Critter Cam

 We got us one of them critter cams to guess-ticulate what walked around the back-yard once the sun went under the covers. Possum! Don't try and caress one of these princesses of the night as they will gladly feast on fingers and toes as well as hop toads.

 This here skunk been acting like he own the place. Sit down, Mr. Man! You best smell what you shovelin! Don't make me come over there!

We tried baitin the field with the help of cat food and beer. No critters up in here! Still trying to get a picture of a mountain lion or a grizzly adams. We'll keep all y'all posted.

Next stop... Gaysville!

 These days, if you aren't in Gaysville, you probably wish that you were.  It wasn't so "groovy" when I was twelve!

 Not having children of our own, on the occasion that we "borrow" one (like Noah here), we have no idea how to properly care for them.

 Our very own "organic" vegetables. An unyun, pees and Toddy-taters.

 Back to New Jersey for Taylor's graduation party! Conratulations Taylor!

 The kegerator! So many memories!

 Land shark!

Back in the Vermont... Mushrooms is crazy!

 Shelly practicing the dark arts to get a fire started.

 A lazy Vermonts afternoon!

 I call this plant, "The Prickler".

The Wallingford Cemetery. Why not come visit?.....  Forever!

So I decided to hike the trail to Little Rock Pond. It's high summer which means everyone is trying to get either the Appalachian Trail (over-achievers) or Long Trail (under-achievers) off their bucket list!

This is the Little Rock Pond. I met a bevy of hikers on the trail; some stunk and some didn't. It was a good mix.

Newts are real! Unlike the Seven Cities of Gold or Trickle-Down Economics. Who knew? They may be real, but that doesn't mean they aren't lazy. Am I wrong?

View of Little Rock Pond from the Little Rock. There were rumors of treasure on the island from a band of forest pirates. I would have looked for it myself but there just wasn't enough time.

That's the "Little Rock" near the bottom left that gives the pond it's clever moniker!

I'm not sure why, but I love "captain obvious" signs like this. The sign is on the Little Rock itself, near the 30 foot drop to the rocks below. It reads "no camping". Admirable restraint to not make it "no camping, stupid."

There sure are a lot of signs off the beaten path...

The trail marker. Nature's way of saying, "this way, jackass."

Trail fruit! To eat or not to eat? I guess it depends if you remembered to bring the toilet paper... or not.

Moosey

 Shelly see'd a moose! About damn time! People are always like, "Moose this" and "Moose that" up here (in the Ver-monts)...  Turns out they're as real as the Tooth Fairy and Jeebus!

 Even squirrels gotta sleep. I just never caught one at it!

 Yup. The "bird" feeder.

 Loons. As close as I could get to them...

 Beaver. Doin' beaver stuff. On Glen Lake.

 Glen Lake, Vermont. Yeah, I'm there often...

 Unidentified frog in the backyard.

 View from the "marble patio" looking to the backyard. Them's peonies flowers.

 From the garden: (toddy) Tater plants in the foreground and greem beans in the back...

 Peas!

 Danger... on Lake Bomoseen!

Good weather for yard work! Some wicked thunderstorms come through on Sundee.

Corpse Boat

Garden Time lapse. Literally, watching the grass grow.

Did you imagine life in Vermont was this exciting?

Went for a hike at the Shaw Mountain Natural Area (owned by the Nature Conservancy).

Here you can write sweet nothings to the next lonesome hiker(s)...

Natures is crazy. How did that happen??! If someone knows what this thing is called, let me know.

Shagbark Hickory.

Millipede, with legs.

Hobbiton... errr, Benson, Vermont.

Note the fence around the garden. This keeps out deers, rats, woodchuck, rabbits (esp. female; aka 'rabbitch'), roosters, crows, dogs, snails, wampus, kittens, racoons, fox, wild mouse, cougars, raven, chip-o-munk, beaver, the common garden moose and walking birds.

When I mow the grass, I leave a little somethin' for the bees.

A reassuring sign...

 Glen Lake. It's one of the prettiest lakes in Vermont. Unlike most of the rest of the lakes I've been on here, there are only two houses on it. There are too many lakes here with houses all along the shore! I've seen the "Don't Jersey Vermont!" bumper stickers... unfortunately in some parts of Vermont, Jerseyfication has already taken place (I'm looking at you Lake Bomoseen, Lake St. Catherine and, basically, all of Rutland).

 I thought this couple had a corpse in their boat. Corpse boats are a thing here (at least I imagine they could be)! But, turns out, it was a real alive-man.

The garden in full bloom.

The Gardening

 The weasel. Appears near the barn. Bane of the chip-o-munk.

 The cat. Trying on a new hat.

 Just vegetables. Nothing you can smoke, you damn hippies.

 Looks like a good place for a "garden".

 Gardens need raincoats too. Why not decorate the raincoats with sticks? Wood is water's natural friend. Rain goes right to the wood leaving the raincoats dry! Genius!

 Bringin' the tractor in for a tune-up. Should we be worried about the tractor graveyard?

 Horse tries to kiss Shelly. Ewww. Horses smell like horse poop.

This horse is keeping it's distance. It smelled like he just farted. Or pooped. There was poop everywhere.

 The "garden" map. Sorry, no actual treasure.

 The return of the weasel. He's in the chip-o-munk house. Bad news!

 This is how you garden! With sweet-ass hats on your melon.

 How many beers can you spot in this picture?

 Only two plots not done...

The end of a long day of hard labor. No better way to relax than to climb a tree.