Wednesday, July 14, 2010

My Stole

My pink cloud of a stole is completed and I am thrilled with how it looks. Check it out for yourself.



Today I started a secret knitting project so I cannot share any details. And, Corey, I have not forgotten your afghan, it is too darn hot to knit on that!

Yesterday I went on a bike ride with Sally and Pam down along the lake shore all the way over to Culver Road.
We looped around SeaBreeze, dropping down to the Irondequoit Bay Bridge and then up a new bike trail to Durand Blvd. As we were biking west on Pattonwood Drive, I felt like I was riding on a bumpy road and looked down to discover a flat tire~ on my rear wheel! So we stopped, found a place in the shade, and started the process to replace the tube. I got the wheel off, no problem, but then had quite a wrestling match trying to get the tire off the wheel. That tire had never been off the wheel and it was not coming off willingly. One guy who was riding by stopped to help and together we were able to get the tire irons under the edge of the tire enough to get it off the rim. By now the sweat it pouring off of me and I had to mop up with my bandana before I could continue to replace the tube. One good aspect of having this flat tire was that I got to try my new CO2 cartridge inflation system, which eliminates having to pump up the tire. Once we figured out how to use the cartridge, it was super fast~whooosh~and the tire was properly inflated! I like it! The only problem with this system is that I now have a useless CO2 cartridge. I have to see if the bike shops have a way to recycle the spent cartridges. Sally had a time deadline so could not stay around while I fixed my tire, which was fine, especially since 3 guys stopped to help us, and Pam and I were not even looking like damsels in distress! Pam and I continued on our ride, heading to Schallers for lunch. The sky was getting darker and darker as we approached Schallers and while we were eating our cheeseburgers on hard rolls, the rain came along with the thunder and lightening! And then it rained some more, so we sat in the restaurant. Sally had driven back to Schallers in her car to warn us of these storms and told us to sit tight because the rain should not last long. Well, an hour or more later, we called Pam's Jim and he came and rescued us! What a day on the bikes!

On Monday I picked up my Maxwell Creek Farm share and was thrilled to find more sugar snap peas and blueberries among other things. Here is a photo of our share.

Tonight we rode our bikes to Spencerport to have dinner with friends, Steve and Julie. We enjoyed the company and the food at The Taste of Texas BBQ.

Hope all is well.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

I'm Back!

I know that it has been awhile since I have updated The Empty Nest blog, so this will be a overview of the past couple of weeks. I have lost some of my enthusiasm for doing this~Jim blames it on my activity on Facebook~ but maybe I can get back into the writing routine. Some people have told me that they do enjoy reading this and would miss it if I stopped so I will give it a go again.

I'll do this re-cap as a photo journal with captions. Here goes. Let me start with our Fourth of July trip to Jenny Lake. Gram and GrandDad were there (of course!) along with brother Jim, MaryAnne, and Zach. Corey joined us to, to fill the table on the porch!


Morning at Jenny Lake


Real men do dishes!


Jim caught fish every night we went out!


Niece HannahLyn came to town for the weekend. Here she is helping Corey and Grandma to make dinner. I was the brains behind the meal, they did all the work!


Abbotts, a Rochester classic!


Sunset at the beach.


Going canoeing on the canal.


Launching the boat.


Taking Grandma for a ride.


Dinner at the Villages.


Finished knitting my stole! This is a pre-blocked photo.


Soaking the stole.


Help blocking (stretching/shaping) the stole. Will be ready to model tomorrow!

Today I set a new personal best mark for bicycling. Jim and I went for a ride and we averaged 16.6 mph!!! That is fast, for me! We went 24.4 miles and were cruising. I am looking forward to RAGBRAI!

HannahLyn leaves tomorrow after a wonderful 4 day visit. We were thrilled to get to spend some time with her.

Hope all is well.