Happy...

We are the fur Bradys, RB brought the girls, Gracie and Bob, and the boys came with me, Henry and Einstein. Gracie is the dog, the others are cats. And we are all getting along and enjoying our lives.

Our yard is wonderful...sometimes I lay in the grass - Henry lays down near my head, Gracie on me or next to me...it's such a wonderful thing. The woods are so full of life. The rabbits are the most noticeable, but we've caught turkeys, raccoons, porcupines, skunks, deer, fox and coyotes on our game camera. So very cool, well except for the skunk, because Henry hasn't learned anything and has managed to get the house skunked and himself 3 times this summer.

RB built a bird feeder that is a very busy place. The birds seem to love it. Blue birds, cat birds, robins, Blue Jays, chickadees, and so many more come to visit. The squirrels are only in the woods so far - and I think that the cats are a good deterrent. Henry has been a killing machine, we shouldn't have a mouse or vole problem this year.

I've become very good friends with my neighbor across the street. She's an 82 year old fireball! Mrs. M - and I really enjoy her company and the stories she tells. This winter we'll be playing scrabble. She likes Gracie and has allowed her in the house.

Henry likes to join Grace and I on our walks, usually at night and sometimes rides on my shoulder as I'm walking - it's rather comical. And when Einstein joins us - I begin to feel like I'm the pied piper of animals.

I'm really happy....the move from living alone to being part of a family has been joyful. "we" is a beautiful word....

Morning walks

I think these are my favorite.
The world is slowly waking up - well, except for the birds...
The birds are flying all over and chirping, cheeping, tweeting, singing, whistling
One bird did a whistle that was so similar to RB's whistle I whipped my head around thinking it was him.

The deer were down the road - slowly walking across ahead of us.
Our neighbor hadn't come out yet to get his paper - so they were still close.
The rabbits saw us coming and booked into the bushes.
Gracie saw them and stopped to watch them and sniff the air
Her nose hit the ground and I could hear her snuffling...as we walked along

Glad to be able to see the sun rise through the woods and fields....

God is good.

Walking

Gracie and I have been walking.
First we started out 1000 steps, or so, each time
Three times a day

Smelling new smells
Hearing new sounds
Seeing new things

Bluebirds, Robins, Blue Jays, noisy chickadees, sparrows....and so many more
Smelling fireplace wood smoke, cow manure, snow, freshly mowed grass, freshly cut wood
A marten was our first wild animal we saw up close

Deer, Raccoons, Foxes, Loud male Turkeys, very cool to catch on the camp camera
Hearing the Pileated Woodpecker beating on old trees
Hearing the male Turkey calling all ladies, hearing their much lighter response
Hearing the cows, from down the road, mooing in the morning and evening
Hearing the bees, buzzing in the apple trees
Hearing the wind blow through the firs and trees - very different sounds

Watching the clouds scurry across the sky
Watching the Robins hunt for their worms
Watching other birds flitting from limb to limb, tree to tree
Watching the limbs and now leaves dance in the wind
Watching the landscape come to life as spring breathes new life into the land

Grace and I now walk 1-2 miles per walk...
loving everything we see and experience
The new people and dogs we meet
loving our new home...

We are settling in nicely. We've been here for 6 months, still trying to find stuff that we packed and put 'away', realizing that we have way too much, but trying to figure out what to do with all of it. We are moving stuff out of RB's house still but again, we'll get there.

The animals are getting along pretty well. Henry likes to walk with Gracie and I, early in the morning. Bob, the girl cat, joins us in the living room every day. And Einstein is the cool cat...loving his new home. We are the fur "Brady's", RB brought the girls and I brought the boys.

We have apple trees, red maples, asparagus, two very cool little 'houses' out back, a pear tree and so many things we have yet to discover. We aren't planting anything this year until we figure out what we have. There is some work to be done on the front and back decks but again - we will get to it.

All in all, we are very happy here and thankful for this space - it's beautiful and peaceful.

Our neighborhood bluebird...his lady showed up too.

Einstein, soaking up the sun.

Gracie on the hunt for anything that smells good...

Just one of the flowers that the lady who used to live here planted. It's an adventure to see what will come up next.

Henry, learning that it's hard to be a city cat in the country. But I think he's getting the hang of it finally.

The woodpecker tree out back...they must be practicing on it - or it's a lovely bug smorgasbord for them.

My absolutely favorite sunset picture so far. I zoomed in and the color was incredible.

Heaven

We are in our new home, with Gracie, Einstein, Henry and Bob (Roberta) - that's one dog and three cats. egads....the house is small, a little bigger than my old house, but with all these animals and cold weather - well let's just say it's interesting.

the trees were a little cold this morning...it was -3 at this time. 

Everything looked cold - this is the new backyard...I love it. 

beautiful trees out front - they were cold too.

Close up of the icy branches...

Blue skies coming out  - still -2 degrees. 

 The property is wonderful, Gracie and I love walking all over it. We've done lots of work in the house and more to come.

Changes...

RB and I have a new home, it's not completely ready yet, but we should be in right before Christmas. :) I'm so very happy - we're going to be our own version of the Brady's - he's bringing Gracie and I'm bringing Einstein and Henry. We've been working our tails off. Pulled down the walls in the living, dining and master bedroom, put up sheetrock and everything is painted. RB put down a new floor in the living room and in the master tomorrow.

The house is a little smaller than RB's and a little larger than mine - but it has a Garage that is HUGE! I think that was the selling point for RB - he's in heaven out there. We won't be living in Utica, but very close.

My new job is going well. That's a good thing and it's so nice to work close to old and new home.

I'm so very Thankful for everything. God is good and I tell him thank you every day.

Pictures will follow...

Merry Christmas!

Fall is here!

I'm really not sure where the summer went. Lots of adventures and fun times. Kayaking, camping at Stillwater twice (once cold and wet, the second time hot and dry), Forestport, walking with Gracie and the big one - changing jobs.

I was incredibly blessed to be able to find a new job to further my career here in Utica. I don't have the drive to Oneida every day now and can get to work in about 5 minutes if all the lights are red. At my old position it was stagnate - there was no where for me to go, but now in my new position there is room to grow and learn and I'm treated with respect. God is so very good.

Went on a day trip to NYC yesterday with KS. Bus trip through her work. She suggested that I do the online lottery before we got on the bus to see if I could get tickets to Something Rotten on Broadway. She also filled out the lottery too. Well, I figured I'd get tickets, not understanding how it all works. And I did - at 10:48am I received a text that I had won two free tickets and to respond Yes to save them. I responded YES! and since we were only a few blocks away we walked over and got in line to pick up our tickets. There was a couple ahead of us that didn't know what they wanted to do yet, so they let us ahead of them (very sweet) and I gave the gentleman my ID and told him how excited we were. KS talked up the show big time (she's seen it 2 times prior to yesterday) to the couple and pretty much talked them into it. I watched the mans face at the ticket booth and he was smiling and kept clicking - then he says to me - we've got two tickets in the first row, you'll have to look up, is that ok? I just laughed and said absolutely! For $35.00 each, we got fantastic seats and honestly I felt like I was making contact with the actors on stage throughout the entire show! It never has a lull - it's funny, so very funny and just a joyful thing to watch. KS and I also had pizza at John's Pizza next door to the St. James theater, it used to be an old baptist church and it's beautiful inside. The pizza is really good - thin and crunchy! After the show we went to Chevy's Mexican and had chips and salsa as well as Margaritas! YUM!

It was a great day and the people that we met everywhere were fantastic! Friendly, helpful and beautiful. It was cool and misty rain was falling, but it didn't dampen the day at all.

I hope you all have wonderful days and God blesses you fully!

Catching up on a few items

The Tour de Cure was today, it was a fantastic day for a ride! I was actually a little chilly for the first few miles, but between the constant peddling and sun - that changed really quick.

The other riders in the 40 mile group were awesome. There was a group of about twenty that kept telling me to stick with them, but I just couldn't do the 16-18 mph that consistently. But I did have a better time than I think I ever have and feel pretty good other than a sore bum.

I used sunscreen - the spray kind. Where it did make it onto my skin it did great, but boy did I miss a few spots. I have stripes and spots.

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The Utica Comets lost their bid to become the Calder Cup Champions, but Utica is so proud of them. Can't wait for next season to start, and it's not that far away!

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I haven't done much more in my back yard. The plan is to take some pallets that I have and paint them white, use them as a decorative fence and hang fun things from them - or just put fun decorations on them. We'll see how this summer pans out. I've been really busy with a lot of different things - so it's been a little crazy.

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That's if for now. I need to crash, so tired that I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open. :)

U-TI-CA

Utica is rallying around the Comets! It's the Vancouver Canucks AHL team that came to Utica a few years ago.  This is an awesome article about the Comets written by Derek Jory who is a writer for the Canucks . It's pretty damned cool...

The Comet's Facebook page is awesome and I'll link it here too.

We need a miracle now - we're down 3 to 1 but with the heart that this community has and the strength and will of our team...I think we're going to do it.

U-TI-CA!

Tour de Cure 2015

I'm riding 40 miles on Sunday - really looking forward to it. I've been working on getting in shape and I think I'm doing pretty well with it.

The Tour de Cure is a ride to raise money for Diabetes. My Aunt Becky and my Grandma Gates both died from complications due to Diabetes. My Aunt Becky had type 1 and was diagnosed quite early and had a lot of issues with it over the years. She had a lot of problems and didn't really take care of herself, not realizing the ramifications of that. She died about 25 years ago and she was only 40. So very sad.

My Grandma was older and was my 'fairy godmother', it was wonderful when she came to visit. She would always make her jello with carrots and celery. LOL can't eat jello or necco wafers without thinking about here. Or the smell of the old time dry cleaners and the fluids they used to use (she worked in a laundromat that had drycleaning machines). The smell of wintergreen lifesavers.  I don't know exactly what happened but she was found a couple of days later, still alive but very weak. She died on June 8, 1981.

So....if you can donate - I would really appreciate it.

Tour de Cure 2015