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.

Deer Creek State Park

Husband read that yesterday was supposed to be the peak for colors at Deer Creek State Park, so that means even more tree pictures! The peak had passed and it won't be long until the trees are not so photogenic so there will be less tree pictures soon. We hiked the Ridge Trail and the Rich Van Horn Trail. We would have hiked another, but the restaurant was closed for the afternoon and I was hungry and weak. I had never been to Deer Creek before. It's more of a resort type park and I usually go for the basic type, but it was nice.

I kept staring at this tree seeing the fractals.


Ray on the Ridge Trail. There weren't any tall trees where we were.


This is me on the Ridge Trail.


Deer Creek Lake. Again, I could have spent all day staring at the water.


THE pretty tree.


My goal is to hike the Grandma Gatewood Trail in Hocking Hills. I think I need to hike each part separately before attempting it all at once. Grandma Gatewood sounds like a very cool lady.

More hiking, more fall colors.

The Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park again, this time the Cobshell Trail and both ways on the Indian Trail, for a total of about 1.5 miles. This is not a level trail. I think it's one of the most scenic trails in the Metro Parks system. My daylight hours were limited, so I hustled enough to get some decent exercise. It's also one that has the least amount of traffic noise that I have been to so far. Enough leaves have fallen to make the path covered with them, which is part of the fun. The water was moving, due to the recent rains. I would have liked to have been able to sit and just watch the water for a while.

Dawes Arboretum

Yes, more trees! In contrast to having a trail to myself at Battelle Darby Creek, Dawes was packed with people. I noticed there is a lot more that is still green at Dawes.




The Cypress Swamp. I had not seen it dry before. I'm fascinated by this for some reason.


The view from the observation tower, which swayed when someone walked up the stairs.


A picture of Ray taking a picture.


We stopped at Clarks for their famous chicken on the way home. The menu gives you the choice of chicken, ham, or steak. I didn't see anyone eating anything other than chicken.

Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park

I usually go to Hocking Hills in September for a few days and then again in October for a few days. This year I have no plans to go because I don't want my dog left alone all day while I'm gone. To get my fall color nature fix, I'm taking advantage of what we have around here. Yesterday I went to Battelle Darby Creek for a stroll on the Dyer Mill/Ski Trail. This one is 3.2 miles and mostly level with one dip to get down by the creek.



The first part of the trail was pretty much all green and bare trees. Then I came across the maple section. Lots of yellow there.



A leaf not letting weather control what it does. This red was a rare sight,


until I came out of the woods and back to a prairie.


A few oak trees had both bright green and bright red.


My newest desktop.


The sky was perfect.


There's a place for ice skating in the winter I was not aware of.


This is a good place to go and enjoy nature without being bothered by people.

When Jupiter Aligns With Mars

Yesterday and Circumstances

1) A tall building in Columbus was scheduled to have fire drill.
2) Because of #1, Husband was working from home.
3) He was watching early morning news while starting his workday.
4) He saw on the news that Skybus has opened a new flight to Punta Gorda.
5) He emailed me to tell me that. (Yes, we were in the same house. We communicate electronically unless we are in the same room)
6) I was awake and sitting at my computer - HIGHLY unusual, but I needed to pee.
7) My parents go to Punta Gorda for the winter and I am expected to visit.
8) I got The Deal. Round trip to Punta Gorda in January - $36.30.

Whoa. I never expected to get in on one of their deals because I know they sell out so quickly and go on sale so early in the day.

And yes, I know if I have to check a bag, I pay $5. If I want some water, I pay $2. That could make the grand total a whopping $50.30. Everyone feels compelled to point that out to me for some reason.

More Jeni's Ice Cream. I think I may have been served by Mr. Jeni. Whoever it was gave lots of samples!


1) Dark Cocoa Gelato with almonds
2) Saigon Cinnamon
3)Torrone - White chocolate and honey with coarsley ground toasted almonds

Those 3 flavors blended together VERY well.

Prairie Oaks

Today Shauna and I went to Prairie Oaks for a walk on the Coneflower Trail. This is one I like a lot because you walk through prairie and woods, and I used to be able to walk along Big Darby Creek, but that part of the path was blocked off today. I don't know why but you can still go look at the creek at one point along the trail.

The prairie.



The woods.


Big Darby Creek.


I have a thing about exposed tree roots. I think they are so neat.


Seeing this helped me decide what pattern I'm going to use for the alpaca/merino yarn I bought at A Wool Gathering. Can you guess that it will have cables? :)

Shauna was tired.

diamond geezer

My very favorite city is London. I found a London blogger that I just love to read. His posts are always interesting to me whether it's his unique perspective on the city, his puzzles, or his wit. Yesterday he posted a puzzle that I looked at for a few minutes and had absolutely no clue what it was. Today I looked at it and right away I knew which direction to go and had it all solved in 10 minutes. It's really nice to know that my brain is working while I'm sleeping, now I don't have to worry so much about it not working when I'm not sleeping :)

Anyway, here is the blog for diamond geezer.

October tomatoes

I was not one of the people complaining about the recent heat wave. I was happy to have it and now I am ready for it to be October. One thing I had not yet made myself do was get rid of the tomato plants. They were filled with green tomatoes that had stopped ripening. Lo and behold, the heat wave and this is what we have.



The vet called today with Katy's test results. As feared, it looks like she has bladder cancer. He's going to call back tomorrow to talk more about it. She is feeling better after starting a new medicine so her tail is wagging more and that is a good thing.

A non-productive day.

It was one of those days. By late afternoon, I still hadn't accomplished anything other than getting dressed. I'm stressed and worried about my beagle's health.

Here's my baby, Katy.


I needed to get out of the house so I treated myself to a Jeni's ice cream sundae.

Pear Riesling Sorbet
Spiced Apple Sorbet
Spiced Caramel Syrup

I thought a movie might help my mood.


As I sat people watching, it dawned on me that it's more than a little ironic I was going to see something called Death at a Funeral to get some stress relief. It was enjoyable except for the short bit that made me gag - which I have to admit was kind of funny.

I liked these shutters.

Good Gourd!

The $100 pumpkin.


Today I stopped by Smith Farm Market on Winchester Pike. They had such a huge variety of pumpkins, gourds and squash, I had to take pictures. As usual, there are more pictures at Flickr.

There were the Goose Gourds.


There were Jug Gourds - and these things were pretty big.


A variety of big ones.


A variety of little ones.


Today's nature stroll was at the Slate Run Wetlands, one of the Metro Parks. This time, there was only one other person there - a guy sitting on a bench with binoculars. This trail was level grass and 1.5 miles.

There were lots of frogs here, but I wasn't fast enough to get any pics of them.






Dry wetlands.