I planted this Columbine in my flower garden last year and this Spring it has really grown. It’s loaded with flowers that are just beginning to go by.
Columbine is one of the flowering plants I’ve come to enjoy most in my New England landscape. The colors are gorgeous and they provide seeds when the flowers die which I can plant for the following year.
I also have purple and pink plants, but none of them bloomed as profusely as this one.
Pretty Columbine in my Garden
Although Florida, where I now live, has it’s own beautiful nature, flowers like the columbine will not grow there. I also miss my peonies and hydrangeas.
Some place right in front of the cats in the picture to the right, is a hole in the ground where a chipmunk lives. My cats enjoy sitting close by waiting for it to appear.
Occasionally, Richie – crazy little kitty that he is – will stick both paws down into the hole and try to pry the little critter out. Richie is a male and is quite the hunter. He leaves dead things outside my back porch each morning.
He does catch many chipmunks and I’ve noticed that the chipmunks are really pretty clever. If you have outdoor cats that hunt link mine, you might already know about this, but I was so surprised when I first saw it.
All of a sudden the “injured” rodent bee-lined it for the woods. He wasn’t hurt at all…just pretending until he could make his getaway. And he did get away. We were all fooled, including Richie!
The cat will play with it’s prey. It’s very cruel, but they love the chase so don’t want to give it up right away. We watched one day as Richie was playing with a chipmunk. As it (the chipmunk) hopped around with it’s back all hunched up, and Richie batted it around, we noticed that the chipmunk was moving towards the woods as he hopped in circles. Suddenly the chipmunk came to life and bolted for the woods. He was lost in the leaves and rocks and had made his escape successfully. Richie was the loser.
I’ve seen this happen over and over since that day. Some of them don’t get away because Richie is an amazing hunter.
The oil spill (ha – spill???) is on my mind all the time.
Even though I am in New England and far from the gulf coast, I know the beauty of the place and I can’t get my mind off the devastation happening there. It will be far-reaching and disastrous for everyone, yet I don’t feel like most of the country has a good grasp on how bad it is.
It’s hard to imagine the size of it, the depths of the oil – it’s not just floating on top of the water – and if your life revolves around the ocean, as it does for so many in the south, this means the end.
I hate to be full of doom and gloom, but I think I am being realistic. And I am sad.
New Smyrna Beach, FL
This is a typical beach scene along the Florida east coast. Early in the morning the venders show up in their various trucks and vans and set up to sell food, rent bikes, umbrellas and boogie boards. Then the beach begins to fill up with cars and everyone does the beach thing.
The kids build sand castles while moms and dads sun bathe (as if you couldn’t get enough sun in that state), while the young people play frisbee and football or do some skimboarding.
Watching people walk by was always a favorite pastime for me. From the leathery older people, who look like they live outdoors, to the young girls in their “almost” bikinis and “not quite there” thongs, and the ones who should NEVER go out in public with a swimsuit of any kind on their bodies – it’s never boring.
Some people fish, but surfing isn’t allowed in areas where lots of people swim, so the surfers have to go up the beach to their area, but we would see them carrying their boards to of from wherever – or maybe just to show off. I think it’s a combination.
My son lives in central Florida and like most Floridians he enjoys hanging out at the beach. What will Florida do when all it’s beaches are black with oil? It seems inevitable.
Already dead wildlife is washing up on shores and I can’t imagine how bad that will get. The sunshine state will be changed forever if all it’s beaches are gone. It is far too hot to spend time at the beach and not be able to cool off in the ocean and probably the smell alone will keep people away. I follow this blog that is written by a lady who lives on Sanibel Island on the Gulf coast. It is the third best place for shelling in the WORLD, and she doesn’t mention the oil, but I am wondering how long before it reaches her area.
My son keeps saying that he is enjoying the beach while he can.
My business has been doing well and I decided it was time to do something nice for myself.
My new juicer!
Now that I am getting a bit older… ahem… I am trying to eat better foods and do more to keep myself healthy. I thought that the kids might like a juicer too, so I splurged and bought a juicer.
I scoured Amazon, reading all the comments on many different juicers and eventually decided that this one was affordable and had also had great reviews.
So far, I love it. My problem is in finding decent fruit (haven’t done the veggie drinks yet) to use for my drinks.
I love the apple and carrot combo and even my daughter thought it was good (after turning her nose up when hearing “carrots”).
I also love the pineapple (I cut up a fresh one), and strawberry combo. It’s very easy to use, and must be cleaned right after use. The little mesh basket has it’s own cleaning brush and the entire thing is easy to clean, but I wouldn’t want to try it once the fruit is dried on.
I also bought a book with recipes, but haven’t tried too many of them yet.
New England's Narrow Road 