The Years To Remember

This week started out as a quiet but productive week at home. The lawn was mowed, beds were weeded and some more planting and dividing in the garden. My clothes are pretty much sorted out for the big trip and some spring cleaning inside the house has happened.  Then Susan proposed we actually follow through on our plan to take a biking holiday in Rhode Island to ride the East Bay Path from Providence RI to Bristol RI. The 3 of us decided on the Hilton Garden Inn on Sunday night after our big ride Sunday afternoon. Ann Marie drove to my house in the morning and we left by 9 am, arriving in Providence by noon. By 2 pm we geared up, had a snack I brought - strawberries, pineapple, cheese and crackers, corn chips, etc and got onto the trail by 1 pm.  The Pomham Rocks Light House The trail winds through neighborhoods, industrial sites, with glimpses of the shore here and there. After 2 hours and several stops for water and chatting, we reached Bristol at about 3 pm. There was a con...

 Even though the summer solstice is still a week away, it's finally feeling like summer. This week began with fun kick off concert night at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. First a picnic and happy birthday to Amyjean.    Thunderstorm Artis (Wow, What a voice!) Blues Traveler (Meh.) No photo, obviously.      Jewel (Always a joy to listen to her.) Train (I was astounded by the 2 hour show they put on. They played a nice mix of favorite hits, new songs, and a few covers) Drops of Jupiter and Soul Sister had us up and dancing. Now a few days of gardening, errand running, and details for the 2 weeks in Europe coming up. Dare I hope that it will actually happen?  A little post-walk White Claw - a whole can fits into these absurdly large wine glasses I got from Auntie's house. I should have placed a normal glass next to it for scale. An early morning bike ride set me up for lots of task finishing today. The kale fortress I designed from scraps is finally com...

 It's been almost a solid week of peace and quiet life. The house is getting put back in order, I've started organizing clothing for my upcoming 2 week trip, and I've been doing lots of walking. That is leading to progress on my Noom journey. The more I stay at home and focus on healthy habits, the faster the pounds drop off. Although the speed is glacially slow, it is happening.       A very aggressive snapping turtle at Vischer's Ferry Nature Preserve. She lunged at us several times.      Today's job was scraping the trim of the two french doors leading to the garden. It's a nice dry day for it and the paint peeled off in strips. I really have to get after these little maintenance jobs. Tomorrow I'l paint the trim and put the screens back on. Then I'm going to the Train, Jewel, & Blues Traveler concert in Saratoga.  I had my mammogram done yesterday with an all clear report - Yay. My Dr. can now stop hounding me to get it done. All righ...

 5/26/22 The sunrise kayak was successful as well as disappointing. I awoke at 4 am, reached the launch at 4:45 am, and enjoyed paddling on the river in the peace of the early morning with friends. The clouds were disappointing as they dimmed and obscured the sunrise. We'll just have to try again. We enjoyed a nice breakfast picnic in the park before heading home by 8 am.  5/26 - 5/31/22 The trip back to my mom's was successful.We largely cleared out Aunt P's house, everyone got along, and that made for a very happy mother. We all pitched in to have an impromptu back yard grilling picnic and we all had fun. It was lovely to see nieces and nephews and accomplish a daunting task. We took a few walks, went overtown to see the Glassfest fireworks, and enjoyed family time.  Corning NY at night Sister and niece Fireworks! I drove home Tuesday, but stopped to pick up my niece from the auto garage. Her car was acting up, so she stayed at my house for 2 nights while it was being f...