Day 213: Steamy Tuesday

The heat got the better of me today so I took it easy in the pool.  The forecast is for more intense heat and humidity this weekend.    Nevertheless, I reached my goal of 25.5 miles of swimming this month.  I am tired of photographing subjects in the yard and plan to get amazing photos in Alaska.  We took a long walk to campus so we could check out the progress of the college construction projects.  In August, the crews are frantically working to finish all the work before school starts again in a few week.

Day 212: Fat Lady Sings

Is autumn on the way?  It seems so.  On the trip back from the airport today, we noticed that the leaves are beginning to turn on the maple trees.  A few blossoms on my mums opened even though I trimmed them back in June.  The Fat Lady Sings daylily bloomed today for the first time along with another unnamed double peach.  Our garden is producing tomatoes, beans and cucumbers like crazy.  The stores are full of back to school supplies and clothing so buying a new swim suit today was not an option.  This summer has been so much fun that I am not eager for fall.  

Molly grooving in a patch of sunshine

Fat Lady Sings

Unknown peach

Day 211: Empty house again

Amtrak swept Colin and April back to NYC and their little apartment in Brooklyn.   Drizz't and Oscar are rejoicing at this very moment, no doubt curled up on April's lap already.  But our house is quiet again.  We're so grateful that they spent their vacation with us.  They had a great week with Colin's reunion, a camping trip, Sky High Adventure and lots of time with friends and family.

I spent the day in the pool swimming two miles.  The water temperature was perfect, the lawn mowing finally stopped and why not?  I coached Steve on my camera cause I wanted to get a shot of the water moving as I swam, but most of the shots were blurry.

The deer have moved on  to devour my hydrangeas, hostas and even the sweet potato vines in the container gardens on the back deck.

Day 210: Exotic Marigold Hotel

We went to see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel tonight at the Opera House which was packed with the over 60 crowd and two teenage girls that I knew.  They were very out of place, but refreshing.   The film tapped into the fears, insecurities and marginalization we feel when we retire.  The characters who survived their transplant to India embraced the challenges and new culture.  It's an important lesson.  Now it's time for as many adventures as we can arrange!

The news from the Olympics was that Ryan Locte beat Michael Phelps in the 400 IM.   Newsmen keep saying he got fourth, as if fourth place in his third Olympics was something to be ashamed of.  Phelps has been touted as the greatest Olympian of all time and has been endlessly pursued by reporters and fans.  It's so much pressure. He's in his third Olympics and it's clear that he's tired of training for 20 years at that level.  The commentators are so brutal.

I keep pushing myself to swim longer each day.  This week I clocked 6.2 miles and hope to hit 7 miles next week.  In the morning we have to take Colin and April back to the train station for their journey back to NYC.  It's been wonderful to have them here for the week and we are sad to see them go.

Day 209: Olympic Opening Ceremony

We celebrated the opening of the Olympics at a party with dear friends.   We had our own set of events that included water balloon toss, ping pong volleyball, bean bag toss, basket ball and relay races in the pool.  Steve and I won a silver in the relay race!

The Olympic Torch event

Medal winners

London's spectacular opening ceremony was filled with Britain's cultural history, music and humor. A group of young athletes lit lamps that ignited 200 other lamps and then they rose together and created a fiery cauldron.  They finished off with Paul McCartney leading the entire audience in singing "Hey Jude".  I love that the Olympics builds friendships and international good will.

Day 208: Rainy Thursday

There are many reasons to be thankful for the rain, but one is that I finally accomplished some tasks inside the house.  I can hardly bear to stay inside if the sun is shining or even when rain is threatening.   Huge drops splashed on my face while I backstroked across the pool and I only got out when thunder crashed in the distance.

Only about four lilies remain, so my focus today was on the coleus in the container gardens.

Coleus

Coleus

Coleus

Angel's Trumpet

Fat Lady Sings

Day 207: Sky High Adventure

What a fantastic day!  April, Colin, Steve and I arrived at Holiday Valley's Sky High Adventure by 1:00 and were dangling in the trees for several hours.  We completed one yellow and one green course, the first two levels.  I know I will not be moving on to more difficult levels, because the green took every bit of strength and focus that I could muster to complete.  Colin and April breezed through with good balance, lots of confidence and strength.

The most challenging obstacle today was moving from one platform to another by walking along a single cable while holding on to an overhead triangle shaped trapeze.  We felt like Nick Wallenda!  Keeping the overhead cables as taut as possible, I moved very slowly, not permitting the cable under my feet to sway.  The final step was toughest, but April grabbed me.  Steve moved more quickly, but got twisted around at the end.  We avoided the course that included the surfboard maneuver in the trees that foiled me last year.  Afterward, we spun through the forest on the mountain coaster.  It was so much fun!

We visited Dina's for a late lunch and then drove to the Griffis Sculpture Park a few miles north on Rt. 219.  April remembered scampering on a few specific sculptures when she was a young child and wanted to revisit them.  It was a delightful park full of fanciful and imaginative metal designs.  Huge insects, a cobra, many female figures, sea creatures and skinny, angular giants dotted the fields and forest floor.

I missed swimming today, but we certainly had a terrific workout.  A huge storm is moving in from the west and may bring heavy rains and hail.  We need the water!

Day 206: Petunias

I love vibrant color and petunias always deliver.  Velvet petals and intense colors sparkle in the container gardens.

We have so enjoyed having Colin and April here for the week.  Tomorrow we are off to Sky High Adventure and the Griffis Sculpture Park in Ellicottville for an exciting day together.

Big Bird's Friend

Day 205: Thirsty chickadees

Day 204: Pool time

My husband doesn't swim.  He prefers to float while I swim, but he kindly cleans the pool for me.  It was perfect today at 78 degrees so I swam a mile.

In between sets, I am reading Wild by Cheryl Strayed.  After the death of her mother, the author nearly destroyed herself with excesses in drugs and sex.  In an effort to rebuild herself, she sets out to backpack 1100 miles along the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert to Washington State. She has no backpacking experience whatsoever. When she began, her pack was so heavy that she could not lift it, but instead had to back into it to put it on.  That's what I do when no one is around to help me.

Even though we had a day of  rain this past week, Canadaway Creek is nearly dry.  Tonight, lots of kids were playing in the shallows.

Begonias

Autumn Woods

Zinnias

Sweet chickadee on our kittys' water dish

Canadaway Creek at Forest Place