Happy Halloween to everyone!

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Halloween, postaday2015, trick or treat

   
   
The Nichols household is ready for the trick or treaters, I think. I bought a lot of candy, on top of what my husband had gotten and I still don’t know if we have enough. Today is Saturday and it’s a gorgeous day in the neighborhood, so we may have underestimated, trick or treat may go extra long this year. The kids and parents won’t be cold, daylight savings time isn’t until tomorrow, and tomorrow is still part of the weekend, parents won’t especially care if their kids are hopped up on sugar. This may be a long night, we might have a candy rebellion and I don’t have any back up candy. Oh boy. I may have to batten down the hatches. If only we  had a moat, I could then pull up the drawbridge, my husband and I have always fantasized about having a moat, over excited trick or treaters would be an excellent reason for having one.                          

Happy Birthday to our first born

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birthday celebration, postaday2015

   
   
24 years ago, our son was born at 11:41 at Saint Vincent’s Hospital in New York, New York. I can’t remember much from the past week, but the few days leading up to our son’s birth are cemented in my brain forever. I’ll never forget him coming into our lives and me panicking at the thought that I was forever going to be responsible for this little baby, I was terrified. Thank goodness my husband and my parents were there and before I knew it, our son and I were bonded together, thick as anything.

   
 
Today we are going to have a delicious dinner with all of his favorites, veal scaloppini, broccoli and ice cream cake. He is going to celebrate with his friends of course, but he is making time for food, he is part French after all. lol.

I can’t believe that 24 years have passed, I am now 48 and our son is 24, he has grown into a fine young man. I can still see our baby boy beneath the facial hair and the deep voice, he is so very talented both artistically and musically and he is a sweet, kind man.

We love him so much.

My backyard is tucking itself in

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fall, pictures, postaday2015

   
   
Stanley was being so cute, he is definitely a ham for the camera, I took his picture because he wasn’t letting me do otherwise. Each picture  taken at ground level  had to be retaken a few times, because Stanley inserted his  paw or his head into the frame, it was very funny.

   
   
Mother Nature never disappoints, when I came outside to document the naked trees, the fading colors and the  abundance of fallen leaves everywhere, I didn’t expect to see my spring perennial with two white flowers or my purple azalea hiccup two final blossoms. 

Instead of inspiring me  to write or take pictures, the colorful carpet of leaves across the entire backyard used to fill me with dread, the thought of all that raking  and bagging, ugh. On the bright side those days are long gone, ever since I read that raking and bagging leaves is unnecessary, leaving them to decompose naturally throughout the long winter does wonders for your lawn and keeps our landfills  empty of plastic bags and rotting leaves by the tons.

   
 

Some puppies grow faster than others

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dogs, pets, postaday2015, Stanley

   
   
We brought Stanley home on the 3rd of October, today is October 28th and he is almost as tall as Lulu. Jack was bigger than Stanley for about one week, now that ship has sailed, funny enough Jack likes Stanley more now that he is taller than Jack. Lulu isn’t sure what to make of this puppy who won’t stop growing everyday.  In the beginning Lulu was very maternal, now she is getting more playful and starting to rough house with Stanley, she isn’t timid with bowling him over like she was in the beginning. 

This morning I weighed Stanley, he was very cooperative, I carried him into the bathroom and sat him down on the scale, he stayed like the good little puppy he is and he weighs 20.4 lbs. On October 3rd, he weighed in at 9 lbs what a difference 25 days of good eating makes, that and sleeping.

   
   
We have been taking pictures of Stanley non-stop because before you know it, Stanely will be at least as big as his mom Pumpkin and she is a svelte 165 lbs,, his father Ralph is a much denser version at 200 lbs. We want to remember our little baby who we carried around for as long as possible. Twenty lbs is still an acceptable weight to haul around, I probably won’t be saying the same thing when the scale starts registering at 40, 50 and 60 lbs. lol 

Poor Jack, he is so put upon

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Jack, postaday2015, sweater

   
 
Poor Jack, if you look at him closely, he is sporting his most forlorn look ever, and why is that? I put a new sweater on him, that’s why. His tail is down, Mister tail wagger of a millions miles an hour, and he’s barely even looking at me for a picture, Mister I am a ham ordinarily.

  
 When he’s like this I can’t help but laugh, you would think that we denied him stuff, I told him that he had it pretty good compared to what Lulu had experienced before we rescued her and the look he gave me was priceless. I wish I had captured it because he didn’t seem convinced that he was living a life of leisure.  He is something else.  My little curmudgeon. lol

The gang in the park

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park, pets, postaday2015

  
Look at Lulu’s smile, is there anything more beautiful? I’m not sure what Jack is focused on, it was probably a bird or a chipmunk, but as usual he is primed for the pounce. Stanley is starting to like these small walks in the park, we take it nice and slow because he likes to take a minute here and there to sit and rest.

My husband did a great job getting their focus, without treats mind you. lol  Our walks are fun, Lulu and Jack buddy up on critter patrol, they are so serious about it, every sound, every smell has to be investigated. Stanley trots along, looking at what his older brother and sister are doing, not quite sure what is going on, but he seems happy to be included. lol

  

Sunsetish in Blandford

  
  

    

Today was a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Our neighbor’s tree is a gorgeous melange of orange, red and yellow, ours is always slow to change over, but it is well on its way now.  

Lulu still thinks that she is a tiny dog, not realizing that she is hogging the loveseat.

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Jack and Stanley are sitting nice and calmly waiting for their treats. I still get a kick as to how fast Jack’s tail wags, it makes the best effect in pictures. I don’t think Stanley’s tail will ever wag as quickly as Jack’s.

We love our dogs, they are such great companions, affectionate too. We are very, very blessed.
 

   

The Last Witch Hunter: a movie review

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movies, postaday2015, The Last Witch Hunter

   
 
My husband and I have seen almost every Vin Diesel movie or maybe even all of them, we like him and we like science fiction and together they make a pretty good combination. So when we saw the trailers for The Last Witch Hunter, there wasn’t any question about whether we were going to see, the question was when.

My husband thought it was fair, if you aren’t a Vin Diesel fan or a science fiction/fantasy fan, you will be very disappointed. I liked it, the movie filled all of the criteria, I wasn’t bored, time flew by without my mind disengaging from the story and I even laughed at times. Elijah Wood had the best lines in the movie, Leslie Rose has such a charming Scottish lilt and the gravelly timbre of Vin Diesel’s voice gets me every time.

The story is pretty basic, 800 years ago Vin Diesel battled the evil witch queen, he put her down but not before he was cursed with everlasting life. He joins with the brotherhood to continue ridding the land from the threat of witchcraft and we meet up with Vin Diesel in present day New York City.

We learn secrets, betrayal and sacrifice during his investigation into the death of his priest friend. The story takes you through time and dimensions until the secrets are laid out in the open.

One thing I love about Vin Diesel is that I never worry about him doubting himself, he may have doubts about his fellow travelers and characters but he is always sure of himself. I like that in a movie, it helps with the suspense.

I would suggest for most of you to wait until the dvd or HBO because with the price of movies nowadays, you may feel the pinch after watching it on the big screen, nothing against Vin Diesel.

Murry Hill area of New York

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New York, pictures, postaday2015

   
   
Murry Hill speaks Art Deco to me, this building up above with its spartan, elegant, strong stamped design caught my eye for the first time. I have walked past it hundreds of times, right now it has the Wells Fargo logo on the front doors, but I’m sure its orginal proprietors were more intriguing than a crooked bank. I can’t believe that I have walked right past it and never noticed its unique signature. How blind can I be, or was I walking with my head down, legs racing trying to get from point A to point B without noticing everything else that was right up above me? The building, called the Mobil building, was built in 1955, thank goodness for Google, originally it was intended to be brick but afterwards it was decided to be clad in aluminum until it was announced to be stainless steel, however it was designed, I’m glad that picked stainless steel, it is far more striking than any other material.

I was in that neighborhood visiting my dentist whose practice is on 30 East 40th Street right between Park Avenue and Madison, I called my mother afterwards to make dinner plans, pizza at Vesso’s on Lexington and 31st Street, right in the heart of Murry Hill. It’s a great neighborhood, my mother knew it well, her first office position was on Madison Avenue and 33rd Street, not too far from Lexington Ave.

The  glass building is right at Park Avenue and 40th Street, I love reflections, especially when it’s made up of buildings reflecting those around them, it provides so much depth and richness to a picture. This one is one of my favorites, I like both the simplicity and the complexity of the picture, I love snapping my camera, it makes for some pretty amazing shots. 

 

Charles Street and Beacon Hill

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Beacon Hill, Charles Street, postaday2015

   
 
   
   
   
    
 
   
 
I spent some time during our stay at Liberty Hotel walking up and down Charles Street taking pictures, not only of Charles Street itself, but of the side streets leading up towards Beacon Hill. This neighborhood is one of my favorites, I feel the history through the cobblestones, the bricks and and the architecture. I love the small stores, the boutiques and the specialty shops that make up the entire length of the street.

I had hoped that my pictures would have shown up the shops more clearly, but unfortunately the lighting wasn’t as bright as it needed to be, to highlight the charm of the entire street.

Next time we’re in Boston, I am going to make sure that I revisit the TATTE bakery and cafe, I walked in and swooned over the tiny pear tarts, the beautiful croissant and the other baked goods  laid out so enticingly to tempt the eyes  and the nose. All of the other shops were cute, but this bakery has my tummy intrigued, so I am looking forward to my next visit.