-- Post From My iPhone
Slip N' Slide
15 years ago
Friday, July 31, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Another much needed update...
It seems the summer is slipping away without our knowledge. Even though we haven't met that many people in NY, it seems that we have something going on every weekend, which leaves little time for home improvement projects, exploring and most importantly, blogging...
Over the past two months, we've done a lot... A random Saturday road trip had us take a wrong turn in a good way. We ended up in Manchester, Vermont. It's a beautiful little town with some great shopping and the home of Orvis. Orvis has a fly fishing school behind its store in town and Andy is thinking that he might go to the school next year. My dad has talked about potentially taking up the sport of fly fishing - it seems that year after year of getting up at 3 a.m. to hunt turkeys and coming home empty-handed is finally getting to him, so he's looking for a new hobby. I am excited that Andy may have found a new hobby to keep his interest and his boredom under check.
We made two trips to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. It's only about a 90 minute drive from our house and winds around some beautiful country roads. We went the first weekend by ourselves and had to dodge rain drops in order to get to the Hall without needing a towel... In case you haven't seen the weather reports in Upstate NY, the summer here has been quite wet... The second trip was when my brother, sister-in-law and nieces came to visit. For those of you that don't know, Corey is an avid baseball fan (as is Andy). He would go see the Phillies games with my Pap Haas from little on up... And, when he played, Pap Haas was his biggest fan on the sidelines, sitting in his lawn chair with his little schnauzer, Rocky, at his side, yelling "Put 'em in the book, Corey," in his best Dutchie accent. We enjoyed the day looking at the Twins and Phillies memorabilia and learning more about the basball "greats" like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Not only is Cooperstown a great little spot off the beaten path, but it is bordered by Otsego Lake, which is a gorgeous lake surrounded by mountains. Andy and I are thinking this might be a great place to park our future boat and build our future cabin.
We also made a trip to the Saratoga Springs State Park. We'd been there several times for walks on the trails outside of the actual park, but decided to finally pay the $6 vehicle fee and venture into the unknown. It was a good thing that we did. The park is beautiful chock-full of additional trails, spots to grill and streams. And, yes, there are actual naturally occurring geysers at the park...not the Old Faithful type of geyser, but still pretty impressive. The park signs encourage you to try all of the water springs piped through fountain-type fixtures. Most of the waters are naturally carbonated and have a sulfuric smell. However, I think we might start filling our jugs at some of the still water springs located throughout the town...maybe the believed medicinal powers of the water will keep us happy and healthy.My mom, dad and Nana visited and helped us with some projects around the house, which never seem to lessen. Dad and Andy finally figured out the electrical issues we were having, after burning out the ventilation motor in the furnace, catching a lamp on fire, wanting to punt the Wii because we thought it stopped working...and how could I forget...Dad's near-death experience with a screwdriver and a circuit breaker. With that said, all electrical sockets are now working properly and we can listen to music outside and I can even blow dry my hair in the bathroom. We were able to escape a potential termite infestation only to find out that we have carpenter ants. Andy put his hand through a basement window that was duct taped into place by the previous owners...that's right...no frame...just glass and duct tape. Oh the joys of home ownership. We have a lot of projects to do, but we're looking forward to most of them. Our most recent accomplishment was haning our new dining room light. All we have left to do in the dining room is to paint, then on to the entry way and the bathroom and mudroom remodel this winter.
Living next to the woods definitely has its benefits. We love sitting out on our deck at night and listening to the wind in the trees and the sounds of nature. However, with all good things usually comes a little pitch to the side... We now have a mole that Andy has affectionately named "Mickey." Gunner seems to know that Mickey has moved in and he sniffs around at the disaster he's making of our yard, but he hasn't seen him yet. I'm not sure that he'd know what to do with him if he did see him... In addition to Mickey, we've found out that a gray fox lives in the swamp area at the bottom of the hill behind our house. The neighbors used to have a pool down there with a wrap around deck and pool house. The pool is gone, but remnants of the deck and pool house are still present. The fox seems to have taken over this spot as his new home. We saw him for the first time a month or so ago when I let Gunner out to go to the bathroom. He just stood down in the high weeds and watched Gunner. We got the binoculars and watched him for quite some time before he retired into his rental... Then, last weekend, we had a little get together at our house with some people from work and our neighbors. Our neighbors came in and told us that the fox was standing in our tree line on the side of the house just watching... I'm not sure if he was upset that we didn't invite him to the party or if he was irritated that we were having it. Next time I see him, I'll find out.
This is our only "free" weekend for the rest of the summer and we have a birthday party to go to on Sunday. Next week, we're off to Minnesota to visit family and friends. It's hard to believe it's been almost a year since we left Minnesota... We're so looking forward to seeing everyone and enjoying some time away...
Work continues to go well for both of us. As I write this, I'm on a business trip...my first trip to GE's elite learning center. If you watch 30 Rock, Alec Baldwin's character refers to it as Croton-on-Hudson, which is the name of a little town nearby. Home tomorrow just in time for Andy to leave for an overnight trip to Buffalo. It's busy, but we're both enjoying what we're doing. Andy is starting school again in the fall. He's going to finish his bachelor's degree at Empire State College... It's a really great program and they will let him design his own degree, which is probably exactly what he needs, as he's not into traditional schooling techniques.
We hope all is well with you and to see or hear from you soon! Take care!
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