Delaware Cruise Back in Time

Went for a nice long ride on the BMW K1600 GTL.  First day was great.  Sunny, clear blue skies.  Set out early in the morning and made our first stop for breakfast at Thissildous in Belvidere, NJ.  Love this place.  Ate myself some French Toast with Cream Cheese and Jam and it was soooooo  Yummy!
Afterward we drove up to Milford, NJ and NJY Camps.  I got to romp around my old summer stomping grounds.  WOW things can really change in 50 years.  No more showering in a mikvah.  All the bunks have 2 showers now.  Both Nah Jee Wah and Ceder Lake have pools.

I slept in Bunk 1 for a summer.



I learned synchronized swimming and  Junior Life Saving in this lake. 

 

 

I performed on this stage.

 

 

 

Delaware News

Seasons Garden Center used my photo for their cover ad on the Uptight Suburbanite during the same month my "Less than a Hundred Miles from Home" motorcycle bucks story was published.  BY COINCEDENCE.  I did not know about the AD.  What a surprise to see my picture on the  cover and story inside and then learn that the mag published their own picture with my story, not one of the pictures I sent.  Gotta get me a good pic of our K16.  I bet I already have one somewhere......

 

 

And Then This Happened

I should be doing  something else!

 

Sometimes I wonder if the Blog is for the Birds

 Pretty sure it was an  eagle I saw last night on a rock in the river.  It was there for a while but I came to the dock without my camera.   I had it at the Renascence Fair , where I saw this owl, and this morning at home when I caught the hawk.  I shot the owl with my short lens and cropped way in.  Shot the hawk with my 300 extended all the way, hand held, from my yard...cropped off a bit there too.

 

 

I saw an Eagle again this morning, flying over Washington Crossing State Park.

Delaware Issues Common Cents: Pack Light

We took off on another overnight adventure on the BMW K1600 GTL.  This time heading west to the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon just outside of Wellsboro, PA. I wanted to share with you the best packing advice I ever received.  Before the days of withdrawing cash from almost any bank machine around the world, folks travelled with TRAVELERS CHECKS.  They were a real pain and I never liked them.  So I always travelled with cash.  It was my father who advised me so wisely.  "When you have finished packing and are all ready to go," he worded, "Take out half of what you packed and double your money".  I have heeded this advice successfully since then, knowing if I forgot something or found that I needed a sweat shirt or another pair of socks, I would always have enough money to make the purchase. With the availability of bank machines and credit card usage I don't worry much about my cash.  But I always pack light and this is how I do it.
I lay everything out that I think I might need the week before travel.  As travel time draws near I add and remove things until I have the very basic and minimal requirements for my travels.
Looks like this when I start.

 

Some of what you see I expect to wear out on riding day, otherwise: into the bag goes one pair of jeans, underwear, socks, bathing suit and tops in layers from tanks, to short sleeves to long sleeves about 2 or 3 each. I love my western style jean shirt for many reasons most of all that it can act as a light weight jacket. Of course there is special riding gear which includes boots (also a pair of sandals on the floor), dragon jeans that have armor and cool weather riding pants with armor...ill have to pick one of those and a small bag with toiletries.

 

Got rid of some stuff and added a dress ( you never know).

This soft flexible bag is custom for a side case and I get some space in the back that has already been packed with our rain gear. Just enough room for my purse which also serves as my camera bag.

When it is time to go, I dress in a few layers.  Shorts are underneath my  riding pants, although it never really gets warm enough for just shorts. I have the luxury of an electric jacket that goes over a

t-shirt and under my jean shirt and mesh jacket with armor protection so I know I will be warm if the layers are not enough.  Its amazing that no matter how I pack I always come home with something I did not wear.  Now it is time

 to roll on out to our destination, the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon just outside of Wellsboro, PA.

 

Delaware GOOD News

Thanks to these two I am going to be a great aunt!  I thought it would be fun to shoot in front of the sprinkler...IT WAS FUN!   I thought so, Sean thought so...but Renee ran off in fear that her hair might curl...silly girl.

The Foils and Foibles of MaraBella and Me

In this case it was all about MaraBella and Furman.  I had made myself content knowing that was afraid of the water.  I was not going to force her in and therefore not be responsible for the inevitable clean up afterward.  Furman was intent on getting her in.  She dabbled...in and out.  WHAT IS IT?
She didn't swim, but she got in.

Fog Rolls In

I love when the fog rolls in.  Gets my creative juices flowing and I like the idea of muting the color to sepia.    Was really surprised when I saw the horses in the perfect place to view through the split rail fence.  The distance between the post and horses made it a little difficult to get all in focus, especially with the muted light of the fog.  In this small image that has been reduced to 72 pixels for viewing on the screen...it really IS hard to see the horses...OY.

Delaware Chews on Foodie Friday at 1906 in Longwood Gardens

Had a fabulous day at Longwood Gardens with a good friend.  In an effort to be frugal and also save some time, I brought a nice light lunch of fruit and salads which we ate in a designated picnic area,  We were not hungry when we decided we just had to try the fancy restaurant, 1906, on the property.  And you must know after walking around for a few hours we were thirsty and wanted cocktails.  Look how they served the bread in the cutest little white ceramic planter...and it was delicious.  Soft and warm and really tasty. 

 

We ordered some special cocktails and admittedly they were a little weird.  We picked a charcuterie to share and everything on it was delicious.  Might have been a special because I just checked the menu and it is no longer on it.

 

Then I had to play around some.  I don't know why  people think you should never remove color from beautiful flowers.  I like to.

 

Thanks for joining me Jess.

 

First Day of School and the End of Summer

I hope all the kids who went to school today wanted to go as much as I used to want to go that first day of school in September.  I never wanted to leave town to go to camp in the summer.    Turns out it was  gift almost like school but the lessons were different and often outdoors. Camping out and cooking our own food in fire pits with fires that we made from collecting the kindling, tinder, and fuel wood from the forest.  Swimming and water ballet, and Jr. Life Saving classes in the lake, along with boating, canoeing and sailing the sunnies.  Crafts and theatrics.  Looking back, camp was fun.  But I always wanted to come home and start a new school year with a new teacher and classmates.  I loved being in the classroom  absorbing and expanding with knowledge especially in elementary school.  Seeing friends who I missed all summer.  The first day always meant wearing something new and I kept  that tradition until I retired from my profession as School Psychologist in 2010.  The first day of school also makes me think of my father who went to school all of his life, and my grandmother who did the same.   I was out this morning with MaraBella when the school bus came to pic up some kids.  I was really glad I wasn't on it.  And I was really glad that I was in my yard with dog and coffee, and shorts and a t shirt, retired. 

I need to go through my images and sort them in such a way that I can create a WEBSITE...the blog can be attached but I really REALLY really need to stop procrastinating on this project.  I'm going to consider it for the 2014 2015 school year.

For now a little review of summer in photo, like on the first day of school...this is what I did this summer.

Went on some great motorcycle rides.

 

All the way to the Hudson Valley and Hyde Park in NY.

 

 

Cruised around Hopewell checking out the Stampede of Oxen.

 

 

Had some fun family and friend time at Grounds for Sculpture

 

 

 Longwood Gardens,

 

 

and NJ Beaches.

 

 

Got MaraBella comfortable with the Pontoon and the Jet Boat and the River too.

 

 

I stalked the Hummer all Summer long and played and practiced in photoshop.