Leatherlips, Sharon Woods, and whining - in reverse order.

I'm now ready to accept that it's September. I've spent much of the month being bummed about the end of summer, but I'm ready to move on. I should really learn to enjoy September because it's really November and later that I don't like, until hot weather returns.

Have you ever been burned out at your job? I am and have been for a while. Husband came up with a Plan that would allow me to quit my job sometime after the first of next year. Yay! Surely I can get through a few more months, knowing there is an end in sight! It's not working out that way though. After the initial excitement of thinking about quitting, now when I work, it sucks the life right out of me. Today was a long work day so I did what I could to make it better.

I was at the light to the entrance of Sharon Woods. On the spur of the moment, I decided to turn in instead of driving straight to my next destination. A touch of nature was exactly what I needed.
I had never been to Sharon Woods before today, which seems odd because I'm a big fan of the Metro Parks and I've heard how nice it is there. It was as crowded as I have ever seen any of the parks. I usually go to the more secluded ones so I can commune with the trees.

Schrock Lake


On a trail.


A stroll through the woods. Personally, I can't call it hiking if it doesn't make me grunt at some point, or get muddy :)


Then I did some more work and on the way home took another break. This time it was to see Leatherlips. It was another one of those things I would remember I wanted to see about the time I passed it on the road. I thought it was built a long time ago, but I was wrong. The plaque said 1990. Again, the place was very crowded.

Some girls had fun when they saw me with a camera :)


Front view.


And the Scioto River.

A Wool Gathering

Yesterday I went to Yellow Springs for A Wool Gathering. I walked through and looked at all of the yarn and then went back to the booth that was selling this.



It's 50% alpaca and 50% merino from Ohio Valley Natural Fibers. I think I have just gone another step closer to........liking wool. Gasp!! I was really drawn to this stuff and the natural colors of it. I usually go right for the very vivid bright jewel tones, but not this time. Oh, there were tons of gorgeous dyed stuff everywhere, but I have no desire to build up a huge stash of yarn. In fact, if I have much more than I do now, I will get uncomfortable with it. Anyway, I'm swatching the yarn to see what type of sweater it wants to be.

Here are a few cuties :)


Here is a red barn. This is actually the restaurant on the site.

A plaid car and Surly Girl decor

I saw this parked on High St. yesterday. How cool is that?


I took Shauna to Surly Girlyesterday after checking out the Craftin' Outlaws, knowing she would like the vegetarian friendly menu. We had the Frito Pie and the Spicy Peanut Butter and Banana sandwich as we admired the decor.

The Labyrinth at OSU

This is the Labyrinth at Chadwick Arboretum on the OSU campus. They say if you walk it in a meditative state, you will become centered etc. It's supposed to by symbolic of life. I was surprised to find out that after walking it, I did feel a little better. This evening when going through the quick twist and turns, I was reminded of a certain point in my life where I never knew what I was going to be dealing with next. As I walked the longest straight, calm part, I thought this is where I am now.

This is me on my journey.


This is the center. Once you reach the center, then you follow the path again to get back out.


Here is Ray getting all centered - he even has light shining on him! Ok, so he's less receptive to these things than I am, but he was a good sport about it.

A Koolickle and Rain

I made another batch of Koolickles



This time they turned out more red with more of the sweet taste. Mom tried one and I should have mentioned it was a dill pickle and not a sweet pickle before she ate it :)

After a long day of driving for work, I was in the home stretch with only about 15 minutes more to go until I was home. Then there was this.



I had to pull over and wait it out.

Kyle and a Mastodon

Ray and Kyle went golfing today. Here is a pic of Kyle.


They went to Burning Tree, the course where a mastodon was discovered a few years ago. Click on the link!

Equal Opportunity Ice Cream Consumer

Everyone knows what a fan of Jeni's Ice Cream I am. Today I tried Denise's for the first time. I can't get to the web site so here's a link to a review page. I don't know why I haven't been there sooner. It was great ice cream too. This is the Chai Tea flavor.

I plan to go back to try some of the other flavors.

I have no pictures, but I also have to mention Mardi Gras ice cream on Hard Rd. They give generous portions and have lots of different flavors.