Life in the Bristolwood

I  (really “we”, as Murphy was with me)  dropped the kids off and began our long day of…well, sitting!  I have never done very well sitting, so we moved around a bit!  I visited a few stores…WalMart,  Big Lots, Dollar Tree,  Wegman’s, Bed Bath and Beyond,  Aldi, and Lowe’s.  We also visited the City Pier and sat at another parking lot near the lake for awhile.  Murphy was such a good little Scottie Boy, spending time waiting for me as I hopped in and out of stores!

I took a few random photos…

Still dry-docked, but getting gussied up!

Lots and lots of squawking gulls on Squaw Island. Noisy!!!!

As we were leaving the pier, I had to stop for Mr. and Mrs. Mallard.  Guess they own the pier, after all! 

On the way to the Dollar Tree, there was some activity in the plaza parking lot.  I parked away and sat and watched for awhile.  The plaza is going to be the new home of JoAnn Fabrics.  I used to work at another JoAnn’s years and years ago.  The Canandaigua store was located in the old WalMart Plaza and it was pretty run down.  This plaza is basically kitty-corner from the old store, but located in a very active plaza. The store is also going to be much larger.

I think they were hoisting air conditioning (or heating/cooling) units on top of the new store.

I smiled when I read the name of the company doing the work…

That crane was sooooo tall!  The name on the front is McGuiness Tree Removal.  I guess they could uproot some pretty big trees with that machine!

The work in progress was so fascinating, even Murphy watched!

When we were at the lake,  I was hoping to see some waterfowl, but the only birds around were some Coots and the Mallard Ducks.  I did spot one lonely Bufflehead Duck.  No idea why it was out in the water, solo!  I did see lots of Canada Geese wandering around here and there…I think they are getting ready to raise some little goslings soon.

When I got home, I had so many tasks to attend to…one being checking the sap buckets.  The sap slowed down to a standstill with the bitter weather we have been experiencing, but that was okay, as I got a chance to catch up with all the sap I had.  As I checked the buckets today, there was so much sap!  I think I collected about eight gallons from the six trees we have tapped! Time to fire up my makeshift stove outside and evaporate once again!   The weather is calling for some more snow on Friday…

Thus far.  3/4 gallon.  My goal was 1 gallon.  I may end up with much more than I had bargained for!

I took a few pictures this morning as well.  Believe me, as the sun made its way across the eastern sky this morning,  I am sure there was rejoicing to be heard after yesterday’s snow!  Up in Rochester (NY) there were several accidents all attributed to the slippery roadways.  One of the saddest was a young man from Ghana who was attending college near Rochester…he had a head on collision in his little car with a huge utility truck.  He was pronounced dead on the scene.

The last two photos were taken later in the morning.  I had walked down the driveway to get the mail.  At the time, there were beautiful blue skies and the contrast between the frost on the hills and the sky was striking!  Unfortunately, by the time I walked to the house and grabbed my camera,  the clouds were already settling in.  Oh well, it was so beautiful, blue skies or not!

If you click to enlarge the first photo, you can see the line where the trees are bare, as opposed to those high up on the hill, covered in frost and snow.

In the last photo, I zoomed in a bit and the line between bare trees and trees “frosted” is more pronounced!

This time, home from a visit with my parents!  We made the drive to visit as we have not been there in ages!  It was wonderful seeing my parents, my brother Randy, and little Fritz.  We had a great time and went to the Rod and Gun Club for a delicious dinner.

Since it is so late, I am going to post a couple of photos to show how I have been spending some of my time!

And the end result…

I have honestly never seen syrup this color for sale before!  It is so light in color and the flavor is so sweet!

We talked to some people at Sprague’s Restaurant today that are involved in their syrup production…the lady said the sap is running so abundantly, they are having a hard time keeping up in production.  I believe it, because the trees are giving so much sap each day.  I had heard on the radio this is going to be a banner year and I guess Sprague’s verified it!  Now I will either end up with lots of yummy syrup, or go crazy trying to do so!

Today was rather uneventful….a lot like yesterday, except for all the snowfall!  My, we got such a drenching rain yesterday, and today, it all turned to snow!  There are several inches on the ground, with more still falling.

Once again, one of the day’s highlights was the Buffalo Sabres beating the Minnesota Wild this evening. It was a nailbiting game, but we pulled through and won!  Way to go, Sabres!  I know they must have been tired after yesterday’s afternoon game, then flying to Minnesota.

I am going to show just a few photos of Ben’s room.  He has been busy working on it and it really does look pretty classy!

The lamp on the shelf to the right was a gift I found for the new room at The Hobby Lobby.  I love the gold color, but was not sure Ben would.  He says he does like it though. You can see his new headboard and the futon below his loft bed.  He has a “railing” he is going to install on the bed that is unusual but pretty clever.  We’ll have to wait for that, though.

These pictures aren’t the greatest as we took them tonight with flash. But, you can get the idea! Ben decided he did not want to use his closet space as closet space!  Instead, he moved his guitar, bass, and two amps into the area.  It does look pretty cool.

The last photo is of the headboard Mark and Ben built together.  It really is a nice touch to the loft bed.

There is still more work to be done and we need to find furniture that will fit nicely an not emphasize the “postage stamp” size room.   In the meantime, everything is coming together so nicely.  Good job, Ben!

Today, the kids had to go to Canandaigua for school.  Mark took them again, and again, I stayed home.  It was the first day that I stayed on my feet the entire day and worked around the house! 

When I say that it was quiet today, I mean really quiet! 

Last night, as I placed my head on the pillow, I could not help but wonder…..When will *it* start again? But, for the first time in a long time,  I did not cough until tears ran down my cheeks!  Nor did I gag or choke…It really was gone! I did awaken once during the night with a slight cough, but immediately fell back to sleep.  And what a lovely sleep it was!  I got in an entire eight hours.  That in and of itself is very unusual for me.  Ah, blessed sleep!

Today, I did four loads of laundry, folded them and put them away.  Don’t let all this activity fool you, though. When Mark and the kids arrived home again, I was pretty exhausted, but managed dinner.  And throughout the day, no more coughing!  I think it really is gone….for good!

Okay, enough about being sick!  I am so tired of thinking about it, so…

While I was lounging about, Mark and Ben were kind of busy!  They worked out in the garage a couple of days, building a headboard for Ben’s bed.  I was pretty impressed! It is just pine, but that was what Ben wanted, as his plan was to paint it black.

Ben wanted to paint all his furniture black with the thought that it will make his room appear bigger.

The bed is now all painted and I will be showing it sometime soon.  Although black seemed a bit much, I have to admit, the whole thing is looking pretty classy!  That headboard has a shelf and below, a door with a piano hinge…it swings down so Ben can store goodies and treasures in a very large space!  When he told me to come have a look at it when he had it hoisted in place one night,  I was shocked when he opened that door and pulled his electric guitar out!

Ben’s room really is a “work in progress”, but he is pretty happy and is certainly learning some really great carpentry skills!

Oh, and I cannot forget my deer!  The deer that I photographed yesterday was back again, munching and pawing around the same place.  I hurried and grabbed another apple and she once again happily accepted my gift!  I went upstairs and grabbed my camera, but the SD card was in the computer.  Being tired, I just couldn’t see myself making another trip upstairs, so I sat down and just observed!  That deer ate the apple, then lingered on and on for over an hour, staying not too far from the house!

Perhaps my less than cheerful self can be directly attributed to the fact that I have been feeling miserable for the past several days.  The one highlight of my day has been strolling down the driveway to not only get some fresh air, but also to retrieve the mail.  Some highlight, huh?

Yesterday, I was feeling some better, so when Mark asked if I wanted to go to Canandaigua, I jumped at the chance.  We went first to Woodville, as I was curious what it looked like.  (While I have been sick, our weather has gone from one extreme to the other! Last Friday, we received close to a foot of snow, while on Monday morning, I was awakened to the sound of drenching rain  hitting against the window!)

The Canandaigua trip was less than eventful….I would say I was fairly miserable, feeling weak when I went into a couple stores.  The trip home was good, as I was now longing to recline on the bed and just rest.  (Rest seems to be a vital part of recovery in this particular attack!)  As Mark prepared to pull into the driveway, I offered to get out to grab the mail from the mailbox.

As I opened the door, I was surprised to see a handful of mail!  I was elated…maybe there was some real mail from my friend Eunice, or a letter from my mom.  I hopped back into the truck and we went on up the driveway. 

This morning, I went through the large pile of mail, much to my chagrin!  Out of nine pieces, one was a bill, one a request from a customer, and the other seven pieces were all applications for charge cards!  Hello?  I suppose all these requests are sent because the companies know we pay our bills and have good credit.  So…do they actually think we don’t know how to apply for a credit card?  Mark received four of the apps, while I got three.

I opened up all the requests and looked at the pile of  wasted paper.  Suddenly, a thought came to mind.  I remembered hearing Andy Roonie once comment that folks might consider “returning” junk mail to the sender in the enclosed envelopes!  What a brilliant idea!

I carefully went through all the applications, removing Mark’s and my names and address….I even placed the outer envelope the entire shebang came in….

You have no idea how greatly reduced my pile of recyclable paper!  Of course, I’ll have to talk to Mark  and see what he says, but this little exercise made me feel better, at least!

do not live in houses made of snow!

The weather here went “balmy” on us Thursday and Friday.  It was so warm, I was actually working outside with just a sweater on instead of a heavy jacket! 

Mark sadly watched as all of the wonderful snowmobiling snow evaporated or melted away….

Yesterday, I had planned to take a drive down to see my Amish friend, Eunice.  Mark decided he would like to go as well, so we left the kids at home to do some studying.  As we drove south of Naples, we were shocked to see several inches of snow remaining on the valley floor running down towards Bath.  Our snow had melted to the point that we could see grass and I even spotted crocuses or tulips poking through the soil in the garden.  Interesting!

The forecast for today called for scattered flurries…showers….whatever.  Last night, as I went to bed, the wind outside was so loud, it sounded as though it was mercilessly beating the house and everything else in its way! I awakened throughout the night to the sound of loud gusts. Our lights dimmed a bit at one point, but our electricity didn’t go out.

When I woke up this morning, the first thing that hit me was that it seemed chilly in the house.  I hadn’t made a fire in the stove since yesterday morning, and when we went to bed, it was still warm.  This morning, however, it was cold! I got up and could see snow “pasted” all over the windows!

I went downstairs with the Scottie boys and was surprised to find about five inches of snow on the ground! The boys were not too interested in lingering outside, so I grabbed firestarting stuff and we headed inside!  The house didn’t want to warm up as quickly as usual, as the wind continued with us throughout the entire day.

Mark and Ben ran to Canandaigua at about 3 this afternoon, and Mark said the roads were not that good! I shoveled about a foot of snow off the sidewalk in front of the garage as well as the porches and ramp.  Wow! Where did all that snow come from, anyway?

I took another photo of Ben’s snow house (remains) from the ramp.

I also was able to (barely) capture a couple of photos of my little Murphy.  We let him off lead and he raced around the yard like a greyhound!

As you can see, the low undercarriage caused a bit of overworking the “engine”, causing the pink tongue to hang out!

Mark was only gone about three hours, and when he came home, he said the truck was sliding a bit on the pavement.  The roads in Canandaigua were “messy”, but downright “dangerous” in our neck of the woods!

A ood night to pick up a good book and snuggle!

Oh the excitement! I could hardly contain myself last night in a living room full of noisy kids and a television so loud,I was sure my hearing was going to be forever impaired!  In the midst of it all, I became so overcome with sleepiness, I drifted off for a few minutes.  Somehow, I have a terrible time watching such a slow moving game….

Yes, another Super Bowl and another party.  The snacks were pretty good.  It is fun talking to the kids, too.  So, would you like to see how my two creative kids prepared?  Okay, you needn’t twist my arm!

Michelle came up with a luscious confection.

And Ben built another one of his snow houses. This year, he really went to great heights! (literally!) This house is BIG and TALL!

Below are the details of the roof system…

My kids have been doing the most creative and awesome things lately!

Michelle asked us for a Babycakes cupcake maker for Christmas, but I just could not do it.  Instead, I looked and looked around until I found a nice Wilton cake decorating set.  I thought Michelle might get more use from the set than from the cupcake maker that makes small cupcakes.  I thought perhaps I made a mistake at first,  unsure if she was going to use it.

Michelle is cut from the same cloth as I am.  Obviously, she has trouble getting projects started, or maybe just getting motivated, when there are people around.  So…yesterday, while we were getting new tires installed,  Michelle decided to get creative!

She did much of the decorating today, but as I opened the refrigerator last night, I was greeted by pink roses and a bag of green frosting!

There were little flowers on a tray on the counter!

As if this was not enough, our little baker went to town and made this today, as well. (She said it is a kinda Alice in Wonderland  theme!)

Michelle says that fondant on the cake must be kneaded, then stretched to fit over the cake.  I think she has done a pretty great job for her first two cakes!

Ben has been spending some time in the garage under Mark’s guidance, building a new bed for his room.  Since his room is very tiny by today’s standards,  he must really economize in his room.  The funny part of all this is that when friends come over for a party, they always seem to congregate in Ben’s tiny room.  So, we came up with a fairly slick arrangement!

Ben wavered some between wanting a loft bed and not.  As he worked on planning his room, he soon realized a loft bed would give him some more bang for his buck.  Mark and Ben went to work on building a solid bed that would hold the weight, but not overwhelm the room.

We all helped get the bed up into position so it could be mounted to the walls. Since Mark built the house, he was confident using the studs in the walls for mounting the frame of the bed.  The bed will be taken down and painted soon, but  Mark wanted Ben to give the new bed a whirl tonight.  Also, Mark is going to build a small headboard with shelves and a door for little things he would like to keep up there with him, like his Ipod and speakers for it.

Mark bought the futon under the bed so friends can sit on it to watch videos and such.  Ben is still trying to figure out what color he wants to paint the bad. He originally thought black, but is wondering if a charcoal gray might be better. He wants burgundy highlights, such as the sheets, curtains, and pillows.  I cannot wait until his room is complete. He has been waiting for this project for a long time.

After getting Ben’s bed up late this afternoon, I needed to take a package down to be picked up by UPS.  I thought since I was out, I would try out Mark’s new tires on the truck by going for a little ride.  The sky was glorious with clouds, but patches of blue and sunshine sparkling through.

Canandaigua Lake is just so beautiful, no matter what the season! I decided to take a jaunt to Woodville, so I turned down a little side road.  I have shown this barn before, but I really like the green wreaths and the sled added for Christmas.  It is so pretty!

I stopped briefly at the boat launch and marvelled at the beauty…yet again!  I would love to spend a day down here, as a  fellow from the marina just a stone’s throw away told me that the eagles come down and feed on the ice from time to time.  He said it is an awesome sight.  I have not seen the eagles since fall, but they do overwinter here.

I knew I could spend hours in Woodville, but needed to get back home.  I smiled as I passed by the garden in the side yard.  Everything is pretty buried under a mantle of white!

I looked back as I walked up the ramp behind the house…

The Jotul stove in the garage has a catalytic converter, which means it is smokeless, but some smoke does appear when it is reloaded.  I admired those blushing clouds above.  The moon was out too, playing peekaboo, hiding behind the clouds, then reappearing!

What a nice day this was.  Both of my creative kids are quite well-pleased.  Ah, the sense of satisfaction!

Every day the past week or so seems to be filled to the max with all sorts of activities.  We have been doing all sorts of things from running to the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) to running Michelle to work and both kids to college.  It would seem that every single day has some sort of adventure involved. I’m not complaining…if I just sat around all day, I am sure I would go stir crazy!

Today, I dropped Michelle off at school…before that, though, we had to run to WalMart for Michelle to pick up a couple of things.  After dropping Michelle off,  I came home and did some things around he house before Mark and I drove Ben to school. 

While waiting to leave with Ben, though, I spotted a small pale yellow butterfly out in the wild Bachelor’s Buttons.  I had to grab my Nikon so I could photograph the little flutter-by, but it was so hard as my tiny subject was very shy!

I Googled “pale yellow butterfly” and immediately found it is called a “Pale Clouded Butterfly” in Europe, or, “Sulphur Butterfly” here in the US.  What a pretty little thing this one is with large green eyes.  It is so unusual to see a butterfly this late in the year, too.  It was so beautiful as it sat amongst the wild Bachelor’s Buttons.  As an added bonus, I happened to capture another little critter….

You can see in the photo above that my little butterfly was once again fluttering its wings making for a tough shoot!

We dropped Ben off at school and then wandered over to grab some lunch.  We parked out behind Arby’s and I was thrilled to see Canada Geese floating in the pond back there.  There were so pretty and Mark commented they were all facing into a rather brisk wind coming from the west. 

There were also what seemed like endless Seagulls dipping and diving about.  Gulls don’t win a lot of points with me…their loud and obnoxious shrieks, as well as shameless begging just make me more aggravated than inclined to share any leftovers with them!  I did notice a small flock of Mallard ducks resting in a shady spot in front of a pickup truck parked in the lot.  They were so cute.

I opened my window….and…..(okay, what else would I do?)  quacked! Responding just like one would expect when a hunter uses a duck call,  my little duck friends got up and waddled over to see what I wanted!

They were so adorable!  Mark glanced at me a look that warned Don’t even *think* about it!  and I handed over my uneaten french fries to him.  I felt so bad….***until***………..I remembered my little bucket of cracked corn in the back of the truck!  I hopped out the door and scooped up a cupful of corn.

 As I walked over, the ducks had moved away from the truck, but those bold and irritating gulls kept swarming around.  I walked over to the ducks and they were about to hightail it until I offered the corn in a cup in front of me.  That piqued their curiosity and they gathered near.  I threw the corn in small handfuls to them and they were so delighted!  The gulls continued to hang above me as though suspended on invisible lines, but I shooed them away and surprisingly,they left the ducks alone to nibble contentedly on the treat of cracked corn.

As I was watching the ducks,  I noticed one that was limping so badly on its left leg.  Mark had pointed it out earlier to me….it had flown off into the water, then slowly moved its way up toward the other ducks, dragging its little bum leg behind.  I gently bent down and scattered corn in front of him and he gobbled as though half-starved.

I noticed that all the male ducks had really dirty heads!  We have had so much rain the past several days,  I guess it was hard for the fellows to keep clean.  I did find one single male who looked so clean, though.  He was nearly spotless!

Note the contrast between the dirty duck in the foreground and “Mr. Clean” in the back!

I could have sat enjoying the company of my little feathered friends for a long time, but I had a couple of trash bags full of water bottles and soda cans that needed to be returned to the store.  We hopped on over to Wegman’s and I returned all the cans and bottles.  We then relaxed….Mark had my netbook and he was browsing the web.  Perhaps I was feeling so peaceful from the combination of a full belly and the visit with the ducks, but I found myself dozing off, but alert enough to answer Mark when he talked to me. It was so difficult answering him, but I didn’t want him to think I was asleep….well, he did figure it out!

The weather was much warmer and drier than the past few days,  and the sunshine made me overheated, so we went on over to WalMart for a bit.  I needed a few things for supper, so I shopped there.  By the time I came out, we needed to head over to the college to pick the kids up. 

There is a huge helmet store located on our way home and Mark has been wanting to purchase helmets for himself and me for a long time.  We stopped by and I tried on at least ten or so!  I was having a hard time finding a good fit as I have a small head.  Mark found a helmet he liked, but was a bit on the undecided side.  Now, we have been to this store so many times, I was not wanting to go one more time.  I had a choice of three helmets, so I picked the one that Ben really liked on me.  I grabbed the one for me and one for Mark and headed to the checkout.  The store had already closed, so I wanted to get out!  Ah, one more thing to tick of on the (endless!!!!) check list!

We came home and I started some steaks on the grill.  Ben tended them for me, and I got some sweet potato fries into the oven, then made spinach dip for some corn chips I bought.   I fried some red peppers and onions in a little butter, then added the steaks Ben cooked (to perfection, I might add!).  I cut open two small sub roll sized french breads we bought yesterday at Sam’s Club and placed some pepper jack cheese on them. 

By the time I had done all this, I was so sleepy,  I headed upstairs to rest!  Michelle put the subs together and got everything assembled for dinner.  I skipped dinner, but was told it was really good.

Tomorrow, we are expected at Mark’s mom’s.  Ben will work with Mark on finishing the wall where Ben put up cement board and I need to (hopefully) sand the steps and railing on the sun deck and prime them.  I will paint them with their finish coat another day.

As I said, our days have been so busy.  We still have many things to do at home before it gets cold, but October is generally a fairly mild month.