Mother's Day at the Farm

Now that classes are finally out and I'm done for the semester, we went to see Aunt Kap and Uncle Jon this past Sunday, which also happened to be Mother's Day. Zack and his girlfriend Jennifer were there to spend time with family before they start their summer jobs. And Laura had some exciting news - Jake proposed and they'll be getting married sometime in the near future. All in all the weather was beautiful, everyone was happy and excited, and it was a very nice way to pass a Sunday.

They took us around on a tour of the new and exciting things that have been going on at the Olde Horse Inn. They've cleared out the old dog pen and some trees to open up the area.


And they got some chicks for cat entertainment and future egg making.


The biddies were cute


Uncle Jon holding a chick


The weather was wonderful and the dogs were besides themselves after being cooped up inside due to all the recent rain. Rufus got worn out early and Indie just didn't understand.


The barn


One of ye olde horses grazing


A proud toad that Laura found. As you know, if it moves I must touch.


Timmy surveyed all from roosts around the farm.


In addition to birdies, Uncle Jon got bees. Here they are chilling in their hive.


Those bees not busy making honey and cleaning house pollinating the fruit trees.


Here they are buzzing around as Uncle Jon opens their home and explains about bee keeping.


Jennifer and Zack's mother's day present to Aunt Kap was a tiara and a pinata. Of course she had to be blindfolded before taking a swing at things.


She swings ...


And she hits...


The spoils


And because it isn't a Siddall family outing without at least one explosion, Uncle Jon filled the little dino with gas and lit him up.


It made an awful boom that sounded for all the world like a shotgun blast. We all ran to hide in case the cops showed and tried our best to clean up what was left.


We left soon after with homemade syrup, cake, and rolls in our arms. The syrup was great on pancakes, the rolls made delicious sandwiches, and the cake was quickly devoured by a certain husband.

Walking around Boston

Saturday Dan and I headed down to the aquarium to meet up with our friends Wythe and Rebecca. Unfortunately, we forgot that it was a three day weekend and the line was insanely long. So we decided to forgo the aquarium and had a nice little walk around Boston instead.

Here are a few pics from when we wandered down by the water.

Me fixing Dan's hair


Dan and me in front of the bridge




And Wythe and Rebecca sporting their bike riding gear


Alright, back to writing my papers....

Monterey

Last semester I received an email from the SAR listserv that a professor at another university was looking for students to participate in a graduate student discussion panel for the Society for the Anthropology of Religion conference. I sent along my abstract, was accepted, and thanks to BU footing the bill I flew out last weekend to Monterey, CA to present at the conference. It was held at Asilomar which is a conference center/nature reserve. Other than the bland and sometimes unusual food choices, Asilomar was a really wonderful place. Deer wander around the protected dunes and it is a short walk down to the beach which was just breathtaking. I won't bore you all with the details of the conference, but I wanted to share some of the photographs I took of the area.

I shared a room with two other girls who were presenting in the panel (and Amy joined us the last night we were there so she didn't have to camp in her car again.) The rooms were pretty decent - this is only half, there are two other beds on the other side. And outside that glass door is a nice porch.


Deer grazing outside one of the cabins


The path along the protected dunes


Menzies' Wallflower - an endangered and quite rare species


A short walk down the path leads to this beach


Another beautiful beach scene


Swirling around the rocks


Surfing out here must be beautiful but scary. Imagine hitting these rocks



More beach


Walking a little further up the beach


The view right before I headed back in for dinner


Saturday morning my roommate Saiba and I walked down to check out the beach before breakfast. There was still a little color in the sky from the sunrise


There was a lone surfer


But no one else was out on the beach yet


Sunday after our talk, Amy graciously offered to take me to the airport for my evening flight. We decided to explore the area a bit first and James, a professor with similar research interests as Amy, joined us.
We first wandered down the beach paths, enjoying the view.


Amy taking it all in


The water lapping at the rocky shore


James


The view from the path


Amy again


We stumbled upon some loose rock sculptures that some visitors had made. James decided to contribute to the art.


His "masterpiece"


After being windblown around the beach, we grabbed some coffee and then wandered around the Fisherman's Warf sampling nine different clam chowders. We had a great time exploring and thanks again to Amy for the ride to the airport!

I'm glad to be with my husband again, but the wet and nippy weather of Boston makes me long for the beaches of Monterey. The conference was of course academic and all of that, but it was also a nice little getaway. Now back to end of term papers... Sigh.

PS I added a few more pictures. I still have tons more but I have to stop adding at some point. For those of you who were at the conference if there were any specific pictures you wanted just let me know. And as always, for those who are visiting you're welcome to use my pictures as long as you give me credit. :)

Updates

I know, I know, I've been lazy and it has been forever since I last updated my blog. But I've also been really busy. I've had tons to read and write for class, I worked 51 hours over Spring Break just to get some rent money, and I presented at the Society for the Anthropology of Religion just this past weekend (pictures to come soon in a separate post.) But despite all the running around and late hours things have been going pretty well. I received a small but much appreciated stipend for April and May and I just found out that I received the Earhart Fellowship for next academic year which will cover not only tuition but a stipend too. Dan and I are obviously thrilled since our financial situation has been a bit shaky. He did find a temporary position through a legal staffing agency, but it doesn't quite pay enough to cover the bills and of course it is temporary. He is still sending out resumes so hopefully he'll secure a more permanent position before the temp job runs out. But for now we're enjoying life here in Boston and all our friends.

Caroline's Trip to Trinidad

So I'm obviously a bit late in posting this, but I thought I'd share a few pictures from Caroline's recent trip to Trinidad. She and Michael went during Carnival and had an amazing time. Below are just a few of her pictures - for the rest check out her flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085263@N00/sets/72157614585356874/


From the air:



Costumes on parade:



I just love it when groups mock white European colonialists




The pink headdress



Caroline and Michael in their borrowed costumes:

Christmas Part 2

The day after we got back from Alabama I flew to DC to see my aunt and uncle and mom and sister. I was only there for a couple days, but it was really great to see them all and spend at least a little time together. I was also much better about taking family photos so I'll share some of the better ones.

Here is Caroline in a tunnel between the Smithsonians.


Caroline at the Smithsonian National Gallery of Art


Caroline and Me


Me


Caroline and Mom


Caroline and Mom again


Mom


Aunt Linda


Aunt Linda and Uncle Bob


Aunt Linda and Me

Christmas 2008 Part 1

I realize it is now fully into the new year, but I was lazy and enjoying my break so I'm just now getting around to posting pictures of our Christmas escapades. Dan and I went to visit his family in Alabama for a week and had a great time catching up with everyone and spending time with family. I didn't take as many pictures as I should have but I'll share what I did manage to snap.

First, though, I have to share the horror/wonder that is the Bass Pro Shop. They are truly the Redneck Wonderland that I always knew must exist somewhere but couldn't find. The vastness of the store is amazing. Fishing poles, camping equipment, guns, deer stands, and novelty items span two stories. There is even a restaurant and an arcade with animatronic targets. It truly has everything the Alabama man (or woman) could ever want. Pink hunting rifles for the ladies? Check. Camo armchairs? Check. Thousands of dead stuffed animals silently juding you as you pick out hunting gear? Check.

Here is a shot of the centerpiece of the store. I've heard that each Bass Pro Shop decorates according to the region. Apparently Alabama has waterfalls...?


The store is HUGE


You're buying that brand?



Anyway, now that I've got that out of my system here is a picture of my mother-in-law Carolyn's tiny dog dressed in her holiday outfit. Can you say awwww?



It was actually hard to get a good picture because she was trembling the entire time. Apparently having a stranger dress you up and take your picture on a bed is a scary thing.Who knew.

Later the family came over to open presents and spend quality time. Here are some shots of the nieces enjoying the aftermath of present opening.

Laura Jane (they got remote control cars)


Campbell


I didn't get a good picture of our nephew Thomas, unfortunately. Next time I'll have to sit everyone down for a real photo. But these will have to do for now. We really did have a great time and I wish everyone didn't live so far away.