Christmas and Hogmanay

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Christmas Eve in Virginia with nice long walks, and Christmas Day at home with presents galore. Hogmanay with friends afar.

Up and Down Steps in Mykonos

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Cruising up and down steps in Mykonos, Greece, is one charming way to spend an afternoon.



Who made Mykonos so cute? Every corner you turn it just gets cuter and cuter.

Excuse me while I run up and down steps in Mykonos. Can't help myself!

Cruising Along

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Know what's nice about cruising along? All the wonderful photos you take. At the time, you don't realise how wonderful they are. It's only once you're back home, in cold, dreary weather, that you appreciate the terrific images.

That first photo I took from the ship, the Celebrity Solstice, at Barcelona. That's where we left from on a 12 night cruise.



The photo above is of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece.

Know what else is nice about cruising along? You get to walk and walk, and walk some more, all the while carrying two cameras and going snap, snap, snap, trying to get that perfect picture.



The above photo I took at the end of the cruise, when we were back in Barcelona. What time of day was it? Yikes! It was way too early for me. But, everyone on the ship was up and leaving.

Bet you're dying to see other photos of the cruise! Stay tuned. As we move on into winter, these summer photos of Mykonos, Santorini, Kusadasi, Malta, Athens, and more are sure to wake you warm.

Autumn in the Backyard

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Here in the suburbs the backyards are just covered in leaves. Fortunately, we can dump the leaves out in the woods. Yeah! However, since the woods are so close it does mean that we get even more leaves.



Who's going to be blowing the leaves away?! Ready? Just take a big inhale then blow as hard as you can.

Five Reasons You Know You're Ready for the Fall

Are you ready for the Fall? I am. It's my favourite season. I love the colours and I love the cooler temperatures, and I also love using the oven again.

Want to know if you're also ready for the Autumn? If you answer 'yes' to at least one of the following, then you're absolutely ready!

1. You just picked up your first leaf of the season and got teary-eyed.

2. You put away your summer clothes and got out some nice cosy ones.

3. You're already eyeing the storage bins in the garage that contain Christmas lights.

4. You feel that this will definitely be the year you're finally going to dress up at Halloween.

5. You've already eaten a bag of Halloween candy and there are still weeks to go before Trick or Treat Day!

Who Needs a Scarecrow?!

Bet you can't guess what's in the picture above! Not only that, bet you can't imagine why I'd place CDs underneath the deck!



I read in a magazine that hanging CDs will keep birds away. Actually, even aluminum foil might work as well.

And why would I want to keep the birds away? Several months ago we had a nest at the side of the deck. Any time we'd go by the nest the male bird would come swooping down on us. After the babies had flown off I removed the nest and container it was in. Did that do the trick? Nope. Not long after, another bird, or maybe the same one, built a nest underneath the deck.

So far so good! The wobbly CDs are preventing birds from building nests! Yeah!

Baby Deer -Who's the Culprit?

I wonder who's been gobbling up on my plants?! I had many hostas and impatiens out back. All gone. Gobbledy gobbled up.




Who's this cute little guy? Where's his mama?



I don't REALLY mind that he ate up my plants. He seemed lonely and awfully hungry. I hope he got more food wherever he ended up next. It's not his fault that he needs food.

Baby Birdie!

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Well, guess what? One of the eggs has hatched! I looked online to find out how long robin eggs take to hatch and discovered that it is 12 to 14 days. Today makes 14 days exactly since I first noticed the nest and one egg. Apparently robins lay one egg each day.

It looks as if one of the other eggs is cracked, so there should be another wee baby bird pretty soon.

Now, all we have to do is hope that the babies remain safe. The location of the nest isn't very safe at all.

Latest Adventures of the Nest

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I managed to take a photo which clearly shows the three eggs. The mama bird had flown off somewhere, so I was able to sneak out onto the deck and take the photo.

Well, the slight problem about this nest and the mama bird is that she gets mad if you go anywhere near the nest. I mean, even if you just step onto the deck from the dining room she'll come zooming up, screeching at you. If you try to do some yard work she does the same thing! Yikes!



How long will it be before the eggs hatch? How long after that before the baby birds fly away? There's so much work to be done in the backyard! And I don't want to upset the mama bird any more than is necessary.

Bird's Nest

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Here was I moaning that Spring had not quite arrived! Lo and behold, the other day I went down the steps from our deck to the backyard. Guess what I saw?

A beautiful bird's nest, complete with an equally beautiful egg.

The location of the nest isn't very secure, in my opinion, for any squirrel or cat can climb the steps and access the nest. And, since the mother bird was nowhere to be seen I assumed that the nest had perhaps been abandoned.

Not so. We were out of town for a few days, and when we got back, I sneaked a peek at the nest. Guess what I saw?! A mama bird sitting there quite peacefully. Well, she was peaceful until she noticed me. She flew off and yelled at me. Guess how many eggs there are now? Three! I wanted to take a photo of the three eggs, but with the mama bird being so upset, I quietly moved away so as not to disturb the nest.




Now, I've been wanting to take a photo of this nest for the past 24 hours. Just a few minutes ago I tip-toed out and took a picture of the nest with the mama bird sitting in it. She didn't mind. So, I ran inside to get my better camera and dashed out to the backyard to take another photo. Oops. The mama bird was furious! She flew away, yelling at the top of her lungs. I ran up the steps to the deck and managed to take a quick photo of the eggs. You can only see two of them.



I don't know how we're supposed to use the steps, or the deck, or the patio below, for that matter, whilst the mama bird is taking care of her nest. She'll be so upset anytime we're close to the nest. Even putting the cars in the garage could upset her.

Gosh. What to do?

Computer

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My laptop died quite unceremoniously, quite quietly. After three and a half years it was finished, caput. Just like that. I'd had problems with it crashing before, and two days before the warranty was up, the hard drive crashed completely. I got a new one free in the mail about one and a half years ago. And here was I expecting it to last longer! Call me a naive optimist!

Disconcerted by the blank screen and having unsuccessfully attempted to reinstall Windows Vista I finally accepted that this was indeed the end. Boo hoo. If that wasn't enough the desktop computer was on its last legs. I was on the verge of remaining computerless!

After researching and researching and researching some more I finally chose to postpone purchasing a new laptop, and instead to buy a new desktop computer.




Out with the old! Unhook cables and other preposterous items that seem to be covered in dust. And in with the new. Heck, might as well upgrade the printer as well, one that is wireless and contains a scanner and copier. Yeah!

Now all I have to do is figure out how all this new equipment works!

Five Signs You Know You're Ready for Spring...

Are you ready for spring? It's supposed to already be the spring here. Has to be the spring somewhere, doesn't it? But it aint here.

Here are five reasons you just know you're ready for spring.

1. You bought sunscreen - five tubes!

2. You purchased garden plants from QVC.

3. You put the snow shovel way, way, at the back of the garage.

4. You began to skip and do somersaults, forgetting that the lawn is covered in snow.

5. You heard birds sing, chirp merrily and you started to sing!

Very Puzzling Puzzles

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Guess what? It's now the second of April AND we still have winter weather! How could that be? We've had wet snow - whatever that means. Isn't snow always wet?! We're lucky to enter into the forties during the day. That, indeed is a puzzle. And it's one that the perennials and grass just don't understand. They're ready to be fertilised and pampered, not frozen over!




For all you jigsaw puzzle fans, I think you might like our games room. It's just full of jigsaw puzzles. Not that I do them. Puzzles are just too, well, puzzling. And I'm already still puzzling over what to have for dinner tonight, and whether to jump up and down to get some exercise or to go for a walk in the incessant cold weather.



That one above was too big for the table in the gamesroom, so it was done on top of a rug!




There are two puzzles here lying side by side on the table. And one isn't even the right way round! I call that a puzzle. How can anyone do a puzzle when it's turned the wrong way?



I may have solved one puzzle - instead of cooking dinner tonight I think we'll just get take away!

Hail in the Spring

Just when we were all dreaming that winter had blown itself away faraway, and that spring was flowing gently by, images of buds and flowers caressed our smiling faces. We could feel the soft rain bringing life back to the garden.



Were we fooled! The temperature dropped back down to below freezing.



Hail, as big as golf balls, pelted down. I wondered what was going rat a tat tat on my car's roof as I drove home! Made it home and stared in disbelief at the grass covered in large hail.

Now they're saying on the weather forecast that temperatures will continue to be below normal for the next few days!



I thought I saw a white plastic bag on our front lawn and asked hubby to pick it up when he went out to check the mail.

"That wasn't a plastic bag. It's ice!" He grimaced, shuddering in the cold.

Daffodils in the Spring

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Guess what?! The snow has all melted and the temperatures are around fifty degrees. So far so good!

Now what is awaiting lots of attention is the backyard. Need to clean it up, get rid of the leaves yet again, and fertilize it.




Guess another what?! Several years ago there were daffodils in the back yard, but, since they eventually no longer flowered I yanked them out of the ground and dumped them in the woods out back.





Each spring these poor, neglected, worn-out daffodils bloom! I didn't even plant them. I simply tossed them into the woods. Now, some did disintegrate along with the leaves we dump. But look, here are the ones that bloom every year.

Spring is here!!

Allergies and Spicy Foods.

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Lately I've been having a craving for spicy foods!

Indian chutney? This is just one of the chutneys I was able to find at our local supermarket.



Colman's English Mustard! Really quite piquant. A little goes a long way.

Mix it with this tasty Indian relish, and your sinuses are sure to clear!!



I have allergies just now -stuffed up nose, red eyes and a headache. Maybe that's why I'm craving these spicy- wicey foods!!

Good Things to Come and Cadbury

From warm, sunny weather in Florida and South Carolina, we're now back in the land of snow and more snow!

Yet, this week-end we change the clocks?! Doesn't that mean that Spring is not far behind?

Hmm. I guess the snow is melting a little. And, I heard some birds chirping. All good signs of the beginning of things that are good.

Another good sign? Cadbury's. Yes. I happened to see Cadbury's Chocolate Fingers in a shop not far from here. Never, ever had seen Cadbury's biscuits being sold here in the suburbs. Maybe that's another sign of the beginning of things that are good! Maybe they'll even begin selling Chocolate Eclairs, Crunchie, Cadbury's Flake...

Marsh Tacky Horse Race, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

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Something nice about a road trip is finding unexpected events. Who would have thought that there would be a horse race on the beach at Hilton Head Island?! And who knew about the Marsh Tacky horse? Apparently they are an endangered species of horses.



The horses and their riders paraded along the beach as the crowds snapped dozens of photos.



The Marsh Tacky is small and works well in the marshlands of South Carolina. Despite their small size, they sure can run fast!



The rider above was one happy camper! I'm afraid, however, the race began with a terrible thud. One of the riders fell off her horse and landed hard on the sand. I don't think there was enough space after the finish line for the horses to come to a stop, so the riders had to turn them sharply. It was announced later that the rider who fell was okay.

Such excitement on the beach! And I thought cycling along the beautiful white sands was exciting!