Wee hats

Every once in a while, I am reminded of just how much I have. In February, my friend Andrea (whom I know through the Motherhood Later group on Ravelry) told us about Baby Amelia, who was stillborn at 34 weeks. Her mother was able to put a hat on Amelia; it is the only thing she has that Amelia wore and she cherishes it dearly. Andrea decided to knit preemie/newborn hats that will go into memory boxes for grieving parents, and asked if we would knit/crochet a few hats as well.

Many of us in the ML group quickly agreed to make hats and send them to Andrea to donate to her local hospital. I ended up making nine little hats of various sizes, colors, yarns and designs:


Some were made with traditional baby yarn, others with sock yarn or worsted weight yarn. My favorites were a cabled hat knit with Malabrigo merino yarn (the first photo) and a beanie style knit from Patons Kroy Socks Stripes (the second photo):




The hats are now on their way to Ontario. Sometimes the enormity of what I was making would overwhelm me a bit so not only were those little hats knit with love, they were knit with a few tears as well.

Camp, Part 2

Several weeks ago I told you about our first New York camp experience. This past Sunday, we visited a different camp.

When our friend Kelly heard that my mother would be visiting us, she kindly suggested that we all spend a day at her Uncle Bob's camp. When we agreed that it was a fun idea, she called her uncle and made the arrangements. Sunday we drove down to Genegantslet Lake in Chenango County (with a lot of food for the day) and we finally caught a break from the heat - the temperatures were almost back to average for a summer NY day.

Genegantslet Lake is a pretty little lake:


Uncle Bob has a lovely house and dock:




That is my mother in the left of the photo, enjoying the breeze off the lake. Aidan and Ryan enjoyed swimming, and James took the canoe out to do some fishing:


The engine in Uncle Bob's boat was not working so a friend of his came by to give us a ride around the lake, and he let Aidan take a turn at the wheel:


A lot of relaxing and enjoying the view took place:


After dinner, we packed up and drove back north. Uncle Bob was a kind and gracious host, my mother got to enjoy a very typical New York experience, and it was a beautiful day at the lake:

Open Farm Day 2011

One of the many things we like about living in New York is our close proximity to many farms and delicious farm products. Nearby Madison County hosted Open Farm Day 2011 today, when 40 farms are open for visitation. We had a great time visiting five of those days, despite the still steamy weather.

We first went to Ingallside Meadows Farm in Canastota, where we found the flowers to be particularly gorgeous:



At BMR Acres, also in Canastota, I was quite taken with this handsome chicken:


We stopped by Henry Family Canaserega Farm in Chittenango and enjoyed talking with one of the farmers about good methods for growing tomatoes. We also admired the cute calves and the portable chicken coop:




In Cazenovia, we first when to Brick Farm where I was immediately drawn to the goats:


Meadowood Farms in Cazenovia is a beautiful farm and the source of our favorite sheep's milk cheese:



Here come the sheep:


We ended the afternoon at lovely Meadows Farm, also in Cazenovia, where they specialize in delicious Kobe beef (and they gave us samples - yum). Here is James and Aidan with two members of the Wagyu herd:


Aidan enjoyed meeting some of the other residents:

Too hot

It's been hot. Too hot. Yesterday, we set a record by reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit at Syracuse Hancock airport.

Aidan has been at Beaver Lake Nature Center all week for day camp, and I have picked up a very sweaty boy each day. Totally by chance, he attended camp this week with two of his friends from Cub Scouts, Becket and Brad. Becket's mom invited a few children over to swim yesterday after camp in an attempt to at least manage the heat, if not beat it. As you might imagine, the kids all had a great time.

Look out for Shark Boy:


Godzilla and Shark Boy prepare to terrorize the pool:


Shark Boy takes a dive:


When we left, we may not have been cool but we were definitely refreshed.

Camping

Last Sunday, we went to camp; this past weekend, we went camp-ing.

Our friends Mike and Kelly invited us to go camping with them and their son Ryan, who is Aidan's age, and our destination was Letchworth State Park, in the Genesee Valley. The park is quite large, encompassing 14,350 acres, and the Genesee River flows over three major waterfalls, one of which is 107 feet high.

Mike and Kelly drove over on Thursday, but we chose to go on Friday after Aidan's morning swim lesson. The park is just 35 miles south of Rochester so it's not a far drive and when we realized we would be too early to check in for our campsite, I persuaded James and Aidan to drive to Warsaw to visit a yarn shop. Warsaw is a pretty little village with a very dramatic entrance when approaching from the east on Route 20A - you drive down a steep descent and then turn right under a very low railroad bridge.

We found the Dancing Goat Yarn Shop with little difficulty and enjoyed chatting with the owner and exploring the shop. Aidan watched a woman needle felt a Christmas ornament and asked her lots of questions about the technique. I bought a skein of Cascade Yarns Eco Duo as my souvenir of our trip; the yarn is a luscious blend of undyed baby alpaca and undyed merino wool.

After lunch in a village restaurant, we drove back to the park and although we were still early, we were allowed to check in. We quickly set up our tent in the site next to Mike, Kelly and Ryan, then we all went on a hike. Mike and Kelly cooked a delicious dinner for us all that evening and we enjoyed lingering around the campfire.

On Saturday morning, the guys and I set out to find a "nearby" geocache while Kelly remained at the campsite. It proved to be farther than we thought and it was a surprise multi-cache; in other words, the cache that we found simply provided coordinates to another cache. Although we were gone longer than we intended - at least ninety minutes - the views were pretty and Kelly did not call out the park rangers to find us.

Here are the guys in front of a small waterfall:


We ate an early lunch then went to explore other areas of the park. Here is a view of the Middle Falls:

Aidan really wasn't miserable, but he was ready to stop looking at the falls and start looking for another geocache:


James was able to capture this photo of a rainbow beside the falls:


There is a railroad bridge over the gorge, above the Upper Falls:


That bridge is REALLY high up. We were wondering if the bridge was still in use when a train rumbled over it as if in answer:


We were fascinated by a tree outside the Glen Iris Inn, which was planted in 1868 (the tree, not the inn). Look how the bottom of the tree resembles a claw foot:


The afternoon was rounded out by locating another cache and a short dip in the park pool by the guys, then back to the campsite. James and I prepared the Saturday dinner: shish kebabs on the grill with a side of cole slaw. Of course we had s'mores that night by the campfire, but found that we much preferred to pelt each other with the marshmallows than to roast the rest of them! Of all the fun we had over the weekend, I feel quite sure that Aidan will remember the marshmallow fight more than anything else.

After breakfast on Sunday, both families packed up and headed home. There is too much work involved in camping for me to describe it as a vacation, but I will describe it as a getaway and/or an adventure. The weather was lovely, the scenery was beautiful and the company was excellent, so all in all it was a great getaway.

Camp

The word "camp" has many meanings. From dictionary.com, it can mean: a place where an army or other group of persons is lodged in tents or other temporary means of shelter; to establish or pitch a camp; to speak or behave in a coquettishly playful or extravagantly theatrical manner. In New York, camp mainly refers to a vacation dwelling, usually on a lake or river. Ontario has cottages, North Carolina has beach houses, New York has camps.

Our friend Mike invited us to spend Sunday at his sister's camp on Lake Ontario, near Henderson. The day started out cloudy and humid, but by the time we arrived at camp around noon, the clouds were gone, the sun was shining and there was a lovely breeze coming off the lake. It was the annual holiday weekend get-together for both sides of the family, so there were plenty of people, including lots of children, and numerous dogs.

Here is James standing at the shoreline:


This is the view of the camp from the water:


Aidan and Mike's son Ryan enjoyed swimming in Lake Ontario:


Aidan is still amazed that Lake Ontario looks almost as big as the ocean:


I enjoyed the scenery and lovely weather in my own way:


It was a fabulous day of food, fun, games and laughter. By the early evening, Aidan still had energy to clown around:


We arrived back at home tired and a little sun weary, but a very good time was had by all.

Market morning

This morning we left the house at 9 am with our insulated market basket to drive over to CNY Regional Market. Our primary goal was to purchase from Meadowood Farm, which makes delicious sheep's milk cheese. Although we knew they were located in Shed C today, it was still difficult to find them among the throngs of people. But happily we did find them and bought brebis (a fresh, chevre-type cheese) flavored with ginger and an aged cheese.

Here is just how crowded it was:


And yes, the people watching was spectacular, thank you for asking.

We also visited and purchased from The Pierogie Guy, about whom we have heard many positive comments. I was torn between the Buffalo Chicken and the Potato Bacon Cheddar piergoies, but we ultimately chose the Potato Bacon Cheddar flavor.

I will admit that the crowds got to me. We were packed so closely and I was constantly afraid that Aidan would get separated from us, so I finally had to step to the side and take many deep breaths. James did some scouting on his own while Aidan and I enjoyed the shade.

Here is Aidan's "I don't like going to the market" expression:


And here is his "I get to eat yummy cheese at lunch" expression:


We did not find any brats, so we made a side trip to Liehs & Steigerwald on the way home. But we did find plenty of other items to buy at the market:


Also tucked into that basket were fresh cherries and pepper jelly. It was definitely a good market morning (dare I say fruitful?) and we are going to eat well.