Humarock!

Spending the weekend in Humarock with the family! Life can't get too much better than sitting on the beach and porch enjoying the ocean.

Enjoy ~SJ

Scary But True

Indexed just posted this great new card and I thought that I just had to share. It seemed a little too real to me since this is the first week of school, field hockey, of and those pesky doctoral classes.

Enjoy ~SJ

Things I Never Thought I Would Say!

First Crazy Statement Of The Day:
Since today is the first day back to school with the kids it can always make for an interesting day. I always get a kick out of how much older they all look and the funny things that they have to say. Here is the high point chuckle of my day:

While in the library laminating (I know, bad teachers laminate during the first day of school, good ones already have it done), a little 6th grade girl was looking around for a book. She came over and said hi to me and then asked me a lot of questions about how the laminator worked. I answered all of her very good questions, and when we got to the end she said "You know, I would really like to be laminated!" In a little bit of a shock I replied "Well, I think that you would get a little hot going through the machine." Without skipping a beat the girl replied "Well, at least I would always be clean!" What could I do other than agree and laugh to myself.

Second Crazy Statement Of The Day:
When I got home today I greeted The Cats by getting on the floor and playing with them. They were very happy to see me after a long day with their Feeder gone, but they seemed to be exceptionally happy about something. It took me a few moments to notice - but there it was - on the floor. (Disclaimer: Squeamish people please stop reading now!) It was a tiny, dead, baby snake! No clue how it got into the house, or how these two fur balls who hardly kill spinders managed it, but they killed a snake. My question to them was "Who killed the snake?" Never thought I would say that today!


Enjoy ~SJ

Footbook?!

Ok, I think that one of my favorite comics, Close To Home, is starting to make fun of me. I recently joined Face Book so that I could connect with friends and family. And all of you know that I like to take pictures of my feet. Well, Close To Home hit a little close to home today for SJ.

Enjoy ~SJ

First Day....

Summer vacation is officially over. The coffee is in the travel mug instead of a regular mug and the alarm was set way too early. My classroom is ready, all my stuff is unpacked, the bulletin boards are up, and my lesson plans are done for the week. I'm ready for the first day!

Enjoy ~SJ

A Summer Day

Since today is the last official day of summer vacation, the Music Man and I lived it up. Went out for a late breakfast, sat on the porch, read, and went on a motorcycle ride. Can't wait for after school hours and weekends to live it up more!

Enjoy ~SJ

PS: Did I mention that I named the bike SJ?

Wood Guy (or Gal)!

No camping experience is complete without a campfire. In order to have a campfire you need to have firewood; enter The Wood Guy (or Gal)! The Music Man and I have looked at all of the places selling wood on the way out to Hermit Island and have decided that one is clearly the best deal. The Wood Guy (or Gal) sells you the most wood for your $2, and it is also the nicest quality. On our last visit to the Wood Guy (or Gal)! I left a note telling him (or her) how much we enjoyed the wood, and that I was even going to blog about it. So here is the plug for the amazing Wood Guy (or Gal)!

Enjoy ~SJ

The Pound

Hermit Island is home to the most northern lobster pound in the United States. Before my visit to this lobster pound, I always thought the term referred to a place where lobsters are weighed, I learned this is not true.

A sign at the pound explained the origin and purpose.                                                              

    "You are now standing on the lower main dam of the Small Point Lobster Pound. This is a typical construction for a mud dam; it being double sheathed and filled with mud to half tide level.
    The first lobster pound was built on the east side of Scotland and used finely fitted granite slabs for closing off the cove.
    Pounds became necessary when Maine shut down the lobster canning business. Life storage became an important factor in accommodating large fluctuations in catch and market demand.
    Small Point Pound was built in 1948 on the same site of a much earlier up-and-down tidal saw mill.
    Lobster pounds are generally filled in October and emptied Mach to April when the "hoped for" price is well above the "going in" price. Lobsters are fed herring scraps during the winder until the sea water reaches cold enough temperature to make them comatose. Come spring and that high price, skin divers harvest them and off to market they go.
    Every winter the pound-keeper hopes for a small shrinkage caused by death and theft. Natural predators are gulls, mink, raccoons, and two-leffed homo sapiens.
    This is the most southern pound in North America. Holding capacity is between 40,000 - 80,000 pounds depending on the state of the owner's ulcer. Shrinkage can approach 30% depending on disease and predation.
    The large steel clapper in the center allows the pound to be completely drained at low tide. The upper dam was built to make the pound smaller, thus more manageable.
    Two large swinging gates are opened whenever ice has to be broken and pushed out. Such was the case for the '93-'94 season.

 

You learn something new every day!

Enjoy ~SJ

Deer Crossing

While camping on Hermit Island the Music Man and I spent a lot of our time hiking around the island. On our first trip to this slice of ocean paradise we came across a mother and fawn while out hiking. We were really excited by the encounter and I took an excessive number of pictures.

 

On our second trip to Hermit Island we stopped counting at 15 deer. The Music Man almost got hit by a deer on his walk to the outhouse when it ran out in front of him. They don't seem to be scared by humans, and we even thought about adopting one as a pet. I spent the next several encounters trying to pet one (even though I know you shouldn't touch wildlife) since I thought they kind of look like Stanley with longer legs. It might be the tail, or lack there of.

 

 

Hermit Island is also populated with skunks that like to visit campsites at night in hopes of something nice to eat. Fortunately our encounters with them were not as exciting as the deer.

Enjoy ~SJ

Some Day My Prince Will Come.....

....and he will have uncanny MacGyver like skills. While camping on Hermit Island the Music Man memorized Some Day My Prince Will Come (a request of mine). Since he had forgotten to bring his music stand with him he utilized his amazing MacGyver skills and created one. Here are a few pictures.

 

  

  

Yes, that is a campfire fork stabbed through the envelope music, being held down by a clothespin. You should see how he MacGyvered the sump pump during the summer Monsoons! 

Enjoy ~SJ 

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

The Music Man and I went to a Portland Sea Dogs baseball game the other day. What a perfect way to spend a summer afternoon. I hadn't seen the Sea Dogs play in a few years, and I had forgotten how exciting minor league baseball can be. I have a new hopeful Red Sox, Iggy Suarez (mostly because he has a fun name to yell out during a game "Go Iggy!", but also because he is a solid player). In the end, after a very exciting last inning, the Sea Dogs won. Since I am by no means a sport writer, here is the official game recap from the Sea Dogs website.

    "Pinch-hitter Zach Daeges singled home Argenis Diaz with the bases loaded to give the Sea Dogs (68-57) a 5-4 win over Harrisburg Sunday afternoon at Hadlock Field. The win completed a three-game sweep of the Senators (68-61) to give the ‘Dogs a perfect 6-0 homestand. With the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth, arrisburg reliever Adam Carr (3-3) ran into trouble right away. Diaz led off with a single to right followed by a double off the bat of Jorge Jimenez. With runners at second and third, Carr intentionally walked Iggy Suarez to load the bases for Juan Apodaca. The Portland catcher, though, would not get a chance to hit as Daeges was called upon as a pinch-hitter. On a 1-1 pitch, Daeges hit a slow-roller to third and the throw to the plate was just off-line to score the winning run.
    Daniel Bard (4-1) earned the victory after working a scoreless top of the ninth. It was his second win of the homestand after earning the victory (and a blown save) Friday night. Miguel Asencio also pitched out of the Dogs bullpen, working two scoreless innings. Portland would start the scoring in the last of the second inning thanks to a sacrifice fly by Juan Apodaca, who picked up his first RBI for the Sea Dogs on the play. But, Harrisburg took the lead right back thanks to a 2-run third inning against Mills. With one down, three consecutive hits to right field brought in Garrett Guzman to tie the game at 1-1. After a ground-out to first base, Jemel Spearman (1-4, RBI, run) would score on a dribbler
by Seth Bynum up the third base line to make it 2-1 Senators.
    The ‘Dogs would get a run back in the bottom of the fourth when Iggy Suarez singled home Argenis Diaz to tie the game at 2. With the score tied, Mills would settle down for the remainder of his outing. He retired the last seven the faced and nine of the final ten in his six innings of work. He picked up another no-decision, though, allowing two runs on just five hits. He struck out a career-high seven and did not walk a batter for the third straight start. Harrisburg starter Justin Jones would match Mills pitch-for-pitch all afternoon. He came out of the game after surrendering a lead-off single to Jorge Jimenez in the 7th. Jones would earn a no-decision after throwing six-plus, giving up just two runs (one earned) on four hits.
He finished with ten strikeouts, his highest total in one game since 2003."

Enjoy ~SJ

Ho-Hum

My original goal with blogging was to try to write something at least five times a week. I was doing so well with this goal up until the months of July and August. It is not for a lack of trying, it just seems as though I have slipped into a bit of a blogging slump. I have been wrapped up lately in revamping my classroom website as well as my personal website.

Enjoy ~SJ

Remote!

This must be what the remote at my house looks like to my Mom. Could be why I have written directions on how to operate the remote on my coffee table.

Enjoy ~SJ

Bloggers - LIVE!

I must echo the sentiments of many of the River Valley Bloggers, it was nice to see you today live and in person! Technology is great (I love reading your blogs), but it is always nicer to catch up face to face. Oh, and the tech sessions were pretty fun too!

Enjoy ~SJ   

Good Reads!

My summer has been marked with a lot of high points; berries, motorcycle rides, swimming, hikes, The Music Man, camping, and family just to name a few. One of the things that I look forward to the most every summer is idle afternoons (mornings and nights) of doing nothing but reading. This summer has been a banner summer when it comes to reading. I just rediscovered a great website for sharing books and even added a new little widget to the left-hand side of my blog. (If you are reading this in Google Reader you must check it out). The website is called Good Reads, and basically it allows you to share with your network of friends books that you have read, your rating, books you are reading, as well as books you want to read. It has been a great night of adding books to my "bookshelf", as well as looking through friends lists and adding books to my "to-read" shelf. All I have to say is that my friends have read an impressive list of books, and I am excited to read many of their suggestions. Feel free to request a friendship with me once you set up an account!

Enjoy ~SJ

Now We Know....

The Music Man and I have had several heated debates pondering "Do cats have an extended thought process?" SJ passionately argues the affirmative, while The Music Man passionately argues the negative. He asserts that while cats may have some memory, it is very short term.  I think that Pooch Cafe may have set us all straight this morning.....

Enjoy ~SJ

What Is That?

What is that yellow circle in the weather forecast for tomorrow? Could it be, we might actually see the sun? What a novel idea, hope to put some miles on the bike and dry out a bit.

Enjoy ~SJ

That Is The Question!

To camp or not to camp: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The wet and damp of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms and stay at home.

The Music Man and I had reservations to camp at the Mount Desert Campground, but due to the excessive amounts of non-stop rain that we have been getting, we canceled the reservation. It is better to just stay home and play Risk, than to risk sleeping in a cloth house in the rain.

Enjoy ~SJ

Color Quiz

I took this crazy little quiz and got some pretty spot on results. Have some fun!

SJ took the free ColorQuiz.com personality test! "Longs for tenderness and for a sensitivity of feel..." Click here to read the rest of the results.

Enjoy ~SJ

Ribbit!

This little guy was hanging out on a rock outside the Music Man's house.

Enjoy ~SJ

A Few Comic Chuckles

Thought I must share these with my "regular" blog readers, since I am guessing we share the same sense of humor.

Close To Home

Ziggy

Enjoy ~SJ

New Resident At The Pond

Worthley Pond has a new resident as spotted by many other residents this morning. In all of my years living on the pond, this is the first time that I have seen a baby loon on the pond. After yet another internet search, here is what I learned about the loon.

"Loons are excellent swimmers, using their feet to propel themselves above and under water and their wings for assistance. Because their feet are far back on the body, loons are poorly adapted to moving on land. They usually avoid going onto land, except when nesting. Loons find their prey by sight. Chicks remain with and are fed exclusively by their parents for about eight weeks. After eight weeks, chicks will begin to dive for some of their own food. By 11 or 12 weeks of age, chicks are able to gather almost all of their own food and may be able to fly." (Wikipedia)

The baby loon that I watched this morning was observing its parents underwater feeding techniques by sticking his head underwater and watching. After observing his parents for a little while, the mini loon gave it a try on his own. This new loon can only mean that there will be more loons living on the pond in future years, which mean that I will be falling asleep listening to loon calls!

Enjoy ~SJ

Lights, Camera, Action!

Quiz time! What famous movie star are you? Thanks Bookbabie for another great quiz. Here is my results, who are you?

You are KATHERINE HEPBURN:

You are smart, a real thinker. Every situation is approached with a plan. You are very healthy in mind and body. You don't take crap from anyone. You have only a couple of individuals that you consider "real friends". You teach strong family values. Keep your feet planted in them, but don't overlook a bad situation when it does happen.

Enjoy ~SJ