THROUGH MY WINDOWS

It's amazing to me that here in Pennsylvania we are enjoying the first of Spring's many dazzling aray of colors while on the Island, in Maine, where I now spend about 3 weeks out of every month, sleet, rain and starkness rule our days. The first day of Spring was no exception; we had 7 inches of snow with blizzard like conditions. I took a few pictures but from inside the house: To be fair to Mother Nature it disappeared 3 days later after a heat wave of 50 and 60 degree weather-plus lots of sunshine poured out and soaked warmth into our souls... Much needed warmth. We were all in a funk. Too much time spent in the house.   But I must back up by a  few days; before the storm struck. I was out running errands for my aged mother with whom I am staying since my dad went into the Island Nursing Home. I took along my camera and snapped here and there. I love the character of the old houses, many of them passed down through the ages to the descendants of sea captain's o

Hi there friends, hope you had a wonderful Easter and are enjoying good health. I have to put that last bit  in because retired folk love being idle or busy but we mostly pray for good health. Now, I am not over the hill yet but I must say the little aches and discomforts that go along with aging can be most annoying. Anyway,,,,look at this picture I took this morning while walking the dogs around the property in the rain: the silver lining in an otherwise dreary day... Our magnolia trees are blossoming now and are a welcome sight. I stood there daydreaming about the beauty of Spring while the dogs couldn't figure out why I wasn't moving. Come on Mom, let's get moving!  As you can see we have a lot of work ahead of us as we rake up the leaves that didn't get scooped up in the Fall.  The lovely daffodil. Oh, my, I do love their colors. They are all over the neighborhood and certainly help to put a spring in our step.  I took the winter wreath

Hi there! I'm so sorry that I have been absent for a couple of months!! If you follow me on Facebook (Susan Zarzycki) you will know already that my Dad had a bad fall the first of December, a day before his 89th birthday, and ended up in the hospital and is now in the Island Nursing Home. You will also know from reading past posts of this blog that I post more about my time on an Island in Maine where I grew up than I do about my home town of Bethlehem, PA. We do live in a pretty spot here in the mountains but it just can't compare to the scenery on the Island. A shame I didn't appreciate "my" Island when I lived there for 21 years altogether. I married a Canadian and we lived in Quebec for several years, in Ontario for several years but in the end we moved kit and cabootle to the Island and then in 1980 moved to Pennsylvania. A lot has happened in all those years both good and bad, but by far my greatest accomplishment would be my two children and the legacy ca

November boat trip on Lake Nockamixon Hi there dear friends! Fall has become a bit of a let down I'm sorry to say. No more shuffling through fresh fallen leaves. Splashes of color no longer greet me when I gaze out of the dining room bay window as I drink my morning tea. The birds aren't trilling happily from tree tops but are sounding rather frantic as they crowd the feeders trying to fortify their little bodies against the cold nights and whatever else Mother Nature might blow or rain or snow at them.  We have had very bleak, rainy days of late. The wind and rain has stripped the trees of any color they were holding onto. No sun to be seen for days now..... But wait!  Something magical is happening this morning. The sun is making her appearance! Will wonders never cease! Wonderful sunshine pushing  beams through the windows and warming not only the rooms but lifting our spirits as well.  In my case, just a smidgen. The truth is, dear readers,

Hello to you! Hope all is well in your corner of the world. Here in Bethlehem it is getting more seasonally casual at our house. Roger is off work for the Winter months and has just about finished with the business of doing the leaves gathering and putting away the patio furniture as well as all the large pots that he grows his tomatoes in. He was pretty proud of his red skinned potato patch (all 3x3 ft of it). He stuck a few potato buds in in May and stirred the dirt once in awhile. Unbelievably the potatoes ended up being so huge that one potato could feed 4 people! He harvested a basket full of these beauties so we will be eating from his bounty for awhile. I had company for awhile-the granddogs came to stay while my daughter, her hubby, and the two grandsons were vacationing in Florida. It was wild at times around here with 4 cats and 4 dogs. The eldest dog, Shyanne,  is deaf and nearly blind. Sometimes she is like Mr. Mague from the old cartoons on Saturday mornings