Maureen’s Blog

This weekend was definitely on the chilly side here in CT so a walk around the reservoir was the extent of outdoor adventures for Saturday and actually the photographs did come out rather cool…the ice had an interesting pattern to it due to the wind blowing across the open water.

Then on Sunday is was a beautiful sunshiny day so we went to explore Sessions Woods in Burlington, CT which is a wildlife management area and is 445 acres packed full of neat nature stuff like beaver ponds, walking trails, bubbling streams and actually last year I saw a dead black bear…that wasn’t very fun at all!

And to cap it all off there was the walk along the Farmington river….the ice which formed around the rocks I thought was particularly neat,  the ice seemed to be about a foot above the current water level:

They could be mistaken for art installation pieces!

~Maureen

This weekend was full of life’s little wonders starting with the sighting of a bear print left in the clay at the West Hartford Reservoir…now what they’re doing out and about this time of year is a bit of a wonder!

A visit to the Mark Twain house in West Hartford was not only educational about one of our countries greatest writers but brought with it the unexpected pleasure of sighting a Red-tailed hawk flying amongst the trees:

And the weekend was brought to a close by yet another beautiful sunset:

~Maureen

The fact that I made it home On Time last Friday from Whitcha, Kansas is quite amazing as I had to fight two blistery storms, one being in Chicago and the other at my destination in Hartford. But I did make it without too much drama and everyone clapped when the wheels touched the ground in Hartford and we were not in a snowbank. I snapped some photographs from the airplane window so you can see the raging clouds from above.

The last photo is the result of about 16 inches of new fallen snow in my back yard:

Happy Winter Everyone!

~Maureen

I’m in Kansas for the week with Anna training a couple of new agencies which have decided to go the paperless route via Therap. The weather has been colder than I had expected and we woke to a few inches of bright fluffy new fallen snow which of course leads to great photography opportunities in my world So after the trainings and a quick stop at Starbucks, I was on my merry way to photograph this great little town’s grain bins as the sun began to set. I must admit I’m quite happy with today’s photographs so I’m posting a bunch to share:

Birds in flight:

These little houses are very prevalent here and are often found clustered around the grain bins:

This last photogrpah I had to stop in the middle of the highway to capture but I think it was well worth it!

~Maureen

Mount Higby was this weekends adventure and is a nice little hike just under 5 miles and is part of the 117 mile Metacomet Trail. What is truly fascinating about this particular trail is the unusual geological formations along the ridgeline which reaches 828 feet above sea level. The views were spectacular and I plan on returning with a basket full of goodies on a nice summer day

Personally I love ice storms as long as they don’t interfere with my life in any dramatically negative way (like those thousands of people who lost power last night in CT!). As I sat idle in traffic this morning due to a Fire Engine truck meeting two SUV’s, I  took the opportunity to snap some of those gorgeous ice covered trees lining the roadside:

Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of
trouble, attempts what is above its
strength, pleads no excuse of
impossibility
It is therefore able to undertake all
things.

– St. Thomas Aquinas

Every year during my childhood I would look forward to this particular holiday season as it meant feasting on Aunt Madeleine’s Pork Tourtiere…only available on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. This recipe was a secret of great great aunt Madeleine’s and she refused for years to share it with anyone…the consensus among family members being that she was simply selfish… until she died and left it to my great Aunt Eta. Now great Aunt Eta was also a person that held things dear and refused to divulge the secret to everyone either…until she passed about ten years ago and left it to my aunt Susie. Now aunt Susie is Not good at holding secrets at all and she promptly sent out a copy of great great Aunt Madeleine’s recipe to Everyone she knew. Last year we had a bake off as to who could recreate the Tourtiere perfection of our childhood…which not one of us achieved and we have since decided that great great Aunt Madeleine has held back a vital spice in the famous Tourtiere. None the less…here is great great Aunt Madeleine’s Pork Tourtiere recipe along with the recipe for her ever famous pie crust…Enjoy!!Happy Thanksgiving!!

~Maureen

It was bitterly cold this weekend here in CT with the wind blowing fiercely but of course I did manage to get out and explore a bit with the little hand held. The first photograph is taken at the Mc Lean Game Refuge in Granby, CT and the other two were taken just up the street from me at an old farm that is still up and running and is currently selling maple syrup and honey…yummy

~Maureen