I see the everyday world as a series of songs!!

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When they don't tell you how much they've spent, but tell you how much they saved; You know it's a good thing you worked that day!!

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Overcast today.

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On the road again........................................................

Busy day yesterday; didn't get to camp 'til 5 pm.  Rain attempted an appearance late in the afternoon but petered out before it could amount to anything. 

This morning the thunder and lightening have been lighting up the Canadian skyline and dropping a few showers on this side of the river, but nothing steady yet.  The forecast is for intermittent thunder storms throughout the day, so I'm fairly certain the ladies will be motoring to Watertown to peruse the mall.  And yet they are women so a change of mind/plans would not surprise.

My day portends to be full.  That's a good thing!

The weather channel is predicting rain and thunder storms for later today.  I suspect it's the storm from the Midwest making it's way to the Atlantic ocean.  Right now it's another picture perfect morning on the river; sunrise casting a golden glow on the slightly rippling river, birds offering their lyrical praise to the day's awakening, and stillness.  Stillness gives room in one's mind for contemplation.

I was on call Monday and therefore had to spend the night at the apartment (frat house), and we were supposed to have a department dinner mtg. last evening which would have necessitated staying over another night.  Since we finished the schedule early, we decided to have our mtg in the OR lunch room and so I made it to camp by 2 pm yesterday and got to sample the baking efforts of D. and Crystal: banana muffins and fresh strawberry rhubarb pie.  I must say they were scrumptious.

If it rains today the ladies are contemplating a shopping excursion.

We are a couple weeks late in taking up residence here at the camp and I note an absence of ducks, ducklings and geese.  Although I'm told the geese made their unwelcome deposits regularly right up to two days before we arrived.

Grace came over with Lady, her cocker spaniel, last evening.  She said they haven't moved in yet because the TV isn't hooked up yet.  Gotta get those priorities straight. :)

Well it's shower and bkfst time and then the 30 minute trek to Massena.

Oh yeah, I discovered the treasure trove of audio CDs available at the Massena Library!!!  Currently listening to John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men."

The sunrise is well above the eastern horizon at the moment (0541)  and the river is smoothish; just a hint of rippling.  Earlier, when the night was fading away andthe full light of morn had not yet exposed the scene, the river was like a sheet of glass.  As soon as the sun appeared, the river claps with joy and so; the ripples.

 Thirty-one quarts in an hour!!

 They taste as good as they look: sumptuous and succulent.

 I  see many drift-wood camp fires in the future.

 Fish roe or aliens; which ever suits your imagination.

Winding down after a pleasant Father's Day

Off to work soon and on call to boot, so the girls will have to make do with grandpa today.

We spent the night at the cottage last night.  The temps dropped into the low 40s.  This morning the sun was bright and the river calm; a more beautiful morning has not graced these shores.  The river is inviting but the girls haven't progressed beyond their ankles.  So that tells me that the river isn't inviting for a dip.

We had a real tasty breakfast prepared by grandma and made our lists for things to get from home.  Once home laundry was started, strawberry cleaning commenced and the girls rediscovered grandpas sanctuary.  Books were bagged and after perusing the antique camera collection, each chose one they would like to keep.

Back to the river and the cargo unloaded,  Gracie from next door came over to welcome the girls.  they hung out on Gracie's dock for an hour until Gracie and her family left.  Then the girls agreed to go to the cemetery with me for the weekly maintenance and watering chores.  We did a recap of the french side of the family tree to go along with the print out of the family tree that I printed out for them earlier while at the house.

Next up. BBQ the chicken, hammock napping (Hailey, not me :)) water wading for Crystal and collecting sea glass.   After supper the girls sat and kibitzed in the hammock while grandma and I went online to purchase Via Rail tickets from Brockville to Montreal for next weekend and to obtain hotel accommodations. That done, we are winding down with a game of WAR for Grandma and Crystal.  Hailey retired to the girls room to read and me? well here I am typing away on blogger.

The river is smooth as glass and the golden orb is sinking majestically into the Canadian landscape.

I got texted from Jacob, and calls from Michelle and Bob.  All in all, a pretty spectacular Father's day.

The granddaughters, ages 15 and 10, arrived at the Syracuse airport last evening from south Texas.  There was only one small SNAFU in their flight itinerary; a delay in Cleveland for an hour.  Grandma had paid the fee for unaccompanied minor so the girls were treated royally while they waited.

We did meatball subs at the local Subway, (just the girls. grandma and I ate pizza at the airport.) And grandpa bought a half gallon of cookies and cream ice cream for desert!

This morning we are off to the farmers market.  The girls are excited because they've never been to a real live farmer's market.  Then we will make the final move to the camp on the St. Lawrence and enjoy the sunny ambiance there.  I'm sure these two Texan won't delay for long a plunge into the chilly St. Lawrence they've come to love over the past years.

Later this evening we'll be trekking over to Merkley's U-Pick the get the first fresh strawberries of the season; another favorite activity for these two.

Oops, gotta go;  grandpa, come-on we're ready to go..........

ta ta.

Lately it seems that I either don't have time to write a blog post or, as is more likely, I squander the time I do have on Facebook.  So here I am writing a post when, by all rights, I should be in the shower, getting ready for work.  I learned long ago that putting off 'til tomorrow or even later today is a prescription for tasks left undone if not forever, then close to it.


Have you ever contemplated what you would do if you won a big lottery payout, say in the millions or more?  Of course you have, we all have.  For the most part it's pie-in-the-sky dreaming but hey there are worse things to waste your thoughts on.

One of the things I've consistently said I'd do, if I won the lottery, is go to college and get a degree in literature, writing etc.  Well, I didn't win the lottery but I did take a first step towards that goal.  Last Monday I had an appointment to meet  with a representative from Empire State College (NY State's college without walls) to investigate my options and get direction on how best to proceed.  To curb my naturally tendency to verbosity, let's say that on Tuesday morn i applied online to take a non- matriculated course at ESC just to see how I do at online education.

I stopped at the local gas station-quikstop just outside our village to grab a sandwich to eat on my way to my appointment and a few of the town fathers, who gather there a couple times a day to solve the world's as well as the local problems of the day were still in residence and had corralled a young women who was on a solo bicycle trip from Syracuse to Quebec.  She will be on her quest to obtain some photographs, she is a photographer, and will be on her trek 'til the end of august.  I didn't have time to spend talking to her for more than 5 minute, but I walked away thinking If Kat can take a solo bike trip from Syracuse to and around Quebec Canada, then I surely can start taking college course toward a B.A. in writing and literature.

So that's my next step.

If you wan to visit Kat look here:  http://ensoleille87.blogspot.com/

Where to start? 
It's been awhile,at least a week since I've blogged.  Make no mistake though, I make a status report everyday on Facebook.  Short and sweet is easier than blogging but even so I'm not interested in 140-ing via twitter.

What's new?  After a month, at least a month, of cold. damp, rainy, and super windy weather.... Still haven't planted my garden.... no onions or spinach in and it's probably too late now, but I'm still going to plant the potatoes since they're here and ready to go in.... the day, yesterday, turned hot and humid and lasted through the night.

Suffice it to say that, to me, the weather or Mother Nature if you will, has got her panties in a wad and refuses to conform to the routine I've become accustomed to over the past 60+ years.

Believe me when I say I'm not complaining, no really.  There has been much to be thankful for in my neck of the universe and I'm enjoying every minute of it.  That doesn't mean I'm not taking notice of the changes.

After many months of bloggers flocking to my blog to catch a glimpse of my Wordless Wednesday photo of a pileated wood pecker, visits have tapered off from hundreds per day to the normal 30 to 40a day, at least this week..  Go figure.

With the combination of my Kindle, Audio CDs in the car and real papery, pagey books, my reading, or book count, has tripled.  And that is a good thing.

There I've posted and now it's time to shower and eat before motoring down the highway 47miles.
Perhaps this post will initiate another rush on the microscope.  Or not ;)

Time to get the flock outta here......
BTW, the Sunday Scribbling word prompt for this week: flock