Boalsburg Memorial Day Run

Almost a mile into the race. It's HOT!

Same place but coming back after 3 miles and 2 brutal hills. I am not happy that there is no shade.

Totally crazed at the finish line but happy I came in a minute and 7 seconds under my goal. See results here!!

Our Own Nyan Cat

See the original Nyan Cat here!

Backyard Bunny

One Last Peek

The nest is tilted, their fate uncertain but they are growing ever closer to fledging.

Come the Rapture

The rapture came and went on Saturday and I have to say that I didn't much notice. I was having too much fun in NYC with my family. We weren't sure until the last moment that Arron was performing for certain since he had injured his foot the day before. It turned out well and his performance as Lead Gypsy was stellar.

Amy was able to join us for the whole afternoon. We had a great time joking around 6pm about post rapture looting. Jim was excited to take away the lenticular print of Dean & Jerry at Harry's Burritos. It was about then that the skies got dark and... it started to rain. The bummer of a cabby would drive us all down to Lincoln Center so Amy and I hooofed it as the skies really let loose. I loved making a silly forever memory of our chilling trek for those few blocks.

I guess it was just at that moment the fellow who had footed the bill for all of the billboards and signs advertising the coming of the rapture, Robert Fitzpatrick, was farther downtown in Times Square. When the rapture didn't come, surrounded by jeering tourists in a drizzling rain, was heard to say, "I can't tell you what I feel right now," he said. "Obviously, I haven't understood it correctly because we're still here."

It was a day on which I didn't know what to expect from one moment to the next but can share that everything turned out heavenly.

Things are Growing!

Finger Lakes

A weekend trip to Cayuga and Seneca Lakes. We stopped a few places, found a letterbox from 2001 and took a lot of nice photos.

Cute coffee house near Corning, NY.

A water fountain near Buttermilk Falls in Ithaca, NY.

Buttermilk Falls.

The eastern side of Seneca Lake wine trail. The ever popular Hazlitt Winery!

View of Seneca Lake from a cemetery. There was a letterbox in the area.

Seneca Drums gin and tonic at Seneca Lodge!

Inside cabin #88 at Seneca Lodge.

Jim starting to walk up Watkins Glen Gorge after our supper at Seneca Lodge.

Posing in Watkins Glen Gorge. The next morning we also walked the Finger Lakes Trail for a couple of miles up Excelsior Glen Gorge.

Montour Falls, a letterbox was nearby.

New Hatch!

Blogger has been down for a few days but I took this photo of the robin chicks today!

Bird Visitors

While waiting to get photos of some White Crowned Sparrows this Catbird landed near me. I shot this "blind" from my chest because I could barely move.

It went down to the seeds for a while and chased any smaller birds away while it ate.

Upon the Catbird's depature the smaller birds filtered back in.

At one point there were 3 White Crowneds but I only got a photo of 2 at once.

These lovely birds never stay very long so I love the few weeks they are around. I notice the White Throated Sparrows seem to have moved on already and these won't be far behind.

A Chickadee joined in and a Titmouse was nearby too.

Mother's Day

This note on my jewelry box means the world to me. I wake up looking at it every day.

Beaver Stadium Run 2011

One to Grow On

This year is coming across as a year to build on. I think I have finally accepted my rejection from the ING NYC Marathon and look at it as a stepping stone to eventual guaranteed acceptance. If I am rejected for the next two years of lottery applications, I will have automatic acceptance into the 2014 NYC Marathon.

Maypole is up, Beltain celebrated and we decided to add in a row of asparagus to the garden this year. To plant the dozen crowns required Jim to dig a trench about 6 - 8" deep and about 12' long. I got some Triple Super Phosphate to sprinkle in the bottom of the trench and added in the lightly soaked crowns about a foot apart from each other. I covered them with an inch of soil and now I wait.

I wait for them to sprout up a bit and cover them withe the rest of the 6" of soil. I wait for them to fully grow and when they are withered and brown this Autumn I will cut them back. I wait for next year and harvest next to none of them, only the largest and cut them back again in the fall.

I am thinking that the asparagus of 2014 will end up bearing a good crop so it will fuel me up for the ING NYC Marathon later that year. Thank goodness not everything takes 3 years to come to fruition. I look forward to watching these over the next few weeks!

Rose & Indigo

Yesterday in Roaring Springs pond I saw a HUGE indigo hued trout. I sound worried in the video because I was once foolish enough to let a trout latch itself onto the middle finger of my right hand and it wouldn't let go. I was hand feeding trout fingerlings that day. I have had a trout fear ever since.

This morning at the closest feeder to the house were 2 Rose-breasted Grossbeaks.

The Rest of my Week

We had a nice trip to NYC and back with a wonderful Thai feast, a run in central park and hike to a waterfall in the mix.

We came home in time to go to the public radio volunteer appreciation party. After a couple of hours in which I left my electronic communication devises in the car, I saw I had a text message on the phone. Amy had passed her NY bar exams!! BEST new of the week!

The next day was filled with too much anticipation for the ING NYC Marathon lottery. It took hours to finally determine that I had NOT been chosen this year and made for a crashing depression for the next couple of days.

Today we have put up the Maypole and now have a whole growing season to look forward to.

Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary!

Today Mom & Dad have been married 50 years. We had a meal last night with a bunch of the family together in Harrisburg at Melting Pot.

What to Say When the Ducks Show Up

"Do you know what you'll say when the ducks show up? I, for one, am going to know what to say when the ducks show up. I've made a list of phrases, and although I don't know which one to use yet, they are all good enough in case they showed up tomorrow. Many people won't know what to say when the ducks show up, but I will. Maybe I'll say, 'Oh wonderful ducks!' Or maybe I'll just say, 'Ducks, ducks, ducks!' I practice these sayings every day, and even though the ducks haven't come yet, when they do, I'll know what to say." ~ Steve Martin

Spring Flowers

April 22 and it's hard to tell but it's snowing.

Fourty-four Years Ago

Check out some newly scanned twinkie archives on my Easter 1967 blog.

Thanks Mom for scanning in the thousands of slides!

Garlic Zoom

For the kitchen gadget fans, here's the awesome Garlic Zoom that I used in making the artichoke recipe a couple of days ago.

Warm Corn Salad & Chocolate Ginger Chip Cookies

I am still inspired to share my food creations and photos today. Lunch was to be left over Red Beans & Rice but I rounded out the meal by making a Warm Corn Salad.

Red Beans & Rice with Warm Corn Salad.

We had purchased an ear of fresh sweet corn and I just started emptying out the veggie drawer and grabbed a few south western flavors to got along. I started with heating a pot and pouring in some olive oil to saute a couple of minced pickled garlic cloves with some whole cumin seeds and a half of a green bell pepper. When that was smelling nicely, I added in the corn I had cut off the cob along with a coarsely chopped gala apple that was just starting to get to the point of soft and not an ideal hand fruit. I soon added a chipotle with a little adobo sauce. They come a few to a can and we usually only use one so, like I do with tomato paste, I wrap them in single use portions in plastic wrap and freeze them. It didn't take too long for the corn to start to cook a little and the apples just started to get softer when I cut off the heat and added about a dozen halved cherry tomatoes and 1/4C chopped cilantro.

I reheated the plates heaped with leftovers and the Warm Corn Salad for 30 seconds in the microwave just before serving. It turned out really well, very tasty!

Cookies with blooming hyacinths.

I would have thought that would be enough to hold me for the afternoon but anytime I have a lot of garlic, pickled or otherwise, I start to crave chocolate. I saw a link on my FaceBook page that showed a photo of vegan chocolate chip cookies and I could not get them out of my mind. They were haunting my subconscious and I told Amy about my craving. She enhanced it with her own desire for chocolate chip ice cream! I got images in my head of perfect little ice cream sandwhiches and them went on a mission to figure out what started my craving all together.

When I came back across the photo, I linked out to the article and to my surprise it was a QuarryGirl post dedicated to Natalie Portman so she would stop waffling as a vegan because she could find any cookies! The cookie post link to a Vegansaurus rant about her and how she is constantly announcing her vegan diet status changes. HA!!

The cookies were in my brain so I walked to Nature's Panties to get a cookie and maybe heat it in the microwave. They had many different single cookies; peanut butter, snickerdoodle, gingersnap, but no chocolate chip. I wandered around and a woman asked if she could help me find anything. I assured her I was just looking for a snack.

I saw something that gave me an idea and the woman who had asked to help me said I had made a good snack choice as I bagged up some bulk dark chocolate covered ginger. I told her I had decided to use them to make cookies instead of chocolate chips and her eyes widened and she affirmed that she thought that was a great idea.

I only got a small portion because I intended on only making a 1/2 batch. I also bought some eggs and walked home to dig out the old Toll House recipe. All I did was substitute the chocolate ginger pieces for the chips (and forgot the vanilla) and made a half batch. They are wonderful and I had 2 while they are warm. Now what to do with the rest...