Strolling through Boston on a Crisp Autumn Day

Seeing my favorite city with my favorite girls!

Several weeks ago we decided to meet up with our girls in Boston to do our own walking tour of Boston along the Freedom Trail. This is Beacon Street as viewed from the Boston Common (think NYC Central Park, but dollhouse sized).

We left our car in the garage on Clarendon Street and then walked down Boylston.

We walked up through the Public Gardens into the Common where the girls posed for pix with the State House in the background.

We then wound our way around the pond where people were feeding the ducks and swans.

 

It was the most glorious October day, sunny with bright blue skies.
(And, I might add, it was a tad nippy!).

 

We could have spent a lot more time with these guys, but we had a lot of ground to cover.

 

A quick stop at the fountain...

 

...and then it was time to head out of the Commons.

 

Next stop, the old Granary Burying Ground which dates back to 1660.

 

Amanda, finishing off her veggie sandwich before heading into the burying ground.

 

There were several organized tours going on and we may do one of those in the spring.

 

But for today, we meandered and investigated at our own speed.

 

So many old markers...

 

... each one different than the last...

 

This probably would have been a good post for the month of October...

 

I'll share more of our walk in my next post.

Boston is a very small, walkable city and I hope we can meet

up with the girls and do this a lot more often in the future!

 

I'm linking up to A Favorite Thing Saturday

with Claudia at Mockingbird Hill Cottage.

Be sure to stop over and share one of your favorite things!!

 

Have a great weekend, everyone,

 

Donna

Things that go bump in the night...

Back in October I heard a commotion out on the back deck in the wee hours of the morning.

I peeked through the curtains and found these two masked marauders up to their nocturnal hijinks!

They kept Baby and I entertained for nearly an hour with their antics!

They had fun playing in the fountain...

 

... and then one of the siblings discovered the sugar water in the hummingbird feeder...

 

What a clever little guy! He'd tip it sideways and lap up the nectar as it dripped out the side.

 

I hope you enjoy this short video of our bathing beauty and sugar water bandit!

 

Have a wonderful week!

 

Donna



Exercise your right to vote...

There is no exercise you can do on Tuesday that is more important

than exercising your right to vote.

 

I don't normally talk politics on my blog (although it may have been obvious from my sidebar for the past few weeks who I am voting for).

I've always wanted my blog to be a carefree, friendly, welcoming place when people come to visit. And it seems that these days, there is nothing relaxing or carefree about politics. I'm a registered Independent. I've always preferred to vote on issues rather than political party. I usually end up voting Republican fiscally. On some social issues, where I might have a different opinion, I can vote on my state's ballot.

I've been especially timid to talk about this election because, to be quite honest, in some circles voting for Romney is an absolute no-no. In fact, what I've gleaned from some in the national news media during the course of election campaign coverage is that to do so means that, 1) I am stupid, 2) I am uneducated, and 3) that I may very well be a racist.

I am voting for the things that are most important to me, and I believe that is what most people do. Why can't we all respect each other's right to vote for the candidate who they feel will do the best job without turning this election into hateful name calling?  Maybe I am naive, but I cannot understand why Stacey Dash, a black actress, was so viciously attacked after she tweeted her support for Romney. Is voting strictly a racial issue? Are we only allowed to vote for skin color and not issues?  If so, why is nobody attacking white actresses who support Obama?  The point is, nobody should be attacked for supporting the candidate who THEY feel will do the best job for our country. Period. This attacking people for having a different viewpoint has to stop if we are ever to become a United States of America again.

I have a very good friend who votes Democratic. She knows I typically vote Republican. We love each other to death. We each have different viewpoints about politics in general. There are probably a few changes each of us would make in our candidate's platforms if we could, but we choose the candidate who we most strongly feel will be best for the country. And our love and respect for each other will never be thwarted by politics. (Love you, Jill!) I respect her right to vote for who she chooses and she respects mine. Isn't that the way America is supposed to work? Can't we agree to disagree without being personally attacked?

I am voting for Romney because the runaway deficit scares me to death, especially for my girls who are now in their twenties. I fear that by the time they are my age, or even younger, they will be paying 50-60 cents (or more) of every dollar they earn toward taxes to support over-the-top government waste and spending.

I'm voting for Romney because I believe he is the right man at the right time for this job. I believe he has the unique blend of both government and private business experience to get the country back on track. I'm from Massachusetts and I think he did a great job as our governor. He had to work across the aisle in this very Democratic State and I believe he will do the same in Washington, bringing people and parties back together.

I'm voting for Romney because he is genuinely a kind, caring person. No matter how the media tries to portray him, I trust my own judgement on character. I don't want a slick, polished politician from any party. There are too many of them on both sides. I want a real, honest-to-God person who may, on occasion, say things like "binders full of women" (yes, that was the main story on the nightly news for days and days. Nevermind that the world was falling apart around us) And by the way, the real women in those binders have nothing but praise for Mitt Romney. If you are interested in knowing what the women who have worked with Romney think of him, please click the following link to read an article about the women executives who are speaking out on his behalf, who are blogging about him, and who are campaigning across the country for him, etc.

Image Credit: Zumapress

What Women Should Know About Our Old Boss, Mitt Romney

 

You can also click the above photo to hear from some of Mitt Romney's

former Cabinet Members (more real women)

So are things better for my family than they were four years ago? No. Yet another reason on the long list of reasons I'm voting for Romney.

Tomorrow when I vote, I'll also be thinking of my dad who owned a very small trucking company for many, many years when I was growing up. Who after working long hours during the day would come home and then do the paperwork and billing at night. And my father, who built that company all by himself with no help from the government, will be proud of the decision I've made on who to vote for.

PLEASE make time to get to the polls tomorrow, whether you are a Republican, a Democrat, or an Independent. PLEASE exercise your right to vote!

I know I'm voting for love of my country.

 

(click photo to play)

Why I Changed My Vote

(cick photo to play)
(WhyIChangedMyVote.com)

Donna

Winterizing, honeysuckle, window boxes & Baby Cat

This is our typical winterizing process...

  

...which became a top priority last weekend with the threat of Hurricane Sandy.

Each year the furniture, planters, garden statues, etc. get arranged like an interlocking puzzle in the center of the patio.

 

Everything is then covered with a heavy duty tarp and weighted down by rocks from around the perimeter of the patio. The tarp is also staked into the ground in the front.

 

Do you have any idea how much I wish this was still the view? Winters and I don't care too much for each other.

 

And it's going to be a looooooong time before the backyard looks like this again. This is the birdhouse that was taken down off its pole last weekend, the one you saw in my last post where Baby cat made herself at home inside of it.

 

I forgot to share these short little videos that I took that day....

 

... so here they are!

 

Did you see the honeysuckle vine in the first birdhouse photo above, growing on the obelisk right next to the swingset deck?

 

It is actually still budding and blooming in a few random spots! I've decided that next spring I'm going to plant one at each of the front legs of the swingset so it grows up and then across the monkey bars. I'm already envisioning sitting there on summer evenings watching the hummingbirds flock to it! Our hummers have been gone for over a month now. How I miss them...

 

The honeysuckle also has these little berries which must be what is attracting the birds lately. Another plus!

 

And speaking of the hummingbirds, the nasturtium that I grew from seed started to bloom profusely at the end of September (sadly, it was after the hummers had headed south). Amazingly, it's still blooming.

 

Next year I'm buying plants rather than starting them from seed. Our growing season just isn't long enough. I'd love for them to be in bloom while the hummers are still here to enjoy them.

 

Elsewhere in the yard there are leaves, leaves, and more leaves.

(Photo with watercolor filter)

 

Almost all of the leaves have fallen now...

(photo with dry brush filter)

 

I don't think this fall was quite as spectacular as some we've had in years past...

 

... perhaps in part because we lost so many of our foliage trees in last year's freak October snowstorm.

 

The Bacopa is still blooming in the shed's window boxes, albeit under a canopy of fallen oak leaves.

 

Most of the trees in our side yard are pin oaks. Their leaves go from green to brown, and many hang on the trees until spring, when new leaf growth then forces them to fall to the ground.

 

So there is always an abundance of raking to be done in the fall and the spring around our little yard.

Look at the size difference between our brown oak leaves and one of our yellow tulip tree leaves!

Yes, lots and lots of raking...

 

Don't forget to turn your clocks back this weekend!

 

This week I'm hooking up to Brenda's "Tweak It Tuesday" at Cozy Little House!

Stop by and share something you've been tweaking!

 

Donna

 

 

 

(click to play)

 

 

How much is that kitty in the birdhouse?

This past weekend was spent securing the backyard in preparation for Hurricane Sandy as well as the upcoming winter.

 Sunday was a gorgeous day so, when we took a short break, we brought Baby out to enjoy some fresh air with us.

We had just finished removing the birdhouse from the pole in the backyard and it was still sitting on the table. Cats, of course, are very curious creatures and Baby is no exception. She immediately went over to sniff and investigate the birdhouse.



Apparently she liked what she saw - and smelled - because she decided to move in!

 

Oh, Baby, you always keep us so entertained!

 

 The cupola on the birdhouse needs to be replaced as it fell off (again), so the last photo in the collage is Baby peering out through the open roof.

 

 She checked out every opening...

 

... from every angle...

 ...and finally settled on looking out the large arched doorway.



All the better to look around for squirrels and birds.

At this point, I think she spotted a Sammy Squirrel down on the deck...

... so it seemed like a good time to put Baby inside and get back to work. We still need to get all these ground covers planted before the ground freezes! Maybe this coming weekend.
 

  (I couldn't resist a photo of Baby's fluffy pantaloons when she came out of the birdhouse!)

 

I'm joining Claudia for Favorite Thing Saturday at Mockingbird Hill Cottage this week. Be sure to stop by and share one of your own favorites!

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Donna