Taughannock Falls Trumansburg NY

See the people, where they should not be . . . .On the ledge . . . .at the very top 215 feet vertical fall

Taughancock  Falls

 Martha and Erik

Native Bee Balm

Goosefoot Maple seed chains

  So once a summer my husbands family converges on a State Park in the Southern Tier - often at the base of Cayuga Lake or Seneca Lake.  We like Cayuga Lake even if it is farther because they have Purity Ice Cream in Ithaca and we like to go there for an Ice Cream afterward,  For me this year it was Chocolate Covered Strawberry Ice Cream and I have yummy pictures but they are on my phone and not available right now to my blog . . .  We have been attending this reunion for 28 years and it is interesting to see those that were young back in the day now have young of their own and so the circle continues.  Where will your summer travels take you?

Falls and Gorges - Ithaca, NY

Micro Ecosystems all along the rock/slate walls in the gorges

Green and Wet and dripping

Pretty View- a couple was married on the Bridge while we were in this section.

Robert Tremain St. Park - above are all there as well.

Repairing wall on lower part of Gorge- Robert Tremain St. Park

Lots' of Green!

Buttermilk Falls St. Park

Buttermilk Falls St. Park

               So about 10 days ago, my 2 oldest and I ventured out for the Family Reunion - this is my husbands side of the family but he is never home to attend.   ( Proud of my older kids for attending - not high on their list and few peers there but oh so important) It is usually held in  around either Watkins Glen, NY- south end of Seneca Lake or Ithaca NY - south end of Cayuga Lake  We were at a new State park this year and it was in the Upper part- 3miles up! In and around the Fingerlakes are many Gorge Parks carved out by Glaciers years ago. They make wonderful places to hike on a  hot summers day.  Many of these parks also have natural swimming holes that are wonderful as well- water is clear cold and refreshing.  I think the whole Fingerlakes area is a Hidden Gem. 
               It was a very rainy day and actually ended with a Tornado warning and one that touched down about 25 miles away.  It has been an active weather summer for sure.
        We enjoyed the fellowship of family, good food a Chinese Auction and a short hike in the Gorge. We stopped at Buttermilk Falls  State Park on the way home and then at Purity Ice Cream.  I had yummy Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Ice Cream, my daughter had Goose Tracks and my son a Soy Mint Chocolate Chip  ( Lactose free) This place makes the best Ice Cream, one of our favorites is Mocha Chip, buy a quart and eat it in the parking lot good!!!

   Summer . . . Family . . . .Road-trips.....Picnics . . . .Ice Cream . . . .Rainstorms . . .Summer

Decisions are in . . . . .

  One will attend here in the Fall for Electrical Engineering.




     The other will transfer to here in the Fall to study Environmental Biology.


So, Breathe I say to myself, so many changes coming our way .. . . . so many changes coming their way.  Somehow together we will make it through. Life will be so very different with these changes. It has been a long route to get here. Essays, references, visits, interviews, tours.  I hope that they will both have wonderful positive college experiences.  One day at a time for all of us. These 2 colleges are about an hour apart.  Paul Smith is in the heart of the ADK. 30 minutes from Lake Placid.  Clarkson is further north and west.  -25 can be a norm not an exception on a winters morning.

Its Pumpkin time!!!

There is nothing quite so telling of this time of year as a big orange Pumpkin.  We made a stop on our fall pilgrimage of sorts to buy family pumpkins.  So many choices and it was a gorgeous fall day, warm sunny and brilliant blue skies.  After this stop was Cider, cheese and apples!! Loved some of the colors of Indian Corn this year.

Mt. Colden NY

Another ADK High Peak . . . . .in the rain.

Picnic in the Park

"Picnic in the park", a favorite activity for us. There are many nearby parks, green spaces, trails . . . we are lucky in that. This was supposed to be a" Cherry Viewing Picnic" but with all the wet weather we have had our days and nights have been few to do this before the Cherry's were gone- which they are, we have moved onto Apple Blossoms. It is not the same but we were there in Spirit. We had our Green tea, Sushi, & Chopsticks. Then we went for a walk and being that it was dusk, we were treated to all kinds of sights. Red Wing blackbirds nesting, Frogs, a muskrat, deer, Baby Geese and their mama, honeybees going back to the main hive for the night. The Muskrat was the most surprising of all. One would think we had stepped right into The Wind in the Willows.

Books for 2011 Part1

So far the following have been read: ( and loved . . . . and recommended) I do think I am missing a few but hey I am doing well to have this many and to remember them . Totally loved them all. You can bet a lot of laundry has set while I have read my little eyes out. My favorite reading trick is to take my book everywhere and when I pull in the driveway at home I get it out and read a few pages . . . as when I go in the house I know that there will be a myriad of tasks awaiting my attention and there will be little to no reading time so I squeak out what I can whenever I can.

1. Aloha Quilts by Jennifer Chiaverini
2. Seven Days to the Sea by Rebecca Kohn ( story of Exodus told by Moses sister and wife)
   
3. A View from Mary's Farm by Edie Clark ( collection of short stories)
   
4. A Year on Ladybug Farm by Donna Ball
5. At Home on Ladybug Farm by Donna Ball
6. Love letters to LadyBug Farm by Donna Ball
7. *In the Neighborhood by Peter Lovenheim ( see this post)
   
8. The Help by Kathyrn Stockett
   
9. The Union Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini
10. Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenrieder
11. *Black Heels and Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond

* - non -fiction

You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me. ~

C.S. Lewis.

River Rats

Oh what a weekend to raft down the river with friends. Just think of Mole and River rat from The Wind in the Willows and what fun they had traversing the great waterways. This is indeed the swimming hole of my grandfather and Great grandfather on the mighty Genesee, one of the few rivers to flow North! Life is good on a Spring day in the sun with friends on the River.

Where have I been . . .#2?

30 Mile Point Light House
at Golden Hill State park

Last weekend we rented and stayed in this Lighthouse. We had the second floor to ourselves. The first floor is a museum. Being winter the park was virtually deserted aside from a dog walker each morning. We took a long snow shoe/ x-country ski Saturday and played board games, read, worked on art, took a nap watched the lake, and the weather. Sat. afternoon there was a good snowstorm dropping about 6 inches quite rapidly. The lighthouse is perched on the northern most point of the southern shore of Lake Ontario. It is 30 miles from the mouth of the Niagara river where it meets Lake Ontario. There is a sandy Shoal just out from this light hose and 5 known shipwrecks the most famous was HMS Ontario sunk in a blizzard on Halloween losing 88 souls and 15,000 in US Army Payroll, gold and silver coins. The light house was built in 1875 and house a keep and his family as well as assistant Lighthouse keeper and his family. The light could shine out 18 miles. Decommissioned in 1958 NYS developed it into a park in 1984. Sunsets and Sunrises are fabulous from here. The light house is haunted and we had fun reading the journals from over the years of people staying there and adventures they had. It was pretty quiet on our watch though. It was a wonderful break and fun family time, we can't wait to go back , most likely in the spring in a tent but it is still a lovely place to camp so near the lake and its beauty.

Where I have been . . .#1

Nashville Tennessee about a month ago. My conference was at the Gaylord Opryland resort and convention center which was in the process of taking down Christmas decorations and it was gorgeous. This was my second time there. It has 4.5 acres of indoor conservatory, just gorgeous. It was flooded last spring May 2010 by the Cumberland River and closed for about 6 mos. you would never know it today. I talked with a Gardener to understand how the water affected all the plants. He also told me they have 14 indoor gardeners and 14 for the outdoor grounds. They had more than a 1000 Poinsettia's in all the plantings, truly striking. We did get a chance to take a tour of Nashville and saw many of the recording studios- all very modest buildings. A stop at the Ryman Auditorium- home to Grand Ol Oprey and a stop at the Country Music Hall of Fame. The building is spectacular- if you stand back from it, it looks like a Piano keyboard and this picture does not do it justice.

Biking the Canal

Low Bridge - everyone down, Low bridge for were coming to a Town . . .

Scouts drove Sat. AM to the Port of Buffalo . . . . then over 2 days rode/cycled their way back to the Port of Pittsford. 103 miles, to many bridges to count. Lots of sore legs! Way to go boys!
Green Lock is at Lockport NY
Erie Canal is another wonder that we locally take for granted, Cobblestone houses fall in that category as well but save that for another post. It is truly amazing to think they dug this "ditch" as Governor Clinton referred to it as by hand. Can you imagine anyone today doing that much manual work?

Thoughtful Thursday

Be Present

In Life there are no ordinary moments. Most of us never really recognize the most significant moments of our lives when they're happening.
~ Kathleen Magee

Get Away

We just got back from a little more than 24 hour camping trip nearby. More on that later but here are 2 what I thought great photos. I took the grapes, Slugger the Butterfly. Butterfly Bushes seemed to grow great by the Great lake. They were all huge!!!

Last week

Last week- a little blurry when there is a whole lot going on. It was Spring break and I was working many hours trying to fill in for a co-worker and help boy scouts get ready to go on a 4 day trip to Ohio. Earth day snuck in there on us and we tried to do a little celebrating. We ended the week with a very quick trip to Howe Caverns. It was just the get away we needed. The caverns are 15-20 stories underground and very pretty. We walked and took a boat ride underground. Then we took a leisurely drive home through the Finger-lakes on Rte 20, stopped at a great place called Fly Creek Cider Mill.
The Cider Mill had all kinds of food to taste and Cider Slushies that were very refreshing, unique and yummy! We can't wait for more quick fun trips.