Of course!
It certainly was a brilliant day for photography today. The amazing blue sky…the sunshine, the colors!! Yes, the colors all seemed to pop today. Unfortunately, though, I didn’t get many photos. I had an idea, but it just didn’t pan out…
Here are today’s offerings…
I am so enjoying the cooler weather. It is far from “cool”, but much easier to take than the baking temperatures of a couple of weeks ago!
We haven’t been doing to many things lately. Now that Michelle has begun classes at RIT, she is spending a good deal of time on her studies. We purposely decided to take things slow for a bit, so she could get an idea how her workload might pan out. She is so organized, writing a schedule and sticking to it. She really is a good and disciplined student.
Yesterday, I spent some time outside, photographing bees. It was such a warm and balmy day and the bees were putting in overtime! They were working so very hard!
Those bees are pretty smart. With the temperature so warm yesterday, it was hard to comprehend how the temperature would nosedive rather abruptly and plummet to the point that “light frost” is predicted in some areas tonight! I don’t mind…I am so ready for cooler weather!
As I was snapping away, I realized my favorite fall flowers are out right now! I love the purples and golds. So regal and elegant!
Today, Mark took Michelle to school and Ben traveled along as well. They had some errands to run today and I just wanted to stay home and chill. I was so glad I did. I ddin’t accomplish a great deal, but it was nice to hear the sounds of silence!
Looking at Murphy, I got inspired to give the laddie a grooming. He was less than thrilled, but having a quiet house with no noise and no distractions really made the job go more smoothly and quickly. Although he tried to run off once or twice, Murphy really did a great job sitting still for me. I had groomed Angus yesterday and although it would probably be easier to clean up once from this job, I have a hard time doing both boys in one day!
Yes, poor little Murphy…lying there trying to avoid eye contact with me.
As hard as I tried to coax the little fellow to sit up proper for a photo, he just stewed and turned his cute little face away! Ah well. As I said, he was so good about the clippers and all. I had done his nails last night and he dislikes that more than a clipping!
I will leave you with another photo of my beautiful Begonias that my father gave me for my birthday. I just cannot get enough of them!
This is just a potpouri of photos with no continuity but I thought I would share.
Yeah….while Angus is “all about business”, Murphy is ridiculously clueless about his surroundings! Little fellow just wants to be our baby!
On a little diversion to Salamanca on Monday, I walked around the town a little. Coming into the town on Main Street, one passes over a bridge and sees this pretty mural on the side of a building. Salamanca is located on Indian (Native American) territory. It is a pretty little city which was also the home of Ray Evans, the man who wrote the lyrics for the Christmas song, Silver Bells.
On Monday, I took a brief walk around the park to see what I could see. It is fun to walk as one sees things that would never be seen from the car.
Tadpoles or pollywogs? I don’t know! There were many of them in a stream I saw while crossing over a little foot bridge.
These pines along the road were so pretty against the sky of blue!
This was my find of the day, though!
Later in the day, I was hungry so we stopped by the Administration Building at Redhouse. I got a menu and ordered a sub. It was a toasted turkey sub. Very good and it came with a pickle and fries! Wow. The price was good, too. I had to run upstairs to the restaurant to grab it. I had never been up there and what a surprise. It is a pretty little place!
Amazing how cozy this restaurant is…it has dormers on the front of the building, facing the lake. The only downside is that the restaurant doesn’t have an elevator, so Mark cannot go upstairs. Downstairs, though, there is a lodge area with chairs and huge windows overlooking the lake. One of the waitresses told me that if we were to stop by when it wasn’t too busy, one of the waitresses would run a meal down! The lodge is located down a few stairs from the main level, but there is a little lift there so wheelchairs can access that area.
After our busy day of exploring the park a little (believe me, there is TONS more to see and do there!) we stopped by the Quaker Lake gift store. I found a real treasure there! I am always, always uploading photos off the SD cards and forgetting to put the cards BACK into the camera. Oops!
Yes, this awesome brightly-colored little pouch (necklace) is perfect for storing an SD card in its case! AND, it also gets compliments!
On Tuesday morning, we left the park shortly after ten in the morning to go visit my parents. On the way, Mark stopped at the Butterfly Field (yes, it is designated as such) so I could see if any butterflies were around. Apparently, they are late sleepers because I only saw one as we were leaving!
This field is huge and I walked a trail that covers its perimeter. I was so disappointed. It was pretty hot in the sun, too!
I think I felt how this spent Thistle looks after all my traipsing about! Although I didn’t see butterflies, the entire field was absolutely buzzing with bumblebees and honey bees, working in the Goldenrod!
I already mentioned that we went to my parents’ to visit on Tuesday. While we were there, my older brother, Bob, came by. Bob lives in the country and has quite the garden. He really loves gardening and has always had a garden, even when he lived in the city.
Bob brought along some zucchini squash, yellow tomatoes, red tomatoes, and corn. Well, my dad decided to deck himself out!
Uh huh. Now we know where my sense of humor came from, right?
I try so hard to keep up here but it seems like so many times when I begin to write, something else calls me away, and I get distracted! Family keeps me hoppin’!
Yesterday, we went down to the souther tier to try out some vehicles. It was a good thing we did! Mark and I had kind of set our sights on one vehicle. We took the kids along just to see what they thought. Yikes! The vehicle we had thought might just do will not do! The leg room in the backseat is not nearly big enough when Mark puts his seat back to drive! We thought there was plenty of space until we actually saw the kids sitting there! Wow…buying a new vehicle takes some time, considering all the options and conveniences. We would like something pretty basic, but some little add ons would be great.
Ah, so much for vehicles.
Photos from today!
What??? Are you kidding? You have got to be kidding!!!
No, it was not a quiet day, but we did have a little fun! We had an early afternoon appointment to have some (more) work done on the Explorer. This is not one of my favorite topics, to be sure. But in all fairness, it is a 2002 and we have had that vehicle for alomost nine years.
While we were getting a new part installed, we looked at some new vehicles. They have changed a great deal and the prices have skyrocketed! It seems something isn’t right when basic vehicles can cost a quarter of the price of a modest house! While a house can increase in value as one makes improvements, a vehicle decreases the moment one drives it out of the showroom!
Ah well. We drove to Victor and looked at some other vehicles as well. Sure is fun to get your fill of new car smell!!!!
Here are some photos from today…..
We left home shortly after noon and just got home at almost nine-thirty. And tomorrow….more of the same. Doctor and dentist appointments are sure to keep us hopping again!
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!
Well, today was the longest day of this year and for the first time in a few days, I actually stayed awake the entire day! I have been battling a bug that didn’t knock me off my feet, but was rather annoying! It felt like I had a head cold with some sneezing, but more than that, I was exhausted. Thankfully, I never suffered through the blazing sore throat the kids had before…I have not had a sore throat since I was pregnant with Ben.
So…I did some laundry, washed dishes and put them away, and also grilled chicken outside today. I made Broccoli Cheese casserole to go along with the chicken as well as some asparagus. One of the frustrating parts about feeling sick but not appearing sick is that everyone kept forgetting I was sick!
I was going to put some photos I took today of the kids in the pool, but it seems like someone snatched my camera and didn’t return it to me. Hmmm… So, I will post a couple of photos I took a while back….
The day I took these, it was windy and as I looked through the pictures I took, I could see how the wind was blowing the daisy and butterfly back and forth!
Early this evening, I had a customer stop by with her daughter-in-law. Verna has been a customer for quite some time and I found out she is now eighty-five years old. It was good to see her, as she has not been by for a long time. She is now legally blind, but still makes soap. She said she must use magnifying glasses to see anything, but she is able to see when using them. What a remarkable woman she is. Her family all lives nearby…not too far from her home, so they are able to help her out.
I had called Verna earlier to give her a total for her order, and we chatted for probably a good forty-five minutes. I found out that when a lot of dogs died from the problem with mold in the corn in their food (I think that was correct?) a few years ago, she lost her dog, Foxy, the Fox Terrier. I felt so bad when she told me and then we talked about dogs and she said she would ask her daughter-in-law to bring along her miniature Dachshund, Tasha.
When the ladies arrived, Verna was anxious for me to see Tasha….she was adorable! My parents have a black and tan (why do they call it tan anyway, they are red!) long-haired Dachsy, but Tasha is short-haired! She was so cute. Jerry (the DIL) told Tasha to “spin and roll over” and the obedient little pup spun in a circle, then rolled right over! What a good little girl! Verna said when her family goes away for vacations, she watches the dogs and enjoys their company.
Speaking of dogs…I shared this on Facebook, but I’ll do it here as well.
I know my little boys love a cold treat on a hot day. When we eat ice cream, they both look longingly at our cold treats! So, I make the Scotties their own treats! I mix together plain yogurt and about an equal amount of pumpkin. I had bought some pie pumpkins last year…I baked them, then scraped the insides and froze the pumpkin in the freezer. I had measured the pumpkin in one cup increments in a sandwich bag, then dropped them into a gallon freezer bag. Of course, canned pumpkin works too!
Place the mix into an ice cube tray…I had found some little trays that were silicone and the cubes are heart-shaped. These are nice for the pups because they aren’t real big and hard to bite into.
As an aside, pumpkin is fantastic for the canine digestive system!
My last photo was taken when it rained…this was last week.
Not such a great quality photo, but the little hummer had come to sit on the feeder under the roof overhang, while it rained!
I have no idea why I am so enamored with the eagle down in Woodville. I think about it all the time and every time I see an eagle (there is probably more than one that roosts in that tree, I would think) it is as though I have never seen one before.
Yesterday, Michelle and I went kayaking in the morning. The sky was a tad dark…almost “colorless”, and I hoped we could paddle awhile any rain might come. Michelle hadn’t tried out the new kayak yet, and we wanted her opinion. My own opinion is that the new kayak is much easier to paddle. It goes through the water much smoother and faster. When Ben tried the kayak the night before, he also was sold!
Michelle convinced me to inflate the little yellow kayak Iwould be using (believe me, it was hard going back to the inflatable!!!) before we left home. One yellow kayak and the new one easily fit into the back of the pickup truck with only about three feet hanging over the tailgate. We arrived at the launch and there was an eagle…sitting in the tree once again!
I was so happy to paddle over to the eagle…unfortunately, the lighting was miserable, but I took lots of photos anyway!
Michelle and I decided to cross the lake over to the other side where there is a lagoon. We paddled over the mouth of the west river and to the lagoon where the water was so calm!
I asked Michelle what she thought about the new kayak and she said it was “okay”. When I turned around to talk to her, Michelle was off in some greenery, trying out the new kayak’s maneuverability. Yeah, Michelle….the new kayak is okay, indeed! Truth be told, although we loved the inflatables, their bottom is much flatter than the new kayak. When we paddled over seaweed and plants, the yellow kayaks would balk and complain about continuing on. The new kayak glides right along with each stroke! One funny thing that happened was that once we were petty far out in the lake, Michelle said the new kayak was leaking! I looked at her and asked if there was water visibly coming into the boat. After she said “no”, I told her that as that new kayak breaks through the water, it makes a noise like running water! She then confirmed that was the case!
Even though she never said so, I think Michelle was impressed!
Michelle called me over to take a photo of what she called “ a natural bouquet”. Tiny Forget-Me-Nots seemed to appear from nowhere at the base of some pretty wild irises, mixed in with greenery. Michelle was right…it was very pretty!
We lingered on a bit, just enjoying the tranqility and nice surroundings. We finallybegan heading back, but before we left, we went over to admire the majestic eagle just one more time.
When we got home, it was time for Mark, Ben, and I to be off and running on a myriad of errands. We were out for much of the day and by the time we got back home, we were all tired!
This morning, the phone rang early and Carly asked if we might want to get together. She and the girls came down and the kids played in the pool until we called them out for a late lunch. I’m not sure if we were starving, or if the food was truly that good, but everything was delicious! Carly cooked chicken on the grill to perfection! I had made a bean salad and Carly brought down some fresh loaves of bread. She grilled some asparagus and it was awesome, too! Everyone ate well…the kids must have been very hungry!
I was happy when lunch was done and I could bring out dessert….
I had made a pumpkin roll andit was also a hit! I was happy with how this turned out because Wegman’s sells half logs for (I think) over $6.00. This was so easy to make and everyone liked it. Yay for quick and easy desserts!
I really need to dump my photos off my cards! Yikes! I keep saying Iwill keep up from now on, but it seems like photos add up FAST!
Here are a couple of photos I took a few days ago in Woodville.
I love that RED boat! Since the lake flooded the parking lot at the boat launch for a couple of weeks in April, Iwas surprised to see the wild Irises growing! I thought they might have been messed up or that they might bloom much later!
For Memorial Day, we had placed a new bouquet of flowers on my father-in-law’s grave. I also snapped a couple photos of an eagle memorial that wasat the cemeteryto honor those who served in the US armed forces. My father-in-law loved eagles!
Here is what is gracing our dinner table.
I love Carnations. I love their spicy scent and their appearance. I think the pink ones are especially pretty with the white Baby’s Breath. These were the combination I chose for flowers for our wedding!
Okay,then. Are you sitting down? This next photo is of “someone” who lives not too far away. I only had the little Canon camera with meon the dayItook this photo and I was bummed I had left the Nikon with its telephoto at home….
I aim to get a BETTER photo, but in the meantime….If you travel down Route 64, just south of the Town of Bristol (maybe 2 or 3 miles?) look at the small blue house on the west side of the road. You will see the recliner sitting there and perhaps….well…
Two photos I took today, that is! One of these, I posted one my “photo a day” journal. I really did crawl down on the (REALLY) wet ground and shoot these photos from underneath a May Apple plant in the woods! It wasn’t too bad, though….I was on my way up from the mailbox, so I placed a few pieces of JUNK mail on the ground, then positioned myself on top of them! Heck, just look at what marvelous little parasols those leaves are!
I took these when the rain had ceased for a few minutes. Then later this afternoon, we saw some blue sky breaking through and a few streaks of sunshine may have reached down for a few seconds. Yes, I know I am being indecisive, but I am still trying to figure out if there really was sun, or if it was a mirage!
