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On Jordan Pond
Yesterday morning, I woke up with the itch to take some pictures. I got ready, thinking I would head over to the northern end of Lake Quinsigamond, but while I was driving, I remembered Jordan Pond. A few weeks ago, I had dodged down a side street, trying to get away from traffic. I came across a small pond with a few benches and a path. I knew ( Read more... ) -
New Years!
It's New Years day. New Year, new resolutions. Some old ones, too, though. Diet and exercise, blah blah blah. I signed up for MyFitnessPal, and they've got a fun little ap for smart phones. It lets us add things by scanning the UPC codes. So tracking what you're eating is much easier. I'm doing a weight-loss challenge with some friends, and I don' ( Read more... ) -
More time in the garden
I've been working on adding some plants to the new beds, and also adding some beds in areas where mowing is problematic. Friends of mine from back home in CNY told me a quick and easy way to create new beds. You edge the area, then cover the grass with newspaper, and then put mulch over that. The newspaper helps kill the grass, and is easy to cut ( Read more... ) -
A nice relaxing evening in the garden
In the name of expediency, I used my tax refund to pay for some help with the landscaping. It was worth every penny. I now have beautifully manicured beds around the front lawn, my 2 raised beds on the side of the house cleaned out and mulched, a small forest of bamboo removed from the side yard, a ton of overgrown weeds removed from the hillside, ( Read more... ) -
Chau Doc, Sunday Jan 23rd
Today is the last day of our tour, and we're getting another boat ride in the morning, then driving back to Ho Chi Minh. The boats we were on the first two days were a little nicer, with a raised floor and chairs with backs. They kept us up a little bit higher. Today's boat, we are sitting down in the hull, on bench seats. It gives us a water- ( Read more... ) -
Mekong River Delta
We started our tour by being picked up by the driver and guide in Ho Chi Minh City. We drove for about an hour and a half and got to just sit back and enjoy the countryside. Everything is so vividly green here. We drove by a lot of small houses, all only one or two stories tall, but occasionally ther would be one very tall narrow one jutting up ( Read more... ) -
Chau Doc, Viet Nam
I'm sitting by the bank of the Mekong River, in this lovely old French colonial hotel. It is 6:00 am, and I'm waiting to take pictures of the sunrise. Five minutes ago it was pitch dark, but it is already getting light. The river is wide here. I can hear birds, and a couple of small motor boats ( Read more... ) -
Ho Chi Minh City
Flying from Hong Kong to HCMC definitely illustrated the difference between US and Asian airlines. We were given dinner, even though the flight was only 2 and a half hours. Juliana had ordered us each a special meal, vegetarian for her and Kosher. for me, even though I don't keep Kosher any more. When you get a special meal, you get your meal ( Read more... ) -
Beijing, part 3
My second day tour in Beijing, we started with a jade "factory". We got a lesson in how to tell the difference between fakes, lower quality quartz and real jadeite (they all sound differently when tapped, and real jade has a cloudiness when held up to light). We also got to watch people at work carving the jade. Then we were given plenty of time to ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
After the Forbidden City, we walked to Tienanmen Square. It's huge, the biggest city square in the world. It has Mao's portrait at one end, and his mausoleum at the other. There are buildings on the other side, but other than that, it's basically a big open paved area. I had such mixed feelings going there, but once there, there isn't any sign ( Read more... )