Good-bye Tacoma-----Hello, Jeep!

   In March it was I that first gave up on the my trusty 10 year old Malibu but yesterday my son gave up on his 12 year old Tacoma Truck.  It served him well.  It was never a chick magnet and now it was pretty sad looking.  Dull black, dings, splatters, low-riding, and no hub caps!  But not bad on gas, room enough for camera gear, and comfortable enough for the daily drive to Philly.  Two vehicles in about 20+ years of driving isn't too bad.  

So here's the old Tacoma that he had:

But he bought a new Cosmos Blue Jeep.  He took me for a ride in it and it was quite comfortable until we got on some bad roads in Pitman and then it was a little like taking it on an off-road trip. Looks rugged enough so it should last at least another ten years and it might be a little more fun on work-free days now that he has a few of them.

October Vignettes in a Cozy Little Home

    I put up a foil leaf garland, a fall wreath, and put my witch on the dining table and my seasonal decor was complete.   But then I had a chance to visit a special little home that made me ooo-oo and aaahhh!  I had to take photos and I told her I would be posting them on my blog but she probably won't even get to view these photos since she doesn't go online much.  She favors Annalee decorative dolls. I have been to her house at Christmas and I was mesmerized then but I didn't think the Halloween theme would measure up but it did.

Love her vintage chairs:

My favorite view with the French doors. And really a Halloween tree!  :

Halloween towels??  I never gave a thought to decorating the bathroom for any season--well, maybe a hand towel at Christmas:

Such a cute little enclosed porch:

Featured Annalee dolls:

   I was so intrigued by the welded art work made by her son that I didn't notice the Halloween themed prints.  I think they are fantastic and I never even asked about them:

  For now I will post these photos but I did collect some sprigs of nature's fall offerings and put them into a old milk bottle.  I will add that photo later.

MS Bikers Ride to the Shore

    MS bikers were lucky that the rain held off today. Got a few photos as I headed off to the shore myself and no matter which rural road you take you can hardly avoid them. I have no problem but they do claim the whole lane to themselves. It is a bit risky to pass the little groups but this year it was do-able.

Caught these two fellows from my driveway:

Love seeing the bikers and motorcycles going by my house.  Here's a video:

This guy is sporting a non-traditional helmet.  Took this one while I was driving S-L-O-W!

Stayed behind this chase car from Connecticut:

Another Little Frog

  This is the year of frogs and toads!  The only thing I haven't seen is a snake.  I usually encounter at least one snake every year.  Again, I believe it is a tiny frog.  Its body is only a little more that a centimeter in length and appears to be a different variety than the previous little frog that I found this year.

Grape-Stomping

  Hurricane Irene caused the cancellation of the first fall festival at Renault's Winery this season.  So this weekend was the rain-date for the grape-stomping festival with a Lucy impersonator.  They have several festivals during the year and it seems they continue to be profitable events for the company.  Since it is just around the block from me I go to get a take-out tray.  For $6.50 I got  barbecued pulled chicken on a roll, a small piece of corn on the cob and a cup of coleslaw.  The food is great.  I heard from another grape grower that the grapes were relatively unharmed by the hurricane.

Posting here a close-up of the grapes my mother grew on her arbor:



Imposing goose at Renault's pond:

Lucy impersonator and Mr. Milza:

Lucy, graciously posing for me:

 Grapes ready to be stomped on for a fee and then you get a bottles of the moosh:

Red begonias line the walk ways:

My Son Visits on a Rare Day Off

 This is my second day with my new little Fuji FinePix camera.  It's compact does a decent job of macro and takes 720 HD video.  The only bad thing is the lack of a view finder.  My son and I decided to try the new Japanese/Chinese restaurant in  town. Nime? Hime? I couldn't decipher the letters.

 Also, I wanted to re-post one of my favorite videos of his here.  It has various family clips, Philadelphia sites, and clips from a spring visit to New York City two years ago. 

http://www.youtube.com/user/ptbernard#p/f/2/Kiuy-KypPS4

Son:

What to do with chopsticks:

Across the street from the restaurant:

Hime or Nime:

Excellent sushi:

Crab appetizer:

Nice decor:

Back to School--Second year I'm not back

  Well, it is around eleven o'clock and I just took a nature walk and it is unbelievably quiet around here in contrast to what it was early in the morning. Rain clouds threaten and the kids at the high school down the block must be listening to teachers going over classroom management routines. That's what I would have been doing two years ago on the first day back to school and possibly having a fun activity to make them feel that they are glad to be back which normally they are anyway. Around seven in the morning buses and teachers' vehicles start filing down the road that officials promised would not be used for anything but delivery trucks and cafeteria workers. It is no surprise that this is the situation and I have no real problem with it. I am surprised that some of those teachers or other workers have those "boom" cars or other sound systems that allows for loud music to blare. They are lucky because the old lady at the intersection is on hospice care and I always liked that loud bass sound. Also, quite a few just have bad mufflers on what I suppose are trucks. Since students are not allowed to drive to school, I am assuming these vehicles are driven by staff members. I want to keep this blog going so I think I am going to focus on my nature walks around the yard, activities at the high school, and my occasional ventures away from home. I plan on doing another blog using all the videos and photos I took during the building of the high school. But for now here are my nature walk photos:

Watching Rose as Rose watches me with reflections of the red impatiens flowers.  Mee--erow---ally like you :

Hoping that this honeybee is of the species that is battling to make a comeback around here:

Last of the raspberries:

                            A mushroom with camouflage:

Yeah, this is nature!!!  Human Nature! (on the road to the school)

  Last hibiscus---I will bring the plant inside this winter and it will go into shock and drop half of the leaves.  My sister brings an eight-foot+  tree hibiscus into her small kitchen for the winter:

Bumblebee on a succulent flower--a type of sedum.

Note the bright orange pollen bag bag.  Probably from the dahlias:

Should have taken a photo when the garden was at its peak but here it is after hurricane Irene:

Just a good representation of your typical white mushroom:

This one shows how the earth was pushed up by the strength of this mushroom. But I can squish it down to nothing with one step!  What laws of physics are in play here?

 

Bowling bowl in garden:

Green bowling bowl in garden:

Butterfly

Beautiful fungi:

Comical fungi: