Category: Blogging

Cold Weather and our Outside Neighbors

Post author By Andrew
Post date December 17, 2010

When I got back home after dropping of Logan at daycare, I looked out on to our deck, and I saw “Sarah”, our red/orange tingled squirrel that the kids name a couple of years ago.

Not sure why “she” has that coloring, especially considering all the other gray squirrels, but it does make “her” easier to identify, plus “she” is a little bit smaller than the rest of the “gang” that inhabits our backyard which filled with Black Walnut trees.

Seeing her today, reminded me of my chores for our outside friends at this time of year, and hence the reason for this blog post.

Here is a list of some simple things to help out our furry outside neighbors:

Fresh Water – At this time of the year, unless you are near running water, the birds and squirrels that are still running and flying around still need water. So please take a moment and fill a container with water so they have something to drink.You will have to change it in the morning, but it is a great way to get kids thinking about nature.
Bread Crusts – Madison does not like the crust on her bread (yet), so we have a little container next to the cutting board to collect the what is cut off, and those scraps are then later put on the deck.
Pop-Tart Edges – Don’t know why, but the kids do not like them either, but the squirrels do!I have not figured out what their favorite flavor is, but I have watched one of our squirrels trying to get a long piece through the railing on the porch. Very entertaining! (Think of a dog with a long stick, trying to get through a fence door…)
Stale Snacks – These can take on many forms, cereal, pretzels, cheese balls, cheese curls, pop corn, french fries, you name it! You may not like it, but our furry friends do not seem to care, especially the crows! (Ever notice what the crows eat on “Trash Day”?)”Crow Salad“/”Critter Granola” – Trying mixing a bunch of items together! It my look gross to you, but trust me, our friends will not care!
Kitty TV – This is more for our indoor animals, but our two cats. Jessica and Joy, love to sit/lay on the couch and watch their outdoor friends as they eat!

These are just a few thoughts and suggestions, and I hope I will hear some more from my readers!

[contentblock id=1]

Tags Animals, Birds, cold, Neighbors, Outside, Weather

Blogging Chester County Downingtown Flickr Photography

New Adventures – Flickr, Facebook and Beyond!

Post author By Andrew
Post date November 24, 2010

Had a late in the day flurry of activity!

After posting my latest Japanese Maples studies images to Flickr, I got a Flickr-mail from “RealtorKimWood” say that she was the Admin for the Downingtown Flickr group, and would I like to become to help out with the group!

As we continued with our Flickr-mail exchanges, and as I started to investigate her Profile and Links, I found out that Kim also runs the “365 Things to do in Chester County” on Facebook, which I have been a Fan of for a long time, and have used the suggestions to figure out stuff to do with the kids!

Kim and I agreed to talk more after the Holidays, but hopefully, sometime soon, you will read about my suggestions of what to do!

For more information, you can also check out the “Chester County PA and Beyond” website!

– Andrew

§ § § § §

[adrotate banner=”1″]

Tags Blogging, Chester County, Downingtown, Facebook, Flickr

Blogging Facebook Thoughts

Comedy Central, Facebook and SAS

Post author By Andrew
Post date November 14, 2010

So how small is this world? How big is SAS’s reach?

Well I recently found out, and thought I would share.

Back on Saturday, October 30th, there was a little gathering in Washington DC, hosted by a couple of comedians from Comedy Central.

I was unable to go, so i watched it live on TV, and online with the Facebook crowd, exchanging thoughts about what we were witnessing.

That unto itself, was very eye-opening!

Monitoring the main conversation thread, I happen to notice that “Dana Culleney” was beginning to respond to my comments directly, and we began to “chat”, and by the end of the show, we had connected as “Friends” on Facebook.

Since that day, we have exchanged and commented on a few things, but today that changed.

About 2pm this afternoon, I posted on Facebook, that “Dead Poets Society” was about to start on HBO.

After watching the movie, and several hours later, I checked Facebook, and saw this comment:

Dana Culleney – My husband went to school at that school– it is actually St. Andrew School in Delaware… He still has the school tie… 🙂

from there, it continued…

Andrew Seymour – Are you serious? What year? I’m ’82!
Dana Culleney – Class of ’59– he’s an old dude… 🙂 His father also taught there…
Andrew Seymour – Does he remember the Quillin brothers?
Dana Culleney – Stu says ‘yeah, I remember JD.’ Stu’s dad George was in the first SAS graduating class, class of ’34. Small world, eh?!
Jeff Quillin – Hello, my name is Jeff Quillin, JD is my father and Michael is my uncle.
Dana Culleney – @Jeff– Stu says ‘hello’ to all the Quillins! We’re over here near Seattle…
Dana Culleney – @Jeff– Stu says, “It was long ago and far away.” He says your dad was a burly guy with short hair, a football player… 🙂
Jeff Quillin – Stu, that is right my dad played football, he also wrestled and rowed crew. Dad was very into sports. He also was on the swim team.
Andrew Seymour – ?@Jeff – Thanks for jumping in! @Dana – Mike senior’s Boys (Mike Jr and David) were in my class, and Mike Jr. was my roommate Senior year… I also worked for both JD and Mike (Sr.) the summer out of SAS, and that is how I got to know Jeff! — Tis a VERY small world!

and if this were not enough, I got an eMail via the SAS website:

Andy,
Guess you and the spouse were chatting on face book. Small world.. I was in the class of ’59. The only quinlin that I knew was JD (’56). My dad, George W. Culleney was in the first graduating class in ’34. i was the first son of an alumnus to go there. We also lived there in 1944-1946, my dad taught english, latin and religion. i have many fond memories of the plac, both living there as a kid and going back to school there. have not been back since 1980. Traveled a lot for the navy (submarine service) and ended up here in Wa State in 1982.Worked for Johnson Controls for 3 yrs and Retired for good in ’92. Just leading the good life now.
stu

So how is that for showing the power of the internet to bring folks together!

Xtras!

If you happen to be on Facebook, you might be able to read the original thread!

or if you wish to read the original thread that started this all off from October 30th…

Note – Dana and I openly tried to start a “World Record” for the “Longest Thread”, but later we learned that the record is over 27,000+ entries! (Ours only got up to 2,200+ entries)

[contentblock id=1]

Tags Comedy Central, Dead Poets Society, Facebook, SAS

Blogging Chester County Events Music Photo Essay Photo Journal Photography Sadsburyville

Black Walnut Winery – World Record?

Post author By Andrew
Post date August 14, 2010

Black Walnut Winery - Guinness Book of World Record Attempt - "Largest ever simultaneous wine tasting" - Great Pennsylvania Wine Toast

I had never been to Black Walnut Winery before, but after reading about the attempt on the Guinness Book of World Record online, I thought it might be kind of fun to check out.

It was a sunny day and a perfect temperature of this outdoor event, and as you can see, there was a good crowd early on, and it grew during the afternoon!