COOL SUMMER FUN

Well - our weather is leaving MUCH to be desired. Rain and thunderstorms proably 4 afternoons a week. BIG ones for us New Yorkers too. David and I are working to put down the decking out back today. We got 4 boards down -and then the thunder and rain came. More pictures of that to come!

Mornings at the beach however, have remained pretty much undistrubed. For those who haven't seen our cute summer haircuts - here they are!! We're ready for a week at Skye Farm!





Our friends Nick & Ben got this COOL SLIDE from their grandparents. WHAT a cool way to spend an afternoon! There are 5 kids in the pic. Grace got a little wounded and was sidelined. Weak stomach - - but she is fine.











The art teacher made a very nice display of all the kids winter bird pictures. Here the kids are - not with their picture - but with Melanie, Brooke & Nicks and some others Ingrid doesn't recognize.










Yesterday we snitched a friends canoe - with his permission. We took it up to Grafton Lakes for a cruise. THe girls are getting to be pretty good paddlers. We hope in a few years to do the Fulton Chain with them. It is a 90 mile trip from Old Forge to Saranac Lake via canoe. MOst on water - but of course a number of portages between small lakes. A VERY COOL journey. I read about it in An Adirondack Passage - - - Check it out.

Early July Happinin's

Well - July is coming along as they say. A good friend of mine reminds me that it's only 46 days until school starts. We're trying to seize each day for all it's worth. Here is Ingrid giving the chickens a little snack. We let them out to roam the yard at dinner time until dusk - when they put themselves to BED! They are pretty low maintenance - and we're awaiting our first egg - probalby in late August!
EVERY morning - we head to the town beach for FREE swimming lessons. We tend to bring our lunch - or get Subway on the way - and spend most of the early afternoon there soaking up the sun and playing with friends. Here is Grace and her pals in a "jacuzzi" they built in the sand!

And - here is Ingrid - surrounded by "her fans" - burried like a mermaid!

Not to be without a project - nooooo - that just would NOT do. We're putting a deck on the back of the house. This is phase I - we hope to add a hot-tub at a bit lower level and then a patio at ground level over the next several years. THis deck is 16'x8' and will "house" the BBQ grill and a table big enough for the 4 of us to eat outside. This is the NE side of the house and nice and shady at dinner time - unlike the front porch!

And - my gardens are still growing - The Spider Flowers and Cosmos (see I finally remembered their name) are doing great in the stone planters.


On Tuesday nights our town has Music-In-The-Park. It is a really great time that many residents enjoy. There are always families w/ kids that we know. They horse around (literally here) there is a bouncy-bounce, and live music by a local band. The venue is always different - from bluegrass to rock - but we enjoy them all. We girls like to meet David there - he brings the PIZZA - yea! No cooking on Tuesdays - YEA!
This past Friday we went to a friends grandparents for a day IN the POOL. Boy did we have FUN! We had lunch - and swam until 4pm. Hey, when it is 90+ here in the Northeast, we call it HOT and seek WATER. Thanks SO MUCH to our friends for a wonderful time!


AND - my summer isn't without knitting - NO WAY. I've now made a dozen of these little doilies. They are cotton - and technically wash clothes. However, NO-ONE that I've given them too says they'll dare to use them as such. So - doilies they are! Thanks Lore for showing me how to do lace. David is just glad (no - call it relieved) that FINALLY the cone of cotton "yarn" is gone and I can now move on to something else! Next update - I promise to put up pics of the completed deck and also of Grace's Birthday - we had 3 mini-parties and will have a full fledged kid-party in August. She is just happy to be 8! Keep in touch - and continue to enjoy your summers!

Other June Happenings

Here are just a few more shots from June. We have TONS of wild turkeys in the yard. The chickens are still a bit leary of them. At one time I've seen as many as 70 of then circling the house. They roost in the woods just beyond our yard. Sometimes there is quite a ruckus! Here is Mr. Tom after the hens.


Here is one of my gardens full of perineals. All in all I'm very pleased with how everything has come back this year. The wonder of growing things! This one has columbine, sedum, a wigelia bush, batchelor buttons, cone flowers and yarrow. All "donated" from many of your gardens. THANKS! This year my big planters have annuals again including spider flowers, dahlias, and c........ oh why do I even try to remember all the names. This one is GONE! Well - come see them sometime! They're pretty.


And of course, I'm still making stuff. Here is a little pair of booties I made for a friend with a new baby girl.

And, on the camping trip making ANOTHER doily washcloth. I am loving my new skill of lace knitting. I've got to go learn another new trick and move on!
And, we had recitals - two of them and a dress rehearsal. Here are the girls with their piano certificates. They did awesome. We're very proud of their talents. The dance recital was CRAZY and in the auditorium lighting not optimum. I'll get a shot in the yard of them in their PINK 50's costumes one of these days.


And, we had school projects the last month of school. Ingrid had to do a demonstration and show everyone something she knows how to do. Cooking was her choice. Here she is with her completed Green Salad. We had to make a poster - of course - and get all of our tools and ingredients together. This was fun and I'm told almost everyone in her class like the salad!

So you see - June was pretty busy after all. I'll try to do better with my BLOG updates in July. I go to Wiawaka for a 2-day getaway tomorrow. http://www.wiawaka.org/ Then we start swimming lessons next week and perhaps another weekend getaway, chicken rearing, more jam making (I put up 20 pounds of strawberries in June), building a rear deck, campfires, music in the park on Tuesdays, the drive-in, and just your average batch of summer fun. Be in touch - and the door is always open and guest room available of you folks are "in the neighborhood".
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The 4H Camping Trip

Oh yea - here is another thing we did in June! The 3rd Annual 4H Camping Trip was a success. This is a full weekend of fun - and we had 12 kids and 9 adults this year - a fun time for all. We had smores - natch! Only a few got burned.

The kids did dishes for 3 of our meals. It was a bit wet - and the kids were more interested in rinsing and drying than washing - but the job got done. After all - this is a GREEN trip - we DO NOT USE PAPER OR PLASTIC!

Donna brought a whole bunch of green t-shirts. They, when finished will read 2008 3rd Annual Camping Trip - the WET ONE! We had a beautiful Saturday - - and then... The torrential rains came. All 21 of us hovered under the tarps for dinner and then stood around wondering what to do as the creek rose! In the end 3 families bailed and went home - the going for them was slow. For the 2 families that stayed - it was loud and wet. Thankfully we all stayed dry - but it was more rain than any of us have every seen from the vantage point of a tent. WOW.

The beach Saturday was GLORIOUS however, Here is Amanda - burried.

I MUST give credit to Denise for many of these photos - thanks - they are terrific. Here are the parents at the beach (and a few of the kids)- relaxing and enjoying the nice summer weather - - - - - all in all, it was another great camping experience.

June is GONE!

Well - I'm not sure what happened - but June is OVER! WOW. I didn't FEEL that busy -but I guess we were!! The kids got out of school last week. We are now enjoying the lazy days of Summer 2008. A couple of weeks ago we went to a friend's wedding south of Buffalo. On the way home we went to Niagara Falls. What a site. It is a pretty awesome natural wonder. On the last day of school, some friends of mine organized a fantastic end-of-year party. We went out to Grafton State Park for a picnic lunch and time on the beach. Everyone had a blast.
Here is a shot of the beach. It was a beautiful day - and one of the few in recent memory where we had NO thunder storms mid-afternoon. The weather remains unsettled and a pain-o-rear.
The chickens are doing fine. I think we're about 11 weeks old. They're outside all day long. Before we went to the wedding we gave away 4 of the roosters - so our flock is down to 14 (10 hens and 4 roosters). The remaining cocks have only a couple of months left - IF THEY BEHAVE THEMSELVES!