that's a bad bloggity-blogger!

I know.

I'm sorry.

Now without further ado- amusing pics and

slightly witty (haven't finished my coffee yet) commentary.

This is my favorite pic from my brothers engagement party

at mom & dad's house last month.

Dad and his best friend, Roxy.

Tracy, Carrie & Mike. Judging from the other 2,

I'd say Carrie is faking enthusism. ;-]

At least you're a good sport Carrie!

Annabell with Aunti Carrie & Uncle Brian

Cheesin' with AuntieTracy.

Hanging out with (twin) Uncles Randy & Brian.

or, as she calls them,

"I have TWO Uncle Randys!"

Meowwwwwwwwww

YUP! Kitteezzzzzz. How I love them. Annabell was promised a kitty when she was completely potty trained. And she has done well so she picked out a kitten. You may wonder then, why there are 2. Well if you had seen the very scary place I rescued them from you would wonder instead, why ONLY 2? My heart broke for the littermates I had to leave behind. I am still considering reporting them tho I am told in the woods of New Hampshire this is not uncommon so little may be done anyhow. But I digress. Annabell chose the Siamese mix and then named her Snoopy. The Russian Blue mix was my doing and since he was the runt and slept ALOT and cried whenever he was disturbed, I named him Little Boy Blue - Blue for short. They are not littermates - Snoopy is 2 weeks older.

Summer Times of Wonder

... and just like that, summer got away from us.

I will try to catch you up as best I can in one post.

pictures ARE so much better than a thousand words so Ill use lots of them!

My kids for the summer. I was so outnumbered.

Annabell (& Puppy) spent most of her time 'concentrating on her music'.

New favorites included Umbrella, Girls Just Wanna ave Fun, and Realize.

Matt and I at Radiohead. THEY SO ROCKED. I heart Thom, Jonny, Colin, Ed &Phil.

Now, its ok to cry at the sight of these next few. I TOTALLY did.

First day of Pre-School.

WHO gave her permission to grow up?


The dress that ALMOST made me wish for one of those mother/daughter outfits.

Annabell and I went to the Cheshire Fair aka Redneck-palooza.

But she LOVED the rides.

Me- down 17 pounds since July 1st!!

Matt- handsome as ever

We got up to Maine and as you can see, Maizy was totally happy.

She got to sleep with us in a tent, spend all day outside by the campfire or swimming

& got lots of attention and fun with all her 'cousins' (everyone in the fam has at least 1 dog)

And the big story of the trip to Maine: RANDY IS OFFICIALLY ENGAGED!

Mom and Dad are finally gonna be rid of all the kids.

The proposal was wonderful-

at Nubble Light and Nana and Nunu were on hand as well as everyone else.

But like all good things

our Summer ended.

But it ended just as it always has...

On Wells Beach

Take a farewell look at the waves and sky.

Take a farewell sniff of the salty sea.

A little bit sad about the place you are leaving,

a little bit glad about the place you are going.

It is a time of quiet wonder...

summer in New England

If you aren't lucky enough to be close to the coast, summer in New Hampshire is all about swimming holes. This weekend we packed it up and went exploring. We were please to find some lovely places just over the line in Vermont.

The river was LOADED with 'tad-petals'. ;-) Annabell had so much fun trying to catch the little buggers.

On Saturday Annabell and I tried to keep cool in the sprinkler.

It wasn't too long before we heard the familiar songs of the ice cream man off in the distance. Annabell chose "Spidahman Please"

ooooooh! Can you say headfreeze?

garden update

Everything has really filled in. Overall I am pleased with my work, but I continue to make mental notes of things I wish to change for next year. Note to self. Get a notebook.

Daylily 'Raspberry Candy'

Tiger Lily

Along my Garden Path

The Mascots that Annabell chose

Red 'knockout' rose bush

I planted my hydrangea bushes this weekend. I will post another update when these are in bloom.

just a little backyard fun

for your amusement...

I never made for a good pen-pal either.

So I guess it should be of little surprise that blogging often is a bit challenging for me.

We finally found our way to the Friendly Farm last weekend.

Annabell was a little overwhelmed at first.

In her defense, the goats were extremely eager to make new aquaintances. Especially small ones carrying the little brown bag of animal feed they sell you on the way in.

Dont you just love her 'zone of safety'? lolShe seemed to relax when we were in the chicken house where you could hold the chicks.

Matt had a ton of fun, I dare say more than Bell. He has been talking about it for days. He said it was therapeutic for him.

Me too- I love farms. I would love to have my own. (No snickering from family members who believe I would never work hard enuff!) My favorite animals there were the little brown sheep and of course, the peacock. He was guarding an egg so he opened his feathers a couple times. I dont know when the last time was I saw a peacock in person, but it was AWESOME.

I toally stole a cuddle with a bunny while no one was looking, despite the sign asking not to pick them up. It was just too irresistable.

I should note that in spite of the infamous chicken chase story of Matts childhood, I turned around to catch this:

And, while we were feeding the EXTREMELY greedy (& nearly violent) Geese,

Annabell was making new friends with the big guy.

Finally, to send us off in laughter was this odd duck, or rather chicken.

It was a nice little peak into what living in harmony with animals could be like ;-).

We cant wait to return!