Full Moon Over Canandaigua Lake

When I dropped Abby's mother off at her house, I drove down West Lake Rd and saw the full moon. I just had to stop and get a picture.

Trying not to laugh...

It is an absolutely gorgeous day outside. After spending a fair amount of time on school work, I decided to venture outside for a walk with my dog. Soaking up some vitamin D! I saw a number of other walkers out and about. I saw a few people raking up twigs and debris from their yards...but what I saw next truly astounded me! I saw that someone had planted pansies in some pots that lined either side of their steps! I thought to myself, "Who in the world would be silly enough to plant those in upstate NY in March?!!!?" Then I remembered that the house had been recently for sale. Sure enough, the car in the driveway sported plates from Washington D.C. I hope they aren't too disappointed when their pretty little flowers freeze and die!

(photo by Audreyjm529 at Creative Commons Flickr)

Balmy at 20° F

After having temperatures in the single digits for several days in a row, it actually felt balmy today at a whopping 20°. That is...until I decided to take a winter walk with the dog. We lasted a half an hour. You know it's cold when your dog refuses to put all four feet down on the ground at once.
I took along my camera (still the old one...which takes excellent pictures outside) and snapped a few pictures just for fun. My new camera should arrive in a few days.
There are Christmas tree carcasses all over town. I counted 12 laying on the ground when I drove my son to school on Saturday morning for swim practice (and that was only after thinking of the idea to count them). I'm planning on taking ours down today too.Yesterday, I went to see my mother. I was amazed at how much more snow that she and both of my sisters have on the ground in their towns. Mom and my nephew Dave were surprised when I told them we could still see blades of grass through the snow in Canandaigua. I wish I had my camera with me yesterday to show you the difference.More snow fell overnight...which has essentially covered all the little blades of grass poking through here and there. Here is one of the sidewalks downtown. I can't work my camera very well with gloves on. My hand was so frozen after the above picture that I swore it would be absolutely the last one I took.
However, I couldn't resist taking a picture of this happy fella. He just thrives in the cold!

Our Town is White!

Windy and bitter cold lately.I took these pics on the way home from dropping off Alicia at school this morning. The white stuff arrived yesterday and today...and a little bit on Wednesday too.
Too early to shop...so these pedestrians probably are either on their way to work, or to the bank.
A street in my neighborhood.
Finally, my humble abode where a hot cup of coffee and my slippers await.

Not going to get away with it....

I thought I'd cheat and use a picture from last year, but I realize I'm not going to get away with it because there is white stuff in it. We have not had any snow other than a dusting so far this year. Other than the white stuff...the town's pavilion is decorated like this again. And other than no white stuff, it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. My own home is decorated as much as it is going to be this year and I have a little shopping done, but not much. I went out and about on Friday...but I was not feeling well, so I cut it short. I have a terrible cold. Audra was home with the flu for almost the entire week. This fall has been a terrible trial of illnesses so far.

Is it Thanksgiving yet?

Like this picture? Allen took it this summer. Thought I'd use it...because I like pictures on my posts and I have nothing in my pics that have anything to do with today's entry.

It was a beautiful day...and I did not go out and enjoy it. I cleaned a dentist office and then did some errands on the way home. I needed to buy carrots for the turkey soup I'm making with the leftovers from the turkey I roasted on Friday. Am I confused about the date? No...I realize that Thursday is Thanksgiving and that I will be eating turkey. I will be going to Martha's house. There will be many people there and I will not get any leftovers. Almost everything will be eaten up on Thursday and whatever is left...Martha will get. That is only fair since she roasted and hosted. I like leftover turkey...so I took it upon myself to roast a turkey of my own on Friday. I did not wait until next week to do it...because Jamie is going to France.
(Again...nothing to do with today's post. A picture of us on Mount Cardigan in New Hampshire)
So I made soup, mopped my kitchen floor, dozed off while reading, watched Arthur with my daughter, ran to the store to buy bread since I was too lazy to bake my own...and I am now sitting and waiting for my son and hubby to come home so we can eat! The smell is driving me crazy because I am hungry!

Obstacles and Bends in the Road of Life

I am really anxious now to get back to my grad work. I'm almost done...only two more courses and then my school internship. As many of you readers know (all 2 of you), I had to stop my studies because of my father's illness. None of us expected him to go so fast. I spent the day with Mom. I really miss Dad. I had a dream about him last night. I don't remember any of the details of my dream, just that he was in it. At Mom's, I just had to check to see if his coat was still hanging on the hook in the laundry room. It was. Along with his hat and sweater vest. Somehow that makes me feel good. I like seeing them there.

I just hope there are no more unexpected bends in the road for a while. There is good news! I can do my secondary level practicum with the same librarian that I was originally going to do it with. I wasn't sure if I could because she talked about retiring some day on her blog and that worried me a little.
Even though I am anxious about getting back to my studies, I am also strangely nervous about it.

More Sonnenberg

More fun pictures from Wednesday. This one reminds me of Mr Tumnus from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Here is a picture of Tracy and Denis. They are wonderful people and I feel privileged to have met them personally.
And last, Alicia in the perfect climbing tree.

Sonnenberg Gardens

It is our turn to meet Tracy and Denis. Yesterday we had a good time exploring Sonnenberg Gardens. We also went to lunch at the Rheinblick. (Don't forget to send a picture of that, Rachel) Tomorrow night we will have a barbecue at Rach's house.

Partway through the day, I went home to get Alicia off of the bus. She joined us for the rest of the visit to Sonnenberg. When she and I visited the Japanese garden, she amused us by placing her juice bottle in Buddha's hands. I guess he looked thirsty.

More pictures to come!

Hope Springs

Do you remember this post? Mr. and Mrs. F.F. Thompson and the children look a little more comfortable now that it is spring, don't you think? Especially with their tree full of beautiful blossoms. Mary is still tirelessly holding the tiny hospital in front of which they stand today (it is now offices and some senior apartments).

There was a terrible tragedy in our town yesterday. I do not wish to go into details. Please keep our community and schools in prayer and especially the family of a 17 year old boy. I wanted to post this picture on this day since it symbolizes to me how God brings hope in the midst of a cold dark season. Spring will always come again and with it the beautiful blossoms.

Frozen Stiff

Well...it was negative 5 degrees here this morning. The kind of day where the snow actually squeaks when you walk on it. Last night was my first night of cataloging class. Luckily I do not have to drive to Buffalo for it...just up to Rochester.
Mr. and Mrs. F.F. Thompson look cold, don't you think? They lived in Canandaigua over a hundred years ago. You can read a little bit more here if you like. They look a little stiff from the cold. Perhaps they should go in where it is warmer. Mary is holding a miniature of the hospital they helped build in town here on it's original site.
Good news is that my last book arrived today...all the way from England!

Getting Back to Normal

Well...the holidays are over. I took a walk yesterday and took a few pictures of some remnants of the festivities. Time to get back to normal...whatever that is. I have most of my decorations put away. It was tough getting back into the swing of things this morning. The kids are back at school.

Next week I go back to school. I am still waiting for most of my textbooks to arrive. Two out of five have come. Not sure I'm ready for it again.

You Never Know Who Might Show Up Around Here

Yesterday, we found out that "Extreme Makeover Home Edition" is demolishing and building a new home in Geneva, NY. Today my husband happened to have the day off, so we hopped in the car and traveled the 17 miles to Geneva to check it out. We joined the crowd of onlookers behind the fences across the street. It was kind of fun and interesting. The white house in the back ground will be demolished tomorrow. The family has been sent to Cancun for the week. Today the crew was demolishing a barn on the premises.

Ty and the rest of the Design Team were not on sight. (Just all the people who actually do most of the work.) Today they were emptying the house. I'm sure that Ty will be here on sight tomorow with his bull horn and video camera.

Jamie got a chance to talk with one of the sight managers for the show who told him that quite often the show is working on 2 houses at the same time. Ty is actually on sight down in Arkansas today for another house and will fly in to upstate NY tonight. We also learned that Extreme Makeover does free cosmetic work on surrounding houses just so they all look nice on camera...and also to make it up to them for the inconvenience of crowds of people trampling their lawns, closing down their street, construction workers all night, etc. They will even put a new roof on the neighbor's house if they think it necessary.

From what I understand, this show will focus on a family that helps kids stay off the streets. (Geneva can be a rough town) The man is a guidance counselor at the high school, but also runs a school for boxing. The show is supposed to air some time in November.

Out for a Sunday Drive

This afternoon, I saw an Amish buggy coming up our street. I've only seen that one other time in the 8 years we have lived here. Some usually come into town on Saturdays for the farmer's market...but on a Sunday? And on our street? There was a man and a woman. Two little Amish girls in the cart and two boys about 10 or 11 years of age on bicycles. They went slowly by and waved and smiled at us. I waved and smiled back. During the entire thing, my camera was just an arm's length away. I could have gotten a nice shot of all of their smiling faces...but I just couldn't do it. I can't treat them like they are part of an odd exhibit. Allen was sitting next to me. We finally felt comfortable with Allen taking this shot of them from the back after they had passed.

Pretty in Pink

I thought I would show you my neighbor's tree today. Isn't it pretty? There are all sorts of flowering trees all over town lately. They flower for such a short time. I'm glad I took this picture before it is too late.

Mystery Solved

I have just deleted my last post because of some inaccuracies. A long time ago while reading an article in a magazine about quilting, I ran across a little information about a girl who lived in this house in the 1850's-60's and whose father was the minister of the Congregational Church here in town. I also remembered that there was mention of a diary. I was interested when Gudl left information about a diary kept by a young girl by the name of Caroline Cowles Richards. I was very excited to learn that her diary is on-line. You can read the entire thing here. (ignore the cover page which is for a different book. Just click on the arrows to turn the pages)

So I began to read the diary and soon discovered what I thought were discrepencies between the diary and what I remembered the magazine article saying. First of all, Caroline's father was not the pastor of this church. In fact, she lived with her grandparents. Her grandfather was the town's banker. Her great-uncle had been the first pastor of the Congregational Church many years earlier, so I chalked that up to what had confused me. But then I was puzzled by things she wrote about her home. She described a wrought iron fence on her property that was quite high with a stone foundation. There is no fence on the property on which this house is located. It didn't seem like such a structure would be taken down. In another entry in the diary, Caroline tells of it raining quite hard. Her grandmother would not allow her and her little sister Anna to walk to church. Instead, they sat in the kitchen with their window opened so they could hear the sermon coming from the Methodist church located next door to their house. Well that settled it. This house was not Caroline's house. How could I have gotten two things wrong that I was sure that I had remembered?

It bugged me enough to stay up late on-line doing research until about 12:30 am this morning...but I solved the mystery. I finally tracked down the original magazine article that I had read. The girl who lived in the house was Susie Daggett. Her father was the pastor of the Congregational Church. She is mentioned many times in Caroline's diary because they were school chums. These two girls, along with a few other girls decided to make quilts together to keep for the day that each of them would marry. In the diary, Susie declares to the other girls that she has decided that she will never marry. The girls come to a concensus that they will make a quilt for her anyway. I could not find a picture of Susie...but I did find one of her father, Rev. Oliver E. Daggett.

The Locals

Every town has a few locals to add to the flavor of the town. I don't really know who this man is, but I see him everywhere. I have lived in this town for about 15 years and I have seen him off and on for the duration of those years. He is quite elderly and he rides this 3-wheeled bike all the time, in all sorts of weather. I don't know much about him except that he "never drinks alcohol". LOL! I overheard him talking to someone in the Byrn Dairy last summer and I remember him saying that. I didn't know how he would feel about me taking his picture. I took it from a distance and zoomed in and cropped it. When he peddled close by, he looked right into my face and smiled and greeted me. I think he must be in wonderful physical shape for his age.

A Long Shot

There are Amish communities that are near me and also some Mennonite. I've thought about driving out by their homes and taking some pictures...but I really respect their desire for privacy. They don't really like to be oggled at. Who can blame them? That is what is nice about this area. We don't have tourist attractions that call for people to gape at the Amish the way they do in places like Lancaster, PA. Generally they are left alone and once in a while we see them in town. A few weeks ago I saw a horse and buggy tied to a lamp post in the Wal-mart parking lot. I took a great picture with my cell-phone....but I don't have the chord to download it to my computer. Another time I was at the Salvation Army thrift shop and there were two Amish women chatting away in their Pennsylvania Dutch (a form of German). At that point I really wished I knew German. Not because I wanted to be nosy and eavesdrop, but I thought it would be fun to hold up a pair of trousers and say, "How about these? Will these fit Eli?" LOL!

There is an Amish dairy farm down the road from my inlaw's place. I quite often will see a horse and buggy go by the house when I visit. I never happen to have the camera at the right time. Last weekend on the way home from their house we were about to pass a horse and buggy on the road. I just happened to have my camera. It was a long shot (no pun intended) to get the picture. I just pointed my camera towards my window as we were about to pass and pressed the button. Then I checked the results, fully expecting to see blur or just the road or a portion of a horse. To my surprise the picture above was what I found! I was quite pleased.

Houses

I don't really know a lot about the history of many houses here in town. Some of them, I just simply like the looks of. This little house is such a pretty little house. If you click on it to enlarge it, you can see the details of the trim. There are many beautiful houses here in our town. I especially like the victorian houses with the gingerbread trim. Sometimes I walk around and think I'd like to live in a certain house. Then I realise that my house isn't a bad looking little house...it just needs to be fixed up.

I feel very impatient about that because the way my house looks is important to me. Unfortunately, it has peeling asbestos shingles on it right now...in not too attractive of a color. I keep waiting for the day when we can change it and make it look like the cute house that I know it can be. A brick house might be nice because then I wouldn't have to worry about the shingles. Here is a brick house that is only about a block from mine.

Circa 1826

I love houses with history. This one has it. Unfortunately, I can't remember the specific names of the people who used to reside here. Several years ago, I was reading an article about some local history...and it included excerps from a diary kept by a young teenage girl who lived here. There was nothing really remarkable about her life. Her days were rather ordinary, but I was interested just the same. The article was really about quilts in local history. In the diary, the girl (whom I want to call Emily, but I can't remember) was working on a square for a friendship quilt with her school friends. She would talk about walking to a friend's house to work on it. LOL! Can you imagine what a stark contast that makes with today's young teenage girls. (Come to think of it though, we do have a group of young girls who knit together at our church)

Anyway, Emily's father was the pastor of the church pictured at the top of this post. If I ever run across that article again, I will come back and correct or add the names here.