Hi, everyone!
The weather man said that today is the first day of fall! I’ve been seeing more fall signs since the last time I wrote. The Friday after Labor Day, we went to the Point to watch sunset for the last time this year. In fall and winter, the sun sets over land, so going to the Point to watch doesn’t change the view. It was a pretty sunset!
The next day, Uncle Steven came out to the bay to help Grandpa protect the new front boathouse wall for winter by putting on house wrap. First, Uncle Steven measured the walls to figure out what size to make the house wrap pieces. He decided that cutting the whole roll of house wrap crosswise into pieces would work best. I helped hold the roll while he sawed it apart. Grandma helped him hold the house wrap in place while he stapled it. Meanwhile, Grandpa started making steps for the south deck from big timbers!
We had some nice, “fallish” weather during the week, so Grandma said it was time to get back to hiking the Perinton Trails in our passport. The next trail we tried was at Howell Road Park. We found the blue trail right away, but we had to consult the map to find the orange trail that crossed the road!
Part of the Howell Road Park used to be a Christmas tree farm! Many of the old pine trees had big vines growing on them all the way to the top. After we crossed the road again, we took the red trail back to the parking area. There were lots of wildflowers and a boardwalk. Somebody left a decorated stone near the end of the trail!
Grandma said that since she already had bug spray on, we could try the High Acres Nature Area trails again! We were still confused by trail arrows in colors that didn’t show on our map, but I saw lots of interesting plants and scenery as we wandered around.
We finally got to a trail intersection we could identify on our map, and it was close to the area with the trail marker rubbing! When we got to the Sevilla Overlook, Grandma discovered we had lost our rubbing crayon! We used a leaf to make the rubbing, instead. I was glad we got to that spot! I liked seeing the Quarry Pond and the great big wetland next to it! When we got back to the parking area and the map there, Grandma figured out why we got confused. High Acres Nature Area is across the road from High Acres landfill and there are two parking areas along the road. The passport map directions started from the other parking area farther along the road.
On Wednesday, Grandma’s church choir had its first rehearsal for the season. It was at our house because of the Yom Kippur! A Jewish congregation shares our church building and was worshipping where our choir rehearsal would normally be held. When that happens, I get to sit in on rehearsal! This year, La Vache came to rehearsal with her grandma, so I had company!
Grandma thought the deck at the bay needed another coat of stain to protect it through the winter. We had a stretch of dry weather last week, so Grandma decided to work on that project before even more leaves fell! First, she sprayed the deck with deck cleaner bleach and rinsed it with the power washer. After the wood had a few days to dry, she brushed on a coat of semi-transparent stain. She used a different brand of stain that turned out to be more transparent than she expected! I had to stay well away from the bleach and stain, but here are before, during and after pictures.
While Grandma was working on the deck stain project, Grandpa was down by the water building new steps and a landing over our new retaining wall. He used composite deck boards, so they won’t ever have to be stained!
Last Sunday, my friend Rita-san came to collect her new supply of biscotti! Grandma warned me never to get between Rita-san and her biscotti, but we posed for a photo without any problems. Later in the day, we went back to the bay. A couple of weeks ago, when Uncle Steven’s family was having dinner with us on the porch at Sodus, the legs fell off our porch table! We all had to hold up our places at the table until Grandma and Aunt Kara could move all the food and dishes off! Grandpa figured out how to repair the table, and that was our project last Sunday afternoon. I helped hold the legs in the proper positions while Grandpa and Grandma fastened them together.
I’ve been feeling floppy, so I’ve started doing my yoga exercises again. Sunday night, we had an almost-full moon at the bay. The full moon this time of year is called the Harvest Moon!
Monday morning, Grandma and I finally had a chance to kayak up to the breach in Crescent Beach. When we looked from the lighthouse, we could see something above water there. We couldn’t tell whether the low water level this year revealed actual beach or something else. We got help from a south wind to get there! Turns out, the beach is still underwater, but some of the protective pier ruins were visible. Grandma said she got a nice upwind workout paddling back!
We went back to Fairport for dinner Monday. Making a new batch of chocolate chip cookies was on Grandma’s “to-do” list, so that was our after dinner project. Everybody helped! Grandma and I made the dough, filled the cookie sheets and rotated the sheets in the oven. Grandpa was in charge of transferring the baked cookies to cooling racks, then stacking them when the racks got full. I made sure every freezer bag got exactly two dozen cookies in it. Working together, we made over ten dozen cookies in 90 minutes! Of course, we had to sample them to make sure they were yummy!
Yesterday was another day with good weather for hiking. Grandma and I went to the next parks on our Perinton Trails passport. The trail at White Brook Nature area started in a meadow that had just been mowed for hay. We found the orange trail and followed it along White Brook. Parts were very muddy! There were lots of deer tracks! The far end of the orange trail was overgrown by weeds and we couldn’t find either end of the blue trail that was supposed to connect. Grandma said we might try that one again in a different season.
The next trail in our passport was the one at Lollypop Farm, the local animal shelter. There was lots to see! We took some detours from the path map to visit the story walk, the horse corrals, and Grace Field! I liked the animal sculptures high on poles there! We saw an emu that had just laid an egg in the grass! The milkweed along the trail was going to seed. We finally connected with the Nature Trail and did our rubbing at the trail marker.
Today it’s raining, and it’s supposed to continue raining tomorrow. I’ll be happy to have a little rest before I go trekking again!
Love,
Lion-san
Dear Lion-San,
Your blog should be called living well in Upstate New York. ( Or. La Vache goes to Choir practice). Martha Stewart has nothing on you! We love witnessing the transformation of the boathouse! Don’t you love having a “ structure” for your hikes? We so admire your expertise and energy!!! Thanks for sharing.
Love,
LaVache and Grandma