Well I'm back on the road again.
I flew from NY to FL and now I'm driving my parents from Florida to Ohio. Then I'll fly back to NY.
I miss all the furry babies and I will have an exciting gift waiting for me. I found out I won the b-day give away from Pigtopia!! So a custom pigture (picture) of Kirby was my prize. Very exciting!!!
Here is a picture of a creepy tree at the Georgia rest stop. I have to look up what this plant is that is taking over all the trees.
I cannot seem to get a good picture of a sunset. Every night after putting the animals in the barn I have an amazing view of the sunset. And every night I stand looking at it in complete awe. I have repeatedly tried to take a picture that captures what I see. I have repeatedly failed.
When I bring the pictures up on the computer I am so disappointed. The pictures are nothing like the scene that takes my breath away when I stand out in the barnyard. I have tinkered with the brightness and the contrast, but I have no idea what I'm doing. I just know that I have yet to capture the sunsets I see on "film." 
I think it is partly because the pictures never meet up to my expectations that I never get tired of looking at the sunsets. No matter what still needs to be done I always take the time to enjoy it. I love that it is different every night. I'm always bummed when there is heavy cloud cover. It is something I wish I could share with everyone.
Getting the eggs is the highlight of my day (most days). That's not to say that my days aren't exciting, just that there is something about collecting the eggs that I love. I always want there to be a lot of eggs and I'm hoping there will be some really dark brown eggs. So I never know what I'm going to find.
Yesterday I found a tiny white egg. I was catching a rooster to put him in with the goats (to give the hens a break) and he kicked up this tiny egg. Now, I know HE didn't lay it. Almost all of my hens lay brown or green/blue eggs. So I'm trying to figure out who laid this tiny white egg.
Here's a picture, from right to left: really big egg (one of our hens is laying twin yolked eggs), a normal sized brown egg, a normal sized green egg, the tiny white egg. There is a second green egg on top.
So who could have laid this little egg?
It could have been one of the guinea hens.
They are all just getting old enough to lay an egg. It would be a really small egg for them. But sometimes a "first" egg is small.
Then there is Beethoven.
Beethoven is a white crested black Polish chicken. I've never really been sure if Beethoven is a hen or a rooster. He/she has never crowed. So I'm guessing she's a hen. She a bantam, and if she is a hen she would lay white eggs. It could be her egg. We named her Beethoven because when she was getting her head feathers she we debated between "Einstein" or "Beethoven" and decided that Beethoven was a name that could go either hen or roo and still invoked the crazy "hair."
Just another picture of the egg with a penny to give some sense of scale.
Today Kirby turns two. She was just a tiny little thing when we got her. I never thought she would be as big as she is today, but we love every inch of her.
This is how she is spending her birthday-
You would think the sun was shining just for her. The only thing she would like better is to be out eating grass (or the best eating dandelions!).
Here's an earlier picture of our little St. Patrick's Day baby.
It certainly felt like Spring today. I decided to take the boys (Hoover and Gryff) with me while I walked the fences. Between the wind and the deer there were a lot of rails down and they don't get back in place on their own. I actually like walking the fences. I get to see things from a different point of view. As long as I stopped to throw the ball for Gryff every few minutes everyone was happy.
I saw some lichen (I'm guessing) growing on a rail. I had never seen this bright red before.
Then I saw these mushroom like growth on an old stump. They remind me of turkey feathers.
After we had walked all the fences and Gryff had decided that he was so warm he had to lay in a puddle, we walked around the pond to see if any fish were swimming about. We didn't see any fish but I did see a sad sight. I'm pretty sure that Jeremiah, the big, big frog passed away over the Winter. He was the loudest frog on the pond. Sometimes he would wander to the pool and I would fish him out and carry him back to the pond. I'm not sure how frog reproduction works but I don't think he got to fertilize any eggs this season. Hopefully some of his offspring are around. I don't even really know that he is a he. But I did look forward to seeing him every year.
My sister's dog Gryff (short for Gryffindor) is staying with us for a bit. Kirby and Hoover love having their cousin around. OK Hoover loves it but Kirby is indifferent.
Gryff is a Border Terrier. He is a ball freak. He will let you throw the ball until he is near exhaustion.
When Gryff is around he makes Hoover seem like a giant. Having two dogs is twice the fun. It does mean double tummy rubs in the morning, and a little less space in the bed but totally worth it.
Who could resist that face?
There is a lighthouse right next to the George Washington Bridge. I never knew it was there. Apparently there is a popular children's book about it. I've been told that you can see it from the Henry Hudson if you are on a bus, you have to be high enough to see over the wall. A big SUV will also give you a view.
I googled it and found out you can go to the lighthouse and even go inside it. It is on my list of things to do for 2009.
Here are some pictures of the George Washington Bridge. I had this amazing view from the Milstein Hospital, which is part of the Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. I was in the city to give some moral support to my sister while her husband was having surgery. Once the surgery was over and we knew he'd come through it without a problem I felt like it was OK to take some pictures.
It's funny how I didn't want to take any pictures until I knew he was going to be alright. As if by taking pictures I might make things go wrong or it was improper to take the pictures until we knew he was out of surgery. Strange how my mind works. 
I was so happy that I had my camera with me when I saw these orchids in the bathroom of my sister's apartment.
I really wish I knew something about taking "real" pictures. I'm just a point and shoot kind of girl. So I played with the different setting on my camera and took some with and some without the flash
I also took some at night when there was less light coming from the window behind the plant. But I think the ones with daylight coming through the window are better.
Digital photography saved me a bundle on this one. I went a bit crazy taking about one hundred pictures. I probably wouldn't have taken as many pictures if I had to develop film.
I took the train. I probably would have made it just fine driving in but why risk it. I took a few pictures with my phone but I have have better ones on my camera that will have to wait until I'm back "upstate." Above is a picture of the subway station at 72nd and Broadway.
In an ironic twist of luck (for me) New York City got more snow that we did at my house. So I actually hit the snow jackpot.
So rare to see the snow while it is still pretty and white here. I have to say that they clean up the streets and sidewalks like real pros in the city. They don't mess around.
So we are bracing for a big snow storm. The forecasters are using such exciting words, Mega storm, the big one, blizzard conditions. These are words I long for. I love snow and big snow storms. The more snow the better...but not tonight.
I have to go into the city tomorrow. I very rarely go into the city and normally I would be so very happy to watch a big snow storm but I don't want to have to drive in one. Now I know how the rest of the world feels. Well, sort of. I'm not dreading the snow, or cursing it. I'll still think it is beautiful. It will still make me smile.
Maybe I'll take the train. I wonder if the trains run on time in a big snow?
I'll have to find the MTA website.
Wish me luck.
