September 25, 2009

Coming back here.

I keep changing my mind about who what where when and why I want to blog. I think I've narrowed it down and I plan to start blogging here again. I may try keeping 2 blogs going and see how that goes.

My other blog will focus more on food stuff and Columbus stuff while this one will focus on me and Columbus stuff, so there will be some overlap. It may take a bit of time to get back into the groove so in the mean time beagles and trees!

A Beagle Couch

Prairie Oaks

March 20, 2009

New Blog Location

My new blog!

I'm feeling the urge to blog again. A fresh start feels good. If anyone is still here, go there! I'm still working on getting it the way I want it, but it looks presentable.

"Wherever you go, there you are!"

March 19, 2009

It's time to move the blog

I'm working on a new blog. I'll post a link here when it's ready.

January 20, 2009

Betty who?

I'm not sure what it is about blogging but it just hasn't been happening. I think using Twitter and Facebook has something to do with it. Twitter has gone in a direction that isn't going to last, like mostly following people I don't know, so maybe when I break up with or revamp myTwitter I'll blog more.

But I had to share some of these pics. I'm trying Project 365 on Flickr (probably another contribution to lack of blogging, but maybe I can make it work for it instead).

Here are some pics of a couple of local water falls. Hayden Run Falls and Indian Run Falls. Indian Run Falls is very easily accessed, and Hayden Run Falls is a short walk after going down some steps.
Check them out before the weather gets warm!

Indian Run Falls
Frozen Indian Run Falls
Frozen Indian Run Falls

Hayden Run Falls
Frozen Hayden Run Falls
Cold
Betty on Ice

A few weeks ago, some friends and I hiked from Old Man's Cave to Ash Cave. We did this before the annual hike they sponsor with huge crowds, so it was just us and an occasional sighting of another person :) There was less snow and ice than there is now, but it was still gorgeous!

Grandma Gatewood Trail
Old Man's Cave
Tree Roots
Cedar Falls
Cedar Falls

So far, all of this outdoor activity (I've been going on some Metro Park hikes too) is postponing the winter blues. Yay!

November 9, 2008

The end of a season

How I spent much of the last warm day before the real November arrived.

The end of hammock season

My view was pretty, but it made me sad.
The end of hammock season

I felt compelled to capture the blue sky. It will be rare in the coming months.
Blue sky.  It will be missed.

Then I let myself splurge at Jeni's. A sundae made with Creme Fraiche with Amarena Cherries ice cream and bitter chocolate sauce. There is always a motorcycle parked in front of Jeni's.
Jeni's Ice Cream Sundae

October 27, 2008

Hike and Knit

Yesterday some fellow hiking knitters and I got together at Slate Run Metro Park. We are a fairly new group who meet two Sundays each month and take turns choosing where to go. If you are in the area and are interested in joining us, feel free to contact me about it. After hiking, we usually go someplace to knit and sip tasty goods and sometimes eat. It's always a lot of fun and quite relaxing! There are so many great parks around here and I love getting to see more of them.

Slate Run
Martha, Trish, and Molly.

Slate Run
A perfect way to spend a Sunday.

October 20, 2008

Hocking Hills - Oct 2008

I lost my blogging mojo for a while. I thought my trip to the hills would bring it back, but I'm using a lousy monitor after mine died and the pictures just don't look as good as they could. In fact, I can't really tell if they are too dark, so if they are, I blame the monitor. I'm hoping Santa will want to help me out at xmas. That would give me enough time to truly appreciate a new one :)

This trip was long overdue. I go to Hocking Hills when I can to decompress. I was stuck and not getting anything accomplished but now I feel like getting things done!

On my way down, I stopped at Rockbridge State Nature Preserve.

I didn't notice the hiking sticks until I came out of the path.
Rockbridge State Nature Preserve

There is quite a long path to get back to the woods and hills.
Rockbridge State Nature Preserve

This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. I just stopped to look at the view and then only after I came home did I realize I like it so much because it reminds me of Six Feet Under.
A Family of Trees

A view from under the bridge.
Rockbridge State Nature Preserve

Another view.
Rockbridge State Nature Preserve

I found this guy as I was coming back out of the woods. It looks like a pumpkin spider to me, but apparently they are quite common. It is an orange garden spider.
A Pumpkin Spider?

I hadn't eaten before going thinking that since it wasn't a long trail I would just eat after. I should know better. There were enough hills on the trail that I could have used some fuel. I was tired when I came out of there. There are a couple of new restaurants right off of 33 in Logan, one of which is
Millstone BBQ. I ate there and felt better. The other new one I saw is a Mexican place that I will try next time. Previously, I usually ate at the Dutch Kitchen, so I'm glad to see something new.
Millstone BBQ

Lake Hope
Lake Hope

My idea of roughing it - using tea bags instead of loose leaf tea.
Roughing It

I've wanted to hike the Grandma Gatewood trail for quite a while. Since I didn't think I was ready to hike the whole trail and the return trip to my car I went from Old Man's Cave to Cedar Falls and back.
It was absolutely stunning.

Could this be The Bat Cave? Look just left of the center :)
Old Man's Cave

Grandma Gatewood Trail

Cedar Falls.
Cedar Falls

I'm always fascinated by exposed tree roots.
Grandma Gatewood Trail

Back at Old Man's Cave.
Old Man's Cave

The Sphinx Head.
Sphinx Head

My view at the cabin.
My view at the cabin

Hanging out at the lake.
Lake Hope

My mind is much clearer now than it was before I went. Now I'm ready to tackle the Bayerische Socks, which I discovered are fun after you get going. The first 2 rows are the most challenging, then it all falls into place. Eunny is a genius. In keeping with a fall theme, I'm knitting them in orange.

August 31, 2008

August

A hat and dress I knit for Brookie, modeled by Snoopy.
Snoopy modeling handknits

The Prairie at Whetstone Park.
The Prairie

Kyle - almost smiling!
Kyle

Hand knit footlets.
Footlets

Perfect sky at Chestnut Ridge Metro Park.
Blue sky

Lucy
Lucy

South Drive In - I don't know why I don't think to go there more often. It's a fun thing to do!
South Drive In

Dad on his birthday.
Dad at Outback

Mom on Dad's birthday.
Mom at Outback

Topiary Garden.
Topiary Garden

Ryan - almost smiling!
Ryan

Blankenship Riverside Sanctuary - Miami County
What a funny name.

Blog pics 008

A time capsule there.
Time capsule

The Winery at Versailles in Darke County
Winery at Versailles

I plan to go back :)
A nice flight!

July 23, 2008

In Other Sports News

This is my Mother In Law, Gail.



Last week while golfing in Michigan, she got a hole in one!

July 21, 2008

Ray and water skiing.

Ray belongs to SEAL, a local support group for amputees and their families. Ray had his leg amputated 10 years ago because of a blood clot. Several weeks ago he told me they had an outing planned at a lake and if I wanted to go I should mark it on my calendar. I asked what they were going to do and he said "water ski." My reaction was probably a simple "Huh?". The date was last Saturday.

There is a group in Alabama called Adaptive Aquatics.They go all over the country with lots of equipment to share their love of water sports with those who otherwise would not be able to participate.

There is also a local group of ski enthusiasts, The Columbus Aqua Ski Club, that provides assistance.

Another group, CAST Ministries, put this all together.

I could not possibly say enough good things about all of these groups and the results from their efforts. The local ABC/Fox news showed up and for some reason, the guy decided to focus on Ray for the story. I've looked online for a video clip, but I haven't found one. Before going there, I couldn't stop wondering how this was going to work. I used to water ski when I was younger and I know you use your legs a lot :)

They had the use of a private lake, the lake that the ski club uses, which was great because that meant they were the only boat on the lake. That takes away all of the need to watch out for other boats who would be unaware of the issues being dealt with.

Here is the news man Jason setting Ray up for his interview.Blog pics 004

Ray read to get into the water.
Blog pics 014

Blog pics 022

There are different situations among the amputees. Some can keep their prosthetics on, some can't. Some have one prosthetic, some have two. There wasn't anyone there with two prosthetics who could not leave them on, but in that situation, they have what they call a sit ski. Ray has an electronic one, so he had to take his off and try to ski on one ski. The ski club has a person on each side and they basically lift them up. If the skier is able to get their balance, the ski club guys drift off and the skier skis solo. If they are unable to get their balance, the ski club guys stay with them. That would be hard work, but they were happy to do it, and they did it all day long to make sure everyone got a couple of turns.

Here is a link to a copyrighted picture of Ray taken by the photographer of the Adaptive Aquatics group.
Ray from the boat.

And a link to all of the pictures of the day.
Everyone.

After they all had their turn on the skis, then they took turns on the sit ski. It's not as easy as it sounds because it is still a ski, and you still have to balance yourself, but they all had fun with that after the exertion required for their first rounds.

One of the neatest things about the day was being in a group of people where prosthetics and missing limbs are the norm. Sure, family and friends are supportive of Ray and have adjusted to the difference, but here it wasn't different. That was a big deal for me so I can't imagine how it was for the amputees.

July 13, 2008

Yoga in Nature

Today my favorite Metro Park, Battelle Darby Creek, had a session of yoga in the classroom area down by the creek. I haven't done yoga before other than attending a few sessions with a friend who wanted me to go with her several years ago. Lately, I've been interested in finding out if it's something I want to do. After today's session, I felt like I had worked out plus like I'd had a massage.

Being out in nature was a real bonus. The park would like for this to be an established program with the winter sessions being held in the lodge. The leader is an instructor at Yoga on High. If this is something you'd be interested in, the next session in Saturday, August 23rd at 10am. I plan to make it there.

July 7, 2008

Lucy likes Aroma's

Aroma's web site is now up!

Lucy approves :)

Lucy at Aroma's

July 1, 2008

Catching up - Inniswood in June

I've been to Inniswood Metro Park several times, but this time with Susy I found a few things I had not seen before.

The Story Maze and the Grandfather tree. You follow the numbered squares and read the story as you walk through the maze.
The story maze
The story maze
At the end of the maze, you see this!
At the end of the maze

The treehouse looked vaguely familiar, but this time I got a close look.
Cool tree house

Unfortunately, I can't remember what this was (it's been a few weeks since I was there), but it had lots of nifty surprises nestled around it.
Old bricks
Music in the garden
Art in surprising places
Thoreau
Nifty urn/pot

Most of the blooms were a shade of purple while we were there. Can anyone tell me what this is?
I've seen them several different places, but haven't found out what they are.
What are these?

Looking out at the herb garden from the gazebo.
View of the herbs from the gazebo

This statue was kind of off of the path and somewhat hidden. I thought it was cool.
Mostly hidden statue

Finally, I really liked this tree. It seemed so vibrant to me.
I love this

Catching up - NYC

I've neglected my blog and I regret not posting about things I want to remember. One of those things is my trip to NYC in May with Shauna. It was a lot of fun. It was her first time there and she was quite taken with big city life. She had the subway system figured out by the end of the first day.

A nice view from the plane.
Nice view from the plane

Shauna on Liberty Island. It was colder than we expected, so we both had to buy sweatshirts while waiting in line. It completed the "We are tourists!" look. Although, considering how many times I was asked directions, I occasionally doubted that I looked like one. Husband said I just looked like one who had been there before :)
Blog pics 022

Beatles clothes in The Hard Rock Cafe. Seeing this was one of those moments that cause me to just stop for a minute.
Beatle clothes

St John the Divine. We stumbled across this in search of something else. I want to go back and spend some time there sometime.
St. John the Divine

There is a set of 4 small sculptures there. Here is one of them.
At St. John the Divine

The Friends apartment building. It was fun walking around Greenwich Village to find this.
The Friends apartment building

Our celebrity sighting - Leona Lewis. Very nice and beautiful.
Leona Lewis

We saw Hairspray!
Hair Spray

The next day we went to see Curtains. We didn't know anything about it, other than it starred David Hyde Pierce. It was fun to see him.
Curtains

We got to spend and evening with Tippy and Dave, who gave us a great sampling of life in The East Village.
Tippy and Dave

The restaurant used for Seinfeld. This is what we were looking for when we discovered St. John the Divine. I had a decent burger and fries there.
Look familiar?

Me at Strawberry Fields. We had to wait a while to be able to take this picture. There was a group of high school students there who annoyed me by acting goofy all over the memorial. I was highly offended. Yes, I know I'm showing my age, but it bothered me.
Paying my respects

Lots of fun and lots of good food.

A pic of Rob

He was happy to find out that he had two black eyes.

Day 5

He is home in Montana now and he and Karen are happy to be there, among all of their friends. A full recovery is expected in 3 months.

He suggests that we call him Turtle Boy, referring to the back brace he must wear all of the time.

Day 7

June 22, 2008

An update on Betty's Bro

The news is good. Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and comments. They are very much appreciated.

Rob has a long list of injuries including a broken nose, stitches in his tongue, broken ribs, bruised lung, and his spine is broken from his ribcage down to his coccyx. He never lost sensation in his legs and never lost movement in them either. He was thrown 30 ft. from his bike.

Yesterday he was fitted for a back brace and was able to stand for an x-ray. Today he was able to sit in a chair for a few minutes. This means that he gets to avoid surgery to fuse the vertebrae. He will wear the brace for 3 months and then be evaluated again to see if the brace worked well enough. They are talking about releasing him from the hospital within the next few days. His attitude is amazing and he is determined to be able to do the backpacking trips next summer that he had planned for this summer.

He wants to get back to Montana as soon as possible and will do his therapy there. He will stay with the parents until he is able to tolerate sitting long enough to make the trip. My parents are hanging in there. I have yet to fully grasp the trauma and now they are talking about releasing him. It's all very surreal to me.