Is it summer yet?

Summer has come to Ithaca.  The laundry is on the line... often getting rained on, the campfires have begun, the garden is booming, and the grass feels good on bare toes.  Almost every morning Emmett drags me to the front door.  He likes to check on the birds and then go outside and check for rain.  He puts one arm out first and then walks out into the grass.

Sarah is working her tail off getting the garden secured from pests.  The tulle worked so well last year that she put it over the cabbage again this year.  Hopefully we'll be able to remove it without ruining it this time around.  We put up a new fence as well.  The chicken-wire had gotten too ratty.

Some of my favorite fires start out as daytime brush burns.

A random walk.  We don't walk as much as I want to, but we're doing pretty well.  We'll keep trying to improve every day.

It's funny to watch how Emmett learns what his toys represent and how to use them.  He has definitely figured out what wheels do.

Reading with Mama.  His reading endurance is increasing, which is nice.

Not a desert tortoise, but she's pretty cool anyway.  The red eared sliders and snappers and painted turtles all like to lay their eggs in the cinder along the trail.  In a few weeks, it'll be littered with the remains of the shells and the next generation of turtles will waddle into the pond.

A hot day at the market!

Self feeding is still in its infancy.  It's definitely more theoretical than practical.  Still, the little dude does like to try.

A brisk dip in Cayuga at Becky and Phil's beach house.  We had such a good time grilling and chatting and hanging out with Becky and Phil and Moe a couple times last week.  It was so great to catch up and hang out and eat good food.

Summer time brings mountain biking.  I woke up early Saturday morning and watched the moon set while I loaded the bike onto the Subaru.

Everything is so lush and fecund.

On Saturday the trail was pretty slick and washed out from all the rain.  It was a stressful and dangerous, and not that fast.  It was more like the trail rode me that the other way around... still, it was a better day than one without a bike ride.  Sunday's ride was much better.

Hanging out at our friend Heather's birthday party.  Next month, her daughter, Lara, will be one of the babies at the Brooktondale Babies Birthday Bash.

We finished up the evening at Zach's new place.  Lots of kids, lots of good conversation.

Beach Daze

As Dad is fond of saying, "Salt water cures everything." Or was that chlorine? Or swimming? Anyway, we're finding the salve to life's stresses and foibles here, in Ocracoke.  The time is passing too quickly of course, and I was trying not to write that, because it absolutely goes without saying, but there it is, so there you go.  We're already starting to quote Mom and Dad H, "We really should come in the off season and stay two weeks."

This picture didn't make it into the group from the boat.  Our shipmates took it for us.  We're a pretty content crew.

Sarah's been talking about getting a dragonfly tattoo on her ankle, but she thought she'd try it out first before committing.  I think it needs a unicorn and a rainbow to make it complete.

Woo!  Beach!  Woo!

Woo!  Eduardo's!  Woo!  Emmett has been a real good sport.  He goes everywhere, does everything, and as long as he's fueled up and clean, he does it without complaint... like the Element.

This year's house has two nice porches and is tucked back behind another property so it's super quiet.  The rocking chairs leave a lot to be desired, but we make due, and the porch swings are great.

It's been really hot this trip and the dogs have a rough time of it anyway, so we've taken them out for sunset and sunrise.  I've walked them around the neighborhood a few times, too.  They don't seem to be missing the mid day beaching and are grateful and happy to be along.  For what it's worth, I love this picture.

Eva, Jonas, Sarah with Emmett, Keith.

Somehow, it took me a minute to realize that if they make UPF outfits for kids, they probably make them for adults, too.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find a matching onesie, but I love not having to smear sunscreen all over all the time.  Plus, mine has a hood that makes me look like Storm Shadow.  The 8 year old me would be stoked.

Last night, or a couple nights ago, we went out to watch the sun set and the moon rise.  This is a picture of the latter, obviously.

Venus and Mercury (above) were in the sky, along with Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.  I totally wish we'd brought the astronomical binoculars!  What were we thinking?  Oh well, it was still a pretty great adventure just to sit and look up.

Don't worry, everyone has been wearing sunscreen on their exposed parts.  With the exception of the top of Veneta's feet, we've had no sunburns!  Maybe a first.  We're all sporting SPF 60, wearing hats, some of us are in UPF clothes, and under the canopy... How times change.  

We've been getting some reading and relaxing in, also.

Yesterday we went to the Ocracoke Preservation Society and the Ocracoke Working Watermen's Association exhibit wear we learned about how the community came together to save the fish house.  That made our visit to the Ocracoke Seafood Company even cooler.  I wanted to grill some fish while we are here, and have been watching a lot of grilling shows to get ready.  It was cool to chat with the fish monger and she even gave us a couple tips about what and how to grill.  I have a pretty strict "No tertiary consumers" rule, but I broke it this time on the advice of the fish monger.  So in the end, we left with some shrimp, a pampano, and a mako shark steak!

The grilling went well enough that I think Alton Brown would have said, "Pretty good".  The steak was grilled very simple because I wanted to taste the fish rather than a marinade.  For those who haven't had it, it's pretty close to sword fish.

Sarah's still a bit timid when it comes to sea food, so I threw a couple pig dogs on the grill for her.  She sauteed some onion and summer squash that we brought with us and made a lovely coleslaw.  Veneta made shrimp that was just perfect.

If you look carefully, you can see a little piece of the shark on the left hand side, next to the slaw.

Wish you were here!

Dinner devoured.

Yesterday or today, I got up early (thanks Jonas) and decided that instead of trying to go back to sleep, which is usually fruitless, I'd take the dogs to watch the sun rise and the moon set.

Moon setting over the dunes.

Sun rising over the guard station.  Unfortunately, I can't look at this without thinking of Apocalypse Now.

Tonight we finally ate at the Flying Melon.  It was good and the atmosphere was fun.  We've really enjoyed cooking at home rather than going out, for the most part, and it made tonight feel like a treat.  Tomorrow I will have another snowball.  I've only had one so far this trip!  We're going to hit the coffee shop, then the little food truck, Graceful Bakery, and head to Hammock Hills Nature Trail before finally hitting the beach.  I will get a snowball when we come back for the heat of the day.  

Still cookin'!

It's been a fun and eventful early summer here at 54 Ridgeway. We've had many guests, lots of project support, and plenty of sunshine.  As you may know, May is turkey season here, in central New York.  As usual, I said I wasn't going to go this year.  Too early.  Don't want ticks.  Not a huge fan of killing anything, even though I love to grill it.  Then, May first came around, I bought my hunting license, and dug out the camo.

Also, as usual, I did not shoot a turkey.  On a particularly annoying morning Tony and I sat under the tree the turkeys were roosted in.  Getting close to the turkeys is good.  Getting that close to the turkeys is bad.  Anyway, we had fun, got to see many sunrises, saw some cool activity and animals that the majority of people never experience, and I didn't have to deal with my guilt.

Our friends Sam and Heather are expecting a child and hosted a baby shower, so we went back to the sewing machine.  I managed to stitch a few scraps together into shapes that resembled burp clothes without too much blood loss.  Sarah made a beautiful blanket.

Dude got a new grill!  On Memorial Day weekend, we took advantage of a sale and picked up a new, old school Weber charcoal grill.  Although it takes a little longer, I am really enjoying the ritual of grilling over charcoal.

And there's nothing like making some charcoal of your own.

We don't eat burgers too often, but we couldn't help christening the grill with the traditional meal.  I made some macaroni salad to go with it and drank a little Mexican style beer.

We set up the slack line for the first time this year.  Zach and Kristin and the girls had a great time on it.  Zach had so much fun that he went out and bought one for himself.

I got a new hat for the summer.  Keep searching for that perfect piece of head gear.  What I'm really looking for is a great lifeguard style straw hat made in the US, but this will have to do for now.

We have a nice tradition of hanging out at Zhora's house every couple of weekends.  Bob does a great job on the grill, and I'm taking notes.  Watching Zhora and her friends run around and scream in the hose reminded me of the great summers of childhood.

Mom and Dad H came out last weekend and worked like champs.  Between them and Veneta we feel like we are in pretty good shape.  It was lovely to get to visit with everyone and we enjoyed pretty low key fun... hiking, chatting, grilling, painting, and walking the dogs.

Everyone relaxed after a long day of working and hiking and chatting.

Grandma Cressman sent a dock box, which was expected and exciting as well as the collapsible picnic table from Fox Haven, which was unexpected and very handy.  We look forward to getting lots of use out of it.  Thanks Grandma!

We got a new camera and I've been playing around with it a bit.  Sarah watered the garden this morning.  We've been lucky with the garden so far this season and have put in some extra work to protect it from chipmunks and moths and the like.

This afternoon, we went over to Erik's and hung out at the river.  It was wonderful!  We watched the kids play and chatted and waded in the river.

This is Zach and Kristin's daughter, Nora.

The moon tonight, and the swamp.  It's been a nice weekend so far.  Looking forward to seeing you all soon.