Fair do

My day has been spent on school Fall Fair related business - the big event is tomorrow. I helped set up the gym this evening, and it's looking quite Fall-y and Fair-ish, decorated with pumpkins and hay bales and with tables prepared for fun and games (including - oh yes! - a tombola).

A couple of days ago it was our car's 'birthday'. I only know this because the car dealership sent it a birthday card. With the card was a broad hint that it should be getting its owners (us) to treat it to a pampering session, or valet service as they call it. Ahem, at $99 I'm thinking not.

Not so merry Cherry Hill

Today we took a tour of Historic Cherry Hill, a house I have passed many times on my way in and out of Albany.

We were the only visitors today (and perhaps the first in many days?), so we had the tour guide to ourselves. The whole experience was a little intense, but that was rather in keeping with the mood of the house, which was claustrophic in spite of its size. The last family to own Cherry Hill regarded themselves as social elites, above the vulgarities of the modern world, and even into the mid-20th century they kept up a more-or-less 18th-century lifestyle. Then they all died out and the house became a museum.

It was hard to feel much sympathy for them as they sounded pretty snobbish and awful, yet we all came away feeling a little gloomy and sad.

So Mum and I cheered ourselves with another trip to Indian Ladder Farms followed by a quilt shop, and we found a new wool shop too - bonus!

Kayaks and Cooking

A guest blog from the Grandma... Today the Grandpa and myself set off to find Moreau Lake, just north of Saratoga. Imagine "On Golden Pond" and you have the picture! We walked the two miles around the lake and then were offered a chance to try a new skill on the mirror-like pond. The magnificent fall colours were reflected to perfection in the water.

For the third evening running we had kitchen help and waitress service at supper. The wine waiter was superb at iced water and the food and hot drinks were served with style (not to mention the acrobatics and cabaret around the table). This Callisthenic Restaurant is highly commended.

In true US spirit-of-enterprise fashion, tips were not only gratefully received but actively sought after.

An unexpected benefit of this tip-seeking effort is our discovery that certain US Quarters commemorate the different States - so far we have North Carolina and New Mexico. No doubt the Boy will make others available at $1 per State of your choice!

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.

Highly colorific

Today was Columbus Day - a celebration (according to the Man) of a 1970s TV detective.

The kids enjoyed yet another day off school and Mum and Dad took them to Hancock Shaker Village. By all accounts they were enthralled by weaving, spoke shaving and pig feeding.




Meanwhile the Man and I took ourselves off to Thacher Park to explore a trail we hadn't tried before. Fall colours have hit their peak on the escarpment - as ever it's hard to do them justice digitally, but we had a go.

Zero gravity

We went to a party today.


It was great!

Crunch time

The Girl ended up on a playdate this afternoon. It was a beautiful day, so the rest of us decided to try out a new walk, at Hollyhock Hollow, headquarters of the New York State Audubon Society. Given that this is a fairly significant organization, they keep pretty quiet about themselves. I'd only found out about this place a couple of days ago, although it's not fifteen minutes drive from home.

It is mostly woodland, and with it being autumn the trail paths were covered over with dry leaves which were excellently scrunchy. In spite of this fact the Boy was a reluctant hiker (what's new?) but did enjoy a daring escapade on a log and some rock climbing. And when he and the Man fell behind he also had fun phoning me about a dozen times to check what direction we'd gone.

The Fall colours are really superb at the moment - my parents have picked just the right time of year to visit.