Life in the Bristolwood

Many years ago,  while living in Buffalo, New York,  I had a very dear friend by the name of Philip.  He was so much fun and Carly and I both enjoyed his company.  He was truly one of a kind and he introduced Carly and I to the wonderful world of bluegrass as well as other types of “fiddling”. So unique was this fellow, that he had only begun fiddling a short time when he entered a large county fair and took a prize!  It was he who told us about an awesome event that is held each August at the Genesee Country Village and Museum….namely, the Fiddler’s Fair. 

The Fiddler’s Fair usually falls within a few days of my birthday, (the third weekend in August) but this year, it was held the second weekend of August.  Carly and I enjoyed this fair so much that even though the memories of Philip have faded,  we do thank him for introducing us to this rich and amazing festival!

This year, Carly asked if we would like to meet at the fair, since she and Erin would be attending.  She had planned to meet up with one of her friends there as well. As it worked out,  we spent a very pleasant day just wandering about, taking in many lovely scenes while listening to pleasant strains!

I didn’t carry the Nikon camera around with me, simply because the weather was miserable at the beinning of our day.  The rain would drizzle down awhile, then stop.  This forced us to carry umbrellas and with everything else, I just wanted to skip as much “stuff” as possible!  After the weather decided to clear and be nice,  the humidity increased to the point where I just wanted to scream!  It was like living inside a terrarium….

I will just take you on a little tour of the grounds.  Enjoy!

When I first began sanding the front porch,  I had to do some heavy duty work.  I began on the west side which is where the patio table and chair set normally sit.  Because the table and chairs act as protection, there was a great deal of stain to be removed.  The western end of the porch took forever (or, so it seems!) to sand.

As I worked my way across to the east, most of the sanding was just to “brighten” up the boards….they had been pretty well “self-sanded” by feet with gritty dirt and gravel!  Perhaps it was because I wasn’t concentrating so intensely upon the task at hand that my mind began to stray….

I remember when we built this house. Mark, my father, and my brother, Randy, were the main players in the build.  Mark and I designed the house and although he had second thoughts at first,  Mark went full-bore building every evening after work.  We were living in the city in a house he had purchased a few years before.  The house was in a neighborhood that was less than desirable for raising a family.  (When Mark bought the house, he had thought the great emphasis on city revitalization meant the area would be improving…Because home-ownership seemed so fantastic to a young twenty-something man,  he failed to notice that many of the homes surrounding his were rental properties.  This, unfortunately, meant there were a great number of drug dealings and the sordid accompanying activities involved surrounding his home at all hours of the day.  The year we moved to our new little home-in-the-woods, Mark’s dad told us there had been, *I think*, five shooting deaths within a two mile radius of our home in the city. One can thus understand my haste in moving from the city!)

When Mark became unsure of himself,  he would arrive home  a little later than usual in the evening,  arms loaded with books from the library!  It was so funny seeing him glean through the books and the light going off in his mind.  He would mainly look at the diagrams and his formal education as a mechanical engineer would kick in….he would smile and then advance to the task at hand.  In the end,  Mark became so enamored by the entire building process that he seriously thought he might one day enjoy becoming a general contractor!  (Having stated this, it was about five years after the completion of our home that he built our very large garage!)

After building the house in the Cape Cod style I had long dreamed about,  Mark decided that a fine country porch would be a very nice addition.  Before the outside of the house was finished,  Mark had begun the work on the porch. Although it “detracted” from the Cape Cod styling,  Mark convinced me this would be a good idea.  It turned out to be better than good. Maybe even great!

As I sanded yesterday, my mind was flooded with memories of little feet pattering across that porch.  The kids and I played, read, ate, and napped on that porch for many years.  That porch has been the site used for many celebrations and parties as well as a place to wind down after a hard day’s work.

I remember when Michelle was a toddler, we bought her a tiny wagon that had a handle at her shoulder height.  She could push the wagon as she walked and when Ben was born (she was two years and three month old) she insisted the new baby be placed in the wagon so she could take him for a walk.  Up and down the porch little Baby Ben would ride, compliments of Big Sister Michelle!

As the kids got a little bigger, we would snuggle in a blanket on the porch, reading books until I couldn’t read any more!  I remember when I told the kids to “get a book”, they would each return with several in their tiny hands. I never told them “no”, so we would spend endless hours, snuggling and reading.  They especially liked the fact that I would change my voice for the various characters in the books.  Ah, the memories.

I think the kids and I lived on that porch for their first four or five years before they graduated to playing in the woods.  On rainy days, however, they could indeed be found playing, once again, on the porch.

Well, I shan’t continue on rehashing old stories and memories.  Suffice it to say, the porch is a place that has hosted a good many times and has been a valuable asset to our family.  I certainly appreciate that porch and am glad Mark did have the foresight to include it when he did!

This morning, when I took the Scotties out,  I looked back at the porch.  I had turned on the  light to look at my sanding job and forgot to turn it back off.  As soon as the Scotties were back inside,  I went in and got my camera to show my readers just how “cozy” and inviting that porch is!

I spent about eight or nine hours, total, sanding the floor.  Not too bad.  I can’t stain today, as the weather report is calling for a slight chance of rain today.  The thought of rain splattering on the freshly stained floor does not appeal!

One thing I have resolved….I will never let that porch get so worn before I restain again!

Yes, I am nearly finished sanding the dek on the front porch! I am so excited about this because when I *am* finished,  I will vacuum the surface and then I can apply the stain.   I sanded for about an hour the other day and today, I think I must have spent about four hours.  All I know is that my fingers and wrists looked like they were swollen from all the vibration!

Mark thinks I am going overboard,  but I decided to sand the entire floor so the stain will go on more evenly.  Mark wanted me to just sand off the most saturated spots, but I figured if  I was going to sand at all, I wanted it to look nice….not like Mickey Mouse did it!

Yesterday, our family met Carly and Erin at Genesee Country Village and Museum.  We had thought about going there for awhile, but just never had seemed to make the time.  The Fiddler’s Festival was held a week earlier than usual, so we decided to just meet Carly and have some fun.  As we drove toward our destination, we wondered if we made the right decision!  We drove through a huge cloudburst and it seemed like an endless gray sky above us. 

By the time we arrived at the museum,  the weather seemed to mellow out some.  We endured a couple of spritzes,  but it never did rain later in the day and the sun even came out.  Unfortunately, the rain had increased the humidity to the point that it was terribly hot! I got some photos, but I am too tired to post them tonight!

When we left the village yesterday, Erin asked if she could come and spend the night with us.  We said yes, and she was so excited.  We got home after seven, and I made a chicken dish and zucchini casserole.  We also had some garlic bread.  I washed dishes until I could no longer stand on my feet and then headed off to bed. Michelle and Erin had retreated to Michelle’s room.  Although Erin usually is in bed by her nine o’clock deadline, she threw caution to the wind and she and Michelle stayed up until midnight!

I ambled down the stairs at six to take the Scottie boys out and to feed them.  I figured I had better start making something good for breakfast so I pulled some apples out of the crisper drawer of the fridge and cored them.  I then filled them with oatmeal, flour, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg blended in with butter.  I stuffed the apples and baked them until the insides kind of exploded!  They were so tasty!

The kids were in and out of the pool all day today, and I sanded away on the porch while they played.  I came into the house at eleven this morning and made spring rolls for lunch.  Afterward,  I was once again sanding.  I sanded until nearly three, but then had to stop so we could run Erin up to Victor where we met Carly to drop Erin off to go home.

Funny thing….last night as I was contemplating blogging,  I fell sound asleep with the laptop propped on my knees.  I awakened a couple of hours later with the laptop still on my knees!

Michelle called out to me last night to see what she found.  I looked and ran to get my camera….I am thinking this caterpillar is a swallowtail of some type…..

Well, early to bed, early to rise!  I don’t know when I have been so thrilled to think about going to bed!!!!

I have to admit that lately my blogging has been suffering a bit….what with all the crazed and frenzied activity at our house,  I often am so tired trudging up the stairs at night,  I wonder if I will make it!

As I was searching around my blog just now, I found this “lost” entry, dated July 23.  I just love these sky photos, so I will share them now!  Better late than never, right?

(more…)

As I was getting ready to go pick up my friend Eunice’s mother-in-law yesterday,  Mark said that he thought he might like to drive us.  I was a little worried, because I was unsure exactly how many passengers we were going to have, but it all worked out perfectly!

We arrived to pick up Sarah Mae at 11:30.  She told me Eunice would want to stop on the way home at a grocery store we were going to be passing, so we stopped at Sarah Mae’s sister-in-law’s house to pick up her shopping list as well.  An observation I made yesterday was that these Amish women are very efficient and well-organized!

We arrived at the hospital and found Eunice sitting in a chair, holding tiny Baby Susanna against her chest.  I have never seen a baby so tiny (she weighs 2 pounds, 6 ounces) and she was just so very beautiful!  Everything about this wee baby was perfect!  Her ears, eyes, hands, feet, and full head of hair look so amazing!  I was  surprised to see that Susanna’s coloring is rosy and so healthy looking!

Eunice encouraged Sarah Mae and me to grab a chair so we could sit beside her and chat while she snuggled the little one against her.  Since the doctors and nurses convinced Eunice it would be good for her to go home for a few days to be with her family and friends,  she wanted to hold Susanna as long as she could before leaving.

We left the hospital shortly after 3:30 and had to stop by The Ronald McDonald House where Eunice and the two young girls who have been staying with her the past few days had a room.  They went inside to gather belongings and to clean the room before leaving.  Mark and I waited in the truck in the parking lot for a few minutes and then when they came out, we began the journey toward home.

Eunice was in good spirits and I was in awe of how well she seemed to be handling the fact that she would be entrusting the nurses and doctors with the care of her tiny one.  She was certainly looking forward to seeing her two-year-old son, Chris, though. 

We stopped at the grocery store and I went inside for a little while with the ladies, picking up a couple items Michelle had requested.  Eunice and Sarah Mae were so quickly cruising the aisles, getting the items on their lists.  Eunice grabbed several cans of pineapple juice, explaining to me that Sarah Mae had taught her the juice can be used in place of sugar. I left, allowing the ladies to concentrate on their shopping.

I went back into the store a little while later,  wondering if perhaps Eunice might need some help. Sarah Mae had already finished paying for her items and since this store doesn’t  automatically bag items,  the girls had found some boxes to fill with te goods.  I helped pack a box and then we headed out to the truck.  I was amazed when we actually loaded six boxes full of groceries into the back of the truck.

We were on our way once again and Mark plotted on GPS where each person lives….we had three stops to make.  Mark was following along on the GPS and we ended up on a road unfamiliar to the ladies.  Now, remember, we were in a pickup truck, which is wider than a typical automobile. 

The road we followed was narrow, but passible.  We giggled and laughed as we traveled along.  Suddenly, the road grew even more narrow and there was only gravel on the two sides where the tires pass over, with grass growing in the center.  I said, “Uh oh…looks like we are heading into someone’s camp!”   Eunice giggled and said she agreed!  Mark told us never to fear….he would have thought the same were it not for the GPS advising us that the road Eunice lives on was perpendicular to this road (goat path?) just a few hundred feet ahead!

We came to a large hill and the hilarity grew even more intense! By this time, the giggling had grown to full-blown laughter.  I turned and asked if the ladies ever had any drivers take them on an “adventure” before! Sarah Mae spontaneously roared, “This is a first!”

We made it down to the botom of the hill to find that Eunice’s house was only maybe half a mile down the road!  This caused another round of laughter and as we pulled into the driveway, Noah (Eunice’s husband) and Chris were out in front of the house, waiting!

We unloaded Eunice’s luggage and groceries and were ready to drop off the others.  Noah gave us some sweet corn and a huge zucchini from the garden before we left.  It was almost with some sadness when Sarah Mae and her daughter left the truck..

I asked Mark what he thought of the trip and he said he enjoyed it!  He couldn’t believe how happy the ladies and girls were.  We smiled as I said that I imagine there will be laughter aplenty amongst the Amish when Eunice and Sarah Mae tell friends and family about our most awesome “adventure”!

I definitely need to upload all the photos from my Nikon and be done with them!

In the meantime,  I will offer some photos from our time spent at Darien Lake State Park.  We have been staying at this park for Kingdom Bound for four years.  We were so surprised this year when we arrived.  While New Yorkers have been threatened with park closures due to financial woes,  this park has gotten quite the makeover!  There are nice paved roads leading to the campground and everything just looks so great!  The swimming area at the park was closed last year,but  this year the beach was alive with sun-worshippers!

The first night camping,  Michelle called for me to come have a look at Murphy.  My goodness, the laddie was having a wee nightcap!  As you can see,  poor little pitiful Murphy was not the least bit humored!

My Nikon camera sat idle in the camper most of the time we were at Kingdom Bound, as I just didn’t want to risk breaking anything while traipsing about. With the heat in “broil” mode,  some days I felt it was a great effort just to make myself move,  let alone carry the camera bag!  I did take a few walks with the Nikon and it got used then.

The day we returned, (last Friday) the kids went to a party at Penn Yan.  Mark and I drove around Keuka Lake a bit.  Keuka is one of the Finger Lakes and there are some beautiful views to be seen!  We parked the truck near the lake for awhile and it was so beautiful the way the sun’s rays filtered through the clouds,  creating golden tones of shimmering reflections on the lake below!

A few years ago, I bought some Calendula seeds to plant around the house in my gardens.  The sad fact is, the emerging little plants looked so “weedlike” ,  I yanked them all out!  Well, my parents brought all sorts of seeds last fall for me to plant.   I threw many Calendula seeds on top of the cedar mulch in front of the house, and sure enough, the plants grew!

How could anyone ever feel downhearted with those gorgeoussunny little faces staring up?

I think that does it with the photos I’ve been “hoarding”!

Think of little Snoopy dancing about, gleefully, nose pointed straight up into the air. Yes,Snoopy would be doing the Happy Dance.  Well, I am too!

YES! The deep dark chocolate brown is now all done!

Now all that is left is the floor and the “doodads” on the poles!  All of the painting left to do should be a walk in the park.  I am so happy!

Tomorrow, I won’t be able to paint as I am going to be transporting some Amish ladies!  My friend’s mother-in-law is going up to see little Baby Susanna with me, then I am going to bring my friend, her mother-in-law, and two young girls back to their homes.  My friend has been in Rochester since the birth of her baby and the doctors and nurses advised her to take a little break by going back home for a few days.  She has a little boy who is two and I imagine he misses his mama, so it will be good for the whole family.  Please continue to pray for Susanna…she has such a long way to go to be out of the woods. Also pray for Eunice (Susanna’s mom) as she is being so strong, but she is going through some pretty hard times right now, worrying about her little tiny girl.

Ha! That is what Mark’s advice is, anyway!  Silly me…I listened to the forecast on the radio for Rochester and the northern Finger Lakes region.  I guess my mistake was that hearing the word “rain” sent up flags for me not to commence painting this morning.  The problem was,  I missed the “areas of localized showers” in the report.  Mark just got on the computer and looked at weather maps with radar.  There was nary a spot of showers to be located on the radar screen.  Ah, the Age of Technology.

I was at the dentist office this morning before 8:30.  The dentist said my gums are healing well, but.  Yeah, but.  I asked about the “but” and it seems I have a divot in my gums where the dentist might have to “suture in some more tissue”.  Why does that sound so intolerable……and gross?  Argh.

I got home at about 11 and made something to eat and then when Mark assured me there was no chance of rain,  I ambled outside to grab all my painting goodies and began painting where I left off last week.  I am painting with a deep dark brown and I needed to finish a post,  some places on the railings that were missed by the brush, two wide boards under the porch that run horizontally, and the six eight by eight posts (vertical) upon which the porch is built. All is finished except for the six posts!

After I began painting, Ben came out and joined me.  I was thrilled for the help as he had no qualms about climbing up on the ladder to reach the higher areas.  I don’t really like standing on ladders! We worked on getting the railings touched up and I finished the post on the porch.  The stain began to look like we were going to run out by the time we finished everything but the six posts.  I told Mark and he and Michelle ran to Canandaigua this evening to pick up some more stain to do the posts.

After the posts, we will stain the floor and the porch will be completed except for the little detail work I plan to do on the finials. As all the brown stain has gone on, the porch looks so much better! I cannot wait to finish this task as it has been overlooked for several years now.

The hard part of painting today was the heat! It was so very, very hot.  When I finished cleaning up and putting things away, my face was beet red when I looked in the mirror.  I had (thankfully) made a meatloaf in the slow cooker, so I made some new potatoes and green beans to go along with it and Ben and I ate outside on the back deck.  Mark and Michelle hadn’t arrived home and they said to go ahead without them as these two painters had worked up quite an appetite!

I’m not going to add any pictures here tonight as things have taken some twists and turns!  Ben had a letter to write and wanted some solitude,  and I was not getting any relief from the heat this evening.  We decided to head out to the camper and turn on the air conditioning.  We had just gone out when Michelle came knocking on the camper door telling me my Amish friend had called.  We ended up talking for over an hour again and in my rush to get the SD card from the Nikon, I grabbed the wrong card! ( Yeah, I had left two cards sitting on the night table. Oops!) Not too sure anyone wants to see snow photos from last winter! (Why have those images not been uploaded to the desktop and the card reformatted anyway?)

Well, tomorrow is another day and I figure painting the posts should not take much longer than two or tree hours. We have not picked up the floor stain yet as we are trying to think what a good color would be….we have tentatively decided a light color that closely matches the color of the wood will work well as it might not show dirt as much as a darker color.

Tomorrow’s weather forecast calls for sun. Believe it or not?

I am so (nearly hopelessly!) behind in my blog visiting!!! I am going to try to get around to reading some time today.

Before we left for Darien Lake,  I had begun painting (staining, actually) the front porch.  I had no idea that painting railings takes forever!  I spent many hours and on the third day of going at it, Ben joined me to help…what a great help he was!  We were hoping to have most of the porch done before we left, but not so!  Today was no day for painting…the humidty was so high and it finally rained late this afternoon. 

Last night,  I received a call from my Amish friend saying that her baby needed to have a transfusion. We talked for over an hour!  For those who pray,  I ask that you might remember tiny Susanna in your prayers.  She entered this world weighing only one pound, fourteen ounces, and  thirteen inches long! My friend said she is so tiny, she looks like a little doll!  The doctor told Eunice and her husband there will be many “bumps in the road” ahead, but she is trying to remain positive.

I have fallen behind in my blogging, but…well, life seems to be moving along in fast forward lately!

Alrighty, then. The above was written early this morning. “Before* ….

1) I had to use up some apples that were going soft, so I baked an apple pie.

2) We had to contact the college about Ben taking a music course there this fall…which led to me having to make a mad dash for Pastor Bert’s house for a letter of recommendation.  Pastor Bert and his wife left today for New York City because they are flying to Peru along with a medical doctor to treat kids and reach out to the people. (Pastor Bert is originally from Peru)

3) I had to prepare a quick lunch for my starving (NOT!) family

4) Run down to Naples to buy gasoline for the lawnmower

5) Return home and quickly pack three boxes to send out via UPS this afternoon

6) Help Mark

7) Fall on the floor into a big heap of tired humanity!

Oh, I am so tired.  But I did not decide to post this to complain! No, no, no!

On Sunday, after visiting with my Amish friends in Rochester,  Mark and I called Carly and finally did something we had talked about for years and years!

There is an area of Rochester called High Falls.  Yes, there are falls located on the Genesee River there!  Every night, there is a small laser show, complete with fireworks.  We had talked about going to see this for years, but never really found the time to *do* it! 

The laser show is projected onto a large stone wall across from the falls. Unfortunately, when both Carly and I tried to photograph the laser show,  we came up with small parts of the “pictures”.  It was rather funny, but….

Makes for some cryptic photos!

It was really, really dark for the laser show!

But the Genesee Brewery was well lit across the bridge we were atanding on!

Well, if one cannot take good photos at a laser show, how about lasers on buildings?

The laser show was fun, paying tribute to many famous Rochestarians and offering a brief history of the city as well! Now, getting bored and a tad frustrated that laser images do not capture well, I must admit I did get a bit antsy, looking about for some good photo ops.

Did I mention the fireworks?

The bridge we observed the show from had a nice sign with some history…

And an historical marker as well!

As we began making our way back to the parking garage where we left the truck, we passed  by a wall built in 1816, that was part of a forge. Of course, this piqued Mark’s interest.  It really was quite interesting, especially the way it was so nicely lit in the dark!

The thing that immediately caught my eye at the forge was the huge water wheel!

And another look at the wheel…

Although downtown Rochester isn’t my cup of tea, day or night,  this area was fascinating and so beautiful!

Ah, yes! This is an historical district, making it a desirable section of the city! We noticed there were little signs throughout the area,  designating walking tours of the area.. Now, if we can just rope Carly long enough to take us on a tour!

Mark commented later that he lived in the city some thirty years and had never visited this place before!  Can you imagine?