Live Eagle Cam 2013 at Duke Farms

They’ve hatched! Two Bald Eagle eggs have hatched on March 25. The live eagle cam at Duke Farms allows the viewer to keep an eye on the two parent Bald Eagles as well as their hatchlings through a web cam in the adjacent tree.

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There was no web cam in 2012 due to issues with the functioning of the camera; as the eagles were already building their nest, the repair would have been too disruptive so Duke Farms decided to forego the camera for the eagles’ well-being. But the site is now back with great footage and several new features. You can now view select video clips to the right, among them a red-tail hawk attempting a fly by on the eagle nest. Watching the eagle defend the nest is amazing.

Take a breather from your day and join in with nature … watch this great eagle cam.

Dirt Cheap Book Alert!!

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Did that get your attention? If you, (and your kids), love to read, don’t miss the upcoming Hunterdon County Library Annual Book Sale!

It’s coming up this month on Saturday and Sunday April 20th and 21st at the National Guard Armory on Rt. 12 in Flemington. Check the library’s web site for location, directions and complete details.

Saturday, hardbound books are generally $2.00, paperbacks $1.00, and on Sunday, they’re half that. The main armory houses fiction, children’s books and YA, and the secondary building houses non-fiction. And it’s free as is the jitney transport back and forth from the county complex to the armory when their lot is full. Hard to beat if you love books. It is anticipated that there will be approximately 120,000 books for sale.

I understand that this event draws people from quite a distance, so even if you’re not “local,” come on down and take advantage of the wonder of books for what is truly a pittance.

Are We Done with the Snow Yet?

FrostedShrub2Who wanted to hear reports of a possible 2-4″ of snow happening during the day? Or … according to some predictions, 4-8″. Neither are horrendous amounts, but can it just be over already?

Happy to say, all their predictions turned out to be wrong and this was a non-event in my neck of the woods; now it’s raining softly. But as it started to snow ever-so-lightly this morning, I took a couple of quick photos from the back porch. The snow had such a lovely quality.

See?

Yeah, that’s not it. I just had some fun in Photoshop because the snow, at that time, really was so fine you could barely see it. Although the dusting on the ground is pretty.

So I’m offering another quote on Spring ….

No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.  ~Hal Borland

I don’t know who Hal Borland is, but I hope he knows what he’s talking about.

My Main Excuse …

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThere are times when we, as bloggers, have nothing to say. That is rarely my problem. There are times when we have so much to say, we don’t know where to start. Getting warmer. Or so much to say and we don’t know if we should say it. Bingo.

So my main excuse for not posting is pictured at left.

Gypsy Rose, one of my cats, is not doing well. She has an incurable illness, something in her brain such as cancer, a tumor, etc. that only a $900 – $1800 cat MRI would reveal. We are treating her symptomatically, (as would be the case even if we did have a precise diagnosis, as brain surgery isn’t a viable alternative on a cat, or at least this one), and rather successfully, until recently, when she began to not do so well.

The vet and I are trying an adjustment in her medication to see if that will help her.

Either way, an animal with ups and downs every day is a reminder that we cannot control life and death; we cannot make any being stay longer than it is their time to spend, no matter how good our intentions; it is a reminder that we are human and have engaged in a relationship with an animal who looks to us to always make the right decision for them.

That time has not yet come for little Miss Rose, but I believe if she … and any of my other animals, past and present, could say so, they would say they always felt safest in my hands. Or at least I’d like to think so.

But so as not to be overly serious, (or premature), in what may come in the days, weeks or months ahead, I offer a favorite cat quote in a lighter vein:

The problem with cats is that they get the exact same look on their face whether they see a moth or an axe-murderer.  ~Paula Poundstone

But maybe to the heart of the matter …

The dog may be wonderful prose, but only the cat is poetry.  ~French Proverb