In the Kitchen

Dan's cousin Maureen was here for her annual visit to Uncle Fred & Aunt Joan's. As usual, it was marked by lots of Mexican train dominoes and a big dinner.

Aunt Joan & G making dumplings

The hubbub of the kitchen

Steel City

G & I had a four-hour layover in Pittsburgh on the way back, from 8 p.m. to midnight. We knew from the previous trip that unlike the other four train stations we'd been in, it was not new and comfortable. Fortunately for us, my friend Mark rescued us by picking us up, letting us hang out at his house and giving us a night tour (the view from Mount Washington was stunning and the highlight of G's entire trip). A big "Dziękuję" to him for the hospitality.

Entrance to Mark's neighborhood. How great is that sign?

G (sporting local wear) & Mark

End of Visit

The last thing we always do before we leave my mom & dad's is get a photo of them with G. This trip was no exception.

Gettysburg

For several years I've been trying to convince G to go to Gettysburg (locally pronounced "Get-tiss-burg," not "Get-tees-burg") with me. This trip, she finally relented. My dad, she and I took a day trip a few days after the anniversary of the battle. We spent most of our time in the great new Visitors Center and then did a self-guided auto tour of the battlefield. Driving the battlefield brought a better understanding of the topography and how the battles were fought. It was a blazing hot day; it made us think what it must have been like to be wearing wool uniforms instead of shorts and T-shirts. There was so much to see and do that we will have to go back on our next trip east.

Pop-Pop & G in the lobby of the new Visitors Center

G in the Gettysburg Address Room (Sam Waterston's voice continuously loops the speech - he emphasizes "people" and not "of," "by" and "for")

Pop-Pop & G in the shadow of Robert E. Lee at Virginia Memorial

Revolution!

My hometown got a minor league baseball team called the Revolution two years ago. My dad took us to a game on Free Cap Night. What a fun, inexpensive family activity. We had a blast, despite (or maybe because of!) the guy two rows behind us who was a loud know-it-all.

Pop-Pop & G sporting Revolution caps in the outfield of Sovereign Stadium

We're Back

G & I were at my mom & dad's for more than 3 weeks. It was the longest I'd been there since 1980! We would have liked to stay longer, but it was hard being away from Dan for so long, and it was also dodgy trying to reschedule our Amtrak tickets. The trains were packed, I suppose because of gas prices and the idea that train travel is fun. I would like to disabuse you of that notion if you have it! Amtrak does NOT own the tracks west of Pittsburgh, so freight trains have the right-of-way. On the trip out we sat outside of South Bend, Indiana, for 7 hours! We were thankful that we had the sleeper car. Amtrak put those of us traveling east on a BUS in Pittsburgh so that we could make train connections in Harrisburg. It took us 33 hours to get to my folks' house. The trip back wasn't as quite as bad, although it had its moments. We're glad to be home.

G at the beginning of our voyage ... little did she know what an odyssey it would turn out to be!

Our Excellent Adventure

G & I are heading out to Nana & Pop-Pop's for a fortnight. (I'm allowed to use that term because Wimbeldon is under way!) We are taking the train, which we are excited about, because: 1) It is the mode of transportation, according to the NY Times, due to gas prices and airline cutbacks; 2) I'm not driving; 3) We've only done short-distance rides in the past; and 4) I was able to upgrade to a sleeper room on one of the legs of the journey. I'll try to post once we get there, but if I don't, see you when we get back!


Picture us instead of them in this "superliner roomette"

Strawberry Moon

More Canoeing

The water keeps rising here. Dan & G went canoeing again. The water was deep enough in some places that they couldn't find the bottom with an oar, even when putting an arm into the water with it. At least they are paddling around for fun ... we have friends who have to park their car on the dry part of the road and canoe to their house.

Dan & G canoeing on the still-expanding river overflow (in the foreground: what's still above water in our cow pasture)

In the Marsh

Pushing Off

Out Came the Sun

It didn't dry up all the rain, so Dan and G went canoeing. They pushed off from the ditch by the road, paddled up the road, took a tour of our marsh, then went into the neighbor's pasture.



Circling our marsh




Exiting the neighbor's pasture

More of Same

This entry is being posted between lines of storms. More rain last night, more this morning, more coming today. The water is as high as we've ever seen it in 20 years; we've got water in fields where we've never seen it before. Last night the power went out for six hours, which stopped the septic pump. When the electricity went back on, the pump didn't start up because it was clogged with "backup." How fun is that?

The cows on the ridge that's keeping our house high and dry

View of our house facing west from the marsh road

Road flooded as far as the eye can see -- G waded to almost the top of her boots and had to turn around

View from My Window

Props to The Daily Dish

Third Hatch

This time 32 of the 40 eggs in the incubator hatched. (Verdict is still out on three more.) Even more color variations this time, including several totally or almost totally yellow chicks.




Newest arrivals

First batch, doing well

Second batch, at that gawky stage

More Flooding

We have river front property again. The water is so high that the road adjacent to our property is closed. It's fun to sit and watch the people who attempt to power through anyway. Trucks can do it, but I wouldn't recommend doing it in a Prius or an Aveo.



Bella and friends headed for high ground, as our marsh is once again part of the river

Another view

Hummingbird Wars

While sitting on the roof, I made several videos of various hummingbirds coming to the feeder. In this video, a female was feeding when not one but two other hummers came buzzing in. It scared the #%*$ out of me, so I jerked the camera and didn't really get a good shot of any of it. But you can certainly hear the fracas!

Sweet Pea

Hummingbirds

There's finally been activity at our hummingbird feeders ... today it was like O'Hare, there was so much traffic. G sat right in front of the feeder and they still came. There is one female, who has a longer bill and more white on her underside, who spent a lot of time here today. (We're calling her "Sweet Pea.") We'll probably get tired of watching after a few days, but for now, it's really a trip to see them up close.


G sitting on the roof, observing one of our many visitors

More of Same

There was more rain overnight. The field is now flooded up to the yard. I don't know that it can drain fast enough now for the rows on the western-most edge of the field to make it, but we're hoping that as much as possible will make it. While it was overcast today, we didn't get any more rain, and it's supposed to stay that way until Thursday, when more storms are forecast.

View looking north ... you can see the water comes right up to the Charlie Brown tree that marks the boundary between the field and our yard