Life from where we are

We met Bob & Noreen at noon at the entrance to the preserve....I had found my book with the map so we were going to try & follow the red trail that goes around the outside ridge. These two pictures gives you an idea of how steep some of the paths are. Strange looking tree. One of the three open area it crosses over. What we didn't realize is the red trail branches off a couple of times & we ended up on the southern rim which, of course, is the more difficult way back.  We climbed up hill for what seemed like hours!  We finally reached this tree only to find out it was the way out to the other parking area. We continued on & were elated when we saw a sign that said 1.3 miles to go, only to walk for 15 mins & find the next sign said 1.5 miles!!!! We did get a glimpse of the waterfall & then knew we were almost back.  We finally got back to our cars at a little past 4:00pm so it was quite a hike!

I got up at 6:00AM(ugh) this morning so I could get the painting done......we were meeting Bob & Noreen at noon at the Plotter Kill reserve....so I didn't have a lot of time. These pictures don't do it justice as the lighting is bad at night but it is absolutely way better than I imagined. It looks so elegant & I just love it! (The color by the way is an off white with a touch of lavender) Be warned though it is a lot of work & not for the faint-hearted! After finishing up & jumping in the shower & then the car with minutes to spare would you believe we hiked for 4 hours!!!! That's a whole other post.

I broke every safety rule & then some today while taping the stripes......what I thought would be a couple hours to tape & maybe an hour to paint turned into an all day marathon & I didn't even get to the painting. In other words I grossly under estimated what this job involved! This is what looked like at 1:00 pm when Popster got home from golf....after I turned the corner  I realized I would run out of tape so I sent him to the store to another roll....45 mins later he came back with the wrong thing....what else is new!!!!  While he went back to the store I continued on marking where the stripes would be....& was actually congratulating myself on how well it was working out.  No problem with where they fell next to the doors......everything was level.....never happens in an older home like this...really patting myself on the back.  When Popster finally got back with the right tape I went back to work. Now did I continue to tape from where I ...

The project of the day is "tone on tone" striping! I am finally finishing up our remodeling project that we started back in March....I think!  The one that began with rearing the bathroom apart & then spilled over into the hallway with new doors & floor. Due in part to the busy season (work & summer) & my procrastination neither the bathroom or the hallway are finished!  If I was perfectly honest it has been a cop-out on my part as it it so easy to say "please excuse the mess....we're remodeling" but it was bugging the Popster so I decided it was time to get back into it. After painting the walls with a flat enamel finish paint last weekend today I am marking out the stripes so they can be painted.  I have my Frog tape, level, ruler etc. but I have a feeling I do not have enough pairs of hands!  Please wish me luck!

Today is also my SIL's birthday but she deserves a separate post! Have a great day Susan.

It's my brother's 60th birthday .....Happy Birthday Greg!!!

After getting home from golf tonight Molly & I went for our walk as usual. When we got back we did her agility & she always flies out of the tunnel at the end. I started walking back towards the house & as she ran by me I must have stepped on the loop at the end of the leash. Next thing I know I'm "splat" on the ground with a crazy dog jumping all over me thinking it's some new game we're playing! She then laid down on the ground next to me & crossed her front paws as if to say "Anytime now......I would like to eat the rest of my dinner!" What is it with me & being knocked on my *rse by dogs??? I'm not sure what is more bruised...my body or my ego!

Today it's Scott's birthday ......I also won't mention his age except to say he's two years younger than Mark!

Popster had checked with out mechanic for a place to take my car & they were absolutely fantastic.  The original plan was to get a sun roof from a junk yard & get it painted (that's why I had "saran" wrap on my car).  He called us Thurs & said they ended up with a complete working sun roof which they were pretty sure would work in my car.  We dropped it off Sunday night & were able to pick it up yesterday at noon.  My car was spotless......freshly washed & waxed,  the inside just as clean & my total bill with tax was $432! The original quote was $350 so they only charged us another $50 for all that extra work. I highly recommend them ---  Rotterdam Auto Service

Scott, Deidre & the kids have rented a camp at Brant Lake for a week & left Popster "babysitting" the chickens. He was not quite sure what he was supposed to do & had a few questions: The bag  of food is in the barn......how much do I feed them??????? Let them out for some exercise.......how do I get them back in?????? Collect the eggs from the nesting boxes......what's a nesting box?????? I don't know about you but I suddenly got this mental image of Popster with the chickens on leashes!!

I guess someone likes the hammock!

Molly finished her last week of agility Thurs night. She was "class clown" for the first session & moved up to star of the class for the second session. As shown by these pics Popster works with her everyday at home & she just loves doing it! (please excuse the quality of the pics...it's in our backyard which doesn't get much sun & I was trying to get action shots). She did really well the last night except for the see-saw which they had added. She seemed to do okay the week before but didn't get a lot of time trying it as one of the other dogs had a lot of trouble with it. This week she got very nervous in the middle & kept jumping off......I know she'll get it! Maybe I should look for one on e-bay because as soon as we bought the tunnel.....no more problems with it! I love this picture of her coming out of the tunnel! We have decided to sign her up at the Schenectady Dog Training Club where there do certified agility trai...

Does anyone remember this Last night as I was having to water all the big flower pots at work before I could leave I kept saying to my self " I wish it would rain!"   I started to drive home & as I got on 890 there were rain drops on my windshield......a little too late for the watering!  About 2 minutes later as I was dong 65 mph there was a HUGE whoosh & the sunroof blew off my car!  I pulled over & put on my flashers & called that person I live with.....you know....the one who was supposed to get my sunroof taken care of!  By the time he got there it was pouring & everything in the back seat was wet.......including me!  I ended up driving the rest of the way home feeling like I was in a wind tunnel & my seat were full of water. Poster did find the sunroof....not good.....& took the car in today to see about getting it fixed.......&2,700 to replace it! I now went from packing tape to saran wrap!!!!!!

This is where I was & it is where my path leads to.......... OOPS!!!!!!

Today is Mark's birthday....I will not mention how old he is!!