Whew. Summer arrived right on time. The past two days have been in the 90’s with high humidity, taking the heat index right over 100 degrees! It’s good for the pool (which was opened last week right before we got back) since it needs to come up a bit in temperature, but it’s not good for much else. I need to get some more weeding done but it’s too muggy out there for me.

The ferns are going crazy.

The bee balm is starting to bloom.

And the day lilies poolside are blooming too.

Last night after dinner Rick couldn’t stand looking at the pool any longer and he had the first swim of the season. 77 degrees isn’t too bad for the water temperature, but it’s still pretty chilly. I watched and cheered him on from the sidelines.

Bella was out with us as usual but Alex and Hailey preferred to stay in the air conditioned house. Can’t blame them.

Rick had just gotten out of the water when I heard a noise and Bella took off down into the yard and into the woods barking. Uh oh. I know what that kind of bark means. I ran to see what it was and saw a bear climbing up a tree. We grabbed Bella and bless her heart she listened and came with us.

I walked back down to the edge of the yard to take a closer look. I’ve learned over the years we’ve lived here to look up, way up in the tree. Sure enough, this bear had three cubs with her! I was so excited I was jumping up and down with joy! This is the first time in two years since they initiated the bear hunt again that we’ve had a momma bear! So great to see her and the cubbies!

It was getting dark so trying to get photos was challenging. This was the best I could do.

The three little monkeys!

Pretty momma!

Another one of the three cubs. I love the little guy sitting astride in the crook of the branch! They are so darling when they’re little. Three cubs is quite a lot. Two is pretty normal, but nothing like Fertile Myrtle’s Five. Do you remember them? Here’s a link to a video of them.

Here’s a pic so you can see how far apart the cubs were from the mother bear.

She was inside the perimeter of our fence which means the cubs had to crawl over it. We have several low spots in the fence from the bears climbing over so it’s not a big surprise. Still, it’s always a little unnerving to have them in your yard!

I don’t know if she’ll be back after all the ruckus or not. She didn’t seem too worried. I’m just so excited to have bears again. They are such interesting animals.

Yesterday was a glorious day! We’ve been waiting and waiting for weather like this: sunny and warm with a touch of breeze. Ah, YES.

The first thing I did was wash the sheets and put them on the line to dry. Nothing like fresh breeze-blown sheets!

We did some chores around the house and yard while Bella and Alex practiced being Siamese twins.

After a trip to the grocery store for supplies for dinner (BBQ ribs, coleslaw and corn) and a quick lunch we pulled Mia out and gave her a wash.

She was so shiny after her bath that I was compelled to grab the camera and started taking photos. The reflection of the trees on her hood was too good to pass up.

 

 

 

While taking these photos I realized that my reflection was there as well. I had fun snapping some silly shots. Can you find me?

 

 

After her bath we couldn’t just put her back in the garage on such a perfect ‘tops down’ day now could we? No! So we went for an hour’s drive.

We have several favorite routes that take us along wooded two-lane roads. And there is no such thing as a straight road where we live, so the little roads are perfect for Mia’s cornering abilities.

I like to shoot straight from the passenger seat on the sports setting for realism. Here is a sampling of our drive.

 

 

 

 

Read the sign!

 

The beautiful Warwick Valley (NY) in the distance.

 

A glimpse of Greenwood Lake, the largest lake in New Jersey which is shared with New York State. Our house is less than ten minutes away.

Today is supposed to be cloudy with some rain moving in later. We are planning on taking the dogs down to Green Turtle Pond then off to the opening day of the Warwick Farmer’s Market. I hope you enjoyed our Saturday!

I just got back from taking Alex for a walk even though it’s a bit blustery out there today. As we passed the little wooded area in front of our house it was hard to miss the large areas of bright orange on one of the cedar trees. What the heck?

At first I thought it might be mushrooms since it just appeared since our rain the other day. On closer inspection nearly all the cedar trees in that area were oozing orange goo. It looked like something from outer space! Yuck! You know me, had to grab the camera.

This tree had a different pattern of goo.

Up close and gelatinous! It’s very wet and sticky.

When I came in I googled “orange goo on cedar trees” and came up with something called quince rust. In a way I was right in thinking it was a mushroom since it is actually the fruiting body of a fungus. Here is a link to a pretty good article about it. It says it won’t permanently harm the tree, so that’s good.

Still … it’s very weird. What do you think? Would you like to have some orange goo of your own? I can scrape some off and send you some!

Just a few more photos from my trip to Skylands last week.

This row of cherry trees never let me down!

This little guy was flitting around from blossom to blossom. Pretty, isn’t it?

 

Statue with golden forsythia as a backdrop.

Or if you prefer, a statue with a pink cherry as a backdrop.

Close-ups of a grape hyacinth and a pasque flower. Things look so strange when you take a really close look at them, don’t they?

 

 

 

 

Do you see my name listed here?

Superior Court of New Jersey/Passaic Vicinage

Jury Reporting Information

For Petit Jurors On

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

THE FOLLOWING JURORS MUST REPORT TO THE JURY ASSEMBLY ROOM ON

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012 BY 9:30 A.M.

William Mitchener, Gloria J Snyder, Antonio Maciel, Gina Castro, Beatrice Jarrett, Cynthia Tassitano, Denise Rodriguez, John N. Bikoff, Michelle Ganguly, Kishor Rana, Laura A. Viade, Ceyhan Elipenahli, Clara Pena, Susan Bush, Javier Delrio, Kevin P. Meade, Darlene Pugliese, Andrew Bacsik, Rosalie Fisher, Evan OConnor, Katherine Bellorin, Susan Clair, Charles Jenkins, Vickie Gonzalez, Ellen Lee, Maribella Velez, Nexhmije Bedeni, Zoraida Lopez, Maryan Firrincili

ALL OTHER JURORS MUST CHECK THIS WEBSITE AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012 AFTER 6:00 PM

?????????

No! I don’t have to report tomorrow! Update to come on how the day went.