Archive for the ‘Summer’ Category
Monday, June 23rd, 2008
When we first moved here, I really didn’t give the hillside on the property too much thought. I just said to myself that I was going to plant some pine trees there. At the time, there were some “unbloomed” bushes waiting for leaves. Some of them were those ever growing pricker bushes.
When I was a kid, we had this huge pricker bush in between our property and the neighbor’s. It was large and really needed to be taken care of because it was taking up so much room. I can’t really ever remember any flowers growing on that pricker bush. Oh, how times have changed.
A few weeks ago, I took some pictures of some half bloomed flowers in the front. I really didn’t know what I was in store for and to be honest, I am quite impressed.
Here, I’ll show you what I am talking about…
This is just a random shot in one of the more clustered parts of th flowers. As you can see, there are some pink roses in there.
Here is a better picture of those pink roses.
Here are a few photos of the whole area of flowers. Pretty neat, huh?
On my way back, I decided to pick Laura a bouquet of flowers. I think this is the nicest one yet.
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Posted in Gardening, Summer | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 7th, 2008
I took a few photos of the back yard this morning. Every year, I like to take pictures of the trees in the area. I do this, because every year, I forget when the heck the leaves come out. It’s kind of like a journal…or a log…or a web log…oh wait, a BLOG. That was funny.
Anyway, since it was so wonderfully beautiful this morning, I decided to drink my coffee on the back porch. One really big reason it was wonderful is because there were no bugs flying around my head yet. You should’ve seen me trying to rake up some leaves yesterday evening. Whoa…it was like I was in a boxing match. I am sure the neighbor was laughing. I put on some “Off” and it did nothing. What is it with the bugs this year? I think I may be stirring them up by raking.
It seems like the leaves are taking a reaaaaaly long time to bloom here. It may because there are virtually no Maple trees. They are all oaks and they take longer. I bet Westchester County looks totally like Summer right now. Maybe with some more warm sunny days, things will start looking greener around here.
As I was sitting on the back porch, I noticed a little bird land on our bird feeder. I thought it was odd, because there was actually bird food in the feeder. Do you know what that means? It means that the squirrels haven’t figured out where it is yet. If they had, it would be empty. I think I am going to just keep walking around quietly to keep the thing under their radar. Everyone knows what happens when a squirrel finds a bird feeder. That’s the end of that. Squirrels are on Laura’s “nemesis” list. For an animal lover, I have never seen such darkness in her eyes…
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Posted in Environment, Gardening, Home Improvement, Landscaping, Spring, Summer, Trees & Shrubs | No Comments »
Friday, February 29th, 2008
Today was another busy day. I spent a good majority of the day organizing things online. I would tell you what they are, but I have this thing about telling people my secrets. Oh well. I will say that I find it simply amazing that I am able to wake up every morning of my life and work on the computer for at least eight hours straight. Mind you, those are the days I have nothing to do. Oh, I just love looking at the clock as it reads 3PM and realizing that I have been sitting here since 7AM.
As I get older, I find myself focusing on my “physical” self more than I used to. I always try to sit up straight in my chair, so I don’t get a bad posture, like I have been warned about when I was a kid. I also recognize that I need exercise these days. When I say need, I mean “need.” I mean, I am in good shape, but as anyone gets older, I think they become more aware of these things. I also feel my eyes going to hell. When I was a kid, I used to pride myself on not wearing glasses. Well, the years of staring at this monitor has taken its toll, I’m afraid. Last year, I bought computer glasses to help take the strain off my eyes. These days, I find myself having to focus a heck of a lot more. I can actually feel my eyes getting tired. People say that you should get up every so often to give your eyes a break. They say that you should look out the window every once in a while so your eyes can focus on something else, other than your computer screen. I do that, but I am just hoping that one day I will make enough money to pay someone to do my work for me as I sit in a chair behind them, telling them what to do.
So, what’s new in life…I guess it’s just day to day stuff. As I work, the cats take their turns using my lap as their bed. I am not working on adding any more websites to my portfolio…well, I had to pop a new one in there, I just couldn’t help myself. This is the year of marketing. I haven’t focused on that portion of the business all that much in the past few years, so it might be something I should do to boost the $$$. I believe I can do a very good job with that in the next ten months.
I also have been making beer, if you haven’t noticed. I think it’s a pretty rewarding thing to do. Paul came over to pick up ten bottles for a party he is having tomorrow. He is going to get back to me with the consensus. I hope he likes them.
Since I have been in college, I have been looking for the perfect place to live. Where we are living now isn’t perfect, by any meaning of the word. As my mother would say, we have decided to hate it. It’s painful to realize that, but it’s true. I have learned that it’s pretty useless looking on the internet for that perfect town. All it takes is one lousy picture of a town to ruin everything. On to the next perfect town with that one lousy picture, and so on. I think the only way I am going to make it is to get an “anchor” house somewhere up north, with another smaller home in the heat for weekends in the Winter. I have also learned that the perfect town may not even exist anymore. Back in the day, there was a quiet little main street somewhere in Indiana that you could walk up and down for the rest of your life. Now, you have to worry about tornadoes and the Wal-Mart they are putting up at the end of the block. You might think I’m kidding, but look around. The most pristine places are very unaffordable. So the quest goes on.
On Monday, Laura and I are making a trip to Washington, CT. We are going to have lunch at the Mayflower Inn. A few years ago, my mother got us a gift certificate for the Inn that we used for a perfect Valentine’s Day dinner. It was one of the nicest places on earth. We were thrilled with the little antique town, but it was kind of dark on our way in. We really want to see it during the day. You would be surprised what the Connecticut hills have to offer, for a price. I’ll let you know how it goes. YouTube certainly needs a video or two of Washington, CT.
It just started snowing. Laura proposed another walk in the snow. Who am I to say no? I have a feeling I will be putting my boots on at midnight again. I do want to say that I am getting a little tired of the snow. Every time I think the driveway will be clear for a few days, it snows. I admit that it keeps things exciting, but enough already. It’s been a snowy Winter. The next week looks warmer with the temperatures above freezing. Also, the sunset is much later now, so that January depression has lifted. Now, the sun is going down close to 6PM. In March, we set the clocks ahead, so that should be fun. I am going to try to really soak up the seasons this Spring, Summer and Fall. I think they are worth it.
Wow, what a post. This might actually be what blogs are for. I guess I have to write some real stuff when I am not busy buying things and writing about them. Hey look…it’s another cat on my lap. I think they are doing laps now. This one is Sexy Boo.
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Posted in Animals, Autumn, Current Events, Family & Friends, Food & Drink, Ramblings, Spring, Summer, Winter | 4 Comments »
Sunday, November 11th, 2007
We were going to go for a hike this afternoon, but I feared the ground would be swampy when we got to our destination. I wanted to hike down to a pond a few acres away. I think we’ll get to that another day, but for today, we stuck with our usual walk down the road.
I have to say, for all those people who put off hiking in the summer because it’s too hot, today was the day for you. Weather.com tells me it’s 44 degrees outside…perfect for walking or hiking. No sweating and no freezing. Just perfect.
In an unusual move, I thought I would bring the camera along. It’s nice and sunny, so I knew the photos would come out nicely. Wanna see a few?
This is a piece of property down the road that both Laura and I are very jealous of. I am not sure how many acres it is, but they have a pond, a grassy area, a main house and another house out back. They also have a table and chairs set up near the back of the pond. I would like to drink my morning coffee there.
Moving further along, there is a river that flows pretty much along the entire road. When Rob came up to visit a while ago, we looked for salamanders under the rocks in this river.
This is Laura’s favorite house on this road. It’s an old white farm-ish type house. It’s hard to see back there, but what I was trying to get a picture of was the nice driveway and Pacasandra planted off to the right.
I just had to grab this one on our way back. The sun was hitting it and the leaves were bright yellow. Also, this is a great stone house to look at.
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Wednesday, September 19th, 2007
The other day, I planted a few new Crabapple trees. I watered them and they looked great. Then it rained and they still looked great. I got home today and they looked a little droopy. Hmmm.
I know you are supposed to water new trees every few days. Time flies by these days, so I may have been derelict in my duties. When I planted the trees, it was like digging in dust. The dirt around here dries out very quickly. I don’t think there are nearly enough organics to hold any moisture. Some parts of the lawn are fine, with the soil being nice and black, but anything near any pine trees are very dry.
When I see any of the trees getting like this, I immediately water them. They usually perk right up. That’s what I expect to happen here. This whole thing got me thinking…what am I missing here? If the trees had a constant flow of moisture, they would get more of the nutrients they need to grow, along with the water they need. I always notice that a few days after it rains, I see new growth.
I just did a Google search on, “mulch helps trees grow faster” and found a few good sites that talks about the benefits of mulch. I liked these the best…
- The Right Tree in the Right Place
- Edinburgh Tree Warden Network - Tree Planting
- How to Plant a Tree
All three of these websites do a great job of explaining why it is so important to place mulch around a newly planted tree. I especially like this line…“A tree growing in grass will be only a third as high as one mulched or away from grass after three or four years!”
Some of my trees are taking off nicely while some are kind of just sitting there. One Maple has about doubled in size, just this Summer, yet the other Maples seemingly haven’t grown at all.
As I have learned, mulch is valuable because it keeps the water where it is supposed to be. It is far easier to get the water to the roots when there are two to four inches of mulch spread around the base of the tree (without touching the trunk). When I was just outside watering the trees, some of the water just rolled off the hard dirt.
Needless to say, I just left a message for our local mulch dude. Hopefully, Saturday I will be receiving ten more yards of the fluffy gold.
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Posted in Autumn, Environment, Gardening, Landscaping, Spring, Summer, Trees & Shrubs | 2 Comments »
Saturday, September 15th, 2007
What a weird feeling I had all day. The temperature feels like it’s around 60 degrees and it’s quite breezy. It feels like the seasons are changing. I am sure there will be some more annoyingly hot days, but I think it’s here.
It’s nice, but it’s not. It’s nice because something new is around the corner. As everyone always says, “I get to wear all my really cool sweaters again.” The only problem with me saying that is the only cool sweaters I have are the same cool sweaters I had last year…and the year before. Still, I get to wear them. It’s not nice because I am going to have to wait until the Spring until I get to see all my trees grow again. Sounds strange, I know.
I say that I don’t ask for much, but I actually ask for quite a bit.
I was driving to work the other morning when I just happened to look to the right. I was on Interstate 84, heading East towards Newburgh. When I looked, I noticed the most beautiful piece of land. There was a field and a lake, with the mountains in the background. That’s when I told myself that I don’t ask for much. All I wanted to do was walk around that field with a nice hot cup of coffee. That’s really all I wanted to do. Then I started thinking about how maybe that’s all anyone really wants to do. When people go on vacation, they sit on the beach or go to the mountains. They like to take it easy and enjoy the beauty. Well, that’s what I want for my whole life. It’s probably unrealistic to think that I will be happy taking it easy, when my personality type is ambitious. Oh well, we shall see.
So, I was thinking, even since Laurie wrote the comment wanting to see some photos of the Autumn up here in New York, perhaps I would just walk around and take random shots of whatever. I mean, sometimes those are the best types of pictures to look at. What’s nice about the end of summer is just what my Uncle Bob said; the way the sunlight hits you just a little bit differently than before. It’s quite noticeable.
Here we go…
This is the front yard. Not much of a leaf color change there yet.
Just a weird shot of the driveway, my car and the road in front of the house.
This is the side of the house. I am not sure that my rock walls get enough attention. So many times, when I walk up and down that beautiful stairway, I tell myself, “Self, you really had no idea what you were doing, but it still came out A OK.” I mean really, when does anyone really ever teach you how to build a rock wall and a stair case made out of 6×6s?
I took this picture when I was driving through Walden, NY the other morning on my way to work. As you may have been able to notice, it was spur of the moment. Please don’t try to change me.
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Posted in Autumn, Spring, Summer, Trees & Shrubs | 2 Comments »
Saturday, September 8th, 2007
I used to think that everything died off towards the end of the Summer, and it still may, but I am rather impressed by what I am seeing right now.
First of all, I can’t even believe the end of summer is here. I really need to find some way to make my life pass more slowly. When I was a kid, summer used to take years to pass by. This year, I remember sitting here writing a post about when the trees bloom in the Northeast. That’s pretty wierd, considering it feels like that just happened a few weeks ago. Perhaps I need a nice lazy farm-like piece of property to slow things down. I will have to put that on my list.
So I wanted to show you the gift that keeps on giving. I picked up a bunch of rose bushes this year for $1 a piece. Well, last year I did the same thing, the only thing is, I only bought two bushes. Well, they just keep impressing me. The reason they impress me so much is because once the rose bush blooms, it keeps blooming all season long. It seems like every time it rains or I water it, new growth spurts up. Here, take a look…
This is going on my list of favorite flowers. Also, back in the Spring, I butchered the butterfly bush pretty good. It was just sitting there like a bunch of sticks coming out of the ground. Laura didn’t like that because she wants the thing to grow ten feet tall. I would have to say it came back rather nicely this season.
We have two other flowers that we can’t quite identify. I think one of them might be a Black Eyed Susan of some sort, if there are different sorts, that is. The other one, I have no idea. All I know is that it is starting to bloom in early September. Suggestions are welcome.
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Posted in Gardening, Spring, Summer | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, September 4th, 2007
On Sunday, Laura and I decided to hop in the car for a drive. We crossed over the ridge and jumped on Rt.209 heading North. We drove through a few back roads in the Stone Ridge, NY area, which was nice. I told Laura that I wanted to visit High Falls, NY, because we had driven through there before and I liked the area. It is tucked in the ridge, near some pretty historic things like the Depuy Canal House and the Old Stone Aqueduct.
Since I am a walking blog, I decided to take some photos…
This is one of those old signs that I love so much. Obviously, I like to take pictures of these things. This one desribes the “Old Depuy House.”
This is the Old Depuy House itself.
After walking around a little bit, we passed another old sign, the “Old Stone Aqueduct” one.
And this is the Old Stone Aqueduct, or part of it anyway. I am pretty organized aren’t I? I am not sure of the story behind this water system and the web didn’t offer too much. Perhaps someone can enlighten me.
We decided to eat because we were hungry. Laura knew of a Sushi place in the Depuy House because she had seen signs while passing by.
Here is the entrance to the restaurant. It was downstairs in the old wine cellar.
I secretly took some pictures from our table. This is what I love about the area…hidden little treasures like this as well as all the history. It’s not as historic as Europe, but I think it will do.
After we ate and left the restaurant, we walked around a bit. There was some sort of a yard sale going on with a bunch of tables. We strolled through. I kept thinking of my parents. They would’ve enjoyed it because they love browsing through these types of things. I also grabbed a few more pictures.
On the way out, we decided to take a road that is less traveled. We drove from High Falls to the entrance of the Mohonk Mountain House and then down to New Paltz. Above is a photo of the Catskill Mountains that I grabbed while driving up the hill.
I would say it was a pretty good day. Anything to get us out exploring the area when the sun is shining is a good day.
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Posted in Hiking, Summer, Travels | 4 Comments »
Monday, August 20th, 2007
We went to the International Celtic Festival at Hunter Mountain yesterday. It was a good day and reminded my very much of the Oktoberfest at Hunter Mountain. They had kind of the same setup and the skyride was open, so we could ride up the mountain.
We took Rt.28 into the Catskill Park into Phoenicia. Then, we took Rt.214 to Rt.23a and made a left into Hunter.
It was pretty cool. We got to see the new building they made a few years ago. That’s where we paid our $12 admission fee (each) and the $8 skyride fee (each). Right after we got in, we grabbed two Guinness. That beer isn’t too fancy, since we drink it all the time, but it was the darkest one they had. Then, we (or I) ate my traditional funnel cake and Laura had her traditional Sauerkraut. The Sauerkraut was really good.
There was a long list of entertainment at the festival. Here it is -
- Black 47
- Eileen Ivers and Immigrant Soul
- Glengarry Bhoys
- Andy Cooney
- The Barley Boys
- Liz McNicholl
- Seamus Kennedy
- Schenectady Pipe Band
- Donny Golden Irish Dancers
- Broesler Irish Dancers
- Ceili Country
- Tim Quinn
- MC - Frankie Curran
After we ate, we went up the skyride. This is the real reason I went there. For the Oktoberfest, I went for the beer, for this one, I went for the skyride.
If you go to Hunter, you gotta go up the mountian. Believe it or not, the guys were still there carving the Rip Van Winkle thingy in the rock. I was wondering why it was taking so long, but I just learned on the web page that they only carve on festival days. This is so the public can see the progress. It’s pretty cool.
At the top of the mountain, Laura and I found the absolute best place to hang out and chill. There were a few benches in a partially shady section of grass. It was very relaxing…so relaxing that I spread myself out on the ground. Those pictures are a little weird, but I did take one of the grass while I was down there.
The weather was good yesterday. It was actually kind of chilly on the way down the mountain. The wind was going up the mountain, so it was a bit breezy, but that didn’t inhibit the view at all.
When we got to the bottom, we stood and watched the Irish pole toss, or whatever it was called. It is a good time to see people try to throw different sized wooden posts. Some make it, some don’t. After we watched for a while, we decided to leave.
On the way home, we always pass this little area near a lake. It is part of the Devil’s Tombstone Public Campground. If you decide to stop there to look at the lake, be careful. The guy is poking around to ticket whoever doesn’t pay. I almost got one, but I smiled my way out of it.
Here are some nice pictures for you…
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Posted in Entertainment, Summer | No Comments »
Monday, August 13th, 2007
I am getting a little sick and tired of traveling through little towns that are desperate for income. You see the strangest people walking the sidewalks along with a whole row of stores on main street that are ready to close down. It’s almost like no one in the area has a good idea. Who the heck knows.
So, with that in mind, I have been on a little hunt. Where are Laura and I going to spend the next chunk of life? I think we have narrowed it down to either Woodstock, NY or Red Hook, NY. Both of those town are beautiful. We have been to Woodstock quite a bit lately and found it very relaxing. It is off the beaten path a bit though. I have been thinking of something a little closer to the middle…you know, near Massachusetts, Kingston and the Catskills. Two towns close to the middle are Red Hook and Rhinebeck, NY.
Here is what I like about these two towns -
1. Nice proximity to the Berkshires, Kingston, the Catskills and Albany
2. Close to the Hudson River
3.Close to Bard College
4. Nice history of both towns
5. Nice culture
6. Clean people
So, after thinking all these things, we decided to jump in the car yesterday to go for a ride. We drove up Rt.209 and crossed the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge. Our first order of business was to visit this campground that my family camped at when we were kids. It is called Interlake RV Park. After traveling through the woods for a while and getting kind of lost, I asked for directions, twice. We passed the coolest place. It is called Omega Institute. Check it out. It was nice to see something buried way back in the woods that was thriving. The parking lot was full. We kept on driving and finally found the campground. I talked to the lady in the office and she let us look around. The reason I remember this campground is because when we went on a boat ride in their lake, a snake slithered out from under the seat. We had just gotten out of the boat, so we were lucky.
I have to say, this campground was thriving too. It was a pretty nice place, very well kept and clean. The only thing that bugged me is that the individual camp sites were kind of close together. Also, there seemed to be a lot of permanent RVs. Otherwise, it was nice.
After that, we headed down Rt.19 and some other roads into Rhinebeck. I visited Rhinebeck a while ago, but really didn’t get a good look at it. We came in from the West, so I got a better look at it this time. I had no idea how nice it really is. I didn’t get any really nice pictures, but I did get a few.
The picture above is the sign of the Beekman Arms Inn. This was a really nice place. Who knows…maybe one day we will stay there. Ok, put this town on the “move to” list.
We drove North on Rt.9G out of town towards Red Hook. We drove through Red Hook and found that very nice as well. That went on the “move to” list too. It is a small town and a little more quiet, so I like it. It is also closer to the bridge and Bard College. That is good. Since it is less crowded, I think there might be more potential for that town. I can mold it into what I want.
The last thing I wanted to see was Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson. I was telling Laura that I find it amazing that I have lived in this area for such a long time and have never seen this school. I have heard that it is nice and I wanted to see for myself. Soooo, yeah, Bard College is really nice. There were little tours going on for the new students. Either that or students looking at colleges. I guess this is the time of year they do this stuff. The people looked very nice, even a little hippy-ish. I like that too. We drove through campus to see the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. They have all sorts of shows there, which I will be bringing Laura to in a few months.
The end of the day was coming and we had some shopping to do on the other side of the river, so we headed out. During our drive back across the bridge, I handed the camera to Laura to see if she could get any good shots of the Catskill Mountians. That is a real perk…that view. Some of them were blurry because we were moving, but one came out the best. There was also the coolest little airport right off the highway on the Kingston side of the bridge. It’s called the Kingston-Ulster Airport and is for small aircraft.
We did our shopping and headed home to look on realtor.com. I will keep you informed. It may take a few years.
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Posted in Summer, Travels | 1 Comment »
