Margery Niblock

April Fool

Love in the Street (of All Places)

 

I'll take love wherever I can find it. Today I found "love" in the street. Of course I had to bring this love home. I've hung it in a kitchen window, where I can enjoy seeing it.

My New Dog

 
This is Rover, my new dog. He's very easy to care for. Quiet; obedient; doesn't require food or walking; the best kind of dog for me.

I have him sitting and looking at the gas fireplace. He seems to find this location a pleasing one. He can watch the flames. And when there's no fire going he likes to watch the pilot light. We're getting along very well. We're both happy. And he doesn't take up too much space.

Snowstorm April 1

 

So what if it's April? So what difference does one more snowstorm make in Maine?

No big deal! Today is the third of April and it's almost all gone. Yesterday and today the temperature was in the 40s so the snow is melting very quickly.

Lucy

 
 
She's a bit dirty, after getting into something she wasn't supposed to be near. But you can tell that she's a cute dog, I'm sure. Lucy has a great personality and she loves to fetch. She's really good at that.

She was given a haircut a couple of Saturdays ago—for the warmer season coming up. I was outside chatting with Alice, who was giving the cut.

I sat down on one of the steps and when I got up Alice informed me that I had a new appendage, which was made of dog hair. And this is what it looked like.

So here's what I'd look like if I had a tail. Somehow, we managed to get it all off. But I was glad that I didn't have to attend some formal gathering right then.

So fluffy!

 

 

 

 

 

Back to Trash Again

I'm sure those of you who follow this blog might remember the stolen trash bags given mention this past winter.

I never discovered who was taking them but that was all right. It didn't press on my brain at all. But—now my brain is being pressed. So I have to tell you the latest event.

A couple of weeks ago I put out a trash bag at 5:30 p.m., the evening before pickup. I'd taken my foot and stepped onto the bag to consolidate its contents. I did this a couple of times before putting the twist tie around its neck.

I must tell you that the joke is definitely on me! As I was placing the trash bag on the sidewalk, I thought: "I don't have to even consider that anyone might want this bag of trash because it's filled to   capacity. Ha!"

I'm always one to admit when I'm wrong, and I couldn't have been more wrong when I had that thought. The next morning when I opened the door to bring my newspaper in I saw this sign in place of where my trash had been.

 

The sign was nailed to a piece of wood, which was stuck into the dirt right next to the tree near the curb (which was where the bag had been).

Look at how artistically this sign has been done. And someone obviously went to an awful lot of trouble to cut these letters out of magaziness. I am especially fond of the exclamation point! So cleverly done!

I have no idea who might have done this. I'd love to know though. I'm going to make a color Xerox of this sign and then I'll put it back in the same spot, with a little message.

So stay tuned, as they say. This is a fun mystery!

This week I put out a message taped onto a color Xerox of the sign. It said "For what?"

 
The morning after I'd set out the trash and the sign, guess what? The sign had been removed. But nothing was left in its place.

No message. Nothing.

 

The sign was gone. The metal piece the sign was attached to was gone. And the mystery continues.

Bicycle Bread? What's with That?

 

It was a perfectly delicious looking bread, just resting across the bikes that were locked to a pole on Sheridan Street, right outside my editor's apartment building. Seeing things like this, does make you wonder. There are numerous questions I might ask, but I won't burden you with those. I'm sure you'll have your own.

 Two days later, this is what I saw at the corner of the same street. Bird food! Smashed bird food!

 

Lovely Summer Days

Tim Burton on Loco, Reading the West End NEWS 

Here's our former Police Chief Tim Burton. He's now the head of the police department in Odessa, Texas, of all places for a Maine boy to be. 

After rising through the ranks in the Portland Police Department, Burton served as chief from 2005 to 2008. Many in the force remember him fondly and miss him.

He's looking very jovial riding his horse Loco. That's a pump jack in the background and it's a working oil well.

 

Street Party

 

Last Saturday the Bayside community had an outdoor party. One of the attractions was a walking puppet show.

 
The man in the picture had nothing to do with the puppet show. I could have cropped him out but I decided to leave him, since he looks so pleased with what he's doing.

When I snapped the picture I was trying to get the dog's face and I didn't even remember that someone was right there. When I uploaded the photo onto my computer, there he was! And there he remains.

Midtown Community Policing Center

Many times when I'm downtown, I stop in to the Midtown Community Policing Center, run by the extremely capable and personable Mary-Ellen Welch.

I never know who I may come across there or what interesting thing I'll see. Yesterday was one of those days. A young woman came in with a little sparrow that she said was unable to fly. It seemed perfectly content to be with her, and she said that she'd called Animal Control.

 

  Soon to Be for Sale

I came across Lisa Peñalver (editor of the Munjoy Hill Observer) and Christina Feller (president of the Munjoy Hill Neighborhood Organization) when I ambled around the Hill on Saturday morning.

They were taking photographs of these two panels, which they're going to be putting up for sale for $500 to raise money for the organization's use.

Artist Tim Clorius created this for the Munjoy Hill Neighborhood Organization several years ago. It consists of a pair of panels 4' x 8' painted by Clorius under the name "SUBONE."

SUBONE stands for supplying urban beautification offering new experiences. Clorius is the founder and director of SUBONE Mural Workships.

Someone with a large space would do very well to purchse this painting.

Hardy Flower

I really enjoy seeing flowers that somehow grow right in the street next to the curb. This is one of those special little plants, a tough petunia that didn't want to stay in the planted area on the sidewalk.

It was doing quite well, as you can see, and there's even another bud about to open. 

Exciting Things Next Door

I love these colors! Can't wait to see the finished product.

And that space under the porch is going to have a very exciting addition to it.

When these apple trees get planted at the front of the house, they will eventually bear fruit—and will look like these espaliered apple trees at Wimpole Hall Gardens in England.

That will be pretty nifty, don't you think? Well worth waiting for!

Spring in the Air

A Beautiful Spring Parade

On April 11, the Maine College of Art and the Museum of African Culture hosted an Ebune Spring Festival & Parade.

The parade was marching up Congress Street and that's where I went to get some photos of the action.

Oscar Mokeme, head of the museum, led the parade and looked spectacular.

It was a most festive and colorful display, with all the animal costumes participating in the event.

  I especially liked this bird.

The parade is a celebration of spring and the ram is symbolic of renewal.

Here and There

What have we here?

I never know what I'll come across when taking a walk. That makes a jaunt around the neighborhood quite an exciting event.

I was thrilled to see this little pink snake (or perhaps worm) a block away from my home when I was returning the other day. It's made out of jiggly plastic, so that when you hold it up, its movements are very snakelike (or perhaps wormlike). 

I considered this a highly successful walk because of such an unusual find. It doesn't take much to please me. I'm very easily amused. That's a good trait to have.

 

 

Look at this! A real pink worm. I found them just one week apart. I think that was really considerate, so I'd have them for this blog.

The dumbest parking sign in Portland

 

 

In case you're not able to read this sign, it says "NO PARKING HERE TO DRIVE."

And I hope you've noticed that the distance between that dumb sign and the driveway is less than three feet.

Maybe the parking people and/or the sign people were drunk or hopped up on drugs when they came to Montreal Street to install this ridiculous item.

Let's not even talk about wasting money. I feel like organizing the neighbors to have a "take-down" party.

I got it! Those sign people must have also seen this cup that was sitting downtown on Portland Street. They obviously went and got some good free drugs, and then continued their important work of putting up ludicrous nonsensical signs on Munjoy Hill.

I'm glad I figured that out. I feel much better now about that sign.

Graffiti is nasty!   

The fools who did this must have thought they were very clever.

They're idiots! And they've made an ugly mess. Obviously they have nothing better to do with their time, which is a sad thing. Just imagine, stomping around in white paint in the middle of the night.

Vandals that do this are a drain on society. It would be nice to catch them and force them to do something beneficial—like graffiti removal.

What a thought!

New pin

This is my new "precocious" pin. People like it, and so do I.

I'm not sure what the image is but I think it's some sort of neuron. That sounds good, doesn't it—like I know what I'm talking about?

I actually looked up a picture of a neuron and I'd say that's what it is. That high school biology is still stuck in there somewhere.

I got the pin at ferdinand, a delightful shop with handmade goods, located on Congress Street at the bottom of the hill near India Street.

They had a little basket filled with pins that had words and pictures on them. It was a lot of fun just browsing through and looking at all of them. It's a great store for gifts, either for a present for someone you know or for yourself. Hey, we all need to give ourselves presents every now and then. At least that's my philosophy.

Moola from Italia

My dear friend Vince, from oh so many years ago, sent me these incredible Roman coins.

He's a retired former Major Crimes Detective from Philadelphia, who now lives in sunny, humid Florida, playing lots of golf and loving it.

He said he'd been traveling in Italy and came across an area with a lot of pieces of lava. He picked up some of the lava and saw that there were coins embedded in it. He removed the coins and sent them off to me.

I've been working on cleaning them up. I know that if they are valuable coins, you shouldn't remove the patina. But they're not valuable, so I'm not concerned about that. I'm just interested in seeing the images that are on them.

I do a little cleaning and then I peer at them through my large magnifying glass. It's fascinating to me.

I was thinking that I might want to make a bracelet or necklace from them. We shall see. But right now they're just neat to have around so I can look at them whenever I want to.  

Politix lite (April 1, 2010)

On April Fool's Day the President of the United States of America paid a visit to Portland, Maine, a place that is quite fond of him.

I didn't even try to use my West End NEWS  press credentials to get in for the speech. There were two reasons for this: The first is that I truly detest political speeches and the second was that my editor, Ed King, was inside.

It was a perfect spring day in Portland, and I was happy just being outside watching all of the goings on at the site where President Obama was coming to speak.

This lovely young woman and her parrot were standing behind me, and I turned around to take a few pictures of them.

I wanted you to see her Obama T-shirt, but I'm posting this second photo of them because it's such a nice shot of the parrot.

See what I mean?

 

 

 

 

Can you imagine losing this car?

When I returned to where I thought my car was parked (after the presidential excitment), it wasn't there! This is the car Ed King, editor/owner/publisher of the West End NEWS dubbed "the FlameMobile." I like that and think it's quite fitting. Aside from being a talented cartoonist, Ed is also very good with words. And we're not surprised.

Since no one in this country likes to take the blame for anything, I'll be a good American and blame the losing of my car on someone else. I can do whatever I like here and so I'm going to place the blame on a handsome young policeman who'd pulled up right behind me and double-parked. It was someone I knew, and I thought "Oh, there's Handsome Young Policeman."

We chatted for a couple of minutes and I walked up to the next street, looking for the person I was originally going to check in on, someone who wasn't there at that time. This was the street where I'd originally intended to look for a place to park. Perhaps that's why I returned to this street when I was leaving. I knew I'd parked there. I even had to walk an extra block to get there.

This was a first for me: losing my car! I'd locked my keys in my car once. And now I'd lost my car. I thought it might have been towed—or heaven forbid—stolen. Since I'm probably the only person in Portland without a cell phone, I was at a total disadvantage. It was also approaching five o'clock, so I was afraid I might not be able to reach Mary-Ellen Welch at the Midtown Policing Center. I thought of her as my savior. She'd be able to accomplish anything! She had magical powers!

But I did reach her! And that wonderful woman did save me. She came to get me. It wasn't far away, but for me it would have felt like walking ten miles because I'd taken a long walk earlier and I'd been on my feet for a couple of hours at the "event."

Another officer checked to see whether my car had been towed. The answer was negative. Mary-Ellen was going to drive me around that neighborhood (with her top down—it's a convertible) to see if we could locate the car.

Then we saw Handsome Young Policeman up ahead. That was good. I said "He'll know where I parked because I spoke to him right there."

He did know and he told us. It was one block west of where I thought, and I'd started walking east. So the car was found, in exactly the same spot where I'd parked it.

Thank goodness I'm beyond embarassment! (To me that's like the Dr. Seuss book Beyond Z.)

The next time I ran into Handsome Young Policeman, I told him I was going to blame him for the loss of my car, and that brat said: "Why, because you got twitterpated when you saw me?"

I said I was going to add him to my "stable." We like those clever, fresh wise guys. Another clever one was in the room and his comment was: "Why do you want hamburger when you can have steak?"

Do you think one of the two men on the right made that statement? And if so, which one?

I'd say the one with the Taser on his belt looks like steak!

And lest we forget, this is a reminder that April 15 is coming right up.

 

Hey, Scott, here's your lunch box! (This time it's for real!)

What you've been waiting for . . . Scott's lunch box. Here it is.

And here's another view.

And I know what you're saying now: You want to see Scott and find out what this is all about.

Okay. Here's Scott. As you can see from those three stripes, he's a sergeant, a distinguished member of the Portland Police Department (that's the one in Maine). He was at the Midtown Community Policing Center when this picture was snapped, which is a central location of the area he supervises.

Scott not only has a great sense of humor, he also is a great cop. He makes lots of arrests and he has the distinction of deploying the first Taser in Portland, thereby preventing a man from committing suicide. That's a very good use of the weapon.

The Midtown office is a very active place because there are many social service agencies nearby and a lot of the clients they serve stop in to talk to Mary-Ellen Welch, the civilian coordinator who runs the office.

People come to see Mary-Ellen because they love her! She'll listen to anyone's problem and try to help. She refused to allow me to take her photograph for this article though, and that's too bad.

I realized that I already had a picture of her, taken last summer at a Bayside block party, which was a huge success. Here's that marvelous lady with two of her other "boys" who are in the office a lot. That's Karl Geib on the left and Dan Knight on the right.   

When I first saw the lunch box it seemed as though it might have a story to tell. I'm very intuitive about things like that, so I asked about the container. Scott said he got out of the army in 1986 and then got a construction job. He needed a lunch box, and he still has the one he bought back then—this one—which makes it quite special.

And then we come to the various fruit labels on Scott's lunch box. Can you imagine that there's a Web site devoted to the thousands of fruit labels that exist? Check it out; there is such a thing. Here are some photos of those things.

I must tell you that these are not bananas from my kitchen. No sir! If I had these, they would have been eaten long before they got so many brown marks on them. But I don't choose my friends according to their banana likes and dislikes. Kevin likes bananas with brown spots on them. Yikes! I find it hard to even imagine such a thing. I've never asked Megan if she feels the same way about bananas. I'd have to assume so because their marriage seems to be solid.

I find labels on fruit and vegetables to be extremely annoying. Evidently Scott and I have similar feelings on this topic. That's how all of the labels got onto his lunch box.

He has a wonderful philosophy, which is: "I don't eat labels on fruit." I thought that was so nicely phrased. I was able to immediately relate to that statement. Scott peels labels off fruit and pastes them on his lunch box. Perhaps it would do me good to get one of those because I peel them off, while cursing, and then try to unstick them from my fingertips so that I can place them where they belong: in the trash!

Summer Strolls

Nature in the City

I have no idea what sort of caterpillar this is, but I'm sure I'll find out. It was big!

I saw it near the curb in front of my house. It looked as though he was heading directly across the street, which could be a dangerous thing to accomplish.

I ran into the house to grab my camera and when I returned with it, I couldn't see the caterpillar anywhere nearby. Finally I found it heading up the street. It had traveled quite a distance in the few minutes that I'd been gone.

I placed him in some grass, off the street, and out of danger.

This poor little frog was one of those living in Joe's water garden. Trying to solve the cause of this creature's demise, we thought that perhaps it had jumped down to the sidewalk and then became dessicated when unable to return to the water.

Poor thing! The fish are thriving and are really growing quite large. They'll be moving indoors to an aquarium when fall arrives.

The children in the neighborhood love to come to the water garden to see the fish. It has become quite the gathering place.

I go over several times a day, and the sound of the running water is soothing.

The downtown birds that hang out near the waterfront, trying to get morsels dropped by people dining outside are doing quite well also.

Here's one of our local seagulls, taken last week when I was having dinner on the deck of a restaurant right next to the water. What a beautiful, blue Maine sky there was that evening.

This sign has been posted for a couple of weeks, but I hadn't noticed it previously.

Now I'm curious to know whether the person who'd lost the rabbit ever got it back, and how it disappeared initially. That's something to ponder.

My son found a baby rabbit under a car early one morning in downtown Philadelphia. When he found out that the local animal shelter would have done away with it, he wound up taking it home, buying all the equipment he needed to care for a pet rabbit, and having that rabbit for a good many years. It got to be huge! And it had a lovely home. 

It was shortly after Easter when he saw the rabbit. Someone probably got it for the holiday and then had enough of caring for a bunny, and just let it go into the street. We do not like people who do things like that. Not at all. 

This dead bird was lying in the grass as I walked down the very steep hill on Walnut Street.

I hope it's not there the next time I'm walking on the street. Some cat will probably remove it. And there are plenty of them prowling around.

Someone changed a bleak-looking landscape into a cheerful garden that's right on the sidewalk. After passing by this area so many years and just seeing ugly bricks, it's a real pleasure to be greeted by these giant, healthy sunflowers.

What a difference something like this makes to an area.

And speaking of improvements to neighborhood views, Portland Pottery should get an award for beautifying Washington Avenue.

What a great mural! It has improved the visual aspects of walking along that street. Portland Pottery has classes for adults and children; they have seasonal sales of ceramic items made by different people, where wonderful bargains can be had. I've bought many objects at those events.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nature à la David Howe

 

You've seen these marvelous creations before, when they were all dressed up for Christmas. This is what they look like without their holiday garb; this is their everyday appearance.

I do hope that people look up to the roof and see this cat and dog. They're missing out on a truly wondrous site if they don't.

David is now working on his garden fence, another delightful aspect of this property on Munjoy Hill. I'm going to share some views of the fence with you and I hope you all enjoy them.

Here's the gate.

I love the way you're able to see the green grass through the cutout of the frog.

And don't miss that sinuous snake to the right.

In the photo to the right you can see the cat on one of the posts. And there is a tree that's sketched on another post, which hasn't been cut out yet.  

And not to be forgotten, is Iggy the iguana who resides in the hallway coming up to David's apartment; another special creature to beautify this dwelling.

 

What a talented guy! I'm sure you'll all agree with that assessment.

Summer in the City

What's in the Streets

Hey! This is a city, which is obvious from the surface that this beautiful snakeskin is lying on.

It certainly makes me wonder whether this snake actually shed his skin right in the street on North Street or if it got blown into the street from a garden nearby.

I was lucky to find it when I did, because within four days there wasn't a trace of it left. I watched it disintegrate each time I walked past. I was astounded to see something like this in my neighborhood. It was a wonderful sight for me. But I'm glad I only saw the skin and not the snake. That was enough nature for me while walking in the street.

Gloves—in the Summer?

If I'd come across these a few months ago I wouldn't have been at all surprised. People are always losing gloves during the cold weather.

However, it was slightly shocking to see these wool gloves—aside from their shocking color, which I like a lot—during very warm summer weather.

It always makes me wonder about what sort of story might be connected to these dropped gloves. But I'll never know. That means you'll never know either. But we can all just imagine our own stories to go with the image.

How Did This Happen?

 

I counted an awful lot of cigarettes before taking this ugly picture. They hadn't been smoked. And there were more cigarettes than there are in a pack, which made me wonder how this happened.

Oh, well, it's just one more story to imagine.

Great Catch, Geep! Summer Sport

Geep went down to Connecticut to visit his family last week. He went fishing with his brother and this is what he caught.

Pretty astounding fish. He said his brother didn't catch anything. That hardly seems fair.

This is a striped bass. I don't know its length but I've been told that in Maine you can't take one less than 26 inches or more than 42 inches.

I don't know what the law is in Connecticut, where this whopper came from. I was given a piece of this delicious fish. Yummy!

I've never gone fishing. One of the many things I've never experienced. I have to wonder what it must have felt like to be trying to pull such a large fish out of the water. It seems as thought you'd be able to be pulled overboard with something that size flailing around.

Bayside Block Party Huge Success

Perfect weather and lots of hard work combined to turn Cindy's long-desired block party into a wonderful neighborhood event, enjoyed by lots of people.

It was pretty hot in the sun, but there were beverages to cool people off, and there were lots of hot dogs and hamburgers with all of the trimmings. Everything was free, including the balloons that children were hanging on to when I arrived.

The festivities began at noon and ran until five o'clock. It was the perfect setting for a summer day on a Saturday in Bayside. Lots of people donated many hours of their time in order to make this event happen.

Our famous "bike cops" stopped by several times to see how things were going. This area is part of the city that they patrol, so they were familiar with many of those attending.

Here they are, Dan Knight and Karl Geib. Even though they are in a social setting here, you can see by looking at them that between the two of them they have everything covered visually.

They're always working when that uniform is on, even when they're stopping in at a block party. They have all bases covered, all the time. Quite a duo!

I always have to give leg shots whenever I take their photos. My female readers require that.

That's Dan's leg on the left and Karl's on the right.

 

Here's Mary-Ellen Welch with Dan and Andjelko Napijalo, who also patrols the Bayside neighborhood. He wasn't on the Segway on this particular Saturday. But he'd become a real icon for several weeks as he cruised around on the unusual vehicle.

He drew adoring crowds everywhere he went. And he still was able to make arrests.

Mary-Ellen is the Coordinator for the Midtown Community Policing Center. She worked very hard at this party, making sure things were running smoothly. It was an extremely hot day and there was little shade in the parking lot where the event was being held. I can attest to that because I spent a few hours there.

I should have taken a photo of Mary-Ellen's car, a VW beetle convertible, with a license plate that says "AMORE." I tell you, she's a woman after my own heart! A real delight.

Here and There

A Real Whodunit!

LQQk! The photo at the left is the ankh, which was embedded in the macadam of Cumberland Avenue. I'd written about that a couple of weeks ago.

I would have liked to come back with a screwdriver and a small hammer, so that I could pry it up and bring this lovely silver piece home with me.

But I didn't do that. I left it there.

Today, when I was walking up the same street, I decided to cross right at that spot so that I could visit the beautiful ankh and take another look at it.

What I found in the street was the "ghost" of the ankh, which is pictured in the second photo. Someone else did what I'd thought of doing. It's gone! Now I have to wonder whether that person read about it on my blog or just crossed at the same spot and decided to remove it after seeing it.

I'll never know. One more of life's mysteries.

Today's Found Object

This is something I brought home from today's walk. Quite cute, and cute is something I'm attracted to.

I have no idea who this character is. It's a cookie cutter but I won't be baking any cookies using it, even though I did give it a good bath upon getting home.

Next week I'll consult with Janine Kaserman, my friend who is the excellent Munjoy Hill Community Policing Coordinator. She's advised me several times in the past about found objects that were cartoon characters. She has a young son, so she's up on all of these things, and she's my pop-culture consultant. I found out about Dora the Explorer and numerous others through her wisdom. 

I just got smart! I sent Janine an e-mail with this photo, and she's already written back that this is Boots the monkey, one of Dora's friends. Boy, that was easy because she's terrific! She also informed me that Boots carries a backpack containing maps to help Dora find things.

Not the Best Part of My Walk

I'm sorry! I didn't do this! I'm just showing you something I saw when I took my walk. You can just scroll down quickly if it's too difficult for you.

I believe it's called "Nature," isn't it?

And here's another nature shot, from a safari in Zanzibar that my friend Luke Flagg took a couple of weeks ago.

I just think it's such an incredible photo that I'm posting it here. I think the title should be "Alfresco Dining." Do you agree?

The photograph below should be a calming influence after that shot of gore. It's a new path that goes down a very steep hill. It was put in by Portland Trails and is a fantastic addition to our Munjoy Hill neighborhood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chickening Out

Those baby chicks are really growing quickly. This is what they looked like a month ago.

And here's what they look like now.

They look like teenage chickens! I'm told that they should be ready to lay eggs around October.

 

 

 

 

 

June's "art of the month"

Once again I am the honored recipient of a wonderful envelope with that oh-so-special artwork from an unknown donor, that has been mailed to me for such a long time.

Upon carefully opening the envelope, here's the card that I saw enclosed.

And then I got to the good part! The art.

This month's artwork consisted of four beautiful renditions of stamps from other countries.

Each month I am amazed at the artistry and care involved in sending these surprise envelopes.

As soon as I finished photographing the stamps, I ran down to the basement, where I have a few small frames stored. I brought up a 4 X 6 and used rubber cement to glue the stamps to a black background. They are now hanging happily on a wall in my kitchen, along with other treasures.

  

Aren't they delightful? Can you imagine doing something like this? When will I be able to meet this wonderful person?

I'd always thought they were done by a talented woman who lives around the corner from me. But now that I see the post office box has been given up and there's an actual address on both the envelope and the enclosed card, I guess I'll have to take a ride over to Tyng Street and see if I can find out who lives there.

Will it be someone I know? I don't officially know anyone with an address on that street, so it certainly does add more mystery to this whole mail/art saga.

Stay tuned . . .

Meanderings

I Can't Resist a Cute Guy!

He's tall, dark, and . . . white? Okay. He is quite handsome though, don't you agree? And very cute!

That's how we like them.

I'd gone to (forgive me) Wal-Mart to pick up something for my garden, and there was the Easter bunny, allowing people to pose with him. And it didn't cost a cent. That was a good thing.

I didn't feel like waiting around for an hour and a half, so I went back the following morning and picked up my photo.

I sent this to a friend of mine who lives on an island in Washington state, and he wrote back and said "Who's that guy with the Wonder Bread vest?"

A New Critter Joins My Menagerie

There's a new addition to the animals inhabiting my garden. An opossum! I'd never seen a live one, so that was quite a thrill for me. When you've grown up in New York City, it's exciting to have contact with nature, other than pigeons and squirrels.

This creature is a welcome addition to the yard. And he makes three wild animals I'm aware of that are living here. Woody the woodchuck made his first appearance this week, at least it was my first sighting of him. This will be our third season together. I haven't seen the skunk yet, but hope that he's still in residence. If so, it will also be his third season. I'll be able to relax after I see him and know that he's made it through the winter.

Woody's Back Again

Sorry for this poor photo of Woody's first showing. That's the top of his head peering out of the front door of his cozy home. I'm expecting he'll accommodate me later in the season by posing for my camera, as he's done so many times in the past. 

How Long Will This Last?

This building is really sagging badly. I have to wonder how many more Maine winters it will be able to tolerate before collapsing in on itself.  

More from "art of the month"

With the arrival of April, another mailing showed up from the wonderful "art of the month" folks, an eight-page little booklet about sugar, titled "Around the World."

Here are a few photos of the delightful drawings included.

 

They all pertain to sugar, or azúcar, en español.

 

 

There you have it. Someone goes to an extraordinary amount of effort to come up with these little gems. I can't imagine doing all of these drawings and then putting the wonderful things together. I'm quite lucky to be on this special list of recipients.

"My" Cardinal Returns

I was thrilled to hear the song of a cardinal, rushing to grab my camera in the hope that I could get a couple of shots. I knew from last year's experience, that if I tried to get out the back door he would fly off.

I had to take this shot through my kitchen window, which is not sparkling clean these days, but it did come out, luckily.

It's a thrill for me to have a beautiful visitor like this. I cannot wait until I get my annuals purchased and planted. All the pots are out there waiting to be filled. I'll be choosing my flowers in another week or so.

I know everyone always says to wait until Memorial Day, but that's way too far off for me. I'll take my chances around the fifteenth of May, which also will be my twentieth anniversary of living in Maine.

Happy Valentine's Day to All!

February 14 Is a Special Day

For the past several years my friend Deb has hosted a Valentine's Day card-making party on the weekend before the big event. A couple of years ago I went with the intention of creating a few cards, and was surprised when I was totally overwhelmed by all of the wonderful supplies I was confronted by.

I wound up not making one decent piece, and from then on I attended with my camera in tow, content to take photos of everything without having the pressure of making something. It worked much better for me.

 

All of the special papers and stickers and "cutesy" little things were wonderful to me. I could spend hours looking at these items and not wanting to use them in any way.

I must admit I was immediately attracted to this book with the wonderful title of SEX. I browsed through it and enjoyed doing so very much.  

The hostess, (Is that word verboten now? I don't care if it is. Screw political correctness! It's fascism, as far as I'm concerned.) Deb, was planning to use this charming little butterfly girl on one of her cards. She cut away all of the white areas, which was quite a time-consuming job. I'd much prefer to watch her do the hard work while I snap a picture.

There were also some animals in attendance; resident cats and a visiting dog were moving around.

Roo lives in the charming house with her sister Bebe, whose photo I was not able to capture without it being blurred. Too bad, because Bebe is a beauty. She's a black cat with a large ruff around her neck. I'd never seen a cat with looks like that.

And then there was Ed, the pug from Massachusetts. He came for the entire weekend. He seemed to be quite taken by me, which is always enjoyable, having an animal like me. So I shouted to all present "Ed loves me!"

Look at that soulful expression. It certainly grabbed at my heartstrings. But then I was rudely corrected. "Ed's a girl!" I was told. Darn! I couldn't add another male to the list of those who love me. I like those curled tails on pugs. Very cute. They're even better on pigs though.

Just those words, "LOVE" and "KISSES," are uplifting to one's heart.

And look at all of those "XOXOXOXO"s. They're wonderful! I use them in e-mails to special people.

It makes me tired to think of putting all of those materials away. Deb should have a special Valentine's Day room to store these marvelous items. It should be a room where things might remain visible, where simply shutting a door would remove them from sight. I can't imagine having to pack all of these treasures away.

I think hearts are such a marvelous shape. Ya gotta love 'em.

I'll end with a couple of photos taken at Rite Aid. Of course as soon as Christmas was over, the Valentine's displays appeared. We are in such a damn rush in this country. Always.

 Don't forget! Saturday is the big day. Make sure you let someone know that you care.

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day Sarge!  xoxoxo