their help. Jim Thorpe's hometown couldn't afford a proper memorial and so she offered her husband's name to the town of Mauch Chunk, and they accepted, hoping to attract tourism and other attention to help its crumbling economy. The odd thing is that Jim Thorpe had never even set foot in this town.

This little town has been called "The Switzerland of America", due to its mountainous location, picturesque scenery and its architecture.

We stayed at one of the nicest places in the borough, the Inn at Jim Thorpe, long known for its hospitality and opulent rooms and suites. I was surprised to find out that in the early part of this century, this town was the #2 destination for honeymooners, with Niagra Falls at #1. But I was really surprised to find out that our hotel had a resident ghost! (More on that later).

The second floor has a balcony that runs the entire length of the hotel. With its ornate wrought iron railings, beautiful hanging baskets, and inviting wicker rocking chairs, we felt right at home. Mary at the Little Red House would absolutely love the Victorian charm of this town. There's an old cemetery that Tombstone Annie would adore exploring, and I saw something in the window of an eclectic gift shop that Mental Pause Momma could use. More on all that later on, too.

But this was our first day in town, and after we checked in early, we explored the main street for a couple of hours, and then settled down for a drink on the spacious veranda on the 2nd floor. I always bring my traveling wine glasses and a favorite wine stopper, so we were all set. It's funny, but when you're sitting outside, with your wine bottle in an ice bucket, sitting at the party table, everyone who came out (well, almost everyone) asked where we were from and wanted to chat with us.

I love doorways and there were some beautiful ones in town. Here's the door to the Inn. At a later time, I'll let you know how the second and third days went, ok? I'd like to address something else right now.

To all of you who wrote the lovely comments on the Mustard Story (see a couple of posts below), I can't tell you how surprised I was! This was a story that I almost didn't publish, just because it's, well, personal. If my husband read this blog, he'd be appalled! I've tried to show him several times, but he's so private. Such the opposite of me! I just want to thank everyone, especially those who have been faithful readers, who commented for the first time ever.

It's fine to just read this blog. It's what I used to do before I started blogging myself. I NEVER. EVER. COMMENTED. I mean, never. I just figured I didn't really have anything to say. And then, I started blogging myself. And suddenly, I realized how much it meant to have feedback on my pictures and my writing.

So, thank you, everyone. Didn't mean to make you cry. Or choke you up. Or have you lusting for the good taste of a gourmet mustard. But, back to the task at hand . . .

Road Trip ~ to be continued tomorrow!

It's back! Weekend Guessing Game #18, baybee!

It's an easy one for you this week. I found this little item but I won't say where. I won't give you clues because I really do think it's easy. So if you think you know what this item is, click on the comment button at the end of this post and guess away. You can guess multiple times, just keep clicking the comment button. If your commenting anonymously, please leave either your initials or your first name.

Oh, and the prize? Well, unfortunately, there isn't one other than the fame that winning this game will surely bring. And there's that pure sense of satisfaction you'll earn as well. Don't forget that!

GAME ON NOW, as of 6 PM (est) Friday. Winner will be posted at 6 PM Saturday.

If you see the answer, or think you see the answer, just guess anyway. It's fun. Have a great evening, everyone.

This jewelry is fun

There’s a fun jewelry store in a little town that’s just a short drive from the school where I work, and one day last week the art teacher and I decided to take a little break and head there. We told the headmaster that we were going out to run an errand and we‘d return soon. School is finished for the year and teacher meetings were over with and the errand I had to run was window-shopping. Hey, it’s an errand! Besides, I just needed to get away.

My friend, Kathy and her sister, Lori, own The Silver Buckle, a cool jewelry store in North East. It’s filled with interesting finds, and features Brighton handbags and jewelry. I hadn’t intended to buy anything, but couldn’t resist this fun pendant and for only $16, I can be the Fun Queen just like it says. Margie, our art teacher, picked it out for me and told me it fit me perfectly.

I’m still on my road trip with my friend, Karen, and I hope to have some good pictures for you when I return on Friday evening. I’m posting this through the magic of auto-post, which isn’t really magic but it’s fun to pretend. Geez, I guess I should take the necklace off now, right? On my mini-vacation, I hope to be doing what the 2nd picture is saying. Only not so much of the drinking, at all. The laughing is good, though.

Friday at 6 PM, I hope to have the Weekend Guessing Game back up, so stay tuned for that! I am still suffering through this Time Out that my internet company has me on, choking back my speed because I went over my download threshold. I think my son was downloading music while at the same time, my husband was on U-Tube looking at pictures of border collies performing cool tricks. I’m managing to post by getting up early when usage time is slow, and I miss visiting all your blogs. I heard the Pioneer Woman even had another name that photo contest and darnit, I even missed that. But I’m coping. Have a great Friday, everyone!

The mustard story

I have a friend who I met years ago at the school where I'm employed. She's the parent of one of my son's best friends. And then she and I became friends.

Every Christmas, I receive gifts from the children at school, and all the teachers do as well, and every year, my friend Kathy would send in a gift with one of her sons to give to me. And after we became friends ourselves, she added a gift of her own just for me. One year, it was a jar of mustard.

"Mustard?" I thought, as I opened the beautifully wrapped present. "Well, that's odd. And ooooo, it's gourmet." And life went on.

It wasn't until later when I saw her over the holidays and thanked her for her gift of um, mustard, that I found out why she had given it to me. And she said it was because she was so touched by the story I'd shared with her recently about my husband, and the mustard.

I scrunched up my face trying to remember what story she was talking about, and in the recesses of my brain, finally . . . it came back to me. I must have been drinking wine with her one evening, and shared something personal that normally, I would not have done. But we were becoming friends, and ever since then . . . ever since she gave me that mustard, she's been on my list as one of my favorite people. And it wasn't because of the thoughtful condiment, either. It was because she was touched by a story I had told her. And now that I'm not so shy about sharing anymore, I'm telling it here.

Besides, I'm all about the stories.

I've mentioned before that my husband and I have been together since we were both 19 years old. But, at one point, for reasons that I won't go into here, we separated when the boys were very young. I packed up my things, and the children, and got an apartment and a lawyer (although not in that order). And life was difficult, and I was very poor. We both were, actually. I had a good job as a production manager for a monthly horse publication, but it didn't leave much for things like, well, food. I remember having very little in my frig, and moving it all up to the front to make it look more full. And I used to add water to the orange juice to make it last longer. I had enough to pay the rent, and the day care for the children, and the gas for my car, but grocery shopping was sad. And the court-ordered check I received from my husband helped, but still, it wasn't enough.

My husband saw the children every other weekend, and I'm sure they don't remember much about that time. I know my youngest son was excited to be living in a real town, that had sewers as he was hoping to see the Ninja Turtles climb out of one of the manhole covers. My eldest son was in kindergarten at the time, so he probably doesn't remember that much anyway. Like I said, it was for about a year, and things began to get better and we worked things out.

One day, while grocery shopping, I was adding up the dollars and cents I was spending. I had my list and on the list was mustard. And the French's mustard was on sale for 83 cents. But I really really disliked French's mustard (still do). I wanted the Grey Poupon, but it was so much more and I didn't have the extra dollar to spend on it. But oh, how I wanted it. And I was so darn tired of being poor and having to shop this way. And as I stood there in the condiment aisle, it all came crashing down. The children weren't with me at the time, which was a good thing, because I was slowly losing it. I mean, it wasn't just about the mustard. It was about this point I was making, and the respect I deserved, and the great lengths I was going to just to get that. And as I stood there, I quietly began to cry.

Luckily, no one was around, but then I felt this hand on my shoulder and a familiar voice asking me, "what's wrong?" And I turned around, and standing there before me was my husband. And now, completely embarrassed, I mumbled something about it being nothing. There was nothing wrong. "No, it's not nothing," he said, "what's really wrong?" And I told him I wanted the nice mustard, and I hate French's. "I know you do," he said.

I wiped my eyes, and made to go, but he stopped me again and gave me twenty dollars. And he said, "Here. I want you to get your mustard. And whatever else you need." And he kissed me on the cheek and he left. And as I watched him go, I realized that this was love. And that I still loved him. And then, in a split second, I thought, "Hey, why does he have an extra twenty dollars?" No, I'm kidding.

That day in the grocery store was the turning point, and eventually we got back together. Marriage is tough, and it's tender, and sometimes it's a lot of work. But I'm glad that he's still around. Those who know our situation know exactly what I mean.

And that, my friends, is the mustard story.

I'm still on the road trip, and I had this little story tucked back in my draft files. I'm sure I'm having fun wherever I am and I'll be back soon. Take care, my friends.

Sincerely, Country Girl

Growing up

I stepped out the front door the other evening to see if it was still too hot to take George on an evening stroll, and what I saw surprised me. The little Canada Geese family was about 100 yards away at the back of the maintenance shed, and upon hearing my door open, they bolted towards the pond, all of them running as fast as they could, with their necks pointed straight out.

The babies are huge now, and I went in the house and put the zoom lens on my camera and George and I headed down to the pond. It was still pretty darn hot and humid and I had to wait quite a while until the lens stopped fogging up, but I managed to get a couple of decent shots of the little ones.

In the top photo, the momma goose is with three of her little ones. Look at how much they’ve grown in two short months! Do you see them up in the header I made? That’s the same family when the goslings were tiny.

In the second photo, three of the little ones are swimming in a line right through the center of the picture.

And finally, in the third photo, this fella had just ducked his head into the water and came out again. It’s why his head is still all wet. Can you see his downy fuzz on his back? Do you know how I can tell it’s a male? No, seriously, I’m asking you, because I don’t know and I can’t tell from here. I just think he looks like a he.

I’m on a road trip with my good friend, Karen. I left Tuesday night from my house to stay with her in NJ. We’re going swimming in Adrienne’s pool. On Wednesday morning, we plan on heading north. More on our destination will come.

George is doing fine. I just needed to tell you that. He was excited to be at the vet office, and even as they led him away, he never looked back!

He was a little groggy when I brought him home yesterday, and I left him in the care of my husband and son. I'll call home this morning to make sure he's doing fine.

Have a great Wednesday, everyone.

You won't remember a thing, Mr. Puppy

There comes a time in a young dog’s life when he might take a little visit to the vet and return with a little something missing. Well, a couple of little somethings missing. And that time for George is today.

My husband couldn’t bring himself to take the poor pup to have the deed done, let alone make the appointment, so it fell to me. Frankly, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, but my husband says it will change him.

We’ll see. I’m just looking forward to my leg not being a love interest to him anymore, thankyouverymuch. And just tonight, during our little walk, our neighbor's dog, Natasha, the big yellow lab, was outside her fence. So George got to be with her for real and not through a fence! And what does he do? Well, he tried to well, I think you get the picture.

So, here's to George. May your surgery be trouble-free and your recovery be swift, my puppy friend.

Rainy days and Mondays

They don't always get me down, especially this week. I have off from work all this week. I have no plans, other than a road trip later on with my good friend, Karen, that I'm looking forward to. But Monday, I have some routine medical stuff to deal with, and have scheduled several appointments because I have off. And Tuesday is George's vet appointment. It's a big day for George on Tuesday.

I took these pictures the other day after it had rained. Can you see the little water droplets in the wet grass?

It's been a steambath here in Maryland all weekend and we've had the air conditioning on since Saturday morning. Today, our power went out several times and stayed off for hours, but still, our house stayed cooler than it was outside. Tonight, the power went out again as I was falling asleep. When it came back on, about an hour later, I got up thinking that hey, I could maybe get onto my site because it's not peak usage time. And lo and behold, I'm able to get on and post.

I am not going to rant about the Time Out my internet company has put me on. I am going to prevail over this ridiculous situation and I am going to post every day despite my problems.

And guess what's playing on late-night TV right now? One of my favorite little movies, The Princess Bride. I love this movie and I think it's partly due to the fact that I first saw it when we rented it years ago when the children were very young. We watched it as a family, and the boys and I really enjoyed it. It's a classic fairytale, with swordplay and giants, an evil king, a Dread Pirate, and a beautiful princess played by Robin Wright before she married Sean Penn.

I love some of the quotes in this movie.

Inigo Montoya: My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

Like my husband, Fezzik, played by Andre the Giant, had a penchant for rhyming:

Inigo Montoya: That Vizzini, he can *fuss*.

Fezzik: (thinking) Fuss, fuss . . . I think he like to scream at *us*.

Inigo Montoya: Probably he means no *harm*.

Fezzik: He's really very short on *charm*.

Inigo Montoya: You have a great gift for rhyme.

Fezzik: Yes, yes, some of the time.

Vizzini: Enough of that.

Inigo Montoya: Fezzik, are there rocks ahead?

Fezzik: If there are, we all be dead.

Vizzini: No more rhyming now, I mean it!

Fezzik: Anybody want a peanut?

Vizzini: Aarrrrggghhhhhh!!!

And my favorite:

Vizzini: I suppose you think you're brave, don't you?

Buttercup: Only compared to some.

Enjoy your Monday, everyone.

Memories of Acadia

It's Sunday morning and I have no idea whether or not this will post. The speed is so slow, but I'm not going to get into that. I got a headache yesterday just thinking of it. So today I'm planning on only having good thoughts.

We're trying to plan a vacation to Maine for a week some time this summer. My husband needs to get away from the farm for awhile and the weather in Maine is beautiful. When we were younger, we used to go to Ocracoke Island, NC for our vacation week. I can still stand the heat of the beach, but my husband, not so much. He prefers it a little more cool and he enjoys all the hiking in Acadia National Park.

If you've never been there, you need to go at some point. Trust me. It's one of the most beautiful parks in the country. These pictures were taken with our little Sony Cybershot last August. We stayed at a rental house we found on the internet. It was about a half hour from the park, which was our destination every day. After walking all day, we'd come home to the hot tub and relax and have lobster for dinner. I loved our vacation last year and it was just what we needed.

My husband is looking for places to stay now, but it's just a little bit cumbersome with the internet speed. Oops, I forgot. I'm not complaining today.

The first shot is the view of Echo Lake from one of the trails we took. The hiking can be a bit rough, but the views are so rewarding and the feeling of accomplishment is great. Plus, I knew the hot tub, a fresh lobster dinner and a glass of wine was awaiting as another reward!

The second shot was taken from Cadillac Mountain. We'd started one of the trails up there, and the town of Bar Harbor is very small and right in the center of the picture, near the little islands you see. Bar Harbor gets pretty crowded, but it's a fun and bustling town to visit. Lots of cool shops and plenty of good restaurants. But we go for the nature because my husband is Nature Boy. You knew that, right?

I forgot to mention that I have off for the entire week to come. We always close the academic offices down after we get the report cards out. I've got a short road trip planned, among other things. And I need to tell you that George visits the vet on Tuesday for his, um, his little operation that will help him to overcome the burning need to hump my leg.

Photo Assignment #13

I love visiting Miriam Lovell Dyer’s photography site and when I’m able, I participate in her weekly photo assignments. If you are into photography, I suggest you visit her site! We’re up to #13 now and it’s the one I dread the most. And the only reason that I am posting it here is because I can’t get into my Flickr account. I’ve tried opening it up for the past hour now and I need to post my entry somewhere in order for Minna to comment on it. (Sorry, Minna). And due to my internet problems, I even got up early to do this. I have more speed early in the morning. Hey, that sounds funny! I do NOT like having my picture taken, and am not photogenic. I know a lot of you probably don’t like having yours taken either, and I can relate to your pain. If I were beautiful, then snap. Snap away! I’d even pose for you. I'd pose after drinking several glasses of wine, too, but that's another story for another day. But I am brave. Not too brave, though, as you can see. I’m not brave enough to come out of a tiny window of space and show all of me. But it’s enough to enter the assignment. And maybe some day, I will be more open. But today’s not the day. I shot this from my driver’s seat window of my car. It’s all I’m ready to show right now. So Minna, here’s my assignment, for what it’s worth.

Wild Blue Internet: Buyer beware

I’m posting this because I’m hoping it will come up in a google search that will be found by someone who’s looking into acquiring internet access through Wild Blue Internet Company. It should, with the name of the company in the title post. So, for those regular readers of this blog, I apologize for bringing all this up again. I just need to say it once more.

I’m a new WB customer, and have had the service for one month. Prior to this, I had dial-up and I think I was one of the last holdouts. Does anyone use dial-up anymore? It took about two weeks to finally get my internet running up to speed, after the installer was out here four separate times. I thought he worked for and represented Wild Blue, but he works for himself.

The dish is pointed well and we are receiving a perfect signal most of the time.

I called the company this past Monday, after the internet connection had been particularly slow for a couple of days, only to discover that I had been put on something they called “Time Out”. This is a 30-day punishment for those who go over their allotted threshold of downloads and uploads. I have the Valu Pak and wasn’t aware of a threshold, even though I read page after page of their contract. It was in a separate tab at the bottom of their main page that was so small, I didn’t even know it was there. It's under the Fair Trade Policy. The highest amount of information I can download is 7,500 mbps. The most I can upload is 2,300 mbps.

The company states that they’ll send customers an e-mail when they are getting close to their limit. I received nothing, and when I told one of the customer service reps this, they told me that “everyone says that” and they assured me they had sent it. I assured them that I had yet to receive it. Regardless, I think the consequences for going over a limit are a bit harsh, especially when I‘m a new customer who isn‘t very happy with them to begin with, and I hadn‘t been warned about the impending overage. But they have no incentive to keep their customers happy.

The Time Out gives you a connection, but it’s just so slow that, during peak hours (which is when I am home), it’s only good for checking mail and sometimes, we’re not even able to do that. The bad thing is that this lasts for 30 days. And if you go over the threshold again within that 30 day period, it begins again. On that day.

I am still being billed for the full amount, even though my service is almost non-existent. If I want out of the contract, I have to buy out, like it’s a cell phone contract. Ridiculous. I’ve heard two costs of buying out: one is $32 per month and the other is $50. This information came from two different people with whom I've spoken. Every time I’ve called, the technicians were working on some part of their computer system, or their phones were cutting off losing calls. It was something different every day. If you call, get the number of the person you’re talking to before you do anything else. And rest assured, you’ll be calling them back. This happened every single time I’ve called them.

I know that this blog doesn’t get tons of comments, but according to my stat counter, plenty of people are downloading the page on a daily basis. So I know it’s being read. And if this will warn just a few people, I’ll feel better.

I choose to live in the country and I’m not planning on moving just to have decent internet access. And Wild Blue and HughesNet are about the only game in town around here. Don’t tell me to get a phone access card through Sprint or Verizon. My Verizon cell usually works in the house, but I lose a lot of calls, too. So I’m pretty sure the internet connection would be the same way.

So what I’m saying is that if you have stumbled onto this blog because you googled Wild Blue Internet and found this, just beware. Sometimes I feel like I must have eaten a big bowl of stupid for breakfast because I didn’t research this company enough. I thought I had, but oh, well.

To all my friends in the blogging world, I'd love to visit your beautiful sites, but I can't just now. I try when I'm on breaks at work, but until I get out from under this rock, I'll see you when I can. And I will continue to take pictures and post when I am able and I will be content with all that I do have.

~ Country Girl

Having a zen moment with my green tea

When I got home today, I quickly changed and told my husband I was taking George out for a walk. So out the front door we went and headed towards the driveway, and after about a minute, I realized George wasn’t with me. And as I turned to call him, I noticed this utterly beautiful sight. And I was drawn towards the pond. And there was George waiting for me.

When I got to the crest of the hill, I stopped. And stared. And then I sat down and enjoyed the view. And took a deep breath. And I tell you, it felt so good to be sitting there. And you know what? I just didn’t feel like going for a walk. I just wanted to stay here for awhile.

I thought to myself that it would be really nice to have a drink of that iced tea I had made. So I went back into the house, got my camera, and a chair and a table and brought everything to the spot I had chosen and proceeded to sip my tea and enjoy the scenery. Then my husband called me for dinner. I love when my husband calls me for dinner! I love the fact that he cooks for me every night. I think it's his way of showing me how much he loves me. He says it's because he's hungry. I'm sticking with my original theory because it's so much more romantic.

So I went inside to collect my dinner and invited my husband and son outside to eat with me by the pond. My husband declined, saying he wanted to watch the news, but my son seemed intrigued by something different, I guess, so he and I went out and shared a meal while gazing upon this lovely view you see here. We talked, too, which is often rare with a 21 year-old.

Yes, I'm still in Time Out with the internet, but you see how I'm not letting it get to me, right? The biggest drag is that I can't visit all your beautiful blogs in the evening and I have to sneak a peak during lunchtime at school.

The tea I made is good for you. It's Bigelow's Green Tea with fresh lemon juice and grated ginger. It's really quite refreshing! Here's the recipe:

Green Tea with Lemon & Ginger

4 green tea bags (I used Bigelow original green)

1 1/2 tsp. finely grated ginger

6 Tbsp. sugar

3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Boil 4 cups water and add tea bags and ginger. Let steep around 10 minutes. In pitcher, combine sugar and lemon juice then strain tea in through fine sieve. Add another 2 cups cold water. Serve over ice.

If you don't like ginger, reduce the amount until it suits. I used 2 tsp. and it was just too much.

After the Rain

I’m still in the Time Out that my internet service provider has imposed on me and some of the people I work with who I told the story to, laughed and told me that I was always a trouble-maker. But really, I didn’t see this coming (see post below, if you’re interested). I want to thank you all for your comments on yesterday’s post, and I’ll get it figured out. When you’re in Time Out, you get just about enough speed to check your mail, but not enough to get into anything else, like Blogger during peak hours. But it’s not going to deter me. I’m a pretty tough country girl and I’ve been through worse than this. It’s only the internet, for God's sake.

What I’m doing to get around the situation seems to be working for now, at least. I’m writing the posts in a word document in the evening and working on the pictures and getting them ready to upload. I re-size them to almost the size you see them here, and put them in a file. Then I’ll get up a half hour early the next day, get on Blogger, and since it’s not peak usage at 6:45 a.m., I’m able to pop everything into place.

After work today, I went to visit a co-worker who has a house right on the water, near the school, and although we were under a tornado warning, I wanted to meet her new Pembroke Welsh Corgi puppy. I'll have to go back with my camera. After I’d been there for a little while, the rain began to fall in torrents. We sat and watched it pour across the water and listened to the thunder. And when it had abated some, I headed home.

By the time I got here, the rain had stopped completely, and after dinner I took George for a walk down the driveway and back. I took several pictures and afterwards, played around with them in Photoshop, but none of them were anything to write home about. And while I was working in Photoshop, I looked up and out the window, saw the picture you see above. It caught my eye and will probably be terrible-looking when I upload it tomorrow, but I’ve only got a small window of time until I have to leave for work. It’s SOOC (straight out of camera), with a crop, and I’m letting it stand as is. So, for what it’s worth, here’s my offering to you today.

Have a great Thursday, everyone.

Time Out

Here’s a picture of George when he was just a puppy. It was taken last September, shortly after he came into our lives. He was born in Ellsworth, Maine and we traveled to Connecticut to meet his owners and pick him up. He was about 9 weeks old at the time I took this picture with our old Sony Cybershot.

He looks like he’s in time out, doesn’t he?

Well, I’m in Time Out right now with my internet provider. I swear to you, that’s what they told me when I called today to find out what was wrong with my service. I feel like a naughty child or something. You see, I am new to the world of satellite internet and bought the value package that Wild Blue internet offered. I found Wild Blue through my DirecTV service. I’m not very happy with my Wild Blue.

In my naiveness, I purchased the least expensive package that the company offered, thinking that the only difference between the three available packages was the speed of the uploads and downloads. I had no idea there was a cap on how much information one could upload and download within a month’s time. And in the 27 days that I’ve had the service, it’s only been working well for about a week. And in this time, I’ve gone over my allotment and am now in a probation period, not being permitted anything more than a certain download speed and upload speed. I had no warning, no e-mail, and no knowledge that this was going to happen. And the only way to get out of it is to comply by doing something that I really don’t understand, which is to only download 70% of my capacity. What the freak this means, I have no idea. I’d love to quit the contract, but there’s no doing that either. Apparently, you have to buy out of the contract. Or drop dead.

If you visit blogs, Myspace pages, Facebook pages, U-Tube downloads, this eats a lot of your monthly allotment. I’m not happy about this. My son, who is living here part-time visits 2 of these sites a lot and my husband has a penchant for U-Tube. He loves to download clips of old concerts and cute border collie tricks.

So I’m in Time Out and I’m not happy about it. Has anyone else in the blogging world had a similar experience? I should have gone with HughesNet, or maybe the grass is always greener . . .

Regardless, I’m now going to have to upgrade and spend another $30 per month to get the bigger package. It’s all such a racket, isn’t it? But this is what it’s like living in the country. It’d be nice to have a phone card thing like Sprint or Verizon offer, but my cell phone reception isn’t too great here, either. Hey, aside from all this, Country Life is great!

Remember to visit Kacey’s photo contest over at Wine On the Keyboard. I’m not asking you to vote for my entry. There’s some really cute ones in her contest this month and it’s just fun to check out the entries and vote!

Graduation

Graduation from our school was this evening, and I'm up late tonight going through the pictures I've taken. I'm the unofficial school photographer, and I took lots of pictures today, but this one really touched me. To me, this exemplifies Graduation.

I've known Caroline and her family since she was just a little girl. And I have the honor of calling her mother, Mary, my friend. Caroline is the last in her family to graduate from our school and now that it's come to an end, I think I understand how her mother must feel just by looking at this picture.

I'll miss so many of these seniors, but even more importantly, I'll miss the families they're attached to. Things change and time marches on. And this is the reason I love being behind a camera lens. I love capturing these moments and giving them as gifts to people I love.

Something new for you

A night on the water

I'm writing this at 10 o'clock in the morning on the last Saturday of May and I've just returned from a wonderful evening spent with friends on their boat, harbored in a marina that's not too far from where I live.

I'm not posting it until much later in the day because we've had a storm that came through here and I was knocked off the internet for quite some time.

What a different experience for me this was. If you're familiar with marinas, you'll know that it's sort of like a high-end trailer park on the water (my friend, Tracey's words). And this one, really high-end. Each spot (a slip) is rented out for the season and comes with the amenities you'll need for your boat, e.g. water, electricity, etc., and you can add on a storage compartment if need be, too. This particular marina's club membership includes a community pool, super clean shower houses and laundry facilities, tennis courts, and I could just go on and on. There's even a water taxi service if you'd like to run to one of the nearby restaurants on the water, or just be dropped off at one of the swimming beaches nearby. It's amazing.

And when I pulled into the marina parking lot, with Lynn following behind me, on the beautiful evening that last night turned out to be, I realized that this was the life for me. No, I didn't. Not then, at least. It wasn't until later.

It wasn't until I saw their boat . . .

Yes, I could definitely live on a boat like this, for awhile at least. It's sort of like camping, but in luxury accommodations. I liked the fact that every inch of extra space was used for storage, and I liked the compact space, the elegance and just the downright sexiness of this boat! Wow. Did I just say that out loud?

This is Captain Brian. He is a genial host and knowledgeable waterman. If I remember correctly, this is the 2nd season with this particular boat. He also makes an excellent bartender, but I have yet to try one of his bloody mary's because I had to leave early this morning. So Brian, if you're reading this, be warned that I may have to return for one of those drinks! Oh, and I'm sorry that I Photoshopped the name of your town out of this picture. Actually, I'm not sorry I did it. I just don't want to put too much personal information out there, ok?

This is Tracey. She's in charge of all the inside stuff and I felt like an honored guest. She showed me how to work the head (the toilet) and the showers. And the most important thing: turning on the coffee pot in the morning. This is very important. Whomever gets up first in the morning MUST push the coffee button. I think an electrical field in the marina may cause it to be be sucked into a vortex if the coffee button doesn't get pushed, so we MUST. PUSH. THE BUTTON. It's sorta like when we met Desmond on Lost. Sorry, guys. I'm teasing, but I'm hoping you're laughing.

Ok, On To Other Things ~ Tracey wanted to carry my camera bag when she walked me back to my car this morning. I've had this old Nikon bag for about 15 years and am in the market for another. Gosh, has it been 15 years? Not that I can afford it right away, but I like to know what's out there so I can properly lust after it. I was looking at Jessica Claire's Shootsacs, but they're really not for me. I mean, if I was a real photographer going on 'shoots' all the time, it would be excellent for the constant changing of lenses. But I need something that actually fits my camera as well. Maybe a Crumpler, but they're too expensive. Ok, I'm digressing again, I know it.

Well, my friends have both worked really hard to get here, both of them. And I think it's wonderful that they had me out to share an evening with them on their beautiful boat. Oh, and here's what Tracey has planned for today: She's practicing swimming in the river for a triathlon she's entered in later this summer. She's got a wetsuit and everything! It's making me want to take a nap. The energy she has . . . it's just amazing. She's a trainer and owns her own gym, too. Ok. I'm definitely taking a nap now. Before I go, here is a cute little dog that was checking us out while we were walking to my car this morning. He was having a little nap on his owner's boat deck and we must have woken him. Tracey, you should tell Brian that you need a little dog like this for your boat! Ha! I think he makes a nice accoutrement, don't you?

Well, hope you enjoyed the view from the Chesapeake Bay here in Maryland this morning!