Sandy Arrives in VT with Fancy Moves

Hurricane Sandy's arrival in south central Vermont

With memories of Irene still whirling around this town, preparations for Sandy were serious but not panicked. There was not much going on all morning after a little bit of daybreak drizzle and the famed "red sky in the morning" but then just after noon time the sun peeked out, the wind kicked up a bit, and the sky flipped us a gift: a rainbow over West Rutland.

I caught this photo from the front porch  at 12:15 Monday. After this little teaser, Sandy got more serious; the wind started gusting and blowing steadily, then a few hours later it started to rain, but not serious rain, just a shower type rain.

This is a huge contrast to the weather at our family home in Pennsylvania where rain and wind were relentless, water was everywhere and roads were flooding by 2pm. At 9pm the howling wind was dropping branches on the roof and the lights were blinking.

Last Halloween's freak snowstorm debris JUST got finally cleaned up last week in PA.  Please give us more of the rainbow attitude Sandy ... please?

Handmade Wood Toys - Simple Treasures for Tots and Collectors

Wooden Toy Truck - Hand made by KPTCO, Milford, NH USA

Back in the last century, a young dad decided to try his hand at making wooden toys. He designed  a fleet of sturdy trucks, cars, bulldozers and other toy vehicles that he made at home without paint, nails or screws. Wooden toy trucks and cars in the collection were originally designed to seat the popular "little people" (made by Fisher Price) that his own children loved.

Flash forward 40 years and that craftsman dad is now a grandpa and after more than three decades, the kids who loved those toys  have passed along their cherished trucks and cars to their own children or are buying these sturdy safe toys for their nephews, nieces, grand kids and neighbors.

And, happily, Bob Farrow is still making the durable and beloved wooden toys he designed in 1973. Each one is crafted by hand in his home workshop in Milford, New Hampshire. The only thing that's changed: the driver/passenger characters are simple one-piece people figures made from clear maple wood.

Wooden Toy Truck and Bulldozer

We can attest to the durability and playtime value of hand made wooden toys by Bob aka KPTCO (Kee Pon Truckin' Company) and to the love and attention he puts into each and every one of his creations. The toymaker works alone, on his own, cutting, sanding, assembling and finishing every single truck, car, "doodle" vehicle or custom toy by hand.

These hand made wooden  toys are built to last through years of creative play.

Designed, cut, sanded, glued and assembled by the toy maker himself,  KPTCO toys have been loved and tested by two generations of boys and girls (not to mention their parents and grandparents) since 1973. In fact, adults enjoy playing with these toys as much as children and many designs would make a perfect desktop or nostalgic home accessory.

Maple and Walnut Delivery Truck Toy by KPTCO, Etsy

Although KPTCO wooden toys don't wear a coat of paint they've got  plenty of fancy style.  Details derived from the way the pieces are cut and shaped and from the varieties of wood used to make them give these toys plenty of personality. The popular moving truck or box truck comes complete with a rear flap door, made from recycled denim or canvas. Log and utility trucks carry their own custom wooden freight pieces.

Most of the wood toy designs also come complete with a driver figure and many include a passenger, too - simple maple figures purchased from a reputable supplier.  These hand made wooden toys are true collectibles, built for years of imaginative play and memory making, from unique designs. You can't find these same toys anywhere else.

Check out all the cool crafted in New Hampshire wooden toys at the KPTCO Etsy shop. Your only problem will be deciding which truck, car or bulldozer to buy for your children, grandkids or ... yourself.

Be a Smashing Pumpkin for Halloween

Source: squidoo.com via Lee on Pinterest

So, you don't know what to wear for a Halloween costume this year?   Be Halloween. Be the pumpkin.

Whether you opt for comfort, simplicity, sexiness or the scare factor you can find a prize-winning costume to suit any man or woman in this collection of pumpkin costume and mask ideas.

From the office or classroom proper tee shirt to the skimpiest little pumpkin princess outfits or hideous pumpkin ghouls, there's a gourd outfit that's sure to be a smash for any adult.

Smashing.Halloween Pumpkin Costumes for Adults

Transforming an Old Building - Vermont Farmers Market

Another step in Rutland's Recovery and it's a major one. The Rutland Winter Farmer's Market will be housed in the new Vermont Farmers' Market building on West Street in Rutland, Vermont.
It's going to house a commercial kitchen, year round education resources, winter market vendors and so much more - and it's being transformed from an abandoned building on West Street, near the railroad tracks in Rutland. Lots of volunteers are making this dream into a reality - this video shows you the first steps taken.

The Rutland Winter Market is slated to open in the newly remodelled building in early November, 2012. Today the team is calling for volunteers to come down to scrape and prime the building to prep it for a new coat of paint next week.

Get more info here: www.VermontFarmersFoodCenter.org

Brain Image, Embarrassing Incident Memory Bank

I don't know about you, but this is how my brain works ... now why can't the synaptic videographers and librarians be so efficient when I'm trying to find my keys ???

Cartoon by Dave Walker.

Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Night Visitor Chose Late Checkout

Luna Moth

Every night a wonderful assortment of moths gather near the dim light of the front door. In the morning it's interesting to count the different colors and types of night fliers that spend the day on the shutters, flag, plants and screen door. They don't seem to mind our coming and going through the door and on the porch during the day. They snooze and wait for dark.

Last night this beautiful luna moth must have decided to rest in shelter when the sun came up. I found it sleeping on the potted hibiscus tree, right next to the door. I happened to spot this gorgeous visitor in mid-afternoon. Shortly after our impromptu photo session, this green and purple lovely flew into the forest, high into the pine trees. Maybe he or she will return tonight! 

And then there was mulch ...

Now that the front yard has 3 levels instead of a steep slope, and all the boulders have been placed to create wide spaces for gardening, wandering and stepping between levels from driveway to porch, the mulch is down.

All that's left for us to do is plant ... and we have plenty of perennials to move from our old gardens to these new beds.

Those little sticks in the front are markers for where we're planting two winter berry shrubs in one of the three rain gardens along the driveway.

Oh, and that bit of grass that remains in front will be left in place to filter any runoff until the plants are established, then I'm converting it to ground cover plants. No mowing!

Front Yard Changes

Ready to start the rock walls

This is the before view of the front yard. You can get a sense of just how steep the slope is from the house to the woods area where I was standing when I snapped this photo. The contractor installed heavy-duty silt fence to protect the downhill property and the stream that's about 100 feet beyond.

View from the porch landing
This shows the front yard and woods beyond it before terracing or silt fence added. What you can't see is the rushing brook that's about 100 feet away and runs all along the front of our property near the road. Our driveway crosses the brook so we have a 5 foot culvert to maintain at the end of the driveway. The brook gets a bit wild during spring runoff, wild rainstorms and oh yeah,  hurricanes.

Week 1, 3 Days of Landshaping

Rock wall, right side

The big rocks that support the first terrace level in the front yard got laid on Day 1. Here's a view of the front right side as it looks from the second level.

The middle section of the wall continues like this across the front, and at the left side there's a set of stone steps made from native rocks.

All this now-level land was once a steep dropoff that started about 4 feet from the foundation of the house. It was nearly impossible to walk around the house without tumbling or slipping.

Rock wall, at mid section with steps and right side of wall

Now we have three stone steps that take us from the upper terrace or the porch steps on the left side down to the second terrace level gardens.

The second level of the garden area will be very broad - wide enough for big garden beds plus room to drive a lawn tractor through to distribute mulch and plants for the next 20 years.

Let the Earthmoving Begin

It's a sorry sight, this struggling landscape. But after today, the sea of weeds, scruffy grass and dandelions will be no more. We're bringing in the big machine and tons of designer dirt and giving this small patch of Vermont hillside the cure.

After all the earthmoving, rock setting and soil dumping this will become a paradise of gardens with walkways, perennial flowers and shrubs, herbs, garden whimsies and lots of interesting nature.

One thing this yard will not have: grass. No lawn to mow. EVER.

A Bee in Her Bonnet, NO A Bug In Her Boot

Last night a big ole June bug was banging against the porch window screen and setting off the auto-trigger on the porch light. Poor dumb thing got stuck for awhile in the window screen mesh and that made one heck of a racket.  Sure startled me with all the buzzing and banging,  and got the kitty cat worked up and ready to kill  (she thinks she is a guard dog ...).

Well, little June bug got his just desserts for taking that wild flight last night, because he ended up stuck inside my muck boot and I guess he could not figure out how to fly or climb out so spent the night and most of today down at the base. Must have felt like Alice down the rabbit hole. I nearly squashed him a few minutes ago when I went to slip into my boots for a quick photo session before the landscaping work starts tomorrow.

Here's the little June bug-ger (don't they know it's still only May?) before I evicted him (her?).

Office relocation - to the porch!

Ah, Spring. My outdoor office is officially open.