Frittata, Walkabout and Catan

The next morning I was very excited to make a frittata for CPM and R. I beat about eight eggs with a bit of half and half, sauteed mushrooms and green peppers, and then put the eggs in a big skillet before adding the mushrooms, peppers, goat brie, tomatoes and smoked salmon. The result was quite delightful in my humble opinion.

After breakfast we took a bit of a woods and field walk.

Brutus was pleased about it.

This is just pretty.

Obligatory 'I have friends sometimes' shot.

We then played two additional games of Catan before CPM and R. headed out. I was quite happy to have the company and get to spend some time with them all. I am such a sucker for simply sitting around, reading books, playing games and cooking for people. It's basically all I want to do, and that is why I often think the best option for me would be to run a B&B somewhere wonderful. Of course I have also realized that most B&Bs don't actually make money so there's that small problem, but a girl can dream can't she? Yes. Yes she can.

Dog love.

Buying Locally, Walking Locally, Eating Tacos

I made a run into town to pick up some eating supplies for dinner on Saturday night, and for the rest of the weekend. But I held off on a few things because I knew I could buy them local at The Little Farm Store. Shout out to them! They have great eggs at certain times of the year (not now), as well as locally fed and raised beef in steak and ground form, not to mention cheese, ice cream and a few other tasty things. On my trip I picked up a pound of ground beer as well as half a gallon of raw milk. Such a beautiful day to drive around an area that is still more field and farm than subdivision and McMansion.

Once I got back to the house I took myself on a woods and stream walk. I carried a big stick, don't worry. No spiders offended this face. Props, also, to lending me her sunglasses for the last month. They were lovely.

Boots, creeks, boots, creeks.

And for dinner I made S. and myself lamb/beef tacos. I also made pico de gallo and guacamole. Additionally, I broke a blender. Dinner also included gazpacho that I made, which was quite delightful...but it just didn't photograph well on this particular evening.

Dinner c/o Amici's and Woods

So I broke the trip to Tennessee at my friend J.'s house. It took me about six hours to make my way down 81 and the most eventful things that happened were seeing two old men standing in a deep ditch with no clothes on, and the fact that there are a lot of 'self-serve' Dunkin Donuts spots in the south. Once I arrived at J. and V.'s she and I, and her two boys C. and G., went into Scottsville for dinner at Amici's. I waffled between the pasta three ways (lasagna, manicotti and something else) or the Penne Buttanesca. In the end I went the more adventurous route, but either way it would have come with salad. Pretty standard but it's always good to get some greens.

We all shared the calamari, which was nice and hot while still being crispy on the outside and tender within. I don't know why G.'s making this face because I'm pretty sure he enjoyed the calamari.

Creamy mess of pasta for me. Definitely rich. Though I took a bite of J.'s manicotti and actually enjoyed the simple red sauce that went with it a bit more than this cream-based sauce.

After dinner we briefly met up with J.'s husband and some of his friends before taking a look at some land J. and V. bought that they'll soon build a house on. The light was quite nice.

Woods.

Tiny toad.

Tiny toad.

A very nice evening indeed. And thanks goes to J. for the dinner.

Woodsy Walk

Last week I made my way to Maryland to celebrate Thanksgiving with my father and the T. clan, as we did last year. I really need to find the photographs of the last few times I walked through the woods that bordered my house and neighborhood in order to demonstrate the changes, but I can't at the moment. It was a beautiful weekend, seriously nice weather. So soon after arriving on Thanksgiving day, I took myself on such a walk.
The field that we could formerly walk through continues to be fenced off, but now there's an actual building. Last time it was just a giant hole and some foundation.

Yup.

Woods and Field

Another quick walkabout later in the week saw far less snow all around, and clear walking preferences of deer.

Afternoon Excursion to Lampson Falls

I so enjoyed our day trip adventure to Lampson Falls the last time I was in the Adirondacks that I implored M. for a repeat. We got off to a later start than that last time, and somehow the drive seemed longer. I really should have better documented the long stretches of unpaved roads we drove, and the plentiful plumes of dust that followed in the wake of my car and looked quite impressive in my rear view mirror...but I was busy driving. On the way we crossed this little metal bridge and I was just blown away from the perfection of the view that I stopped the car to take a few photos. I mean, really, how can some places have so much beauty? It's astounding sometimes. And uplifting. The whole area around Silver Lake is so not developed, lots of wilderness and trees and gravel roads and quiet. I really do feel invigorated or inspired by that environment. Maybe it was also the lack of easy internet access or phone service...you can't worry about who is, or is not, calling you when it's a moot point.
Pleased.
We returned to this rock shelf area about a half mile or so from the falls proper. I don't know what was with me, but I didn't really get in the water as much as I had last time...I certainly didn't try to immerse myself. This was at least partially due to the fact that the sun was blocked by clouds a fair amount of the time, and the water was c-o-l-d cold. We played Scrabble but didn't have a pen to keep score, so we did our math in our heads. I won, but by what margin we'll never know -- I'm pretty sure that our final scores were both lower than what they should have been. Math. Who needs it?
I did get in the water a little bit, inching my way out on the rock that went on for quite a bit under the water.
The water is a sort of caramel/tobacco color. I think because of lumber companies or sap or something?
This photograph properly demonstrates the color of the water...and the whiteness of my legs.

Same suit as 2009, face just a little older, hair just a little shorter.
This guy was waiting for me when I finished taking photographs of myself.
The falls proper. If I ever return I may actually venture into this part of the water.

Maple Sugar Day in Fairmount Park

Because L. couldn't enjoy Modo Mio, we had to come with an alternate plan to spend some time together. It was supposed to be a relatively warm Saturday, so I suggested we go to Forbidden Drive and take a good walk and catch up. On Saturday morning, I found an email from she-J. informing me that it was the park's annual Maple Sugar Day and that she planned on attending. Funny thing about Maple Sugar Day: without meaning to I have been there for the last three years. The first year I went with J. and a much littler S. (seriously, he is so grown up!) and then accidentally found myself there with L. during her so-much-fun visit last year. I don't know what it is about that specific weekend. Maybe there's some breaking point in my brain that says 'seriously, get yourself together and go to the woods and enjoy maple sugar products.' Anywho. So we combined forces. L. and I drove to the park and met up with J. and S. Here is the syrup/sap table. We tried some sap, but it was mostly water. Still cool.
Pancakes were being made on a griddle.
And then put into my belly.
S. took a try at the yoke of a syrup farmer's life. Wow. I just made up what that is. I have no idea.
The buckets were empty but just the contraption alone was pretty heavy (note that the one bucket is still on the ground).
Three maple sugar candies for a dollar. Which reminds me that I owe L. a dollar.
Sometimes when I take photographs of S. my favorite part is the fact that he's telling me to. He has this own vision of what he'd like to see himself doing, and he knows that I'm always willing to take a photo. For example, he climbed up on this fence of his own volition and I took this photograph.
But he was more interested in me taking these photographs.
And he was right. S. as a Tron/Motorcycle riding character (probably got that wrong, probably a Star Wars reference of some time) is more interesting/captures him better.
We walked closer to the Wissihockon, where S. went off and did fierce battle against Sith forces. J. and L. had never met in the flesh, but I like them both and I think they got along well enough. I don't know what that means.
Again, S. fighting an opponent. It was really funny to watch when we were further back. His running and stabbing and whatnot. I'm not sure my imagination is capable of that sort of feat any more.
At some point I became S.'s adversary. This is him using the force to keep me away. I didn't like it. And he didn't like it when I tried to use my own force on him. This went on for a bit.
Ready for battle. Spoiling for a fight.
Eventually I had enough (as lame grown up types often do) and S. turned to L. (whom he had been a little wary of before, new person and all) and asked her to fight. She accepted the challenge.

And took no mercy.
But I don't think she was victorious in the end.
He-J. and N. came by later on and N. got his pancake on.
The end. I think this year I'm really going to try to go out this way and take woods walks with more frequency (I said this last year and definitely didn't do it).