Celebrating sunshine

Hi everyone! It's gorgeous here in New Jersey this week. To celebrate the sunshine my friend Mavis and I went on a picnic today. It was so nice to be outside. We went to a park with a lake or pond. I took a ton of pictures. Today I'm just going to share the birds but in the next day or two I'll post pictures of the park itself! It's really a fine place to walk, you just have to watch out for goose poop and strollers! LOL



I think this is a gray heron. It's the first I've seen in NJ. I often saw them in Florida. Hmmm....think this guy made a wrong turn?











A lovely pair of Mallard ducks catching some rays! This couple may be visiting relatives too as I've not seen them at the park before.









This is an adult Canada goose. Many people call them Canadian geese but the real name for them is "Canada" not "Canadian" - doesn't make much sense but there you have it!

I love them but overpopulation is becoming a problem as they are creating pollution problems in water areas! It's becoming quite common to "hire" Border collies to chase them away!




A family photo. I think a pair usually has four to six gooslings. Since they mate for life the male is almost always close at hand!

A baby...isn't it sweet?

Having fun with their friends...








Dolly likes to lay on the landing of our stairway. The sun comes in through a window over the front door, making this an ideal spot for sunbathing! What's your favorite way to celebrate sunshine?






I hope wherever you are, you have something to celebrate today! Thanks for stopping by. Have a lovely day.

Train of thought and other meanderings

Hello again. I hope you're having a wonderful day. We've had a mixed bag of weather today. Some sun, some rain. I guess that's a metaphor for life too, huh?

I'm feeling a bit introspective today. Funny how it all started...



I can see this slide from my front door. The inky blueness of it makes me think of blue finger paints. Have you ever noticed you can almost TASTE the blue of finger paints? Maybe it's just me.






I really can't tell you why this shade of blue took me on a memory trip. But for whatever reason, it did. When I was young (probably 3rd grade or so) a community park near our house had summer "camp" (parents dropped off their kids and we spent the day playing outside). This was the closest I ever got to going to summer camp. One day I was on a really high slide and almost fell but someone caught me. As I was replaying this in my mind I realized that in times past I would have called my mom and asked her how old I was and who it was that caught me. Even though I'm lucky to still have my sister and aunts that remember my youth, none of them would have this information. It makes me a bit sad to think that such trivial information is no longer available to me. Maybe it's silly, but it's the little things like that which make me really miss mom the most!

Yesterday I talked to my friend, Janet. We met on our first day as "non-traditional" students at a community college in Florida. Thank goodness Janet approached me because I was feeling really nervous and quite out-of-place there with all of the 18 year olds. We quickly became friends. Yesterday Janet and I were talking about meditation. She pointed out that there are many ways to meditate and that my walks with my camera may be one of my forms! I think that's very insightful of her and right-on-target. When I have my camera in hand I am more present and in-the-moment than at most other times.

Since I was feeling a bit out of synch over the slide, I decided to go for a walk. Here are some of the things I discovered...

I think this is such a sweet lawn decoration.

I took this picture just because I thought the bench was beautiful. I do wonder what my neighbors think if they look outside and see someone aiming a camera at their house :)

The tennis courts are right off my favorite walking path and yet I've never stepped foot on them before. Perhaps because I don't play tennis? Although today, sitting on a bench after the rain, it was such a tranquil place I could see myself going there just to be still and quiet.

The surface of the tennis courts. I love the pattern so much that I'm going to print this picture out for a journal page. Doesn't it look like suede or marble?

Evidence of a brief rainshower this morning lingers! The leaves of this tree are really more of a burgandy than they appear in this picture.

But they appear orange from the underside. Journey sent me a gorgeous magazine called Life Images (by Stampington). In it there was a picture of a sunflower from behind. It made me think about how often I miss beauty by just looking at things from one angle! Or how I usually only take walks on beautifully sunshine-y days!

My friend, Janet titled this picture of her daughter and cat "Picture of Lazy." I think it's absolutely adorable! Don't they look happy to be together? Thanks for letting me use it!

Like the title says...my thoughts are meandering today. If you have someone you have loved and lost (as most of us do), have you found triggers like this one? What activities do you find anchor you in the moment? I'm so grateful for my camera, my walks, my blog and all of you! Thanks for taking time to stop by! Have a lovely day.

Happy Mother's Day - Happy Sunny Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of you! Whether your babies are children, adults, or pets, I hope you are having a fantastic day!

I've had such a good week. In addition to seeing Debbie, Lori-Ann, and Courtney on Wednesday night, I was happy to catch up with my friends Sheri and Lisa on Friday night. We've been friends for about seven years now. When we first met Lisa's oldest daughter was in 1st grade. She's 14 now. Amazing how fast time passes, isn't it?

This is my first Mother's Day without my mom. I wasn't sure what to expect but it's not been horrible. My tradition was to call mom 1st thing in the morning to wish her a happy mother's day. So instead I called my sister. Luckily she is like me...an early riser. I think it might be genetic. My grandmother and my mom were both "early birds" - up early every day even if they didn't have anywhere to be! I've been like that for years and love it!

I wanted to enjoy the beautiful weather so I went for another walk! I bet you guys wonder if I ever leave my neighborhood since so many of my blogs focus on what's going on right here in our subdivision. I promise I do and someday soon I'll take my camera with me to prove it! For now, I hope you'll join me as I wander around the area.


These two trees are at the top of the hill in an open area. I guess they have grown crooked from the wind? I like to think they are dancing!

I've walked the trail through our neighborhood hundreds of times but today I noticed this path off the trail. It leads to a clearing. Looking at it I had a flashback to the neighborhood where I grew up. We had lots of woods around us. I found one tree where the branches had grown down to form an enclosure of sorts. My friend Karen and I would go hang out in there. We called it our "hut!" I guess that's the closest I ever got to having a tree house!


We've had A LOT of rain this past week so I was delighted to take a picture of the fabulous blue skies!




When the rain finally stopped on Friday I was so excited to see my shadow. Today I was still happy to see my shadow! Hmmm...I wonder if this is how the groundhog feels on February 2nd???


The birds were enjoying the sun too!

This pile of grass clippings seems really out of place along the walking trail. There's no grassy areas to be mowed really close by. There appeared to be an opening. I wonder if it's a burrow of some sort. Any ideas what animal might have made it?

One of the things I enjoy about "exploring" the neighborhood is to see the lawns. It fascinates me to see the ways people decorate their yards...

But as cheerful as the pinwheel is the prettiest colors are the flowers and shrubs





I believe the pink is a rhodedendron









and the white is an azalea.



Both are beautiful aren't they?




So now I'm back at home where my "babies" always give me something to smile about :)

I recently saw a journal prompt that I like. Complete this phrase in as many ways as you can... "Why do...?"

One of my immediate thoughts: "why do cats always want to sit or stand between the keyboard and monitor?"

I hope you're having lots of sunshine wherever you are!

P.S. - I'm having a tough time with formatting today so if things are not lined up properly that's why! Blame the computer gremlins LOL

A picture's worth a thousand words

Hi again! It's almost weekend. I hope you have something fabulous to look forward to this weekend.

Last night I met three friends for dinner. I met these ladies while I was working in a school last year (and the year before). Although the job ended, luckily the friendships did not! We've tried to get together monthly but life sometimes gets in the way. Ironically, I've recently realized that all too often I get together with friends and leave the camera at home. So last night I took the camera with me but almost forgot to use it. I'm so glad I remembered it in time to get a shot of the four of us! (From left to right...Debbie, Lori-Ann, me, Courtney.)





~and look, I've finally learned how to insert text onto pictures! WooHoo!

I'm looking forward to getting lots more pictures with friends now that I've made a mental note to take the camera along!





Toby hopes that I'll stop taking so many pictures of him if I'm using my camera to shoot other things! Fat chance!


For those of you who are moms, I hope you have a wonderful Mother's day...filled with all of the things you love!

From the beginning...

Happy Cinqo de Mayo and more importantly...happy birthday Susan!

Have you ever met someone and you knew immediately that this was the start of a fabulous friendship? It's only happened to me a few times but today I'd like to tell you about one of the most memorable...

A few years ago I was...ummm...insane! Seriously. Okay, not really but looking back I'm fairly certain that a case could have been made. After watching American Idol I started attending A LOT of concerts of one of their previous runners up. I won't name names here but think long-haired rocker. In August 2006 I was scheduled to go to Oroville, California for a concert and realized I didn't know anyone going! Yikes...I was flying literally across the country to attend a concert. So my plans went back and forth and I was supposed to meet up with someone but that plan got changed about a day before I was leaving. So I emailed someone (Susan) that I'd exchanged a couple of emails with and said "I'm flying into LA...can I ride with you to Oroville?" I think it was about an eight hour drive (or so it seemed...if you've not been to Oroville, you wouldn't understand! LOL) Let's just say it's waaaaaaaaaaaay out in West-Nowhere! Does it sound strange that two strangers would agree to carpool for a drive that long? Oh it gets better...

Since I was flying into LA and Susan lived in a suburb...I suggested I would get a hotel close to her house to make pick-up the next morning easier. Being the amazing person she is...she suggested that instead I stay at her house! Now, her husband, son, and daughter were seriously concerned that someone they didn't know (and Susan didn't know) would be sleeping under their roof. Perhaps I should have been worried that I was going to be sleeping in the house with four people I didn't know too? (Evidence of aforementioned insanity!)

Luckily Susan and I hit it off right from the beginning! She's one of the funniest, kindest people I've ever met.

Okay, if she'd been really kind she would have pointed out how unflattering my t-shirt tan line was in the shirt I wore to the concert!

After the road trip to Oroville we returned to LA and then left the next day for a concert somewhere near Phoenix! It was on this leg of the journey that we discovered we both share a somewhat warped, twisted, sick sense of humor and were playing practical jokes on each other almost immediately. Silly things like Susan doing the "gaslight treatment" on me with her nifty steering-wheel controlled audio system. Or me moving her car while at a rest-stop. As her daughter says "good times!"

Sure, some people get their pictures made with a cactus or something when in Arizona but why not a scrap-metal horse

or a green dinosaur?

It's been almost three years since that trip to California. Since then I've been out there three other times. The first time I returned I worried that we wouldn't have anything to talk about since we weren't being occupied by a concert but that worry quickly faded away! Whenever I visit we end up spending HOURS or DAYS talking about all sorts of things! I realize now that some friendships may start for a reason but are built to last for a lifetime! How lucky I am to have had a friendship that is so strong right from the beginning!!!

Today's 'whiskers moment' is Susan's cat, Noah! Isn't he pretty?

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit! I hope you are blessed with great friends! I'd love to hear about them!

Life's happy surprises...

Hello again! How's your day? We seem to have fast-forwarded through spring and ended up in summer here. Today's the fourth day of record-breaking or near-record-breaking heat! I'll just say that of the four seasons, summer is my least favorite! I hear there's snow in Calgary though! Okay, that must be a shock.

I've been experiencing happy surprises this week. On Saturday I found a book I really wanted at Borders (I had a gift card that I'd been saving for something really special!) and I was happily surprised to find they had a 25% coupon!

Here are a few of my other happy little surprises...







These gorgeous flowers were a wonderful birthday surprise from my friend Susan in California. The amazing thing is she had no idea that yellow flowers are my favorite! I especially love yellow roses!

Two of our ferals...posing as bookends. I guess cats know how to parallel park! :)

A couple of years ago the large tree in our front yard died and had to be removed. Before going to the nursery to purchase a replacement, I walked around the neighborhood and picked a blossom off a tree I admired. We showed it to the guy who sold us a scrawny little tree...I thought it would never bloom. Then over the weekend I suddenly noticed that we have color! WooHoo! In case you're wondering, this is a Flowering Crabapple tree. The blooms are a deep magenta although they look more pink in these pictures! It's gorgeous.

It's always a surprise to find Toby cozied up in the carrier because he hates to travel! The few times he's had to ride in the car he howls with every breath he takes! One of us is going to need drugs when we move!

(I love how he crosses his little paws!)

Thanks for stopping by to visit. I hope you're enjoying life's beautiful little surprises wherever you are!

Musketeers at the Bridge

Hello and welcome. I'm so glad you're here. As you've probably noticed by now, most of my blogs are just general ramblings about whatever subject appeals to me at the time. Today's post is different. This one has been a week in the making. Today's blog is dedicated to three special ladies and four magnificent cats.


Please allow me to explain. In September 2008 Tyler was diagnosed with Chronic Renal Failure (CRF) which is entirely too common among cats and almost always terminal. It was truly heartbreaking news. Although my vet was helpful, I still didn't feel like I understood what was going to happen. I contacted my former vet in Florida who was kind enough to answer all of my medical questions. The weeks passed. In November I started noticing changes in Tyler that I didn't know how to handle. Those of you who know me know I "google" for all sorts of information. I turned to the Internet and found an article called the "emotional roller coaster" - this was definitely what I was feeling. Fortunately that article was posted on a tremendous Web site for Feline CRF. While there I discovered a guest book which I signed, leaving information about Tyler and his current situation.

Days later I received an email from Barb in Calgary. Barb had recently bid farewell to her darling Forrest. Her kindness, compassion, and understanding were tremendous gifts! Having already traveled this painful path, Barb understood. Whenever I was uncertain about Tyler's appetite (or lack thereof) or his fluids, she answered my questions - sharing my concerns and her own experiences with similar situations.

The day I realized it was time to bid farewell to Tyler, Barb was the first I turned to - knowing she would understand my heartbreak. Now - I must say here that I'm extremely blessed with many good and caring friends. Friends I know would do anything for me. But someone who has actually experienced CRF knows it in a very different way! And so I'm forever grateful to Barb for being there for me.

On Tyler's final day I told him about the Rainbow Bridge and assured him that Forrest would be there to greet him and show around!

Through Barb I came to "meet" Leigh and Sasha both of whom live in New Zealand and who have sadly also had to say goodbye to their dearest friends, Lacy and Uncle Bully, due to CRF. We have decided that our four boys are enjoying the magnificience of the Rainbow Bridge and I have dubbed these four special guys The Musketeers at the Bridge. Barb, Leigh, and Sasha have generously allowed me to share their boys' stories and pictures.

I'd like you to meet Tyler's new friends...

Forrest (January 1993- October 31, 2008)


Barb describes this as Forrest's "Gargoyle photo." She writes: The photo captures the essence of Forrest, looks like could have a halo and wings, but got "that look" in his eye that says he could go off on one of his mad cat dashes too, where he'd roar around growling and having a great old time.

What a handsome boy!

Forrest showed up at Barb's home years ago and I'm sure he knew that they were destined to be family even before he arrived that day! Barb calls him her "gift from God!" Through the months, I feel I've come to know Forrest through Barb's stories. He was obviously a very special and a much loved boy! On January 8, my cats and I celebrated Forrest's birthday with a cupcake (as was his and Barb's tradition). The picture shown of Tyler in my April 7th blog was made at that party! I hope they are enjoying lots of peanutbutter cupcakes now! (Peanutbutter was Tyler's favorite treat; Cupcakes were Forrest's special celebration food!)

Lacy (September 1, 1991 - April 15, 2008)

Leigh titled this photo "Lacy with Attitude" - the plaque beneath his feet in this shot says "Here Lives a Very Fine Cat Indeed." I must agree! Truly a "fine cat!" What beautiful markings.

I haven't had a chance to really get to know Leigh or Lacy so I asked her to tell me a bit about Lacy. She writes: "Lacy was my best mate, through the ups and downs of my life, my furry friend was always there. As a tiny wee kitten with a little pink nose that got tatooed at 5mths so he wouldn't get cancer to the nearly to nearly 17 yrs, I couldn't have loved him more. He loved to jump on the bed when I changed the sheets and also ride down my back with me walking around the house half bent over with him purring away. He had the finest taste in foods enjoying crayfish, chicken, roast lamb and ham on christmas day, later to be nicknamed by Barb as "The King of the Crayfish".

Uncle Bully (November 1992 - April 2, 2009)

I asked Sasha to tell me about Uncle Bully and she wrote:

"Uncle Bully was the man of our family and definately the "old man", he ruled the roost but not in an arrogant or dominant way, he was just a wise old head who had the great knack of finding the sofest warmest beds, he was well known for finding anything black and lying all over it and leaving his cat hair behind infuriating many!... I absolutely adored my mate, he is still my bestest friend. He gave me light and hope and love at times in my life when Ineeded it the most and Ihope he knew how much he was loved, appreciated and is missed." (Oh Sasha, I'm certain he did...your love and appreciation shows so clearly in your words! I'm sure he felt it every minute and feels it still!)

She told me that he was originally named Uncle after the character from the Muppets. It sounds like he earned that by his nurturing. When her other cat had kittens and would leave the box temporarily, Uncle would step in to comfort the distressed kittens! How sweet is that? The "Bully" part was added later and was a reference to a character in a movie in New Zealand but that Uncle Bully was in fact "placid and affectionate and definitely not a bully!"

What a sweetie. I love white cats!

Tyler (February 15, 1994 - April 7, 2009)

This picture of Tyler was made when he was about three months old. As with most kittens, he had two speeds...full and off! He had been playing so hard that he was simply exhausted. I hope that he, Forrest, Lacy, and Uncle Bully are playing just as hard across the Bridge. As Leigh says, "you go, Boys!"

Barb, Leigh, and Sasha - here's to Forrest, Lacy, Uncle Bully, and Tyler! Here's to their return to good health across the bridge! I bet they are having such fun: running, playing, and kicking up their heels, then finding comfy beds, sunny spots and their favorite foods in abundance! We'll see them again!!! Thank you all for your support and sharing! I think of your boys each and every day!

I honestly wouldn't wish the loss of an animal on anyone but I recognize it's an inevitable part of loving such pure creatures! I can only say thank goodness for these incredibly special boys, dear friends, kind people, and cherished memories!

To quote a Kenny Loggins song these guys are "forever in my heart!"