Just A Test...

It's good to know that I'm not the only one having troubles with these blogs. They've almost become a support group for us as well as a way of keeping in touch because it seems that hardly any of us make a post without running in to problems. I'm gonna try Brian's advice here and use another browser. Hello IE, I haven't used this in ages.

Without further ado, hopefully there'll be some random pictures appearing here. Guess I can't complain too much, it is free hosting after all.

Well now, looky dat... a picture appears without cursing, swearing, beating the keyboard or trying a gazillion times. This is also a picture taken back Terry and Kelly's and will be a true test of your powers of observation. Anybody see what's wrong with this picture? This is their youngest baby Koko on the left and Nicole's (in picture at birthday bash in previous post) horse Bunny on the right.

Ok, now that's two for two... in a row yet! Ok, don't get too excited. This picture was a beach picture along the cliffs down from my place. Poor caterpillar got plunked in so many places...

A picture of the bridge from Middle Island

What does one do when you hate grocery shopping but Kelly drags you along with her? You bring your camera of course. Powers of observation again... who knows what store this was at? Geez, I should be charging them for advertising! Heehee, did I ever get some strange looks that day.

Bah, I should have known better than to get too excited. At least I got four in this time but it stopped the last three attempts. It definately helped Brian but it seems to like acting up mostly when I'm trying to go to work anyways so that will be the true test but it's an improvement, that's for sure. Internet Explorer best so far but I may have to install that Fire Fox browser yet.

Thanks for the helpful hints all...

Kelly's Birthday and Anonymous Visits...

Another great weekend has passed and between anonymous visits and Kelly's Birthday, I managed to survive yet another. Saturday night I arrived at the Skidd household and Liss and I contemplated whether to have a tottie or not. After much consideration (believe it or not) the tottie prevailed... surprise, surprise. I really wish I had my camera on me when Liss and I went to the liquor store because the look on her face when she decided what she was going to drink was priceless. It all started with a free glass, a Rickard's sampler case and a look so euphoric that you could almost hear the choir singing like in the Rickard's commercial. I was jokingly commenting on banana popsicles but the hangover that follows those isn't exactly pretty. With plans on going to church the next morning, that didn't seem like a great idea. I ended up settling for something bananany anyways, some kind of drink called Mixx which had banana, pineapple and raspberry. Still ended up hungover anyways so that's the last time I'll be trying that particular cooler. You guys make fun of my raspberry drink concoction but at least I don't feel like a bag of crap the next day.

Liss and I were pretty much getting started when Scott arrived for a sit and say. Darcy was behaving as he was on call. After a brief detour of having to buy cigarettes for the second time, I finally got to get a drive in the new, "Fancy Truck." I must say, she be pretty fancy even though I feel like I'm running a fever with those seat warmers on. Man, for an SUV, that thing sure hugs the turns.

After Scott pulled his abrupt departure (still not sure what that was all about) we had another visitor about 1/2hr. after that. I wanted to get pictures but apparently that would make said person feel bad. Too bad though as he was great company and it was really good to see him. This person knows who he is but as you may have guessed, wishes to remain anonymous and I can respect that. Turns out he's a blog reader as well (got a raking for lack of updates too) which is funny as we were just discussing the amount of hits our blogs have gotten, largely in part to friends, family and most recently, Matt's mention in, "Bread and Molasses," a fun Miramichi newspaper. The blogs are a great way for us all to keep in touch, particularly since we're scattered all over.

Our anonymous friend drug out Darcy's guitar though and we had a great little sing along. He even provided me with some quotable quotes, which is always good. He had a friend with him and his friend even asked (after first quotable quote) if we ever considered keeping track of these things. Apparently he's not a blog reader... heehee! He did however get to see the list first hand though after I broke it out to add the quotes from our anonymous friend. Our anonymous friend even set a new record! Two quotes in 10min. With playing the 'tar, that brought up bands and artists, I don't remember what we were playing (Hip mebbe?) but our friend liked the music, "As long as it's not the lad that singis it!"- Anonymous Friend. I have no idea how the next falls in to context (remember banana/pineapple/raspberry crap involved) but that's not important, it's what was said that matters 'cause, "It's my flavourite,"-Anonymous Friend With New Dyslexic Friends Record. After falling asleep mid-conversation (sorry Liss) on the couch, 7:30am. came too early indeed. I did still make it to church though.

Last night turned out to be a great time as well. It was Kelly's birthday so it was a perfect excuse to get the girls together, have a say and eat. It was a day that had a lot to get done and not much time to do it in, I finally trundled back to Kelly's around 5pm. Surprise, surprise, I was a little late but not the last to arrive as Cathy and Darla arrived after me.


left-right; Kathy squared (Kathy and Cathy), beaming birthday girl Kelly, Nicole, newly engaged Darla and Kelly. Yup, we get confused with the names sometimes.

Arrival time didn't matter, there was plenty of food for everyone. Kelly's one birthday request was a boiled icing cake and I'll tell ya, she'll be eating it for a week (I'm sure with no complaints) as I brought one and Terry's daughter Kelly brought one along as well. Kelly also had her son Colby with her (gosh it's nice to have them home again) so that helped Terry not feel so overwhelmed by females. There were also a few dogs on the scene. Bless their hearts, they always seem to be dogsitting for someone... and with two dogs, two cats and eight horses, they really don't have enough to do. Kelly and Terry have two gimungous labs of their own, Terry's daughter Kelly had her lab (sweet Lexus) and Kelly and Terry were dogsitting for friends of theirs. A cute little brindle boxer named Piper. Good thing we didn't have it the night before though or it would have been all of us, all of the dogs plus a big Newfoundland named Claire. She departed that afternoon though. Needless to say, the kitchen was packed.

The night was spent eating, discussing perpetual virgin queens, eating, chasing Piper any time she got outside, eating, solving all our problems, eating, taking pictures and eating. I ate so much that I was actually sick and had to lay down for a bit, phew! When I got back up; Darla and Nicole had departed, Kelly was finally going to bed and the dynamic duo of Kathy Squared and I sat up for another hour having a say. All I can say is I'm some glad I didn't drink or I'd really be hurting today. My belly's still protesting food. Cripes, I could not eat for a week and I'd be fine. It's always a great time when we get together though. It's amazing how you meet people that feel like they've always been a part of your life. That's how it is with us.

You may have already picked up on my comment on, "The newly engaged Darla." Her and Bruce have officially set their date and will be getting married on Dec.16th. Darla has two weeks now to prepare but at least she has her dress. It'll be a small ceremony at the Boom Road Pentecostal Church. Hopefully I'll be able to rearrange my schedule to attend as I'm already booked trying to squeeze clients in before I go. Congratulations you two, you've gone through so much and come so far. Best wishes on your future together.

Dean and Jade have made it back home, minus one bag... it may turn up yet guys, don't get too discouraged. I got up to see them on thursday before they left. Had a sit and say and coffee in Winston's kitchen which I haven't done in years. It was so great to get to see Dean again and to meet Jade finally. There's a big hole here with you guys gone. It's amazing how with you being gone so long but yet when you were home, it was like you never left. And it's like Jade was always here with us. I'm sure Dean's got a million pictures to go through but I'd expect a blog entry from him before too long... hint-hint!

I feel like I'm forgetting something and this bloody thing's only going to let me put in one picture for this entry. I'm going to try to put another entry up with mainly pictures. Oooh, I know what I'm forgetting, particulars on the adopted family that Genesis is arranging through, "The Early Intervention Program," in town. This makes my Christmas and I used to organise it at Glamour too so I was thrilled that the girls were gung-ho to do it here too. We've got a 17yr. old girl with a 1 month old baby. Cripes, I couldn't imagine having a baby at twice that age! When you see things on their, "needs," list such as similac and mop and bucket, it truly makes you thankful for what you have and being able to help someone who so desperately needs it. I know, "Early Intervention," still has lots of families in need of adoption so if you can find it in your hearts (and wallets) to help them, please contact them at (506)778-6532. It's never too late and they sure can use any help you're willing to offer. Help give the gift of Christmas.

Oh my gosh, how could I forget, the most exciting part. I'll be going to Tennessee for Christmas... leaving the 18th and back on the 2nd. It's going to be great to be able to spend time with Cindi, Ashley and Cole and wake up Christmas morning to Santa Clause again. Last Christmas was great but it's just not the same.

Ok, that's enough for now, hopefully I'll be able to put together a few picture in the next post (and hopefully in the right order) as I've got to get ready for work.

Kelly's Birthday and Anonymous Visits Continued...

This is Colby (Terry's Mini-Me) and Piper. They were great buds last night. Notice Piper's tongue. What a gangster... Piper, not Colby.




















Poor Terry was estrogened out and couldn't have been crammed any further in the corner of the livingroom. Remember the Simpson's episode when Krusty sings, "Send in the Clowns?"














One of my favourite pictures of their babies. This is Woody and Stryder. Woody (palomino) has since been sold and is now residing in PEI. Hopefully we'll be seeing more of him on the show circuit.















For those of you that think you have doggy couch potato problems... try having 2-100lb.+ black labs that have claimed their own couch. This is Milly and Chevy in all their glory.














Now this picture's just waayyy too funny to not include. Chevy's really good at playing the poor starving dog to guests and I'm always more than willing to oblige. They'll even do a little dinner dance if you ask nicely. That is one satisfied looking pup!

Seems to have taken the pictures ok in this post. It seems to have worked better since I left it at the default of placing the pictures on the left and medium... go figure. Worked this time, that's all that matters. Now I can publish this and copy/paste the original post that I have saved to my notepad. Where there's a will, there's a way.

'Til we meet again...

As Per Request... Sorta

In one of my comments, Liss had mentioned something about the, "Hot Dog Bun Tree." The one I think she's talking about... I didn't get pictures of, it wasn't as photogenic... too much glare off the window. I said in a previous post about how Dean took time out to put together a great little smorgasborg of feeders. He literally drove trees and logs in the ground to make something to support a critter buffet. It's not uncommon to look out and see Dean out there with a jar of peanut butter smearing it everywhere and sprinkling seeds in it. He also showed me a way to make a suet feeder with a can, seeds and bacon grease and there's almost always bacon grease on hand. As mentioned in a previous post, I don't trust night before breakfast chefs... I've learned the hard way not to trust drunks with promise of breakfast. Aaron, you're not alone anymore, Liss and I joined the ranks sunday morning.

The joys of the camp, there's always something perishable to feed the animals. Particularly these last couple of weekends as it was quite literally everyone and their dog in da hood. We tend to do community meals quite a bit so there's almost always something left over. I know before I left this time, I stogged about two loaves of bread and a chunk of cheese on a particular log. There was waayyy more I could have used but yet I didn't want to give the bears that like to trash BBQs and moose heads... any more excuses. The rest got dumped way the heck out the road where we have to go to get cell phone reception, nowhere near the camps.

So sorry that there's no hot dog bun tree but hopefully these'll give you an idea of what we had going on. If it helps to get a visual (of said tree) it was a big branch, stuck in the ground right in front of the window which had perfect smaller branches to flop hot dog buns on. It held itself on... 'til the rain hit, that is and lord knows, there was no shortage of rain that week.

In this picture, you'll notice there's a squirrel on the bottom left. In front of him, stogged in the bottom of the upright log, is a block of cheddar. You'll also notice bread hanging off of it and seed everwhere. The white's bacon grease that dripped all down the log. On the top right, you'll notice a moose bird with a chunk of bread hanging by him and in the nook to his left, is a loaf of bread stogged in there. It was a great laugh the morning we saw the moose bird take a whole slice of bread and then flew off in to the woods with it. You couldn't see the bird so it looked like a slice of bread flying away. Was the squirrel ever telling off the moose bird in this picture.

Grrrr, apparently today I can only add one picture! I've noticed there's a beta mode you can switch over to but once you do you can't go back. Has anyone tried it yet? I wonder if it's any easier to upload pictures to because this is getting really old. Even resizing my pictures isn't helping.

I have to go to work... don't have time to mess with this nonsense. Hopefully it'll help give you a better idea of what's going on there. The day Jamie and Kevin came over for ice they seemed impressed. Jamie had mentioned about how he was trying to figure out what it was from the road! The things we do for amusement in the woods, shack wacky and by times bored.

See all y'all tonight as it's Dean and Jade's last night. I don't know what I'm going to do! I forgot how much Dean used to add to the, "My Dyslexic Friends," list and he managed to provide me with a few during his stay home. If it's any consolation Dean, Darcy seems to be taking up the slack quite nicely.

With such quotable quotes of Dean's as, "If I go over there to check on that fire... I'm going with me," -Dean any wonder I'm hanging by with pen poised. Oh, BTW Skidds, I think that's what happened to your log pen, it's Dean's fault! :D

Gottagotawork...

The Deer Week That Wasn't Meant To Be...

Interesting Night. I'm sick to death with a friggin' cold but do you suppose I can sleep? Nope, 3am. comes and I'm wide awake. Non-drowsy alright. Apparently I should have bought the drowsy kind.

Sick or not, I managed to survive through a few weekends back the camp and with all that went on, it appears to be a miracle. Between the skunk incident, keys getting locked in cars and chickadees in camps... any wonder I'm sick.

Hmmm, apparently I'm in HTML format... am I awake enough for this? We'll soon find out.

It was all a lot of fun however and there was lots of company trundling in and out all hours of the weekends. It's too bad that the gang's primarily around during deer season. Man, the traffic on that road on that month makes up for the lack of traffic throughout the rest of the year. I can't believe how many more people are back there now, compared to before I left. It seems our little undisturbed piece of heaven is becoming more disturbed... heehee, as if we're not disturbed enough! The boys didn't get to get their deer this year (which is somewhat ok as the trophy rack for back there is on the Skidd's camp wall) and there was actually only one four point that went out. With all the people back there, it's hard to believe. The weather really was crappy for a good portion of it though. The boys (not to mention those of us few girls that love it back there) persevered like the brave little soldiers we are.

It does seem that all creatures big and small, with two or four legs (not to mention winged) were cause for a great source of entertainment for me this weekend though. I managed to drag out my old, crappy, beat up camera (can you sense my disdain?) long enough for a few blog worthy shots though.

A head and shoulders shampoo commercial? Nah, merely too much rotisserizing around a cedar fire. Check out Liss over Gammie's shoulder... heh! Darcy and Aaron also in the shot.

Now, I'm not exactly sure what's going on here (other than Gammie going to call Coll on Aaron's bike) but as to why Mitch is running...? He asked me if his hair was really that wide? Me thinks he likes big hair. It looks great Mitch.

It's been really great having our friend Dean back in town for a few months and finally getting to meet his wonderful wife Jade. Man she's funny and it's very reassuring to know that Dean's in capable hands while wandering around loose in Korea. Anyone that knows Dean knows how much of an understatement that is. :D Sadly their stay is coming to an end as they'll be going to stay up at Jen and Aaron's thursday night to depart out of Moncton airport for their long journey home... just about 24hrs. in planes and airports only to lose half a day. Wow!

Jade acclimated wonderfully although we'll have to see if she can leave the rain home for her next visit. Honest Jade, it doesn't always rain here. Even her, "Sheep shaggers,"- Winston's saying for rubber boots (adopted by Jade) barely kept her dry this time. They got out for a visit to the barn today and Kelly was working with a 3yr. old that's only been ridden 15 times and after about the 10th horsey temper tantrum we told Jade we'd get her up for a ride on that horse. Jade wasn't having anything to do with that. I think poor Jade was waaayyy too cold to get up on a saddle today anyways. Not to mention they were supposed to be doing their Christmas shopping.

Ah yes, it's taken me two entries back in blogger world to remind me of one of the reasons I got out of it in the first place. I'm tired of fighting with getting a blasted picture on the thing! It obviously has nothing to do with too many pictures (as my blog's not that big) or anything to do with the time of day and people using it... it's the friggin' middle of the night for pete's sake! Screw it, I'm too tired right now... I'll save it as a draft and try later.

*Many edits/drafts/deletes later* finally got it to work and in order even though I published the last one first, it still came up the top one... sheesh!

Let's Try Putting The Pictures Here...

Ok, since that's obviously not going to work, let's try adding pictures in another post. Let's also see if I can do this without pulling a Liss and Mel and I'll try to publish them in order. ;) Here we go! Geez, after getting up at 3am., back to bed at 7:30am. with blog still unpublished, up at 10:15am. and still can't add pictures but yet this seems to work? Go figure...

I'm impressed with my timing on this shot. Not sure what was going through Dean's head to walk by during this time (he was the wood to be split retriever) but hey, we've never been known for our best judgement. I'm just glad I caught it, look at the wood splitting! Notice my distance...?

Now, people often ask us how we make do back there without any running water or electricity (although that's changed with the Skidd inverter)? Propane and the open fire's great. I've never had food taste as good as it does back the camp. That was one yummy pizza on the barby. Darcy was holding the flashlight for this shot. Could have gotten a better shot but I was getting in trouble for letting all the heat out... hehee! Looks done to me anyways.

With a fire like that, how could we not cook anything, it even managed a meat pie? Look at all those sparks. Gotta love cedar... and the smell. Any wonder we all looked like head and shoulders shampoo candidates.

The four legged creatures were also a great source of entertainment for me. Jake still being barred from the great outdoors due to him being a dog at large during deer hunting season (albino deer anyone?) and a prime skunk target, I had to make new four legged, photographic friends. Jake's still my #1 subject though. Dean made a great bird/rodent buffet smorgasborg in front of his camp. There's always something to photograph there. Winston even discovered a little mouse living in the stump just in front of this feeder. This squirrel really liked Scott's Kirkland peanuts.

Well, that seems to be all the picture's it's going to allow me to upload this time, so much for some, "Just a pretty shot." It may be that I need to resize them before uploading them which doesn't particularly make sense as it has a built in image resizer but if you click on it, it still shows the original. That must be it 'cause technically, blogger's still hosting it.

Hope this finds all of you well. I'll continue to muddle my way through this program that they call blogging in hopes that one day, it will all make sense. I'll be back when something fun and exciting happens.

'Til then...

It's Been Awhile...

Well, after hearing for the umpteenth time, "When are you going to update your blog," I finally threw in the towel and here I am. Don't worry, my friends have still been saying things that don't particularly make sense and are still being recorded. Not to worry Coll, Darcy has totally taken over the list. I'm sure he was test driving a new tongue this weekend because it was his turn for an interpreter.

It has been a very eventful year since I last updated and it seems I was going straight out all summer... absolutely no complaints. It's what this ADD chica needs. I finally had enough of telemarketing (surprised it took me a year) but the last gig with trying to explain to people that it's not Equifax's fault that their score's so low but the fact that they just took out a million dollar mortgage two months ago... might have something to do with it. I had better conversations with rocks, let's put it that way.

I'm now back to doing hair which is where I should have been all along. "Genesis Salon and Spa," has been a very welcome and refreshing change. It's amazing how well a place full of women can get along. Sherry, our spa owner, is continually updating or renovating something so it's nice for our clientelle as well. They go above and beyond the call of duty with teamwork and catering. It's not uncommon for our clients to chill with a glass of wine and homemade goodies.

Here's a picture of it with the new red siding... Doesn't it look fab?












It was also a great summer in the sense that I got to see, "The Rollings Stones," in concert. After a badly botched attempt at trying to see them years ago in Montreal (botched, correction, my pipe dream) in the winter, I finally got to see this much raved about and controversial band. Melissa, Darcy, Brian, Scott and I all trundled to Halifax. Scott and Brian got to see them last year in Moncton. I just missed it, literally finding out about it as I'm flying in to Moncton, the weekend after. There was no way I was missing them this time. I don't think I was ever so willingly wet and cold in my life but I'll tell you, it was worth every penny and ounce of water accumulated on my body. And to think I was grumbling about not having as many good opening acts this year as they did last year. I take it all back. Brian's got most of the pictures on his blog (reminds me, need to update my links) so I'll just post a few here.

Have some "Sympathy" for us...

*stage during, "Sympathy For The Devil"*



...Poor wet bastards!

*left to right- myself, Scott, Liss, Darcy, (Brian's taking the pic)*

It would not have mattered what you had on... you got soaked. Earlier in the day I noticed there were people wandering around in flip-flops and tank tops. These people were either very dumb (likely) or not Atlantic Canadian (benefit of the doubt here) because I was dressed in a gazillion layers of wool, including long johns and was still numb by the end of it. Hello people, it's Sept.23rd in Nova Scotia! The Stones sure know how to work a crowd though as it was quickly forgotten. We were just under 50, 000 people but a well behaved lot. The only sirens going was the ambulance crew picking up the underdressed idiots with hypothermia. I will never be able to hear, "Paint it Black," their opener, without closing my eyes and seeing that stage turn the most amazing purplish/blue (going for black) and, "Miss You," will forever have Stage B getting closer and closer to me. They were so close, I could see their wrinkles.

Let's see, the summer also turned in to a suprising and exciting adventure for me in another way. Those who know me well also know that for a few months I had an *ahem* certain webcam addiction. No, no... get your mind out of the gutter. It turns out that I've become obsessed with eagles. And to think, they've been all around me for the 33yrs. (minus a few travelling abroad) on the Mystical, Magical Miramichi. Holy crap, I don't know how I missed them, they're friggin' huge! After a few misattempts at sightings (I'll never hear the end of mistaking a black winged gull for one... thanks Scott) I'm now on track and the river's thick with them. I even got to see my first golden eagle on the way home from the camp this weekend and they're even bigger again. It's amazing for how big these raptors are, how graceful (and silent) they are while soaring through the sky.


My camera isn't exactly eagle capturing material but I managed this one. It just swooped off that pine tree on the right... this was on the shore road right at the bottom of my subdivision... go figure.

But no-no, it wouldn't be like me to not take my obsessions to the extreme. I'd heard of different nests in the area and was able to track down one in Millerton. Hah, I'm not going to need to watch the webcam this year as I got my very own nest to watch! I examined it and it looks like there was signs of at least one eaglet there this year. Hopefully next year will continue to produce successful offspring.


This picture really doesn't do justice to how huge this nest actually is. This is about 4/5ths up a mature pine along the river.

Now, it wouldn't be right to be putting up pictures without including some of my macro shots. I'm still in to photography and tried a new camera last month but wasn't overly impressed with it so sent it back. When my old Kodak 3.1MP takes a better picture, why bother spending $300, right? Maple leafs proved to be worthy subjects this year and being a Canadian, this one fell right in to place.


What does this make you think of, my fellow Canadians?












This one I just thought was pretty and keeping with the theme.
















Well that should certainly be enough to make up for lost time. I'll do my dangdest to get back on track with this. I know the next two weekends will be spent back the camp with lots of people for entertainment. Most of crazy camp pictures you can find at the camp blog and I'll just stick with the pretty pictures and things I find amusing. That way I don't take away from the camp blog.

We'll have to start watching what we're saying and doing back the camp from now on as it seems the, "Council," has taken it upon themselves to make up rules as they go along and with such rules as, "You don't have to listen to me, just do what I say," -Darcy... how can one win?

'Til next time...