goochmedia||blog

Fall HIke

2008-10-19T09:37:00.003-04:00

Why would anyone want to live anywhere else??? My BFF and I were planning in hiking Chocorua, but...beer and the late hour kept me in bed too late for that, but we ended up doing a phenomenal hike in Moultonborough called Bald Knob. It was about 1.1 miles, and ended up at this awesome granite outcropping overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee. The leaves were dropping off the trees and covering the trail with bright oranges, yellows and reds. truly beautiful...Enjoy!

Sandwich Fair

2008-10-12T21:00:00.002-04:00

Spent Saturday at the sandwich fair. Have I ever mentioned how much I love cows, oxen and horses??? the (I think) Belgian, has a special meaning that I cannot mention here...suffice it to say..

New 50 MM 1/8

2008-09-23T18:27:00.002-04:00

Loving my new lens....

The Falcon

2008-06-25T21:20:00.002-04:00

Finally...a picture of the 1964 Ford Falcon Futura Convertible...

Plus a couple of other cool cars that were at our very first cruise night...

Alpine Garden

2008-06-22T19:33:00.003-04:00

My BFF and I hiked up to the Alpine Garden trail on Mt. Washington this weekend.
It was our first big hike of the season...maybe we should have picked a smaller hike...

Yes, we made it. Yes, my cardio is fine. It is not the UP that is the problem...it is the down...

That is all I have to say about it at the moment...we had a blast and I think her dog daisy is part billy goat. Me? I am part 80 year old woman. In particular, two parts. my knees. My BFF? Her abs hurt. And not from situps...

L flippin OL

2008-06-19T20:44:00.000-04:00

McDONALDS APPLICATION

This is an actual job application a 17-year-old boy submitted at a McDonald's fast-food establishment in Florida – and they hired him because he was so honest and funny!

NAME: Greg Bulmash

SEX: Not yet. Still waiting for the right person.

DESIRED POSITION: Company's President or Vice President. But seriously, whatever's available. If I were in a position to be picky, I wouldn't be applying here in the first place.

DESIRED SALARY: $185,000 a year plus stock options and a Michael Ovitz style severance package. If that's not possible, make an offer and we can haggle.

EDUCATION: Yes.

LAST POSITION HELD: Target for middle management hostility.

SALARY: Less than I'm worth.

MOST NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT: My incredible collection of stolen pens and post-it notes.

REASON FOR LEAVING: It sucked.

HOURS AVAILABLE TO WORK: Any.

PREFERRED HOURS: 1:30-3:30 p.m., Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL SKILLS?

Yes, but they're better suited to a more intimate environment.

MAY WE CONTACT YOUR CURRENT EMPLOYER? If I had one, would I be here?

DO YOU HAVE ANY PHYSICAL CONDITIONS THAT WOULD PROHIBIT YOU FROM LIFTING UP TO 50 LBS? Of what?

DO YOU HAVE A CAR?

I think the more appropriate question here would be "Do you have a car that runs?"

HAVE YOU RECEIVED ANY SPECIAL AWARDS OR RECOGNITION?

I may already be a winner of the Publishers Clearing house Sweepstakes.

DO YOU SMOKE?

On the job no, on my breaks yes.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE DOING IN FIVE YEARS?

Living in the Bahamas with a fabulously wealthy dumb sexy blonde super model who thinks I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread. Actually, I'd like to be doing that now.

DO YOU CERTIFY THAT THE ABOVE IS TRUE AND COMPLETE TO THE BEST OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE?

Yes – Absolutely.

SIGN HERE: Aries.

My Memorial Day Weekend...

2008-05-26T21:38:00.002-04:00

Was NOT spent planting my vegetables...

My...what a big gun you have...luckily, they sell potatoes around here at $5 for a 50# bag...

Then off to the parade...

Scene from Middle America...

Lunch Break

2008-05-07T19:35:00.004-04:00

As some of you may know...I have been thrust back into the world of 8-5 m-f +2 glorious weeks of vacation.

I am working at a place that recycles..well...poop. And at said place, I get to make maps and do ALL kinds of other stuff that is currently making my head spin and by the time I get home from work the LAST thing I want to do is spend time on my super shiny Mac Book Pro. I also have not been taking many pictures either. I am hoping now that I am beginning to recover from the shock of working all day and am settling into a nice routine.

So, I thought I would share with you my lunch spot, and things I saw today while eating my lunch...I really do love working where I do...especially since 60 minutes of my day can be spent here:

Looking up at this:

And looking down for these:

Trilliums are my all time favorite wildflower here, after the rare Pink Lady Slipper. It means spring is really, really here.

That is what I got to see today...and now I believe I have had enough of computers.

seriously?

2008-05-04T19:52:00.004-04:00

THIS just walked through my front yard, grabbed my suet feeder and ran.

BREAKING NEWS

2008-04-10T11:58:00.002-04:00

spring is here.

The crocus that got chomped by some animal still perseveres...

The Hyacinth is spreading its leaves...

Ok, so, the Pileated Woodpecker and the Dove are not really spring birds, but they were at the feeder...

The Good Cancer

2008-04-08T13:19:00.002-04:00

There is no such thing as good cancer you say???? I used to wonder why the people at the thyroid cancer forum I used to visit would get SO MAD when somebody would say "Thyroid cancer is a 'good cancer'". Seriously, with a cure rate hovering around 95% yeah, I would consider it "good". Cancer in and of it self sucks. And it is scary. Yes, it is serious. And then there are stories like Lisa's, over at Clusterfook, and it makes me feel like I was a HUGE whiner when it came to being diagnosed with "the good cancer". Because you know what? Thyroid cancer is NOTHING compared to what she has gone through, twice and is now going through a third time. I am asking anyone who visits here to head on over to Clusterfook, read her story and give her some kind words. What she has gone through and is about to go through no human being and their family should have to go through. So, yeah, I had cancer. Big flipping deal. I was lucky. Then, I want you to go over and visit Miss Ann and see what she and the rest of a pretty awesome blogging community is trying to do for Lisa and help.

Knock...Knock...Hello???

2008-04-06T18:42:00.003-04:00

Hello??? Anybody home???
Oh, wait, I am knocking on my own door....Yes! I AM home. For now.
Seems as though I may have gotten myself a place back into the real world...the real 8-5 m-f world. Guess I have been busy polishing up the resume, writing cover letters and licking envelopes....and it WORKED!!! Even with a 2.5 year "real world" and I don't mean MTV Real World, gap...I am excited.

Other than that, the deer ate my crocus. The ones that had just come up out of the ice. The ones that were JUST about to bloom. Yeah. Those. I am so bitter I am not taking a picture. The only reason I am not sitting outside with Duane's shotgun is the deer are starving and it is not deer season. Oh, and yeah, I have no idea how to load, let alone shoot a gun. So, they are safe. But I DO Have my secret weapon....

Sanibel Stuff

2008-03-17T14:26:00.013-04:00

We had a great trip to Sanibel, albeit a pretty cold (relatively cold for all you New Englanders) and windy trip for the most part. Not 85 and sunny...that is for sure. But the storm that blew into Florida the day we showed up made for some great shelling at some of the best shelling beaches in the world. I could stand at the big shell pile and hunt for the best shells all day long.

Anyways, here are some of my favorite images from the trip:

This is what they call "The Sanibel Stoop" red tourists all hunched over searching for shells...

Can you blame them???

This heron stood and posed for at least the 2 hours we were at this beach. I think the island of Sanibel pays him.

A brown pelican, these guys look like 767's when they fly. I can't believe they can even get airborne!!!

This little guy just hanging out on a post. Again, paid to stand for the paparazzi...

SPEAKING of paparazzi...can I just say two words??? LENS ENVY!!!!!!! Yeah, the photographer had to take photographs of the photographers...

Speaking of lenses, I used my new fisheye lens to take this picture of the Collier House Inn on Useppa Island. Not bad for a cheapo lens!

And finally...by popular demand (Hello Anonymous):

Lunch!

Old Time Photo Restoration

2008-03-17T10:24:00.002-04:00

I am back from vacation, and will be posting some images later....but first, I wanted to show you an old time photo of me and my parents from way, way back. I think I was about 5 or 6 maybe...not too sure. Anyways, I have this old picture of us from this studio at the Casino in Hampton Beach, where you get to dress up in old time clothing and then pose for pictures. I am not sure what the place was called, or if it was even legal for me to scan it in and try and restore it...but the image had faded over time and had some scratches and dust. To try and save it I used a few simple photoshop tricks, mainly Dust and Scratches, plus some levels and curves and a little bit of sharpening.

Here is the original:

Here is the result:

V.A.C.A.TION

2008-03-07T14:47:00.002-05:00

I am on vacation.
Sun, sand, palm trees and frosty drinks...

Be back later.

Way better than shoveling...

2008-03-06T11:58:00.003-05:00

Now, I would never have done this. Mainly due to my inability to back up any sort of motorized vehicle...but I will have to say, this was WAY better than shoveling the 3+ feet of heavy snow off of our porch...

Also, I would like to know, is the inability to back up a female thing??? Or is it just me?

Totally Rad! Photoshop Trick

2008-03-03T08:08:00.003-05:00

I was surfing the web this morning...shocker I know...and I headed over to Jasmine Star's blog and she had this pretty cool link to the Totally Rad! blog. This link then led me to learning a little bit more about how to use some of the actions that I had purchased a couple of months back. 2 in particular that I will find very useful I am sure...Big Blue and Green With Envy. Both of these actions use layer masks to add a bluer sky using the gradient tool and to get the greens really green.

There is an 11 minute tutorial on how to use these actions here and I thought you might like to see a before and after example that I did real quick this morning:

Before I applied Big Blue and Green With Envy:

After:

Will it ever end???

2008-03-02T16:21:00.003-05:00

We are heading towards all-time record snowfall here in NH. I honestly have never seen this much snow here. Ever...

Mini-Trip to Stowe, VT

2008-03-01T18:41:00.003-05:00

Duane and I spent an abbreviated(that is another story altogether) pre-weekend up in Stowe, VT which is about a 2.75 hour drive from here, IF the navigator can read a map properly. Funny...I went to school for geography, I make maps for a living and I still cannot for the life of me read a map properly, so, it ended up taking us about 3.75 hours. Whatever. We got to see lots and lots (and lots) of snow covered roofs.

Since the last time we were in Stowe, I have been raving about this little chocolate shop called "Laughing Moon Chocolates". If you go, you have GOT to try their signature bar of Dark Chocolate, Chipotle and Cinnamon. Yummmy!!!!

We got to spend some time driving around town and taking pictures here and their. We stopped and saw some of the big horses that the fancy schmany place in town owns and takes people out for horse drawn sleigh rides (how romantic)

and we also stopped into their little shopping center in town which gave me some great ideas for the bottle gourds I have drying (molding, rotting) in my garage...

We did spend friday skiing and snowboarding at Stowe. It is so fun to ski at a big mountain, well, bigger than Gunstock that is...

although, some would call us dedicated:

Yes, you are ready that temperature correctly.

If you are interested in the effects I used for this series, again, they were Kevin Kubota actions, Chocolate 2 and Magic Sharp.

This Winter

2008-02-24T12:26:00.001-05:00

Thank you: Wetherobots

YMCA Camp Foss - 1983- 1988

2008-02-23T15:55:00.002-05:00

Today, I ended up on a road that just seemed so familiar...as a kid, I spent 7 summers at YMCA Camp Foss. Unbelievably, my first year was 25 years ago. So, anyways, my drive today took me down the dirt road to where the old riding ring used to be, close to where the dining hall is (or maybe was...) I had never seen camp in the winter...only the summers.

I am still in touch with at least 4 of my old friends from that time of my life, 1 is married, another is engaged, one is widowed and another is living it up in Boston. We have gotten together a couple of times over the years, and if I can find any pictures of us I will post those too. When we do get together it is like we have never spent a day apart. The stories and laughter just come naturally. Knowing I have friends out there like that, ones who at the drop of a hat are there is special...

Anyway..here is what Camp Foss looks like in the dead of winter:

tomorrow...

2008-02-14T17:32:00.002-05:00

we move to the Caribbean...After yet another storm we are packed up and heading out tomorrow. Warm breezes and palm trees and coconut rum (not really, but one can always dream).

Valiantly trying to save our roof from collapse...

This stake? It is 4 FEET TALL.

brrrrrr...

2008-02-14T17:27:00.004-05:00

It is always nice to get an inch of ice and rain on top of 12 inches of snow...

Nicole and Rob || Engagement Shoot

2008-02-12T08:12:00.001-05:00

Reflections By McGarry asked me if I could do some color correction for them for their latest shoot they did a few weeks back. Nicole and Rob are getting married and RBM offers an engagement shoot.

After I finished doing the general color corrections, brightening and sharpening I decided to add some special effects to the images. I have taken my cue from an AWESOME photographer Jessica Claire. I just love her style and I hope someday I can come up with my own unique style, but for some of these images I tried a few of the tools and tricks she talks about on her blog.

On these images I used some basic Kubota Actions such as "midbright" and "cool as a cucumber" as well as "KevX-Process Combo" to name a few. These actions and much, much more can be found at Kubota Image Tools.

I am also using David Jay's Showit Web! software for the slideshow. I used one of his timing templates to effortlessly create this show.

I hope you enjoy it!!!

If you would like to learn more about the images seen in this slideshow, or if you would like to book Reflections by McGarry for your wedding, family portrait or other event, please visit their website at www.reflectionsbymcgarry.com.

29th Annual Great Rotary Fishing Derby---Sat Fishing Report

2008-02-09T11:54:00.000-05:00

This weekend is the Great Rotary Fishing Derby up here in the Lakes Region of NH.
We have our ice house out on Lake Winnisquam and our tip ups are baited and ready to go....

FISHING REPORT:

This guy:

He is not catching anything

But I bet THIS GUY (or gal) is:

Is spring here yet????

2008-02-07T09:49:00.000-05:00

Don't get me wrong, I love winter. I love being outside when the temperature takes your breath away, I am always happy when I am carving down the mountain on my snowboard, and listening to the snowflakes fall...and for the record, I am not complaining. Really. I am not. At least I did not have to book a plane ticket to Utah to get some fresh powder...but I am wistful for spring and summer. To sit on my porch and listen to the birds, to play in the dirt and plant flowers and veggies...

Living in New England, we all know that february isn't even close to the end, even when you think winter cannot possibly go on until April.. It can and it does go on until april...

But then May and June follow...it will end. Winter will end...

Sleep Through the Static

2008-02-05T08:18:00.000-05:00

Today is the day!!!! Not only is it my boyfriend's brother's birthday, my very special friend in Montana, Jori's, birthday but today is the day the new Jack Johnson album is released...

Here is my review: IT IS AWESOME

Of course, I have not even listened to the entire album but having a new JJ album is akin to falling in love all over again. Those of you who have been here awhile, may remember THIS story I told awhile back about that time I met Jack Johnson, oh, wait, I mean that time I met Jack Johnson and he told me he was his brother. Yes, I am still scarred from that episode of my brush with fame. *sigh* He is JUST as cute in real life, but not nearly as accessible as I would like him to be.

ANYways, I am now on track 2 and I have to tell you, it is great. Nice and beachy-mellow which is what I love...

Thank you JJ for FINALLY releasing a new album. It has been much too long.
I <3 U TLF

David Jay

2008-02-04T13:11:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of spending the day with 200 of my fellow NHPPA members and the one and only David Jay!

It was a GREAT time. DJ worked some serious magic, which includes keeping my attention for more than 15 minutes...actually 6 hours. Not to mention, that he played his game much MUCH better than my poor quarterback Tom Brady. What I have to say about that, is this. Tom Brady got sacked 5 times. DJ did not. If you are interested in getting an idea of the things he had to say I suggest you head on over to his website DavidJay.com and spend some time there. He has some great stuff not to mention some beautiful images...it was really great meeting the person behind some of the tools that I try and use. I really love his philosophy on how he runs his business...

Did you notice how he was representing??? Even though we lost...I think he was impressed to learn that 200 NE Patriots fans would rather spend the day with him...until he realized the seminar ended 2 hours BEFORE...heehee. I would have skipped the superbowl for that seminar!

Child's Aran Sweater

2008-01-30T15:40:00.000-05:00

My friend's baby turns 1 tomorrow, and for her first birthday I knit her the cutest little sweater ever....

If you are interested in getting the pattern, you can find it at Yankee Knitter Designs.

What rednecks do in the winter....

2008-01-30T14:27:00.001-05:00

We like to build ourselves little houses and catch food through little holes in the ice...

We like to fly airplanes onto the ice, next to the houses where we drill little holes through the ice to catch food...

And we like to take pictures of our reflections on the shiny things that land on the ice next to our little house...

Sweet.

Things not to do to your camera...

2008-01-29T17:13:00.000-05:00

When you see that there is some dust and spots in your field of vision while taking pictures with your Canon Rebel XT....

DO NOT go poking around inside with a q-tip wrapped in lens tissue.

If, when you are purchasing your slightly expensive camera, the guy selling it to you tries to sell you that "idiot plan" just do it.

I sure am glad I bought that "idiot plan" because it covers things like, a SCRATCHED SENSOR....

Realizing I had scratched the sensor with the q-tip was about as bad as the time I reformatted my memory card when I was in Australia and lost almost 2000 images....

So, if you are wondering where I have gone and why there are no new images up lately...it is because my camera is at the surgeon's office, getting a new sensor.

re-revamped GoochMedia.com

2008-01-16T17:13:00.000-05:00

I have re-revamped the corporate website if my one reader out there wants to check it out!

I have learned so much from Dreamweaver:The Missing Manual.
This is a great book if you are looking to teach yourself Dreamweaver. I think my next purchase may be CSS: The Missing Manual.

So, check out www.goochmedia.com and see the new site!

Green Thumb Sunday- The Bird Edition

2008-01-13T12:33:00.001-05:00

Join

The birds were in my garden...I suppose that counts right?

Here come the bird pictures....

2008-01-08T14:40:00.000-05:00

Using my Subaru for a bird blind is a brilliant idea...they have no idea I am there and I am in my comfy leather seat, instead of sitting in the snow or a white plastic chair...

So I slap on my telephoto lens sit back and wait....

Green Thumb Sunday-The Houseplant Edition

2008-01-06T12:25:00.001-05:00

Join

Deep in winter, my garden covered in three feet of snow, I bring you GTS-The Houseplant Edition...

Normally, on a warmish sunday I would be out on the slopes, but thanks to my friend Tim, I am nursing day 4 of a hideous cold. So, instead, today I decided to re-pot and propagate some of my houseplants that were in desperate need of some TLC.

STRAWBERRY BEGONIA- aka: Saxifraga stolonifera

I started this plant from some offshoots of my mom's plant, it has grown like mad so I have repotted it and started some new babies. Super easy to do, this plant is almost idiot proof.

BURRO'S TAIL- aka: Sedum morganianum

This plant started off as part of a threesome that I posted about earlier here...unfortunately, the other 2 plants died so I decided to move this one into its own little pot and actually give it some sun...who would have thought a sedum liked sunlight???

And finally:

STRING OF BEADS- aka: Senecio rowleyanus

I purchased this plant online from eBay. It does really well, unless of course you don't water it for a while and then the little beads shrivel up and fall off....yeah.
I also made 2 smaller plants from this hoping to save at least a piece of it. I am not sure if this will make a comeback or not, but the beads have shrunk pretty badly.

So, that is al for now, if anything else exciting happens inside, I will let you know!

testing testing

2008-01-03T12:44:00.000-05:00

Testing an upload of a slide show I exported from iPhoto to Quicktime...let's see if it works...sure does take a while to upload an 8 mb file...

Guess who got a puppy????

2008-01-02T18:56:00.000-05:00

Right here.

No, not me silly.

Dooce. Dooce got a puppy....

Christmas Garden

2007-12-28T15:17:00.000-05:00

On my foray out into the garden at my boyfriends parents and brothers house...

Wondering about the effects?

Try the Kubota Daily Multi Vitamin actions and the Totally Rad! Actions Prettyizer and Rusty Cage

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T16:00:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas from Northeastern Ohio....

More to come after the holidays wind down.

These instructions might come in handy.....

2007-12-16T18:22:00.001-05:00

How to build an Igloo

Leave your flip flops and bathing suits at home

2007-12-16T15:21:00.000-05:00

We have friends coming up from Alabama tomorrow...they are SO excited for the snow...

Although, I am a little worried, I mean, they do LIVE in Alabama, where it is warm...I hope they are prepared for the greatest weather New England has to offer...

Maybe we can teach their kids how to use the snowblower.

It doesn't get any better than this

2007-12-14T18:01:00.001-05:00

I was the first person on the chair lift this morning....

The sun was shining and it was snowing...at the SAME TIME...AND there was no wind

I was the first person to ride on the 6 inches of fluffy white gold...besides ski patrol

The treetops covered in snow, in December...

It was a perfect Bluebird day...

Three Years

2007-12-13T22:30:00.001-05:00

blog blog blog

2007-12-12T18:24:00.000-05:00

New stuff here at the blog.

I hope you enjoy it. I have added a couple of new Story Book Wedding Album slide shows over on the right, and I have also added a bunch of new links over there, on the left...

You absolutely MUST MUST MUST check out Jefferson Todd's Album blog...oh wow. He does a phenomenal job. I strive to be able to design like him!

In other blogerrific stuff...does anyone out there know how I can get these silly sidebars and main content to be the same length? It is really messing with my mojo. That and I really feel the need for a footer. I have spent about 12 hours in front of this thing today and I think my brain has already had a couple of beers. I am sure, with a clear mind I could figure out my above issues.

I might have to go make some dinner now...

A Dirty Gerbil

2007-12-03T13:50:00.000-05:00

So, my old boss has been given the task of taking care of his sons gerbil while he is away at school....

Now, he is not an animal person. At all...or so we think. So, when the gerbil began to, well, stink, he took matters into his own hands. I believe, that we have a reformed animal disliker on our hands...

Although, from what I have read, gerbils are extremely clean, they are desert rodents and do not particularly like being dunked in a tub full of lavender soap :)

Enjoy!

'tis the season

2007-12-02T21:23:00.000-05:00

Tis not the season to garden in these parts...

But it IS the season for knitting! Last year, I took a knitting class at my local yarn shop here in NH. I did this mainly because I did not want to spend yet another winter spitting and swearing at my needles and knotted up yarn. It just was not fun. I had always been under the impression that knitting would be impossible for me to figure out because I am left handed. This is also the reason I have never taken up guitar, well, that and I cannot hold a tune...

So, back to the knitting. I took this class, and after I was straightened out, and a couple of very bad habits were broken, I became a knitter. An actual knitter. And, lo and behold, I am a RIGHT handed knitter. So, the first thing I knit was a hat, then I made a teeny baby sweater for my friends baby. One sleeve shorter than the other, but it got finished...and I made a few more hats, a couple of pairs of mittens and one very weird looking scarf...

Today, I just want to show you what I have accomplished. I made a sock. Just one. and I am so PROUD of this one sock that I am wearing it right now....and why do I only have one sock? Well....I did not buy enough yarn :( So, sometime this week, I will have to hunt down another skein of yarn, just like this one so I can finish.

I am thinking, that maybe I can/should start a new theme once or twice a week, or month or maybe just whenever I feel like it about my latest knitting/knitted project. That might give me something to write about...

But, anyways, here is the sock:

I got this pattern from the book One Skein Wonders and it is called the "Cozy House Socks". I used Bernat Alpaca Natural Blends (Don't let that fool you, it is 70% acrylic) Tundra. The yarn was ok, although I had some issues with it knotting up and it also SHEDS like mad. Almost like I owned a long haired cat or something...but, it is soft and warm and easy to knit up. You wil need more than one skein to knit 2 socks.

At least one foot is warm :)

Let it snow...Let it snow...Let it snow

2007-12-02T17:20:00.001-05:00

In honor of our first major snowstorm, in case you live where you just can't seem to get enough snow....

MAKE YOUR OWN SNOWFLAKE

Here is mine:

Have Fun!

Let's Play a Game!

2007-11-22T08:03:00.000-05:00

Todays game is titled:

What kind of print IS that???? So, the rule is simple, try and figure out what type of paw print is in the picture below.

If you are having trouble here is a hint

I wonder if our new neighbor left his garbage out last night...if he did he is waking up to a holy mess, because these prints....they came from his direction.

Memere

2007-11-20T10:05:00.001-05:00

In loving Memory of Cecile Levesque Bergeron

We were all her favorite, as she was ours.

Green Thumb Sunday

2007-11-18T17:02:00.000-05:00

Or...maybe it should be brown thumb sunday, or even frosty thumb sunday.

My garden has been put to sleep for the winter, now it is all about planning for next year.

I leave you with the proof that winter is pretty much here:

Join

Three year olds are funny

2007-11-15T20:52:00.001-05:00

What will she do if a monster comes and tries to get her....

GoochMedia is all new!

2007-11-14T21:49:00.000-05:00

Just in case anyone out here is reading still...(hi BetteJo, btw I like your new header) I have revamped my actual website with a few of the things I have learned in my Web Design class...

If anyone also knows how to get the stupid thing centered, I would be thankful. It looks just fine in Dreamweaver, but when published, everything is squished to the left.

I don't LIKE it squished to the left, but I have yet to figure out how to fix it. I am more of a centered kind of person.

So, in case you are interested...you can go to www.goochmedia.com

Hobie Milhouse Pondog

2007-11-13T10:21:00.000-05:00

7/1995-11/2006

RIP Little Buddy

Let's Talk Speed!

2007-11-07T16:06:00.000-05:00

Internet speed that is.

As users of the internet, most of us, when we are having internet speed issues are led to believe that it must be something we are doing on our end to make our
connection slow. In all reality, the ISP's (at least the one I deal with) want you to believe that so they can keep charging you a crazy amount of money for ho-hum high-speed internet. The last thing they want to admit to is that they need to upgrade their own hardware, because, well, that would cost them money.

The reason I bring this up is because I am having internet speed issues. I know I am having problems because I cannot for the life of me get YouTube or any other streaming video for that matter to download in an acceptable amount of time. I do not like hearing videos one syllable at a time. Now, if I had just come off of dial-up I bet I would not even notice or even really care. I would just be SO HAPPY to be able to check my email and download one small image I would not bother complaining about not getting my YouYube fix. Oh, and speaking of emailing images....PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE when you email an image, to ANYBODY, please resize it. Nobody wants to download a 6 MB image only to see an ear or an eyeball and then having to scroll up and down. Just an FYI ok?

Why is it that when you call (or chat) with technical support at Metrocast, all they ever want you to do is to unplug and plug back in your modem? Because it must be your fault....it could not possibly have to do with anything on their end.

Then, if that does not work, they will pull the "Well, you must be using a router then...and I bet it is wireless, that will really slow you down, try plugging it in directly".

Or...Maybe it is the website, browser, computer, you are using....well AmandaB...actually, I have both a PC and a Mac, a desktop and a laptop, I have tried it wireless and wired, and no, AmandaB it is NOT the website...it is multiple websites, on multiple servers on multiple computers.

If you think you are having internet speed issues you can always check your upload and download speed by going here. The only problem with Speedtest is that it is just sending a teeny tiny piece of data through the vortex of space. So, sure, it LOOKS like everything is fine, but really all you are doing is PINGING
You are not actually transferring large amounts of data. So, Metrocast, my ISP is trying to convince me that my speed is fine, that it is all in my head....that they could not POSSIBLY have to upgrade any of their hardware...because that would cost them money...

So...what is a girl to do? Well, I suppose I will keep prodding and poking them until I talk to someone other than a drone. Because, really, having yet another technician come out here and tell me he has seen this before and I will be dead before it gets fixed frankly is not a good enough answer. I want my internet to work, like I pay it too.

So, for all you home users, don't let them push you around because if you are having internet speed issues they will always try and make it seem like your the issue.

They folks at Metrocast tell me I should be running between 5.5 Mbps and 6.1 Mbps download speed....and here is what I have....

And folks...that number? it is 0.052 Mbps....really flipping slow.

Things that make you go....huh?

2007-11-05T15:56:00.002-05:00

So...if dirty black leggings and a pit-stained Nascar t-shirt is considered dressed up, I wonder what you wold wear to the dollar palace? Maybe she did not have to wash her 80's style mullet?

Still here...

2007-11-05T12:24:00.000-05:00

I am still here...I just have had nothing too exciting to say.

My poor camera is collecting dust! My garden has been put too bed, and I have started kitting again!

I also found a new game online!!!! It is a combination of Boggle and Scrabble, two of my favorite word games! Careful, it is addicting!

rebuilding

2007-10-23T15:17:00.000-04:00

so..I am going to try and rebuild my blog this afternoon...

Please be patient as things get a little wonky here.

If all else fails it will revert back to the standard template that I did manage to remember to save....

Wish me luck.

You have been outbid!

2007-10-22T13:52:00.000-04:00

I would just like to thank bidder r****o whoever you are for outbidding me and my impulse $1200 bid for game 1 tickets to the World Series Boston vs. Colorado.

WHY do I do things like this? I totally had bidders remorse after I hit the "OK, I am a complete idiot for wanting to pay this much to watch a game in the far far bleachers of Fenway Park for a game that does not start until 8:23, and will probably last until 2 am and THEN have a 3 hour drive home." button. No matter how awesome it would be....me, and driving, and boston and 2 am and tired and drunk(well, if I drove I would not be drunk) and traffic does not mix too well. Not to mention it was a ridiculous amount of money I had just tried to spend...dumb.

So...thank you thank you thank you.

Too Hot!

2007-10-21T13:17:00.001-04:00

Normally, I would not complain about the weather...but honestly, it is too hot! It is October. My flowers are still blooming for the most part, the one frost we had the other night did nothing to kill off most anything.

My thistles have new growth and so do some of my annuals. Nothing has died except what I have pulled out of the ground. And now it is too hot to even bother pulling anythig up.

Hello?!?! Mother Nature! I have OTHER THINGS I need to be doing other than gardening right now. I have a bench to paint, table legs to paint sweaters to knit soups to make cocoa to drink....mountain's to snowboard...ice to skate on...

My boyfriend is out in Vermont hunting moose. But it is even too hot for the moose to move around. Rumor has it that the rut has not even started. Crazy! The boys have yet to see a moose. I am worried that he will come back here empty handed...that will make for a very, VERY long winter around here....

Even October baseball seems strange...Red Sox fans in t-shirts and shorts in Boston...in OCTOBER....Mike Lowell's sweat puring off of his face when he is at
bat...

Please, please, we need some cold weather. Really. We do.

Little Gooch

2007-10-16T16:25:00.001-04:00

Last weekend, Duane and I went up to Island Falls Maine to our friends camp out on Lake Mattawamkeag Lake on their island called Cold Duck Island. It was about a 6 hour drive from where we live up to Island Falls which is about 30 minutes from the Canadian Border on the far eastern edge of Maine. Not much up there but woods, moose, eagles and a few Amish.

Their camp was really pretty neat, I call it almost like camping at the Marriot..only a bit draftier. They had a gas generator which powered the one light bulb we needed, a gas stove, gas refrigerator and gas lanterns. They also had a "biolet" and then an outhouse in case you did not want everyone to hear what you were doing in the little bathroom...

But, to get to the point of the story...the best part for me was the day that our friends decided to head up to the Amish farm to ask the folks their about the Jack Russell Terrier they had seen last year when they visited looking at the furniture...yeah, they wanted to know where they got it...can you SEE where this is going? Well, we pull up to the farm, and lo and behold! There are PUPPIES running around! Cute, little bitty Jack Russell American Eskimo mixes. And they are ready to be taken home! Our friends bought the cutest little puppy! From the Amish family.

And here he is: Little Gooch

Now, I hear you saying "How cool, they named the dog after you!" Well, the funny thing was..they did not know my last name, because they were friends of Duane's and we had never really talked about it...I guess our friends cousin had a dog named Gooch when he was younger and he always wanted a dog named Gooch!

One of the Good things in PA...

2007-10-09T20:29:00.000-04:00

The fields...they are beautiful.

See, I DO have nice things to say...

A Piece of PA

2007-10-08T17:57:00.000-04:00

Here are a couple of shots from our trip to Pennsylvania.

We ended up at a Cider Festival held at Prince Gallitzin State Park in Cambria County, PA which is near where Duane's dad grew up and TONS of his cousins and aunts and uncles still live.

So, here are the pictures of the birds of prey:

Broad Winged Hawk

Barred Owl

Great Horned Owl

You have GOT to be kidding me....

2007-10-03T13:07:00.000-04:00

We can send billions of dollars to Iraq but....

Bush Vetoes Bill

Apparently our kids are not as important as oil.

Luuuuuuuuke.....I am your Faaaaaaderrrrrrrrrr

2007-09-28T14:22:00.000-04:00

Nice Carrots!

2007-09-26T19:22:00.000-04:00

For some reason...I just don't think the carrots coming out of my garden are going to evoke the same reaction...

I am not sure if any of you out there watch Giada's cooking show on the Food Network. Sometimes I do...but when I do, I always feel, well, a little bit naughty. Like I am watching something I shouldn't. Giada is a little bit like watching...well, for lack of a better term...food porn. I don't know if it is the music, the angles or Giada herself.

Anyways, I guess I am not the only one who thinks she is a little bit risque...

Thank you bff for sending me this...I lmfao.

Rochester, NH Police Logs

2007-09-24T08:37:00.000-04:00

8:09 a.m. -- On D'amours Avenue, a sick skunk wanders round in circles, but manages to break free of that orbit and disappear ere police arrive.

12:53 p.m. -- On Pine Street, someone threatens to “whack a dog with an ax,” Lizzie Borden-like.

5:11 p.m. -- The poor old sick skunk is baaack on D'amours Avenue. It is trapped under a barrel, and left for Fish and Game to decide its fate in the morning.

6:01 p.m. -- An Academy Street man reports the unwanted presence of a lady in a brown bikini who is carrying a color-coordinated orange snake.

10:55 p.m. -- On Charles Street, a lady clad in blue shorts and T-shirt has a snake around her neck. Whether she has changed her snake to match her new outfit is not clear.

1:08 a.m. -- A motorist is tailgated on Rochester Neck Road by a large white dump truck, the driver of which then gets out and spits on him.

11:08 a.m. -- A cruelty to cats allegation is checked out at Amazon Campground, where fur occasionally flies.

12:08 a.m. -- Verily, a gray-haired man in front of Cumberland Farms on North Main Street doth shout scripture passages at customers. (And lo, it came to pass that he was served with a trespass notice.)

3:48 p.m. -- Two horses are clumping around Blackwater Road. An officer rounds 'em up.

8:48 a.m. -- On Seasons Lane, beer cans have been tossed onto a property. Fine amateur detective work reveals similar cans are residing in a neighbor's trash barrel. Things are resolved happily without the need for an officer.

Cic...cic...CicAAAAAAAAYda

2007-09-23T16:33:00.000-04:00

What in the world is a Cicada???

This spring I heard a rumor that the Cicadas were hatching around here. I had never actually SEEN a live cicada, or even a picture of it. That is until yesterday. Because yesterday I stumbled across one at the edge of Great Bay while oystering...

It was so kind as to allow me to take a few pictures...and let me hold it . The whole time I was holding him, he made that crazy loud buzzing noise that Cicadas make...

So, here is the Cicada from yesterday:

And here is a description of what the heck they are!

A Cicada is an insect of the order Hemiptera, suborder Auchenorrhyncha, in the superfamily Cicadoidea, with large eyes wide apart on the head and usually transparent, well-veined wings. There are about 2,500 species of cicada around the globe, and many remain unclassified. Cicadas live in temperate to tropical climates where they are among the most widely recognized of all insects, mainly due to their large size and remarkable acoustic talents. Cicadas are sometimes colloquially called "locusts",[1] although they are unrelated to true locusts, which are a kind of grasshopper. They are also known as "jar flies". Cicadas are related to leafhoppers and spittlebugs. In parts of the southern Appalachian Mountains in the United States they are known as "dry flies" because of the dry shell they leave behind.

Cicadas do not bite or sting, are benign to humans, and are not considered a pest. Many people around the world regularly eat cicadas: the female is prized as it is meatier. Cicadas have been (or are still) eaten in Ancient Greece, China, Malaysia, Burma, Australia, Latin America and the Congo. Cicadas are employed in the traditional medicines of China and Japan for hearing-related matters.[citation needed]

The name is a direct derivation of the Latin cicada. (In classical Greek it was called a tettix, and in modern Greek tzitzikas.)

Male cicadas have loud noisemakers called "timbals" on the sides of the abdominal base. Their "singing" is not the stridulation (where two structures are rubbed against one another) of many other familiar sound-producing insects like crickets: the timbals are regions of the exoskeleton that are modified to form a complex membrane with thin, membranous portions and thickened "ribs". Contracting the internal timbal muscles yields a pulse of sound as the timbals buckle inwards. As these muscles relax, the timbals return to their original position. The interior of the male abdomen is substantially hollow to amplify the resonance of the sound. A cicada rapidly vibrates these membranes, and enlarged chambers derived from the tracheae make its body serve as a resonance chamber, greatly amplifying the sound. They modulate their noise by wiggling their abdomens toward and away from the tree that they are on. Additionally, each species has its own distinctive song.[1]

Although only males produce the cicadas' distinctive sound, both sexes have tympana, which are membranous structures used to detect sounds and thus the cicadas' equivalent of ears. Adult cicadas have a sideways-ridged plate where the mouth is in normal insects.

Some cicadas produce sounds louder than 106 dB (SPL) "at close range", among the loudest of all insect-produced sounds.[4] Conversely, some small species have songs so high in pitch that the noise is inaudible to humans[citation needed]. Species have different mating songs to ensure they attract the appropriate mate. The song intensity of the louder cicadas acts as an effective bird repellent.[citation needed] Males of many species tend to gather which creates a greater sound intensity and protects against avian predators.[citation needed]

In addition to the mating song, many species also have a distinct distress call, usually a somewhat broken and erratic sound emitted when an individual is seized. A number of species also have a courtship song, which is often a quieter call and is produced after a female has been drawn by the calling song.

The song of the cicada is a favorite sound effect used by filmmakers and animators as a means of representing silence, pathos, and the great outdoors.

After mating, the female cuts slits into the bark of a twig, and into these she deposits her eggs. She may do so repeatedly, until she has laid several hundred eggs. When the eggs hatch, the newborn nymphs drop to the ground, where they burrow. Most cicadas go through a life cycle that lasts from two to five years. Some species have much longer life cycles, e.g. the Magicicada goes through a 17- or occasionally 13-year life cycle. These long life cycles are an adaptation to predators such as the cicada killer wasp and praying mantis, as a predator could not regularly fall into synchrony with the cicadas. Both 13 and 17 are prime numbers, so while a cicada with a 15-year life cycle could be preyed upon by a predator with a three- or five-year life cycle, the 13- and 17-year cycles allow them to stop the predators falling into step.[5]

The insects spend most of the time that they are underground as nymphs at depths ranging from about 30 cm (1 ft) up to 2.5 m (about 8½ ft). The nymphs feed on root juice and have strong front legs for digging.

In the final nymphal instar, they construct an exit tunnel to the surface and emerge. They then moult (shed their skins), on a nearby plant for the last time and emerge as adults. The abandoned skins remain, still clinging to the bark of trees.

Bethany and Jasper

2007-09-19T18:37:00.000-04:00

I had the pleasure of being the 3rd photographer to Reflections by McGarry at Jasper and Bethany's wedding in Milton, NH....

Here is the slide show I created with David Jay's Showit Fast! program.

Enjoy!

Jasper and Bethany

Oh how Cliche!

2007-09-19T13:59:00.000-04:00

I was wandering around my yard taking a break from the grueling photographic design stuff I am doing today to get some fresh air and sunshine when I spotted the monarchs on my butterfly bush. Can it get any more cliche than that? So, of course I had to grab my camera and chase them around the yard. Makes me wish I had a butterfly net so I could catch them, put them in a cooler to chill them out and THEN I could get some cool shots. I learned that butterfly/insect taking tip from a guy in New Zealand who did that to get some great shots. He would catch them, put them in a cooler and then after a little while, take them out (all without harming them of course) and place them where he wanted to take pictures. They would spread their wings to warm up and stay in one place. Makes taking pictures of them easier I am sure!

Green and Blue Burrito

2007-09-17T10:29:00.001-04:00

Last week one of the blogs I frequent, More Heat than Light posted a story about her love for little bitty succulents and how easy they are to propagate especially from the little pieces that fall off the plants at those big box stores, those little pieces? They are FREE!. Although I have yet to try that method, maybe next time I will slip a little piece of one into my pocket, that is not stealing is it???

I too have this thing about those small succulents you see in those big box stores. They seem so small and lonely and just cry out for someone to take them home. Well, the other day I had gone to one of those stores looking for paint chips for my web design class for color ideas, and I just happened to walk by the little bitty succulents...and here is the result:

I just couldn't help myself.

Part III The Hut

2007-09-12T20:54:00.000-04:00

By request...here is part III.

After the 1.9 mile hike down from the summit, we made it to the AMC hut Lakes of the Clouds, elevation 5050'. It sure would have been nice to have an icy cold beer down there waiting for me when I got there...but no such luck :) Instead, there was going to be a hot meal and a bunk, plus breakfast in the morning.

If you want to know more about the huts you can go HERE for more info.

When we got down to the hut, there was a few people scattered about, writing in journals, reading books, soaking in the sun and walking round in socks. I had packed my trusty flip flops because I knew, that once I finished this part of the hike the last thing I would want to do would be to keep my boots on so off came the boots and on went the flips...at least until the sun went down and it got cold. Next time, crocs, because it is hard to wear flip flops and socks. Oh, and did I mention, the unusually loud group of men sharing a Nalgene bottle??? Hmm...I am pretty sure that is not water in that Nalgene bottle...those were what I called "the drunk jersey boys". Although, a shot of that whiskey would have been nice...next time, bring enough to share. How you can get as drunk as Booch (or whatever his name was) and then get up and hike the next morning is beyond me, but I was just thankful he was not sleeping in MY bunk room.

The huts up there offer different talks with the resident naturalist and tonight we had David, from New Jersey talk to us about the Alpine Flora and why it is important NOT to step on it, which I had been trying to explain to Richard earlier as he was walking all over the alpine vegetation...you gotta step on the rocks, it takes years and years for these plants to grow due to the extreme weather. Dave also showed us a few different plants, most of which I can't remember, but I do remember the Labrador Tea and the Mountain Avens. There is a photo gallery of some of th plants we saw here.
Here is Dave, showing us some plants:

One of the things I like best about places like this, is meeting lots of different people. Dinner is family style, so unless you are an absolute loner introvert you are going to HAVE to get to know someone...which, I have no problem with most of the time, even though I am an introvert. No, really, I AM. Richard of course thought I was going to run off with one of my new friends and abandon him to walk down the mountain alone...there was the group from New Jersey, cops I think...most of them still had all their faculties about them and then my new Alabama friends at my table.
Great company that is for sure!

Honestly..am I rambling? This could go on forever I think...

Now, when I went on this trip I knew that I would be sharing a room with quite a few people, and I was really REALLY hoping that the ones in my room would sleep quietly. Very quietly as I am not one to sleep through any noise...sigh...imagine my surprise when I found out that room 3, my room, could hold upwards of 18 people. And since the male to female ration at this hut was oh...let's just say the odds would be in my favor by a LOOOONG shot, I was the only female in the room. Yikes. I was prepared with earplugs because I figured somebody in the hut was bound to snore. Now, I am not saying chicks don't snore...but we don't snore LIKE THE GUY IN MY ROOM!!! (all identities will be hidden to protect the almost lynched) O.M.G. My first problem was not going to bed before this certain person who shall not be named, because I wanted to take more star pictures...

This person snored SO LOUD that at one point I took my earplugs out and put them back in to check. Because they seemed to be broken. I sat in bed for hours...wide awake but exhausted...finally, one of the other 16 wide awake people in my room got up out of bed, shook this person awake and asked him to roll over...it was that bad. So, this poor guy sat in bed for 2 hours, awake so the rest of us could get some sleep...

By the time morning came I probably had 2 hours of sleep...so, I stumbled out of bed and went out to try and get a couple of sunrise photos, bumped into one of my new friends on the way who got me a cup of coffee (I really do appreciate the thought, thank you!!!) but I was outside so long he drank it...no problem! Breakfast was good and it gave me some fuel for what was to be the hike down to the car. Richard and I packed up our stuff and said goodbye to our new friends and went to find our trail down...

Stay tuned for part 4...the hike down.

Lets talk garden...

2007-09-12T14:04:00.000-04:00

Soooooo....I pulled up a bunch of plants today.
There was a few, green leaves and straggler yellow flowers on my cukes...
But I pulled them up anyway.

Then, I thought I would take a look at my acorn squash. As I started pulling up the vines that are all over the lawn, I noticed that the acorn squash had these weird, jelly-like nodules on them, there was also some small bite marks too. Not sure what that is or means, except that I won't be eating any acorn squash this fall...

My tomato plants have seen better days. Is it possible for cherry tomatoes to be on the vine too long and get sour? Because that sure is what my cherry tomatoes tasted like! Yuck. If I can find a horned worm, I will take pictures for you...they are starting to take over... I am thinking one more harvest on tomatoes to make into sauce and that will be the end of them.

Here is the lovely critter:

I don't have the heart to pull up the eggplants yet, even though the ones on the plants are lavender and have holes in them.

I Have another harvest of beans too. My squash plants look like they might get pulled soon.

But...the little bottle gourds and the birdhouse gourd(s) are doing ok. Plus, I don't want to pull those up until the last frost.

So...that is all the news for now. I am thinking that every day I need to go out and rip up more plants. By the time I am finished, it should have frosted around here...

9.11.01

2007-09-11T07:29:00.000-04:00

GoochMedia...The Website

2007-09-10T20:37:00.000-04:00

So...I am not sure if any of my faithfuls out there have ever even seen the website I built, and honestly, there is not much there right now...I have not had the time or the knowledge to really get it up and running and looking cool...

But...tonight I started a class over at the Technical college here in Laconia, a web design class. And although I am slightly concerned that dragging out learning Adobe Dreamweaver over almost 4 months will kill me...I decided to take it anyway. Mainly so if I have questions I have a human being to talk to, plus adult, human interaction is always a nice thing. Now, considering I already have 1.95 degrees from Plymouth State (That would be an actual BS in Geography, GIS and 98.8% of a BFA Graphic Design) you would think I would be all set with taking more classes...but nope. I just cannot get enough of being a college student.

So, hopefully I will not get bored and by Christmas I will have a snazzy new website!

What was cool about tonights class is that really, we just got to surf the web, which is what I would have done anyway!

What to do...Green Thumb Sunday

2007-09-09T14:36:00.000-04:00

With all those tomatoes????

Well, I have been pretty busy lately, with the trip up the Rockpile, engagment shoots and shooting the wedding last night I have been pretty busy and ignoring my garden...sorry all you GTS folks out there! I am feeling a little guilty about the lack of updates and pictures. That doesn't mean today will be any different :)

I have had about 20 lbs of very very ripe tomatoes sitting on my counter now for...oh about a week. They have been using my cell phone at night to text the fruit flies to come on over and have a party, but I thwarted that, finally today...I made sauce. Some killer spaghetti sauce. Now, I am sure y'all out there want my sauce recipe. Seriously, just google "fresh tomato sauce" and I am sure you will come up with something...just kidding. The truth is, I don't really have a recipe. At least not one I follow with amounts and ingredients and stuff.

Here is what I did today...
Take the zillion tomatoes, dip them in a boiling bath until their skins break, drop in an ice water bath until cool enough. Peel skin, core off top squeeze out seeds. Then, I strained the water out and put that on the stovetop to see what it makes. I am thinking either, tomato soup or tomato paste depending on how long I cook it for...

Oh, yeah, right the sauce. then in a big pot, I sauteed onions and TONS of garlic until the onions and garlic were done, added green and red peppers, chopped and the tomatoes. A bay leaf or two, some basil, oregano, parsley salt and just let it cook. As long as you want. Now, I could have put the tomatoes in a food processor to make the sauce less chunky, but this time I wanted chunky sauce. So, now it is bubbling away on my stove, and it has been cooking for hours. The longer you cook, the smoother the flavors become...

Now, one other note on my tomatoes...If you recall, I have had some crazy tomato plants, misbehaving...well. Now it seems as thought the horned tomato worms wanted to crash the party. This happened last year too, and honestly, I am about done dealing with the garden for the rest of the year, and I have gotten plenty of tomatoes, so...I killed the ones I could find, chopped off all the extra leaves on the plants so I could find the worms easier and hopefully the rest of the tomatoes will riped before the first frost which, by the way averages around September 22nd in Concord which is about 20 miles south of here...so technically, I really only have about 2 weeks left...

So, sorry about the lack of images, plus it is raining...and I am tired. That wedding shoot last night wiped me out!

Pray for frost!!!

Join

Part 2 The Summit

2007-09-09T14:18:00.001-04:00

So, here we are at the summit, getting ready for our hike down the Crawford Path to the Lakes of the Clouds AMC hut. The summit of Mt. Washington, if you are expecting desolation and isolation is a little disappointing in the middle of summer, on a clear day in the 50's...which it was, a total anomaly for the summit...The views are spectacular, it is just the amount of people who can get up there that is weird for the highest peak in NH....I have always been intrigued by weather, and especially the weather on the top of the rockpile, because it just can be so bad and unpredictable. It is like typical New England weather, only on steroids as you can see from this sign...because in case you have not heard...Mt Washington holds the land wind speed record for highest ever recorded wind gust at 231 mph...it says so...right on this sign!

If you are daring enough, you can actually book a stay at the luxurious Mt. Washington Observatory in the middle of winter...I think that would be a pretty cool thing to do actually...

Well, our time here at the summit is about over...we have missed our train back to the bottom (darn) and it is now time to hike the Crawford Path down to the hut...another bit of trivia for you...the Crawford Path on Mt. Washington is the oldest continuously maintained hiking trail in the US and is also part of the Appalachian trail. We have about 1.9 miles to go to reach our first destination where a bed (not really warm) blankets...next time I will bring my sleeping bag, a pillow and 2 meals await, along with some great company.

If you want more info on the observatory, or even want to check out their weather web cam and sunset photos you can go to www.mountwashington.org and check out all kinds of cool stuff!

Next up....Part 3 The Hut...and Tales from the Bunkroom...

Part 1 - The Cog

2007-09-08T07:42:00.000-04:00

Part one of my adventure this week, The Cog Railway.

Richard and I decided to take the Cog railway up to the top of the Rockpile here in NH as a means to a way to the top. We could have driven but apparently my "Well, we can drop my car off at my girlfriends house and YOU can drive to the top" was not what he wanted to hear, which was "Sure, we can drop YOUR car off and drive MINE to the top..." Yeah, right. I was not driving my car to the top and if any of you know me well enough, you know why :)...

So, the Cog railway it is. Now, being a resident of NH for basically my entire life (except for the 2.5 years I lived in Maine, and the 45 days I lived in Arizona) you would THINK that I had already been there and done that when it comes to Mt. Washington. But, I had never been to the top whether via rail, car or foot so this was going to be a good time.

The price of the ticket to the top of the Cog was steep....just like the ride. For $59 you get a round trip ride, which includes a... WHOLE 20 MINUTES at the top. Wow. That was just about enough time for the old folks to get off the train, make their way to the bathroom, and get back on. Luckily for us, we were only going one way but the catch was...you can only buy a one way ticket (for $42) DOWN.

So, we got our tickets and hopped on the train. It was an interesting ride, although I think our conductors were a little burnt out on answering the same questions..over and over all summer, can you blame them? So, if YOU have any questions about the railway feel free to go HERE.

My favorite part of the trip was when we crossed over hikers crossing and the anticipation of being mooned by the hikers...although it didn't happen, the CHANCE that I could see a sweaty, hairy butt was almost more than I could bear, and I am sure the rest of the tourists on the train felt the same way.

One concern that did come to mind as we were riding up the train was the environmental impact that this train and its coal has on the delicate alpine environment. As we were going up I noticed I began to be covered with coal dust, and looking out the window you could see the accumulation of it all along the tracks. Coal is also a non-renewable resources and the removing of it from the earth as well as the burning is a big contributor to global warming. A couple of folks on the train did bring up this point to the conductor. He told us that they do have a diesel engine in service, and they have tried alternative means of getting to the top but, get this, the tourists complained that there was no "Choo-Choo" sound. *sigh*
Not only that, but this train is one of the biggest money makers for the AMC.

Either way it was a pretty neat way to get to the top, and it only took an hour.

Mt Washington

2007-09-06T18:17:00.000-04:00

Here is a slideshow of my latest adventure to Mt. Washington with my Uncle Richard, of Reflections by McGarry fame. We took the Cog Railway up to the top of Mt Washington and then hiked down to Lakes of the Clouds AMC Hut, spent the night and hiked back down the Ammonoosuc Trail back to the car.

The slideshow is just the beginning as I have some funny stories to tell....and it involves me, black bean soup, a few southern gentleman and some defective earplugs.

But for now...after a sleepless night in a bunkroom with 10 men...I need to get some sleep.

ps. If you want to see Richard's slide-show go here...

Bethany and Jasper

2007-09-04T22:09:00.000-04:00

Yes folks, I DO work...

Here is a little engagement shoot slideshow I did with Reflections By McGarry last week...

Enjoy! The slideshow was created using David Jay's Show it Fast software and the effects were made using Show it Effects!

Laptopus Frickenawesomus

2007-09-04T10:12:00.001-04:00

That is latin for Holy Crap! This laptop is Frickin' AWESOME!!!!!
This laptop is also the reason I have been neglecting just about everything these days...from my poor lonely blog, to my boyfriend to my garden to my sad and desperately in need of watering plants, indoors and out.

I will have to say, the lack of a right-click button on a mouse has thrown me for a loop a couple of times, and this laptop keyboard is just plain wierd, but other than that, I am just lovin' my new silver shiny toy. I have the Apple Mighty Mouse on order and am thinking about getting the bluetooth keyboard too.

I also would like to talk all techno for a minute....

So, my BFF is also my go-to gal for anything technological that I do not understand. She has taught me everything I know, and THINK I know, about computers, networks, modems, routers etc. So, yesterday while I was spending the entire day inside playing with my MBP17 I thought to myself "Hey...I really do not feel like plugging my printer in every. single. time I want to print...I wonder if there is a way..." So I texted BFF and asked her...but, she was not around plus, she is a PC girl. Not a Mac girl. So, I hemmed and hawed and then was like "Hey...my laptop has bluetooth capabilities...I wonder if my HP 2575v does too...." Sure enough, all it needed was a little bluetooth USB plug thingy...and...hey...wait a MINUTE! I HAVE one of those plug in thingys! So...I plugged it in and nothing. Then, I realized that it needed the ip address from my computer, so, I plugged it into my MBP17, it got the address and I plugged it back into my printer and voila. Wireless printing.

So, after I stopped patting myself on the back for that stroke of genius I was thinking, "You know, it is a REAL PAIN to have to plug and unplug my external drives every.time. I want to pull data off of them and put it on my MBP17....So, then I was all "Well, I wonder if I can wirelessly network my 2 computers together???" Sure enough...and I can't really tell you exactly how I did it, but I think it was FM (Frickin' Magic). So, what I THINK I did was set up a wireless home network on my PC, then I shared the 2 drives, then somehow managed to get my MBP17 to recognize it.
So, I am a genius. Yes, I am very proud of myself. I consider myself pretty smart when it comes to computers and stuff but I have never tried the networking thing, especially with a Mac and a PC and a wireless router (router, not modem) and a bajillion gigs of data.

So, what this all REALLY means....is I am a DORK.

iSee the light......

2007-09-01T07:24:00.000-04:00

A few of my favorite things.....

In no particular order....

the magnetic power cord
the light-up keyboard
the photo-booth
the dashboard
the dock
the airport
using 2 fingers to scroll on the touch pad
the 17' monitor
the 120 gig hard drive

Anybody care to guess what all of these things have in common?????

Here is a hint

Norman....the loons are back!

2007-08-27T08:17:00.000-04:00

Although this weekend we were not "On Golden Pond" the loons were out and very active.
Something about a loon call is so haunting...and they are just so beautiful.

Tarp-allachia..before and after

2007-08-26T20:31:00.000-04:00

This weekend, Duane and I went camping with my mom and step-dad up to Lake Umbagog State Park in Northern NH. We were remote camping out on an island. That was only accessible by boat. We set up what we fondly referred to as Tarp-allachia and had some serious fun!

Here is a view of our lovely dining area...

Our Gourmet Kitchen...

What a beautiful sky!!!! (does this cumulonimbus cloud spell trouble to anyone but me????) Look! You can see the Old Man of the Mountain in that cloud! Thunder??? No....those are just trucks on route 16....not thunder....

Pretending to be blissfully unaware of the trouble brewing....

1 hour later....our "gourmet kitchen" is all that is left of Tarp-allachia but with a brand spanking new swimming pool! The men folk were keeping us safe by holding down the one remaining tarp while slugging brandy and beer.

The women were hiding inside the Tent Mansion huddling under the pillows watching Finding Nemo on the video ipod while the storm raged on outside....this is all that is left of our dining area. Luckily, the men were smart enough to send us the food before it got swept into the woods along with anything not tied down.

WE SURVIVED!!!!!!

When I finally dared peak out the tent door, this is what I saw....

This storm was scary. Very. very. very scary. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Normally, during a storm this bad, I find it a good time to go and clean out my closet (which is in the middle of my house, with no windows). But there was nowhere to go. My step dad counted at least 10 lightning strikes per minute, and we estimate the winds were about 60+ mph. Our tarps were popping grommets, and three of my tent stakes were pulled up. About 45 minutes after the storm passed, and the sun went down, the rangers from the park set out to make sure all of the remote campers were ok...we were pretty glad to hear them come by boat, relieved actually that they did not forget us...nobody on the 30+ remote sites were hurt, scared I am sure, wet and dirty yes, but everybody was ok....

One of the culprits....

2007-08-21T11:21:00.000-04:00

Saw this little guy (or gal) out in my front yard this morning and for once I had my camera AND telephoto lens at the ready...not to mention the CF card was actually IN the camera!

Although, at this point, I would invite this and any other deer to come and snack on anything in my garden that has dared escape the confines of my fishing line fence...

The blind leading the blind

2007-08-19T21:11:00.000-04:00

Another example of the blind leading the blind....

My boyfriend is on the phone, trying to teach his retired dad how to print off an email I just sent to his mother. He just told his dad to "Wait until mom finishes handwriting this so you don't mess her up"....

I am hearing things like: "Maybe your capital button is stuck on" While my boyfriend tries to be all tech support...you have to know, this is the guy who could not even get a good guess to this Trivial Pursuit Question "Which internet company coined the phrase 'You've got Mail!'"

The first question I was asked "Does the printer have to be on to see the icon thingy???"

My answer "What icon thingy exactly? Since I have no idea what program he is trying to print from, I can't help all that much, but, no, it should not have to be on to see the 'icon print thingy'.

Then: "Should he turn on the printer?"

Um. Yeah.

I now hear this "Do you see an X in the top right hand corner???" (this can't be good....)

Oh NO "Hit the big red one and see what happens...."

*sigh* Just unplug it.

Garden Fatigue and signs of fall...

2007-08-13T17:18:00.000-04:00

It seems, that in mid-august I get a little bit of what I call garden fatigue.

In march, I have all I can do to not go out and shovel the snow off my gardens in the hopes that spring is coming...

In April I go out and monitor my crocus shoots every hour or so until it gets dark...or 12 inches of snow falls...

In may, I tend to plant things to early, and have to replant them.

In June, I get so excited everytime something new blooms.

In July, everything seems to come together and my purchasing new plants both annuals and perennials becomes an obsession...

But it seems like in the last couple of weeks...my attention has waned. Maybe it is the heat...which to tell you the truth, has not been all that bad...or maybe it is the fact that my tomatoes have not really ripened on the vine yet but I seem to have lost my vigor. My excitement has taken a vacation. Sure, the stargazers have bloomed and they are beautiful and smell good. Yes, my echinacea are tall and blooming but I have started to give up on the weeds just a bit. My lettuce has gone to flower...and I don't really care. My gourds and squash are taking over my yard...and I don't really care. My pepper plants are refusing to flower...and no flowers means no peppers...the okra are only 8 inches tall...apparently they just are not too keen on New England summers...

But I know in the next few weeks, and months I can look forward too mums and planting bulbs and apple cider and apple picking and pumpkin soup. Drying gourds and figuring out what to DO with all the tomatoes...Oh, I make killer pumpkin soup...curried pumpkin soup. If I can find the recipe I will post it...

Seems that when we go on our walks there are more and more leaves looking like they want to turn...some of the older and unhealthy trees have already turned...that is a sure sign of seasons changing around here...

I have already started to think of things I want to plant next year and what I don't want to plant so much of...I would like next year to plant some red potatoes, garlic, asparagus, onions...less squash...more basil...

Today in the Garden....

2007-08-10T15:48:00.000-04:00

My Dahlia's are beginning to bloom....

And so are my Stargazer Lilies...

My Russian Sage is so pretty....

You can even see the pollen on this bees little legs...they certainly have been working hard this summer!

Enjoy!

A Scouting We Will Go....

2007-08-08T16:06:00.000-04:00

The hunter dude and I took a little trip over to Vermont yesterday to meet his outfitter over at Northwoods Outdoor Adventure in Washington, Vt. For those of you who actually read this....you will know that he has been awarded an out-of-stater moose tag for Vermont. This means that, I will probably have yet another dead animal head taking up residence in my living room *sigh*....what this gal won't do for love.

So, we packed up the car and all our camping gear and headed the 2 hours across the Connecticut River and through the woods to the lodge. Once we got there, the outfitter told us we could stay up at the remote yurt for the night which is right on the edge of Duplissey Swamp where we could look for moose, and maybe even do a meet and greet with our future dead animal head...you never know. Well, my guy really knows how to show a gal a good time! To GET to this yurt, you have to drive 1.5 miles over this "road". Needless to say, I took one look at the "road" and just about turned around and ran the other way. This "road" had crevasses to straddle that had to have been 3 feet deep or more, boulders to drive over, huge ruts and washouts everywhere. I shut my eyes. The whole way up. It was scary.
And this wasn't even the worst part of it....

Here is the Yurt!!! Home Sweet Home!

And here is Duplissey Swamp, where the moose like to hang out and avoid the paparazzi, the yurt is actually down on the left hand side, we are up in a little stand on the far side of the swamp

Once we made it up to the yurt after several brushes with near death, the view alone was worth it. We were nestled in this little valley, all alone except for the critters who live there. The outfitter showed us the ropes, where to go, when the moose would be out and then left us up there for the night. Not 10 minutes after he left, we spotted our first moose. Our first reaction was "Ok, you can take off the moose outfit, we believe you!" It was a good size cow and she, of course, hid behind the largest tree around so I got no good pictures.

What I DID get pictures of were the snakes. There were DOZENS of garter snakes just lazing around. They were very docile, and even posed.

Now, what I did not realize, was that I had to be quiet. Very very quiet. I was shushed for opening the yurt door, shushed for sneezing, shushed for walking on the grass wrong. This is very hard for me to do. Finally, I asked in my quietest whisper voice "pssssssst....when can I stop being quiet???" I really NEEDED to know for my own sanity...."After it gets too dark to see."

Well, apparently, I was not quiet enough because it was MY FAULT that the moose did not come back out until right before dark. I guess if I had just stepped on the grass quieter, they would have come out while it was still light out enough to get a good picture.

They also have horses there...we did not ride them, but I really like this picture:

Needless to say, since the drive UP there was so scary...all I could think about all night was "What if it starts raining and the road washes out and we are stuck here???" Well, when it started POURING at 3 am, 2 thoughts ran through my head:

Thought #1 Boy am I glad we are not in a tent

Thought #2 I really have to pee.

A Meme Stolen from Erin

2007-08-06T20:01:00.000-04:00

Can you tell I am bored....
Thanks Erin for this lovely list

1. What highway do you drive on the MOST?
I-93

2. When was the last time you bought a bathing suit?
March

3. Would you consider yourself a flirt?
Yes!

4. What color is your boss's hair?
Dirty Blondish-brown

5. What are your siblings’ middle names?
???

6. What’s a song that puts you in the mood to dance/party?
I am not a dancer...

7. Where are you going on your next vacation?
Crazy

8. Do you get paid weekly or bi-weekly?
paid?

9. What color are your pillows?
purple and light green

10. Who are your closest friends?
Kristel

11. Favorite aunt's name?
Chris, or Tricia, or Suzie...depends on who is reading this blog :)

12. What hours do you work?
whenever I feel like it

13. Are you superstitious?
yes

14. Whose motorcycle were you last on?
Brendan's. He crashed it eventually and had to hitch hike home from Canada...idiot

16. If the one person your mom despised but you liked died
tomorrow, would you attend their wake and funeral?
yes. duh.

17. You have $20 to buy the perfect shirt to wear tonight, where
do you go?
Old Navy

18. You come home after a night of drinking, what do you hope is
there to eat?
cold chinese food

19. How many calendars are in your house?
1

20. Have you ever been confused over two relationships at once?
only 2?

21. Who is the last person that made you laugh in person?
Duane

22. Over the phone/internet?
Kristel

23. Name one of your ex's mother's names?
Jean

24. Do you miss high school?
no. no way. It was awful...ever see the movie Heather's??? Yeah, THOSE were my "friends"

25. What color is your bra?
pink

26. How many pairs of sneakers do you own?
define sneakers...do they have to have laces? If so, 3.

27. What kind of lotion is closest to you?
Milk skin lotion

28. Whats on TV this second?
National Geographic Channel

29. What helps you sleep?
my clean fluffy pillows

30. Are you thinner than your best friend?
nope.

31. How much would you get if you traded your car in?
more than 15k I would hope

32. What color shirt did your mom wear today?
white.

33. Last time you saw your dad?
actually, last week!

34. You're on the phone having a really boring conversation...How
do you end it?
I think my battery just died...

35. Last time you babysat?
February

36. Next dentist/gyno/doctor appt?
not really sure....

37. How often do you do laundry?
2-3 per week...but it takes me 3 days to finish...

38. What commercials are your favorite?
Apple vs. PC

39. Have you ever been prescribed narcotics?
Yes, for my thyroid cancer after-surgery pain, wisdom teeth surgery...

40. Dumbest movie you have ever seen?
Dumb and Dumber...duh.

41. Have you ever copied someone's tests?
I think I might have copied an english test in high school...

42. What's humus made of?
chickpeas, olive oil, garlic...

43. When’s the last time you used a slip and slide?
ouch.

44. Favorite girls/boys names?
Boy: I never wanted a boy so I don't have a name picked out....
Girl: Claire

45. What’s annoying you right now?
the pain in my neck from sitting here to long completing this stupid thing

46. What did you eat for dinner tonight?
chicken wings

47. Do you have a crush on someone from the workplace?
uh. no, I work for myself.

48. Are you an introvert or extrovert?
Introvert disguised as an extroverted introvert

49. When is your grandfather's birthday?
August 20-somethingth???

51. Who can you depend on to post the best surveys?
no idea

53. How many rings do you wear daily?
zero

54. Any tattoos?
nope.

55. Name 3 people you worked with today?
me, myself and I.

56. Favorite summer cocktail?
beer.

57. How much gas is in your tank?
30 miles to empty

58. Last book you bought?
Harry Potter

59. Plans for today/tonight?
sleep

60. Name your roomates in college?
ok, here we go....in order: Marcy, Steph, Heidi, Phil, Brian, Jori, Heather, Erin, Michelle, Tracy, Karen, Rugby girl...crap, I cannot remember her name...

GTS Blogroll...code stuff

2007-08-06T15:56:00.000-04:00

For my friends at GTS....

I have been using the Flooble expandable code for a while and decided I wanted a scroll box thingy to put the blogroll in...if you are interested, here is the code you can use within Blogger:

div style="border: 1px solid #CCCCCC; width:155px; height:230px;
text-align:left; overflow:auto; font-size:10px;
font-family:Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-weight:normal;
color:#CCCCCC; line-height:12px; background-color:#ffffff;"

Just add the < at the beginning of the code and the > at the end of the code above the blogroll code.

Happy Monday!

changes

2007-08-06T14:30:00.001-04:00

Please bare with me while I fumble around changing my template and whatnot...
Hopefully, by the end of the day I will have this thing how I sort of want it...

Plants Behaving Badly

2007-08-05T11:56:00.000-04:00

My tomatoes...they are behaving badly....and that is not the only thing...

Honestly, what seemed like a perfectly plotted out, sparse garden back in may, has turned into the spectacle of the neighborhood...My 9 little, cute tomato plants now look like ginormous tomato trees. They are taller than I am. The problem with taller than me tomato plants is that the flimsy $1.99 tomato cages are no longer holding up the plants. At least 4 of them have keeled over under the weight of the dozens and dozens of tomatoes. I have lost a main stem on my cherry tomatoes due to it snapping off at the base. I now have this convoluted system of cages, stakes (both wooden and 6' tall metal) and twine all holding it together like a jigsaw. If one portion of this system fails...I am afraid the whole thing will go down like dominoes.

Then lets get to the 2 teeny tiny acorn squash plants I bought at the Home Cheapo....um, I did not know that acorn squash were round, please tell me they did not mislabel pumpkins and acorn squash. THESE plants are trying to run over my poor pepper and eggplants as well as trying to take over my yard. They are misbehaving all over the place, twining on my other plants...mowing over the gladiolas I planted in what was SUPPOSED to be an empty spot in the garden but is now controlled by acorn squash.

The one good thing about my out of control gourd plants is that their leaves are so soft and fuzzy like velvet...

Some days I want to just let everything grow how it wants, and other days I want to chop off the offending creepers...but I am one of those who just HATES to kill any portion of a plant. I don't like thinning out my carrots, because I "feel bad"...so chopping off portions of a vigorous growing plant takes some serious thought (and a few beers)

Maybe 90 pounds of fertilizer was too much?

In other news...my cosmos have finally started to bloom:

Join

Green Thumb Sunday

2007-07-29T15:43:00.001-04:00

I love these little confetti flowers...I am not a huge annual planter, but am not sure what to put in this bed. These are so cute!

Somebody please save me from these zucchini and squash. By the time I go to pick them they are the size of a large newborn.

Luckily, my neighbors are total suckers....

I put this sign on a chair filled with zukes and squash...they were all gone by the next morning...

Join

Green Thumb....

2007-07-23T10:22:00.000-04:00

Monday....

Join

Sorry, due to the injured guy winning a Vt Moose Lottery Tag, I was kicked off of my computer for pretty much the whole weekend...

Here is Green Thumb Sunday on a Monday for you!

Somebody please stop me from buying any more plants!!!!
Their are 4 black buckets in this picture that still need to be planted. This does not include the 4 other plants in the main flower bed....

The tomato pruning project has uncovered about a zillion cherry tomatoes, too bad the invalid hates tomatoes...I am going to turn into a tomato by the end of summer....

My eggplants are coming along, although the japanese beetles like them too...I have caught about a million in one of those bag-a-bug traps...

And finally...my echinacea are about to bloom!!!!

The Red Stapler

2007-07-19T18:40:00.000-04:00

I have a red stapler. It always reminds me of the hilarious movie...you know the one, didn't you get the memo?

But there IS another Red Stapler, and it belongs to Suebob.

You can check it out here

She has these fun contests and on a whim, I entered one, and won this FAB-ulous Gucci shirt! It is OH. SO. GUCCI. Now, if I only had a job and a place to wear it...

Here is a little snippet of the shirt:

Thanks Suebob in California!

A Plea for help...

2007-07-19T11:14:00.000-04:00

After 8 days in the hospital, we were starting to get a bit punchy....

But...it worked, this morning we were sprung from the house of pain.
Stay tuned for my dissertation on how much of a crap-hole the hospital is a little later...the staff, they rock, everything else...not so much.

Not. in. the. mood.

2007-07-17T11:29:00.000-04:00

Just not in the mood.
Sorry. I skipped photohunters, I skipped green thumb sunday...and here is the short version of why:

My BF is currently spending day 6 in the hospital after a "simple" hernia surgery which turned into a "huge" hernia surgery which has turned into a huge hematoma in a place where guys just don't want to get a hematoma. He has been hooked up to morphine, eating percocets like candy and has an epidural in his back...I can't even find something on the internet to compare it to or I would link it to this post. I have not had the heart to ask him if I could take a picture of it either to post to the blog...I think that might be inappropriate right at this moment...but one of his friends DID give him this:

I guess you just have to laugh...it is either that or cry.

I don't think he is going to be in the mood for quite. some. time.

The Aftermath

2007-07-10T10:37:00.001-04:00

I suppose it could be worse....

This Can't Be Good....

2007-07-09T20:40:00.001-04:00

Yeah. These fell out of the sky about 15 minutes ago....

I had all I could do to restrain Duane from running outside....in the pouring rain, hail and lightning...to try and put a tarp over the cars...in 50 mph winds.

Uh huh. Yeah. Ok. How about you go and cover up that garden of mine while you were at it.

I think he was a cat herder in a former life.

Of Newts and Fruits

2007-07-08T15:59:00.000-04:00

Join

This little guy was hanging around my mom's little garden today...

He is an Eastern Spotted Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens).

I think I know what I am going to be doing sometime this week....looks like these tomato plants are totally out of control and will need some pruning...

I have never pruned my tomato plants and I am not quite sure what to do...if anyone has any advice...me and my tomatoes would appreciate it! My eggplant in front of them are doing great!!!! I can't wait for some Ratatouille!