Order of the Arrow

We are so proud of Jack!  He was received into The Order of the Arrow this past weekend, entry into boy scouting following his time as a cub scout.  Ho joined twelve other scouts in the ceremony which included local dignitaries, families, and those who conducted the ceremony, dressed as Native Americans.

Jack dons his Boy Scout uniform

The procession begins

And here come the boys, blind folded

Jack's forehead has been painted

With his mom and dad, Jack receives the arrow painted on his forehead

A firm handshake for the dignitaries present who presented certificates

    

Halloween, 2015

October is a beautiful month here at the beach.  With the exception of a nor-easter in the early part of the month which stranded us for three days while high water surrounded our little house, the month has been kind with many warm days preventing us from dwelling on the coming winter.

On my birthday we went looking for a hint of Fall color and landed at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge.  We were rewarded with some color and a beautiful sunset.

Leaves beginning to change color in Prime Hook.

It is always a privilege to be present for such a sunset.

Our Bethany Beach landscapers added a "graveyard" to the holiday decorations this year.

And we added a dog to our Mr. Bones scenario in our neighborhood.

I read that Delaware's spookiest cemetery is located nearby in Frankfort, DE.  We went hunting for it with our cameras ready.

These lawn ghouls were about as scary as anything else we saw.

The cemetery is named for the Long family.

Many stones belonged to people named Long.

The cemetery is located on Catman's Road. Catman was the old cemetery care taker who reportedly looked like a cat and haunts this graveyard.  Happy to say he was not around while we were there.

Creepy, enough.

AUTUMN BLESSINGS greets people at Westwood.

After the rain

Spring came and then the flowers began blooming and then.....it stopped raining.  Once in all of May we had a good, soaking rain.  So the watering began....everyday.  Last night on the first day of June we had another nice rain and the temps which had gotten to the 80's dropped dramatically!  Today is a very cool, misty day.....back to spring.  I took a walk around the neighborhood to photograph welcome moisture.

rain has kissed the holly tree

bowing to the rainfall

our roses are just now blooming and really appreciate the rain

wonder if the birds will know this is rain water?

late rhododendron blooming in the woods

"peek-a-boo" through the tall grass

sure sign of June....honey suckle

Florida trip: THE PINEWOOD ESTATE

Pinewood Estate is a beautiful home on the Bok Tower property.

Nestled in the heart of seven and one-half lush acres at Bok Tower Gardens is Pinewood Estate, the enchanting 20-room Mediterranean-style mansion. Originally named “El Retiro,” meaning “retreat” in Spanish, the Estate was built in the early 1930s for Charles Austin Buck, a Bethlehem Steel vice president.

A beautiful kitchen garden contains these large heads of lettuce....

and quinoa.

Garden statue

I loved the layout of this kitchen cupboard holding everyday dinnerware.

The bathrooms intriqued me with their colorful tilework.

And always the beautiful carved doors.

Beautiful!

The office holding the home's only phone.

Breakfast served on a tray.

Steep stairway to the second floor.

Florida trip......BOK TOWER GARDENS

Approaching the site, we passed a beautiful and fragrant orange grove

Bok Tower Gardens (also known as Bok Mountain Lake Sanctuary and Singing Tower) is a National Historic Landmark, contemplative garden, and bird sanctuary located north of Lake Wales, Florida, United States. It consists of a 250-acre (100 ha) garden, the 205-foot (62 m) tall Singing Tower with its carillon bells, Pine Ridge Trail, Pinewood Estate, and a visitor center. The tower is built upon Iron Mountain, one of the highest points of peninsular Florida, estimated to be 295 feet (90 m) above sea level.^[4] It is a National Historic Landmark that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Gardens was one of our side trips from where we were staying the first week near Orlando with Jenni, Larry and Will.  The day they met friends in Sea World, we tackled this very beautiful sanctuary.

The carillon is housed in this beautiful tower.  We sat in a shaded area to listen to the carillon concert and watch the maestro on video as he played high in the tower.

Had to photograph this camellia as it laid by itself on a bench.

The reds were vibrant against the green wooded areas.

I love capturing photos of gates.  This one leads up to the carillon tower.

A magnificent sun dial attached to the side of the tower.

The Singing Tower

at last........SPRING!

Such a long and cold and wintry-mix kind of winter.  Sadness with the passing of my sweet dad....trips to Rochester to watch as he grew tired of this life, waiting to see my mom again for their grand reunion. And watching others fighting off the winter blahs.  Enough time has passed and we are in the midst of April, so surely this must be SPRING! Worth the wait as each day something else bursts forth in color.

Yellow is the first color out: daffodils and forsythia

Daffodils come in all shades and shapes of yellow

Early tulips blend with lillies

Lenten roses are especially beautiful this year

Our absolute first sign of spring is the return of our osprey

joined this year with a pair of egrets

Winter 2015

Though it is still ongoing and we are currently in the midst of a very long period of frigid temps, I think that finally posting some of my pictures of our cold months will help to usher in a warmer time and SPRING.

New York State blast of winter in December

                   

Ice in our neighborhood...just the beginning of a long seige of  cold weather

Snow on the mini...one of our quick blasts of snow showers

Our latest storm this past week.....about 8" (looks like cotton)

Overlooking the snow from our nature center boardwalk

....and walking around the hood.

Poor little robin thinks it may be spring