Sunday, October 31, 2010

SGrandson as Cross bearer

SGrandson called at 9am this morning-"Grandma Sally, I was chosen to be the cross-bearer for church today, can you come?"

Well, of course, this is a big deal to him, couldn't stay for the entire service even though I love their Pastor, but I got the opportunity to see him be so excited and so respectful of the job. He even kissed and hugged me in PUBLIC!

BOO!

See what happens when you pull out the bag of Halloween stuff?

SGrandson decided that he loved this bald-head thing, and that he looked like an old Chinese man. He (read we) spent the next hour making a hat and a mustache and a whatever round thing that he held in his hand was (scroll of proverbs perhaps?) to make it authentic.


All of thiese head things were bought for SSon over the years, and his favorite is Elvis. We are still trying to decide what he will wear with it to his Halloween party at his BFF's home party. I suggested he could be the Blue Hawaii Elvis and wear this flowered Hawaiian shirt we have, BUT it has buttons down the front , and that will take an act of congress to get him to wear that.

Miss Boo Boo Marie allowed us to put this fall leaf collar on-I think she knew that it used to belong to Cheesie Marie the dog, so she was not pleased. A few minutes after this, we noticed that it was off, and we could not find it. About an hour later, there it was on a kitchen chair, tucked under the tablecloth. How did it get there for heavens sake? We have not put it on her again, I figure any time a cat tries that hard to remove something, her wishes should be honored.




Because he is a scientist and a historian for goodness sake, he needed to have his picture taken with his head turned sideways so that the SIDEBURNS would show. What a fun guy that SHusband of mine is




And here I am, my hair underneath was so bad because I waited 6 weeks for my next haircut to let it grow a little longer for the winter, and it was just not doing anything that it usually does- that this wig was actually an improvement!


Sorry for those who already saw these pictures on facebook, but I thought they were just too silly not to share with my blog readers.





Friday, October 29, 2010

Seen through the lens lately

A bunch of pictures from our beautiful fall.
This was a gift from SSister#1. Love those sunflowers. The yellow is just so cheerful.

Just had to put in one more picture of Letchworth.


Pointed ends leaf on the right is from the Northern Red Oak Tree, and the rounded ends leaf on left is from the White Oak Tree. Now you know the difference, say thank you to SSHusband.


Hello Matka.



This guy is way confused, Christmas hat at Halloween. Keep your holidays straight Mr. Skeleton.




And at the next house, a realy BIG, scarey witch. Some people are so creative.




Is this not the lovelest fall quilt? Done by SCousin. My picture does it no justice-the colors are really very bright.



And this other quilt that she did scared the Bejusus out of me, that is why it is a blurry picture. Really.




Driving home at 7:45am after dropping SGrandson off to school. What a beautiful time of the day. I am such a morning person. Except when I can not sleep at night and sneak out of bed after SH falls asleep and wait until sleep claims me.


Looking out from the driveway across to the wild trees that God planted. You can see my new windshield wipers too-are you ready with good wipers for winter-go now, get rid of those old squeaky ones, keep yourself safe-please.


There are two things wrong with this picture-I need to pull up this most huge (is that a phrase which I just coined? naw, sounds stupid), let's just say a really big geranium. I bought them from the Lions Club in Alden like I do every year, but oh boy, they must have done something to them this year-growth hormones for plants or something? I hate to pull up a plant that is just doing so well. I could wait a week or so till the hard frost comes and then it will be ugly black-we will see. Problem # 2 who the heck dropped those leaves near my plant? Please return and pick them up immediately! Thank you. Don't do it again. I mean it.



Burning bush before it burned.



Looks like a ususal wagon of pumpkins, notice the big one in the back? Did you also notice that the ones stacked in front of that big one look a little odd?

They are so gross. It looks like the seeds are growing on the outside, or that they have some disease that needs to be treated by a dermatologist.

Have you ever seen a pumpkin this shape?

I am lucky to be born here in a place where the seasons change, that way you always have something to go oh and ah over. Never bored in WNY.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Beautiful Morning


This was the view out my front window at sunrise today. Now, the sky is very dark grey and black, sun is blocked.

That is how life is sometimes, you can't see things, just trust that they are there.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Short Lived Happiness



Can you see my newly washed windows?

Can you see my newly washed and ironed/starched curtains?

Can you believe me when I say the other windows and drapes are done today?

(Except for the new ones in the new bedroom-let's not get silly here folks!)

Can you see the rain drops on the windows?

Sigh. Well, at least I know they were looking good for a nanosecond.

Woolly Caterpillar

Every Fall I watch for the woolly caterpillar to appear in the roads-I try not to run over them. SHusband told that some say the bigger the woolly, the worse the winter. Today, for the first time this season, I saw 5 while driving into town. I managed not to run over any of them (I think) as they inch-wormed across the roads.



I took this picture from wikipedia, and according to them, folklore has it that the thicker/more black hair the woolly has is used as a harbinger of a
bad-weather winter, but in fact some larvae from the same clutch have variations in color, some more orange/red, some more black.


They emerge from their eggs in the fall, and winter in the caterpillar form, they emit a cryoprotectant chemical into their tissues during the winter, and then when the weather turns warmer, they eat all the grass and weeds they can, and turn into the pupa stage and then into a beautiful yellow Isabella Tiger moth:
Thank you Wiki, and where can I get some of that cryoprotectant chemical for our upcoming winter? It would be nice if it was Tim Hortons coffee!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

SDaughter Teaching today!

SDaughter is starting her dream today: First Day of Sub Teaching at a school where she was student teaching last year-they said they wanted to hire her last year, but we all know what happened to the job market for teachers. So, one small step for SD, one giant leap for her confidence!

She called me twice this morning, and I was glad to be her cheerleader.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Letchworth State Park, Sweetest Day

Yesterday was Sweetest Day, and since the weather was fantastic, we decided to treat us all and take a trip to Letchworth State Park, about 1 hour away from home.
The way that we traveled went through the town of Sheldon NY, the site of much angst in recent years because of these:
They are Wind Turbines. People who own the land get paid to have them in their property, wind energy is tapped in and turned into a commodity. You either love them or hate them. I suspect your feelings depend on whether you are are the receiving end of the paycheck or just have to look at these ugly things out your window. Some say they are loud, some say they kill birds, some say they interfere with normal migration of birds, insects, which in turn affect the ecosystem. etc. Some say they are a wonderful energy alternative that does not depend on foreign oil, but other nay-sayers talk about the need to use fossil fuel (oil or coal) to convert the wind energy to a usable form.
I think they look like a horizon on a foreign planet. I mean, you are driving along and What? There they are HUGE, at least several hundred feet, and bright white. They are placed in farm fields, near a high elevation, to maximize wind-catching.
We have had 6-8 wind turbines along Lake Erie that you can see when driving to Downtown Buffalo-they take advantage of the wind off of the lake. They were always a novelty, but not too intrusive, they are in a mixed area which is mostly industrial, but still has some homes-we should ask those people if they are bothersome.
I think having these THINGS right in the middle of a beautiful rolling hills vista is too bad. But again, I am not a down on your luck, barely making ends meet farmer, and these things do benefit them. So who am I to judge what means are used to survive?
SGrandson was with us, and he happens to be studying Wind Turbines in Technology Class, so he reeled off the names of the components, and we printed up some pictures for him to take to his class tomorrow.

But, the opening act of the Wind Turbines was nothing as compared to the headliner-Letchworth State Park and all the countryside along the journey. The trip is to be enjoyed, not just a method from A to B. The hills show so many different views, "as far as the eye can see".
When we arrived in Letchworth State Park (named after William Pryor Letchworth from Buffalo NY-this was his summer home!) there are so many places to see the beautiful gorge with the many types of trees-this variety is what gives the scenes so much beauty0different trees-different shades of color. Most of the Maple Trees have lost their leaves there, which usually account for the deep red color, but enough leaves still remained on the trees to make your senses pop. Letchworth State park is known as the "Grand Canyon of the East".
Looking at the license plates on the cars in the park will give you an idea of how popular this beautiful park is.

These next two pictures are from the Letchworth web site.
This is my header for the month-I have used pictures from my trip to Italy for a year, now it will be nature photos for the next 12 months.
Here is a picture that has a bonus,

SHusband and SGS spotted a hawk floating over the gorge-I had the camera and could not track the hawk, so SGS took the camera and ran off. See in the middle-just to the left, above the shade line, with the light colored rock as a backdrop? That black speck is the hawk. SGS was very proud of this picture, and he put it on his facebook account.

The cute couple:
Here is a picture of my guys-notice they are all wearing clothing to reflect their interests.
These are some other shots of the area.

And these are rocks making up the way-too-low retaining wall that keeps people from tumbling down into the ravine: 550 feet below. These rocks were originally in a river bed.
SH said the wave patterns are Ripple Marks from Turbidity Currents formed when water movement causes disturbance of the material at the bottom of a body of water, then this material is covered with other material, and the pattern underneath is hardened, and presto, 350 million years later, we are looking at them! Someone nicely collected them and put them in the border fence for all to see.
The park is also know for having an incredible Restaurant/Hotel called "The Glen Iris Inn" (see above), very sheshe, elegant place. Big verandas overlooking the breath-taking falls. If you want, you can rent a room upstairs there and wake up to the sound of the falls-I have done that. This was the home of Mr. Letchworth. It is bright yellow and very well maintained, with unique gardens. This is a destination wedding venue for many couples.
They also have a marvelous museum-we could not find a handicapped entrance. And, they have a train trestle in the southern end of the park-some stupidos actually go up there to prove that they are invincible-duh!

Also, there is a HOT AIR BALLOON RIDE available-can you imagine what that must look like??? Pass, I am way too chicken for that.

SGS gave me a present for sweetest day of two fused acorn tops that look like a heart since he knows I collect them, and for his Grampa-he found two pieces of flint-you know the rocks you smack together to start a fire (note, do not attempt this in the house, or your grandfather who never yells at you will be very stern with you).

For Sweetest Day, SS gave me some coconut candy-nice surprise, and my guys all got treats from me. My gift from SH was his ability to go yesterday, and to make it up the hill to see the Mary Jemison display at the Park-the last time we went he was not able to. I know it was hard for him (and the fahkockatah wheelchair lift did not work at home, so he had to use the steps with SS carrying the walker up and down the steps for him-I will make another very upset call to company again tomorrow), and we had a struggle going back down the hill to the car, we should have brought the wheelchair, because even though he can sit on his walker, he did not have enough strength to hold up his legs so that we could push him down to the car. I know he was tired-BUT, not too tired to have some big desserts at a restaurant we returned to from a visit about 4 years ago. It is in Perry NY, called "John and Sarah's" 127 N. Center St. (Route 246) 14530 (for those using their GPS).

It is small, with big, tasty hamburgers, as verified by SS and SGS:















SH and I shared one bowl of soup and a sandwich-I know some people thing this is disgusting, but it works for us-we both wanted dessert, and we had our own spoons:

SGS/double chocolate cake which he could not finish (trust me, he did later that night):

SS/Peanut Butter Chiffon Pie(trust me, it was there):SH/Peanut Butter Chiffon Pie (trust me, he did finish it):

SME/Coconut Cream Pie (trust me, I ate most of it, but it was finished by SH, that is why the plate is nestled next to his plate):
Trust me, we had fruit, veggies and yogurt for supper.
On the way home, we did a pumpkin stop for SGS:

My SFamily has gone to Letchworth State Park for many years, since Matkas's birthday is in October. This year, we can only give her fall flowers.