Oyster River Swans

Happy Monday!

I know there were a few of you who said you were looking forward to my Fall photos. Well, unfortunately between work, the rain, and a lousy cold, I still haven't had time to get out and do any photography whatsoever. That being the case I thought I'd go through my mass amounts of photos and post some you've never seen before! And believe me I have plenty!

These photos were actually taken 3 years ago along the Oyster River in Durham, NH on an overcast afternoon.

I had been shooting up by Mill Pond Dam when suddenly a swan flew overhead, across the road and towards the river. Curiosity got the best of me so I drove down route 108 for a better view. As you can see the Swans were quite a ways off in the distance.

No matter how far away, their beauty is unmistakable. 

Autumn, such a glorious time of year!

Rainy day at the beach ...and my kitchen

I'm glad so many of you enjoyed my last post with photos of my kitchen! It's actually been about 10 years since we remodeled so the appliances are definitely looking a bit dated. The microwave should be sputtering out any day now and the dishwasher died long ago, thankfully.

We used to have harvest gold counter tops with dark pink cabinets. Now it's a grey speckled laminate with white painted cabinets and crystal knobs. Best thing I ever did! After 10 years the cabinets could definitely stand to be repainted.

Here are pictures from right after it was completed. Note, I wasn't much of a decorator back then . . .



Remember, this was 10 years ago. Needless to say a few things have changed decor wise, and it does have more personality than when I took these photos, but I am thinking it's time for the brass bin pulls and crystal knobs to go!

A few of you mentioned my sink, which I still love after all these years. It's the Hartland sink by Kohler and you can find it here. I don't think the price has changed much. What blew me away when we bought it was the price of the basin racks, over $30 each! However, they have saved my sink from being ruined by scratches. To keep it white and shiny I clean it with straight bleach or Clorox Clean-up.

A few of you also mentioned the valance over the sink. I made the 2 in the kitchen, along with most of the valances in my house. It's much cheaper, and more custom, than buying from a store.

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Okay, on to today's post!

I took all of these photos this past Monday, in the rain. Before posting them I added a touch of Cross Processing in Picnik to each image, for added interest.

See, rainy days and Mondays really aren't that bad.

They aren't if you're at the beach anyway ; )

A tree lined road that I think is so pretty. Many of the homes that reside on this street are historic. Just behind me is the end of Jenness beach in Rye. Hopefully I'll remember to come back and photograph this street in the late spring when all the leaves are coming out.

Finally our temperatures are looking up!!!



YIPPEEE!!!!

Seriously?

Would you look at the size of that Swan?! It's almost as big as the woman feeding it French Fries!

Seriously, it might look like all sweetness and innocence but do not try this at home. Swans can become quite vicious, just like Geese.

Her face has been concealed to protect the not-so-intelligent

I kept waiting for a really great Kodak moment, if you know what I mean, but it never came. She was lucky . . . this time!

Mute Swan

*For some reason this photo mistakenly posted early with the incorrect title and wording, so I figured I might as well post it correctly.

Native to northern and central Eurasia, like many other bird species the Mute Swan was introduced to North America many years ago, mainly for it's beauty. Today the Swan is still admired for the same thing, definitely not it's sweet personality!

Oyster River and Mill Pond Dam

As in my previous post you can see it's quite overcast with brightening here and there. A tough shoot I thought.


I wish we still had this much color, but besides a random tree here and there, it's pretty much gone

In the above photo you are able to view the reddish/orange balls attached to the lines to help keep the Swans from hitting them as they fly over from Mill Pond into Oyster River. In years past it's happened several times and the Swan would fall to it's death in the river.

By clicking on the above photo it will enlarge, showing more historic detail of the area

Unfortunately there is talk of removing the dam. Like most other historic dams in the area, it's old and not really needed anymore. Removal costs about half the price of replacement and since the dam is no longer used the town feels it may be more economically feasible to remove it.

Though I'm not a resident of Durham, I can't imagine not having this view. Many other people in area feel the same way. Evaluation of the dam, the water, and it's surroundings are expected to be completed by the end of January. After that I imagine a decision will be made. If it's for removal you can best believe there will be an uprising to save it.

*I'd like to thank everyone who left such heartfelt and sincere comments for my mom and I. Some of you even taking the time to sending personal emails or share a story about your mother. I can't tell you how much it's meant to read each word.

My mom was sent home from the hospital last Saturday and rushed back via ambulance Sunday morning with terrible dehydration. On Tuesday she came home again. The first two days home she over did it and I thought we'd have to take her back. She thought if she just went upstairs and took a shower she would feel so much better. Trying to do so when no one was around was a BIG mistake! My dad came in the house and couldn't find her. There Mom sat upstairs in the bathroom, unable to move.

I think after the stairs incident my Mom is resigned to waiting it out until her body heals a bit more. Having just had major back surgery and has been a tough thing to face. Plus she will absolutely have to have help the next time she attempts stairs or taking a shower. My dad and I have stayed close just to make sure she follows the rules! At 114 lbs. she's a tough and determined lady.

The Mrs looks good in red!

Do you remember my post, 'The Mrs'? On my way home from Mom's yesterday I stopped in to see how she was doing. It appears she's fine, though I imagine with the colder weather coming on she will soon be heading for the bay where there is less chance of ice. Maybe there she'll find a mate for next Spring.

Waaaay off in the distance she swam, back and forth, in and out of the vibrant red shadows. These are the moments when I wish I had a better lens, or a better camera, or a better something!

She left a beautiful red wake

Until next time my dear lady friend . . .


A shot of where the Mrs. actually was (she's hiding behind the reeds in this shot). It's is a prime example of our foliage this year ... a bright tree here and there but in general, due to all the rain we had earlier this summer, the leaves on most tree's are turning a goldish-brown and then falling. Thank goodness for those few brilliant beauties!

* Mom update: I wanted to let you all know my mother is still hanging in there. She had a cortisone injection in her spine on Monday morning which has helped to ease some of her sciatica pain. Yesterday was the best I'd seen her in a while. Hopefully it will hold out until she see's the surgeon!

The Mrs

I photographed this lovely lady on Friday afternoon on my way home from work. This first shot isn't that great but she's still as beautiful as can be.



For some reason the Mrs. has no Mr.

Where he is, or what happened to him, I don't know, but to me she seems rather lonely without a family. I believe this is the second year she has been alone.






All her preening has paid off. The Mrs. is stunning!

Swans of Rye

This past week-end while my husband and I were driving along the beach we happened to notice this Swan family sitting right next to the road! Several concerned people had stopped and were standing around trying to figure out what to do.

As you may know, a Swan doesn't do anything a Swan doesn't want to do, including move!


And so there they stayed with their babies, grooming and resting. There was quite a bit of traffic and they were less than 5 feet from the road!




Momma decided to do a little Swan yoga while the babies sat close by (sorry for the blur)



And dad had one eye on everything, including me

Isn't Momma Swan a vision of loveliness? Though it may look like there are 3 cygnets, I believe there were actually only 2.

We grabbed a sandwich at Peteys and then drove back through. Luckily by then the Swans had made there way into the water. Phew!!! Do to the feathers lying around I would say they've done this before though.

Swans

There's nothing like a beautiful pair of Swans t0 start out a day at work. Running into these two was a lovely chance, though I think he would have prefered I not be so lucky. In hindsight I would have taken more time (much to Mr. Swans dismay) and tried different settings so as to get better definition of their feathers. But I'm not a professional and I still think they are beautiful.

The male Swan, (the Cob), right, kept a very close eye on the female (the Pen), left. I was suprised he was bigger and whiter than her. In the past I'd never noticed the difference.

I've never heard a Swan cluck before but that's exactly what he was doing as he came towards me. Mr. Swan was very protective of his mate and I could tell he felt threatened.

See how he kept looking back at me? He wanted to make sure I wasn't following him or threatening his lady.

I'm assuming they have moved inland by now. At the time many of the local ponds and lakes were frozen over, and though some still are, some have just a small amount of ice remaining, or none at all.

Thank you for stopping by. I'd love to hear from you!