Emilie "Imelda Marcos"

Here is a just small sampling of Emilie "Imelda Marcos" footwear collection. Santa must have been dipping into some spiked eggnog when making out his naughty or nice list, as well as during his Christmas eve deliveries. It seemed as though every other present Emilie "Imelda Marcos" opened on Christmas morning was a pair of boots or shoes or sneakers or slippers. It only makes sense, after all Emilie is the First Lady at 732 Lincoln Street...

Imelda Trinidad Romualdez-Marcos

Snowman 2007

Emilie's first snowman of the season!

Unfortunately, mother nature had other plans for this dude, perhaps a higher calling. Hours after making this snowman the weather warmed and the rained moved in. Needless to say his stay was short and Emilie was upset but it's only December and we have a long winter ahead of us. We'll be making more for sure.

We just need to make sure that we build our future snowmen in a safe location. A safe location being one that my brother can't access with a Honda Civic. Ah, memories...

Miss Lila II

Merry Christmas Miss Lila, ho ho ho and a HAHAHA...

If you recall Lila is our declawed, indoor cat. Here she is reluctantly trying on one of her Christmas presents from Santa; a cute giraffe head piece thingy. As you can tell from the pics, she wasn't too happy. I can't imagine why, perhaps she doesn't like giraffes or maybe it was too small or possibly too tight but since I didn't put it on her it wouldn't be the latter. Anyway she'll just have to get used to it...







See previous post, "Miss Lila"

Wake Up Call

Here is a 1000 piece, 3' long rooster-shaped puzzle titled, "Wake Up Call", that Stephanie opened on Christmas eve night and had completed by noontime on Christmas day. We knew going in that this puzzle would not fit on the table when completed, hence the reason the roosters feet are where they are.

For unique gifts, creative games, unusual toys and original puzzles visit online Spilsbury Speciality Toys

Loud Monkey Sex

This just in from Foxnews.com...

Counting monkey pelvic thrusts, crikie! I wonder at what point in one's adolescence does one wake up and say, "mom and dad, I want to go to college to study animal science and one day I'd like to count monkey pelvic thrusts"! Who would have thunk? Had I only known this was an option, alas...

Study Reveals Why Monkeys Shout During Sex

For when the above story is no longer available, here it is below -

Female monkeys may shout during sex to help their male partners climax, research now reveals.

Without these yells, male Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) almost never ejaculated, scientists found.

Female monkeys often utter loud, distinctive calls before, during or after sex. Their exact function, if any, has remained heavily debated.

To investigate the purpose behind these calls, scientists at the German Primate Center in Göttingen focused on Barbary macaques for two years in a nature reserve in Gibraltar.

The researchers found that females yelled during 86 percent of all sexual encounters. When females shouted, males ejaculated 59 percent of the time.

However, when females did not holler, males ejaculated less than 2 percent of the time.

To see if yelling resulted from how vigorous the sex was, the scientists counted the number of pelvic thrusts males gave and timed when they happened.

They found when shouting occurred, thrusting increased. In other words, hollering led to more vigorous sex.

Counting monkey pelvic thrusts is admittedly "quite weird, but it's science," researcher Dana Pfefferle, a behavioral scientist and primatologist at the German Primate Center, told LiveScience. "You get used to it."

Male and female Barbary macaques are promiscuous, often having sex with many partners. This means sperm levels can get quite drained.

The females shout when they are most fertile, so males can make the most use of their sperm.

Pfefferle noted her research suggests these calls might also make females more attractive to other males. She added these shouts might play different roles in other species.

Pfefferle and her colleagues detailed their findings online Dec. 18 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Copyright © 2007 Imaginova Corp. All Rights Reserved.

Pool Season's

This December will go on record as the second snowiest, in terms of snow fall amount, for New England. According to the National Weather Service, the record for December snowfall in Boston is 27.9 inches set in 1970.
We've actually received more snow this month than we did for all of last winter! So much snow in fact that I'm worried about the weight of it on our pool (cement pond) cover. Although, one of the selling points of this particular pool cover is the add the company put together; the ad shows a full grown elephant standing in center of such a cover. Unless there's a bit of false advertising we shouldn't have any problems, right?!

Winter -

Spring -

Summer -

Fall -


Think SUMMER!!

Feeding Station

Here are a few pictures taken in our backyard just the other day. The first picture is of our backyard bird feeding station. It's been a popular spot since the last snow fall with plenty of feathered visitors, as well as some furry ones too (ugh). The birds appear to have the ability or premonition of knowing when a storm is coming, as the number of visiting birds increase just prior to the storms arrival. They're filling their bellies in preparation for time spent hunkered down waiting out the storm.

The feathered visitors in this picture are: (2) male Cardinals, (2) Juncos and (2) Sparrows. Other birds that we've seen visiting so far this winter: Morning Dove, Nuthatch, Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Blue Jay, Starling, Common Grackle, Downy Woodpecker and Northern Flicker -

Feeding station

Two female Cardinals resting in our Weeping Pussy Willow tree with passed snow covered sedum below.

Admittedly this isn't the best picture, especially if enlarged. However, with that said can you identify the furry critter than made this set of prints?

'Winter' Poem

I send this poem every winter and every winter I love re-reading it. Its a beautiful poem and very well written.

Thought it might be a comfort to you, it was to me. ENJOY!

' WINTER '

Fuck!

It's cold!

The end

Poinsettia Care

With the Christmas season in full swing I thought I'd pass along another tidbit of info; the Poinsettia -

Q: What is the best way to keep a poinsettia alive from year to year?

A: Treat it as any houseplant, but don't over water it or subject it to too much sunlight. To encourage it to bloom for Christmas, make sure the plant has at least 12 hours of darkness, with nighttime temperatures between 60 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep the plant under these conditions until buds develop and the bracts (petals) begin to color. When they bloom, take the plant to a sunny, draft-free room. The bracts will color up within 6 to 10 weeks and may continue to bloom until Easter.

The Old Farmer's Almanac new gardening question of the day.

Suicide Outsourced

I was depressed last night so I called the crisis hotline.

I was connected to a "Call Center" in Pakistan.

I told them I was suicidal.

They got all excited and asked me if I could drive a truck.

Blonde Cowboy

The Sheriff in a small town walks out in the street and sees a blonde cowboy coming down the walk with nothing on but his cowboy hat, gun, and his boots; so he arrests him for indecent exposure.

As he is locking him up, he asks, "Why in the world are you dressed like this?"

The Cowboy says:

"Well it's like this Sheriff ... I was in the bar down the road and this purdy little red head asks me to go out to her motor home with her. So I did. We go inside and she pulls off her top and asks me to pull off my shirt so I did. Then she pulls off her skirt and asks me to pull off my pants so I did. Then she pulls off her panties and asks me to pull off my shorts so I did. Then she gets on the bed and looks at me kind of sexy and says,"Now go to town cowboy"!

And here I am...

Winter Wonderland

Well, we've had our first 'Nor'easter' of the season. A lot of snow, a lot of shoveling, a lot of slipping and sliding but beautiful none-the-less! Here are some backyard images -


Raspberry patch bird house, for rent -


Snow has taken up residence is this Robin's nest -


Duplex, recently vacated, move in condition -


A sleeping Hydrangea with blooms gone by -

Fruit Flies

This just in at FOXNews.com -

Scientists Make Fruit Flies Gay, Then Straight Again

Would Gay Fruit Fly be considered an oxymoron?

A couple genuine oxymora. Phrases with an inherent contradiction:

• definite maybe
• deliberate mistake
• instant classic
• sweet sorrow

A couple perceived oxymora. These are not really oxymora; they sound like a contradiction but aren't, often because of multiple possible meanings of one of the words:

• jumbo shrimp
• loud whisper
• near miss
• same difference

Interesting article none-the-less.

Christmas Cactus Care

With the Christmas season now upon us I thought I'd pass along a tidbit of info on the Christmas cactus -

Q: What's the best way to prolong the life of my Christmas cactus?

A: When the buds of a Christmas cactus look as if they're about to open, make sure you water the plant regularly and keep it cool.

The Old Farmer's Almanac new gardening question of the day.

In the Spirit of Christmas

Tis the Christmas season. Although this is 'naughty' and I'm sure Santa will hear about it, which will hurt my chances at a good gift this year, I simply couldn't resist.

No, offence intended to any of my readers, reindeer's, pickles or sex toys.

Merry Christmas!

What do you get when you cross a reindeer with a pickle?

Git-R-Done

We hired a baby sitter and off we went to Mohegan Sun this past Saturday night to see comedian Larry the Cable Guy.

It was a 90 mile trip (about 1.2 hr drive) each way and well worth it.

He put on a good show, as did the comedian who opened for him - they were both very funny. I can't recall his name at the moment, my apologies.

"I don't care who you are, that's funny right there!"

"Lord, I apologize for that right there"

"He was madder than a midget with a yoyo"

"Git-R-Done"

http://www.myspace.com/larrythecableguy

Wrong Number

There are worse things than getting a call for a wrong number at 4 AM. It could be a right number.

Coincidence

A chicken farmer went to a local bar, sat next to a woman and ordered a glass of champagne.

The woman perks up and says, 'How about that? I just ordered a glass of champagne too!'

'What a coincidence,'the farmer says, 'This is a special day for me, I'm celebrating.'

'This is a special day for me too, I'm also celebrating!' says the woman.

'What a coincidence' says the man.

As they clinked glasses the farmer asked, 'What are you celebrating?'

'My husband and I have been trying for years to have a child, and today my gynecologist told me that I'm pregnant!'

'What a coincidence,' says the man, 'I'm a chicken farmer and for years all my hens have been infertile, but today they're finally laying eggs.'

'That's great!' says the woman, 'How did your chickens become fertile?'

'I used a different cock,' he replied.

The woman smiled and said, 'What a coincidence.'

Winterized Coop

Well, we finished winterizing the chicken coop/rabbit hutch today. Yes, we've been running a little behind in getting this done and unfortunately the rabbits felt the brunt or rather the chill but it's done now.

I built two 6' doors that we hung up top to protect the rabbits. During the winter the plastic will stay on and come summer it will be removed. The doors will remain all season long, which I also built with wire. This way the rabbits will finally be protected from any critter trying to get at them, i.e. a raccoon. We and the rabbits have been lucky to date - no critter incidents.

As you can see in the below picture, the doors are hinged up top so the doors can swing up to open. I drilled some holes; one in the door and one in the cage front to put a broom handle in, which will hold the door open for easy access to the rabbits for feeding. Each door is held shut and snug with a bungee cord.

The chickens are housed underneath and doing just fine. The two sex-links are going through a molt. When this happens, which is typically once a year, the birds stop laying. So we're down to just one egg a day from New Honey. Also the cold weather and shorter days usually have an effect on egg production.

Bottom line is that the animals are finally snug and settled in for the long New England winter - bring it on!