R.I.P. Laila

Our German Shepherd dog Laila passed away peacefully last night in her sleep. She was 14 years and 5 months old.
She was a brave, caring and loyal dog and we will miss her very much. She had a great temperment and made wonderful judgements her entire life. While not a real tail-wagger, I couldn’t have asked for a better dog.
Rest in peace my lovely Laila.

Rehearsals for Synchronized Swimming Demonstration

This is difficult, but I am/was a synchronized swimmer in High School. I tried out for my college team at the State University of New York College at Cortland with 50 or more other hopeful gals and only two of us made the team. But the practice times in the late afternoon conflicted with my science lab and work times, so unfortunately, I had to quit the team. Sigh.
But since then, I have kept up with it and that will all pay off now, as I have volunteered to coach synchronized swimming at our local YMCA! The Director of Aquatics is thrilled and asked me to put together a demo. So that is what I have been working on these past few weeks. Here is a video of my latest rehearsal.


As you can see, I have lost most of my finish on the moves. I need to work on keeping my vertical and holding the moves longer. I blew the opening move entirely and had to start over. I could not do the submerged double ballet leg with rotation at all! It must be because of the full suit, as this is the first rehearsal I have done in it.
So, I redesigned the move to start out at the deep end and it works!

I still have to put together an entry. The music I am thinking of using is Marc Anthony’s  I NEED TO KNOW. And I was thinking of wearing the platinum star hoodie before my entry, to spice things up.

Meet Filush!

While at home, I met my mom’s contractor’s new puppy Filush, who is a Morkie.





Morkies are a cross between a Maltese and a Yorkshire Terrier.



When I held him, he was all tongue, licking me all over! So cute!
Here is a short video that I shot:

Snake Lecture!

I was so excited that there was a Snakes of Connecticut Lecture at our Yacht Club being given by Kim, a speaker who works at the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center last Tuesday! It was really enjoyable!
The lecture was packed with kiddies! How wonderful to see such interest in nature! Kim brought 5 snakes with her! Here they are:

This is a hog nosed snake that was kept as a pet for 11 years. It is small for its age because the owner fed it only one mouse every 1 to 2 weeks. It was given 2 mice and gobbled them down. Hopes are that it will grow much bigger now. Aren’t the markings pretty?

This is another hog nosed snake. Note how the markings are very different.

This is a ring-necked snake. As adults they get no bigger than a pencil. They are escape artists, and love to find their way into basements. They are very fragile and do not make great pets.

Above and below are photos of an Eastern rat snake that is 27 years old. Look at the wide eyes of the little girl! She is just amazed by this snake! Note also, the white underside of this snake.


This Eastern rat snake is 35 years old. We have one this size that lives around our house and have seen it in the rafters of our porch. Rat snakes are known to climb trees to go after baby birds.

With the help of a volunteer, Kim held the snake to its full length.
What a wonderful way to spend an evening!

Celebrated May Day with a ride to Old Saybrook Point

What a fabulous ride on a gorgeous day! I wore my shortsleeved jersey and short cycling pants and was a bit cool starting out. This ride was well over 20 miles. Here is a map:



The map is from 1890 and Deep River back then was listed as Saybrook. LOL! To find where I, look above Essex. I live on the small promonotory of land just North of the double marshes over the second “O” in Saybrook. Got that? I rode from there all the way to the bottom of the map where it says Cornfield Point and across to Fenwick and then onto Saybrook, which is not marked on this map; then home.

Here is a photo of the manse at Cornfield point:



The manse is the building in the background and the roof used to be a brighter orange that could be seen for miles from the water. I turned around to the other side to get this view of Old Saybrook:


You can’t see Fenwick, the point, or the lighthouse from here, because a landmass is shielding them. I would have thought that full Summer was upon us, judging from the crowd at the beach, but the flora was not developed enough to prove it.

I felt very strong during this ride. Today is supposed to be even more beautiful! Can’t wait!

20 Mile Bicycle Ride from New Haven Green to Cosi Beach

Last Saturday, I went on this ride with my friend Susan from the library. We put both of our bicycles in her Honda Fit. that is her in the orange jersey above, and that is the New Haven Green flagpole, with the town hall in the background. She is holding up my Trek. Mark, in the yellow was the leader. He set an extremely slow pace.

It was a totally un-hilly ride and after a few miles in the city heading South, we arrived at a more country setting and we could have been in Old Saybrook just judging by the houses and beach.
But it was a beautiful day and a lovely ride. Neither Susan or I had been this way before and we decided we would ride here again. Cosi Beach had a light house and carousel. But the pavilion housing the carousel was not open.



What a great ride!

Slammed by Nemo!