George's Island

Dick had an appointment with George on Sunday to talk about transplanting trees. George's island is about 30 acres and he is building a trotter's oval training track in the middle. George will have a round barn with 3 stalls and each stall opens out into a fenced paddock inside the track.

There are currently 3 mares and foals on the island and I fell in love with the colt. The colt (the darker "bay") is called "Gristle" and is orally fixated -- that is how he explores his world. He tried to nip at my blouse and my hands. George has a wonderful soft way with his horses and as a result his horses and foals love humans.

George's family immigrated from Ireland 3 generations ago.

Lake Desolation This Weekend

Our Plant Propagation Center Is Coming Along

When I try to add another photo I am getting "server unavailable" error reports from blogspot.com so I will leave these three photos online for now.

We are building our plant propagation center for our garden (we plan to double our garden in size this year).

The first photograph is for Chad - this is our prototype with a light and dark stain on it. We are liking the lighter stain.

The safety goggles and ear protection equipment are not at all flattering! Plus the safety goggles tend to acquire a lot of condensation on them from time to time (you can see it on my right eye - for some reason, I don't know!).

Our 30-year-old sander packed up so we went out and bought a new Porter-Cable sander (in photo) which is wonderful.


Last weekend I came down with a headcold which upgraded to the flu on Monday night. Now Dick's headcold looks like it may be upgrading too. Fingers crossed it doesn't happen.

It Is My Birthday Today

My 42th - as Finbar pointed out...

Here Is My Little Mate: Finbar

It is at this time of year that Upstate New Yorkers suffer from "cabin fever" - particularly when we are about to get 8 more inches of snow tonight. So I am running through my photos tonight to locate some warmer times. Like Campbell's and Kelly's wedding when we went to the Kelly's camp in Lake Desolation and I took this photo of my nephew Finbar.

More Snow

I cannot get over just how pretty it is when it snows. It is just so wonderful.

Makes Me Think Of Warmer Times

This weather makes me think of warmer times when I would sit in the sun and paint my feet.

Freezing Rain Again

We went to James' 1st Wednesday open house last night and left around 8:30 pm to find the sidewalks and roads covered with ice. The main roads had been salted but we still made sure we drove with care (40 mph).

Interesting License Plates

It is funny how you can be following a vehicle for a number of miles before you notice their unusual license plate.

The first thing I noticed on this vehicle was the bedraggled big bird on the grill - it was parked on a side road I traveled daily - now he/she has attached it to the back. And what a sad sight it is.

I am now paying more attention to license plates as well.

Saturday March 27th, 1999

This is a photo taken within minutes of Dick and I meeting.

Our clever match-making friend (OCMMF) took this photograph secretly from across the Exposition's room. The centerpiece landscaping had been installed by Dick and his landscaping crew.

A number of months before, OCMMF had told Dick she had met "the woman you are going to marry". However, OCMMF told me she had found an employer willing to sponsor me. When she mentioned he was a landscaper my heart sank as I knew I had to keep to my previous experience in TV or film as a production manager -- in order to secure work sponsorship. I told OCMMF that "Dick" was a very kind man to offer sponsorship and employment to someone he had never met.

A few weeks later (and a few days before this photo) I secured sponsorship with a video producer selling QuickTime panoramas (before they could be supported by the web). The Exposition ran Friday evening through Sunday so I attended it on Saturday.

As soon as I entered the main room I saw OCMMF taking photographs of the centerpiece. When she saw me she said very loudly "Oh the lovely Sarah!". I blushed not knowing her announcement was for Dick's benefit. She quickly brought me over to his booth and introduced us and walked away (I should have known that was unusual because she loves being into everything - In the nicest possible way :-).

We chatted for a while and then I moved on. My networking the room was over within 15 minutes so I left. In the meantime Dick cut his hand and left via the emergency exit to get a bandaid from his truck. Just as he came out the back of the building we met again. He was interested in having a panorama of a pruned shrub on his website so we made an appointment for the following week.

OCMMF = ʞɹoʍ ǝɯɐɹɟ - sıɹɹoɯ lǝɐɥɔɐɹ

Joke

My husband, being unhappy with my mood swings, bought me a mood ring the other day so he would be able to monitor my moods.

We've discovered that when I'm in a good mood, it turns green. When I'm in a bad mood, it leaves a big red mark on his forehead.

Dinner At Jamie's & Joan's

I did not get a photograph of the main dish.

This was breakfast for all of us. Doug, Mum & John didn't stay over. This was delicious!

Friday Evening Fun At Monument