Seeing the wood for the trees

Today Mum and Dad and I visited Landis Arboretum - just can't seem to get enough of trees at the moment. It's less than an hour's drive from Albany, in the countryside of Schoharie County, and really worth seeing at this time of year. Many lovely trails through and bordering woodland, fine views across the valley, hardly anyone else there, plus we had glorious sunshine for our visit. The colours were, of course, magnificent.

In nearby Esperance we lingered for a short while in a quilting shop. Then we headed back to town, stopping only for a snapping turtle which had decided to cross the road. A nice man in a shirt and tie had pulled his car over and was directing traffic to allow the huge mucky creature to drag itself from one pond to another. We were able to manuoeuvre round it and drive on, but a line of trucks and cars was forming in the other direction while it took a little nap in their lane.

The Girl has taken an interest in cooking over the last couple of evenings (only cooking, not eating), and tonight helped Mum prepare a meal of salmon, rice and asparagus followed by apple pie. She has also embarked on a career in domestic waitressing after my Dad left her a tip last night. When the Boy found this out he thought it might be to his advantage to help too, so he served drinks (whether or not we really wanted them). All in all service was very attentive, not to say persistent. They earned their reward of small change.