« May 2008 | Main | July 2008 »
June 25, 2008
Carol, the Vole Slayer
Last night Matthew and Davie were here to see our Baltimore pictures. Afterwards we went outside, and all of a sudden Davie spotted a pesky garden vole on the ground next to the gas grill. I have been trying to rid my gardens of this beast for probably ten years and have trapped him under a bucket more than once only to have him slither under and escape before I could decide what to do with him. This time however I promptly removed one of my trusty well worn Born sandals, walked over and whacked him smartly with my shoe! He has breathed his last and peace reigns again in my gardens. No more plantings will disturbed by the tunneling and nibbling of this furry little mini-monster. Hmmph.
Posted by Carol at 10:32 PM | Comments (0)
June 24, 2008
Tasha Tudor
Last week the author/illustrator Tasha Tudor died at the age of 92. Her illustrations were to me reminicsent of Beatrix Potter's - quite magical and lovely.
Tasha Tudor lived with no electricity or running water - she was quite a woman, lived as if it was the 1800’s, and yet wrote and illustrated books that sold millions in the modern world!
Posted by Carol at 4:22 PM | Comments (0)
June 23, 2008
Water Taxis
After fast talking Delaney onto a water taxi in Baltimore last week (she has a long-standing fear of being in a boat on the water!) I had a hard time talking her off of it!! She loved the concept of traveling about the inner harbor via these small open air excursion boats and we rode to various points, got off, explored the area and then back to ride some more!
She enjoyed Fort McHenry and already knew the whole story of Francis Scott Key and the Star Spangled Banner etc. Her favorite place in Baltimore was the National Aquarium and the gigantic sting and manta ray tank.
Not far behind that was her swimming schedule - 4 times every day that we were there! She is a self-taught swimmer which is pretty rare in these modern times of signing up kids for every sort of activity or lesson imaginable.
And she (as well as Ella) loves to travel! She listened on the airplane headphones to the air traffic control and pilot conversations for all aircraft in our area and duly reported the latest for our flight number!
Small world report - on Friday we got on the same water taxi as my Conversation Club friend Kate & her family were on! They were in Baltimore for the day, then attending a weekend wedding in Harper's Ferry!
Posted by Carol at 1:13 PM | Comments (0)
June 16, 2008
Headed east
Tomorrow morning early Steve, Delaney and I fly out to Baltimore - Steve has a UPA conference to attend, so we girls will sight see and take it easy as fits our mood:) The weather promises to be mild and dry, unlike the other time I was there about ten years ago when it was 95 and humid!
So many flowers here are ready to burst into bloom and I hope they will still be pretty when we return on Saturday!
Posted by Carol at 10:56 PM | Comments (0)
June 10, 2008
Drown or Fry
We have had more than ample rainfall so far this growing season - so much, that I have to go around and dump the excess water out of my potted plants lest they suffer root rot. In fact, I have already lost one (expensive) mandevilla vine this way. Last year at the same time I had all that I could do to keep everything watered, and was instead seeing many flowers and plants succumb to the heat and dry weather.
My dilemma is nothing though, compared to the disastrous flooding Indiana is experiencing right now. Many people have lost everything, and because they aren't considered to be in a "flood plain" they don't have insurance to fall back on. I guess we should have asked Mother Nature what she thought...
Posted by Carol at 10:56 PM | Comments (0)
June 8, 2008
Dancing holes in my shoes
My parents know how to throw a great party!! They treated us all to a wonderful evening of dancing, visiting and eating on May 31 at the Klossner House in honor of their 60th wedding aniversary. To the music of the Leon Olsen Show we danced the night away - most fun partner had to be my little sister Barbara. We whirled around the floor like we were kids again - the air was thick with memories of Pine Camp Ballroom.
Leon plays a mean concertina - he owns not one but three Christy Hengel handmade beauties, valued at over $12,000 each. He and his band can play every style of "old-time" and "new-time" music so there was something for everyone to enjoy. I was also very honored to be led around the dance floor by my dad, who is much in demand by all the ladies I am told:)
Posted by Carol at 10:37 PM | Comments (0)