Ahhh Summer

Let's see...what have I been doing. School for me got out the end of May. It is now July 11th and I haven't left for New York yet.
I have been working outside around the pool, patio, and garden for six or more hours a day since school got out. It's starting to look nice. The pool is filled again and the kids are using it. I have ignored my plants and yard for so long now. I lost all interest in most everything for the last couple of years. If feels good to get something in shape. Now that I finally got water that will reach where I garden I am out watering and planting like crazy. Good thing too because it is really hot.

My car is being fixed. Three people hit it in it's first year. Hope that's the charm. I am going to drive it to New York. It should be out of the shop in the next couple of days, then I hit the road. I have to carry a carrying cage for my bunnies. I am bringing back four Satin Angora bunnies. I have told a woman I will pick up her spinning wheel in Philadelphia. I am driving a Miata. Hope the weather is good because I may just need to keep the top down from Philadelphia to New York once I get the spinning wheel.
Needless to say I am traveling light. That's not something easily done for me. At least I have a spinning wheel, circular sock knitter, and sewing machine at camp already. I have to remember to take a couple of the bobbins and some fiber, and some basics for the sock knitter. Of course I need to take a couple of knitting projects too. Clothes you say? I don't remember what I left, but I do have some there. One bag with enough clothes and toiletries to get across the country and that's that.

The kids are not going to camp this year-Summer School, though they weren't offering the classes my daughter needs to take. Paul is already in New York, about an hour away from Innisfree/Cool-Shag-Na. He got a job in North Creek as Chief Mechanical Officer of a new railroad. Start-up is next week if they can get everything done. Jobs appropriate for him just aren't available in California. He's finally got a job that he deserves and can shine. Unfortunately it's on the other side of the country. Well, he or we can visit.

Before I go I still need to get two cars registered and one more fixed. It needs some suspension work and the muffler separated on Saturday. It sounds like an airplane. It's checked out and arrangements are made except for the welding of the muffler. Still need to get to the dentist and make appointments for kids to get their whooping cough shots so they can go back to school in August.
I am essentially a single parent again and hitting the road for three weeks. At least there is another mom available. Jessica, a friend of Claire's who has been living with us since before Christmas will have her mom staying with the kids while I am gone. Justin and Audra will be checking in and hopefully swimming and taking some veggies from my garden. I think all will be alright. I hope so because I really need to get away from it all for a while. I just don't know who I am anymore and need to be away from my regular life to get a grip on where I am going. The Adirondack Park is a good place for reflection on the natural world. Or should I say real world?

Ta Ta For Now...

Spring Break is not too soon...

Here it is Spring already. I went back to work in December. Work is something to do, though stressful. Life is a whirlwind. It's all too much. Grief ebbs and flows through the days. I miss my baby. I feel lucky that I got to spend her life with her, but I still want more. Justin, Alex and Claire are wonderful children so I have a reason to still be here. It's joyful to see them progress and experience their lives. I am as lucky to be able to spend time with them. I'll just never fill the hole in my heart.

So I am planning to have a little fun for Spring Break. I've got lots to do too. The kids are playing musical bedrooms. Time to clean, paint and move furniture. Justin and Audra are fixing up the Carriage House to stay in. I want to finish painting our Spinning Headquarters and have a meet up next Sunday. I need to go to Laguna to throw a red glass heart into the sea. I'll be driving my new car with the top down if the weather permits. I hope to visit my brother and sister-in-law in San Diego too. Maybe I'll even do a little work in the yard. I am just so glad to have some time off again.

Been in the Woods for a Week

We are still settling in. Lots of things to do. The boys have jobs now. This is their 3rd day. They are working at a Riding Stable. This is supposed to be a busy weekend. It's rained every day they have worked so far. They get there at 8 am and have been coming home about 12ish. The people running the place are going to give them riding lessons and show them the ins and outs of being a guide when they take tourists out on the trail. I would have loved that as a first job. They are doing some shoveling too. After all they are the new guys and there is tons of "fertilizer" in a horse barn...

Went yard sale-ing yesterday. Came home with a bicycle and a boat. The boys negotiated a deal on an 8 foot dinghy which we had to carry back to camp in the Expedition. Needless to say there was very little room for the kids on the way back. Alex and Mike squeezed themselves around the boat to get home. Alex literally was draped across the bottom of the boat (it was upside down). Fun stuff. I posted a picture on my Facebook page.

Happy 4th of July everybody. Hope your adventures are as good as the ones we're having at the moment.
Love Ya!!!

We've Driven Off the Map!

We drove into camp early this morning after driving most of the night and taking a nap at a service area about 20 minutes from Utica. We didn't want to get to the grocery store too early and get hassled by security waiting for it to open. Besides, I was really tired. Nobody was at their best when we did get to the grocery store before 6 am and found that it was open 24 hours a day. Anyway, we stocked up and headed to camp a bit more than an hour from there. It rained on the way, but not hard. It is such a heady experience driving closer and closer, the smell of the balsam and pines perfuming the way. My eyes dilate to soak in the green. I LOVE trees! We don't have enough of them in Southern California. They aren't lush like these either.
I guess we are now officially off the map until we come into town to get on the internet. Through Otter Lake and after Old Forge our GPS signal failed. Our cell phones don't work here either. So I guess, we are officially off the map for the summer. You may see me sporadically here. If you don't, Have a Great Summer!!!

Our Expedition Begins..

Off we go!

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We got as far as Flagstaff tonight. Had dinner at In-N-Out in Arizona. Snacks in the hotel. Looks like the Rock Slide State Park is towards Sedona. Planning on doing that tomorrow... good night.

Prepping to Leave for Camp!

It's getting close. The car is getting it's last touches/repairs for the trip. I am procrastinating getting my laundry done. I guess we'll all be trying to get everything done at once. Today is the planned day for getting the car carrier and Swing-Away out and ready. The kids are starting to get excited. I guess my oldest daughter will get to join us this trip too. It'll be good to spend some time with her. Lots of catch up work around the house to try to get to. Some more driving practice on the freeway in the Expedition with loaded weight for my son. We have a birthday party for my youngest daughter to get through Friday, Father's Day and Summer Birthday dinner Sunday, orthodontist appointment on Monday then ON THE ROAD!
I wish everyone was going but Paul needs to work and Justin has other things going on. Besides someone needs to look after the house. Hopefully they'll come out before we leave. Paul will probably fly in to drive us home. It's usually quite a haul on the way home. It's strange to be starting out without them.
I finished knitting a bag for the trip. I just have to felt it now. I need to get what I want to work on this summer organized. I would so like to work on some glass flame working but that is just too much equipment to have to take along. I don't know what Jewelry making stuff would be appropriate either.
Time to start packing...

Summer is Coming, but Not Fast Enough

It's got to be in the high 80s today already. It's lovely, but too hot to work in the yard. It makes me want to hit the road for New York. It's routinely still hitting the 30s at night there though. I guess I'll have to wait a little longer. And I do have a job and all.
One more week until standardized testing at my school. One week of testing, then 4 more weeks to keep the lid on until summer. I've got such an 'interesting' class this year. I am not looking forward to any of it.

What a Wonderful Reunion!

I am in heaven. I had such a terrific visit with my cousin and his daughter. It has been years since we've seen each other. Our daughters were toddlers the last time.
His brother hosted a couple of delicious dinners at his house and we ran around like crazy for the time we had. It may take all week for the adults to catch up on their sleep. The kids seem just fine if a little sad it's over.
We went to Victoria Gardens for shopping, The Hip Kitty in Claremont to watch Mark play guitar and sing,. Laguna Beach for fun in the sun and more shopping, then back to Mark's for lobster and pasta. Yummm.
It went so fast though. I hope we get to do it again soon.

"Vacation" Wrap-Up

UuuuHuhhhhhhhh..... That's the sound of the deep breath I just took thinking of getting ready to go back to work tomorrow. I still have one more painting session before I am done with the bathroom and need to move a vanity up there, hang the shower curtain, mirrors, towel bars, hooks, and toilet paper hook. Not to mention clean it all and getting the toiletries to their usable places. I should do it now, but I need to sit for a couple minutes after getting back from shopping for most of mentioned items to hang.
I'm going to have to get my husband to reattach the cabinets he took down so I could see what was behind them. I think we may have to add a washer and dryer up there. There are all the hook-ups behind the cabinets along with at least another foot of space. When I saw the extra space behind the cabinets, I though Yippee, maybe we have room for a closet. It's not quite enough for that. We could however, repurpose a couple of the cabinets and replace them with a washer and dryer. I'd love to have a steaming washer/dryer for delicates and all. I am afraid, it might end up a problem with laundry being left in the bathroom. I'll have to think about it a while.
This "vacation" was too short. The holidays were great, but I just started on some of the things I need to get done. I didn't even start on my bedroom. I prepared to start work on the downstairs bathroom, but never finished the upstairs. I just hope my son is bored enough the rest of the week to work on scraping the texture off the walls. That way maybe I could get started with the painting next weekend. My son doesn't have to go back to school til next Monday. I am so jealous. What I could do with that time.
I did go to lunch with my friend today. It put a nice touch on my last free day for a while.

Wow, It's been a long time since I last posted...

Here it is almost the end of my summer already. We've finished a lot of what we needed to do in the kitchen at Innisfree. The dry-wall is finished and painted and the floor is almost completely finished. Only one or two more coats of polyurethane to go. Here's our progress.


We found a pretty great mountain-man builder/plumber/finisher/manager/hunter/farmer/you get it, he does everything. Looks like a number of projects we can't finish will be done this fall. Yippee!!!
I finished 3 pairs of socks, two on the needles (two more started before June 21 so they don't count for Summer of Socks '08.) Then my friend Leigh Ann came up and got me started on string bags... Two down, one started.
I spent my birthday visiting my aunts in Malone and Plattsburgh with my family and cousins. It was a pretty nice day.

Appointments, appointments, appointments...

Trying to get caught up on all the appointments I've put off during the school year. It is definitely challenging.
I did make some progress on my Aqua Grannies.
Dyed my Maple Leaf socks. Eh, not that great. The green was too glowing and the spots of color I added to the ' leaves ' bled, so I tried to tone it down. The brown made them splotchy so I had to over-dye with a little more brown. Now they are dull. Oh well, it's all an adventure.

Quiet Weekend

Didn't accomplish much other than finishing my Maple Leaf socks. The weather is pleasant out. It was nice to just rest up.

Back to School

It's been a lovely couple of weeks. The holidays were great. I took my son to Oregon to see his friend. I painted the dining room. I would have liked to have accomplished more, but it was a good couple of weeks.It's really GREEN, but I like it. It's alive!

On the Road Again

Parting memories as we leave the Adirondacks. I can't describe the sadness I feel every time we leave camp. It is such an alive place. Very different from Southern California.Innisfree from the dock

Early in the morning on our last day.
The beach on Seventh Lake.

Once again we are driving across the country. This time from New York to California. We actually left yesterday. Not making great time, but we did stop at another yarn shop.
We caught a mouse in the Havaheart trap. To assure it did not return we took it in the motorboat to the other side of the lake and let it go there.


This is the yarn store I stopped at in Springfield, Ohio. Here is the machinery at work at YarnSmiths. I bought some boucle yarn of cashmere, silk, and nylon called Truffles. Here it is being spun. I wanted enough for a sweater, but not mixed colorways so they spum up some on the spot and I got to watch! It is undyed so I can make it any color I want. They do have some lovely colorways.
I don't know what I was thinking. I didn't get a picture of Ann or the front showroom. There are other popular yarns besides their own. They have a HUGE table for knitting night on Wednesdays. I understand there are sometime 50 ot more people at a time. The table must hold about 30. We had such a lovely visit.

Yeah, I disappeared a while...

Wouldn't you if you had these great kids to hang out with? It's so good to have us all together in such a magical place.

I haven't blogged in a while. The whole family has been at camp. We've been having fun together! Justin is out of the Army!!! We took a flight over the Fulton Chain of Lakes to celebrate. This is the pontoon plane we rode in.
Meet Tom Payne who flies out of Seventh Lake. He's a great guide! He even took us over and showed us an Osprey nest far from the populated areas.
This is Raquette Lake from the air.

Mr Bill has been very busy too, though I don't know how much fun he is having.

Visit to Sagamore and more boating safety.

Today we drove over to take a tour of the Great Adirondack camp Sagamore. It is really impressive. It's being maintained for access by the public. It boasts a tennis court and a bowling alley. Not bad for camp over 100 years old. There are oer 27 buildings on the property, though the State of New York owns most of the original property around the camp. I took a lot of pictures.

Shopping in Utica

My daughter's birthday is tomorrow so we are going to Utica to do a little shopping. My son loves the Price Chopper pepperoni so we have to stop there too. Maybe a side trip to Lowville to Miller's the Mennonite meat market. They have the best meats and seasonings and all the old fashioned candies and cooking ingredients you could want.
Lots of progress on the Crow's Nest bathroom. Pics soon.We came across about 70 Canadian geese in New Hartford near Utica.


Here is some of the scenery on the way.
A nice sunset at camp from our dock.

June 24 = at Innisfree and Cool-Shag-Na

We spent the day settling in and visiting with my cousins. I decided to add one more New York row to the afghan.
Innisfree is beautiful. I didn't think I liked the new siding from the pictures, but it is just terrific.

June 23 = Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania & New York

We arrived! More in a little while.
It was crazy getting to camp along this stretch. We had a 3 hour drive through Chicago, then a 4 1/2 hour stop on the Interstate 90 because of an 18 wheeler taking out a stretch of road. Then we attempted to drive through to New York. We stopped for a couple of hours at a service area for a nap, then onward we went. We traveled a lot at night and I did a fair amount of driving so I didn't stop in Ohio or Pennsylvania for yarn. I stopped in Ohio last year, does that count. I did pick out yarns that matched the colors of Ohio and Pennsylvania as I drove through and I did crochet a row for each state.
Here's the afghan in Chicago.
Here we are at the traffic stop in Indiana.

Here we are at a rest stop on the New York Thruway.