Hi, everyone!
Now that it’s September, the sun is setting closer and closer to the shoreline! The blackberries are ripening a little at a time, so we’ve been picking the ripe ones every time we’re at the bay. When Grandma was out in the kayak, she figured out why the eagles are so noisy! They are talking to other eagles! This one was calling to another adult eagle circling overhead. When Grandma came back from her kayak paddle, there was a young eagle sitting in another tree nearby, too!
Grandma and Grandpa have been working on more projects at the bay! Grandma power-washed and re-stained the stairs to the boathouse. She ran out of stain with one more board on the landing to go! Grandpa dug up the rotting landscape timber at the front edge of the kitchen door step and replaced it. Now the step doesn’t tip any more, no matter where you step on it! Meanwhile, Grandma got some more stain and re-stained the kitchen step, the table by the shed and my swing seat!
On Labor Day, Grandma took me to Mendon Ponds Park to see the fairy houses. I visited the fairy houses when they were at Tinker Nature Center, but the fairies have all moved to Mendon Ponds now! More of the houses are on tree stumps right next to the trail, so they’re easier to find!
I particularly liked the houses with swings or ladders or bridges!
None of the fairies were home when I visited, but I did find their tic tac toe game! There was a rainbow door I really liked, and I found the door that needed believing in magic!
We took the long way back from the fairy house trail, so I got to make friends with a great big fallen tree, and a twig teepee, and an owl painting!
On Tuesday, Grandma and I went to the Sunflower Festival at Wickham Farms. The festival had been going on for over a week when we got there, and a lot of the sunflowers had already been cut. I did like the fact that there were some low-growing sunflower varieties planted this year!
I liked all the varieties of sunflowers, especially the ones in lion colors! The bees seemed to like the same sunflowers I did! Some of the sunflowers had very droopy heads! It was cloudy when we started walking through the fields, but the sun came out before we were done!
The sign for weekday admission prices had boxes checked for both walking in the sunflower fields and taking a farm wagon ride as part of all the admission choices. But there was an asterisk by the farm wagon rides box that meant the farm wagon rides were only available on weekends! At least I got to make friends with the tractor that pulls the farm wagon rides! Admission also included cutting two sunflowers and Grandma let me choose my favorites!
On Wednesday, James and Thomas started school together! Grandma invited Uncle Steven’s family over for dinner on Thursday so we could hear all about the first days. Grandma made a special trip to buy salt bread at Amazing Grains bakery and ripe peaches at Powers Farm market. Then I helped Grandma make sweet potato gnocchi with chipotle cream sauce. Grandma had an AWACS cheesecake in the freezer and we all decided the beginning of the school year was a big enough event to get it out. Everything was yummy!
The lift bridge in the middle of Fairport closed for repairs on Thursday, and it’s going to be closed for a year! On Friday, Grandma took me to see the detour path for walkers. The bridge is going to stay in its raised position, so boat traffic can go through for the rest of this canal season and next year. Boats won’t have to wait at all for the bridge to lift!
The path for walkers is marked with signs and blue symbols on the sidewalk. The path led east to the Parker Street bridge. That’s a one-lane bridge for cars, but it has a nice separate sidewalk for people! We walked back to the north end of the closed bridge. I saw an artist painting a picture of the closed bridge on our way there!
Guess what? The trail signs weren’t all up yet, and we caught up with the installation people on the north side of the canal! They were very friendly and asked if I needed any signs printed!
Fairport village has two sets of train tracks north of the canal, and I watched a train go past. Trains won’t be affected by the bridge being closed at all! Then Grandma took me down to the canal, and I could see that boats won’t be affected, either! Walkers and bicycle riders along the path on the north side of the canal will have a short detour for the section that goes right under the lift bridge.
On our way back around the detour path, I made friends with a mule statue. In the early days of the Erie Canal, boats were pulled by mules walking on the towpath right next to the water. There’s a song about a mule named Sal, and that’s who the statue honors!
There’s a basement window at Grandma and Grandpa’s house that leaks when there’s a very heavy rain. It lets water into the basement even though there’s a cover over the window well outside! Grandpa decided this week was the time to fix it! He removed the window and the rusted steel frame. I could stick my head out into the window well! Then he put in a new plastic frame and did a lot of caulking around it so it would be water-tight. He replaced the glass pane with a piece of plexiglas cut to exact size. Next time we have a heavy rain, we’ll have to see if the fix works!
Love,
Lion-san