A banner day!

I. Am. So. Freaking. Happy!  I now have freaking high speed freaking internet!!!!!  Yes! I can look at youtube, I can open pictures and see my grandbabies, I can stream freaking TV! I can join Netflix. I can open my Etsy store. I can launch my website. I can take classes. I can listen to Pandora. And, yes - OH YES - I can watch General Hospital! Woohoo! Ohmigod, I am so happy!! And it's all because of this man:

Well, and Fairpoint Communications. Thank you thank you a thousand freaking times thank you!!
In other news, this morning was the very first morning since I got here last month that the heat has not come on! Can you believe? Yup, 80 degrees today. It feels sort of unnatural after so much cold and fog and rain. The creek next to the house is usually a trickle by now. Check it out:

 These are wild iris growing at the mouth.

I. Am. Connected. Yes!!

I want to apologize to those of you who received spam in an email that looked like it was from me. I was hacked!! I have talked with aol and changed my passwords so I trust this will not happen again.
Very embarrassing to hear from my friend George in Northern Ireland, asking me why I was sending him info on Viagra.
Zoiks!!

Mother Nature

I took this picture of my front garden I think, about five weeks ago.

 Just look at it today!

My sister sent me a great oped piece from the Boston Globe yesterday, titled A Season of Strong Women. You can read it here:
 http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2011/06/21/a_season_of_strong_women
This is an excerpt that spoke to me:

"That jaded view of marriage — that it’s one of life’s relationships, but not the be-all one — has bled perfectly into this season’s political sex scandals. There’s something infectious about the wives’ newfound intolerance for bad behavior. Maria Shriver knew where America’s sympathies would lie (besides, Oprah was in her corner). And no one questioned why Anthony Weiner’s wife was absent from his self-flagellating press conferences. She left the shame where it belonged, with her husband alone. That’s a great lesson for young women of America: For better or worse, take care of yourself before you just stand by a man."

Right on, sister! 

* * * 

So, in other news, meet Dave!

Yes, I bit the bullet and hired an assassin to get rid of those HUGE spiders. Dave gave me quite an education around my infestation of Wolf Spiders. More than I really wanted to know actually. I would have been happy with, "I am now going to annihilate those ginormous spiders," but Dave is very fond of this subject. For instance, did you know that the wolf spider got his name due to an early belief that the spiders would actually hunt their prey in a group? Hello!! Living proof right here! Your's truly!  At least four of them OUT TO GET ME! Also, that their bite is venomous - although not lethal. And, they have four small eyes in the bottom row, followed by two large eyes in the middle row, and two medium eyes in the top row. How creepy is that. Also, that they are quite robust and agile. duh.  Anyhoo, I chose the organic option for what that's worth and if it works, they should soon be dying like, uh, flies.

GROSS!

Happy Solstice!

Only June, and I got the first tomato off my cherry tomato plant. Shout out to Beth's!

the plant

the tomato

the day

FYI

In case you were wondering what I do with my Sundays . . .

 LizzieAlone, Courtesy Boat Inspector! Defender of the Lake - out dam invasive plants! Here I am on the public boat ramp where I check boats coming in and out of the lake for invasives like Hydrilla and Milfoil, horrible plants that choke the life out of lakes and streams and rivers. I have not found anything yet but I have my CSI ziplock bags at the ready to send off to the State should I need to i.d. any suspicious looking plants.

When I drove home yesterday, I took the backroads to enjoy the scenery on such a beautiful day. Came across this farm in the middle of nowhere. If you can't read it, it says "Cow$hit Corners." I went through little villages called Alna and Chelsea and Knowlton Corner and Winslow Hill. Stopped in Augusta for some lunch and then meandered my way home for some work in the garden.

I title this picture: The Love is Gone.  Get it?

My poor former house looks so sad. I've been packing my things, sifting through many years of memories. What a waste. But enough about that.
I got home to the Lake last night with the rumble of thunder all around and the girls and I went out on the dock to watch the storm come in. So, the first thing that happened was four loons came swimming by and one had a baby on it's back. I don't think I've ever seen that before. Awesome nature moment. Here is what it looked like - not my picture.

But hold the phone. Then, two seagulls chasing the eagle flew by right in front of me, wheeled around and came back towards me. When he was right in front of me, the eagle dropped his fish right in front of the dock. It SMACKED the water hard, must have been about 8 inches long. I managed to grab Sophie before she went in after it. Cool, right? Here is what it looked like - again, not my picture. (Man, it's amazing what you can find on the internet - like, everything.)

Then, the storm was upon us and we ran for the house. 

Here is what it looked like from my living room. In a big rainstorm with lots of wind, every single freakin window leaks. The water runs like rivers down the wall and over the floor in search of rugs.