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Summer Scavenger Hunt 2013: Wrap-Up

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Summer is officially over. I’m really not ready to have that happen, but I’m happy to report that I did manage to find all 21 items for Rinda’s Summer Scavenger Hunt. I had to use one of her bonus/substitute items, though, because we never found a cloud in the shape of something that was clear enough to count. So here is a sundial I found in a public garden area in my mother-in-law’s new condo complex.

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Earlier I posted a photo of a cute, but unknown, baby taking a nap. But now I have an even cuter “baby” named Caleb napping in his car seat on the way to Chicago in August.

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And here I am, stamping away in my studio.

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A bench was one of Rinda’s items on the scavenger hunt this year, and I started a little collection of them. Here are a few more I haven’t shared. 

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And two favorites. This one in the front yard of a friend:

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And this one on East Ave. and Goodman St.

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As always, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this project and appreciate all the time and effort Rinda puts in to creating the list, and keeping us linked up on Gallo Organico. One of my favorite things about this photography project is how involved my friends and family get when I bring my camera along on an adventure, and explain the project to them. We got a lot of laughs one Sunday looking in the clouds for something recognizable. My friend, Robert, had one vision after another, but the rest of us thought most of it was truly his vision!

You can find the others’ link-ups here, and a collection of all my Scavenger Hunt photos can be found here.

Saturday Road Trip

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Twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall, we try to get to the Ithaca Farm Market. We have wonderful farm markets locally, but the one in Ithaca is a favorite. I never tire of taking photos there, and all of the photos at the market were taken with my 50mm lens for my 52/50 Project. I’d be curious to know which one you’d choose for this week.

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I loved the slogan the Sticks and Stones Farm has chosen.

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The Six Circles Farm had one of the loveliest displays of their produce. I love these baskets.

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These plum-filled scones were delicious! This is my favorite bakery at the market. Their bread is simply lovely—and tasty!

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I left the market with a peck of Roma tomatoes (from which I made roasted tomato sauce to freeze), peaches and plums for my first galette (on today’s agenda), candy-cane beets (roasted but not yet eaten), some cute pumpkins for a fall display, and a scone, of course.

When we left the market we headed for the Cornell campus. I had two items I wanted to buy from the Cornell store, but alas, it doesn’t open until noon on Saturdays. On our way up the hill, I got this shot of the Uris Library Tower with my iPhone which I’ll use for the Scavenger Hunt (I have an earlier one, but this one has more meaning.)

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We decided to walk to College Town, a lucky choice since I found what I wanted in the first store I tried. On our way, we passed the Law School, and I loved the name of their cafe.

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We drove up the east side of Cayuga Lake to Auroa for lunch. We’d never been to the Fargo, but the reviews on Yelp gave it high marks. We would concur. Lunch was delicious. Tracy had New England Clam Chowder, and I had a chicken/cranberry salad sandwich.

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Our destination on this side of the lake was the Heart and Hand Winery. We’d read about it this summer in Summer in a Glass, a lovely book about the Finger Lake wineries. The owner spent much time trying to find just the right composition of soil (limestone) on which to grow his Reisling grapes. Although the wines we tasted were lovely, we’ll have to wait another year before the single vineyard wines are produced.

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On the way home, we stopped at Sauders, a wonderful Amish market where we picked up some meat, cheese, and a big pumpkin for the porch, and the Waterloo Outlets where Tracy picked up some new sneakers, and I got a jar of facial cream. Then we headed home to roast all those tomatoes. A lovely day on the road.

 

Summer Scavenger Hunt 2013: August Link-up

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There are just a few weeks left to complete this year’s Summer Scavenger Hunt, and I’m closing in on it. I need to do the self-portrait, and our heads are still in the clouds looking for something recognizable. But I have a few new ones to add to the list as well as a few extras.

While Sarah and Caleb were here, we went to the Seneca Park Zoo one morning with Betsy, Matt and Skylar. Our zoo is tiny, but well-kept. Skylar’s a member of the zoo and goes regularly. For a little girl just under two, she knows her way around well, and was eager to take Caleb to see her favorite animals.

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I got quite a few good shots. I’ll choose one of these from the mix for the final Summer Scavenger Hunt layout. (#11 Animal in a Zoo)

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I decided to add the animal names to the photos (there are quite a few more) and make a little photo book for Skylar and Caleb. I finished Skylar’s in time to give it to her when they came to dinner last night. 

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This cute photo of the two of them in front of a mural of the zoo made for a good title page.

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Here’s one of the inside spreads. After the animal photos, I included a group of photos of just them at the zoo.

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One of the items on the scavenger hunt list that’s been giving me a lot of trouble is #9:  someone or something that’s clearly out of place or doesn’t belong. Yesterday on our walk through Highland  Park, we came upon this cute little guy who was sitting in a tree. Clearly not a permanent resident of the park.

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Last month I posted a photo of a windmill. It was actually a flower container, and I’ve had my eye out for a real one. Last week while my brother was here, we went to the Finger Lakes for a day, and passed this one overlooking Seneca Lake.

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At the beginning of the hunt, I started a collection of benches and I’ve been adding to it all summer. But this post is already photo-heavy so I’ll save those for another day. You can find link-ups to other hunts right here on Rinda’s blog. Clicking on the Summer Scavenger Hunt logo on my sidebar will take you to a collection of all my photos so far.

Summer Scavenger Hunt 2013: July Link-up

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Well, just how did it get to be the end of July so quickly? I’m really hoping to find all 21 items on Rinda’s list this year, so I needed to get a move on recently. One night last week we drove up to Charlotte Beach on Lake Ontario to see if I could find a fisherman and a sunset. I managed both. 

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This man was very friendly, and made every effort to make sure I got a decent shot. (#19 fisherman)

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As we were walking back down the pier, these two still had their lines out as they came down the Genesee River to their dock.

I have two to offer for the sunset (#5).

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On Sunday as we drove to Seneca Lake, Tracy spotted this cute windmill (#16). I had another photo op in mind for a windmill, but this will suffice for now.

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 The first two stained glass (#14) windows are from our church.

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Here’s a more modern offering from the Corn Hill Arts Festival.

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The candle (#17) was on the table for our anniversary. I didn’t notice until after I’d taken the photo that the candle actually singed the edges of the flower.

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On our travels Sunday, we encountered a young couple with a sleeping baby (nap: #6), and they were willing to let me take his photo.

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So now I just have three items left to find—none of them easy, I might add. I’m glad there’s still a good six weeks left!

BUT, I have two more photos to share. I’ve already posted photos for a police car, but we followed this old one down the road on Sunday. I zoomed in with my iPhone from the back seat of the van, and it’s actually a pretty decent shot.

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Two years ago, I hunted and hunted and hunted, but never found anyone on a unicycle. This year at the Farmer’s Market, there he was. So two years late, but finally found. I’m still looking for a pirate from that year.

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By clicking on “Summer Scavenger Hunt” under “Categories” on my sidebar, you can find the rest of my scavenger hunt photos. You’ll be able to find more fun scavenger hunt finds right here today.

Summer Scavenger Hunt 2013

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Yesterday we went to Niagara-on-the-Lake with our friends, Mary and Jim, to see a matinee performance of “Enchanted  April” at the Shaw Festival. I knew it would be the perfect place to get a shot of a theater for performing arts (#2).

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(Looking in at the posters with the reflection from the window)

I knew we’d be going to our favorite pub (#18), The Irish Harp, for lunch.

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I didn’t expect to find an intentionally funny sign (#7), but there it was outside the pub.

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But I did know, the clock tower on main street would qualify for #8.

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I’m now officially half way through with the scavenger hunt. I know where to find a few of those items left on the list, but I’m going to have to search for the rest.

When we returned home last night, I went up to the hospital. Mike had bypass/valve replacement surgery yesterday (in the OR for about 8 hours), and had just come out of the operating room. Once again it was touch and go all night, but he stabilized this morning, and was again in the OR for some clean-up this afternoon. The surgeries have all been successful. There’s one more to go—probably Friday to disconnect the ECMO machine and reconnect the chest bones. It’s really been an ordeal, but his family and I so appreciate your thoughts and prayers. We hope we’re now on the road to recovery.

Summer Scavenger Hunt 2013

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How did the first month of summer fly by so quickly? It’s time to link up at Gallo Organico for the Summer Scavenger Hunt. I have a few new ones to share today, and thanks to Miriam’s Flickr slideshow, decided to create a gallery for mine at SmugMug. You can click on the Summer Scavenger Hunt button on the sidebar to get there as well.

We walked to the Farmer’s Market today which has moved for a few weeks across from the town hall and library. I knew I’d be able to find a police car (#15) and the town hall (#3), and I hoped to find a fence (#13) as well.

Much to my surprise, I found a deer standing in front of someone’s fence on the way to the market.

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But I also like this shot of our garden fence now that the flowers are finally beginning to bloom.

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I didn’t need to get behind the police station to find a police car either, as one pulled into someone’s driveway as we walked to the market.

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Here’s the photo I planned to take:

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We don’t really live in the city of Rochester, though we are just one street away from the city. So we have a town hall rather than a city hall.

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Thanks to Becky, I realized I also have a dinosaur (#20) residing in our living room. We’re not sure how it came to be there, but Tracy likes moving it around so you’re never quite sure where you’ll find it. Here he is on the bookshelf in the living room.

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I like this one, too, that I found a few weeks ago at the Ithaca Farmer’s Market.

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Finally, the scavenger hunt has prompted a new little photo project for me. As we were walking this week I saw several cool benches (#10), and decided to do a little Bench Project. So here are this week’s captures.

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At the library; a self-portrait and a reflection of Tracy, too.

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Both of these were on Monroe Avenue

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And a sailor’s memorial bench behind the library that I’d never noticed before. I love how these projects focus your attention.

So now I’ve checked off seven of the twenty-one items. I know where I’ll find a couple others, but I’m going to have to work a little harder on most of them.

 

 

Summer Scavenger Hunt 2013

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This is the third summer I’ve played along with Rinda’s Summer Scavenger Hunt. If it had been a spring scavenger hunt, I’d be well on my way to finding the 21 items, as many of the things on her list are among the photos I took on our trip. But, alas, I must start anew. In the last week I’ve gotten three checked off (and one that might do in a pinch, but I’m not ready to surrender to that item yet.)

The first one (open air market) was easy. We go to the Brighton Farmer’s Market almost every Sunday from June through October. Everything is organic, and there’s usually a great selection of fresh produce, baked goods, honey, flowers, and fresh eggs and meat.

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Matt flew in from Denver for the weekend, so I took my camera to the airport hoping to find an airplane. None in sight! But on the way home, a plane was flying in along Elmwood Ave. and my camera was sitting right there in my lap. I’m pretty pleased with this one, taken through my car window.

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I’ll be adding another bench to the list some day, but this one was sitting outside The Piggery, a butcher shop in Ithaca, New York, and I couldn’t pass up the chance to get a third photo.

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And yes, I am working on all those vacation photos. We’ve narrowed the several hundred (from over 1,000 taken) down to a reasonable number, and now I’m trying to organize them into some sensible blog posts.