The Bridge to Somewhere

Last September I wrote a post about Hurricane Irene (http://ddramblings.blogspot.com/2011/09/more-rain.html).  Irene caused incredible damage in my part of the Northeast.  Too many people lost homes and businesses.  So to say I lost a couple of bridges sounds horribly self-involved but I assure you I in no way consider my losses tragic.  But without the bridges I've had no access to half of the trails behind the house.  All of my ramblings since the hurricane have been limited to the field trails which provide a wonderful place to walk for me and the dogs, but we have really missed the back trails.  And now the bridges are back - YAY!

After the rain finally stopped last August 28th the stream was at least 10 feet higher than usual and the bridge was floating into the backyard.

The next day, after the water had receded some, Blackie was sad to find he could not cross the bridge any more.

But now, almost 9 months later, Blackie is happy to cross the bridge again.

There was a hill that led down to the bridge on the house side - a lot of dirt was bulldozed to make the bridge level with the yard.

The bridge was winched back into position on the other side.  It looks a bit precarious on this side but it is much sturdier than before.

Last year I spent a lot of time grooming the back trails.  After the hurricane and 9 months of neglect they are in rough shape but not as bad as I anticipated.  Blackie is just happy to be in the woods again.

There were a lot of trees down but most were off the trail.  This tree split in half - I had to use the chainsaw to remove some large limbs that had blocked the trail.

The best thing is that we can now get down into the ravine again.

This area is known as Dog Pond due to this small pond that varies in size based on how much rain we've had.  Right now it is very dry so the pond is small.  Every dog we have ever had runs down the hill and immediate jumps in Dog Pond.

Dog Pond Bridge was also washed away during the hurricane.  Dan and I maneuvered this bridge back into place using the 4-wheeler and its winch, and a lot of manual labor.  It has always been kind of rickety but it gets you across the stream.

Once on the other side we can now go up the hill and at the top we can connect with the field trails.

When it was Lucy's turn for a walk we went in the opposite direction, starting with the field trails.

Lucy heading down to Dog Pond from the field side.

Lucy heading back to the house on the back trails.

Happy Birthday Jonathan and Cara

Today is my nephew Jonathan's birthday, and also his lovely Cara's birthday.

They live in Denver with dogs Bravo and Delta ...

... and cats Ashton and Gordon.

Jonathan with cousins Gus and Emily.

Jonathan with Grandpa Clas and Gus.

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS CARA AND JFRED!!!!

Sunday Skyping with Rosie

Rosie is now 9 months old and this past week she has been showing off a lot of new talents.  She has been crawling, clapping, turning over, getting from a sitting position to her hands and knees, standing while holding on to the furniture and bending over to pick things up, high-fiving (but only with her Dad), and she has even successfully used the potty a couple of times.  Plus she now has 8 teeth.  All I can say is WOW.

Here's Rosie showing me her crawling skills.  Turns out she showed her Mom and Dad something new too because she immediately started crawling towards me (or at least the image of me on the computer).  The next 4 photos show her moving fast as Gus kept moving the computer away from her.     

Once she finished crawling she sat down and started clapping.  YAY Rosie!

Slinky the cat decided to join the family for a little Skyping time.

Rosie and Gus high-five to celebrate all of her accomplishments.

It's my party and I'll scare you if I want to ...

On my birthday this year I posted some photos from my 9th birthday party, 50 years ago.  (http://ddramblings.blogspot.com/2012/01/its-my-party-and-ill-cry-if-i-want-to.html)

Recently while looking for some slides that are missing, Karen found 2 more from that 9th birthday party.  I am not sure why I feel compelled to post these new photos.  They are not remotely flattering and do in fact make me look a bit crazed.  (Aside to my blog-friend Sophanne - yes, I see this does nothing to dispel the Rhoda connection.)

First up is me cutting my cake with an expression of creepy glee as I rather too joyfully wield the knife.

And what to say of this, the hopefully last to be found of the birthday pictures.  I have so many questions for myself.  Especially, why, of all the gifts I received (including clothes and accessories for my just-received-on-Christmas beloved Barbie doll) ... why am I holding this clown?  I hate clowns and I think I always have -  so why would someone give me a clown and why would I want a photo of me with it?  The clown is the only thing in this photo creepier than my expression.  I think (hope) this was an over-posed, arty photo that my Dad often tried to achieve.  There's the bizarre lighting - as if I'm being interrogated.  The chair has been moved, or at least turned, as it was never kept at this angle.  The poinsettia seen just behind me was also moved from it's usual spot by the fireplace.  Perhaps the clown was chosen for color composition?   

While I still hope to find the missing slides, I'm thinking there may have been a good reason that these 2 slides were removed from the carousel.      

Happy Easter from Rosie

Gus, Meara & Rosie are visiting Meara's parents for Easter so no Skyping today.  But I received this wonderful video of Rosie learning to drive a tractor.  

Happy Birthday Cousin Doreen!

Today is my cousin Doreen's 70th Birthday.  Being 10 years older than me, Doreen and my sister Karen pretty much mothered me from the day I was born.  I am absolutely the better for that.

For Doreen's birthday I scanned some more of the slides.  All but the first photo are from Christmas 1961 - so many treasures.  These were taken at 20 Bartlett Lane - this would have been our first Christmas in the Delmar house.  At that time Karen and Doreen were 19, Freddie and Johnny 14, and I would turn 9 three weeks later.

This first photo was taken on 28 Sept. 1961 - a party for my grandmother's (my Mom's mother) 76th birthday.  Photo of Grandpa Heimburge, my Mom, Grandma Heimburge, Aunt Ruth and Aunt Loretta - and my dog, Rip.  This was taken in the backyard of our Bartlett Lane house.  What a perfect look at 1961 suburbia.  

Cousin Doreen, Aunt Ruth and cousin Johnny.

My Mom's mother and father.

My cousin Joyce with husband, Billy and daughter Darlene.

My cousin Carol with her husband, Sam and son Paul.

This is priceless.  Karen, Freddie, Doreen, Johnny and my Grammie Clas doing the Twist.

Several posed pictures of Karen, Freddie and me.

This would have been the year I got my Barbie doll.  I still have her and several original outfits.

Rosie and Her New Clothes

Slow Day in History?

When I sign on to my computer each morning several of the usual 'gadgets' open - news snippets, calendar, weather...  I glance at them all, including 'Today in History'.  Today I learned that in 1910 kissing on trains was banned in France.  To be precise, no kissing was allowed on train platforms.  Apparently kissing was a problem because it created long delays - it was banned to keep the trains running on schedule.  It seems this law is still in effect though no penalty is currently inflicted.  Search as I may I cannot find what the penalty was in 1910.  

Sunday Skyping with Rosie

We had a bad connection for Skyping today which made it hard for Rosie to focus on me and it was hard for me to take pictures.  Luckily the ones I got are adorable as always.