ETHAM FARM LIFE ON THE EDGE: January 2012

Christmas afternoon 2011. Kevin took the family to church while I stayed and enjoyed the morning cooking.

How is this for lazy? My fake fire and lovely Christmas music on the screen : )

My Love!

They got me snowshoes which will come in handy when the snow gets here. So far however I am enjoying the freedom of movement that the lack of snow is providing. I am usually snowbound by Christmas here on the mountain. Little Paula and I have been doing our walking up and down Mt. Dont Drop Dead of a Heart Attack. Did I ever tell you about the time I walked the property with a realtor and he kept stopping and huffing and puffing and taking his pulse. I was like OH NO I KILLED THE REALTOR..........joke

The Padilla men are easy to please because they love tools. This is Gideon with his new impact drill.

Here is Poppy with his new drill...haha

Hi Zen, here are the pictures of our trip into "THE CITY OF EIGHT MILLION PEOPLES" UGH and all of them living entirely too close to my house. It wasnt too bad because it was cold and windy. Really windy as a matter of fact. See that sky? It was really pretty and I kept hoping it would blow away the germs. New York City isnt the best place for me the Queen of germaphobes!

This is the Empire State building from the NJ side.

I thought this was interesting. I noticed less decorating than years gone by. This menorah at the George Washington bridge seemed almost out of place.

At the toll, cops were walking right up to peoples cars and looking in . I saw them taking pictures of out of state cars. I had forgotten about security issues as we hadnt gone in in a long time. The toll was twenty bucks. Can you imagine people do that everyday. Kevins big truck cost over one hundred dollars just to cross this one bridge.

Years ago these buildings were all boarded up. Burned out, wrecked, a real eyesore. Now they are all lived in again.

The New Yorkers idea of holiday spirit.

This was the next bridge we crossed as we made our way to Grandmas. Its the Whitestone Bridge. Duh the signs says that doesnt it ; )

More New York holiday spirit.

This is Saint Josephs School for the Deaf.

There is just something disconcerting about crossing a bridge that is being worked on in its middle

The Times building. Little Paula was like," Are there reporters in there?" You mean like Clark Kent and Lois Lane? Ha ha Homeschoolers are the best! You have to love their innocence and optimism. The reporters in there are....well, Ill be nice on my little blog

And here we are in Flushing, Queens. Lots of smaller apartment buildings. I didnt get any pictures of Marge's building because we drove around for a half hour and still had to park four blocks aways. The parking is outrageous. No wonder people dont want to own cars in the city. Her building is taller than these. She lives in city housing. The building is for the handicapped and elderly. She likes it because she has alot of family in NY and it is where she is from.

Its a Korean neighborhood. I like it better than where she used to live in the Bronx. It seems more working class. Like as in people are working and not just hanging around. Last time we visited her in the Bronx we almost got caught in crossfire. Cops throwing kids against the walls, shoot outs, suicide by jumping, just a real desperate place. Im glad she has a better place to live. She said the Bronx was nice when she was a little girl. The police would bring you home to your parents for walking on the grass. Now its like a war zone. Kevins Aunt and Uncle came up from Florida and someone shot their nice new mini-van.

Here is her little apartment. Thats the childrens Grandma Margie on their Dads side. See her little dog. His name is Mr. Chewy.

We had a nice visit.

Here is Gideon patching the patches on the greenhouse. We always have so many projects going on. We want to recover the whole greenhouse. The patches keep blowing away. Its our most fragile building, but it still stands. I was surprised it made it through that October snow storm.