Life in the Bristolwood

Yesterday morning, I got up and went to work right away on the rubber roof of the camper.  At some point, we had developed a leak inside the camper and I was pretty sure there was a problem on the roof.  Mark said the roof should be cleaned, so he read up on the process and found Tilex is good to use for cleaning it.  We picked up an industrial strength bottle at Lowe’s, so I was anxious to get busy.

Michelle had moved a ladder around the camper a few days ago, snapping photos of sections of the roof.  She and Mark reviewed them and saw a spot or two that looked suspicious.  As I worked on that roof,  it was incredible to see the color change from grey to white!  Mark said  the company that makes these roofs recommends washing them three or four times a year…..YIKES!  It has been awhile since the last time I was up there!

As I worked, I was antsy to get to the refrigerator vent.  I was convinced that the leak was there as when it rained, water would  drip down in the cabinet below the vent.  It didn’t take long to see the problem once I got to the back side of the vent….

The big long dark “crack” in the center of this photo is where the rubber roof actually came away from the caulking that kept it water tight!  After I finished cleaning the roof,  Michelle (excellent cake decorator!)  went up with a tube of caulking and fixed that area up better’n new!  The test came last night.  We had a few downpours that would have left water in the camper, for sure!  When I got up this morning,  I went out and ran my hand inside the cupboard….it was bone dry!  Phew, that was an easy fix!

As I was looking through the photos on this SD card before uploading them,  I saw a few photos from Genesee Country Village and Museum that might be worth sharing.  There are several really nice sculptures there and I had never been able to get a decent photo of the two horses before.  This time, I took my time and took many photos from all different angles till I came up with a photo I like! Oh, and the flowers are from near the gazebo on the main green.

As we were leaving the village while we were there,  I spotted a wild grapevine growing along a fence….

These remind me it won’t be long until the grape harvest in all the Finger Lakes region! 

Since we were at the village on my birthday,  Erin went into the gift shop with her dad and Sarah.  When she came out, she handed me this really cute little Scottie dog!  He rode home on the dashboard of the truck.   What a cute present!

And, speaking of Scotties….I got this one of Murphy resting in my Nikon camera bag the other day!  Both he and Angus love this bag.  No idea why!  I got my snazzy new backpack/camera bag and it blows the doors off this “ragbag”!  I actually got the bag together with an extended camera warranty and lens.  It was a three-for deal that was too good to pass up.  The only thing is, the bag has very little padding and has developed a hole where the top closes.  I have found cardboard and paper with Chinese writing on it leaking out the hole.  It really was time for a new bag!

Now randomly from my front garden….

After spending a few hours cleaning the rubber roof last night,  I was anxious to clean the awning today.  It had gotten pretty ugly with lots of black mildew spots on it.  I dragged out the ladder and began working away.  I found awning cleaner and a scrub brush did miracles on removing much of the spotting.  As I finished up the highest part, Ben came out and helped clean the rest.  It took the two of us a little over an hour.  I think had I still been working alone,  I would still be out there!

Now the little camper is about as clean on the outside as on the inside.  The work is strenuous, only because I find myself working from a ladder!

With the hurricane threat,  I pray for folks up and down the east coast.  From all I’ve read, this is pretty unusual, but they have had to deal with hurricanes before.  Our forecast doesn’t show any rain although I am wondering if it will change.  Seems when this happened previously,  we got wind and lots of rain!

Hard to believe our younger pup, Murphy, just turned five yesterday! We got him at five months of age, and it hardly seems that long ago.

Our Scottie parties are not as elaborate as they once were, but we do try to celebrate!  After all, life without celebrations gets pretty hum-drum! It is fun getting the pups all excited and watching them.  They are sometimes just like little kids! Okay, so maybe not,  but they definitely have individual personalities.

Angus (above) was so cute.  Mark and I printed the little birthday hats from the internet, using card stock.  I stapled cut rubber bands for the stretchy part to hold the hats on.  Now, let me tell you….Scotties do NOT like to wear party hats.  When I first put Angus’s hat on his head, he rubbed it against the chair and popped it off.  I told him NO ice cream and cookies if he did it again! I put his little hat back on and told him, “stay!”  The little fellow took everything to heart and patiently sat there for about five minutes while I got Murphy’s hat on his head!

Since it was Murphy’s birthday, he got to sit in the booster seat.

Each Scottie got a tiny scoop of vanilla ice cream and a doggie “cookie” on top.  The boys both sat by the table, waiting for me to deliver their goodies! At one point, the two boys went nose to nose…..

Angus: Mon, wee brother, are ye aware you’ve got a stick in your beard?

Murphy: Mummy will take it out before she starts taking photos, donchaknow?

As soon as I set the bowls on the table, I told them they could dig in! Of course, the birthday boy didn’t need any convincing from me!

Angus is a much more “dainty” eater….not inhaling his goodies!

While Murphy really gets into this yummy fun!

Angus enjoyed his goodies, right down to the last bite.  Both boys licked all the ice cream out of the bowls first. Angus wasn’t able to grab the cookie with his teeth, whereas nothing misses Murphy’s teeth!

And, once Murphy finished his bowl, he leaned over and checked out Angus’s bowl as well!

What fun it is having a little party with the Scotties!  Happy Birthday, Murphy!  And wishing you many, many more!

We got home just a short time ago…we had taken the kids to Penn Yan….yes, again!…

Last night, the kids wanted to meet up with friends at the mall, so we drove on up to Victor.  Mark and I did some running around, then parked in the mall parking lot with the Scottie boys.  As we sat there, all of a sudden, the rain came pounding down on the Explorer.  It was so loud and so hard!

The rain kept up, then nearly as suddenly as it began, it stopped! Mark and I rolled the windows down and just enjoyed the crisp clean air!  Murphy rather enjoyed it, himself!

Murphy’s nose was twitching like crazy as he tried to make sense of the sights and smells surrounding him. Angus always loves sniffing the air, but it’s unusual to catch Murphy like this!

Today was a long day with a lot being accomplished….so I will bid you adieu and see you on the flip side….I will talk about today, then!

Last evening,  I went for a little walk down to the lake at the campground.  I wanted a photo for my journal since I had missed the day before. No matter how hard I tried to connect,  I just could not.  Bound and determined to get a “Blip”,  I found a rather cute (or ugly!)  capture. Thankfully, it published just fine last night.

While I am at it, here is the photo that did not upload the night before.  These ducks were at Darien Lake Park.

Okay, so back to last night. After my frog photo,  I walked back to the campsite when what should happen to be parked directly kitty-corner to our site?

Yes! That is a Scotty camper that is a 2010 remake of a camper  produced in 1963. As I looked at it,  I noticed Scottie statues placed here and there. Sure enough, guess what ELSE was there?

That is Flora,the Wheaten Scottie,  and her brother, Murdo, a Brindle. On the Scottie forums, when a Scottie lies down with his legs straight out like that, it is called “froggin’”!

I spoke to the friendly couple who owned the camper and pups.  They were so happy to hear about our Scotties, too!  They are both of Scottish descent and Frank plays the bagpipes!  Of course they would have a Scottycamper and two Scotties!!! It was so fun talking with them.  They gave me a card and we are going to keep in touch.

Before we left this morning,  Bonnie and Frank came over and took a picture of Michelle and I with Angus and Murphy!  I really enjoy camping because one often meets such nice people!

Life will never, ever be the same.  No way.  This morning as we were working out back, Angus crawled up on a float that had been left out on the lawn.  Was he trying to tell us something?  Michelle thought so.  So, after all the work was done this morning,  Mark,  Ben and Michelle all went out into the pool.  And there they remained for quite some time.

Of course, Angus wanted to get into the swim as well.  Literally.  This Scottie loves the water.  He loves to swim.  I had hesitated to purchase a life vest for the wee wonder, as I wasn’t sure he would ever get any use from it.  I guess he is proving to me that such a purchase would be just grand!

As soon as he hit the pool, Michelle let him go on his own power and he gleefully paddled away.

Yes, Michelle was right next to him, stepping out of the way just long enough to take a picture. Of course, the antics continued on. And on….

Ben convinced Angus that he could easily swim to a float and hop on. Watching this sequence was so funny!

First, he latches on….then, begins to pull himself up…

He then pops the tail end out of the water….at this point, he looks like a sea lion coming up…now if we could teach him to clap his paws and utter, “arf,arf”!

Finally he’s on! As we know, that calls for a good SHAKE!

Oh, the humor of it all! Then, as if that isn’t enough, the lad spots a s-q-u-i-r-r-e-l in a tree.  Suddenly he hops forward and takes the most awesome stance!

It was getting late and I was hungry!  I had a hankering for a good fish fry, but I wasn’t about to slave over a hot stove.  Yes, today’s temperature rivaled yesterday’s. We do not have central air and the house was stifling hot….Michelle called in an order down to a small diner in Woodville and I would go pick up the meals.

I was getting ready to leave when Michelle snatched Murphy from me.  I called her, asking what she was going to do with the boy and she just walked away.  I had to go in the house for a few minutes and when I went out to see how everyone was doing, Murphy was…..well…..

Wait a minute….Murphy HATES the water.  He sure looks comfy on that float, though! Michelle removed him from the float and decided to check out his “doggy paddle”. Oh glory!!!! That dog acted like a two-year-old child.  He did this rotating paws thing where he slowly paddled one paw, then the other.  It looked like he was slapping his paws on the water.

As though realizing he was the brunt of a joke, he turned his body backwards.  I couldn’t tell whether he was seeking approval from Michelle or me,  but it just added further to the laughter!

You must understand, Murphy is my pup, through and through.  He shadows me and is intimidated by new things if I am not there with him.  Michelle and Ben then did such a funny thing!

Yes, rub-a-dub-dub, two Scots in a tub!

It was getting late.  I needed to pick up our supper and I wanted to make sure everyone and everything was okay on the homefront before leaving.  Of course, when I mentioned leaving,  Murphy would have called out, “take me! take me!” were he able to speak! Michelle took  the boys out of the tub and Murphy began to make his thoughts known as he started swimming toward me.

When I called him and clapped my hands, the little fellow kicked into high gear and moved headlong at a most impressive rate, with very impressive splashes!

The little fellow wanted desperately to go with me to escape the pool madness!  How could I tell him no?  I removed him from the pool and before I could even grab a towel to wipe him down,  he was off running into the front lawn, rolling about like a big ole happy pig in the mud.  With that,  I got into the car,  called Murphy, and when he hopped in, we were on our way.

We had a good dinner, then everyone decided they were shriveled enough, they got out.  Yes, the insanity of the day called for Ben,  Mark, and Michelle taking their dinners on the pool rail while I sat at the table on the deck eating mine. What a totally fun time we had with the Scottie boys today.  Funny how much happiness those two bring!

One more shot of Angus.  My favorite of the day! 

Angus,  with the very, very brave heart!

Sunday morning, we got up and went on a little adventure.  We drove a couple of hours to Allegany State Park where the park was basically filled to capacity!  Instead of taking our camper along with us on this trip, we took tents.  I had a sneaky feeling this trip was going to be really different!

We pulled into the campground and were given a choice of three sites from which to choose.  The girl at the desk advised Mark to take a certain site, so we did.  In driving over to take a look,  one a couple of sites down was better.  The kids began to set up tents and we drove back to the administration building to switch sites.  As soon as I told the girl, she informed me the better site had just been taken. Great!  So, we rushed back to tell the kids we couldn’t take the better site.

We set up on the smaller cite and as I looked around, I could not believe how many people were there!  The campground was totally packed, save for the one site we decided not to take.  It was near the restrooms and I had visions of people coming by all night long,  making Angus and Murphy restless.

As it was, we were next to some people with a Lab that tried to walk into one tent and jump into our truck. Why should anyone obey the six-foot leash law, after all?  Argh!  Our little boys stayed in the truck much of the time so they wouldn’t get nervous and bark…there were so many “wandering” dogs!

Later on, the last site was taken by two guys on motorcycles.  They were rather interesting…the next morning, I saw them lying on the ground, wrapped in blankets mummy-style!  They slept out under the stars!!!! That was interesting. Oh, and the stars?  They were totally awesome!

Here are the very few photos I took at the park.

I love this photo!  The little girl was playing in the stream and the light from the setting sun was filtering in so nicely, highlighting the girl like a spotlight!

so, why did the turkey cross the road?  Yes, this turkey was just enjoying a Saturday evening stroll along the road.

I must admit at this point that I am one spoiled rotten camper.  Yes, I was missing our camper….terribly!  I missed the comfort of the couch and chair,  a nice little kitchen, running water, and yes, even the air conditioner!  As evening rolled around, so did the thick smell of smoke.  Everyone had a campfire!

Mark found out there were going to be fireworks at Quaker Lake at 10 pm.  We went and I (foolishly) took the new camera. Too bad I didn’t take the Nikon…I would have gotten more and much better pictures.

For some reason, the Canon had some trouble with the more colorful fireworks, but that is okay.  After all, the very ***best*** display of color was on our way to the fireworks.

When we got back, we decided to do something we never do when camping!  We made a campfire! Michelle was tired, so Ben, Mark, and I sat around our little cozy fire and chatted.  It was pretty late when we started the fire, so we knew we were going to be staying up late.  We were so enjoying ourselves.

Then it happened.  The Scotties were in the truck and we heard a distinct “click” sound.  Yes sir…Angus had locked the power windows on the truck.  Everything we needed was inside the truck…including both sets of keys!  So….Ben and I took a later-than-midnight stroll about a mile long to the admin building!  We walked along the bike path, and although the stars were beautiful, it was dark!

When we arrived, I told the police we had a rather unfortunate situation at our site.  After explaining the problem, one of the officers said they bought a kit for just such a time as this.  He reassured me we were not the first to have this happen. In fact,  he said one night, he opened five doors with keys locked inside!

The officer was so incredibly sweet. He worked on the door until finally the latch popped!  Angus and Murphy were such good boys. They never barked or carried on at all, even though this man with a strange looking glow-in-the-dark wire was intruding their space at one o’clock in the morning!

Ah yes, nothing like a good crisis to end the day!  The officer told us he would hate to think anyone would ever call a locksmith in Olean to get their door open.  He said he thinks the base charge is $250.  And, he said the locksmith knows the police can do it for free!

Ah yes, the fun times living with Scotties.  And, speaking of Scotties, here is a photo of Angus as we were driving to the campground along the park road.  We weren’t going very fast and he thought the air was smelling very fine….

I thought he looked all the world just like a black bear cub!

about the rain? Hmmm…Well, I think they might have actually been enjoying it this evening.

We had some banking to do in Canandaigua, so when the kids said they wanted to meet some of their friends there, Mark said sure.  We were off and on our way.  I guess it didn’t matter when the rain came…the kids met their friends and didn’t mind. 

While the kids were playing baseball,  Mark, the Scottie boys, and I did our errands. First stop…the bank.  Now, Angus is a pretty smart little fellow.  Show him something a time or two, and, by golly, he has figured things out. So, when we pulled into the drive up teller, Angus hopped up on Mark’s lap to “present” himself to the teller.  Since we were not at the teller’s window, Angus knew he needed to hop up so the girl would see him.

Just as sure as sure can be, Murphy sensed Angus’ excitement and he popped up in the rear window.  Of course, two Scottie Dogs with their heads hanging out the windows of a vehicle would be very hard to miss seeing! The spot where we pulled in has one of those air operated tubes that one places their banking inside a little container and the air sucks it up and then returns it when the teller is done.  Angus. knows. this.

Mark said he is pretty sure Angus doesn’t understand the logistics of banking, but he is sure the lad knows where cookies come from!  Sure enough,  the air noise began, and Angus grew tense with anticipation. As the little container made its way to our truck, Angus watched it, then impatiently waited for Mark to open it up. 

Angus stares down at the wonderful cookie machine!

Eureka!  Angus and Murphy both began dancing with delight as the scent of the treat permeated the truck’s interior…

After the exciting trip to the bank, we went to a couple of stores. Afterwards, I was hungry for an ice cream cone! Mark drove over to Abbott’s and then we pulled around to the back of the store while I ate. 

Over to our right, there was a huge pond puddle behind Denny’s Restaurant.  We watched as several ducks romped about, swimming in the water.  There were two pairs of  Mallard adults and eight ducklings that were probably about three-fourths the size of the adults….teens, I suppose!

As soon as I finished eating my cone,  I hopped out (into the rain, no less!) of the truck and grabbed my little bucket of cracked corn. Walking over toward the flock,  I was thinking they might just disperse.  I stopped a good distance away and pried the lid off the top of the bucket.  Grabbing a handful of corn,  I pitched it out in front of me, and the little waterfowl rushed toward me with wreckless abandon,  as though they had not been fed in ages!

Those ducklings sure were cute and even ate right out of my hand.  I fed them a lot of corn, then went and sat with Mark in the pickup.  The ducklings grazed and ate, then headed to yet another puddle where they dipped up and down in the water, splashing their little bodies and preening themselves.  It was so delightful to see.  Mama Duck stayed right with her children and would peck at any other ducks that wandered too near her “chidlren”. Within a few minutes, the whole brood was once again grazing where I had fed them….then back to the puddle to clean up!

Mark and I came to the conclusion these ducks were far from complaining about the weather…Instead, they were loving every minute of it!

I thought I would show you a couple more photos….

I love this new "face" that just showed up this morning!

First of all, Happy Father’s Day!

I was feeling a tad better yesterday, so when the kids went to a party down in Naples,  I went along for the ride. Mark needed to pick up some parts to fix the Explorer and since the Advance Auto in Canandaigua didn’t have some of the needed items, he decided to ride on down to Dansville where they were available.  I felt up to the ride, so we dropped the kids off and were on our way.

As an aside, the party they were attending was for a friend they met years ago. He was also homeschooled and began taking college classes at age eleven!  He began attending college full time while still young, and now at the ripe old age of eighteen, (he is a month younger than Michelle) he holds a  Bachelor’s Degree in communications!  Wow. At the age when many kids are just graduating from high school, he is now done with four years of college!

Well, then, Mark and I made it to Dansville and I asked if I could grab something to eat at Arby’s.  I haven’t been very hungry while being sick,  so my poor stomach has shrunken a good deal.   I got some chicken tenders, fries, and a Pepsi.  I ate two pieces of chicken and maybe half of the fries.  The Pepsi  tasted so good….while out, I felt like I was burning up and I wondered if I had a fever.  When we passed a business with one of those big signs with the temperature displayed, it said 91.  I guess that would account for my (great!) discomfort.

These flags were flying outside Arby’s.

There was a lot of little airplane activity in the sky above us, but the new compact camera only has four times zoom, so any shots might be useless!

After eating, we drove over and parked under a great shade tree and Mark got online and ordered the parts he needed.  He discovered that if he ordered online, a generous 40% could be taken off the price of parts!  Because the coupon offers required that you spend  $50,  $75,  $85, or $100,  Mark had to submit four different orders, as well as an online one that will deliver the parts to our house.  He basically got $700 worth of parts for less than $400!  Being very mechanically inclined, Mark doesn’t feel the least bit nervous about doing auto repairs!  Of course, he won’t do the work himself, but Ben will probably learn a lot!  I still shudder just thinking about taking a vehicle apart!

We picked the kids up after getting all our parts and then came home.  I was exhausted even not really doing anything strenuous!

Today, we weren’t sure about what we were going to do since I am still unsure about feeling 100%. We wound up just spending the day lying low.  We went out late this afternoon and I picked up a few groceries…mainly lemonade and tea…I have been so much more thirsty than hungry throughout this “bug”.  Afterwards, Mark and Ben went into WalMart for quite a long time!

When they finally came back out, Ben was so excited. Mark bought him a new baseball bat, glove, and ball. He has been enjoying hitting a ball with friends, and his old bat is far too small!  After Ben and Michelle ate, Ben asked if we would drove on over to one of the FlCC fields so he and Michelle could hit the ball together.

Mark, the Scotties, and I sat in the truck, watching the kids.  Both of the kids are pretty good at giving the ball a good whack! We were impressed.  When Mark whistled out the window,  Angus got so excited, he held his nose straight up to the sky and began to join in with “arooooooo”!

That was quite the experience! Of course, Murphy was not the least bit impressed!

The sky above us was so pretty!

The roof of the building in the lower right hand corner (rounded roof) is the CMAC center where many artists (even well-known!) perform.  As we sat and watched, the sky got prettier….

and prettier…

and on the way home, I had to holler “Stop” to Mark!….so I could get this….

Quite the lovely ending to Father’s Day, 2011!

Today was jam-packed it seems! Michelle and I got up early and wanted to take out the kayaks.  Mark and I picked up a kayak at BJ’s Wholesale Club that we thought might be worth trying out.  The kayak is made of plastic, (but given a fancy name, of course!)  and made in, of all places,  Canada!  It really looked pretty nice and the price is a fraction of kayaks sold in sporting goods stores.  If it doesn’t work out, we have thirty days to return it.

I placed my older Nikon camera (the D-80) in a plastic bag with its 70-300mm lens. I was so excited,  I could barely contain myself.  Mark wanted to watch the maiden voyage, so he drove us down  to Woodville.  I got into the kayak  (much easier than the inflatable one!) and Michelle handed off the camera in the bag.  We began paddling and I couldn’t believe how much easier the new kayak was to paddle!  WOW!  I am not a strong paddler, but outdistanced Michelle with ease.  I was so far ahead, I decided to take some photos!  I removed the camera from the bag, and began composing,  when I realized the little light warning no SD card was inserted began to flash.  Argh….I had placed the card in the computer last night to upload photos so Icould reformat the card. Oops! The SD card was in the computer.

So. No pictures.

We went home after about one and a half hours of paddling.  Michelle said her arms were getting sore and I felt guilty as I could have gone on. Quite a bit more, really!

Mark and Ben worked on a project for a bit,  then Ben wanted to go to Penn Yan to play football with friends.  It was such an awesome day, I was happy to go for a ride. We dropped Ben and Michelle off, then Mark and I picked up takeout Chinese. I wanted so much to take some photos today and as I jumped down from the truck, I saw one golden opportunity!

The horse was so beautiful!  As I looked at my photo, I thought perhaps it might look good in black and white, or perhaps sepia… Iwent with the sepia. Welcome to a world some one hundred years ago!

We went to a park by the lake to eat.  As the food cooled down,  I hopped out of the truck to take some pictures. 

There was a fairly large flock (gaggle?) of  what appeared to be domestic geese grazing on the grass in the park.

These were only part of the flock,  but I didn’t close in too much as I could only imagine what all those buggers could do if provoked! I snapped away, admiring the lot, when I kept hearing a peep,peep, peep sound.  Suddenly,  some of the geese moved aside and I saw one tiny little gosling.  Only one!

Mark and I finished eating and then went for a ride. I told Mark Iwould love to get some photos of Amish or Mennonites today, and boy, was I in for a treat! Because the weather was so splendid today,  many of these folks were out and about!

We saw quite a few young  Mennonite people riding their bikes.  It is incredible watching these kids ride their bikes….pedalling effortlessly! They must have such strong legs as Penn Yan is far from being flat….quite the contrary, with some steep hills!

This young lady was pedalling along a road that leads down to the next “finger” of the Finger Lakes…Seneca Lake.  You can see the hills on the east side of the lake off in the distance.

The last photo is terrible…taken through the (filthy from bug juice!!!!) windshield.  But look at those faces….pure fun!

I wonder why the fellow was riding beside them on his bicycle….(oh, and what a beautiful and fancy buggy to boot!)

We could have driven on and on for a long time…just Mark, me, and the Scottie boys.  But, we knew the kids would be calling and we had strayed a few miles from town. We headed back and Mark stopped to snoop around a business (lumberyard) called Knapp and Schlappi….isn’t that a catchy name?  We actually just drove around looking at lumber and building supplies. I love this “special area”….

Oh, and a out the side window shot….

We talked to the kids and they weren’t quite ready to head home, so Mark parked in an area near downtown.  Restless, (what is new?)  I hopped out and took a walk, taking some pictures along the way.

As I crossed the small bridge on Main Street,  I admired the pretty flower box mounted to the bridge.  As I looked down the bridge ahead of me,  I saw many more of these boxes, each planted with a different selection of flowers!  They were so beautiful!

As I passed over the bridge,  I looked below and saw two young fellows fishing.  I recognized right away that they were Mennonites by 1. their plaid shirts, and 2. suspenders.  I hollered on down to them and asked what they might be hoping to catch.  They called back up to me,  “Bass”!  The funny thing was, Icouldn’t see the boys’ bicycles.  There was no way they walked into town…

The view from the bridge…

Not only does Penn Yan have beautiful flowers gracing the bridge,  but also lovely baskets of blooms hanging on the lamp posts.  Can you see the bumblebee?

Aha!  I discovered the boys’ bicycles near the path!

Because Penn Yan is located on the north end of Keuka Lake, one of the Finger Lakes,  it is a popular tourist community in the summer.  A quick stroll down Main Street offered some nice photographic opportunities.  The town is small,  but picturesque. The buildings are old and have lovely architectural details.

I just loved this store entrance!

I really like the Keuka Lake sign below, and the one about unsupervised kids is pretty funny.

Upcoming events!

and one blast from the past!

How cool is that?

As you can see, this was kind of a busy day.  A wonderful day!

I didn’t misspell the title.  My space bar is and has been acting up. Sometimes it spaces, other times, not!  Anyway, when I saw the title, I thought it looked cool so I left it!   Then I tried to type above the above photo and after trying to move the photo several times, I GAVE UP!  Argh.   That dragonfly above really caught my attention with its BLUE eyes!

Yesterday, as I was  going through some photos remotely (Mark stores them for me on a computer so as not to clog up my laptop) I sat outside and a hummingbird buzzed up to the feeder.  I quickly grabbed my camera, but just as I snapped, the little bugger  “lifted off”!

And….as I was sitting on the porch swing,  these annoying bees kept buzzing by.  I am not frightened of bees, but these are annoying to say the least!  They apparently gather mud, then look for tiny places to build a little nest. 

Ben had bought a handy dandy “bug zapper” and I thought it was so stupid.  Well, the thing looks like a tennis racket and there is a little button to press.  While pressing the button, it activates a “charge” (via batteries) and zaps a bug as one swats it.  This little device has really comein handy….I think I have zapped close to 100 evil bees! I would never use it on bumblebees or honeybees, but these monsters…..YES! (and just think of the calories I am burning…hehehe)

When we were at the mall the other day, there were families of geese everywhere…..

Mark has been painting Ben’s door for his room. (now in its final stages..)  Ben wanted the door in his room to be a deep wine color.  Well, Mark said okay, but he didn’t want the part facing the hallway that color…a little too BOLD!  So, Mark diligently painted the door red facing Ben’s room! As he worked in the garage, Angus slept below the door. (it was propped up on sawhorses)   The little fellow wadded up a section of dropcloth  and….dropped off to sleep!

Have a great weekend!