Party in the Riveria

Another Castle in Spain, and now we are in Monte Carlo, Monoco. We gambled at the Grand Casino (and lost), and got a look at how the "beautiful people" live.

No pictures as the internet is slow... I guess the super rich don't care about high speed.

Andorra

Okay, How many of you knew there was a country hidden in the Pyrenees mountains between Spain and France?
Okay -- well I didn't! Reminded me of Whistler/Blackcomb. It's a sky resort that is empty in the summer.
Many more great pictures as we rode the lift to the top - but Internet limited.

It's back to Barcelona, and off on a cruise tomorrow.

Forteresse De Salses

Castle/Fortress of Salses

Puivert Castle

A much lesser known Castle in Southern France.

"The" Castle at Carcacassonne

This is the Famous Castle in France.
Built 1260, 52 towers, 2 rings of walls at almost 2 miles.

The trip...

5 days in the South of France

12 day Mediterranean Cruise

4 days in Venice

don't hate.

A moment of Zen

White's Ferry

We live in a part of VA that has no bridge across the Potomac River. You have to go 40 miles north, or 40 miles south to get into Maryland.

However - this is White's Ferry.

When I first heard of White's Ferry, I envisioned a 300 car Ferry and when I came around the bend and saw this... my response was something like.... Oh hell no, I'm not getting on that!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1738mXTOMok

It's the only Ferry left on the Potomac River, and the coast guard has tried to shut it down. It's basically a barge that they pull by cable across the water.

Oh yeah in that video it's summer and green, but look at it in the winter, and since the water is higher it takes longer in the winter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p67fW7dIsMA

It's not so bad, and it is very pretty in the summer.

The mid 1800's

War Recruiting
Fire Fighting
Eating... lard

Harpers Ferry - with the Ingstads

Roger's family is in town, and yes again we went to Harpers Ferry.

Here are some different pictures from the town. You can find 3 other visits of Harpers Ferry in the blog list.

The fence - finished

The fence was stained yesterday. It looks good.

The legal battle with the fence is not over, but we decided it needed to be done before winter.

1st Day at HGS

I started at Human Genome Sciences today - its good.

The company is much bigger than I realized, almost 900 people.

It's a beautiful building of architectural art. I was given a large office space with a great view, and since the windows are tinted - the sun isn't killing me.

I'm in the very far right hand corner on the second floor.

--pointing --those windows riiggghhht ... there.

The rollercoaster commute

A couple of miles near the Potomac River is really pretty. This is the 2 peaceful minutes of my commute. I thought I would share with you the the ride, however it turned into a video that will make you think you are crazy. If you watch it till the end, you've will be wondering what you took that is messing with your mind...

Or is it just me?

Beware, and turn the sound down - the wind is loud.

Destructive Caterpillars

Do all caterpillars turn into butterfly's?

Soooo... I was outside last night, and saw all of these hanging off the trees. I thought .... wow why are there so many little dead pieces of the pine tree hanging?

I went over to take a closer look - I squeezed one and got the "willies" went it started moving!

Look at this thing - it's just laying around in its cocoon eating my tree. They ate more than 1/2 the leaves off my apple tree.

When you touch them they hide in their cocoons, and close up.

They need to go away - maybe if Ripley hadn't have killed all the new baby birds, they'd eat them. See what happens when the food chain is disrupted.

Not until you're 42...

When I was little and wanted to do something... my mother always told me "NOT UNTIL YOU ARE 42!!"

Strangely enough I finished a book today called "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy". I really didn't like the book, not sure I really understood the plot - however

In the book a very special computer gives the answer to life

.... the answer it gave? 42

Very strange

Will Obama Give In, and Follow the Negative Ads?

It's probably not a secret who I will vote for, however my husband really likes "the other guy".
All that aside, Obama has always said that he will not run a negative campaign.
McCain didn't even make the effort.
Obama has stood by his commitment. His ads are about him, and what he can do for you - they didn't even mention McCain.
McCain's ads are trying to blame Obama for gas prices and comparing him to Paris Hilton.

I'm so sick of Negative ads - I hope that Obama sticks to his commitment. I'm not sure it will work for him, but I appreciate that he is trying to change the way politics are done.

Someone has to stand up and do the right thing - the right thing is to talk about yourself and what you have to offer, not talking bad about your opponent.

On Notice

I've accepted a new job.
I gave notice yesterday.
Wish me luck.

Spenser's first visit home...

Spenser arrived in Seattle last night.

It's hard to go home, sometimes it makes you sad, sometimes it makes you glad - and sometimes it only confuses you more.

"Remember where you came from, but don't forget where you are going"

I sent him with a list of things he had to eat for me, with money. It goes something like this.

1. Round Table, Super Bacon Deli --$20
2. Elliott Bay Sub -- $10
3. Thomas Kemper Root Beer --$2
4. Henry Weinhart Root Beer --$2
5. Jamba Juice --$5
6. Lady Latte --$5
7. Tully's --$5
8. Pilchuck shake --$5
9. Dicks --$5
10. Yummy Teriyaki --$10

The "Black" hat

Spenser graduated from Fire School. He has successfully completed 140 hours of class time, burns, and the state exams.

No more Red "in training" hat, he now gets to wear the "Black Hat".

He starts EMT/Paramedic training in a few weeks. It's has 3 parts divided into 6 month classes

11pm, and only the top of the 8th...

This East Coast time zone sucks for sports!

You don't leave early to race home to see the game -- you come home, eat, work a little, do some laundry, mow the lawn, knit a sweater - AND THEN THE GAME STARTS.

This bites, Not sure I've ever watch an All Star game at 11pm.

**Update** Upsidedown Tomatoes

The tomatoes are starting to get ripe!

Pretty cool - huh?

Today I got housekeepers and a "Lawn Boy"

What difference a day makes!

4 women showed up this morning, and I came home to a very clean house. They did so much more than I expected. It wasn't just a clean house - it was a piece of freedom.

I've just not had time to keep the house clean, and it was a much better evening for me not worrying about my messy house.

Okay so my "lawn boy" isn't quite what I had in mind - but he's the green way to mow the lawn.

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Now ... trying to convince Ripley he wasn't his new play toy wasn't easy. I thought for sure he was going to get kicked.

___________________

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With no house to clean or lawn to mow - I got to relax this evening.

It almost makes up for NOT BEING ABLE TO WATCH THE HOME RUN DERBY! (I don't have ESPN)

It's all catching up to me, thus I've been out of touch.

"Never put anything on the internet that you would not want to see on the front page of the paper in the morning"

This advice was given to me long ago - and it's something that my husband REALLY feels strongly about. As I stated in my very first post - this blog will be filtered.

Life right now for me isn't great - I'm having neighbor issues with both homes, renter issues, a legal issue stiring, a home I can't sell (still 3 mortgages), job stress, and Ripley has began to think that maybe he doesn't HAVE to wait for the chickens, peacocks, or guineas to come into HIS yard - to cull them.

We are all healthy and not yet to the funny farm. I'm just finding happy things to blog about challenging.

The good news is that we have booked some time away. Spenser is going home for a visit in just 11 days - and Roger and I (with Sharon and Jerry) are taking a 3 week trip in September.

Root Beer Connoisseurs

Spenser and I love Root Beer.

We had some favorites in Seattle, and while it took us a few months to find a good one here - we have. It's called Hanks.

I brought back several of the local Maine Root Beer's. My luggage was checked three times because of it!

Where the green grass grows...

Technically this isn't really grass - it's a weed. It's grown 3 feet in 3 weeks!! We have a few patches of it around, but it's ironic how it chose to try and hide the push mower?