Sunday, July 26, 2026

Summertime

The week flew by with Ayson working everyday and Addie had visits with friends on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday - both kiddos were tired by the end of the week.  We hope everyone is doing well and staying healthy!!!

We received the photo from the Art Open House at the Highschool - with the flowers that we colored :)

 
LOOK at this zucchini!  Perfect for bread :)


Flowers, Adam, and and the puppies


Puppy cuddles


On Friday night, we did Smores - Addie did not want one.


Saturday was the last U pick day at the lavender farm so Amy and Addie went to the farm to walk the rows of lavender and enjoy the afternoon. 


There were SO many bees and moths on the flowers!


On Sunday, we took the dogs for a walk in the orchard and afterwards, Jett went immediately to his pool, got all the way in, and started to drink water.


We have not had frequent rain which has made keeping the weeds uncontrol pretty easy!


Ayson LOVES chocolate chop zucchini bread.  Amy prepped the zucchini and Ayson made the bread!



Addie and Thunder :)


Flowers from the week:

Clematis




Cool mushrooms

Tiger swallowtail butterfly


Monarch caterpillar!!


Black-eyed Susans

Sunnies



The nodding onions and purple love grass are blooming!!!


Purple coneflower


Sunday, July 19, 2026

Back to Reality (for Amy and Adam)

It was back to work for Amy and Adam. We all had a good week (despite the wildfire smoke) and we had a great weekend.  We picked 30 pounds of blueberries and Adam made blueberry jam, Ayson made a blueberry pie and Amy froze 22 pounds of blueberries and there are still berries left for the week!  We hope everyone is doing well, staying healthy, and enjoying summer!!
There won't be much text this week as Amy was pressed for time.

Monday



Tuesday smoke haze



Thursday smoke

Friday was perfect for swimming


Puppy cuddles.


Sunday morning blueberry picking while Ayson was working at the lavender farm.


Prepping the pie.


Crust instruction


Yay!

Flowers from the week







First sunny to open!


 

Sunday, July 12, 2026

Staycation Fun

We had an enjoyable week filled with some chores and then excursions, meals out, and relaxation by the pool. We hope everyone is enjoying summer and staying healthy!!

Ayson wanted to catch perch so we went to Otisco Lake on Tuesday.  The boys fished from kayaks while Amy and Addie explored the lake in kayaks.


The boys fishing


We lost one half of our kayak paddles so Amy towed Addie.  However, Addie was tired of going where Amy wanted so she figured out how to paddle with only one paddle :)


Ayson needed help getting a fish off of his hook - so Addie held the pole while Ayson ripped the lips off a fish.

 
On Wednesday morning, we went to Three Falls Woods preserve - we had only been there once before (January 2021) because the trails were not very well marked and we get off course.  We got off course again but we did have an enjoyable morning in the woods and near water!






Addie and a baby American toad - which is called a toadlet :)


Ayson made homemade pizza on Friday.  The boys made fun of the overlapping rows of peperoni and spam (Ayson's favorite) that Amy put on one of the pizzas. BUT cooking shrunk the peperoni/spam and there was a perfect amount of meat coverage on the cooked pizza :)



Addie wanted to fish - by catching minnows or crayfish with her hands or a net - so we went to Little York Lake on Saturday.  In the below picture, Adam and Addie are at the top of the hill and Adam threw pebbles at Ayson who was sitting at a picnic table.  Ayson did not tolerate the pebbles and then threw larger rocks back at Adam.


Scoping out the crayfish.


Amy went for a kayak while Addie caught crayfish.  Amy almost turned around when she came across the beaver dam...but then she determined that she could climb over the dam with not much difficulty - so why not!  


The dam from upstream.


Addie and her three crayfish.  Yes, she did get pinched by at least one crayfish.


Addie requested a picture with each crayfish.





Setting the crayfish free.


Kisses from Stormy Saturday afternoon


On Sunday morning, Amy and her friend Kate went to a lavender event in Cazenovia and we visited with one of our friends that was helping run a booth for The Haven at Skanda at the event. "The Haven at Skanda is a nonprofit farm animal sanctuary and education center in Cazenovia, New York, dedicated to love, hope, and healing—for both animals and people, especially children." 


Pictures from the lavender fields.  




A gorgeous rose bloom



More blooms.