Tuesday, April 30, 2013

I'm a woman. I'm in Nature.

Went to the big event of Women in Nature over the weekend.  Long trip but it was good.  Made a new friend from Wilmington--she works at the Wild Center in Tupper Lake & her husband is at the Nature Conservancy in Keene Valley so she knows a lot of people that I know.  Which always makes you feel connected and part of the neighborhood.

We left Friday early afternoon, got to Skeneateles by 6 or so, checked into our cool little bungalows, then walked around the downtown area until dinner, which was at a nice, lakefront restaurant with good food but a noisy bar.  Long time since I've been in a noisy bar.  Anyway, off to bed, then up early for breakfast at a fantastic bakery there.  On with the day.  First classes for Julie and me were fly fishing--a double session.  I absolutely cannot learn how to cast a fly line.  All I know how to do is to throw the line out, as in regular old casting.  I fling the line, waving the rod madly.  "No, Elizabeth, you don't throw it, you let the rod do the work."  Well that never took.  Julie had better luck but I sure couldn't get the fly out a decent bit from shore.  Flail and fling is all I could muster. 

Lunch was lots of game--moose meatballs, pickled pickeral, smoked wild turkey, etc.  And plenty of venison.  It was tasty.  Long time spent with demonstrations after lunch, which I didn't participate in.  On to afternoon class, which for me was Nature Journaling.  I discovered I'm not very good at that, either, being unable to draw a simple pine cone.  But I can write, so that's what I did.

Trip home was uneventful & we got to Hawkeye around 10 p.m.  House was extremely quiet (and peaceful) with no dogs.  Did I miss them?  Not really, I enjoyed the solitude and lack of energy being expended around me.  I picked them up Sunday night.  They were fine, don't mind being boarded, though I think Treasure may have wondered if I were ever going to pick her up.  Tess is up for anything and had a great time.  They got rave reviews--sweet and friendly dogs, are invited back any time.  That was nice.

Sunday was a beautiful day, sunny and warm.  Sat on my deck and read, which I love to do, especially in the spring.  Lots of bird noises--I have purple (or house, I don't know which) finches, nuthatches, lots of juncoes, and some white-throated sparrows, which is a sure sign of changing seasons.  My daffodils are blooming and the soft maples are in bloom.  That just means I'll have sinus headaches for the next couple of weeks.  But then leaves will appear.

This week is pretty quiet--lots of weeding the fiction collection because the stacks are too full.  That's a very peaceful activity.

Otisco Lake--red in the wood means spring is coming

This is the park where we attempted to learn fly fishing. View across the lake--red trees and green grass. Not like Hawkeye.

Bungalow 6, our home away from home

This is where Julie & I stayed. It was a nice place, very comfortable and private. But then, it was off season. We only stayed there one night and spent most of the evening out and about.

006

006 by woodsrun
006, a photo by woodsrun on Flickr.

This is the view in back of our bungalow. Nice space. There was a robin protecting her nest in the tree on the right. Very noisy and fussed.

The back of the main street in Skaneateles

It reminded me of Lake Placid.

Really cook brick-walk pier

Really cook brick-walk pier by woodsrun
Really cook brick-walk pier, a photo by woodsrun on Flickr.

There's a great pier you can walk out on. Maybe we should do something like this on Silver Lake...

Skaneateles Lake

Skaneateles Lake by woodsrun
Skaneateles Lake, a photo by woodsrun on Flickr.

It's a pretty lake, very clear.

2 bulls eyes

2 bulls eyes by woodsrun
2 bulls eyes, a photo by woodsrun on Flickr.

Hatchet-throwing. Of questionable need to learn.

Kara throws a hatchet

Kara throws a hatchet by woodsrun
Kara throws a hatchet, a photo by woodsrun on Flickr.

Kara actually hit the target! She was a trend-setter, after she tried it there was a line of women waiting to do the toss. Not something I was interested in doing, especially with a crowd of people watching.

One-person shelter, inside

One-person shelter, inside by woodsrun
One-person shelter, inside, a photo by woodsrun on Flickr.

One of the morning classes was Building an Outdoor Shelter, and this is what they built. It doesn't look too complicated...

One person-shelter, outside (it took 20 women an hour to do this...

Here's what the outside looks like. Would be good for hiding out in Hawkeye.

Not one of the classes I took

I didn't do this one. They only found 1 frog, though. They were more successful than us fisherpeople were, at least.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Fog or mist?

You can always find what you're looking for on Wikipedia:

Fog is distinguished from mist only by its density, as expressed in the resulting decrease in visibility: Fog reduces visibility to less than 1 km (5/8 statute mile), whereas mist reduces visibility to no less than 1 km .[3]

Thursday, April 25, 2013

I like the ones with pinstripes. My mother likes the yellow ones.

Crocuses up close & personal

Crocuses up close & personal by woodsrun
Crocuses up close & personal, a photo by woodsrun on Flickr.

Sign of spring in Hawkeye

Woman in Nature

I'm about to become a Woman in Nature--this Saturday is the all-day (free) Women in Nature near Syracuse.  It's a day of workshops & demonstrations, sponsored by a sportsmen's club, for women.  How I got involved is a long story, but it was through a connection between my work and the Wild Center in Tupper Lake.  I'm going with a good friend from work--she & I have worked together for nearly 30 years and have traveled together, stayed together many times and always have fun.  So we'll leave tomorrow morning, stay in Skeneatles overnight, learn fly fishing in the morning, and in the afternoon she'll do canoeing (which she already knows how to do) and I'll do nature journaling (how hard can that be?  you see it, you write it down).  Then we'll come home Sat. night.  Although the day is free, it's costing a ton of money--I have to board the dogs, we're staying in a nice motel, there's gas, etc.  But it will be fun.  I am looking forward to it.

I'm boarding the dogs at a different kennel.  Am I nervous about it?  No, not really, it's just a hassle to take them over there and pick them up.  This place has worse hours than most kennels I've boarded at, so I can't pick them up until Sunday evening.  She wants them dropped off tonight because she has something going on tomorrow morning.  So do I have to pay for the extra day?  I bet I do.  Oh well.  It used to be so cheap to board, but now it's $19/dog (with a discount for 2) per day.  Boy that seems like a lot.  But then, it used to be $14 to see the vet and now it's $46.  And it's certainly true that I make more money than I did when I paid those prices.  Do I sound like an old fool?  I feel like one.

I've been trying to walk more, per doctor's instructions.  And I'm making the dogs stay in unless I'm with them.  Twice I found Tess on the hard top, a mile from home, and I found Treasure near a trap in the field across the road from home (the trap had a live fox in it, poor thing--it was awful to see but I didn't know how to safely free the fox).  So they got their wings clipped, and they're not very happy about it.  I try to walk them for 20 minutes or so in the morning, and again when I get home from work.  Didn't work that way this morning--it was cold and spitting snow and it was 6:30 and I sure didn't feel like walking, so we went to the end of the driveway and back.  Huh?  Tess was puzzled.  Treasure is always happy to go home, where there's food.

Had book group last weekend.  It was nice, always a good gathering of friends.  I made Greek quinoa salad, which actually was eaten up.  Our book was Louise Erdrich's The round house, and we all liked it.  This month's book (thanks to a recommendation from Barb Neel) is The art of fielding.  What's it about? they wanted to know.  Baseball, but more.  They weren't too enthusiastic but had heard of the book and were willing to give it a try.  Or maybe it was just that no one else had a book to suggest.  Anyway, it's a big book.  We're not meeting until the first Sunday in June, and then we're scheduled to meet at Linda's.  Yes, she'll be here by then.  I think.

Haven't been too productive lately, at home anyway.  I keep intending to cut brambles but then it's too cold or raining or snowing, or any excuse.  I'll get it done.  Yeah, that's right.  I did plant a lot of cosmos seeds, and they're doing well.  Have one flat of seedlings already and 2 flats of seeds that are germinating.  Let's hope I can keep them all alive until late May.

Today is my brother's birthday--hard to imagine that he would have been 64.  It's always hard to believe that he's gone, his memory is fresh still.  Well, Hank, happy birthday.  I think the ice will go out today in celebration.  And guess who has the winning ice-out date?  ME!  I've never won before.  I saw Jim & Pat yesterday--they're the official judges, and Jim thought the ice would be completely out today.  It's mostly gone but there's still some behind the island, which is always the last place the ice hides.

Long videoconference today, from 10-4.  Northern NY users group of our automated system, so it's relevant for sure and should be interesting.  Then tomorrow I'm NOT COMING TO WORK.  And I even get paid for that.

Tess' tail is never still, always wagging

Bog with dog.

The snow just WILL NOT leave

The snow just WILL NOT leave by woodsrun
The snow just WILL NOT leave, a photo by woodsrun on Flickr.

This has to be the last of it...

Bog at 6:30 a.m., 27 degrees

Bog at 6:30 a.m., 27 degrees by woodsrun
Bog at 6:30 a.m., 27 degrees, a photo by woodsrun on Flickr.

This was the other day, and it was spitting snow this morning. BUT THE ICE IS GOING OUT, if it's not out already.

Mist is good--it means the ground is warming up

I like this picture--it was a dramatic scene, veryk pretty. When I lived in southern New England we had mist & fog all the time and I got used to it. Now we rarely have it and it feels like a real treat. I wonder what the difference is between mist and fog...

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Closing in on the weekend

It was supposed to be WARM today, but it sure feels chilly outside.  Not as chilly as before, that's true, but it's no 60 degrees.  Let's see what tomorrow brings.  I'm still wearing corduroy pants because my other pants DON'T FIT ME.  This is very discouraging and demoralizing.  I'll have to figure something out eventually--I don't picture me wearing cords in July.  Though I've done far stranger things.

I took the dogs to the vet last night ($330).  They're up to date on everything and ready to be heartworm-prevented for the next 7 months.  Boy they'd better be all set.  Although Tess needs some dental work.  That will wait but I should certainly attend to it.  She needs her teeth scraped, for which she is knocked out, for which I pay a lot of money.

I had the snow tires taken off my car--when I called to make the appointment, Jason said "Are you sure you want to do that?"  Last year I had them removed in May.  Well, hell, it's April.  I was soooo happy to have good tires last week for the storm, and apparently I'm feeling confident that we won't have more weather like that soon. 

It's been a pretty uneventful week, not a lot going on.  No travels, no meetings.  Just a lot of ordering e-books and cataloging them.  I had a lovely luncheon with Bill & Fred, which was great fun.  And good food.

The dogs have been busy stripping the bones from that deer carcass they've been working on all winter.  Treasure brought home 2 knee joints this week.  She does good recovery work.  She was a star at the vet's last night, stood still and didn't fuss on the examination table.  Tess, on the other hand, fell off the table once and tried to jump off about 3 times.  She fussed so much she had to be put in a stranglehold so they could take a few drops of her precious blood to test for heartworm.  Honestly--how embarrassing.  I should have taken Tess in first so she wouldn't look so bad--following mellow Treasure's vet behavior is tough.

I saw a friend at the vet's, someone I haven't visited with for years.  She and her husband were very nice to me when Jamie left but after that we sort of drifted apart.  Her kids are now college-aged (!) and I remember when Forest was born.  Boy that makes me feel old.  I ran into another friend at the grocery store, and her children are the 20 and 25.  And I remember her before she was even married.  Yikes.  I sure have been here a long time (28 years) and have encountered many very nice people during those years.  I wondered when I first moved here how I would make friends, having come from a place where I had a lot of really good friends.  It sure worked out, and I have a lot of wonderful friends now.  I feel very lucky.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Nice weekend

Well, the weekend was nice EXCEPT for the weather.  I was in Lake Placid Friday, at a conference.  The driving was awful, not many plows out.  The conference was good, the trip home was worse than the morning drive.  They never did plow OHR, so I barely made it to the house.  Lucky thing I still have my winter tires on the car. 

Dump run, laundry, dishes, reading (Louise Erdrich, The round house--for book group), quet time.  I walked to camp on Sunday; when I left the house the sun was out, but it was sleeting hard by the time I got to the boat house.  Oh well, just meant I couldn't get a picture of the mountain.  Dogs had a great time but ran off to their private special place that I don't know about.  Rat pigs.  Treasure brought home a scapula on Saturday, a leg bone yesterday.  Aren't they finished with the autopsy of that poor dead deer?  There can't be many bones left.

Visit with Pat & Jim & Bill yesterday, all doing fairly well.  Pat is better, apparently the traction is working for her.  That's a relief--she's very tired of being housebound.  Me? I'm tired of looking at snow in my yard.  But the bare spots are expanding every day.

Sleety Sunday walk

Sleety Sunday walk by woodsrun
Sleety Sunday walk, a photo by woodsrun on Flickr.

The boat house in winter garb. Or maybe it should be "early spring" garb. Sleeting hard, which is why it's sorf of fuzzy.

Not much sign of ice-out. This is from the boat house

Can't see much because it's sleeting. There's just the tiniest bit of open water at the boat house.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

End of a good week

Just a few minutes before I leave for an evening presentation and reception.  ugh.  I had a good week, am looking forward to the all-day programs I'm attending tomorrow in Lake Placid.  Keep me out of those stores, though.

Dramatic morning at 58OHR: dogs took off, Treasure came back sans Tess.  This rarely happens, and I truly hate it when only one returns.  I drove around, walked around, called, honked the horn, did everything I could think of to no avail.  I was convinced she was under the ice and would wash up on shore in June.  I finally drove down the road, looking for a body (because, after all, how could she possibly stay away from me for 2 hours?).  Instead I found a construction crew entertaining and being entertained by Tess, about a mile from home.  What a rat pig.  She was having a great time and they thought she was wonderful.  They were making sure she didn't go in the road, and were very nice.

Other events of the week don't amount to much.  Weather was OK.  Doctor's appointment on Monday went well--all my numbers are good.  Yay good numbers.  I told him I was discouraged about my failure to lose weight.  He said what all good doctors say: get some exercise.  So I've been walking on the treadmill here at work, reading a book.  I can stand to do it but don't like giving up my running errands at lunch time.  Too bad--we all have to make choices.

Tonight and tomorrow the wether is supposed to turn ugly, with snow and sleet.  Just in time for my trip through the Notch.  Different predictions, but most agree we'll get 1-3" of snow.  On top of mud, my favorite combination.  There's still snow in my yard but the bare spots are growing daily.  Crocuses are just starting to come up.

Saw Pat & Jim this week--Pat doing a little better, the traction seems to be helping.  That's good.  I watched Beasts of the Southern Wild, and didn't care much for it.  Then I had a good conversation with a friend about it and she helped me see that it's really very good.  That's what happens at book group--I don't like the book but someone else does, and I'm easily convinced of the book's value and virtues.  Which is a nice way to interact with people, I think.

Had a quiet weekend last weekend, didn't do much.  Did plant RI pansies in pots, gave one to Pat & kept one.  Planted some cosmos seeds (indoors) and they're germinating nicely.  Now I just need to keep them alive unitl Memorial Day.  I've been having fires at night, trying to keep the heat off.  I sure am tired of starting fires.  And carrying firewood.  Oh, but it's such good exercise!  Yeah yeah.

Friday, April 05, 2013

Good trip

I really enjoyed my weekend in Rhode Island, and the driving was great.  No real traffic, clear roads, good book to listen to, really a nice trip.  I made good time both ways.

We had a happy time together--I got there Friday afternoon and we visited.  Liza has crocuses in bloom, daffodils and tulips coming up, and snowdrops blooming.  The grass is green, though not bright spring green yet.  Still...bare ground!

Saturday we went to the beach, to the fish market in Galilee (Champlins), got lobsters, clams and mussels, then walked on the beach a moment.  We saw eiders, which was pretty cool.  Very pretty and peaceful, hardly anyone there.  It was nice to be there without the dogs, but we didn't stay long.  Mark & I had walked the dogs in the park in the early morning.  One Easter we were walking the dogs in the park & rounded the corner to discover a crowd of people celebrating with a sunrise service.  Pretty embarrassing, since I'd just yelled to the dogs that they were assholes.  The dogs, not the people.

Then we went to the pansy place to get our flowers.  They didn't seem to have as many colors this year as they usually do, but we picked out some nice ones.  It's always so nice to see flowers blooming.  I picked out my pansies, which have been indoors since I got back.  Still too cold at night for the little darlings.

Sat out on the deck in warm sunshine in the afternoon, which has become an Easter tradition.

We had our lobsters, etc. for dinner that night.  Yum.  Lobsters from cold water are really delicious.  Tiny clams, delicious mussels.

Easter Sunday was great--our nice breakfast of fresh bagels with lox.  We like to celebrate.  Mark gave me a beautiful tiny oil painting of a RI water scene and I gave him a small basket.  We try to talk him out of giving Easter presents but he just won't listen.  We spent a quiet day, read the paper, visited, and went to the town beach.  Nice beach walk with very few people there.  Liza sat in her chair and admired the calm and beautiful ocean.  There were loons in winter plumage on the water.

I cooked lamb for Easter dinner.  I don't really care for lamb but take it to RI for Liza and Mark.  They eat a lot of chicken so I think this is a nice change.  But maybe they don't like it and are just being polite...  Anyway, the lamb was good, tender and tasted like lamb.

Back to work on Tuesday, uneventful and busy day.  Wednesday I spent in Keene Valley, which was great.  I'm cataloging the books in their archives, which is a huge project.  They have a lot of books.  It's fun and I enjoy being in that library.  The director is a good friend and we work well together.  Their archives are amazing--two rooms full of photographs (cataloged), books, files, etc.  Nice and bright, a good place to spend time.

Tuesday night there was something terribly wrong with Tess--she could barely move, and wouldn't walk much.  Whined when she tried.  Very scary.  I pumped her full of aspirin and hoped for the best.  Weds. she was better, and by yesterday she was almost back to normal.  Whew.  This was very upsetting for me, to have her ailing.  It reminded me that she's 11 and no longer a young dog.

What's up for the weekend?  Dump run, probably.  Plant pansies.  Laundry.  Visit with Pat & Jim.  Talk to Lin.  Relax.  I have a movie to watch (something of the Southern Wild, I forget the title) and books to read.  I'm listening to Kent Haruf's latest book (Benediction), which is excellent.  Good reader and good book.  I need to start our book group book--The round house, by Erdrich.  I have soooo many books to read!



015

015 by woodsrun
015, a photo by woodsrun on Flickr.

This years pansies will be yellow violas. I have a nice blue planter for them. This weekend I'll plant them, and plant some other yellow ones in a pot for Pat. It may be too soon to put them out, though.

007

007 by woodsrun
007, a photo by woodsrun on Flickr.

Nice looking boat.

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010 by woodsrun
010, a photo by woodsrun on Flickr.

Liza and Mark at the beach in Galilee, near Champlins of course. A nice sunny day. This is one of our favorite beaches--my sister really likes this one for swimming. Mark is scornful of it for anything other than walking dogs and collecting shells. One year there was a huge jellyfish hatch here--millions, literally millions of tiny jellyfish would bombard you if you went in the water. It was beyond gross. They turned to snot when they hit the beach. Jenica said it was like being hit by ice cubes. Only it was really disgusting and you couldn't stand it.

Liza and Tess at the beach

Liza and Tess at the beach by woodsrun
Liza and Tess at the beach, a photo by woodsrun on Flickr.

Liza sat in her chair while Mark & I walked the dogs up the beach. It was cool but not really cold, and we had a nice time.

Cute butts

Cute butts by woodsrun
Cute butts, a photo by woodsrun on Flickr.

Nice dogs.

042

042 by woodsrun
042, a photo by woodsrun on Flickr.

Happy dogs walking on the Easter beach

Happy Easter breakfast

Happy Easter breakfast by woodsrun
Happy Easter breakfast, a photo by woodsrun on Flickr.

Our usual holiday breakfast of lox & bagels. This time we wore costumes.

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022 by woodsrun
022, a photo by woodsrun on Flickr.

Liza and Mark hard at work.

What they do while we dye eggs

Treasure likes to cross her front legs, at the ankle, like a lady.

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030 by woodsrun
030, a photo by woodsrun on Flickr.

We did much better on the colors this year. It's amazing what you can learn when you read the instructions. Like, dye only taks to COLD eggs.

We have a lot of Easter toys

We have a lot of Easter toys by woodsrun
We have a lot of Easter toys, a photo by woodsrun on Flickr.

We collect windup toys. This is our Easter collection--it's quite impressive.

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052 by woodsrun
052, a photo by woodsrun on Flickr.

We have enough windup clucking, pooping chickens.

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049 by woodsrun
049, a photo by woodsrun on Flickr.

They were just exhausted by the end of the weekend. Easter will do that to you.

050

050 by woodsrun
050, a photo by woodsrun on Flickr.

Pretty flowers by Mark. He always does such nice work.