Hudson Valley Hikers

One of the things I love about living in the Hudson Valley is the fact that there are over 300 miles of hiking trails literally outside my front door. By the time John and I had lived here for just under a year, I still knew very few people. That all changed though when I started hiking every Wednesday morning with a group from the Mohonk Preserve. Information about their hikes can be found on Mohonk Preserve's website. The hiking group generally consists of around 18-20 hikers, but may have as little as 6....or as many as 25. As long as you have a Mohonk Preserve membership, most of the hikes are free of charge. If you don't, you may have to pay a daily use fee of $12 or so.


Mohonk hiking group

 Prior to joining the Wednesday group, I had very little hiking experience. However, before long I barely whined at all and within a couple months I only complained about the steady inclines (and I still do!)

Many of the Wednesday hikers are retired and it's not uncommon to have several hikers in their seventies. However that doesn't mean that they are slow and incapable. Much the opposite in fact. I strive to be like them when I reach their age. At "barely fifty!"...I'm usually one of the younger participants but I have to hoof it to keep up. There are hikers that show up every single week and have been hiking with the group for years but once in a while we get a SUNY New Paltz student or a young couple enjoying a week away from the city.



Beautiful Lake Minnewaska

I must admit that the Mohonk hiking group has saved me! Getting involved with them isn't just about spending a few hours a week soaking up the beauty of nature. They are a friendly supportive group that has reminded me that winter can be enjoyable and they've taught me that it's far more fun to step across broken branches, shuffle through leaves and jump across streams than it is to stick to a carriage trail.





Waterfall during hike at Shaupeneak Ridge





This was during my very first hike in the Mohonk Preserve.



I took this photo during a hike to Gertrude's Nose

...the best thing about my Wednesday hiking group is the fact that I've made some wonderful friends here in the Hudson Valley. The only problem is that they would rather strap on skis or snowshoes and trudge through the snow than spend anytime shopping in the city.

....and most days so would I!

Murphy the Lampshade...

Murphy is the best dog ever. Ever, ever, ever!
Well, almost....
If faithful is what you want....Murphy's your man! If super intelligent is what you want....hmmmm, then not so much. Murphy has had an on again/off again relationship with what we refer to as "the lampshade."  He's okay for a while and we enjoy having a normal-looking dog around. Then he goes to the groomer and she shaves him too close causing him to lick (and lick and lick and lick and lick and lick.....)

He must have toxic dog spit because if we don't catch him right away, within a couple of hours he has licked the fur completely off of his sore spot. If we don't apply "the lampshade" he continues until his skin is raw. We've tried to explain in simple terms to Murphy why he has to "cease and resist" but he won't comply.



Murphy the Lampshade....

Recently I purchased a new heater to put in my little corner of the world where I sit and write, whilst looking out of our giant front window overlooking our forestacious woodmus (why yes, I am making up words....what of it?)

Anyway....Murph decided that he loved sitting in front of the heater; as in nose to heater. I plunked his dog bed not even a foot away from the 1200 watt radiant heat and he still wanted to move closer. Everytime I left the room, I turned the heater off because I wasn't really sure just how stupid he actually is.

This picture below shows that no matter how hard he tries...Murphy just doesn't understand the relationship between action and consequence!  Poor Murphy!

...notice the melted lampshade.

The Lovely Wedding!

I'm so behind on my blogging that I'm going to skip right over my Colorado visit and my Napa Valley Spa getaway with my friends right up to this past weekend. J and I drove up to Canada to attend our niece's wedding. While there, we drove past our old haunts; the first and second apartment buildings that we lived in when we were first married a century ago. .

Our niece, who was just a darling little girl of 2 when J and I got married, was wed in Holy Matrimony to her man, J. It was a splendiferous affair indeed and she looked so beautiful. Not just in the way that all brides are beautiful and all babies are cute way; but in a really deep, wonderful, happiness glowy way.

stressed? whose stressed?....I'm not stressed!

She was the picture of calm and serenity as she walked down the aisle accompanied by her proud dad, but here is a photo of her and her fiance that I took the night before while the hall was being decorated.  He has a relaxed, "we're almost there and then I can have the real L back!"  look on his face but I think she has a "do you think I have time to pose for the stupid camera right now!" pose.



A place for everything, and everything in its place



...L is a wonderful friend and daughter (and now wife!)  However, she does know what she likes. Therefore, in addition to her full-time job, she literally took on the job as wedding planner as well as the bride. My husband and I arrived just two days before the wedding, but reports were swirling and it had been released to the paparazzi that the future bride hadn't exactly been the picture of "sugar and spice and everything nice" like girls are supposed to be. Her dad even mentioned the word, "bridezilla" once or twice much to her disbelief...(he was smart enough not to say it in her presence). After the rehearsal dinner, she and her bridesmaids headed back to the hotel to decorate the hall. After everyone did as much as the bride would let them, she sent everyone home and remained at the  hotel late into the evening placing everything "just so"....I never did hear what time it was by the time she got home that night. The next day, J and I arrived at his sister's house (parents of the bride) to find everything in order. The mother of the bride was the picture of composure. Her hair was done, make-up applied and all that was left was for her to slip her gorgeous gown over her head. One of the bridesmaid's was back at the hall placing the flowers on the tables and doing last minute things. The two remaining bridesmaid's were at the house waiting to help the bride into her gown. The wedding was at 4:30. The photographer was at the house and everyone was in their places. Except the bride that is. At 3:30, the third bridesmaid called to say she was just picking up some last minute items that were still needed (yes, it was T-minus 1 hour!) Eventually the father of the bride hopped in his car to go and drag his daughter away from her house where she was getting "prettied up"....They both arrived back just a few minutes before four. She had yet to be laced into her gown and have pictures taken.

 

Waiting for the bride....





 

I love this picture of F that J took



 

F in her gorgeous gown









Of course, once the ceremony started (the bridal party was only 20 minutes late or so) everything ran like clockwork! The chapel was so charming. Mother nature wasn't in the best of moods and it started to rain during the ceremony, but other than that, it was a wedding out of "Bride Beautiful." The hall looked magnificent and everyone had a great time for the rest of the evening. the bride visibly relaxed once the reception started and later in the evening, she was spotted flitting around the room telling everyone how wonderful her handsome new husband was, and how he had so patiently put up with her moodswings while she skillfully orchestrated the perfect wedding. Obviously that last part wasn't exactly how she put it...her words were more like, "I've been such a  #%!*^ for the past few weeks and he has been so great...."

Enjoy the photos and congratulations to the Bride and Groom!



L's nephew, T relaxing at the church awaiting his ring-bearer duties



the flower-baby

brother of the bride, J and his fiancee K





Rock Scrambling in the Mohonk Preserve



Kate and Neil on our hike up at Lake Minnewaska



My sister and I at the Culinary Institute



...my sister Kate and her husband, Neil are presently visiting from Alberta, Canada. They came to see NYC (well, and us of course) but find that they are having just as much fun 80 miles North....where John and I live, in High Falls. I've taken them to some of my favorite places...  the CIA (Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park); the walkway across the Hudson River, but my favorite is hiking in the Mohonk Preserve or Minnewaska State Park, both of which are literally in our back yard. They joined me with my regular Wednesday morning hiking group as we did the pleasant Beacon Hill/Lake Minnewaska loop, but the most fun was Thursday when we did the Labyrinth up at the Mohonk Mountain House.

 They really enjoyed rock scrambling and we are planning on doing Rock Rift - another hike and scramble tomorrow (Sunday).



The Breathtaking View of Mohonk Mountain House from Skytop



Having Fun During Our Rock Scramble



Niagara Wine Tour

It seems only fitting that I compose this blog after consuming 3 glasses of wine, since after all, it is about wine! John and I took a beautiful drive up to Canada this past Labor day to spend the weekend with our good friends Barry and Sue in Oakville, Ontario. We spent 3 fun-filled days going here and there, but undoubtedly, my favorite day was day "three" when we spent the entire day exploring the Niagara Wine Region and stopping in to say "hi" to Niagara Falls where we hadn't been in eighteen years or so. The weather was so-so, but turned into decent as we visited the first of the wineries, Château des Charmes, which is where Barry and Sue's daughter, Shannon got married almost 15 years ago.

How To Keep Squirrels Away From Your Birdfeeder!

I'm enjoying a pleasant Saturday morning watching the squirrels drop.

 Hey....it's not my fault! ....not entirely anyway. No one's forcing them to bungee jump without a bungee. And first of all, let me start by saying that no squirrels were harmed in the making of this blog, so you members of WeLoveSquirrels.com can go cuddle a squirrel or something. Don't get me wrong, I think squirrels are super cute, but they've devoured approximately $583 worth of premium birdseed in the past year in our backyard. Not to mention the $150 or so that my husband and I spent trying to rig something up that they couldn't get into.

This was our first lame attempt at keeping the
squirrels away. The plastic baffle worked for
about 7 minutes, but then they discovered that
they could easily just leap the six foot distance
from tree to feeder.






...so then we thought we'd outsmarted them by purchasing a shepherd's hook to put in the ground and placing it more than 8 ft from the nearest tree.  However, being the persistent little buggers that they are, they eventually figured out how to get past the baffle....





Well, we were not going to give up that easily....so my husband purchased an additional baffle (metal this time....) and it worked pretty well....until they started chewing the plastic baffle. Well, I felt kind of bad then....I mean, all the work they were putting into it... I imagined myself having to chew through the basement door to get down to the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies in the freezer, only to find that after spending 3 weeks chewing a hole in the door, that the freezer was locked and I didn't have a key. So I removed all glimmers of "squirrel hope" by replacing the chewed baffle with another metal one.

Ha!! .....it worked! Until the deer discovered the latest Birdseed Bistro and our birdseed was emptied faster than ever on a daily basis. Crap!

It was definitely a money-losing venture at this point. The deer were emptying it daily and the squirrels were mad as anything, but they still thought they could figure something out.

strategising his next plan of attack...
 this was in the spring...he's so fat.....I think he looks like the gopher in Caddyshack (or whatever that was...)




and on and on it went. Well, of course you know the story has a happy ending or else I wouldn't have been bragging about watching squirrels drop as I drank my coffee this morning. We had to go to a pet store and purchase a dog leash thingie (um, I'm not good at technical names) that had a 50 ft wire leash sort of doodad with a sliding whachama call it, they're easy to find at Petco or Petsmart....anyway, John (husband) tied it from tree to tree high enough that the deer can't get it and then placed the feeder far enough away to discourage squirrel acrobatics, and......it's working! Two weeks in and we've only refilled the feeder once.....and it's still pretty entertaining too... because the squirrels forget that they can't get at the birdseed so they do a high wire act to the feeder........encounter the first metal baffle....scramble, scramble....encounter the second metal baffle........... scramble..... Ker plunk!

How To Keep Squirrels (and deer) Away From Your Birdfeeder!

You Only Have One Chance to Make a Good First Impression!

.... gaak... especially when it comes to a first blog post.

Gosh-what do I say? I don't want to be too serious or  businesslike. That would give the entirely wrong impression.

I'm supposed to put stuff in my first blog about who I am and what this blog is intended for. So let's see.... wife...mother....blah blah....worked here.....worked there....did this....did that....I do have an associates degree in radiography, but my most important degrees are the ones I've earned being married to the same man for more years than I'd care to admit....not because I'm not proud of being married for so long, but because then you would just try to figure out how old I must be and I'm not so spiritually evolved that I don't care about stuff like that, no matter what the name of my blog suggests.

I was a stay-at-home mom of three for quite a few years, and I adored every minute. By staying home, I was able to earn an honorary degree in "Creative Finance" ....I minored in"Family and Consumer Sciences"..... I flunked "Child Psychology" and I got an A in my thesis on "Psycho Parents Who Truly Believe Their Kids Are Going to Play in the NFL"... it was pretty easy to write... I had a close relationship with all of the subjects.

The reason I'm starting this blog is that I began my career as a freelance writer about 39 seconds ago. I know that in order to make this work, I'm going to have to jump in the pool with all the other "big guns" out there and walk the walk. It's not like I'm not experienced though, I've been blogging in Microsoft Word for a few years now. But it's so unrewarding....nobody ever comments.......it's lonely.

Um, so anyway....just as in the title, this blog is going to be my place to come and hang out, write....and just be me.  Presently,  I am writing for DS and Suite101. That will change as I have a few more publishers' whose party I want to go to, but for now....one step at a time. Having said that though, I do have lofty plans.  I went out for dinner tonight with my husband and as we were sitting there chatting....okay, I was talking non-stop and he was was just sitting there unable to get a word in, but whatever....anyway; I asked him what he thought might happen down the road when he was dead and I was 97 and well.....what happens to all that passive revenue from my work when I die? 

...he said he didn't know.

 In the meantime, this is going to be my place, and I warn you....I'm going to be bad! I'm going to do all the things I'm not allowed to do out.... there.

In case you can't tell, I love exclamation marks!!!...I enjoy using bold. 
But most of all.....yup, you guessed it....I love "dotdotdot!!"

...need I say more?!!

Thanks for visiting. I hope you come back to visit again.