Nature Woman

On Tuesday last my Mom and I went to Hurd Orchards in Holley, NY. It was a beautiful, although very windy, day.

One of the first things I spied was the field of zinnias – I *love* zinnias!

And then a garden full of mums:

I took a photo of my Mom in an area they had set up to take photos, with an old tractor and pumpkins and squashes. I love this old wheelbarrow.

Inside the store, they have baskets hanging from the ceiling:

Inside the barn, they have flowers hanging from the ceiling:

And hydrangeas on the floor:

And a gorgeous flower arrangement:

And just outside the barn, a fabulous display of squashes and pumpkins. Mmmm!  All a feast for the eyeballs!

Instead of being sad about not having my Dad on Father’s Day or any day anymore, my Mom and I went to Sonnenberg Gardens to enjoy the day.  It started out rainy, and we thought it was supposed to clear.  Well, it didn’t, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway!

The Kousa Dogwood is amazingly beautiful this year:

No sun for this turtle, but he is patiently waiting for it:

This structure in the background has been renovated, and it’s gorgeous!

Here’s a close-up of the columns:

And now it is raining hard, so no going into the rose garden, photo from a distance:

We headed inside the beautiful mansion, and went on the second story porch that overlooks the Italian Garden:

This structure has been put back up:

View from another porch:

This is the first time that we’re able to walk into this bedroom, which I love!

View looking down into the music room:

There were beautiful dresses all around the house:

All in all, a beautiful day!

Went up to the Port of Oswego last Saturday night.  Made a stop at Rudy’s Lakeside Drive-In first, because they have some of the best fish around, mmm, nice and moist on the inside like fish should be.  Sat at a picnic table right on the shore of Lake Ontario and took this pic into the hot sunshine.

I wanted to climb into the lake like I did last year, even though the rocks are moss covered:

After dinner headed up to Fort Ontario and got in by saying one of my co-worker’s names, which helped on the wallet.  Sat up high on the wall for a good view, with tons of other people, and waited there, since there weren’t any tall ships to see in the harbor. Saw a helicopter:

and the barge with some of the fireworks move out to the break-wall:

And watched the fireball in the sky slowly set:

Almost:

And waiting for complete darkness:

Finally! Recorded the fireworks in small segments. Here’s one with hearts:

I’m in love.  With something that I’ve only seen once.  And now I understand Mary’s and Julie’s love of Boston Terriers.  I saw my cousin Kevin on Saturday (that’s another story for another day) and met his dog Woof (so named by Kevin’s young son).  I fell completely and madly in love.  This dog is the epitome of sweetness all wrapped up in the cutest package, down to the spots on his chest, tummy and legs.  He loves to get so close to everyone he meets.  And he gives lots of kisses.

How can you refuse this precious face?

I couldn’t get a complete pic of all his spots, but trust me, they go down his chest and tummy and onto his legs.   Too cute!

And he’s not only cute, but he’s a guard dog, too! NOTE: He is only allowed up on the dashboard when the motor home is not moving! Actually, he’s not supposed to up there at all, but he does it when they’re not there.

Since time goes flitting by so fast, I’ll give a quick run-down of my last two months, which doesn’t include everything, but you’ll get the idea.  When I have more time, I need to expound on some of the things we discovered.

Wherein we investigate for several days along the West Shore trail of Onondaga Lake, where there were resorts in the old days. More on this when I have time (haha).

Went to the New York Museum of Transportation and rode this real trolley with a real Pantogragh!!

We try swimming on May 21, and it is c-o-l-d!

The NYCRR used to run under the Erie Canal at this point, and since they were digging up the road, we had to investigate.

We (OHA) had a Ghostwalk at Oakwood Cemetery

We went to the Central Square Railroad Museum, where they are redoing Syracuse Trolley Car #1036

Went swimming at Oneida Lake on Independence Day and almost drowned because the wind and waves were so high.  No pics.  Just glad to be alive.

Two CSX trains collide because somebody missed a signal. The train that got run into was already gone by the time I got there, leaving behind the very last part of it.

Attempted to listen to some music at Onondaga Park, but it was lousy.

OHA Museum reopened and it is totally wonderful now! This is one view of the new Gift Gallery, with shelving from Borders which closed in Carousel Mall earlier this year.

Went to Valley Field Days, but it was CROWDED, so didn’t get to ride my ride.

Drove down Butternut Street, which is all ripped up, and saw double trolley tracks.

If you’re a male, you may want to skip this.  You may want to skip it if you’re a female.  I wish I could skip it.  Not really.

Yarb Woman, Cornell Plantations

So I’ve noticed this angry, emotional me coming out recently that I REALLY DO NOT LIKE.  And finally, recently, when I was supposed to get my ‘monthly’ and it came for one quick second and left, and I didn’t feel the wonderful surge of estrogen flowing through my body, I just paid really close attention to my body for a week.  Well, when I started crying my eyes out Sunday night over two stupid things and I couldn’t stop until a friend of mine just happened to call and I kept crying to him and he didn’t know wtf to do, except to tell me to go to bed and sleep good, I realized it was time to take action.  So I called my Mom, and she confirmed that emotions are all over the place and that feeling like a wreck due to hormones is what happens, and that I needed to read about it and take care of it.  And being a Master of Herbology, being taught by some great herbalists, I reached out to some of my herbal instructors and this is what one of them has to say:

Menopause & What To Do About It

“In the clinic, the first thing I reached for was my Female Formula. Just one of the ways my Female Formula helps is by creating better communication between the hypothalamus and the pituitary in the brain and the ovaries. Consequently, it helps your body to slowly reduce your hormone levels during menopause, over a period of time instead of the BIG CRASH.”

— Dr. Schulze