Three Sisters

Taken at my nephew Justin’s wedding in September
in Wheelock, Vermont
Taken by my daughter Amelia
left to right: Camille, me, Simonne
This is the first time the three of us have been
together in over forty years.

_/\_/\_

The Franklin Substation

One day John and I were driving home from Franklin, New Hampshire and I was holding my new Olympus Stylus Touch 8000 out of the window as I tried to learn its functions. We drove by this electrical substation and I actually got a well framed shot. I have always had a fascination with these substations but have never taken the time to learn about them. I read a little from Wikipedia tonight.

Where a substation has a metallic fence, it must be properly grounded (UK: earthed) to protect people from high voltages that may occur during a fault in the network. Earth faults at a substation can cause a ground potential rise leading to a significantly different voltage than the ground under a person's feet; this touch potential presents a hazard of electrocution.

_/\_/\_

Zorro's Chipmunks

Zorro is bringing chipmunks into the house regularly now. When we hear his yowl that tells us he has a gift for us, we try to meet him at the door in order to prevent more chipmunks from being released into the house. You can see here that the chipmunk is alive and alert in Zorro's mouth, and that is how they all come to us. We praised Zorro for his powers but wouldn't let him in, so he left the house and went over to the other door with his catch:

When he reached the deck with the chipmunk, he put it down but he too slowly put his paw on it to keep it still and it ran away.

This past week he and Pansy (our disabled cat) chased a chipmunk into the house. But as soon as it was in the house, they both left us and went to take a nap, leaving us to get the chipmunk back outside. Which we did. Chipmunk hunting is now Zorro's specialty. But it's getting a bit old as we constantly try to keep chipmunks out of the house.

_/\_/\_

LOL Cat Bible: Lectionary Readings for Sunday, September 27, 2009

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22 or
Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29
Psalm 124 or Psalm 19:7-14
James 5:13-20
Mark 9:38-50

Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22

1 so king n haman n esther b havin tasty foodz.
2 tasty foodz wuz gud so king ask esther "wot u want dis time?"
3 esther sez "i can haz life n mi ppl can haz life?4 cuz mi ppl haz been solded into nonlivng n dat not gud. not mind beeng solded
4 work, but not living v bad."
5 so king askz "hoo wud mayke u ded?
6 n esther sez "lol haman" n haman wuz scarded

9 n one gai sez 2 king "luk at v big rope swing haman builded 4 mordecai" n king sez "lol neck swing 4 haman insted"
10 n wen haman wuz swinging from big rpe swing, king b happy agin.

20 And Mordecai wroted dese things, and sent lolmail unto all teh Jewcatsz dat were in all teh placez of teh lolking Ahasuerus, both close and not close.
21 To set up this between dem, dat they shuld keep teh fourteenf day blahblahblah, and teh fifteenf day blahblahblah teh same evry year.
22 As teh dayz wherein teh Jewcatz napped from teh bad doodz, and teh month which was turned unto dem from sad cat to teh happy cat, and from sad day into a awsum day: dat they should make dem dayz of doin tings like eatin and trying to share but eating it first and w/e but we say dat already.

Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29

4 The peepul was laik "We can has cheezburger?"
5 "There was being much cheezburger in teh Egypt!"
6 "Now we has no cheezburger. Only is manna!"

10 Moses was hearing teh families sayin "Does not want!" at their doors. Ceiling Cat was laik "RAWR" and Moses was laik "Oh noes!".
11 Moses was laik "Ceiling Cat, why u is mean to me? Wut has i dun?"
12 "Is they mai peepul? Is i their doctor?"
13 "Where is cheezburger? They is saying 'We can have cheezburger?' to me"
14 "They is too heavy for me."
15 "If u is makin me do this, i wants die."
16 Ceiling Cat is laik "Bring me ur elders"

24 Moses told teh peepul wut Ceiling Cat sed. He fetchted seventy clever kittehs nd they standed in teh tent.
25 Then Ceiling Cat wuz flyin on his fluffy cloud, down to teh tent. He taked his fur nd put it on teh kittehs and they wuz knowin wut didn't happen yet!
26 But two kittehs called Eldad and Medad (theys not reely my daddy) stayed in teh camp place. They were clever kittehs but they didn't go to teh tents. But they gots Ceiling Cat's fur az well and they know wut didn't happen yet too!!
27 A baby kitteh sed to Moses "Eldad and Medad are sayin teh futurs in teh camp!"
28 Joshie, Nun's baby, hu wuz Moses' friend, wuz laik "U must b stoppin them!"
29 But Moses sed "RU jellus for me? I want all teh peepul to have Ceiling Cat's fur and be speekin teh futurs!"

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Psalm 124 1 Ceiling Cat beez on our side 2 Cuz if he nots and badcats attak us. 3 Dey wuld haf angr and dey wuld eated all our cookiez. Srsy. 4 Teh flood wuld haf eated us! 5 Teh waturz wuld haf takeded us awayz. Oh noes! 6 Yay Ceiling Cat! j00 dun let us get eateded by deh teef! 7 We escapded lik a littl burd and gotten away wit deh cheezburgers! 8 Tank j00 Ceiling Cat. j00 roxorz!

Psalm 19 1 ok guyz so liek dat hole in ceiling makez me worship Ceiling Cat. 2 evry nite he iz liek come into hoal n watch me masturbate n stuffz. 3 He nevar talkz or makez noize 4 but I no he watchez n mebbe vidyo tapez. Hole in ceiling == Ceiling Cat'z home. 5 In moarning he iz liek "4 shayme" but lukz happy n e wai. 6 No lolcatz hied from hiz watchingz. 7 OK so wat Ceiling Cat sez goez. He iz alwais rite. 8 liek srsly alwaiz. u lissen u be happyz and den it can be hugz time. 9 Ceiling Cat alwaiz fair n stuffz. liek alwaiz bow 2 him. 10 Srsly! moar want Ceiling Cat commandzmentz than cookiez or cheezburgerz! 11 Dey makez me smartcat n I getz prezentz foar obaying liek at crissmus! 12 we all haz invizible errorz but Ceiling Cat fixez dem withowt voiding warranty. plz be mah geeksquad, Ceiling Cat! 13 n dun let meh bez evul on porpoise. den I beez purrrfect. 14 OK srsly Celing Cat! Plz luv me n givez meh cheezburgerz. kkthxbai

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

James 5:13-20
Teh Prayr of teh Faeth

13 Ne1 has problums? Prey 2 teh Ceiling Cat. Iz yu happy? Den yu shud sing!
14 Yu has teh sick? Maek other ppls prey lots. Oilz wuld be gud 2.
15 Teh prayr of teh peepuls maek sick ppl better; Ceiling Cat will fiks all them. They maek invisibul errer? Ceiling Cat will maek it better.
16 So tell teh otehrs wen yu do somthing bad, nd maek shur evry1 preys so yu get better. Teh prayr of a good kitteh wurks lots!
17 Elikhat wuz jus liek us. He prey that it not raen, and no raen for long tiem.
18 Then he prayd moar, nd teh ceiling raended, nd teh plants growed.
19 Felluw kittehs, if sum1 not lisn 2 teh Ceiling Cat, nd then yer friend tells him to lisn so he does,
20 dun forget: If yu fiks a bad cat then yu saves his lifes nd maek urs better 2.

Mark 9:38-50
Happy Cat taeks Hiz d00dz 2 teh Meowntins

1 K den he sez, 'Dis wat im sayin to u, sum u kittens gonna b aliev wen Ceiling Cat taeks ovr teh Urfs.'
2 An 6 dayz latr he taeked Petar, Jamse, n Jon up 2 teh meowntins all by demselfs n He transformed LOL.
3 An His shirt ternded teh witest wite n teh Urf, srsly brite.
4 An den Elias and Mosis showded up n dey wuz txtin wit Happy Cat.
5 An den Petar sez, 'Mastr, we shud maek 3 tabrnclz (liek a tiny cherch LOL), 1 fer u n 1 fer Elias n 1 fer Mosis.'
6 He dint no wut els ta say cuz he wuz srsly skeert.
7 An den dis clowd shoded up n teh voyce of Ceiling Cat sez, 'Let me show u mai fav kitten. Mai fav kitten, let me show u him. U lissin to his meows, kthxbi'.
8 An den dey all lookin rownd but evrywon wuz gone but teh Happy Cat.
9 An den dey comeded down frum teh meowntins and Happy Cat sez 'Dont tell nobodi wut happnd hear til I comed back frum teh dedz, k?'
10 Den dey wuz all liek 'WTF he meenz comed back from teh dedz' cuz nrmaly wen u dedz u dont comed back so dey was teh confuse.
11 An den dey axd Happy Cat 'How comed teh kittens dat rite all teh stufs down sez Elais can haz comed back frst?'
12 An Happy Cat sez 'Srsly guise, Elais gotta comed back frst cuz he gotta fix sum shit, den teh script sez teh Kitten of Ceiling Cat can haz suffering.
13 But itz ok cuz he comed back jus now n you d00dz doned good, LOL.'
Happy Cat pwns teh Demanz
14 An den wen Happy Cat got back to hiz kittens

Weekend Cat Blogging
#225 is being held by Salome
at Paulchen’s FoodBlog?!

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos
Edition 108 | Oct 04, 2009
Sam & Mr Tigger at Life From a Cat’s Perspective
(submit your post here)

The Carnival of the Cats
#289 is going to When Cats Attack Sunday Evening
(submit your post here)

Visit the Pet Prayer & Praise Blog

Kitty Limericks

Technorati Tags: LOL Cat Church, LOL Cat Bible, Lectionary Readings, Prayer & Praise Blog, Weekend Cat Blogging

_/\_/\_

The Pooping Grasshopper

This series was taken in July during my grasshopper phase when Buddy was bringing a few a day into the house and the hoppers were all over everywhere. Wingnut would also bring me some and John would call me over for shots of one that he thought particularly interesting.

Because I was so focused on lighting and focusing (and that didn’t really work out in these shots because of the backlight), I never realized what the hopper was doing until I downloaded the photos to the computer. But while I was photographing him, I did have this eerie feeling that he was looking straight at me through the lens . . .

_/\_/\_

Fishing From A Kayak

Wingnut casts his line.

He caught a shiner!

Using the shiner as bait.

And finally . . . a perch. Too small to eat, though.

We had a great morning on Piper Pond as Wingnut was fishing. I practiced using the waterproof Olympus 8000 and practiced paddling maneuvers. I thought I had improved a lot, but alas. . . John says I am still woefully lacking in paddling skills. Wingnut is so much better than I am. We left when it began to thunder so we didn't get in as much fishing as we had hoped. This was our last summer outing with Wingnut. You can view a series of still photographs I used to make a 7 second video of Wingnut paddling on this pond by clicking here.
_/\_/\_

Turkey Traces

The flock of wild turkeys is on our property every day all day long yet I have only found one feather in the fields. One is better than none!

The turkeys take dust baths in two spots — out front at the edge of the drive where there are millions of ant nests. And out back, as seen here,  near the first pond (where the partridges bathe also). I hope to get photos of a turkey bath before the snow comes because they are hilarious things to watch.

Yes, there is plenty of turkey poo all over the place. But here is something interesting — the hens try to cover up their poo just like cats do. I suppose that is because of predators. But this defensive action just ain’t working! You can see the scratch marks as she tried to cover the scat up. Perhaps she lacks the ability to pay attention to details.

Technorati Tags: wild turkeys,feather,dust bowl,scat

_/\_/\_

My Clan

“Live Free or Die”

Little play New Hampshire license plates I found for all of my kids and their loves. There was no Amelia, but we all call her Amy anyhow. There was no Andrew and we have never, ever called him Andy. He’ll have to get used to it. And now you may have figured out Wingnut’s real name. And Amy and Matt are not in love but love each other. So here’s a silly gift you will all be getting if I ever haul myself off to the post office. The state motto really is Live Free or Die and it is on the plates. But the Old Man of the Mountain? Just a memory. He fell off Cannon Mountain in May 2003.

_/\_/\_

Partridge Feather

  A typical feather of a partridge. They hang out near the first pond and take dust baths in the sand.

Technorati Tags: partridge feather

_/\_/\_

Playing with Bad Photos

_/\_/\_

LOL Cat Bible: Lectionary Readings for Sunday, September 20, 2009

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Proverbs 31:10-31
Wisdom of Solomon 1:16-2:1, 12-22
Psalm 1 or Psalm 54
James 3:13 - 4:3, 7-8a
Mark 9:30-37

Proverbs 31:10-31

TEH PURFEKT WIFE

10 Teh gud wife iz bettr dan cheezburgrz! Srsly!
11 her huzban trus her, an he haz the monies
12 shez gud an don hert him.
13 gud wief iz maikin teh blankits for huzban to ly on wen he tyrd
14 she olwaiz maikin teh dinur on tiem
15 she werk vewee hard evun in nite tiemz wen evrywan els b sweeps.
16 her tinks bout feeld, n sez, I wantz it, and her baiz it. Den her maekz graepz grow in teh feeld. srsly.
17 her is srsly pwnzer, n herz got lotza strengthz, more then u.
18 Her maekz gud stuffz an lotsa muneez, and her can stayz up all nites!.
19 her uzez dis staff, or mebe dat won, n she holdz it n her pawz.
20 she giv her spayr cheezburgerz an cookiez to demz dat iz not having ne!!
21 wen it snoez she be liek totalli kOOl cauz she alredi makeded teh scarfz an hatz for her huzban an bebeh kittehz
22 she also makeded lots blankeez for dem to sweeps on
23 an teh peepelz dey all lieks her husban an dey lets him makeded up sum of teh rOOlz
24 she maiks fings to sell so she gets lotsa moar muneez
25 she iz strong kitteh an happi kitteh
26 she haz teh wizdumz an she shayrz it wif uver kittehz hoo iz looking fur it
27 she taik cayr of her hawse an bebeh kittehz an she nevur b lazee evur - srsly!!!
28 shez huzban an bebeh kittehz dey iz luving her lots
29 lots of wimins iz gud but she is teh bestest - srsly!!!
30 teh wiminz hoo be all charmin - dey be liarz, teh wimin hoo iz pritti, dey gets uglee wen dey iz ohld but wiminz hoo is skaird of teh ceiling cat is teh bestest!!! SRSLY I tellz yu
31 giv her teh cheezburgerz - she ern dem an den yu tell all teh peepels she iz gud kitteh! kthx

Wisdom of Solomon 1:16-2:1, 12-22

Teh Beluved:
16 Ur teh handsum, mah luver!
And ur charmin.
Our green bed be teh virgin!

Teh Luver:
17 Teh beemz of our houz be cedarz
and our roofthings are ferz.
1 I is teh flowerz ov stuff.

12 It is teh spring! Dere is flowers growed, birdies out of tune, and turtles is talkin. Srsly, wtf up wit dat?
13 Teh fig tree is put for her green figz, and teh grapez smell nice. Get up, plz, kthx.
14 Joo is a dove, always up in teh rocks and stuff, stop hidin in stairs, let me see joo, let me hear joo, cos yur voyse is nice, k."
15 Go catch teh fokses, teh tiny fokses, cause tey be messin up teh vines with grapez agin. wtf, fokses? srsly, don do dat.
16 My lover is mine, and vice versa: he eats with cheezeburgers with flowers. Srsly.
17 In teh morning, be like a row or hart or hind (stil don kno wtf dose are, tho) and go to Bether. srsly, joo shoul go der.

Psalm 1 1 Blessid iz da feline no walk in counsil of wickid, no place paws in path of da sinnerz, no sit and purr with da mockerz. 2 But der delightz in lawz of Ceiling Cat, an ponderz much. 3 Tehy liek treez bai teh waterz, dat yieldz teh good fr00tz. Leef duzn't wither, prosperz much. 4 Not so teh wickid, dey like chaffz pwnt by windz. 5 Derefor wickid doezn't standz in teh judgemint, or sinnerz in assembly of teh rhytchus. 6 Ceiling cat watches over whey of teh rhytchus, whey of wickid getz pwnt.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

James 3:13 - 4:3, 7-8a
2 Kind Of Smartness

13 Who r teh smart 1z among u? Let em show it by all dere humbel chezburgerz.
14 But if u r jeluz of other d00ds cheezburgers, dont tell any1.
15 Dis kind of "smart" iz not frum da Ceiling Cat, but frum teh urth.
16 Wen u r jeluz of other d00ds cheezburgerz, u wil lose all ur cheezburgerz.
17 Teh smart dat comez from Ceiling Cat luvz it wen all catz r kewl wit each othr n evrybdy lisN 2 each othr n evry bdy shaer cookiez.
18 Peacecats who sow in paec will raies a harvest of cheezburgerz.

LisN 2 teh Ceiling Cat
1 Why ppl git mad @ eachothr n stuff?
2 U want cheezburgerz, but no has. U pwn, but no has. U do not has bcuz u no ask Ceiling Cat, remembre?
3 When u ask, u do not has, bcuz wen u ask 4 cheezburgers u rele want teh cheezburgers for yu nd not for teh sharing and gud things. WTFXUP?

Mark 9:30-37

30 An den thay leavded thar an went to Galilee, but they wuz cloked in stealf mode. 31 An Happy Cat teeched tham: 'Teh Kitten of Ceiling Cat getz pwnd by sum d00dz an respawns on day 3. Teh vid will prolly go on YouTube 5 mins l8r LOL.'
32 His d00dz wer all liek 'WTF he meen?' but noen of tham axd cuz thayd be a totl n00b.

Happy Cat teld Hiz d00ds not to maek fites
33 An den thay spawnd in Capernaum, an thay wuz in teh base and Happy Cat axd dem 'O BTW, wut waz u guise maekin fite abowt erleer?'
34 But nobody sed nothin cuz thay wuz maekin fite bout hoo getz to be most l33t wen Happy Cat getz pwnd.
35 An Happy Cat sez to dem all: 'Teh d00d dat try to b teh l33tz getz pwnd an haz to b teh n00b bichboy.'
36 Den he hugz a litl kitten an sez:
37 'Any d00d dat be nice to teh kittenz getz mah lvl up, an mah up iz l33t cuz its Ceiling Cat's mod.'

Visit the Pet Prayer & Praise Blog

Kitty Limericks

Technorati Tags: LOL Cat Church, LOL Cat Bible, Lectionary Readings, Prayer & Praise Blog, Weekend Cat Blogging

_/\_/\_

Wingnut Saws Rocks

After our expeditions collecting rocks at Ruggles Mine and the abandoned quartz mine, John taught Wingnut how to cut his rocks on a diamond saw. What did they make? We can’t tell you. It’s secret until Christmas!

_/\_/\_

An Abandoned Quartz Mine

The first weekend of August we took a hike up to an old, abandoned quartz mine in Springfield. We are unable to find any history on these mines that were in the area but there were many of them. They mined quartz, feldspar and mica (like Ruggles Mine).

View Colabe Mine on Melvin Hill in Springfield, NH in a larger map

This was a short hike (half a mile up and half a mile back) (or 0.8 km each way), gaining 170 feet (51.8 m) of elevation. The old road began on Route 4A near Mud Pond. The lower trail at Mud Pond was flooded so we took off our shoes, rolled up our pants and waded through the warm water. The photo below is a good example of “black water”: water with decaying vegetation that colors the water brown but the water is clean for swimming.

We saw trillium in seed and so much evidence of moose (scat, tracks and beds) that we were prepared to see one on the trail. Moose are so large that they don’t like traveling through the forest and would prefer using old roads and trails. Unfortunately we saw none. Finally we reached the top of the ridge and saw the trailings and clearings of the old mine.

We found great specimens of quartz, garnets, mica in books, feldspar and even uraninite. Below you see a piece of quartz with green garnet crystals and mica. The blue of the mica is caused by the reflection of light.

Below you see quartz with black uraninite — a uranium oxide, often called pitchblende, found in substantial quantities in quartz in New Hampshire. The gold colored mineral under the uraninite is feldspar. It is radioactive.

John & Wingnut continued to hunt for good specimens as I photographed them.

They found beautiful pieces of quartz:

. . . and golden chunks of feldspar with mica and quartz:

There was old, abandoned mining equipment rusting in the woods that have returned to the site.

There were two beautiful quarry pits that were now flooded with water and full of fish and amphibians. There was ample evidence of wildlife in the area using the quarries for water and food.

We found another pile of tailings, and as Wingnut explored it, John and I rested, shot photos and enjoyed the beautiful, hot summer day.

The woods were full of blue, ripe lily of the valley fruit.

We believe this is the unripe lily of the valley fruit before it turns blue.

There were rare mountain ash trees.

Finally we began our way back down the ridge to the car. We had many beautiful samples of rocks and minerals with us.

You can see many other photos of this hike in the Hike to Historic Quartz Mine Set on Flickr.

 

Technorati Tags: uraninite,pitchblinde,quartz,feldspar,mica,garnet,quarry,mine,mountain ash

_/\_/\_