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California and a Card

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We’ve been in California for two days. The weather has been cool, frequently rainy, but the landscape is more like October in New York than November.

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 We’ve been busy in the kitchen. Gingerbread cookies, sugar cut-out cookies, and double mint chocolate chip cookies are made and in the freezer.  This afternoon we made my mother’s snack mix, enough to fill four gallon bags.

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 It’s so good, we finally put two bags in Sarah’s freezer and I hid the other two. Adam’s parents and sister arrive on Tuesday. It would be nice to have some left to share.

Today we’re off to Walnut Creek to do some Christmas shopping. I’ll get to browse two of my favorite stores:  Crate and Barrel and The Container Store. Sarah’s coming over after her class to have lunch with us, and we’ll do some clothes and shoes shopping then.

Here’s the second card we made at our Memory Box class a week ago.

Snowflake

To create the focal image we rubbed distress inks in from the edge with sponge daubers. Then the snowflake was stamped with gold ink. The card was supposed to have a punched edge around it. I started on one side, but really didn’t like it, so I cut it off and cropped the rest of the image. It’s mounted on beautiful gold shimmer paper, and then on an even more beautiful brown shimmer cardstock. Neither show up well in the photograph. We stamped the swag with a single holly branch stamp, angling it as we stamped. Then it was cut out by hand and added to the card with dimensional adhesive.

Whirlwind

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These past ten days at home have been a whirlwind of activity. I’ve had four meetings for my volunteer commitments, lots of projects to complete for Scrap-Mart and Christmas, as well as going to a musical revue at our local theater, playing with our bridge group, entertaining, and going out to dinner and lunch with friends. Yesterday I took down all the fall decorations, and today I started putting out the Christmas things since we won’t be back until December 1st. We’re hosting our book group two days after we return so there’ll just be time to cut down the tree and get it decorated. Everything else needs to be ready.

ChristmasTags

One of the projects I wanted to finish was this year’s Christmas tags, inspired by Heather Nichols. This is about half of the tags I made. I plan to get all the shopping done for Sarah and Adam while we’re in California, and leave their presents there all wrapped and ready. Last year I stuck to a red and white theme and really liked it, so I’m going with it again. I love these “Tiny Treat: Christmas” stamps by Papertrey Ink. They fit perfectly on the “Fillable Frames #9” tag. All of them were colored with Copic markers. You can’t see it in the photo but each little image has a bit of glitter added with the Copic Spica glitter pens. They make it so easy to add glittery detail to an image. A piece of Pure Poppy twine was tied to each tag.

Just three days more at home and we’re all off to California for a long holiday!

 

 

 

Sad News

Today Sarah and Adam lost their twin boys. We, and they, are heart-broken.

Photo Field Trip

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Friday, Tracy and I headed to Letchworth State Park to hike and take some photos. I had three objectives:  try out my tripod in the field, play with the color polarizer (which I’ve had for years, but have had little success with), and try out the neutral density filter (never used it before). Two of the three goals were met. I love the new tripod, and it’s getting easier to use. I use the 2 second self-timer with it, and that works like a charm. I had great success with the color polarizer. It was a perfect day for it. Sun coming from a good angle (that’s the key it turns out), and a beautiful blue sky with autumn colors. We ended up hiking part of the Fingerlakes Trail which is above the gorge so there really wasn’t much opportunity to try the neutral density filter. I might get a chance to day at Watkins Glen. So here are some shots from the trip. I ran the Pioneer Woman’s “Define and Sharp” on all of them. I didn’t need “Boost” since the color polorizer took care of all the saturation I would have needed. A couple of them needed a bit of adjusting with Levels.

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The trail walking south.

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The trail coming back.

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I loved the reflections here.

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The railroad trestle (still in use) built in 1873.

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Another view

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And another; like the shadows here, too.

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The falls

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Pretty leaves on the trestle bridge

The photography posts on Darcy’s blog continue to be excellent. If you’re confused by the exposure triangle or unfamiliar with it, today’s post is wonderful. I’ve read a lot about this, and taken a couple of online courses, but almost every day I get another “aha” moment over there.

Kent Weakley had a fabulous post on why you should stop (or turn around and go back) for that shot. Being a girl from Kodak city, his analogy really hit home.

And my friend, Kat, has a wonderful post on photographic essays.

Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend! The weather here continues to be just perfect: sunny and just the right temperature. Great for walks and photos!

Banana Bread, the Internet, and Too Many Good Things

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No photography projects today, but I’ve spent a lot of time on the internet the last couple of days. I was loaned a Silhouette (a digital die cutter) and because it didn’t come with directions on how to use it, I’ve had to download the user manual. I ended up printing most of it out since it’s impossible for me to work on the program and try to read the manual on a separate screen. It’s one time when a separate monitor would be nice. I wrote an entry for  Me: the Abridged Version today on the wonders of Google. It’s hard to imagine life without a search engine!

I’ve also been reading a lot of photography blogs found through The Sunday Creative links and from a Google search about neutral density filters. I’m learning a lot. Now the trick is to commit enough of it to memory to use it when I’m out with my camera. I got a shipping notice today that my new macro lens is on its way. I can’t wait to give it a try. It’s also supposed to be a great portrait lens. Maybe some of my friends will let me try it out this weekend.

It has rained steadily here for the last two days. I think we have another day of it before it starts to clear up a bit. We have a photo trip planned for Friday, dinner at friends’ house on Saturday, and a hike in Watkin’s Glen with friends planned for Sunday.  Monday, we’re off again with friends to do some wine tasting in the Finger Lakes. In addition to that, Mary and I have our first Arts & Lectures presentation on Thursday night. Thrity Umrigar is the first author to appear. I finished reading her most recent novel, The Weight of Heaven,  a week or so ago. I liked it a lot, although it had a devastating ending that I just wasn’t expecting. On Friday, Lynn, and I go to the first Rochester Pops Concert–the music of Ray Charles which I know I’ll enjoy!  So there won’t be much time for learning on the weekend! 

I did get one quick project done today. Tracy made a batch of banana bread and we wanted to take a loaf to friends of ours. It was a perfect excuse to get out my new Papertrey Ink set Everyday Treats and make a little tag for it. I know I’m going to get a lot of use out of this set.

Bread
If you look closely, you’ll see a little loaf of bread behind the word BREAD. Just love how that worked out. I used three different Tim Holtz Distress Inks:  Antique Linen, Walnut Stain, and Peeled Paint. Quick and easy!

Fall Excursion #1

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We have several short trips planned for the fall. This week we spent three days in the Adirondacks with good friends. Bob and Tracy spent two days backpacking to Phelps and Tabletop Mountains. Cathy and I dropped them off at the Adirondack Loj on Sunday about noon and picked them up late Tuesday morning. Their views were much more colorful than ours. Here are two of the many photos of the stunning scenery Tracy captured on their hike.

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Cathy and I had much nicer accommodations than a backpacking tent, but we didn’t have views like this.  We had a great time, nonetheless, shopping, eating out, and a wonderful visit to The Wild Center in Tupper Lake.

 

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The Wild Center is a natural history museum of the Adirondacks. They have wonderful interpretive displays,  several river otters, and a collection of birds that are being rehabbed. We enjoyed seeing this small falcon and hearing about the falcons in the area.


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We also listened to a talk on loons . . .


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and took a walk with a naturalist down to the Racquette River.

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I loved the details on the bridges.

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About a year ago I saw (but wasn’t able to get a good photograph of) a Wood Duck at a local pond. They are so beautiful and I had no idea why they’re called Wood Ducks. Now I know. They actually have claws that allow them to climb into trees and to find food on shore. It’s hard for me to imagine these ducks sitting in a tree.

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When we picked up the guys, I walked down to Heart Lake by the lodge. In the two days we were there the colors became much more vibrant (though not to the extent they had changed at the higher elevations). Here are a few of my favorite images.

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Tomorrow we’re off to the Finger Lakes and the Ithaca Farm Market. We’re meeting Tracy’s cousin and her husband at the market, hope to visit Cornell’s ornithology lab, and then do a bit of antiquing on our way home. It was very hot here today, nearly 90°, but tomorrow’s high is expected to be only 62°. Fall and its erratic temperatures is here!

Camping at Filmore

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Tracy and I have been camping with our friends, Bob and Cathy, for many, many years. There used to be eight of us before our kids grew up. During the teenage years we began a long hiatus when all four of the kids had busy schedules of their own in the summer, but about eight or nine years ago we started getting together for a few days of camping each August. Next year, the four of us are booked for a cruise to Alaska, so there’ll be no camping, but I’m quite sure we won’t be complaining.

This was one of the first years in many that we had perfect (no rain) weather. It was a little hot, but we managed to spend the hottest hours on Monday doing some wine tasting on Cayuga Lake. The rest of the time we spent at Fillmore State Park. It’s just east of Cayuga and south of Owasco Lake near Moravia. I had never been there before but it was a great spot.

Warning:  this is a heavy photographic post!

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This was our camping spot, and after the first night there were no other tent campers in the park, so we had the place to ourselves. There were a lot of trailers and RVs, but they were in a different section.

There’s a lovely gorge and a 5 mile trail through the gorge which then loops up a ridge and circles back to the trail head. We hiked the trail early Monday morning before the heat got too intense.

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I always try to remember to turn around as we hike and look back. As we started up the trail I turned around and saw these wonderful reflections.

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One of Filmore’s “claims to fame” is its waterfalls. They are lovely and so is the stream we walked along.

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I love the way the water falls here–back and forth.

And a few other favorite images from the park.

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All my photos on this trip were taken with my point and shoot which has a fisheye effect option which I used here.

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I really liked how this mushroom stood so straight and tall–and all alone–among the trees.

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Light was a problem all along the trail especially later as the sun rose in the sky. But I liked this shot with the sun streaming through the trees.

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And you can’t have a camping trip without a good fire to sit around. We cook our dinners over the open fire each night, and then sit around chatting and enjoying some good red wine.

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It was a perfect way to end a beautiful summer. I can’t believe Labor Day is upon us, but that certainly signals the end of summer for me.

Notepads

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I was asked to create some notepads to be given as gifts. Since I don’t know the recipients, I decided to make some extras so there would be some choice. I like having a few on hand myself. I’m not terribly happy with the photos for this post, but I’m still trying to figure out the best place in the new studio to take photos. I thought they were fine, took the notepads off to my friend, and then wished I had checked the photos more carefully. They were all taken in exactly the same spot with the same light, but it sure doesn’t look that way. Here’s a look at three of them.

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And a close up view of the focal images on six of them. I had a lot of fun mixing up the stamp sets and finding images that would work with the sentiment stamps. I found a flower in Beautiful Blooms II, one of the labels in Vintage Labels, and a tag image in Tags for Spring that worked really well.  All the stamps are Papertrey Ink.

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Most of the papers are also Papertrey Ink. The first pad in this group uses Basic Grey “Kioshi” papers, and the last one uses Cosmos Cricket “Delovey” papers. All the buttons are Papertrey Ink, and the pearls/gems are from my stash.

Aside from trying to find the right light to take photos, the new studio is proving to be very efficient. I LOVE working in here. I have so much more work space and everything is so convenient. It’s the perfect space for me. We’re still finishing up the details. A new track lighting fixture arrived from Pottery Barn this week and needs to be installed. My fold-up Ikea table and printer’s drawer need to be moved into the new space, and then I think we’re done. Photos should be coming next week, I hope.

We’re off to Filmore State Park this afternoon for our annual three days of camping with good friends. Our friends found this spot earlier this year, and I’m looking forward to a new place to explore.

Babies!!!!

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Yes, that’s right, it’s plural. Sarah and Adam are expecting twins!! We’ve known for a while, but they didn’t want anything to get out before they told their congregation yesterday. We are all very excited, but evidently twice the hormones equals more than one share of morning sickness. Thus my trip to California earlier this month. Although it’s actually worse at night than in the morning, Sarah is beginning to feel a bit better. Hopefully, it will clear up soon as she has a busy schedule this fall taking two classes at Berkeley and teaching one at San Francisco Seminary. We are so excited for them and for us!!!

Early this morning I thought there’d be a bouquet of balloons gracing this post. I looked out our window about 3 am and saw a huge bouquet of balloons tied to one of our yard decorations in the front. Sadly, the wind and rain blew half of them away by the time it was light, although I did rescue the second bunch from the driveway. I think I know who the balloon ladies are, but if there was a note, it also disappeared. 

On another front, the studio move is nearly complete. There is just one large and one small job left to do, but I am in my new space (photos later when it’s all done) and loving it. It feels very extravagant to have such a beautiful, large space just for me. Matt says the change makes so much better use of the space, and I think he’s right. The little room where I’ve worked for the last 7-8 years really looks tiny now that I’m out of there. We need to paint that room, and buy a bookcase and perhaps, a small coffee table and then we’ll be done. Everything is put away for now.

Neither of my hutches from the old desk worked on the new one, so I had more organizing and purging to do over the weekend. Everything has a home now, and there’s still way too much stuff for one crafter. I’d love to have you come over and share!

Here’s the last of the cards I made before the move. (You can’t have a post without some photos!) The first one is a definite lift of a card I saw on Dawn McVey’s blog last week and just had to copy.

BDCard
Cardstock: Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink); patterned paper: Turning a New Leaf  & Bitty Dot Basics (Papertrey Ink); ribbon: Ripe Avocado (Papertrey Ink); doily: Martha Stewart; stamps: Take Three: Summer  (Papertrey Ink); flowers & brad from stash.

Love
Cardstock: ColorMates (WorldWin) & Bazzill; patterned paper: Basics & Kioshi (Basic Grey); stamp: Scenic Route; gems: Kaiser; Nestability Heart (Spellbinders)

Tomatoes and Moving

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I feel like my life is consumed by tomatoes and moving. Little by little we’re getting my studio moved to the bigger space. We’ve just about done as much as we can now until the desk and new lateral file cabinet arrive,. Hopefully tomorrow, more likely on Friday. I found new valences for the studio, and like the pattern, but they need to be shortened. For now I’ve left them up and will take care of it when the rest is done. I think I have everything I need for the studio, but I’m quite sure we’re going to need a bookcase and perhaps a table for the den. It’s so hard to tell until my current desk is out of there. I’m hoping the hutches on the current desk will fit and look OK on the new one. The hutch that could have been ordered with the new desk was too wide for the wall space I have.

As for tomatoes, we picked another 17 pounds yesterday and canned more sauce today. Tomorrow we’ll need to go back to the garden again, and I’m going to try another batch of salsa–a little milder this time.

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When I went out on the patio to take a photo for tomorrow’s Team-up Thursday post, I saw that our hibiscus was blooming again. It’s such a beautiful plant and blooms pretty continuously all summer.

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I did get a layout completed today, but haven’t had a chance to photograph it. But here are a couple of cards that I haven’t posted. The first is for a friend whose husband passed away recently.

Sympathy 

Cardstock: WorldWin Colormates; stamps: “With Sympathy” Papertrey Ink; ribbon: Impress; gem: Michaels; ink: Encore Metallic

And a real quickie for the card box:

SuperStar
Cardstock: Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink); patterned paper: Basics Manila (Basic Grey); stamp: “Star Prints” (Papertrey Ink); stars: Small Details (Basic Grey)

A Fine Weekend

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We had a busy weekend, but a productive one. We’re in the midst of switching two rooms upstairs so I will have a bit more space in my studio and more light. It seems like it should be a simple process, but it involves reconfiguring two closets, sorting and purging two rooms full of “stuff,” and moving a lot of furniture. I was hoping we’d be done by now, but when I went to purchase the new desk and lateral files, they had to be ordered. They should arrive by Friday. In the meantime, we’re trying to get done what we can, little by little. Matt commented tonight that every day he comes home from work there’s a bigger mess than the day before. Sigh. There’s some truth to that since we needed to box up everything in the bookcases in both rooms. The piles grow higher every day. Compared to Amy, we have very little disruption so I’m definitely not complaining here.

Meanwhile at the garden, the tomatoes are prolific. We have to go to the garden every other day now to pick the ripe tomatoes so they don’t fall to the ground and rot. Here is what we picked on Wednesday. We picked as much or more on Friday and Sunday.

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We have lots of beans as well. They are a bit harder to deal with than the tomatoes since
I’m not a fan of canned beans, and we really don’t have much available
freezer space. I found a great sweet mustard dressing for the beans for
dinner tonight. Tracy says it’s the best he’s ever had. 

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We’ve been making tomato sauce, salsa, and oven dried tomatoes in olive
oil (for fabulous appetizers). There’s a small jar of pesto as well. We
haven’t canned in many
years, and I’d forgotten how many tomatoes it takes to make a quart of
sauce. (And how long!) For the first time ever, I ran into a bit of a
problem chopping up the jalapenos for the salsa.  I’ve never used gloves in the past,
but I’ll never do it again without them. I ended up with burning fingers
that were painful off and on for over a day! Ruined a contact lens as
well. When I googled for remedies, I found quite the list, none of which
seemed to take care of it. Time, as in many things, is what was needed.
I did read one woman’s story. Her fingers blistered, and she had to go
to the emergency room!

Since I was away on our  37th anniversary we celebrated it this weekend by going on a flea market/antique shopping jaunt (thanks, Tracy!) ending up in Canandaigua at Rio Tomatlan. I read a review of this Mexican restaurant that rated it the “best in the country.” Better, the reviewer said, than Rick Bayless’s restaurant, Frontera, in Chicago. I was curious to make my own comparison since we ate at Frontera a year ago. I have to agree, Rio Tomatlan is the best Mexican food I’ve ever had. It was, in fact, one of the best meals I’ve had anywhere in a very long time.

I found some great new items for my studio at the antique shops. Most were less than ten dollars, and some less than five. I picked up two colored Mason jars for storage, and I loved this little wire basket which is perfect for holding my Papertrey felt.

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I also picked up two old cameras. One for the book shelves in the living room, and one for my studio. I’d like to have a collection of old cameras some day. These were both very inexpensive. The little one is on the shelf with all my photography books in the new studio.

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I like the black and white conversion for this photo as well.

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My last find was a red wooden box. I was immediately attracted to it since red is my favorite color, but when I read the tag “patented card box” I knew it was mine. I’m not sure exactly what I’ll use it for, but I know I’ll find a good use for it. 

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Finally, I broke down and bought an iPhone, and I’m very glad I did.
I’ve just scratched the surface of what I can do with it, but since I’ve
had an iPod Touch for a couple of years, it’s a pretty simple switch.

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Back tomorrow with some new cards.

Love Your Pictures, Love Your Pages: Skies

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Today’s photos are a bit of a cheat. It was a busy day. I went to Essential Stretch, followed by my first Aqua Zumba class. Then I spent some time trying to get organized for a trip to CHA in just two weeks. I’m really excited to have an opportunity to go to the trade show. I got my airline ticket last night, and today Laura sent me the bar code for my vendor pass. I’ll be staying with Katie who oversees the design team at Scrap-Mart as well as meeting Eva. I’ve met Laura and Howard, the owners, but haven’t had the chance to spend much time with them. I’ll be there five days. I’m sure it will be exhausting, but I think it will also be a lot of fun! This afternoon I had two appointments and by the time I got home we had a downpour so extensive streets were flooding. I do like to take photos that feature skies, and I knew I had several
from the last couple of weeks. So here they are.

These were all taken with my point and shoot, Canon Power Shot SD3500 IS, that I bought before our trip to California in March. I love this camera, and it’s almost always in my purse.

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We were on the NY Thruway enroute to Ithaca, NY when I took this shot through the front window of the car. I just loved the look of the clouds.

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Taken the same day on the Cornell campus.

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This was taken about 10 days ago on my first venture out on the sailboat this year. It was rough on the lake and the spray from the lake water was so chilly, we decided not to put up the sails and to motor down the river instead.

Road Trip

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Tracy and I arrived home from a five day road trip Wednesday night. Yesterday I took off with three friends to Auroa, New York for lunch at Pumpkin Hill and a trip to the MacKenzie Child shop. Today was equally busy:  my botanical drawing class, visiting a friend, and then grocery shopping. I managed to get one of the three photo prompts completed for Shimelle’s class which I’ll post as soon as I have them edited. I hope by the end of the weekend to be caught up with the class.

Our first stop was in Hyde Park, NY to visit my brother, his significant other, and my two nieces. We started out with a great Thai dinner, did some hiking (in incredible heat!), and celebrated the Fourth with a cookout. I didn’t take many photos. Maybe it was the heat, but I did take a few on our hike through Poet’s Walk near Red Hook. There are some great views of the Hudson River and the Kingston Bridge.

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My niece, Stephanie, Kevin, and Rocky

Drinking
Water for Rocky

From Hyde Park we drove to Woodstock, NY. I hadn’t been there in over 30 years, but it hasn’t changed a lot. We had a lot of fun browsing through the little shops, and had lunch at The Garden Cafe.

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After lunch we took off for Lenox, Massachusetts and the James Taylor and Carole King concert at Tanglewood. It was well into the 90’s when we arrived at 2:30 and folks were already lining up for the show. The gates didn’t open until 4:00 so we continued into town and found a great deli where we picked up sandwiches and a bottle of wine for our picnic on the lawn. We got back to the grounds around 3:30 and once the gates opened, found a decent spot in the shade without much difficulty. Although we were a long way from the stage, the video screens and fabulous sound system made it seem as if you were right up front. This was the third show of the weekend, all of them sold out at 18,000 folks per concert. It was a sea of people, but a very warm and friendly crowd. We had great conversations with “neighbors” both before the concert and during the intermission.

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The concert itself couldn’t have been better. I saw both James Taylor and Carole King in concert when I was in college and they were just as great as ever. They’ve assembled a great band (Jame’s original) as well as backup singers and they sang all the old favorites. The special treat was a guest appearance by YoYo Ma who came on twice after intermission to accompany them on Sweet Baby James and You’ve Got a Friend. What a fabulous surprise!

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On Saturday we drove to Vermont, had breakfast at Up For Breakfast, our favorite breakfast spot, and spent quite a while at Northshire Books. I picked up a copy of Allegra Goodman’s new book, The Cookbook Collector, which I am thoroughly enjoying. Also added several more books to my Amazon Wish List. If only I could read as fast as I can find new books! Tracy and I laughed when we saw this sign in the sidewalk outside the book store. I’m not sure how we’ve missed it before.

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We had lunch in Middlebury, VT and were in Burlington by late afternoon. Our niece, Jasmine, had made reservations at the Blue Bird Cafe for dinner and it was fabulous. I failed to take any photos, however. The next morning we had reservations for breakfast at the Shelburne Inn at Shelburne Farms. What an amazing place! Here are a few of my favorite photos:

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The view from our table; because it was so hot, the view of the lake and hills beyond in New York were covered with haze.

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The view from the road.

Shelburne Farm is a working, sustainable agriculture, farm. They have a herd of Swiss Brown cows that they milk to create wonderful cheeses. They have daily tours, many children’s activities, and opportunities to participate in the working of the farm.

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The barn and cheese making facility is almost as beautiful as the inn.

Unrelated to the farm, but also wonderful, is the Shelburne Museum. It was too hot to take in all it has to offer, but we spent quite some time at the Ansel Adams exhibit which was air-conditioned. This is the third Ansel Adam’s exhibit we’ve seen in as many years. Each one has been wonderful with a different focus. I had never seen many of the photographs hung here. About a third came from the collection held at Mount Holyoke, a third from the Johnson Museum at Cornell (I had no idea they had a collection of Ansel Adam photographs), and a third from the private collections of the Wallace Stegner family. We did take some time to visit a small collection of Warren Kimble paintings and to tour the steamboat “Ticonderoga.”

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The staircase in the Lighthouse where the Warren Kimble exhibit was hung.

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I always envision documenting these trips and posting day by day, but it never seems to happen. So thanks for hanging in there on this long post!

Papertrey Pixie Challenge and Garden Update.

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I finally finished a card last night that has been on the “to do” list all of June . Why I wait until the last minute, I do not know! Karen H. posted this challenge at the beginning of the month. It’s a photo of fat quarters and we could use the square design, the colors, or sewing on our card.

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I used a
little of everything from the challenge. I deliberately did an uneven
stitch around the edge of the card, cut the scalloped squares with a
Nestability die, and added something different to each square. The
green and orange also come from the challenge colors. I colored the
flower and the button twine with my Copic markers. Thanks
for the challenge, Karen! It was a good one.

JunePixieCard
Cardstock: Kraft (PTI); patterned paper: A Muse; brads, flower, & buttons from stash; sentiment: Friendship Jar (PTI); button twine (PTI)

We went to the garden yesterday for the first time in over a week, and I was amazed at how much the plants had grown. The tomatoes are nearly as tall as my shoulder, the pole beans are crawling up the poles, and the lettuce and herbs are lush and full.

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The empty spot you see in the middle is partly the path we left to get into the middle of the garden but also where the peppers are planted. They are the only plants not doing too well.

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We brought home enough lettuce for a week and picked just a portion of
it. Before we go to my brother’s this weekend, I’ll go back and pick
some to take to him. By then there should be a couple more zucchini ready to pick. We also harvested two large zucchini which I’ll use
to make zucchini bread today or tomorrow. These goodies were an
unexpected surprise!

Happy Father’s Day

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Father'sDayw

This was my first attempt at making a clear card. Tracy liked it a lot, but it’s not an easy card to photograph.

It’s been quite a lovely day. Tracy and I started the day at the Brighton Farmer’s Market. It’s becoming a weekly habit, and we bring home the nicest organic fruits and vegetables. Today I bought a beautiful bouquet as well. We then picked up a student from the school where Tracy worked for 25+ years, her sister and mother and brought them to church. Our church hosts a tutoring program at the school and a group of sixth graders read a poem and talked about their plans for the future this morning during our Focus on Mission. Church was followed by an ice cream social which marks the end of our regular schedule for the year. During the summer we operate on a different time frame and without the weekly presence of our fabulous chancel choir.

Tracy spent the afternoon working on the boat and practicing some golf shots while I got in some crafting time. This evening Matt joined us and we drove to Canandaigua Lake for dinner at Steamboat Landing. We had reserved a table outside overlooking the lake. It was warm, breezy, and just right for a lakeside dinner. The food and service were excellent, and we had a great time.

Lakew 

The north end of Canandaigua Lake.

SteamboatLandingw

The patio at Steamboat Landing.

Sunflarew
The guys. Prime rib for Tracy and chicken wings for Matt. I had a wonderful seafood combination of crab cake, grilled scallops, and shrimp. I was surprised to see the sun flare when I uploaded the photo, but I kind of like it.

M&Tw

Dad and his son.

I hope your day was equally pleasant!