The end of a season

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



My view was pretty, but it made me sad.


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


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.

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.


Martha, Trish, and Molly.


A perfect way to spend a Sunday.

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.


There is quite a long path to get back to the woods and hills.


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 view from under the bridge.


Another view.


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.


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.


Lake Hope


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


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 :)




Cedar Falls.


I'm always fascinated by exposed tree roots.


Back at Old Man's Cave.


The Sphinx Head.


My view at the cabin.


Hanging out at the lake.


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

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


The Prairie at Whetstone Park.


Kyle - almost smiling!


Hand knit footlets.


Perfect sky at Chestnut Ridge Metro Park.


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!


Dad on his birthday.


Mom on Dad's birthday.


Topiary Garden.


Ryan - almost smiling!


Blankenship Riverside Sanctuary - Miami County




A time capsule there.


The Winery at Versailles in Darke County


I plan to go back :)

In Other Sports News

This is my Mother In Law, Gail.



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

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.

Ray read to get into the water.




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.

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.

Lucy likes Aroma's

Aroma's web site is now up!

Lucy approves :)

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.


At the end of the maze, you see this!


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


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.






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.


Looking out at the herb garden from the gazebo.


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


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