Life in the Bristolwood

On Wednesday, Mark and I traveled over to Ithaca.  On the way home, I asked if we could stop at Taughannock Falls as we were passing by.  Boy, am I glad we stopped!  This place is just incredible!

My blog has been suffering from neglect, but it is a busy time of the year once again.

We have winterized the camper and it is tucked away for another winter, but the pool is still waiting and (believe it or not) the firewood is still waiting to come inside the garage. Yes, we are behind!  It seems like the Fall just kind of creeps up every year while we aren’t paying attention.  With the kids’ activities and all the running about for groceries and everything else, time seems to grow shorter and shorter!

Here is a photo of the view from the end of our driveway, looking down the hill.  As you can see, the trees have pretty much peaked.  I can’t believe the pile of leaves all over the driveway!  Oh, if only Autumn would last longer.  It arrives so covertly, then makes such a quick exit!  Just when the trees look their grandest, the rain and wind comes, blowing them all down to the ground.  Somehow, it just doesn’t seem fair at all!

I will have to try to do better with blogging, although I am not too sure how exciting life is right now!

Well, perhaps not real circles, but it does feel that way!

We finished winterizing the camper and it is now sitting on its pad for the winter. We plan to close the pool up soon, too.  I like to have it done *before* the leaves begin falling, but….uhoh!  Too late!

If you aren’t following me on Facebook, you cannot see my photo entries for my daily photo journal. (Blipfoto) I really like the last two entries.  Yesterday’s entry was a Canada Goose,  taken at a small pond near the Marketplace Mall in Henrietta.

Yeah, I have been reduced to snapping quickie photos as I pass through the mall parking lot! (gasp!)  The photo for today was taken at the same small pond, but this time,  it was a Great Blue Heron.  This bird was extremely shy and I had to use the telephoto lens.  I could tell by reading its body language, the bird was not going to allow me to get nearly as close as I had gotten to the geese.  But, alas,  I did get a fairly good photo….

I was in Rochester both Monday and Tuesday to take Michelle to school.  Tomorrow, she is home, so we get a day of rest!  (for which I am grateful)  It is tough trying to keep the house clean while running about, that’s for sure!

Wow!  This hardly seems like October.  With temperatures pressing near 80 degrees, it hardly seems like fall!  Well, the thing is, we all know this isn’t going to last, right?

This morning, I awakened to a chorus of tree frogs screeching out their raspy song.  I got up with the Soctties and was pleasntly surprised at the mild temperature as we stepped out the door!  The sun just poured out all day today and it was so incredible with the vivid colors of fall, lighting up the sky against a backdrop of sapphire blue skies.  Oh, so beautiful!

We had dinner a bit on the late side.  I made Old Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings. It was after 6:30 by the time everyone sat down.  I had set the table on the front porch….hy should we eat inside when it is so mild after all?  I lit a candle and we just enjoyed the entire experience.  Apparently, eating outside makes everyone a bit more hungry than usual.  Although my BIG Crockpot was nearly full when I placed it on a small side table, there were hardly any leftovers!

We topped dinner off with Indoor S’mores! Okay, you twisted my arm….here is the recipe.

Indoor S’mores

8 cups Golden Grahams Cereal

1 12 ounce bag Milk Chocolate Chips

4 Tablespoons butter

1 bag mini-marshmallows

1 teaspoon Vanilla

In a heavy saucepan, melt butter,  chips, and mini-marshmallows.  Stir constantly and do not leave pan unattended!  After butter, chips and marshmallows are melted, add vanilla, then add cereal and mix well.  Place in 9 x 13 inch pan and refrigerate until cool.  Cut into bars and enjoy!

Mark says these are SICK!  (as in delicious!)  This is an awesome little treat to have on hand if company is coming and you don’t have lots of time to spend making goodies.  I think most everyone would like these!

Here are a few more photos I took on Friday afternoon. (I was too lazy to get the card from my Nikon camera!

I wish I would have taken a drive to see all the pretty leaves today, but Michelle and I did some cleaning in the camper.  Yes, it seems like we were just getting the camper ready for spring, and now it is time to store it away once again until next year’s adventures!

The kids wanted to go to Penn Yan late Friday afternoon to visit a friend home for the weekend from college.  Mark and I took them over, then we headed off.  I wanted to take some country pictures, so we took a few side roads here and there.  At one point, Mark decided GPS might be useful, so he pulled into a church parking lot.  Right next door was a Mennonite house, and the laundry was out on the line.  Love the look of the clothing against the red barn backdrop and the beautiful evergreens in the foreground!

When Michelle had a “bug” a little over a week ago, I wasn’t worried.  I seem to not be catching colds and such like I used to.  I was the one who, if in a room where someone sneezed,  I would get a cold.  But, not so much anymore.  Until a couple of nights ago. 

This bug really isn’t *so* awfully bad…..I was able to get up (in my terribly infirmed state)  this morning and cook up a batch of Beef Burgandy for a late lunch.  It was yet another recipe from that great book,  Slow Cooker Revolution.  I am pretty sure that the price of $17.99 that I paid for that book,  has been greatly given the stamp of approval by my family.  The Beef Burgandy was delicious, according to all.   It took some preparation,  but once in the Crockpot,  it was all so easy!

Oh, about this “bug”?   It resembles a head cold and just a general feeling of being drained.  The saddest part is,  I was feeling so envigorated by the cooler weather we had been having just before the proverbial shoe dropped!  It really isn’t that bad..probably more of an inconvenience!  I did notice when we ate our late lunch outside, on the porch, (oh, c’mon!  It was 55 out and the sun was shining!!!)  I felt much better.  I love fresh air!  The sun helped, too!

I don’t have photos for today.  I have been very limited in the photography area.  We have been spending a great deal of time talking with car dealers and such….I do not have the stamina it would take to “wheel and deal”,  but Mark is so good at this kind of stuff.  I keep telling him he should be an “advocate” for those needing one,  such as the elderly and disabled.  He would also make a great attorney as logic seems like a strong point with him.

If you are in the market for car-buying,  it would be to your great benefit to learn of a couple of amazing online tools:

1.) Truecar :   http://www.truecar.com/      This site is INVALUABLE!!!  It gives you the information you only WISH you could find.  Although it will give you the name of dealerships that work with this program,  Mark used the pricing for leverage with a dealership that is not associated with Truecar.  If you have any questions,  please let me know and I will pass them along to Mark.  He LOVES this…having previously worked with Kelly Blue Book,  Edmunds, and NADA…all online.

2.)  IF you have  a great credit rating, check out PenFed Credit Union.  Oh my! That stands for Pentagon Federal Credit Union.  Although neither of us have served with the armed forces, we were able to join this credit union by simply making a contribution of $20 or $15 to one of the two options listed at their site.  Their rate for purchasing a new car, for up to 48 months, was 1.99%.  That is better than anything we had found.  Mark called and spoke with a fellow and got approved immediately.  Oh…did I mention their credit card?  If you use it for gasoline,  you save 5% at the pump!  That means for each dollar spent, your actual cost is 95 cents.   (BTW, Mark found this little gem by searching at banks.com for a competitive rate on auto loans)

Okay, so those are my two “hot tips” for tonight. 

Hopefully, I will be feeling MUCH better tomorrow and things will get back to normal.  Or, at least “more” normal!