Fishin' The Pond

We have two ponds here at the farm. The 'perks' of having to irrigate! This handsome bass was caught in the bigger of the two by my Grandfather this past Saturday. This was his second cast of the evening. This big bugger struck the ol' top water lure hard. And he was not happy about being reeled in either.

The niece caught the most fish...we finally let her put this one in the bucket so she could watch it. Little known fact....Bluegill really enjoy cheese curls!

No fish were harmed in the making of these pictures....all were released happily back into the pond. Snaps were taken by Sisterella!

Polo

Aunt Sally and Sisterella lookin' happy in the setting sun! Ladies what were you hiding in that cooler?

Thank God It's Friday! POLO! It's been two weeks since the last match. And this past work week has been insane. These are a few pictures taken at the last match.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Friday night Polo in Darlington PA...all four off the ground.

The little niece taken in the "tony" action with a look of serious contemplation. (pony=tony)

Wanted Canon Digital Camera!

WANTED!

Used Canon EOS Digital Camera Body

I have four lenses for a Canon EOS 35 mm that will fit on a Canon EOS Digital. I would like a 8 mp or higher body.

If you have one or know someone who wants to sell one...I'm looking for a good deal.

The Kindle Made Me Do It

Sookie Stackhouse now you listen to me....

I don't do vampire books...I rarely do romance books....I'm not overly into mystery books.

But Ohhhhh Sookie! When you combine the 3 into one. Well all I can say is I'm hooked...um I mean bitten.

I'm blamin' this on the Kindle...you know that hunk of plastic that I read on. Someone recommended the first book. I downloaded it to give it a try by the end I was bitten by the Sookie bug. And it's just to darn easy to be curled up in my reading chair at 10:30 at night. Finish reading a book in the series and you can't help yourself you download the next book without moving a muscle. Which explains how I've burned through the first 6 books in the last week and a half. AGGGHHH! To make up for this literary faux pas I downloaded Anna Karenina to read when I'm done with the latest Sookie book. That should atone for my sins nicely.

Anyway The Southern Vampire Series aka Sookie Stackhouse Books....are total escapism. Nothing life changing going on here. But oh how you get sucked right in. If your lookin' for a brain vacation and the TV just doesn't do it for you....look no further.

So are you pro Vampire? Have you actually read the Sookie Books? Or are you completely mortified by this small peak into my bookshelf?

The Sugar Shack Gets Tricked Out Vol. 2

Bookshelves!!!

I had the wall recessed in a bit for the walk in closet so the door could be flanked with book shelves. Unfortunately I only have half my books unpacked. So the shelving has been a slow and tedious process....I'm having to pick the ones I want to keep and recycle the ones that I'm not totally enamored with.

Anyway this was step numero uno in the 'Sugar Shack Trick Out'. Storage. So I lost a little space in the bedroom. But I gained a nice size walk in closet and a wonderful set of built in shelves. There was much debating on between me...Dad...the builder...and hubby on the finish of the shelves. My Dad and the builder wanted me to stain and poly urethane the shelves. But as you the entire dimension of the house is only 540' sq ft. So keeping that in mind I decided that I just wanted to paint everything the same color as the bedroom walls.

What do you think....are you for the monochromatic look or should I just have stained them?

The Sugar Shack Gets Tricked Out Vol. 1

As you know from previous posts....I moved in November thinking, hoping, praying that it would only be a temporary move.  But as you also know....it's turned into a permanent move.  Life in then 'Sugar Shack' is interesting...especially now that my hubby has installed himself in here with me.  It's a 540 sq ft. building that started it's life as a cutting room for a greenhouse, morphed into a chemical shed, re-morphed into a lunch room, then morphed into my office, morphed again into a rented office space.  And now is my house.  It's had quite an interesting history here on the farm.  I am so very thankful for it's existence.  Also for the way it has served my family over the last 90 odd years.

 

The 'Sugar Shack' as hubby dubs it...has a desperate need for a closet.  With only 540 sq ft to work with you have to be careful how you use space.  This little nook was in the bedroom.  And the bed fit perfectly there.  It was wonderful nestled back in there.  But storage in this little building was a problem.  So I decided to give up my bed nook for a walk in closet.

Yeah baby...that's right.  A walk in closet in a 540 sq ft home.

Sometime right before this project started I decided to take my closet idea one step further.  Can you guess what I'm going to do?  

Take a guess and I'm  going to pick one answer that is either correct or possible pee your pants funny...  and you will be the recipient of the drink of your choice from Starbucks...that's right...STARBUCKS.  Can you say Vanila Rooibos Tea Latte, can you say Carmel Macchiaoto, can you say Strawberries & Cream Frappuccino, can you say Shaken Iced Tea Lemonade.

Winner must have an activated Starbucks card and I will load the prize on it.

Happy Snappy

Snapdragon...aka Antirrhinum majus.  Picture taken this spring at Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, PA.

Last night Charlotte went on walkabout.  Now this is an issue that scares me greatly.  As she is one of those Jack Russell dogs....and they can get caught up with the wrong crowd.  I'm thinking Raccoons...I'm thinking Coyotes....I'm thinking Groundhogs.  I much prefer that we go walkabout together.  We went to the barn at about 8pm to do the last check.  Usually she stays right around the barn yard.  Well last night she just took off like a shot.  She finally came home around midnight.  Not a bit beat up.  Just a little dirty.  She was definitely digging on something.  

She wasted no time jumping into bed and diving under the covers.  Lights off after that and a good nights sleep.  There is no way I was going to bed until she was back to the 'sugar shack'.

Why I Love My Kindle

I've been using my Kindle for two months now.  And it's official.  I love it.  So here is my top 10.

10.  Free Books.  Yeah baby.  Classics are free.  Bibles are free.  Got a couple free cookbooks.  And Genres that I never would have even tried, if not for diabolical publicists everywhere that convinced their authors to offer the first book free of charge so that people would get so hooked on the series they would pay for the rest.

9.  $.99 books.  Yeah see above about diabolical publicists.  Also so great Independent publishers that are offering really good deals.

8.  The 2/2 principal.  Battery life....I plug her in for two hours every two weeks.  And I read on the thing....A LOT!  I'm a minimum of a two book a weeker.  

7.  No Glare.  Yeah...none!  This thing is not like a computer screen, there is no back lighting.  Go figure.  I have no idea how it works.  But there is no glare.  It's called eInk technology.  Whatever....it rocks.

6.  It holds 1500 books.  That's right 1500 books at your finger tips at all time.  On a plane, in the car, on a boat, on vacation, in the doctors office.  Because it can store that many.  In case your like jonesin' for some Gabaldon or Austen.  Not to mention Hemmingway or Frost.  Or maybe that darn Temeraire series that got me hooked (see number 10).  Oh yeah...and unlimited storage in your Amazon account.  So just in case you own 3,000 books.  You store 1500 in the kindle and 1500 that you will have to download via the whispernet to read.

5.  Cheaper then bookshelves.  Really.  Trust me I just had to build some book shelves in the 'sugar shack'.  The Kindle was about $200 bucks cheaper and holds more books.

4.  Whispernet...This is really cool.  I can be hanging upside down from monkey bars...and order a book and it's sent instantly to my kindle.  This thing connects via some sort of cellular phone network (I think sprint) to the net and goes to the amazon store and gets you your book.  And there is no charge.  It's free.  Well free is a relative word here because if the book cost .99 cents then I'm sure it's built into the cost.  But if the book is a freebie then there is still no delivery cost.  Talk about instant gratification.

3.  Search and Save For Later... I can connect to the Amazon Kindle store whenever I want.  Search (or browse, which ever I want to do) for a book.  And instantly buy it, download a sample, or save it for later.  That's right...free samples.  Sigh.  My TBR (to be read) pile is bigger than ever.  And my 'Save For Later' list... I use that to keep track of books that I want to buy but am waiting for price drops.  I'm cheap and there are so many free to 3 buck books that I've only bought two $9.99 new releases.  I'm waiting for a price drop for the rest.

2.  Horizontal reading... In bed, on the couch, on a lounger.  Sigh.  This thing is so much more comfortable to read laying down then a dead tree book.

And the number one thing I love....

1.  Dictionary... Now this makes me go all tingle and happy.  Truly weepy happy.  My hunk of plastic reader has a built in dictionary.  When I don't know a word... I scroll up to it and the definition pops up at the bottom.  Yeah that's right.  No more stopping and running for the dead tree Oxford.  It's a word lovers dream come true.

Apparently the Kindle reader does some other nifty things too.....but I'm not sure what those things are.  I have not had extra time to 'play'.  I'm not sure I even want to know what else it does.  I know that there is margin note option.  And some sort of wiki search function.  

Just two more that didn't make the top 10.  You can search an individual book.  ie..In the bible I can type the word 'eagle' and it will give me a list to choose from of every eagle reference.  I also love the books it has opened up to me.  Writers who have been passed over for publishing because someone thought they just were not quite good enough.  Welp now there is a self publishing medium that anyone can do.  I've read some truly wonderful short stories.  And am in the middle of two self published novels.

Anyone else have a Kindle?  Questions?  Comments?

Darlington Polo Club

I love polo! Love it. Don't have the nerve to play (not to mention that my dear Obie would probable just keel over of a heart attack if I asked him to give it a go!). But am a avid fan. That the sleepy little town of Darlington, PA has a polo team is amazing.  That said sleepy little town is a mere 25 minute drive from the farm is sweet.  The team plays in Darlington on a sand field that is about 1/3rd (my estimate) of the size of a regulation field. And on Sundays a couple of times over the course of the summer they play in East Palestine, OH on a regulation size field.

The cost of admission is $5 per person, under the age of 16 and your admitted free. You back your car up to the field pop the hatch and set up your tailgate. Quite the deal. Dogs and allowed. And Miss Charlotte Pup Pup knows when it's Friday night. Her little self hovers around me until I leash her up and load her in the car. I have only missed 1 game in four years. I plan my vacations around the schedule.

The great outdoors, horses, food, and dogs allowed. Good clean fun! What more can you ask for.  If you live in Western PA or plan to visit.  Give the Darlington Polo Club hotline a call at 724-814-7022 and find out if there is a match scheduled.  Oh course I'll be Blogging and Tweeting about it all summer as well.  Hopefully will get my camera settings figured out to bring you better pictures.  Anyway you won't regret it....promise!  Look for Charlotte and myself...our tailgate is always open.