Planetary Verbosity

Wow, I’ve been away from this for a loooong time…again. For some reason, I haven’t felt much like blogging lately and I’ve been majorly busy. Ok, now that the excuses are out of the way, here are a few updates.

First, Lucy is getting bigger and getting into more trouble as each day goes by. Still, she’s irresistibly sweet and lovable when not getting into trouble. Snoopy is still not a Lucy fan at all, but he’s slowly getting used to her…I think. It doesn’t help that among her favorite hobbies are pouncing on him, chasing him, jumping over him, diving under him, etc.

News from the homestead is almost non-existent. I haven’t been going up as much because most of the good weather days happened to fall on Sunday, and I was at church. It also snowed quite a bit over the last month, so much of the work involved clearing snow. Dave did tear the rest of the boards out of the main room of the house. Hopefully soon, we’ll be able to start insulating it, although part of the front wall needs replaced first.

I’ve also been busy on the spiritual front. As I mentioned, I’ve been attending church regularly, as well as Sunday school. I am going to be baptized on January 10, which is also my dad’s 73rd birthday. I finished my written testimony and have been working on memorizing scripture.

Christmas, for the most part, was the same as other years. We went to the annual Christmas Eve party with Dave’s family and then spent Christmas day with my family. That said, it definitely had a new meaning this year. I’ll leave it at that for now.

Photos to come soon; it’s almost time for me to head to bed. In the meantime, you may want to clean your monitor, as Lucy is curious to see what you’re doing…

As you can tell, I haven’t been in much of a blogging mood lately. I’ve been busier than usual, but I also haven’t felt much like writing in general. Due to work schedule variances, especially around the holidays, we also haven’t been traveling to the homestead as much lately.

The title refers to the fact that, as of Thursday, I’m now in a different age demographic. I turned 35 and left the world of the 18-34 demographic behind for good! As I’ve always been “old school” or “old-fashioned” or whatever you want to call it, I’m actually glad to be in with the 35-49 group.

I had to work on my birthday, but it was actually a pretty good day…until I accidentally hit myself in the head with a crowbar while trying to pry up a shelf. Yeah, really. No, it didn’t bleed, but it didn’t tickle either. Two days later, I still have a very sore spot above my right ear, and my upper jaw hurts…but I have a funny story to tell.

For those who don’t follow me on Facebook, I also have a new birthday – a spiritual one! I won’t put all of the details here for now (will save that for when I write my testimony), but on Friday, November 13, at 12:25 pm, I became a Christian. This was a decision I obviously didn’t make in haste – it took several months of talking, learning, questioning, challenging, and being mentored. It took nearly 35 years of my life, but I was finally found by the One who has all of the answers, and He brought a most wonderful person into my life who could help me find those answers.

Thank you, Phil – for everything!

Though I’ve promised I’m not going to “get all fundie,” I have been attending church. I’ve also been looking at so many things in a different way, as if through new eyes. It hasn’t all been easy, and there have been some low points as I work through some of the parts of my old life, but I’m getting there, and I have the help and support I need…including from Dave, which means more to me than he probably realizes.

I’ve also been continuing banjo lessons with Phil. I’m getting the hang of it, though admittedly slowly, as spiritual matters have become somewhat of a priority. I usually practice at home, but the homestead is also a really nice place to practice…and sometimes presents some interesting seating locations.

Speaking of interesting locations on the homestead, I’ve also found a great creekside location for doing some Bible study…

Last, but not least…since the last time I wrote, Dave has become a grandfather – twice! Mandy and Allan had a daughter named Shelby Nicole on October 31, and Josh and Dawn just welcomed their daughter, Emma Elizabeth, yesterday. We’ll be going to see Josh, Dawn, and Emma today if the snow doesn’t get any worse (yes, it’s snowing here!!). Here’s a photo of Dave with Shelby from November 15:

Ok, that’s all of the catch-up for now, I think. Hope everybody had a nice Thanksgiving and has a nice Christmas!

Wow…I apologize for the lack of updates last week, but I was working inventory at work, which is a 5:45 am to 4:45 pm shift all week. Needless to say, I didn’t feel like blogging – or doing much of anything else.

Those of you who are friends on Facebook and in real life already know this, but for everyone else, we need to announce a new arrival to our household! No, not that kind of new arrival! You all should know by now that I’m childfree and have very strong opinions about that.

Our new arrival is a tiny kitten who was dumped somewhere around our homestead. Dave figures she was dropped off last Monday. On Tuesday, on a whim, my parents decided to visit the homestead with Snoopy while Dave and I were at work. They were the ones who came home with news of an abandoned kitten who came out of the woods and followed them around. They thought about bringing it home but decided to wait until they talked with us about it. (The weather last week was unseasonably warm and sunny.)

Initially, I wasn’t sure if I even wanted another cat. I’m not a fan of having cat hair all over everything, cleaning the litterbox, etc. At the same time, we all figured that since this kitten followed people around (as opposed to the feral barn cats/kittens that have passed through over the last two years), it was definitely dumped and probably wouldn’t survive the winter if left to fend for itself up there. We also reasoned that it didn’t belong to any of the neighbors. It was a tough choice – take it in ourselves, leave it up there, or take it to the shelter.

The next day, I knew Dave was going up to the homestead. Before I left for work, I told him to do what he thought was right. I did have some stipulations, though – no fleas, worms, Hershey squirts, scabs, etc.

I texted him sometime in the afternoon, and my suspicions were affirmed…we had a new kitten at home. I met Phil here at the house for our banjo lesson (more on that in another entry), and when we came inside, we were met by an adorable sight – Dave cradling a tiny kitten in his arms.

After asking for some help from our friends on Facebook and getting some good suggestions, we ended up going with one of our own choices for what we thought – and hoped – was a female kitten. (Hey, it’s hard to tell when they’re this young!)

Since we’re both big “I Love Lucy” fans, and since it would fit with the Peanuts theme (we already have a Snoopy), we decided to go with…Lucy!

Since this story is already long enough, and no story about baby animals is good without pictures, here are a few pictures of Lucy.

First, sitting on the porch post:

Laying on the porch…does this face look disposable to you?

Sleeping on the back of the loveseat in front of the window. Dave and I thought the same thing – that she looks like the Chessie railroad cat in this pic.

She had her first vet visit this evening. They confirmed that she is definitely female, she weighs 2 pounds, and they’re estimating that she is about eight weeks old. She doesn’t have ear mites, tested negative for feline leukemia, got her first round of vaccinations and deworming (she didn’t have worms – it’s just standard), and is now back home…sleeping on Dave, as usual.

From certain behaviors, it’s obvious that she has spent time indoors and around humans. Why anyone would dump a tiny kitten in the woods to fend for itself is beyond me. In any case, she now has a nice home with a family that loves her…except for the dog, who is jealous to the point of getting sick. (Keep in mind, he grew up with Sassay, so he’s lived with a cat before.) I think he’ll come around.

So what’s it like to take a vacation to the southern Jersey Shore in late September? Nicer than you may think, actually. The weather is usually really nice (t-shirt and shorts weather most days), and the water temperature is still in the 70s – it’s sometimes even warmer than the air temperature during this time of year.

There are other benefits as well. It’s not nearly as crowded, many retailers have big end-of-season sales, you don’t need beach tags after Labor Day, and there are still plenty of things to see and do.

The hardest part for us, oddly enough, was finding places to eat during the week. We usually eat out or have takeout delivered to the motel room, but in the off-season, many of the usual summer favorites are closed during the week.

We went to our usual place for breakfast, the Surfside West in Wildwood. We had to dodge crowds from buses a few days, but the food was great, as was the service. Since the last time we were down, they changed their “hash browns” from sliced potatoes (kind of like fried potatoes) to shredded…love the change. Keep the shredded ones, please!

Lunch/dinner was another matter. We scoured all of the menus we’d picked up in the motel lobby and finally decided on a place we hadn’t tried before, only to find that it was closed until Friday. We ended up at the Five Guys in Rio Grande – good burgers, but they really skimped on the fries…almost no extras in the bag. What’s up with that? One of the best parts of going to Five Guys is knowing that the bag will be heavy with those extra fries!

The following day, we had the same dilemma but decided to try something different. I remembered seeing a place called the Star Diner as we passed it several times over the years, but we’d never tried it. After checking some reviews, we decided to go with that.

We certainly weren’t disappointed! First of all, this place keeps great off-season hours. We ended up going there four days in a row, from Tuesday through Friday! It was fairly quiet all four days, which meant for quick turnaround time and good service. We got early bird specials on Wednesday and Thursday – great value, although it would have been nice to be able to choose a beverage other than coffee or hot tea. (I got the hot tea, of course.) The food – everything from regular diner fare to specialty seafood meals – was excellent, and the portions were larger than we expected. We’ll definitely be heading back to Star Diner next year.

On Saturday, we ordered from Mr. D’s Pizzeria, Steaks, and Subs in Wildwood. They, too, keep regular off-season hours. We’d ordered from there before and knew they had good food, but we tried something different this time – steak in a pouch. It’s basically a pizza dough pouch stuffed with steak, mozzarella cheese, and pizza sauce. (We also added mushrooms for a small fee.) This was absolutely delicious! We’ll be sure to get it at least once next year.

Some of the eateries that were not open during the week were: Rusty Rudder, Red Oak Restaurant, Alumni Grill, Schellenger’s, Urie’s, and many of the places on the Wildwood boardwalk.

Ok, I think that’s all for now. For those of you who vacation in this area, what are some of your favorite places to eat?

It’s been about a week since we got back from vacation, and it has admittedly been rough trying to get back into the routine. One of the worst parts, for sure, was going from wearing shorts and t-shirts in NJ to wearing jeans and thermal sweatshirts here…within a 24-hour span.

It’s still been fairly nice around here, but fall is definitely taking hold. I’m not complaining, of course – I actually prefer the cooler weather. (It’s always easy to bundle up and get warmer if needed.) The stifling heat of summer is my least favorite part of the year, so I’m welcoming this change.

Though I went back to work after vacation, Dave was still off, so he was able to get some things done here and on the homestead. The first thing on his list was putting a 2″ lift on his Jeep to give the larger tires more clearance. As you may recall, this is what it looked like before (previously posted on 9/13):

This is what it looks like with the 2″ shackle lift. Not drastically different, but there is more tire clearance for sure.

He’s also started tearing the wall boards out of the lower floor of the house. This makes me happy, as it’s one of the last steps before the rebuilding starts. It’ll still be quite awhile until we can move in, but it’s progress!

He also fixed up the furnace so that it only heats the basement. While this may sound odd at first, there’s a good reason for it. The water pipes are down there, and those are really the only things that need to be heated since we don’t live there. This should really help with the heating oil bill, while still keeping the pipes safe. Usually when we’re working inside, the work itself keeps us warm enough.

Leaf-peeper season is also in full swing around here. Many of the ones on the homestead are already falling. Of those that aren’t already gone, most are a beautiful golden yellow. The leaves on the forsythia are changing over to a faded maroon color, while the sumac (not the poison kind) leaves are a brilliant red.

Here’s a pic with the sumac in the foreground, and various greens and yellows behind.

I’m really enjoying the colorful autumn, but I also love when the leaves are finally gone and the barren landscape of late fall/winter takes over. The creek is visible from the house, it’s quieter outside (nearby motocross place – which was not there when we bought the homestead – closes for the season), it’s much easier to get around in the woods, signs of wildlife are easier to spot, and I’m able to do much more of my trash clean-up/woods reclamation work.

Ok, I guess that’s all for now. I got an early start this morning, and we’ll soon be on our way to another homestead workday. I do still plan on doing at least one more entry about vacation (reviewing some of the places to go in the off-season), and I’m also starting into a new and wonderful musical endeavor…more about those soon!

We’ve been on vacation for the past week. I’d planned to blog from here (and have successfully kept Facebook updated), but I’ve been too exhausted most evenings to post anything. We’ll be back soon; here are lots of pics in the meantime.

The first night we were here (Sept. 27), this is what the moon looked like from the Crest:

The beach at Wildwood Crest on Sept. 29, looking south, bathed in light from the setting sun:

This is the tallest I’ll ever be (I’m the one on the left), 9/29, Wildwood Crest:

This is why they call it Sunset Beach! Taken at – where else – Sunset Beach, Cape May Point, Oct. 1:

And not to be outdone, this is what the moon looked like as that sunset was taking place:

The following day, one of the things on our agenda was taking another walk on the beach in the Crest…to walk off an amazing dinner! Though the weather was still pretty clear, it was gearing up for some minor problems overnight. The wind was really blowing off of the ocean, sending the dry sand across the wetter, packed sand in little waves. It looked very surreal, almost like a sci-fi movie set on some faraway, barren planet. (It helped that there were very few people out there.)

Dave took this shot of the Cape May Lighthouse as I was doing some beachcombing at Cove Beach. As you can see, the surf was still pretty wild, but there were people surfing and wading there anyway.

Ok, that’s all of them for now. More details and photos after we get back!