Pause

Life changed on October 13, the day I started an outside the home part time job. Although I "only" work 25-30 hours a week, my time is no longer my own. Before and after work, I still need to prepare meals, do laundry, manage the business of the house, ferry Aidan to/from activities, fulfill my Friends of the Library duties, and keep the house reasonably clean. With 25-30 fewer hours a week at my disposal, it is the fun things that fall away: reading, knitting, and blogging. Reading and knitting are both absolutely essential to my mental well being so it is blogging that I have to put aside for now. There is still much going on in our lives that I want to document but carving out the uninterrupted quiet time necessary to write even the most basic blog post is not possible at this time. Perhaps when (if?) I get a better handle on this work-home balance, I will be able to return to regular posting. In the meantime, I am pressing the pause button.

Ready, aim, have fun

Two years ago, we went to Sportsmen's Days at Carpenter's Brook Fishery and had a fun time...except that Aidan could have had MORE fun if only he had been twelve years of age, the minimum age to shoot the firearms. When we saw the notice for this year's event, he excitedly announced that this year he was old enough to shoot and could we please, PLEASE go?

Sunday was the perfect day to spend outdoors. We arrived just before the event started at 11 am and we went directly to the skeet shooting booth. Aidan eagerly listened to the instructor:

And then took aim at his first clay target:

And he hit it! He did far better than me or James; once again, the skeet had nothing, NOTHING to fear from us.

While we were skeet shooting (or pretending to shoot skeet, as the case may be), we could hear the loud booms coming from the muzzleloading station and were eager to give it a try. James went first and was excited to hit one of the targets. Aidan took his turn, once again listening carefully to instructions:

He listened very well because his shot hit the wire holding up that entire line of targets, bringing the whole setup down! The men running the booth didn't seem too thrilled that they had to repair their [flimsy] target structure, but everyone looking on applauded Aidan's shot.

It took them about twenty minutes to get the targets up and ready again, and I got to take my turn. Shooting a muzzleloader is great fun because of the noise and the smoke:

The targets were, however, completely safe from me.

We each took a turn at shooting a crossbow:

I am familiar with the expression, "photos or it didn't happen" but truly, I hit the bullseye with the crossbow and James very nearly matched my shot. Sadly, there is no photographic proof.

Both James and Aidan spent time in the fly fishing area - James to pick up some pointers from the experts and Aidan to try it out:

Aidan also used a rod and reel to fish in the pond and soon had one on his line:

One of the nice ESF students was right there to help him bring the fish in (before gently releasing him):

Our last stop was archery, where James and Aidan took a turn:

Aidan probably wouldn't win a head-to-head competition with Katniss but he did manage to hit the target two out of three attempts. During our time there, we also shot BB guns (which seemed downright dull after the thrill of muzzleloaders and crossbows), ate lunch, avoided annoying people and soaked up lots of vitamin D.

Camping adventures

As I always say, camping is not a vacation - there is too much work before, during and after to call it a vacation - but it is always an adventure. And some camping trips are more of an adventure than others.

We haven't had our camp-on-wheels out much this season. James was reluctant to have his new Outback wired to hook up the pop-up and researched the least invasive method, and then the installation of that method turned out to be its own adventure. (Warning: approach any service at Great Outdoors RV Superstore with great caution) James and Aidan went on a father-son camping trip three weeks ago, but this past weekend was our first family camping trip.

You know we love the Adirondacks and we like that we can be in the Old Forge area in just two hours, but we have tired of the Old Forge Camping Resort there. James found a campground that is outside of Old Forge, in the Black River Wild Forest - Nicks Lake, which is a New York Department of Conservation campground. Most of the online reviews were excellent and there was just one site left for the weekend, so we booked. The only drawback? Camping sites at Nicks Lake do not have water or electricity. Yes, there are water spigots located throughout the campground and yes, there is electricity (and water) in the restrooms/bath houses, but there are not electrical or water hookups at each site.

I will admit to being very skeptical and my expectations were low. Very low. While I am accustomed to walking to the restrooms, I like being able to turn on lights in the camper and use the sink. And with cool temperatures forecasted for the weekend, we would not be able to use the heated mattresses. Harumph. I know we are camping, but...

I was pleasantly surprised. Nicks Lake is a lovely campground with good-sized campsites that are shaded and are not on top of each other. The restrooms/bath houses are within easy strolling distance and are rather new and very clean. And without electricity at the sites, campers kept to a minimum the number of things that require electricity, so it was much quieter than most campgrounds, with loud music being the most notable thing in absence. There are no street lights, so it was dark at night and it was easy to see the stars.

The only drawback was the weather. The cool temperatures weren't a problem but the rain was. The rain started on Saturday morning and fell off/on all day, and at times was quite heavy. Our hike around the lake was cut short and the guys really didn't get to do any fishing. There are no photos of the campground to share here because it was so dismal and dark.

We did manage to have fun, however. We went into Old Forge and, as always, visited Old Forge Hardware. Then we drove over to Inlet to our favorite ADK bar, Matt's Draft House. We were the second group of people in the door at noon and were lucky to get a table before packs of wet kayakers started streaming in. We had no idea that One Square Mile of Hope was taking place that day on Fourth Lake in Inlet, an attempt to beat the Guinness world record for the largest raft of canoes and kayaks and raise money for breast cancer research.

The people who were first in the door and seated at the table next to us wanted to see the Ohio State football game, which began at noon. Matt is originally from Ohio and a fan of Ohio State, so while he was happy to tune one of the big screen televisions to the game, he was not successful. His brother John finally set up the game to stream on a laptop that was perched on two pizza boxes atop a table:

Is that good customer service or what? We had the Ohio State game on the little screen, and the Syracuse game on the big screen just beyond! There were about seven or eight of us cheering on the Buckeyes, much to the [pretended] annoyance of a group of Penn State fans. We happily ate delicious wings, drank fresh draught beer (well, Aidan had water), watched football and stayed out of the rain for a while.

As we drove home on Sunday, the sky brightened, the clouds cleared and the sun shone bright. Of course! We opened the camper up to dry off and out, and the washing of damp, dirty laundry began. It wasn't ideal conditions for a camping trip, but we did have fun. And we liked Nicks Lake so much that we already booked a trip for Memorial weekend...and there weren't many sites left.

Front stoop makeover

James completed a major makeover this summer of our front stoop. As with many other areas of the house, the person who flipped our house took numerous shortcuts in the rehabilitation process and focused on making improvements that looked good but were not necessarily sound. We have been in the house since November of 2010 and already the front porch was in bad shape. The floorboards were rotting, the porch floor was listing, and the roof structure was sinking to the point where the storm door could only open so far before it hit the ceiling. The front step leading to the porch had never been painted and wasn't even attached to the porch. The whole structure was ugly and unsafe.

As James worked his way through the project, he discovered that it was in even worse shape than we thought. There were no footings beneath the porch floor and the columns were merely shells - there were no true columns. It is a wonder that the whole structure hadn't already collapsed. James put in footings, shored up the roof structure and installed actual columns inside the decorative sheathing. He replaced the rotting floorboards with Trex composite decking, which looks amazingly like painted wood, and made a step that is secured to the porch. We were even able to get a Trex color that almost exactly matches the house.

Now the front entrance to our house is both attractive and safe. We neglected to take a before photo bur here is how it looks now:

James put the finishing touch on yesterday, the ceramic house numbers from MacKenzie-Childs:

Next up: working on the side porch, aka The Party Porch.

Knit gifts

Although I am the world's slowest knitter, I have managed to finish a few gifts this summer. First, I wanted to make a little something for my lovely cousin Pam and settled on a scarf. I wanted something that was feminine and lacy, but still warm and functional. I found the Cat's Paw scarf, which according to the designer is an old Shetland pattern. I don't really see a cat's paw, just a very pretty patttern. It was interesting enough to keep my attention, but not so difficult that I couldn’t talk and knit at the same time.

The yarn is Malabrigo Silky Mernio, which looks and feels so luxuriant. It is 51% silk, 49% Merino wool, and 100% luscious. The color is so rich, it seems to shimmer.

Note: The light spots in the photo are from sunlight, not any flaw in the yarn.

In the past few weeks, I have knit not one but two minion hats. When we moved here, the very first friends I made were with a family that waited at the same school bus stop. Back in the fall of 2010, I gave little Julien a candy corn hat that I knit and I found out earlier in the summer that he is still wearing the hat, although it is stretched out and barely fits him anymore. That boy is certainly knitworthy! I told him I would knit him another hat that fits him now, and he asked for a minion hat. A one-eyed minion hat, if you please. When Julien’s older sister found out that I was knitting a minion hat for him, she asked if I could knit one for her, too - a two eyed minion.

Assemble the minions!

Mofongo

I adore Cuban food, and while I like living in the greater Syracuse area, there is no Cuban food to be found. Sigh.

We are always on the lookout for interesting places to eat and somehow James stumbled upon a mention of Las Delicias, a Puerto Rican restaurant on Westcott Street. Although we are not familiar with Puerto Rican food specifically, they had us at empañadas and fried plantains! We went there for lunch yesterday and had a delicious visit.

It is a small, hole-in-the-wall kind of place. The woman working the counter was friendly and happy to answer our questions, and we had quite a few. The first question we asked was, "What is mofongo?" which figured prominently in the online reviews we read and on the menu. Mofongo is fried green plantains that are mashed with broth, garlic, olive oil, and pork cracklings or bits of bacon. The description intrigued me so I ordered it served with onions and fried pork chunks. Aidan also ordered mofongo (to our surprise), but with shrimp creole. James chose stewed oxtail with yellow rice. We also ordered fried sweet plantains and three empañadas.

The empañadas were hot, delicious and disappeared in record time. The fried sweet plantains were also very tasty, although Aidan decided that he doesn't not care for them. More for James and me! Then our meals arrived and I got so wrapped up in eating that I forgot to snap photos before we started. James was clearly pleased with his stewed oxtail:

Here is my plate of mofongo and pork, with the plate of plantains barely visible in the upper left corner:

I cannot even begin to describe the taste of mofongo; it is unlike anything I have ever eaten. It was good but very dense, and while I am glad that I tried it, I would not order it again. (I will, however, say "mofongo" whenever I please, because it is quite fun to say.) I liked creating a bite that included the pork, onion and mofongo together.

Aidan really enjoyed eating his shrimp but did not like the mofongo at all. He helped me out by eating some of my pork and enthusiastically ate oxtail, which was delicious. We put together a leftover box of yellow rice, oxtail and plantains, which James will enjoy for lunch tomorrow.

There were several dishes on the menu that we want to try and will do so in a future visit. So while it isn't a Cuban restaurant, Las Delicias delivers many of the flavors we enjoy. Happy sigh.

Our food, goat cheese and spirits trail

After working twelve straight days that included four days of MacKenzie-Childs' famous Barn Sale, James needed some serious rest and relaxation this past weekend. Saturday was fairly lazy, with only a few quick errands, and ended with the 2nd Annual James Survived the Barn Sale celebratory dinner. We grilled ribeyes and fresh corn, and roasted red potatoes with a little rosemary, fresh from our garden.

On Sunday we decided to go on a little adventure down the western side of Cayuga Lake, which is one of New York's Finger Lakes. The lakes are beautiful, deep and clear, and the landscape around the lakes is lush, rolling hills. The region is New York's largest wine producing area with over 100 wineries and vineyards, and following "wine trails" is a very popular pastime. Not so for us; we learned very quickly that we don't like most New York wines - they are too sweet for us. We did a wine tasting tour just once, with two other couples, and it was a long, tedious day that we vowed never to repeat.

So when we headed south of the Thruway yesterday morning, we had different goals in mind: delicious food and goat cheese. Our destination for lunch, ironically, was a cafe at a winery, one that we visited on that infamous day of wine. We arrived at Crystal Lake Cafe at Americana Vineyards a few minutes after noon and found that we had a thirty minute wait for a table. We were invited to go into the tasting room and gift shop but having tasted their wine previously, we chose pass the time sitting under a shaded pavilion.

The wait was well worth it. There were so many tempting choices on the menu that we had a hard time choosing. James selected the eggs Benedict:

Aidan was delighted by the pulled pork sandwich and fries:

I was a very happy camper with sausage gravy served over a cheddar scallion biscuit with eggs and home fries:

And to my friends in the south who think someone up north can't possibly make delicious biscuits and gravy, you are wrong. Very wrong.

The ketchup that was served with Aidan's fries was unlike any ketchup we have ever tasted. It was sweet, spicy, and so incredibly unctuous that we bought some as a side dish and brought it home in our cooler. In my humble opinion, the Americana should bottle the ketchup and not wine!

Our second destination was back up the road, just outside the village of Interlaken: Lively Run Goat Dairy. Goats! And cheese! We arrived just a few minutes after the farm tour started; too bad we weren't about a half hour later. The "tour" was a look at the milking room while the farmer told us about goat diseases, milking problems, pathogens in goat milk, and the idiocy of the FDA before moving on to the barn where he shared his opinions on the stupid corn ethanol program, explained how the kids' horns are cauterized, and...well, I don't what else because I stopped listening and started visiting with the goats:

The kids were, of course, adorable. There was a large rock in their pen and one little lady decided that it was her turn to stand on it:

 She chased away the other kid and started to climb up:

Success! Now I am Queen of the Rock!

We then herded into the tasting room and sampled cheese. In retrospect, we would have skipped the tour, sampled and bought, then visited the goats on our own. We paid $5 each for the tour and tasting; had we just sampled, it was have been $3 per person. I don't have an issue with farmers or vintners or distillers charging to taste their products, but I have an issue with paying to listen to a farmer's personal opinion and walking through two rooms.

Anyway, back to the cheese. Delicious cheese. The woman conducting the sampling told us about each type of cheese offered and, once again, we had difficulty making our selections. We finally decided on chevre with Herbes de Provence, gouda, and a blue. We plan on having a simple dinner on Friday night of smoked meats, fresh bread, dipping oil and cheese, and the eating will be exceptional.

While on our way home, we saw a sign for Myers Farm Distillers. A distillery? Yes, please! Inside, we could look through a window at the 650 liter still:

Rather than farm-to-table, Myers Farm is field-to-flask, growing the grains they use to distill the spirits. James and I sampled three items each; James tasted the ginger vodka, the gin, and the blueberry orange vodka, and I also tasted the ginger vodka in addition to the corn whiskey and the bourbon whiskey. Tasty stuff and since the ginger vodka was a hit with both of us,  we left with a small bottle.

We had a fun day exploring around Cayuga Lake, without one drop of wine!

Adirondack eats and drinks

We enjoyed many fine meals and only one so-so meal during our recent Adirondack adventure. Our first stop when we arrived in Lake Placid was Simply Gourmet, a wonderful sandwich shop that we discovered during our first visit to LP four years ago. The menu features 46 different sandwiches, representing the 46 high peaks of the Adirondacks, plus you can design your own. I never made it past the very first sandwich on the list, the Marcy: roast turkey, cranberry horseradish sauce, cheddar, apple and cracked pepper mayo. Cranberry horseradish mayo, people. The nice young lady behind the counter recommended the caramelized onion bun as the bread, and she was oh so right. I was so focused on devouring every last morsel of my delectable sandwich that I paid little attention to what James and Aidan ordered, but they both liked their choices:

Wandering around Main Street worked up a thirst so we popped into Great Adirondack Steak and Seafood for a beer. We have not eaten steak or seafood or any meal there, we go for their flavorful beers that are brewed onsite but not distributed beyond the restaurant. The bartender poured us a few samples and we quickly decided on John Brown Pale Ale for our pints. Aidan was happily playing Clash of Clans on his phone and sipping water, which allowed James and I to enjoy our first beers of vacation. It is a wonderful dark and cozy bar:

 

We would have lingered longer and ordered a cucumber-line gin and tonic - how refreshing does THAT sound - but there were two older couples also seated at the bar, whooping it up. By older I mean older than us, and by whooping it up I mean laughing very loudly. I am all for having a good time but when you can't hear the person seated next to you, then it is too loud. One and done for us that afternoon.

Based on excellent TripAdvisor reviews and despite the unfortunate name, we chose Redneck Bistro for dinner. We had a devil of a time finding it and we were on foot so I can't imagine how we would have found it if we were driving. It was an odd little place, more fast casual than bistro; you order at a counter and then your food is brought out to your table. It was not what we expected but we were not disappointed with our meals. James and I both ordered burgers and they were juicy, flavorful and cooked exactly as we ordered. Aidan chose the beef ribs and ate every one down to the bone.

After we walked back to the hotel and Aidan had another swim, we left him to relax in the room while we went downstairs to Outdoors at Dancing Bears for a quick drink. We sat at the outdoor bar with lovely views of Mirror Lake and Whiteface Mountain but our foo-foo drinks were a bit of a letdown - I don't even remember what I ordered.

Breakfast the next morning came from Bluesberry Bakery and when we walked in, our heads nearly spun around from all the beautiful choices! All three of us chose savory stuffed croissants, which were flaky, flavorful, and delicious, and exactly what we wanted. We ate them while sitting by the lake, so we had a wonderful breakfast with a view.

Lunch in Saranac Lake on our way down to Blue Mountain Lake was the so-so meal. I don't care for the village of Saranac Lake and Lakeview Deli did nothing to improve my opinion. Blue Line Brewery, however, is a bright spot for the area. At first we weren't sure if we were visiting a brewery or a construction site, but the owner waved us in, put down his power tools and invited us to sample some beer. He apologized for the mess and for having only two brews available; it seems he can hardly keep up with demand and the construction project is to enlarge the brewing facility and the tasting room. Both beers were rich and flavorful but James and I both thought the Black Fly IPA was the more interesting of the two, so we chose it to fill the empty growler that we brought along. The owner saw our growler from Ithaca Beer Co. and asked if we would swap it for one of his. Why not? He added our growler to his collection and we added another excellent brew to our list of favorite craft beers. 

Once we arrived at The Hedges, we knew we had four cooked to order breakfasts and four four-course dinners to enjoy. Two meat entrees and one vegetarian entree are offered at each dinner and you simply choose the one you want while you are eating breakfast. It is part of our morning ritual there to read the choices, make our selections and choose our dinner time. The food was wonderful as always, and we ate happy.

Lunch is not provided at The Hedges, although you can order a picnic lunch if you like. We took a selection of snacks to eat the first day at lunch, then on Tuesday we drove down to Inlet to Matt's Draft House for wings. The best wings anywhere, in our opinion. We adore this place and stop in every time we are even remotely in the area:

That is Matt behind the bar and we talked Ohio State football (he is also a Buckeye expat) and beer, two excellent topics. The beer selection is extensive and Matt can talk knowledgeably about each one, helping you make just the right choice. On one hand, I would love to have that bar just down the street from our house but on the other hand, it is probably good that it is not. We happily ate wings, watched a little World Cup, enjoyed our pints. and had plenty of leftover wings to stash in our mini refrigerator back at The Hedges for lunch on Wednesday.

On the way home on Thursday, we stopped in at Tony Harper's Pizza and Clam Shack in Old Forge for SRQ chips and fried clams. Another one of our favorite ADK places, it was a nice meal to end our holiday. Vacation isn't just about the rest and relaxation, you know.

Back to The Hedges

Turning down the drive to The Hedges always feels a bit like coming home, our Adirondack great camp home - our happy place. We adore being right on Blue Mountain Lake, where the scenery is always beautiful, the water is clear and cold, and the loons call to one another. Bliss.

Each time we visit, we stay in a different room or cabin, but this time we think we hit upon the one in which we want to stay each year:

The Warriors' Den has two bedrooms, a covered porch, and is right next to the Dining Room. We had a great view of the lake from the porch:

James and Aidan, of course, did a lot of fishing:

They started a friendly (mostly) competition to see who could catch the most fish. The final tally was Aidan - 72, James - 67. I wonder how many times they caught the same fish, over and over!

There were many families with children and Aidan met them all. One set of cousins from Rochester and Buffalo, five in all under the age of six, took a particular shine to him. He would play with them in the swimming area, allowing himself to be the Monkey in the Middle or the target of their squirt guns, or would jump off the end of the dock into the lake with them. But what they really enjoyed was watching Aidan fish and they clamored to be the one who helped him get the fish off the hook. He did an excellent job of having them take turns and not lean over the edge of the dock. Here are two members of his fishing posse:

We also did some kayaking and hiking. All three of us went for a paddle on the lake one morning after breakfast, and then James and I went out on our own another morning before breakfast. Later that same morning, we hiked Sawyer Mountain, just down the road in Indian Lake. The view from the summit was well worth the hike:

Aidan did a little rock climbing along the trail:

I was able to spend a lot of time on the cabin porch or in a chair under a tree, gazing at the lake, knitting or reading, which is just what I like to do while on holiday.

One evening, there was live music at the campfire. It was a spectacularly beautiful evening, and it seemed like every guest was down by the water, enjoying the music and the sunset. And what a sunset it was:

As always, we handed in our reservation request for next year as we checked out. Life is good at The Hedges, and we are already looking forward to next year's visit.

A fine getaway

We returned a few days ago from what has become our annual visit to The Hedges. This year we decided to tack on a day at the beginning of the trip to make a quick visit to Lake Placid. We went to Lake Placid in August of 2010, which is when and how we fell in love with the Adirondacks.

Lake Placid is a beautiful village and last Saturday was a lovely day. We were so eager to start our holiday that we arrived several hours before we could check in at our hotel, so we enjoyed wandering through the shops on Main Street and gazing out over Mirror Lake:

The little Episcopal church right on Main Street, St. Eustace, was having their annual Strawberry Festival:

We climbed the steps up to the church and bought three strawberry shortcakes. While the desserts were only ho hum, we enjoyed talking with the church ladies and peeking inside the sanctuary. The ceilings and walls were all gleaming wood:

St. Eustace was founded in 1894 and has been at its present location since 1900. The sanctuary contains many beautiful stained glass windows, including a Tiffany window. The photos I took did not turn out well, but you can see the windows on their web site.

We checked into our room at the High Peaks Resort and were delighted to learn that we were on the top floor facing Mirror Lake. Here is the evening view from our balcony:

We were even able to hear the loons from our balcony. Aidan was delighted to learn that the hotel has two swimming pools - indoor and outdoor - and he put them to good use. He went swimming before dinner, after dinner, and before we checked out the next morning.

Just before we left on Sunday morning, we watched part of a birds of prey demonstration. Aidan made a new friend, Tess, and even got to hold her:

 

Tess is a barn owl and is quite beautiful.

As much as we enjoy Lake Placid, we were ready to get in the car and head to our happy place in Blue Mountain Lake.

Doodlebug

Aidan brought home this very fun piece of artwork this week:

He wrote his first name in cursive, then did a mirror image of the signature on the horizontal axis. Details, flourishes, watercolor paints and whimsy were added, and wah-la! Doodlebug!

The end of an era

Aidan's very last baby tooth came out over the weekend. Sigh. While I am not one to get all melodramatic or overtly sentimental, it still brought a bit of a catch to our throats as we realized that a chapter in our boy's life has come to a close.

Belief in the Tooth Fairy made it until the second to last baby tooth. When Aidan asked us point blank if there was a Tooth Fairy or did we swap the tooth for money, we had to come clean. He took the news well, probably better than we did, and acknowledged that it had been fun idea in which to believe. I am still amazed that he never caught us making the swap, as clumsy as we were at times!

Times they are a-changing and most of the time, I will say that is a good thing. But every once in a while, I can't help but look back and yearn just a bit.

A great view for fireworks

Last night we had fireworks over the river as part of the village's Seneca River Day celebration. The fireworks are launched from the cemetery across the street, so although we are behind the fireworks as they explode over the river, we still have an excellent view from our porch. But we thought we could have an even better view from Aidan's treehouse, so before James left on his overnight fly fishing trip - his Father's Day gift - he put two chairs up on the treehouse's porch.

Just before the fireworks were scheduled to start at 9:30, Aidan and I climbed up and settled in for the show. And what a show it was! (Please pardon the few fuzzy images - in all the excitement and loudness, I didn't hold the phone as steady as I should)

Aidan thought this one looked like a dandelion:

I particularly like this photo, because you can see the solar light on the treehouse balcony post, and the next firework going up:

All too soon, it was time for the finale:

We decided that all future village firework shows will be viewed from our very own VIP seats!