I went to see my friend Anna in her play this afternoon – she was in Urinetown with Nena Productions, a local community theater group. She played Soupy Sue and did a really great job. It was fun to see this quiet, unassuming girl up on the stage singing and acting her heart out. I loved the character of Officer Lockstock! Very funny guy. It was a fun afternoon, but that “Don’t Be the Bunny” song is stuck in my head now!

A few of us went for pizza afterwards and then I roamed around Ocean Grove for a while with my camera and went straight to the beach. It was a beautiful day, but it was still chilly by the water.

Ocean Grove has an interesting history with the Methodist Church and the town is full of beautiful Victorian homes that I would love to photograph one day. The photo at right shows part of the massive Great Auditorum which can seat 10,000 and is the size of a football field. I can remember going there for Sunday services as a kid with my dad a few times.

The town was settled as a sort of spiritual haven by a few Methodist preachers and for many years cars were banned from Ocean Grove on Sundays – a gate at the entrance to town kept them out. The photo at left shows a few of the hundred or so summer tent buildings that are situated around the Great Auditorium. People still live in these during the summer. A canvas tent is placed over the wooden frames you see in the photo and the resulting *room* is filled with couches, rugs, and lamps. Rustic!

My friend Michelle sent these along and I just couldn’t resist sharing. Things to do when a co-worker is on vacation: Kathy V. – would you write me up if I did this to your office?

Hmm… thinking of a victim.

Linda: Look at all those reflective surfaces!

Deb: Your office could use a little more greenery. Just need to figure out how to do it!

Flutter by,

Author Unknown

Cross-posted at Whorled Leaves

This is Jupiter, he belongs to my friend Anna from work. This photo was taken by a photographer from the Asbury Park Press as part of their 2006 Battle of the Pet Photographers Contest. If Jupi wins the contest, Anna will get $500 and so will the photographer who took the photo. If you’re local and have a copy of the newspaper from 3/24 – 3/26 please send in your ballot with a vote for Jupiter! Isn’t he beautiful? You can have a look at the other 25 contestants by clicking on the photo above. Sorry, but no bunnies made it into the contest, but then I didn’t send in an entry with pics of my beauties 😉

First grade teacher’s name: Mrs. LaForge. I was scared of her.
Last word you said: Dora!
Last song you sang: Put Your Head on My Shoulder (to the dog)
Last thing you laughed at: Susan’s answers to this silly quiz.
Last time you cried: Hmm, can’t remember.
What’s in your cd player? Eva Cassidy’s “Songbird”
What color socks are you wearing? White.
What’s under your bed? Nothing! My husband vacuumed today! 😉
What time did you wake up today? 6:45 am
Current hair: Curly blonde mess.
Current outfit: Jeans, t-shirt, cardigan sweater.
Current annoyance: My husband watching wrestling on the tv in the next room.
Current smell: White Sage & Citrus candle.
Current longing: More free time without guilt for what I *should* be doing.
Current desktop picture: Bunny photo sent by a friend from PB.
Current favorite music artist: Keith Urbin (cute country guy with a nice voice)
Current book: Vanishing Acts by Jodi Piccoult (which I can’t seem to get through); Of Wolves and Men by Barry Lopez (for Whorled Leaves); Beyond Your Doorstep by Hal Borland (to relax before bed); The Kite Runner by Khaled Husseini (for the 4th time with my students)
Current worry: Will it ever get warm?
Current hate: n/a Try not to be hateful.
Current favorite article of clothing: My old white sneakers.
Line from the last thing you wrote to someone: Huh? Don’t remember.
I am happiest when: I have the day off.
I feel lonely when: Never lonely.
Favorite authors: Kent Haruf, Hal Borland
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Right here; just wish everyone else weren’t here too.
Famous person you have met: Vice-President Gore drove past my house once. Bruce Springsteen lives in the next town over, does that count?
Do you have any regrets? Sure, but not many and they’re not important ones.
Sex or love: Love.
Favorite coffee: Dunkin Donuts extra, extra light with cream.
Favorite smell: Behind my bunnies’ ears.
What makes you mad? Moody, self-centered people.
Favorite way to waste time: Blogging.
What is your best quality? Adaptability; looking innocent.
Are currently in love/lust? Well, I’ve been married for 13 years. What would you guess?
What’s the craziest thing you have ever done? Not too prone to craziness.
Do you find it hard to trust people? No.
Last thing you bought yourself: Lunch.
Bath or shower? Shower.
Favorite season: Fall.
Favorite color: Green.
Favorite flavor: Italian anything.
Favorite time of day: Late at night when everyone else is asleep.
Any secret crushes? Yea, and he knows it too.
Do you wear a watch? Usually.
Favorite stores: Barnes and Noble.
How big is your closet? Tiny.
Ever spend more then $200 in a store? Yes.
Do your friends know everything about you? No, they might be surprised.
What do they tend to be like? Opinionated, smart, good people with big hearts.
Can you count on them? I hope so.
Can they count on you? I hope so.
Last book you read: Local Wonders by Ted Kooser
Last movie you saw: Braveheart
Movie you saw on the big screen: Haven’t been to the movies in years. Think it was Winged Migration. Hated it.
Show you watched on tv: Don’t like tv. It’s good to fall asleep to, though.
Song you heard: Come a Little Closer Baby by Billy Currington.
Thing you had to drink: Sam Adam’s Spring Ale. Yum!
Thing you ate: Tuna and American on wheat for lunch.
Time you showered: This morning.
Time you smiled: A few minutes ago.
Time you laughed: A few minutes ago.
Person you hugged: Not the huggy type.
Person you talked to online: Hmm, don’t remember. Maybe Michelle.
Person you talked to on the phone: Hate phones too. My DH on the way to the vet.
Do drugs? No. 😉
Drink? Sometimes.
Sleep with stuffed animals? No.
Have a dream that keeps coming back? Yes. Something about going over a bridge and not wanting to.
Play an instrument? Sort of: piano, clarinet. Trying to learn the tinwhistle.
Read the newspaper? Yes, online.
Believe in miracles?Yes.
Consider yourself tolerant? For the most part.
Like the taste of alchohol? No.
Go to church? Not often enough.
Have any secrets? A couple.
Have any pets? Bwaa, haa ha.
Have any piercings? Just my ears.
Have any tattoos? No way. My husband has plenty.
Hate yourself? Huh???
Wish on stars? When I need to.
Like your handwriting? Yes.
Believe in ghosts? Yes.
Believe in the tooth fairy? No.
Sing in the shower? No.

Despite the rain off and on all day I needed to be outside doing something. So I spent a few hours cleaning out the old nestboxes and searching in the basement for the new hangers I bought last fall.

All of the old boxes were full of sticks from the house wrens. I found a cranky looking little black spider in the bottom of one of the boxes and felt bad for disturbing his slumber.

I spread the boxes out a bit more and put one in the magnolia at the front of the house. Not sure if I’ll get anyone there, but it’s worth trying, I suppose. I was tempted to buy a house with a larger hole for carolina wrens, but was afraid that would only encourage the house sparrows to nest. A few times I’ve had chickadees (think that’s them peeping out of the box at right).

I like to refer to the book at left for help in deciding where to place a nest box and other questions about how to be a good landlord for birds nesting on your property. It’s a good book for beginners and includes tips on attracting and feeding birds, good plants for birds and butterflies and some info about hummingbirds. It was one of the first I bought about birds and has been a good general reference through the years.

Is this cymbidium orchid drop-dead gorgeous, or what? I don’t know anything about orchids, but I wanted this one!

I came home with a much smaller, but almost as pretty phalaenopsis orchid that is supposed to be a good *beginner’s* orchid. We’ll see. I’m not very good at keeping flowering houseplants alive. The saleslady says that most people kill orchids with too much kindness and that I should only need to water it well once a week and provide dappled sunlight. Uh-huh. Wish me luck.

A visit to the local garden center always cheers me. Especially at this time of year when all of the cute bunny items seem to be everywhere. For the most part I restrain myself from buying any of it. This display of planters, birdhouses, and Easter nick-nacks was just so cheerful and fun. I love the giant Peter Rabbit peeking out from the back!

Not your ordinary garden center, this place has just about everything related to gardening, plus garden-themed housewares and a wonderful gourmet market. I miss the days before it became so popular, when it wasn’t much more than a farmer’s market run out of a large garage, with the owners selling locally grown vegetables and flowers. Their peach and apple orchard used to back up to our yard. Now we have soccer fields and a running track and they buy their produce elsewhere. They still grow raspberries and blackberries on part of the property and corn nearby. On summer mornings I will sometimes see old Mr. S. going by our house on his red tractor and he often stops to chat with me about the red-tailed hawks that nest in a huge pine tree on the edge of his fields. I’d guess he must be pretty amazed with how his family business has grown through the years.

The color in the greenhouses is so breathtaking on such a gray early-spring day that I wanted to bring it all home with me, but I behaved myself and only bought a few pots of purple pansies for the front steps and the little yellow orchid. And two bunches of delicious pink muscatel grapes and my favorite red pears. Yum! How many months till strawberries come in?

Now I just need the farmhouse to go with the table 😉

After much procrastination and indecision, our new furniture arrived yesterday – and I love it! I never want to have to pick out furniture again. I’ve put this off for more than 12 years because I knew what a pain it would be to find something that both my husband and I liked and that I was willing to afford. We found this gorgeous dining table months ago and fell in love with it. I convinced myself it was too expensive and not really practical – after all, it’s just the two of us, do we really need such a huge table? We could probably seat 10 with the leaves in (do we even know 10 people aside from family?) I’m glad my DH was finally able to convince me to get it – I’m really, really happy with it.

We also bought an end table and coffee table for the living room – big news! We haven’t exactly been living with milk crates in place of furniture, but practically! I think I may be missing some critical female gene; I am so not a shopper, and even less of a decorator, but I think it’s coming along nicely. We’re still waiting on our new couch to be delivered, but once that arrives I’m done. No more furniture ever! I have to admit though, that it is nice to have a home that feels *like me* filled with things I love and that make us happy. I just wish it weren’t so difficult figuring out just what that is!

Momentary Rant: Blogger is sapping what little creativity I have lately; I’m having soo much trouble uploading images!!