Belize in December 2009

That's me in Belize. I still got bit. It was the rain forest but no one else got eaten alive except me. It was a great trip with a good group and great leaders! Loved Melissa, Erik, Ferman and especially Patrick. We identified 121 species of birds and lots of mammals but no big cats. My first Kinkajou and Tamandua though. Very exciting and excellent accomodations! Love Natural Habitat and will probably travel with them again.

Snow

We had our first snow on Saturday an I was at Tysons doing my Saturday walk. I had to head home fast in the SMART Car because it didn't seem too safe to be out there on the Beltway in the smallest car with flakes as big as a dime! It was gorgeous so I built a fire, made hot chocolate and played all day with getting packed for Belize, getting out winter clothes and catching up on the pile of magazines I haven't looked at. What a beautiful weekend and two craft shows on Sunday. Also checked out my new listing coming up soon and it is almost ready.
It might snow again tonight! Whoopeee

Thanksgiving

Great day. Errands in the morning. Off to Baltimore to join my friend Joan and her parents for a great meal topped off with Pumpkin Chiffon Pie! Truly a treat and the drive home was not even bad. More people on the road than I expected but I guess they were all going locally for turkey too.
Lots to give thanks for. Income was not hit as bad as it could have been and the market is getting better month by month.
Very into cleaning out and throwing away for the eventual move to a condo if it works out. It is really too much fun getting rid of a lot of this clutter and I am sure it is treasures to other people.....especially the wardrobe, I can no longer fit into.
Today got notified from the Electric company that I am using less and less and so my bill is going down $30 a month! Now that made my day. All this unplugging is paying off!
I am doing a good job of thanking the planet!

Breathing

Boy is it great o breathe without pain. My cold is much better and I am not going thru a box of Kleenex a day. Really enjoyed working with the Bare family on their rental. Some people are just too good to be true! Thank goodness. Only one listing left but a couplein the works so it should be a good month. Off to Belize Dec 12 and then to Miami to play with relatives for a few days. When will it snow?

This is one of my shots from the invetebrate house last Saturday when I was well and hoping around like a crazy photograher.

The internet

I spent almost all of yesterday on this computer. Updating listings and database. Playing games. Looking at websites, i have been wanting to see for months. Updating database and playing games. It is unbelievable to me that we used to live without this thing. What did we do on rainy days when housekeeping seemed like a bore....reading????updating folders????paperwork??? It now seems like that was 100 years ago and yet I still know people who don't own a computer or a blackberry....I was one of those till 6 months ago and now I need an iphone so I can have all those apps! I want to remember to read this in 10 years and see what I am doing on a rainy Sunday afternoon....the computer? or will it be replaced by something I can't even imagine.

It's Fall

The sun is out, the temperature was in the 60's today and i got to wear a sweater. My favorite time of year! Made it to two zoos today. Now that is a good day! Persimmon Tree Rd settles on Friday and that will be a good day too! Next week is Stephen's Birthday so will go celebrate with him and on Saturday, i have a ticket to the Michael Jackson movie.

Not bad for a Fall week.

Now I want snow!

Flu Shot

It hurts and I am such a baby. Went to the Green Festival yesterday with Kay and we had a ball. Learned lots, mostly about bamboo, hemp(I have my hemp socks on), solar heating, solar cooking and sugar free sweeteners. We got lots of free samples and jewelry made by very talented artists. I even found a mirror for my collection made with a frame of a world map! Very appropriate.
Today was the Sugarloaf Show and it was fantastic. Those people are so talented! I love talking to the artists on how they got started and how they do stuff. Great afternoon.

State Fair 2009

I had never been to the State Fair so had a couple of hours today so wandered over to Timonium to see what all the fuss was about.

It was super!

Lots of quilts! Only one familar name. I will definitely have to enter next year.

Lots of junk food....peach sundae for me!

I saw a calf born!

I have only seen that on TV before!

It worked out just fine but a lot of work on her part.

Also saw 14 baby pigs delivered and two baby chicks hatch!

Feathers and scales was there so got some good shots of the owls and hawks and had a great conversation with one of the alpaca breeders!

That is my kind of fun not to mention the people watching and all the free information I picked up about Maryland for people moving here! Just go ahead and ask me a question!

$35

Found a great bargain at Chicos and left the store with a smile. A few minutes later, ran into a friend who has a birthday coming up and she wanted to see my bargain. I made her try it on and she loved my silver purchase too. I ran back to the store and bought her one and gave it to her as an early gift. As I drove away, I realized that it used to take a lot more than $35 to make me feel that good. I remember shopping sprees spending hundreds of dollars at Potomac Mills where Kay and I would fill the car and be as excited as two young ladies could be. Now, many years later, I had the same feeling for $35(spent twice) and I guess this is an addiction when I look at my closets but boy does it feel good!

Banana Split

I was off to Baltimore on Saturday to join my friend Joan for ARTSCAPE and we enjoyed a local lunch in her neighborhood and then downtown to find the action. The estimate was 350000 people and I believe it. Thank goodness there was an occasional breeze but it was hot and big. Transportation was the big problem but we took light rail and saw people from all over the country and their art. I got a tiny mirror for the collection and the t shirt of the show then to reward ourselves and to cool off, we went to Friendlys for ice cream in Catonsville. I couldn't
resist the banana split. I haven't done that for many many years but it was great and brought back many memories of those huge piles of ice cream in my younger years.
Obviously no dinner Saturday night!
What a fun day.
I hope we remember to do it exactly the same next year.

Back to the grind

The roadside shots in Nova Scotia are amazing, even if I do say so myself.

Stephanie and I did well even in the fog, rain and dirt roads.

We saw moose, ring necked pheasants, porcupine, lots of birds, foxes, deer and great wildflowers.

We shopped and found lots of new quilters and quilt shops.

We drove 2000 miles everywhere from Brier Island to go whaling to the top of Cape Breton. It was terrific and we may have to do it again to finish all the things on our lists but next year we are going to explore Minnesota since neither of us have ever been there before.

We loved Ruth and Ken's place and really loved meeting their friend Bernie who is a genius.

All is well but now back to work and the grind to pay for the next one!

Lost Gwen Luttrell while I was gone and Bob Hartley. Not a good week along with Michael Jackson that I may never recover from.

I can't believe he is gone. I bought lots of CD's so I can play the music constantly and try to forget and remember all the good times with his music. Thank goodness Stephanie called me or I wouldn't have known about it for hours. It is just so so sad that he had to go so soon and I think they should have the concerts anyway with the new music and the dancers. Michael would love that and I just know that the fans would go.

Zoo trips

Our new friend at the zoo

I can't remember her name right now but she sure is photogenic.

I was in a horrible mood on Sunday after reading a few emails so off to the zoo as normal on Sunday AM and once I got walking around and taking pictures, I realized that the haze had lifted and I was enjoying myself. It is such an oasis for me to see how the animals are doing and can I catch a photo of them doing something new or interesting. The photo Club buddies are always there and I know most of the keepers and even met a HVAC guy on Sunday and we had a nice chat about how much he enjoys working in such a nice environment. Now if we could just get the giraffes back!

Construction

I can't believe the mansion that is being built beside me. It is really awful and the workmen define work as screaming at each other. I have found the only thing that blocks the noise is my sewing machine in combination with the TV so I am getting a lot of quilting done. It has convinced me to definitely move and I had my handyman construct a barrier for me on the deck so I at least don't have to see it the minute I step outside.
Operation Nestwatch was here Thursday from the Smithsonian and he did manage to band six birds despite the noise and he was very pleased.
They were even here today ( Memorial Day) at 8AM!
I am actively seeking ways to stay away from the house from 8-6 and even have taken up mall walking to get exercise and not think about my ruined property value with no sun, no privacy on the deck and an ugly expansion
Not a good Spring!

Spring

Am I the only person that hates Spring?
Bugs everywhere. People in flipflops with cocktail dresses and bra straps showing everywhere.
I can always get warm since the invention of fleece but now I have to turn on AC to be comfortable.
They also seem to be tearing up every street in my daily life?
The leaves make it impossible to see birds and hamburgers and beer are so much more tempting than in the winter.

Blueberry

Well, I finally got one and even checked my email yesterday from afar. Kira Epstein set it up for me. It is a fun toy and very necessary when time is tight on a contract. I had one once before but couldn't get MLS to work so I returned it but now everything has moved way ahead and it all works right in my pocket. I have always enjoyed being on the cutting edge but now driving around in my Smart Car and waiting for my blueberry to record an email, I guess I am keeping up. What is next?
I want an Epson P200 for my photos!
I also made my first entry on YouTube which is really fun. I hope everyone enjoys my animal shots.

Spring?

The daffodils are out and Snow was predicted last night. I really think I hate Spring worse than any other season. Time to put away all the sweaters, socks and fur! Time for all the construction to start and the noise that accompanies it. ( Next door neighbor is making a mansion and my life at home is no longer my own) The bugs are out and in my house! The leaves are coming so I can't see the birds! The bugs are spiders are out...have I mentioned that before? I hate bugs! Can't avoid putting the AC on soon but can always keep the oil bills down by putting on fleece.

2009 Bethesda Raffle Quilt was handed to Lucretia yesterday and am so glad it is out of my hands. Now I have no excuse for not working on my own projects for the show in September. Have been attending lots of quilting events and those will slow down in the Spring too. Very sad.

Lots of showings of my listing in the Etheridge and hope it sells soon.

Am still editing the Patagonia pictures and especially like the one above with the blue sky and the view!

More Patagonia

Just anothter day in Argentina. This was more like the moon and reminded us all of the Grand Canyon and yet was the petrified forest at the bottom with huge petrified trees. Was truly unwordly and very cold and windy. Really cool!

Patagonia

I have returned with lots of new birds and mammals in my life list. These two are Caracaras and that is not the photo I thought it was but will do for now. Trip was more than I expected with luxury accomodations and superb food, cold weather but hard to take a bad picture.

Stuff

Zoo news first...baby gorilla that is so small and adorable if you go for that kind of stuff.

More exciting is our new president and the inauguration that went off without a hitch. Really unbelievable day in our lives.

It is snowing for the first time this winter and is beautiful. That dry snow that sits on every branch just perfectly.

Am quilting up a storm and very excited about my "NY quilt" which is a copy of a photo I saw in the Architectural Digest many many years ago.

Am crazy studying for the trip to Patagonia and hope I can identify a few birds for the gang when I get there.

Am doing lots of Market Evaluations and I think the year will be OK if these homes are priced right.

Mall walking

For about a week now, I have been mall walking because it is so much easier than getting all bundled up and trying to stay out for hours around here. At Montgomery Mall and Tysons they have heat, cheap coffee, nice restrooms and plenty to look at. I don't take my wallet so that takes away that risk and today I stayed for 2.5 hours so that is good training for my trip to Patagonia coming up in less than a month and I need to get in shape!
Holidays were quiet but relaxing with too much food but lots of celebrations and great gifts. I enjoyed making the family and friends appliqued initials framed for their homes and they kept me busy most of the last 3 months. The handmade presents always appeal to me the most.