What do Squirrels want?

The city squirrels here will eat just about anything. But what they really want is bird seed!

I thought I was safe storing my seed in a plastic trash can.

You can see they really tried to get the lid off! Goes to show what kind of taste they have, I can't imagine what the plastic tastes like but I'm sure it's not very good.

I can't really keep the seed inside the house.  Old houses = mouses in the winter!

Today I went and bought a metal can.... last year they chewed the metal rings off my other beautiful birdfeeder! We'll see what happens next....

Ode to Igor

I had to say goodbye to my buddy, Igor today.

He had a good life. He was rescued as a feral kitten, and went from hiding under the couch to running to the door when the doorbell rang to see who was here! How did I name him? Well, when I went to pick him up, he was a tiny runt. but when he got in the car, you would have thought I had 10 cats! He had all kinds of different voices. So I named him after Igor Stravinsky.  He never got over his fear of the car. I dreaded taking him to the vet because he would be so hysterical the minute he saw the carrier.  

He had a carpeted bench on the kitchen radiator by the window which was his favorite place to sit and watch the birds and squirrels in my tiny back yard.  

Last year, he lost and eye due to a condition similar to glaucoma.  A few weeks ago, he started to have trouble with  his left hind leg. A warning to any of you who have cats. They can have blood clots in their groin which cause paralysis in their hind legs.  If your cat starts to have trouble with his hind legs, take him to the vet immediately!  He was a real trooper right to the end.

A good friend , who will be fondly remembered.

My orchids

I have 6 orchid plants. Nothing very exotic, just dendrobiums which seem to be very happy here. I put them out side for the summer. When I bring them in the house for the winter, they start to bloom! They keep me happy by blooming throughout the winter.

Here is the first, it is white and purple with very distinctive veining. 

A surprise resident!

One of my favorite places is the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey.

There is a flock of peacocks there, living richly amidst all the art! On my recent visit last week, I was shocked to see this resident.

Just too funny!

One of my fellow jewelry designers, Emotional Oasis, found some really interesting items. They are tokens from a peep show!  I wrote and she was kind enough to share some with me.  Here is my "miss kitty" necklace.  I have a feeling that it will be mutable, and change with my moods.  Today it has sterling and antique copper chain to give it more of a mixed metal feeling.  I felt the lone biwa pearl gives it some zen balance....

Knockout Lily

It's ironic.  My red lily finally bloomed after waiting a year.  But it was worth waiting for- dozens of fiery red blossoms.  The last bloom appeared on July 12th, the day I went to CT to visit my friends and the daylily farm.

Waterfalls in the big Apple

I saw something about Waterfalls created in NYC. .. I've been working like a jackrabbit so no time to really read up... went to South Street Seaport the other day and saw two of them!

anticipation

My friends in CT are day lily masters. My yard is very tiny, I just really have no room.  However, three years ago, on the visit to the day lily farm, I just had to buy one.  Last year, no blooms. This year I have 7 stems... I'm just waiting for them to burst forth!

Delorenzo's Tomato Pies

One of the reasons I bought my house was the realtor took me out for tomato pie.  Not being from Trenton, I had no idea what I was getting back then.  What a delicious treat!  There are 2 different ones here in town, the best by far is on Hudson street. 

Unfortunately, they have cut back on the hours here because they opened a new place outside of town.  I am hoping that they don't close the original location on Hudson Street. You can read more reviews here at ZAGAT.  If you are in the area please stop and have a wonderful pie!  There is nothing quite the same anywhere.

Lost in the woods!

For those of you who know me, you know I frequently have to drive to Atlantic City to work at the strangest hours.  This morning, I was really in a tough spot.  A lumber yard was burning in Hammonton, and RT 30 was closed..... so I was sent into the dark woods to find my way to work!

About 2 years ago, we had terrible forest fires on another route that I would use, so I finally bought a GARMIN!  It paid for itself this morning!  I would have never found my way except for my captain telling me which way to go.

Roses galore!

My new coc rose is blooming.  It is a burnt orange color and very thorny.  I wanted something for infornt of my house, so it's just perfect!

May flowers

The weather here has been spring like- cold and rainy!

But today I finally moved my orchids outside to their summer home.  Bought a new one a few weeks ago.  It is a very dark purple with vibrant green on the reverse side of the petals.  Sorry the picture really does not do it justice.

spring in NJ

The weather today has been perfectly awful. Cold, rainy- I have the heat on!

But several days ago I was in Milford and saw these beautiful iris blooming! 

Birdbrain!

there's a reason for the expression!

That darn squirrel!

Living in the city, we have some pretty tough squirrels.  In the past I caught a picture of one of them stealing one of my tomatoes right off the plant!

Well, this time he just left a rotten mess of chewed up orange peel on my porch.

More Spring springing

I have daffodils galore and other bulbs blooming!

Travel Day

I had a doctor appointment today in Philadelphia.  The easiest and fastest way for me to get there is to hop a train right to Center City.  The trip down was fine. I shopped a bit at Reading Terminal Market, went for my appointment and then had lunch.

Coming home was not so easy.  There were power problems between Holmesburg Junction and New York City.   having been stuck on the trian more times than I care for, I opted to take the long way home.  I took the PATCO train to Camden, then the River Line light rail which stops 4 blocks from my house.  I could have taken the R3 to West Trenton, but would have no way to get home from there except a cab......How lucky I am to have options!

Wild weather

Saturday we had lots of rain.  I was running the dinky train form Princeton to Princeton Junction all day.  The tracks go over the D&R canal and the tail end of Carnegie Lake.  For somereason, the ducks and geese would hang out under the rr bridge.  Every time the train would go over, they would all swim and flap away , almost all of them heading east.  It was too funny.  Sorry I didn't catch abit of video......

ipod touch arrived

I've been wanting an iphone for a while but I had service from that certain provider in the past and it just was not that great. So I bought an ipod touch. It just arrived and it is so very cool.

My long time friend Chris Browne is very psychic and drew a picture of me - and posted it his blog. Check it out!

Spring preview

This wonter has been the most strange I can remember.  So far, we have had only snow 1 day. Otherwise it's been rain, rain , rain.  My first crocus has peeped out.  many of the bulbs are poping up, too early.

my favorite places

One of my favorite places in NYC is The Gingerman.  I used to work a couple blocks away, and it was a great haven after work to find some interesting beers. They have 60 taps.  The other week I splurged and went twice.  They had 3 Philosophers form Ommegang on tap , which is very hard to find. More happy birthday to me!

A fabulous meal!

A friend treated me to dinner for my birthday. I wanted to go to a restaurant owned by some friends which I had not been to in some time, The Brothers Moon, in Hopewell, New Jersey.  What a wonderful meal. The food is really elegant and the portions are quite hearty. Chef Will had a moment to come out of the kitchen and greet all the diners.  I really can't describe how delicious every tidbit was, you'll just have to go yourself!

Martha's Set

As part of my birthday celebration, I obtained tickets for The Martha Stewart Show.  It was fun. Joey was the best part. The set was impressive, the seats comfortable.  Plus, the show was being broadcast live! Here's a view of the set.

Winter blooms

A friend gave me an amaryllis for Christmas.  I haven't had one for many years, so it was wonderful to watch it emerge from the bulb and flower.