I Thought They Drove on the Left

ithaca, ny--

Tour de Not France

watkins glen, ny-- Sunday was the last day of the Tour de France; we celebrated accordingly.

I donned the Euskatel riding jersey that sleuthy Karen tracked down for my bday. [Not in the know? Euskatel is a Basque telecom company that sponsors a team]. We threw the bikes on the back of Jeepy (a simple 9-step process), and roared down the road to Watkins Glen.

About halfway there, we spotted a saw a sign for sour cherries at a local u-pick. What?! Sour cherries?! We thought those were done. We flipped a screeching u-turn, scoured all the cherries off the trees-- to the annoyance of some cranky tourists who pulled in after us-- then resumed our journey.



Once in Watkins, Karen dutifully checked out the Famous Brands werehouse sale for some work clothes, then we hopped on over to the hardware store in search of Swiss chard seeds. The clothes were all hideous and the hardware store was closed because no one does home improvement projects on the weekend.

But no matter! We were here to cycle. The village terrain is superflat and so not at all like the Pyranees, thank god.

Tour de France riders sip champagne as they glide into Paris on the final day. We sipped Fanta Orange. Revved up on high fructose corn syrup Karen zipped away through the streets of the town.



We found this inviting bike trail situated between a marina and wetlands.



But look! It's an area of multiple uses!



Hmm. Pedestrian walkway, bike trail, public hunting grounds. One of these things is not like the others. Who decided these were compatable uses? A planner, no doubt.

Some Canadian geese flying above the trail/hunting grounds. They'll be dead soon.



We survived without any bullet wounds, so I treated Karen (with her $) to some ice cream at Tobe's, the ice cream stand she visited some 20 years ago with Eric, back when she hung with real cyclists and spent her days circling the Finger Lakes.

Here's Tobe's menu.



I commented about how all high school girls go through the phase of adding curlicue serifs to all their letters. Karen looked at me quizically.

I love my new bike bag! Next time we are stuffing it with snax!



It's good to have a bike that knows me better than I know myself...

A Blueberry Deferred

trumansburg, ny-- Karen and I agreed to meet in the village of Trumansburg (midway between Ithaca and Caywood Station) after work on Thursday and from there proceed to blueberry picking.

I spent some time in the Philomathic Library perusing the latest issue of Bon Appetit while waiting to meet up. It's really a great library for such a small community.


In case you didn't know what "philomathic" means.



While we were admiring the clematis climbing up the sign at the village offices, we felt two raindrops. These were interpreted as a sign that blueberries should be deferred in favor of beer drinking.






(Blurry? Picture snapped after drinking.)

Other nice things about Tburg-- sidewalk haiku near the stream's gorge...





Pretty railing perfectly matches wildflower...



Local sentiment about planning issues. However, this statement does not represent the view of Caywood Days. Not sure where Barney stands on the issue, either. His people couldn't be reached for comment.



You can put your old glasses here. Really.



... and that's a taste of Tburg. As our closest metropolitan center, you will surely be seeing more of it here on Caywood Days.

Through the Day Today

weos 89.7 fm geneva/ithaca-- For this entry, I've tasked myself with trying to convey the amusement we experience while listening to the local weather reports. When we first moved here, we were bewildered by meteorologist Tom Churchill's tendency to say such things as: "Mostly cloudy today. From the clouds, rain will fall." Well, sure, we thought. Where else would it come from?

Soon, we found ourselves mimicking Tom's idiosyncratic nasaly singsong delivery. He starts every forecast with the words "Through the day today" so of course when we are talking about what's on our personal agendas, now we say, "Through the day to day..."

Karen finally figured out that much like the operator at POP*CORN, each bit of Tom's weather forecast is recorded separately so weather staff can just piece it together according to each day's need. That's why he always sounds weird and always sounds exactly the same.

OK. It's funnier when you are a) here, b) when you hear it repeatedly, and c) when you are as dorky as we are. Here are some weather pictures:

Raining really hard with flashing lightning and booming thunder: Exciting!



The next day: Pretty!

Roadside Bouquet

caywood road and cornell campus-- Wow, there are some pretty flowers to be seen around here.

Some are wild...





...some are cultivated.

You Are Welcome

caywood station--Another summer has come to Caywood Station, and in case we haven't told you lately, you are always welcome for a visit*.

Seasonal Amenities:
-- Ruby's Cowgirl (or -boy, if you prefer)Suite: Year 'round
-- On-site Sulpher Spring Spa (ok, that's an inside joke. Don't expect a whirlpool): Year 'round
-- Delicious ice cream: Year 'round
-- BBQ's on the deck: Pretty much year 'round
-- Daffodils and forsythia: Spring
-- Ample reinforcement of resurrection motif: Spring
-- Hikes to all manner of incredible gorges and waterfalls: Late spring-fall
-- Strawberries: Early summer
-- Cherries: Summer
-- Blueberries: Summer
-- Peaches: Summer
-- Corn, tomatoes: Late summer
-- Vine covered deck: Summer, fall
-- Humidity: Summer, fall
-- Apples: Fall
-- Karen's Famous Apple Pie: Fall
-- Fall colors: When you think
-- Parsnips: Winter
-- Grey skies, denuded trees: Winter
-- Anisa's Famous Angst: Winter

Don't be a stranger**!

*Offer does not apply to weird Internet stalker types.
**Offer does not apply to weird Internet stalker types.

Thinking of Grandma

caywood kitchen-- When I was a little girl, Grandma Jean always had Brazil Nut cookies in the cookie jar on the counter. Grandpa liked them and I think Dad sometimes ate them, too. Mom described them as kind of "an adult cookie"... I think meaning: "no chocolate." But I liked them, too. I don't remember Grandma making them as often after Grandpa died, but I still associate them with her, him, and their house.

Yesterday, I tried making them for the first time.

Field Trip

at the south end of keuka lake-- Time to get out and explore the region! We went to the tiny town of Hammondsport on Sunday. It was described by our local informant as a down-to-earth version of Skaeneatlis. Haven't been there yet so can't compare, but we did find a cute village square with ice cream shop, antique stores, and doo-dad places. You can walk down to the boardwalk by the lakeshore and have a cherry-pit spitting contest.

But this picture was our favorite.

Wait Just a Cherry-Pickin' Minute!

caywood-- Cherry season is just finishing up here. One day last week, Roscoe (the chocolate lab we are dogsitting) and I went picking. My one regret is that we didn't take a picture of the sour cherry pie Karen made. Being a westerner, I've never before sampled such fare. Imagine heaven. That was Karen's Sour Cherry Pie.

I had trouble conveying to Roscoe that I wanted him to sit facing me, so I could take his picture.



Roscoe is pointing to the sours.

Let's Review

caywood station -- What's the speed of blogging? In our case, it's fits and starts.

Here's a review of the things that have been happening offline for the last few months.

Fun homework: Note the early spring surroundings in these photos and compare to upcoming pics of summer!

Gardening: One of our main activities-- breaking sod... just like the early settlers. Only our lives don't depend on it.



But a small sample of the rocks removed from the garden!



When you think you are done with the rocks, there's always the roots...



But then you plant a seed and it's all worth it.



Riding in the vineyard, accompanied by our friend and neighbor, Shady.



An early spring view from our deck. The garden directly opposite Karen is our neighbor, Jay's. To the right of the tall, A-frame-type structures (which are Jay's tomato trellises-- they work much better than tomato baskets!) can you make out the plot of land we cleared for our garden?



Ruby and Anisa enjoying a moment.



Here's Karen's family up for a visit to celebrate Karen's Birthday, Mother's Day, and the end of the semester.



If you live in LA and are ever clutched by the (crazy, ill-conceived) idea to make a Princess Cake, why not just head on over to the Farmer's Market on Fairfax and buy a slice instead? The vast amount of time you spend on the freeway will be but a small fraction of the time it would take to make one. But no, I'm not bitter.



However, if you do make one, make sure Emma is around to help you decorate it. She's a natural!


Baby Birds: Spring and birdsong go together. A robin built a nest over the porchlight downstairs, which proved a stressful site for her since she was always having to swoop down to ward off passersby. Karen, good neighbor that she is, was very interested in concerned about the family, so called on them daily.



Here's how the babies looked early on...


Everyday, on the way to work: We check out what the specials are.



When Jim, Karen's brother-in-law was here, we begged him to take us mushroom foraging. The grail: morels. Along the way, we saw these trillium flowers, one of Karen's woodland favorites.





Our harvest. As far as we could tell, it wasn't a morel.



Old barns: We like them. Also, this summer, Ithaca History Center is documenting a bunch from the region, before they all fall down.



Stairs! Spring brought new stairs and easy access to the backyard. One feels quite grand descending them. When Darren and I were young pups, we stopped in at a diner in the Angeles National Forest. Chatting with the waitress, she referred to the place's "friendly counter" so named because its circular shape allowed everyone sitting there to see and visit with each other. As you can see, the landing on these stairs is shared with our neighbors' unit next door. I think of it as the "friendly landing" because we often find ourselves gathering there for a visit.



Social Event of the Season: Definitely Customer Appreciation Days at Countryside Produce, the Amish farmstand about 10 miles away (and one of Karen's favorite food emporia EVER). There was plenty to eat, two greenhouses full of seedlings for your vegetable or flower garden, some rare birds in an enclosure (not sure how those fit in), and, best of all, this tiny calf! We were amazed at the number of cars parked all around when we got there-- you'd have thought it was free frisbee night at the Starlight Speedway! It's safe to say the proprietors made some serious bank.

That's our neighbor, Lucy, befriending the calf.



Oh, there are more springtime photos I could show you, but I think it's time to resume our regularly scheduled blog!

Thanks for reading!

7/25/08