End of Summer

Well it is Labor Day weekend, the unofficial end of summer. All the kids are getting ready to go back to school, or have already started. The lake by us will be taking down the ropes and putting the lifeguard stands away until next year, the same will be happening at all the beaches. It has been a very joyful summer for Barbara and I, well all but the last 2 weeks or so. Barbara had planned a trip to several of our favorite places for a three day getaway in the middle of August but then she got sick and was told by the doctor that it was pneumonia, so she cancelled that trip. Then after getting all better she put together a one night trip and the night before we where going to leave I started to not feel well. I woke with a fear of 100.5 so that trip was cancelled. At that point Barbara said, “No more trips”. I went to the doctor and he took a throat swab to check for strep and when that came up negative the doctor did a nose swab to check for H1N1 flu and put me on Tamiflu. Well I am all better but due to the holiday weekend we will not know the results of the test until Tuesday, oh well such is life. One good thing if it was the H1N1 flu I don’t think that I will not have to worry about catching it again in the fall.
One good thing to report is my driveway garden is doing great. We have had at least 7 or 8 meals of green beans and lots of grape and cherry tomatoes. We also had some very nice regular (and not so regular) tomatoes. The irregular tomato that is pictured in the album came from the tomato plant from mars I think because there is a second tomato on that same plant that has the same special feature (don’t want to call it a deformity and get called a bigot). Next year I may clear some more area under the tree behind the garden and put some lettuce in, the resident rabbits will love that so that will need to be fenced in.
We have also decided to try to simplify our lives. We will be cancelling our landline and DSL from Verizon and going to just using our cell phones and the MiFi device (that is what Verizon calls it) that we bought. It allows both of us to use the internet at the same time over Verizon’s 3G network. We will have internet anywhere we get a cell phone signal, we could even use it in the car. We are also going to cancel our cable package before we leave for Florida and just use the basic cable that comes with our house and the DVDs we get from Netflix (we pay for all those extra channels and there is nothing on anyway). We may get basic cable in Florida; we will see how much it costs after we get there. And by cancelling the landline phone, DSL and cable it costs a little less each month too.
That is all for now. I will be updating this as we start to get ready for the adventure of moving to Florida for a few months.

First week of August 2009

On Monday Barbara had a doctor’s appointment in Morristown so we made a day of it, silly to drive almost 2 hours just to go to the doctor. Barbara found a museum in Morristown we had not been to (and was open on a Monday) called Acorn Hall Museum (http://acronhall.org). It is a house in Morristown that was built in the 1800’s and occupied up until 1971 and has all the original furniture and some original wall coverings. Then it was off to the doctor’s office and after that we met our son for dinner and had a very nice day out. During the week we went to the lake a couple of times, on Friday we even went to the lake for a picnic lunch and a swim. Finally on Saturday we went to Peace Valley Park in Bucks county PA (http://www.buckscounty.org/government/departments/ParksandRec/Parks/PeaceValley.aspx) for a picnic lunch. We sat at a picnic table on the shore of Lake Galena and watched as the kayaks, paddle and sail boats went by. After lunch we went to Fonthall Museum (http://www.tiles.org/pages/mptw/mercer.htm#fonthill) for what they called a summer time meander thru the museum. Instead of having a tour guide take you through the museum you get to go through the museum on your own and spend as much time as you like in each room. The whole house was built with hand poured concrete and has tiles that Henry Mercer either made at his tile works or collected in his travels around the world embedded in the walls ceiling and columns. We spent a little over an hour meandering and at the end went to the kitchen and had an ice pop. It was a very interesting place to visit but the hall ways between the rooms where narrow and the stairways where everywhere, I would not want to live there.

Grounds for Sculpture

Barbara and I had planned on going to Philadelphia to the art museum on the Bank of America, Museums on Us program. In short if you have a Bank of America credit card you can get into hundreds of museums all over the country for free on the first weekend of the month. Just do a search on Museums on Us to get all the details. Instead we went to the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ (http://www.groundsforsculpture.org/) and got in for free there instead. We had gotten a little of a late start so we got there around 11 AM and as I was parking the car Barbara saw a peahen with two little chicks in the grass by one of the sculptures. So I got out my camera and got as close as I could and took some pictures. Then after getting a map at the visitor center we went to lunch at the Peacock Café. We had a lovely lunch sitting among the sculptures. After lunch we walked around you can not go more then a few yards without seeing a new sculpture. You also have to look in among the trees and bushes; you never know where they have hidden some of the sculptures. If you look carefully at some of my pictures you might see things, or a person, that do not belong. Have fun looking at the pictures, we had fun walking around for the afternoon (and I always love to take pictures).

July 2009 (so far)

Seeing as July is more then half over I thought it might be a good time to update everyone with what has been going on. The early evening on July 4th was spent listening to The Garden State Philharmonic (http://www.gardenstatephilharmonic.com) at the Tom’s River Library. It was a wonderful concert. The following day we had our neighbor hood picnic over at Jack and Louise’s house. Once again everyone had a good time visiting and eating (can’t forget the eating). Then on July 9th our new front and back doors came to be installed, we love the new doors. Then there is Harry Wright Lake where we enjoy an afternoon swim. We have been to the lake about 6 times so far but as the weather gets warmer and more humid we will be going to the lake more. We met our old neighbors Helen and Jim in Freehold for lunch one day and afterwards Barbara and I went to Deep Cut Garden (http://www.monmouthcountyparks.com/page.asp?agency=130&Id=2518 ). It is a lovely garden that is part of the Monmouth County Park system free to all. On July 12th we went to the Hedgerow Theater and saw a very funny play by Ray Cooney called One For The Pot (http://www.hedgerowtheatre.org/subSeries.php ). Last Friday I had a doctor’s appointment in Manahawkin so we decided to go over to Long Beach Island and go to the Viking Village for a tour of the fishing docks. Well it turned out to be a bit of a flop, stood in the sun listening to a gentleman talk about the different types of fishing boats that go out from there and what each of them catch. A bit boring we left after about 40 minutes. We then went to lunch in a local pub called Rick’s American Café, named for Rick’s in the movie Casablanca. We had a lovely lunch so the day was not a total waste. Don’t worry I am almost done. On Sunday Barbara, Louise and I went to Long Wood Gardens for the day (so what if we where just there 3 weeks ago). We went to the Italian Water Garden, Flower Garden Walk and had lunch in the Terrace Restaurant Cafe. After lunch we walked through the conservatory and spent some time by the water lily garden. When we got out of the conservatory we sat under one of the holly trees and waited for the fountain display. Even without the music and lights it is beautiful to see. Before we left we went over to the idea garden and then to the Chimes Tower for a Carillon Concert. It was a perfect weather day and a good time was had by all.

Anniversary Trip

Thirty four wonderful years ago… but I reminisce. Barbara and I went on our annual anniversary trip. We started out by driving to one of our favorite areas on the Delaware, Pennsylvania border. Our first stop was Winterthur museum and gardens. With our membership to the American Horticultural Society we got in for free, great investment. Anyone who likes gardens should look into joining; the membership gets you into gardens all over the country. We took the tram around the gardens and got off at the Enchanted Woods, a fairy tale garden for children of all ages (someone made a fool of themselves in the birds nest). We also took a short walk from there to the Quarry Garden. Then back up the small hill to catch the next tram to the house. We then walked past the Campbell Collection of Soup Tureens and up the stairs to the reflecting pool garden (this used to be the swimming pool when the Du Pont’s lived here but since has been turned into a reflecting pool). There we saw a frog in amongst the plants. After that we went back to the car and on to our next stop.
When we got to the Brandy Wine River Museum we had a picnic with riparian entertainment (those who watch Keeping Up Appearances will know what I mean). After our picnic we explored the museum. We then left and went to the hotel just down the street to rest up for the exciting evening ahead at Longwood Gardens.
Before going on to Longwood Gardens we had a very nice dinner at Applebee’s. Once at Longwood we walked through the Rose Arbor garden, past the Theatre Garden and down the Flower Garden Walk. After that we went to the outdoor theatre and found our seats for the concert by the Kennett Symphony of Chester County entitled Hooray for Hollywood. The concert was very enjoyable but the evening was not over yet. After the concert we strolled over to the main entrance of the conservatory for the Illuminated Fountain Show. This is one of Barbara’s and mine favorites. I did not have a tripod stand with me so I could not take any pictures this time so I got one from my archives and included it in the album. After the fountain show we went back to the hotel for a good nights sleep.
In the morning after breakfast we went back to Longwood to do some exploring. We decided we would explore the west end of the gardens. We found our way to the Chime Tower just as it was striking 11 o’clock. Then we went around that and down past the fountains for an up-close look at some of the nozzles and lights that where used the night before in the fountain show. It is just amazing to me that all the calculations for all the pipes and pump sizes where done by hand when these fountains where built. We then explored the Idea Garden which is always full of new and interesting plantings. We decided to have lunch before we left for home so we went over to the Terrace Restaurant where we decided to have a sit down meal instead of doing the cafeteria style, it cost a little more but it was our anniversary after all. For a map of Longwood Gardens see map at this address: http://longwoodgardens.org/docs/MapOutdoor2009.pdf
All in all we had a wonderful anniversary weekend trip.

Mets Game

On June 25th Ray and I went to the new Mets Stadium, Citi Field, to watch the Mets play the St. Louis Cardinals. We decided that I would pick Ray up at his apartment and then drive to Hoboken to park and then take the PATH and subway to the game. When we got to the city instead of walking under ground to a connecting subway line we went up to the street level where I saw one of the no drive sections of Broadway. New York has taken sections of Broadway and closed them to motor vehicles to make pedestrian only areas, see picture in album. We then walked to Grand Central Station to get the subway out to Citi Field (I still want to call it Shea Stadium). I do have to say the designers of the new stadium did a very good job. As you enter the rotunda you are met with a large open space dedicated to Jackie Robinson (see me in front of the giant 42) and when you get to the top of the escalator you get your first look at the field. They have put TV screens all over the place so you never have to be far from seeing what is happening on the field. Even out in center field where there are lots of different foods to choose from (not just Hot Dogs and Hamburgers anymore) and you are behind the score board there is a large TV screen there also. Just behind the seats is even a section where they have tables you can stand at to eat your food; you can even watch the whole game from there if you do not mind standing. Ray and I figured that you could buy real cheap seats and then never go to them, just watch from one of those tables. Well to make a long story and little shorter, Ray and I had a good time and the Mets won.