The Years To Remember

 Some days, when the weather is fine, I start a little job in the garden, only to realize later that I spent the entire day out there. It makes me happy to tidy up the mess from winter, spread mulch, plant seeds, and divide perennials. Then I sit on the bench and try to get creative, but my garden rarely changes.  Week 2 of Line Dancing went well and it looks like my neighbor-friend Annette will join next week. Yeehaw!  Again, I barely managed to meet the biking challenge with a late second ride this month. I ignored biking on the many warm days thinking there would be many opportunities. The month flew by and I realized it had to be Thursday or a cold, wet ride on the weekend. Thursday it was for a 15 miler on the hills. Cat and Thomas loop hike was on the training agenda for Friday. Two peaks was not easy but still doable for us. The total hike was 7.7 miles, 1640 ft elevation, and took us 4 hrs and 45 min. The challenging part was climbing the second peak near the end of the hike w

 Sunday 4/23/23 Today brought hour after hour of rain, but it stopped for a couple of hours when I dashed out for a 4.5 mile walk just before dark. It was only me and the birds though. Great blue heron Mallard among the skunk cabbage. I think this was an eagle. Maybe an osprey. Several people are keeping chickens in the area. They came out to say hello before scurrying back to the coop. Pretty birds, but those spikes! Monday 4/24/23 Well the bathroom is officially finished! Dan came by today to finish the tile and sand the dining room ceiling. I have to paint it, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem. I know Ken said his guys would do it, and they should, but it's not worth pissing off a good contractor who gives me a good price for all the work he does. He is under the impression that I'm a financially strapped (thankfully I'm not!) retired teacher and I do not correct his misconception. Is that terrible of me? Ken said he'd bring over the final bill and have

 Training hike number two is in the books, but only Ann Marie and I went to Black Mountain overlooking Lake George. Elevation of 1300 ft mostly just the last mile as you approach the summit. We took 2 hours going 2.8 miles up, and 3.5 hours on the 5 miles coming down. A full day hike. We had another picture perfect day with slightly lower temperature and less humidity. We elected to do the longer loop trail up one side of Black, then down the other side past the 4 ponds for a total of almost 8 miles. I fell once on the flat trail after becoming ensnared in a branch that wouldn't let go. I've never heard Ann Marie laugh so hard! We were so tired at the end we just pulled off at a local bar for a burger and beer and watched the regulars speculate about us.  We are looking towards the north end of Lake George, just in front of the tower on top of Black. THis was where we had lunch with the best view! A nice little overlook facing south down the Lake George. Sitting on a log and re

Susan and Ann Marie admiring the view of Lake George and the Adirondacks. Buck Mountain on a beautiful Sunday morning seemed like a nice way to start training for the Mont Blanc week of hikes. We started out at 10:30 and noticed right away that it was warmer and more humid than expected. The temps were in the upper 70's and luckily there was a slight breeze.  When we got halfway up the Mtn, I asked what the elevation gain was and no one knew. This hike was harder than I anticipated. After 2 and a half hours, we made it to the top and I looked up the elevation gain - 2000 ft. We were very proud of ourselves as the hike kind of kicked our butts.  The summit was beautiful as always, and I got my first black fly bite of the season. It's a month early for those little buggers. After a leisurely lunch up top admiring the views and the dogs, we started back down where we were entertained by a group of high school boys who decided to run the trail. One was wearing Crocs! They did the h

 I'm not religious but this is a cultural/family time, so why not? Thursday night was an Easter Egg decorating session with dinner.  Patty hosts a Sunday Easter family dinner and they have a tradition of playing King Egg. So she hosted a few girlfriends for a dinner to decorate 70 eggs for the game.We were happy to get crafty to help and get tutored in the game of King Egg.  Our work. The artists. Right now I'm boiling some baby potatoes for tonight's dinner with my old work pals. Janice wants to pretend its summer so we're having burgers and I'm making French Potato Salad. I'm also making an effort to enjoy and savor the down times of my life, and not focus on events so much. Today I'm not going to rush through preparations for tonight, but rather savor my time at home in the garden, calling mom, just going about the days activities. It's all my life, not just time getting ready for the next thing. I notice that my eyes are suddenly extremely itchy, so

Monday 4/3/23 These tiny 'Peeping Tom' daffodils have been blooming and spreading for 25 years. This morning's weather forecast was hilarious and embodied spring in NY; 26 degrees and chance of a snow squall at 7 am  with a high today of 60 degrees and sunny. I had an annual checkup and am thankfully very healthy. Mostly had a nice chat with my PA. I spent the weekend painting and slowly moving back into my bedroom. I'm being very judicious in terms of putting things back. If it has gone through the laundry it means I wear it and it goes back in. The mounds of clothes that got deposited all over the house will have to pass the minimalism test. Did I wear it in the past 6 months or will I wear it in the next 6 months? If no, it goes directly to the donation box. Oh and cleaning the dust. So Much Dust! Tuesday 4/4/23 Another bike ride in the books. The weather looks iffy for the rest of this week, but I see 70's in the long range forecast - how exciting. I rode 20 mil