For the birds

We drove out to Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge today simply because it was a beautiful day and we have never been there. Operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the refuge encompasses part of the Montezuma Swamp at the north end of Cayuga Lake and is situated in the middle of one of the most active flight lanes in what is called the Atlantic Flyway.

The refuge has a very nice visitor center, several walking paths, observations areas and two observation towers. Aidan raced to the top of the first observation tower we encountered:

We forgot to bring our binoculars - duh - so the telescopes were handy as we scanned the refuge for birds:

The refuge also has a 3.5 mile one way auto drive and from our car, we spotted quite a few birds:

The NY State Thruway passes through the northern portion of the refuge, so we saw cars whizzing by in the background as we bird watched:

In addition to birds, we saw many bright and beautiful flowers in the marsh:

It was a relaxing way to spend a late summer afternoon. I want to return during the fall migration, when (according to the web site) "geese number 50,000 and ducks over 100,000!"

I will be sure to wear a hat.

Taking the month off

There are people in Europe who take nearly the entire month of August off for their holiday/vacation. At times, it must seem that the only people working are those who provide service to those on holiday. While I can't spend the month of August on vacation or doing nothing, I am going to take a break from goals and resolutions.

While I am doing very well on my portion control and have almost completely stopped snacking between meals, I did not do well in July on the walking/exercising portion of my goals. With Aidan out of school, out of town trips, yada yada yada, I can't seem to stick to any kind of regular walking schedule. So rather than set a goal that I cannot achieve, I am just going to take the month off and get back to business in September (aka The Most Wonderful Time of the Year). It does not mean that I won't do any walking or exercising, it simply means that I won't worry about it; if it happens, it happens and if it doesn't, oh well.

I did have a knitting goal for July, which I did achieve: I finished knitting the lace scarf that had been in progress for many months:

The yarn, Lhasa Wilderness from Bijou Basin Ranch, is a blend of 75% Yak down and 25% Bamboo, and the color is a rich, chocolate brown. It is ever so soft and has a lovely drape to it.

The pattern came free with the skein of yarn, and the pattern states the scarf needs “just a single skein of the luxurious Lhasa Wilderness yarn.” The photo showed a short scarf but I didn’t realize just how short it would be…it wasn’t until I was about 75% complete that I realized the photo on the pattern did not match the instructions in the pattern! The photos show a scarf with two lace repeats and the pattern details three lace repeats. Grrr. I did not want to frog the entire scarf and start over using two repeats, so I used as much of the yarn as I could before knitting the border and binding off. I blocked the scarf until it screamed for mercy and managed to get it to 40” in length. It is very pretty, but just a bit on the short side for my preference. If it is also too short for my friend who will receive it as a birthday gift, I will knit her a different, longer scarf.