Just chillin’

July 17, 2011July 17, 2011 / one2travelfar / Leave a comment

This frog says it all. We found him under our kayaks when we took a trip a few weeks ago. He hung out for a few hours and then was gone. We are enjoying our first summer in our new home and enjoying the local customs. We found several swimming holes and also get to watch teen boys jumping from high heights to land in the rivers.

Yesterday we went to a parade. All the town’s firetrucks and autobody(?) trucks were on display along with bagpipers, veterans and a high school class of ’76 reunion. The one thing I don’t get is the practice of throwing candy on the street. Perhaps it avoids immediate injury but then the little kids pick it up off the ground, or scuttle under cars to recover candy. Sounds like a dangerous practice to instill, on so many levels. Boy am I getting old.

Here’s a knitting aside. I had planned to make Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Baby Surprise Jacket for years because it is a marvel in construction. I almost lost the faith along the way because I couldn’t believe my straight blob of knitting would become a neat little jacket. But I placed my trust in the simple pattern and it worked. This reminds me that I want to knit more of her patterns because they are always interesting to knit, if only for the whacky construction.

By simply knitting every row, adding a few increases and sewing two shoulder seams, this irregular piece of fabric became a cute little baby jacket.

I knit it with the remnants of yarn I had spun and dyed with Kool Aid. Now it’s been distributed to various grandnieces and nephews of the original sheep (owners).

Hard to believe.

We had many house guests recently and when we were wandering around looking for something to do, we found these crazy kids jumping off the ski jumps into pools and some sort of astro turf. The freestyle type jumpers were getting 35 feet into the air before landing in the pool with skis and ski boots on! The youngest we watched was 7 years old!!! I think this first shot is him and his brother jumping in tandem.

These “small” jumps are designed to give the skiers loft. We ventured off to the towers where the ski jumpers go for distance (just recall the “agony of defeat”) and watched them for a while until the beautiful blue skies and billowy clouds turned into a nasty storm and they had to turn off the chair lift that brought us to the top and evacuate us.

Downsizing

June 30, 2011June 30, 2011 / one2travelfar / 1 Comment

After living on the other side of the world for the winter, my life has shrunk.

I bought this beautiful, dimunitive pie plate from my friend at the local farmer’s market so Tim and I can maintain our youthful figures.

Otherwise we would eat a whole pie in a few days. Now we start with 3/4 a pie. We just finish it faster

Tim is preparing to build a log cabin. I helped one day but there were mosquitoes and the logs were big and we were standing in water and (insert any amount of whining here).

Instead I vowed to build a model so we would know how many logs we need. It’s not done yet but coming along nicely. I’m counting on strapping young men and women to do the real work.

My projects are small but the insects are not. We had a swarm of dragon flies for a few days.

I grew up thinking mosquito hawks were the bad guys. They look so much scarier than mosquitos. They are enormous here. As big as the trees.

Sunset is mosquito time

June 14, 2011June 15, 2011 / one2travelfar / 2 Comments

We finally had some nice weather tonight and a beautiful sunset. We were at a spot by the Hudson River (very briefly until mosquitos swarmed me). Hudson sunset
I’ve been keeping busy knitting, quilting and WORKING! Only one day a week but it cuts into play time. It’s good to be back in the stirrups again.

But can it core a apple?

June 11, 2011 / one2travelfar / 2 Comments

I am storing some of my daughter’s treasures until she gets her new apartment in Washington, DC. I was given permission to use the pineapple tool and don’t know how I managed to get this far without one. In general, I oppose one-purpose tools but will gladly make an exception for this one. It cores, slices, peels and leaves a wonderful pineapple shell behind. Pineapple before

During

After
I wonder if she’ll miss it.

Log Cabin, Quilt

June 2, 2011 / one2travelfar / Leave a comment

The comma belongs there. Today we visited the Adirondack Museum, specifically to look at log cabins and quilts.

They have an assortment of buildings on the premises including a cute cabin that is getting its finishing touches after three years. We were checking it out and had a few questions when we found a man working on the exterior. It turns out he built if for the museum and he knew every cut and log.

He had all sorts of neat toys (oops I mean tools). We saw a chain saw sawmill, log scribes and a lancelot grinder which he demonstrated on Tim’s arm.

Kids, don’t try this at home.

Next we explored the quilt exhibit, which had beautiful quilts from the 1800’s to today. Many were made of scrap material and one was made from old neckties.

I still have a long way to go.

Graduation: The good, the bad and the ugly

May 31, 2011May 31, 2011 / one2travelfar / 2 Comments

THE GOOD: We just spent a whirlwind weekend attending my daughter’s graduation from Brown. I had a great time with her and friends. She received an award in excellence. My little baby has become a poised young woman. She was gracious and a wonderful host. We attended BBQ’s, dances,dinners and pubs.

THE BAD: Perhaps I am not the best dancer. While we were dancing the last dance of the night at a party of 10,000 people, something flew across the dance floor and struck me in the face. I knew I was hit and when I took my hand away, it was covered in blood. A gallant young man produced a cloth handkerchief. EMS butterflied it and I was fine.

But then I became the ugly. Sunglasses helped. My little gash

Click your heels together three times and say, “There’s no place like home!”

May 25, 2011 / one2travelfar / 2 Comments

It’s true.

We are joining a farm CSA and are enjoying fresh milk, eggs, chicken, beef and veggies. It’s the end of the season so I made some borscht and home made bread with home made butter. OMG!

I’m near my sewing machine and started quilting again.

And today, I rode my bike to meet up with a great group of women (and one man) to walk up Gilligan Mountain and enjoy the views. My little bug net came in handy and protected me from the black flies, which are coming into their own.

Love is in the air

May 21, 2011 / one2travelfar / Leave a comment

It’s finally spring in the Adirondacks. We have had plenty of April showers, in fact it has rained all May. The grass needed mowing and the birds are going wild. There are all sorts of feathered visitors at our feeders. Not so much the bird bath but maybe they are waiting for summer warmth. We have at least three ruby throated hummingbirds drinking our homebrew nectar (4:1 water to sugar). This morning, we saw a male perform a courtship dance, flying in a vertical arc, like a “U”, back and forth, over and over again. Then the female came to the feeder and drank primly. I’m not sure if he won her over. Here’s the male stoking up.

We’re investigating ways to stoke ourselves up. We’ve been looking into CSA’s and/or farmstands as a way to continue to eat healthy. Farm stands are only seasonal but a couple of the CSA’s produce all year. I don’t think I will get a garden prepared and planted this year, but maybe next year. In the meantime, we are checking out local produce, dairy products and meat. Sounds like we’ll be tromping through a lot of cow manure to get there.

We need some barn art

May 14, 2011May 14, 2011 / one2travelfar / 1 Comment

How about a faux moux?
Sent fom my Palm

Adjusting to the sun’s southern exposure

May 12, 2011May 12, 2011 / one2travelfar / 4 Comments

I’m reminded of the differences between home and Australia daily. No huntsmen spiders or tiger snakes is one of them. Instead, I hear coyotes howling when I am in the hot tub and wonder what their plans are. The night sky is different. Orion is not a saucepan but is once again a sword bearing hunter. We no longer look for the Southern Cross and the pointers to find south but use the Big Dipper as a guide to the North Star. During the day, I have to remind myself that the sun comes from the south, no longer from the north. I still don’t even know how the toilets flush here or there. We’re trying to extend our healthy eating habits by investing in a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) where we can get organic vegetables, meat and dairy products.

Scarlet Tanager

Yesterday, I enjoyed a walk with friends on a trail (not a track) led by naturalists on the Champlain Area Trail System (CATS). When we stopped chatting long enough to listen, we had lots of sites, plants and birds pointed out along the way. Here’s a red bird. It’s not a Beautiful Fire Tail or a European Goldfinch, or a Black Swan. It’s a Scarlet Tanager. It flew around the branches over our heads and belted out a beautiful song.

Many wildflowers were pointed out along the way as they began to bud but their names elude me. These were pretty yellow flowers.