Good Things

Yesterday was a good day.   Our builder broke ground on the lake cottage.  

Dave talks with the builder

Please be careful of my beautiful Copper Beech sir.....

Its a mess over there, I'll miss second cup/cocktail hour beside the water but they'll finish quickly I'm told.   Its just a tiny place.    Stay tuned!

Last night we had dear friends Barb and Bob over for dinner.   It was such a lovely night, warm and clear.   We were able to eat our dinner outside on the farm's patio and then, as the evening cooled, we enjoyed Barb's peach cobbler in front of a roaring fire in the chiminea.   Dave outdid himself and it was a blazing hot fire.    Barb just loved it but we were expecting her toe nail polish to burst into flame at any moment!   

One last good thing happened yesterday.    A really good thing.....my frustrating health insurance snafu was finally resolved and I am now fully  insured.    Let me tell you, its a frightening thing to find oneself without any insurance, and really frightening to be told (at every turn) there was nothing anyone could do to help me.      Long story short, all my formal complaints to NYS finally convinced the insurer to re-consider and re-instate me retroactively - WHEW!

It was a good day.

Thursday night, cruise night - Friday, work day

Thursday night we drove down to the Charcoal Corral's Super Cruise Night.    We took John and Pam there earlier in the summer for "dinner" and a small sampling of the local hot rods and classic cars regularly displayed on Thursday nights.

The Corral is a great summer evening's entertainment for families in the area.   There is a restaurant serving everything that can be cooked on charcoal, hots, burgers, chicken, bologna and onions, etc., a pizza parlor serving knock-out pizza, and an old fashioned ice cream parlor.
Outside is a very nice miniature golf course and, for later in the evening, a two screen first run drive-in movie theater.

 Thursday nights in the summer folks drive their restored hot rods and classic cars to the Corral and park them on the expansive lawn for folks to oggle.    Twice a year, however, its Super Cruise Night and the lawns and surrounding farm fields are filled to capacity with cars, trucks and campers of all ages and conditions.

We've been to lots of car shows, an exclusive and very high end one in Palm Springs, a really colorful street rod show outside Las Vegas, etc., but this one is different.   There were probably 300-400 cars in more or less neat rows and lots of people of all kinds wandering around.  

the cars spilled over into the drive in

Kids competed in chicken dance competitions, "how low can you go" limbo contests and even got prizes for the silliest dances they could come up with.   People spilled out of the restaurant eating everything from slices of gooey pizza and huge ice cream cones to bbq chicken dinners and hot dogs.   Everyone enjoying a beautiful summer evening smack in middle of acres of corn and farm fields.

chicken dance competition

The cars on display ranged from carefully restored  pristine rods through brand new street cars to old rusty works in progress.    One man's trash is another man's treasure I suppose.

a 32 ford with an attitude

61  chevy impala "bubble top"

beautifully detailed 68 camaro engine compartment

a not so beautiful DeSoto

87 grand national
(don't ask Dave how the tire tracks on our garage floor got there - hint, he had one of these cars and he occasionally enjoyed its power off the line...)

a fairly rare 60's hood tach (ometer)

low rider truck and trailer!

lovingly painted 34 ford 3 window coupe

thunder clouds building

Towards the end of the evening, people gathered along the shoulder of the road, waiting for these cars to show their stuff as they left the show.   They were  rewarded with a few rather spectacular
burn outs.   The local police looked the other way, with smiles on their faces.....




We're expecting our builder to arrive later this week to begin work on our little cottage on the lake.  In preparation we placed a call to the legendary Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Service, recently purchased by Mr. David's Lawnmowing and Tree Trimming Group.   They were able to send someone over on Friday to trim and remove whatever foliage and trees were necessary for the coming excavators .

corner stakes

He did a stellar job, filling his black trailer with wood a number of times.   I'm looking forward to a great campfire with what he couldn't take to the landfill.   S'mores anyone?

family visit

We're  in the middle of an unfair, frustrating and very disquieting battle with a health care insurance provider and I can't say we're making any headway.    Its been taking up much of our time of late so when Dave's brother Mike invited us to lunch and out for a boat ride we jumped at the chance.

He and his wife, Arline, keep a summer trailer on the shores of a small lake about an hour west of here, Lake Alice.     We all went out for a very good lunch then returned to Lake Alice for a cruise on their new pontoon boat.    It was a beautiful, sunny but coolish day and I absolutely couldn't wait to get out on the water again.

sister-in-law Arline

the scooter waits while Dave and Arline chat

Arline has had MS for years, but it doesn't slow her down.   She rides her snazzy candy apple red scooter at breakneck speed.   Its hard to keep up with her.    Mike attaches a small wagon to it's "trailer hitch" and she heads down the road to pick up fresh veggies at a nearby farm stand.   She happily carries the other ladies wares in her little wagon, such a deal!

Mike uncovers his new baby while Dave supervises

Ah....out on the water again with Mike and Arline

After our lovely ride, Mike brought out another one of his "toys".....a powerful and very maneuverable little remote control car.     He uses it to keep the Canada Geese off everyone's lawns.    Its just an excuse to play, I think.

the boys ready the toy.......

It actually does a great job of keeping the lawns clear of annoying goose droppings

and it entertains the guys when its not working.

Another really nice, relaxing day ended with a spectacular sunset over the valley.

the fair

So we're back home and back at the business in hand.   Cleaning, sorting, tossing (no, we're still not done) is making me crabby.    I think I should be crabby more often because people are being real nice to me...perhaps they're afraid I'll snap and start swinging at them.

Cindy P came over on Thursday and invited us to join them for a dinner out.  What a lovely break in the action that was.    Her mother, who has been a friend of mine for more years than I care to remember, even joined us.   That event was even more special in light of her recent poor health.

Yesterday Dave suggested we take the day off and go to the Erie County Fair.   We used to go every year when we were young lived nearby (the Fair is held in Hamburg, New York, south of Buffalo).   Plenty of courting took place at the Erie County Fair!     It was a nice, albeit cool, day and the Fair sounded like a wonderful way to while away some time,  so off we went.    Dave chose a scenic, back roads route which added to the adventure of the day.  This really is a beautiful part of the country.

The Erie County Fair (or Hamburg Fair as we used to call it) is a pretty big fair, but smaller and much more manageable than the huge New York State Fair held in the next few weeks.   We always enjoy walking through the animal barns, checking out what the little 4H'er's have created, watch a few amateur horse shows, walk around the tractor displays, smell and comment on the displays of award winning hays/forages and eat lots of very good, but very bad food.   You'll see no pictures of the midway here.   We don't go to the fair for the rides or the Carny's banter.   Its too loud and too busy for us, we much prefer the animals....

Dave got a few new grooming ideas from this guy - watch out Lewis!

this girl is a Lineback - an heirloom breed

these little ones take their jobs seriously

Oh no you don't, I just cleaned this stall!

little boys and their toys.....

...and big boys toys

steam tractor

this Calliope was pulled by a team of Percheron horses

Of course you didn't think you'd get away without seeing any horse pictures now did you?

a champion Friesan stallion

its a big job to harness these huge Belgians

this big girl's name was Sasha Marie

I think our big Sasha Marie is prettier, don't you?

Last Boulder post - Chihuly

We'd saved the Denver Botanic Garden's exhibit of Dale Chihuly's fabulous art glass for our last day.     It was something we all were really looking forward to, and it was almost a mistake.....

  We left Jesse's house with blue skies overhead, but a black cloud gathering over downtown Denver had us worried.

We drove on, Jesse assured us that these storms boil up, rage for a bit, then move on over the plains.    It started to rain, very hard.   Then the hail and wind came.   Water on the road splashed up over the hood as we drove into the storm.

Luckily, people drove slowly and left plenty of room for error.   It will blow over soon, we'll be in blue sky soon he tells us.......

We wondered how the large, fragile glass pieces in the Gardens would fair in the hail.

We finally gave up, ducked into IKEA's large, dry covered parking area and went up into the store to eat some of their famous meatballs while we waited for the deluge to end.    It was lunch time after all and what better place to watch the storm rage and move away than sitting in the huge glass windows of the restaurant, high and dry, filling our faces.


Jesse was right, it did move away and we finally made it to the Gardens around 2:30, glorious blue sky overhead.       Only one bad thing, they were closing early - 3:00 to be exact  - because of a special function.     Could we see most of the exhibit in half an hour?    Not optimal, but you bet we could!

So, here are my very hurried impressions of Chihuly's spectacular pieces.   They seemed to actually grow and float in their beautiful garden setting.

To quote Ingrid, "you can never be too rich, too thin, or have too many pictures", right?

Oh Dave....now you've got Jesse doing it!

bees are easily confused.....

get a room!

So....that's what we saw in our whirlwind tour.     Not the best way to really enjoy the exhibit, but I'm so glad we were able to spend even a little time immersed in Chihuly's playful and colorful imagination.

We'll be spending most of the spring and summer in Colorado next year, so we both look forward to a more leisurely visit to the Denver Botanic Gardens.    From what little I could see as I flew through, they deserve their own time.   Here are a couple shots of some non-glass foliage that caught my eye.

And, sweet Erin whispering secrets to her red-headed girlfriend........

It was wonderful getting to spend some quality time with Jesse and Erin.   Thanks you two, for making us feel so "at home" in your new home.