A little man who wasnt' there.

                                       "Antigonish" (1899)  ^{William Hughes Mearns}

 

Yesterday upon the stair

I met a man who wasn’t there

He wasn’t there again today

Oh, how I wish he’d go away

When I came home last night at three

The man was waiting there for me

But when I looked around the hall

I couldn’t see him there at all!

Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!

Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door

Last night I saw upon the stair

A little man who wasn’t there

He wasn’t there again today

Oh, how I wish he’d go away

I've always liked this... and thought it would be fun to paint it on the risers of the stairs; one line per step ~ assuming you had the proper 14.

Who doesn't love a good flight of stairs after all? 

Or imaginary little people for that matter.

"Hmmmm", she said, chin resting on thumb, forefinger tapping her cheek....

Interesting aside:

 My Grandmother's ancestors on her father's side came from Antigonish, Nova Scotia

 

   

Happy Valentine's Day 2013

Hope you find a moment of unexpected joy today!

 

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY !

Blizzard of 2013

Blizzard of 2013.... doesn't have the ring to it that Blizzard of '78 has;  but  then again, it's hard to compete with such a classic.  I was just a kid at the time of that famous storm... I remember being  amazed to see snow mobiles going past us down the street!  We and all the neighbors were out walking to the corner store, everyone was pulling their plastic sleds behind them,  so they could tow the groceries home.  Only a few things stand out in my mind from that storm.  My Grandmother had just come home from having open heart surgury... and there was a BOAT  LOAD of snow to play in.  I do remember putting on my mother's far too big for me tall rubber boots and jumping off the porch into a snow drift....  the boots plunged in the drift, and I followed, up to my waist in snow...  the boots of course got stuck, I began to panic and I had to bail out of them... and climb out of the drift and run back into the house in my cold wet socks!

Interesting learning curve our childhoods are....

I did not do any drift diving this past weekend.  We were busy trying to stay warm huddled near the fireplace.  Felt like we'd stepped back in time... It reminded me of that Irish saying I like,
“Firelight will not let you read fine stories but it's warm and you won't see the dust on the floor.”

We had a wind up radio to keep us amused... and took turns cranking it up to keep it going.

Levi

Had some good chuckles with Mum over old stories and talked about the woodstove we will be installing to make sure that we can properly keep ourselves warm in future Blizzards.

I always let myself forget about the shoveling part.  I'd be more in the camp of tramping it down, but the husband and the Mother seem to think shoveling is the way to go. So outnumbered, I do as they wish.  Mum's father, Grampy to me ~ was a fine shoveler.

 

The Grampy.

 He never hurried, and he had a system.  He had a small square metal shovel, and he waxed the cutting edge with Grammy's old candles... he would chop, chop, chop (like three sides of a square) and scoop, and fling. The path's were works of art.  Clean lines, perfectly vertical sides... *cough* until I came running around the house and tried to leap from one side of the perfect and down to the grass path, to the other... I never made it of course... only knocked the snow down in a crumpled mess and sullied his perfect work.  According to Mum, I was not the first generation to do it... seems she was guilty of the same crimes 30 years before me.... Needless to say, this did not please him.  Usually bad behavior elicited a loud cry of "Glory be to God Irene! ~ Do you see what she's doing?"

Ahhh yes, the memories....

JoJo

Dressed like a utility worker with my crank flashlight, how appropriate.

The animals didn't enjoy the windy snowy storm very much... JoJo was a bit wide eyed from all the things clunking on his roof... and his crazy Mother showing up in her bright yellow crinkly coat, carrying a scary wind up flash light.

 

I was looking pretty good by Sunday however, when all the ice chunks started falling out of the trees and bouncing off of him... He was NOT pleased.

Mum.   Peanuts...  for the squirrels.

Mum was sure to keep the bird feeders filled. 

 Cricket seemed to not notice the weather and spent the time frolicking and running around...



Cricket.  
The odd green glow in his nose is reflecting off my coat....

 and even Belle the goat, who hates snow, rain, sleet... any form of precipitation really, came out to look around and squint in the brilliant sun.  The chickens opted to stay in their coops and admire from there, no sense in getting your feet all cold for nothing. (anyone know how to knit chicken and duch socks?)  The dogs of course LOVE it!  Nothing better really!

Marley and Ava

 I'm sure the neighbors must love me... as I'm forever trying to beat the frozen cages open... and the beat the ice out of the bowls... quietly. ??  ha ha  Sorry.... but it has to be done!!

When I wasn't pulled up to the fireplace, or shoveling or mushing thru the snow to bring food and water to all the outdoor critters, I was in the kitchen snuggled near the stove waiting for water to heat up....to do dishes, or bring to the horses, or to just stand next to, cuz it was warm there! 

1978 I'm standing on top of the neighbors picket fence!

As is always the way, after the storm has passed ~ you get the most brilliant blue sky to set off the twinkly white snow.  We only got a foot, as compared to the two or three other places got, but it was plenty ~ and it's already melting away!

 

I'm so glad we live in New England, can't imagine living anyplace else really...

 

Front lawn at sunset.....Saturday after the storm.

There's little else like playing in the snow, enjoying the fine art of shoveling, frozen fingers, and the sound of wet gloves sizzling by the fireplace....

Seems I've always been happy to play in the snow!

 

Cricket and JoJo's Excellent Adventure

 

Sometimes... a day goes way better than you hoped. 

 My motto in life is "Aim low and you'll never be disappointed."  I know... maybe not everyone would agree with that theory, but it works for me.  If you don't expect perfection and grand things ~ then when you trip over them, after your done rubbing your toe; you can fully embrace the sheer JOY of the good that has come to you!

Saturday was one of those days.

We very recently got some Vintage Wheels for JoJo... an adorable little horse trailer from 1961.

(Cricket is lucky, he fits right inside the van, so he gets to listen to the radio.... yes, the country station of course; and doesn't have wind whistling up his nostrils at high speeds!)

So, first time in a trailer since we brought JoJo home... I don't know what he was thinking, but I was thinking he was thinking, "just when I get to know these people... they're taking me away..." Que the terror... Of course, even on a good day, I'm no horse whisperer... so for all I know he could just have been thinking, "This thing is older than dirt ~ what if a wheel falls off??? Are you sure you have the safety chains on??? You can't be serious, you want me to get in there???"

Sorry to say, we'll never know his actual thoughts.

I also have no pictures of the loading procedure. I had to concentrate on the task at hand. Coaxing a large and reluctant pony to join inside the trailer.  We were armed with peppermint treats, carrots...a dish of molassesy dengi (chopped hay?)... fresh hay...

He got to the door and stopped.  You can picture me, inside, wiggling the lead ~ making little cooing horse noises.... and telling him how yummy the peppermint treats were...
I was astounded by how far he could lean forward, lips flailing around trying to reach the treat from outside... I thought surely his back feet were going to levitate up, while he balanced on his two front pins.... I lost track of time... but eventually the treats got the better of him, and Scott shut us in.

This brings me to the next part of the adventure. Being closed inside a small tin can with a very anxious horse who just heard the door close behind him.  Hmmmm, not for the squeamish.

I tried to stay with end where is head was... and did manage to squeeze out the door without him.

But you figured that out already, cuz I'm here typing this.

*note to self* next trailer will have the escape hatch door up front, for easy human exit.

We got him clipped up and then Scott pulled the van around so we were facing out.

I assured him that we were all going together, and we would be there at the other end of the trip.

It comforted me anyway. 
Did I mention it was cold on Saturday? Well, the trip ~ which only took about 20 minutes was spent with me hanging out the open van window, talking to him every time he *NEIGHED* at the unfairness of Cricket getting to ride up front with us... I can only assume the people we passed figured I'd let go of the branch....

We got there, all was good.

 I should point out that Cricket loaded and unloaded like a Prince... as he's a seasoned traveler at this point...
We got out, uneventfully, gently.... and besides one spook and spin in the grass when a car went by on the road we were ready for our walk.

The walk was the same one we took last summer with the dogs... at the Nature preserve that was created when a land developer went bankrupt (YEAH!)...

The summer view of the area is over there in the blog history someplace.....

I'll stop yapping now, and let the pictures do the talking.

Walking down to the beach....

We made it! 

Normally this is his response when I ask him to do something that resembles work.... hysterical roll on your back, feet kicking in the air laughter....  This time I think he was just having fun!

See the fire pit? Remember this scene? Could used a little fire to warm up!

Scott and Cricket on the woodland trail.

Aren't my boys so cute?   :))))

Back at the trailer, just prior to reentry. 
 

Reentry was time consuming,... but we did it... and I can only hope each time gets a little easier.

It was a GREAT time, he did REALLY good walking with me... and not be naughty pulling me around like rag doll on the end of a string!  (Only once... but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he was confused about which way we were going next.)

So that's it ~ Cricket and JoJo's excellent adventure!

Until next time, I bid you adieu! 

p.s. I promise, one of these days there will be craft talk here again...