Hiking, Florida Style

These were taken at The Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center at the Alligator Creek site in Punta Gorda, FL.











I didn't see any alligators, but I heard one growl at me on the other side of some brush. I didn't stop to try to get a pic.

Banana Leaf, Beagles and a Bunny

Husband and I tried a new (to us) place for dinner last week. Banana Leaf on Bethel Rd in the strip center across from Microcenter. It was a nifty experience. It's pretty casual, but the owner goes all out for you. He asked if it was our first time and then he wanted us to try everything. He brought 7 different chaats to us, each one spicier than the previous. He wanted us to try both the mango lassi and the rose lassi and then had us choose which we wanted more of.
After all of those chaats, he told us everything that was in the buffet and we had huge thali plates to fill with as much as we wanted. After dinner, I had some chai, which he assured us was included in the price. We had some of the bread leftover so asked for a container saying we wanted to take it to our daughter. He then filled a to go container with lots of things from the buffet for her. We had no idea what to expect with the bill. Grand total before tip - $21 for both of us. We will definitely go back.

Before going on my trip, I stressed about leaving my dogs - Katy mostly, who has heart issues and bladder cancer. A trip to the vet reassured me and Husband worked from home and they did pretty well until I came home and then had to go to trainings the next 2 days. Katy acted confused and crazy Lucy became lethargic. Daughter started commenting about wanting her Crazy Lucy back.

Beagles are born to chase rabbits. A large rabbit found itself under our deck and the dogs went nuts. The rabbit was too big to easily escape through the fence. Lots of running and howling ensued. (No doubt the neighbors were thrilled). They kept going under the deck and running out.
Husband got a few pictures.

Here's Lucy doing her part, and having a blast.


Here's Lucy along with Katy, who I was so worried about. Although we make efforts to keep Katy from exercising much, Katy ran around like she was just a pup, and she was thrilled.


The good news is that Katy did not pass out from the exertion, and as far as we know, the bunny has escaped.

Where I've been

sigh

Venice Beach, FL


Actually, I only got to spend one day at the beach, but I was in very nice weather for a week. Now I am home.

Money etiquette

I meant to post this last week, but I didn't get around to it. Gretta was asked a question on Good Morning America. The guests were the author of Isn't it Their Turn to Pick up the Check?. The first question was asked on the streets of NYC and it was, what do you do when you go out to lunch and you eat light and the other person chows down? How do you go about splitting the check? That was easy and obvious. You pay for what you consume.

The next question was asked to a different audience member and it was, if your 2 year old child breaks something of value in someone else's home, what do you do? I disagreed with the person's answer and so did the "experts". What would you do?

Finally, the example given to Gretta was that you have borrowed someone's car. While you have it, something goes wrong with it and it's a pre-existing condition, say the muffler falls off. Are you responsible for fixing it? I agreed with Gretta, but the authors didn't. What would you do?

The Inertia Buster

An open window!


Those of us who live here had all come down with a big case of Inertia. It takes enough of my energy to fight against my own, but when the others here come down with a case of it too, I can get overwhelmed. I used the nice weather and open windows to cure my case of it.

Sunday evening, Ray's brother Rick called saying he and his wife were at the Hyatt for the night to catch an early Skybus flight to NYC. We met them for dinner and ice cream. They own Aroma's Java and Gelato in Cincy so they were interested in going to Jeni's to compare and contrast.

My selection. Dark cocoa gelato, Torrone, and creme fraiche with amerena cherries. The cherries were amazing.


Gretta and Rick


I am recording Good Morning America tomorrow because they have tickets and were told to dress in bright colors because they may participate in an audience interview. When they wrote for tickets they said they were going to NYC to taste the gelato there for their business. It will be fun to see if that happens.

Gingerbread at the Conservatory

This evening, I dashed into the Franklin Park Conservatory for a short while to see the Gingerbread display and the Poinsettia trees before they are gone. In case you're interested, admission is free after 5pm on the first Wednesday of the month. The tree pics didn't turn out but here are a few of the gingerbread units that I liked for one reason or another. It should be noted that these have been there for about a month and I overheard someone saying they started sagging and stuff when we had a big rain. Since I've never made one, I was still impressed.

Popcorn trees!


I liked the roof on this one.


The Little Mermaid - something I did not expect to see.


I liked the look of this one.


Snoopy!!


The conservatory means the obligatory Chihuly pic. The closeup.

New Year's Day 2008 - Hike at Clear Creek

What may be the start of a new tradition, I went on a New Year's Day hike at Clear Creek Metro Park. It's the park that is farthest away, but I wish it was much closer. This was an organized, off trail hike.

About 30 people showed up. (I'm lousy at estimating)


A gorge that is in a usually off limits area. The off trail hikes are worth it just to go places you can't usually go.


Trees that are likely diseased.


The snow was an added bonus!


Me at the end of the hike.


A neat rock in the road out of the park.


Edited to add -
Husband went on a different trail - his pics are here.

Holidays 2007

Husband, the photographer is noticeably absent from any picture.

Geofftech

Geoff is a guy from the UK who married and moved to the US. His blog is quite entertaining. He does a yearly Year in Review and I'm listening to the 2007. It's UK based songs and news snippets. Songs are uncensored versions, so maybe NSFW. This is much more fun than anything cheesy on commercial radio or tv, and it goes quickly (only bits of songs).

Christmas Lights

I love looking at xmas lights. If you do, you should check out the Picktown Lights located in a subdivision in Pickerington. There are 16 or 17 houses on the street with all of their lights set to music you listen to on your radio. Husband has a few pics at his blog but it's really better in person. If you go, make sure you wait to hear the Trans Siberian Orchestra song (Wizards in Winter). That one puts on the best show.

Walking in a winter wonderland

I'm still trying to build up to hike the Grandma Gatewood Trail. I thought I was getting close until I strolled through the snow. Snow requires more strength and stamina. It sure is pretty though. These pictures were taken at Sharon Woods.

Hikes, hats, boat and toast.

I'm making an effort to spend more time outside this winter. Maybe if I acclimate myself, I will learn to like it. Yesterday I found myself wishing for snow. I've gone on a few of the scheduled night hikes with the Metro Parks, which I found fun. The other day, I talked Ray into walking around the North Bank Park. It was kind of disappointing to see so much litter, but it definitely has potential.

The Santa Maria. Personally, I can't imagine spending money to see this, but it's kind of cool to just walk by.


We also went to see William Wegman: Funney/Strange at the Wexner The video of how to make Log Cabin Cinnamon Toast was well worth the price of admission :) Admission is free, btw, as was parking on Sunday.

The finished Koolhaas hat.


And a beagle hat.

Sparano's Pizza

Pizza choices and preferences can get pretty personal, at least around here. This is what I get when I'm totally on my own and can get what I want. A rare occurrence.



Sparano's Pizza
1783 N Hague Ave
Columbus, OH 43204-1618
Phone: (614) 487-0087

Last splash of color.

Hiking has slowed, but trees in my yard looked nice this week.


I even enjoyed doing some raking. I'm sure the thrill will be gone before all of the leaves fall.

The Chocolate Cafe

As the daylight hours decrease, chocolate consumption increases. It's a law of nature - at least my nature. I can't believe I haven't been to this place sooner.

The Chocolate Cafe! It's located at 1855 Northwest Blvd, near the intersection of Northwest and North Star. You can get a light meal there and many many chocolate things. I had the 1/2 sandwich and soup combo, with a veggie and hummus sandwich and the lobster bisque soup. Both were excellent. I also had the dark chocolate mocha, which, even made with skim milk was very rich and creamy. The coffee drink came with a spoonful of chocolate on the side. Can you tell this is my kind of place??

Trails, Puppers, and Knitting

Before you say "Another tree picture???", take a closer look, maybe even click on it to enlarge it and you will see something in addition to trees.



That was taken at Battelle Darby Creek on the Ancient Trail. I hiked the Terrace Trail (2 mile loop) which is part level and part hilly. One hill had me huffing and puffing. It's all gravel. From there, the Ancient Trail (1.9 mile loop) spurs off of it. It has a little gravel, but it's mostly grass and going through a meadow.

Just a few more pics...



Over the weekend, Husband looked at the calendar and then put the hammock away. I looked at the weather forecast and got it back out. Katy is happy that I did.




I actually finished a knitting project. The Daisy Sweater for Baby B - who was dressed in a Bee costume and looked totally adorable for Trick or Treat - Baby Bee! Sorry, I can't post pics of her.