Life in the Bristolwood

I got up with the Scotties a little later than usual because I had to knit a few rows on the sleeve for my new sweater.  The boys are pretty patient in the morning,  and today they waited without making any fuss as the needles moved along….

When we made it downstairs,  there was a strange “look” in the house.  I looked outside the French doors on the back deck and noticed that everything looked as though it had been “bathed” in orange!  Even the air itself seemed like there was a funny color to it!

As the Scotties ate their breakfast, I went out the door with my camera.  I looked up in the sky

As the “cloud” made its way east, it became less and less “colorful”.

Since we had no major plans to do anything special,  I spent a good deal of the day reading and knitting.  I finished one sleeve for my sweater yesterday, then sewed the fronts to the back at the shoulders.  I thought the sleeves would be so easy to complete,  but all the cabling was driving me nuts!  I don’t need to read the pattern as the instructions are now imbedded in my brain,  but there is so much fiddling around with cables!!!!

This shows the detail on the front….

and the sleeve…..

I am determined to finish this bugger up by the weekend!  After finishing the sleeve yesterday,  I finished the neck edge as I was reluctant to begin the second sleeve!

Mark and I watched another Sabres preseason game last night,  which was another win for Buffalo! Yeah, go Sabres!  They played Washington last night, which is another team they have a hard time beating.  Now, if only they could continue on during the regular season!

Michelle and Mark made a fantastic barbeque sauce they found the recipe for on the internet.   I cooked boneless skinless chicken thighs on the grill for dinner and then swirled them around in the sauce.  I also made green bean casserole and once dinner was served, there was a lot of lip-smacking going on!

Now, if only I could figure out how to make the house self-cleaning…..

Last evening, the kids went to a concert down in Naples with the proceeds benefitting the family of their friend who was in a serious automobile accident a few weeks ago.  The young man involved in the accident showed up last night.  He is wearing a neck brace and his arm in in a cast as it was injured quite severely.  We are all just thankful he is okay!

As the kids were at their concert,  Mark, the Scotties, and I sat in the truck, watching a hockey game on the laptop. The game was very exciting,  as it was a preseason game against the Detroit Redwings.  Buffalo has been so hard pressed to defeat this team, but they did last night, taking the game 3:1!

Of course, Angus got bored after a bit since the laptop didn’t offer food or anything inviting for a Scottie! So, he decided to stand guard duty in case anyone might try to slip too close to the truck!

We parked in a space in front of the Naples Pharmacy and I decided to take a few photos.  I must digress just a bit and explain that I didn’t get out of the truck to take any photos, as I was suffering the results of a ridiculous headache I had awakened to yesterday morning.  I have never had a migraine, but every now and again,  I get a massive tension headache (in the back of the neck and spreading to the shoulders) that just refuses to leave.  Thus, I spent a good portion of yesterday lying on the bed.   The temperature was a tad chilly last night and I just didn’t have any ambition.  So, photos from the truck….

I noticed that St. Januarius Catholic Church already has a sign up for their annual yard sale during the Grape Festival.  The festival is next weekend.

This brought to my mind a news story I had read a couple of weeks ago. 

Naples is “on the  map”, if you will,  for two *famous* things.  Those two entities are the annual Naples Grape Festival and Widmer’s Winery.   Well, we have been informed that within the next eighteen months,  Widmer’s Wines will be moved away from Naples and relocated to Canandaigua. 

I cannot help but wonder what kind of impact this move will have on the tiny village of Naples.  I’m not certain of the statistics, but I would venture to guess that many of the 55 Windmer employees are from the area.  In reading through a history of Widmer’s, this winery has been in the Naples location for over a century, when Swiss born John Widmer established the venture in 1883.  The winery has survived some tough times, including America’s spell of prohibition.

 The town is assured that the move might be a positive one, as the Rochester Institute of Technology has shown an interest in the property.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.  The Widmer property is a fairly large portion of Naples and has presented itself nicely over the years.   The distinct building sitting on a side road running parallel to Main Street has been an important part of the town for many, many years. 

Time alone will tell how this move will impact the lives of the people of such a small community…..

Saturday night, I went to bed late. Too late to get up yesterday at 5 am!  But, I did indeed get up and awakened the rest of the family as well.  After all,  we had planned a busy day!

We were off and out the door by eight, but our journey was drawing us about ninety miles from home.  We headed north, then due west.  The kids chattered in the backseat and we made good time,  reaching the parking lot in Buffalo at almost exactly ten-thirty.  We hustled inside and found our seats.

So….what was it we were attending?

Sabres training camp!

Don’t worry….I will only show a few of the many photos I took!

The next photo is of player Drew Stafford.  I really like Drew, although he needs more consistency in his play.  Shortly after taking this photo,  I looked at my Twitter account and found out he had just signed a new two year contract with the Sabres!

Terri,  if you are reading, the next photo is for you!  It is hometown boy, Tim Connolly!  Kind of a crummy photo, but, hey, it’s Timmy!

And my one action shot I will show is teammates trying to score on goaltender Ryan Miller.

We had a great time watching the team scrimmage.

When we left early in the morning,  we had to decide what to do with the little Scottie boys.  Mark wanted to take our two kennels (cages) with us,  but one is so cavernous, it takes up tons of space.   We decided to take the Scotties and one cage.  We parked in the parking lot specifically for HSBC Arena.  The truck has a cool feature in which the bottoms of the rear seats pull up to the back of the front seats, then the back of the seats drop down, forming a large flat surface in the rear seat.  This was perfect for the Scotties.  We kennelled Angus, as he is the more “vocal” of the two.  He tends to jump up on the seat and look out the window, while Murphy just curls into a ball and sleeps.

When I went out about midway of the practice,  sure enough…..Murphy was rolled in a ball, sleeping on a blanket.  Angus didn’t seem to mind the cage much and the two were quiet and calm.  They were such good boys!  The temperature in the parking garage never exceeded 65 degrees, so the Scotties were cool and it worked out perfectly!

As soon as the practice was over,  we hopped into the truck and headed off for lunch.  Everyone ate at Mighty Taco, excet me, as I was holding out for a Greek salad from John and Mary’s!  After Mighty Taco, we headed to Anderson’s Frozen Custard.  We bought a quart of Vanilla custard and split it.  Mmmmmmmmmm!

We made our way towards Darien Center so the kids could go to the amusement park for a couple of hours.  We stopped only to pick up my salad,  then went to the park.  The kids rode for a two hours, then we headed towards home.

We stopped in Geneseo for some grilled Kentucky Fried Chicken.  The kids were hungry after their rides, after all!  When finished (Ididn’t eat as I was still rather stuffed  from my salad!)  Mark and the kids shopped in Wal Mart for awhile. 

We got home again shortly after nine o’clock and as I began to enter this into my blog, I realized I was too exhausted to even hold my head up!

Ben best summed up yesterday, commenting,  “This was just an awesome day!”

I had some trouble uploading photos last night, so waited for Mark to take a look today.  It was, (of course!) operator error.  For some reason,  I goofed up.  Might have had to do with being tired!

I wanted to share a few photos from around the campground where we stayed.  This campground is fantastic and about the cleanest place we’ve ever been!  People were mowing and cleaning the grounds every day.  This is a state park and they have sites available for “dry camping” or tenting closer to the lake that are just beautiful!  The biggest testimony to just *how* great this park really is were the number of vehicles parked in the sites with Canadian license plates. 

Here is our little camper…..

And as you can see,  our “yard” was nearly the size of a city house lot!

We enjoyed this trip and the kids did as well. 

One day, Michelle was playing with Murphy inside the tent.  As the sun intensified, Michelle came out of the tent and grabbed a bottled water.  She called over to me to have a look and I just had to catch this…little Murphy “sipping” water from the bottle!

The kids and I wandered down to the beach early one afternoon.  They have fun finding smooth shards of glass along the beach, always on the lookout for highly valued (in their economy, anyway)  blue glass.  We had fun walking along the beach and looking around a bit.

 The above was carved into a big piece of driftwood along the beach. 

I really miss this place.  It was fun being there and seeing the Sabres camp.  I didn’t have much time to miss anything today, though, as the kids had ten young people over today!  It was another busy day…I made Beef Stroganoff, green beans with butter and garlic, and a salad for dinner.  We had a lot of fun but I am so tired!

Well, what else would you expect?  Sorry, but it seems like every time I see a Mallard Drake, it is as though I am seeing one for the first time! They are soooo beautiful!

Although today was a little slower paced than days past,  I found myself ready to fall into a heap this afternoon to fall asleep!  Yes, all of the busyness is beginning to catch up!

Today was pretty warm out and Ben and I ran up to Canandaigua this afternoon for Mark.  After errands,  I pulled into an ice cream stand that sells such wonderfully delicious frozen custard.  Thinking perhaps my boy would like a nice Chocolate Almond cone,  I was a little shocked when he chose Vanilla!  Egads, the kid is like ME!

We took our little dishes of the tasty dessert to the City Pier and sat,  watching the coots, ducks, and gulls playing in the water and entertaing any people who stopped by to watch.  In the photo below, I caught all three….coots, ducks, and gulls!!! Click twice to see the big picture and look at that (mouthy) seagull on the left.

The lake was a little less choppy today and the Buffleheads were closer to the pier than I had caught them before.  You can see in this photo that the Bufflehead is quite small in stature…the Coot might be bigger. 

This evening, Mark and I watched a Portland Pirates game as they are in the AHL (American Hockey League) playoffs this year.  They beat the Providence Bruins 3:0.  Portland’s goalie, Jhonas Enroth (from Sweden) was stellar in this evening’s game! 

We were really bummed by the fact that Buffalo didn’t make it into the playoffs this year.  Unfortunately, when the Sabres’s goalie, Ryan Miller, was run by Scott Gomez, he sustained a high ankle sprain that left him unable to play fourteen games.  It is nearly impossible for a backup goalie to come in so late in the season and maintain a winning status.  Thus, we suffered.  I might add that our “backup” (Mikael Tellqvist, also from Sweden)  goalie to the “backup”  (Patrick LaLime) played fantastically well his last two games, with Sabres wins.  I guess the bottom line is that Ryan Miller might still be recouperating from the injury and maybe it is better we didn’t make the playoffs…..after all, there is always next season, eh?

I have discovered that having two teens in the house makes for much busyness!  Seems like the kids have something up their sleeves much of the time.  So, last night’s agenda was to attend the Teen Skate once again.  The skate would have typically been scheduled for next Saturday night,  but because the Christian radio station (which is housed in the same building) is having a big “Sharathon”,  (to raise money to continue broadcasting….this is done every year in April and November)  the date had to be moved ahead one week.

While the family slept yesterday morning, I decided to sneak on down to the lake to see if there was anything worthy of photographing.  The problem (smacking my head!) was, I would have been trying to shoot directly into the bright eastern sun.  Instead of taking photos, I just watched people launching their fishing boats and the ducks swimming in the water.  The ducks were out so far, I had no idea what type they were.  With the sun directly on them, they were just “dark”  colored.  I don’t think they were Mallards, though, as they kept diving underwater.

I came home and took the little Panasonic camera for a little walk around the house and yard.  I really liked this photo of the sky reflecting off the ugly grey pool cover, complete with leaves….

I guess I was feeling rather “artsy”, as I also got a photo of some dead grasses on the hill behind the garage.

I had wanted to leave the house early to go shopping in an area not too far from the center where the kids were going.  Unfortunately, not everyone in the family was quick to leave!  We left quite a bit later than anticipated. I still brought both cameras along, but as time passed and we had to stop for this and that, it was obvious I was defeated! No interesting photos!

We went to Pizza Hut and got a special which was a large stuffed-crust pizza and a family-sized serving of lasagne.  Mark got the pizza with half “veggie-lovers” for Michelle and me and half “meat lovers” for Ben and himself.  I ate some pizza and was instantly “stuffed” myself!  So, we placed the lasagne in the back of the truck for later. (Mark took one piece of the veggie pizza that was left and realized HE liked the veggie side better!)

We dropped the kids off for the skate, then hurried on down the road to our “designated” parking place. There was another Sabres game on and we were excited to see this one.  The Sabres have been doing rather poorly the past few games.  With Scott Gomez running our goalie, Ryan Miller, Ryan missed 13 games with a sprained ankle.  Even though we have fabulous backup goalies, the team missed Miller and we went into a slump.  Ryan returned to mind the net on Friday and we won! 

The playoffs are coming right up and we are trying to claw our way back into postition to play.  We really need to win the last few games of our regular season to even hope for a playoff position.  Miller’s presence in net was vital! The fact that we were playing in Montreal was against us. Our record was 9 losses in the last 9 games played there.

While Mark set up the computer, I did a little test. I photographed McDonald’s, first with the Panasonic…..

Then the Nikon.

The Nikon won.

I just have to comment that sitting in a parking lot watching the Sabres game with a Scottie on each of our laps, with the windows down in March was just so totally surreal!!!

Mark got everything set up and we watched the game. The Sabres came out blazing and scored. They scored again!  A little later, Montreal scored.  And again. And again.

During the periods, there was an interview with Tim Connolly….

Tim is a fantastic played who has had so many injuries and physical problems! Last year, he missed out much of the year because of a concussion.  This year, we lost him to a broken rib that needed time to heal.  Now he is back and he is a force to be reckoned with by other teams!  The Sabres signed him on again last month to a two year contract. 

Of course, while the interview was on, McDonald’s called out to Mark and he had to make a slight side trip!

Lousy photo…taken through the windshield while Mark was moving forward. I am surprised it even turned out at all! You can see the windshield wiper at the bottom of the photo!

Oh,  Mark got a hot fudge sundae.

Time passed so quickly.  The game ended in a 3:3 tie.  So, the game went into overtime.  We had to pack up and couldn’t watch because it was now  time to pick the kids up at the center!  We came right home and got into the house just before 11.  I trudged up the stairs shortly thereafter, totally tired out!

Of course, I just *had* to see the score of the game before dropping off to slumberland!  We won! No one scored in the overtime, so the game had to go to a shootout.  Bottom line, Ryan Miller made six saves and our Finnish-born  defenseman Tony Lydman got the puck past Montreal goal tender, Carey Price, ending the game Sabres:4, Montreal:3.

Goooooooooooo, Sabres!!!!!

Last night, the kids had planned to go skating at the Christian center in Bath.  The weather has been so tremendously kind lately,  Mark and I figured it would be fun to take the kids, then park the truck and watch the Sabres game via our server (computer) from home.  Mark was enjoying the warmer weather so much, he wore a short-sleeved shirt, while I wore a shirt, along with a sweater.  NO winter coats!

We dropped the kids off right at seven, then headed towards town.  We hurried and grabbed some fast food, then settled down to watch the game. 

I was impressed at our location, as the nearest food at our home in the Bristolwood is quite some distance! As we looked out the driver’s side,  towards the front,  there was a huge travel trailer sales business located up on a high hill.

Directly to the front of the truck was a grocery store. (Boy, how convenient that would be near our house….seems we are always running out of something or other!)

Just a couple hundred feet outside my door was the familiar “Golden Arches”!

I must admit that the quality of these photos is horrible, but that is because I was too lazy to get outside the truck and take them. You can actually see the smears on the windows in some of the photos.  The good part of this is that during intermission between periods, Mark and I tried to clean the windows a little.  It was hard, though, as  1. it was rainy and very humid, and, 2. with two people and two Scotties inside,  we were only adding to the humidity from outside, making it virtually impossible to eliminate the moisture on the glass!

The game was already well into the first period when we tuned in,  but the score was tied at 1:1 at the period’s end.  Below is our backup goalie, Patrick LaLime.  He has been doing a rather impressive job the past few games, after our starting goalie, Ryan Miller, injured his ankle when a player mowed him over a few games ago.

I must admit,  my “chair” was so fantastically comfortable, I fell sound asleep during the game, awakening when Mark asked if I was going to REALLY watch the game?  Oops! Perhaps I *should* have stayed asleep, as we lost the game.  The final score was Ottawa, 6: Buffalo, 3.

The game ended just shortly before we needed to pick up the kids.  What fun this was! Sometimes being married to a ‘puter geek can be very entertaining!

For my dreadful headache!

At about five o’clock yesterday afternoon, I began to feel hungry.  Rightfully so, as I had not eaten all day, save a sliver of Michelle’s terrific cake.  At the same time, I also decided enough was enough with the lingering headache, so I was going to take some Ibuprophen. 

Ben has culinary skills that rival those of top chefs, I am so convinced! He has come up with the perfect omelette of spinach and feta cheese that would make any restaurant proud to serve!  I ate my omelette, along with a slice of whole wheat toast….it was so fantastic!

The Buffalo Sabres played last night against the New York Strangers  Rangers, and Buffalo was doing a terrific job! We were winning, when in the third period, one of their finest players slewfooted our goalie.  Our goalie, Ryan Miller,  has been showing up everywhere in ads and such, as he is such a terrific player.  There was no reason for this player to have taken Ryan out of the game. (slewfooting is when a player comes from the rear and rams his knee into the knee of the player in front, taking him down and possibly causing some serious damage)  Scott Gomez said he couldn’t stop in time, but everyone who has viewed the replays believes it was an intentional move on Gomez’s part.  Playoffs are important and Buffalo is struggling to move up in the standings, hoping to make it to the playoffs.  I was too tired to watch the game last night, but listened via radio.  When Mark showed me the play later, I felt sick to my stomach….

I went to bed feeling somewhat better, but still not “well”.  This morning, though, ahhhhh! What relief to have that headache gone!

Too bad I don’t have a picture of a beautiful red Cardinal to insert here for Valentine’s Day, but how about this adorable face?

I wondered about the Goldfinches….they are a kind of “olive drab” during the winter months, but bright yellow in the summer…So, when do they change color?  If you look at the little bird above, you can see the bright patch of yellow under the beak.  I have noticed bright yellow on the finches here and there.  I wonder if this is because their breeding season isn’t too far off?

I went wandering about in the woods a little to see what kind of damage might have resulted from the tremendous winds on Tuesday.  I was happy to see that the snow *finally* allowed me to show off the treads on my (not so) new boots!

Yes, I was waiting for the wet, sticky kind of snow so I could show the snowflakes on the bottom of my boots!

There are several trees down just in a small area I observed.  I wonder just how many more there are throughout our woods!  I did not photograph a large Basswood that broke open at its base…really weird….looks like it imploded! I dislike Basswood!

I feel so spoiled this Valentines Day!  Mark and the kids got me flowers…..

A cute Valentine balloon bouquet……

And, (so very dear to my heart!) TWO boxes of Walker’s Scottish Shortbread cookies!

We took our kids, along with two others, over to a small party in Penn Yan today.  Mark and I got to spend some time alone….gads, it was soooo incredibly quiet!  We drove around a bit and went to Geneva to look in a couple of stores.

Last night, Mark and I watched a Buffalo Sabres game on television.  The game was held in Buffalo, and the NHL (National Hockey League) offered to postpone the game in light of the tragic plane crash in Buffalo Tuesday night.  The management decided that perhaps the game would be good for the people, bringing them together in a spirit of unity.

Before the game began, there was a moment of silence in memory of those killed in the crash.  It sent goosebumps up and down my arms, seeing this huge arena, full of people, heads bowed in silence.  During the game,  short clips of the coach were shown with him speaking about the crash. It was obvious this was a very difficult subject for him. Several of the players on the Sabres team live within minutes of where the accident occurred.

The game went on with Buffalo in the lead against the leading team in the western conference.  As time passed, the San Jose Sharks tied the game, then scored another goal,  leading the game 5-4.  As the closing minutes of the game wound down, it looked for all intents and purposes, like the Sharks were going to win the game.  With 3.9 seconds on the clock, Buffalo scored, tying the game as it came to a close!  You have never seen such a standing ovation! Fans screamed and cheered for what seemed like forever!

The game went into a fourth period, which is played 4 on 4, for five minutes. Neither team scored, so it was time for a shootout.  After several players went out, individually, to try to score on each goalie, the Sabres wound up victorious!! It was a very tense and nerve-wracking game, but the fans were nearly ecstatic! I do think that the game did unify the people in Buffalo for a time, and gave them something good to enjoy.

My heart and prayers go out for the families and friends of those on Flight 3407….

Believe it or not, we are almost entirely without any snow! It never reached the predicted high here today, but it was warm, and as the rain came in,  the snow just melted away.  The lawn looks pathetic….it is so matted with leaves, sunflower seed husks,  and dead grass.  It seems pretty unusual to see grass in February, though! I took a photo from the bedroom window this afternoon with the little Panasonic camera that has such a wide angle view….

Just last week,  there was about a foot of snow on the ground there! Wow!  Our warm weather will soon disappear.  Tomorrow,  the temperature is supposed to drop throughout the day and be accompanied by some high winds. 

After taking the photo outside the window,  I saw the puck we got at last night’s Portland Pirates game.  I forgot to tell about the great deal that really helped us decide to attend this game.

If fans purchased a 4-pack of tickets for $79.50, they also received a puck signed by Nathan Gerbe or Tim Kennedy,  a bucket of popcorn,  4 sodas, and 4 hotdogs!  The seating was in a great section for seeing the game, so we decided it would be a worthwhile trip!

As we went to pick up a puck, Mark asked which one we should get. I told him Nathan Gerbe, of course!  Well, just a bit ago, I was reading the Buffalo Sabres website, and I nearly jumped for joy when I read that Nathan has been called up from the Pirates to play with the Sabres tonight!  Goooooooooooo, Gerbe!!!

Well, now that that is out of my system…..My family loves me. I made my take on Chicken Spinocoli again for dinner and everyone is smiling.  The dishes are done and leftovers put away.  The game begins in half an hour…..Ah, think I will just put my feet up and realax!