Camping Part 3

Something about the outdoors makes food taste so good!  I indulge with pancakes in the morning.  Homemade with runny blackberry jam.  Luxury camping involves a portable kitchen.

It's ready to go, mixed up at home and just add the egg and buttermilk.

I always take too much food and eat too much but I never feel guilty about it!  The pancakes attracted the kids next door and after breakfast they decided Uno was hot.

Uno is obviously in love!  He's a dominant little dog and NEVER exposes his tummy to anyone voluntarily like this!

The neighbor's are from Chicago.  I officially retract any disparaging remarks I may have made about Yankees in the past.  These folks didn't talk funny nor were they in a hurry or unfriendly.  They were a joy to be around!  I let Sophie pick out a dishcloth to give to her momma.

She picked the brown and green one.  I was particularly proud of that one as I successfully followed a pattern for maybe the first time in my life!

For my loyal friends out there in bloggy land ~ I cannot comment on my blog posts!  I have wanted to respond to your comments but alas, Blogger has other ideas.  Please know I read them all and appreciate hearing from you.

Have a great day!

Camping Part 2

With the downturn in the economy more people are camping I'm told.  Also, for the first time this particular state park was fully booked with no walk in sites available.  Even the primitive area was nearly full.  Nearly every site is now available to reserve online and those few that aren't can be reserved by phone.  News to me and I've camped there for years.

Now I luxury camp but the first neighbors that drove up really had it goin' on!

Yes that is a golf cart.  It was unloaded out the back end of their camper.  They also had a boat!  I figured this was at LEAST a hundred grand in recreational equipment.  My camper is quite extravagant for me but these people are serious about comfort!  They had two nice little pomeranians too.  Harley and Chopper (I guess they left the motorcycles at home).

Bad picture but they are chasing the golf cart for their exercise.

Harley (standing) owns that cart!

The first night a family camped right next door (had some horse poop right next to the picnic table~I was tempted to take it home because it is GREAT for compost but I guess some folks are squeamish about poop in general even though horse poop is like ground up grass).

I don't know how they all slept in that little camper but they did!  I don't usually post pictures of people without permission but I don't think he would mind.  He and his wife trusted us with the kids who completely stayed at our site the whole time so I figure he'd trust me with his photo too.  It was refreshing to interact with children whose parents weren't scared of everything and everyone.  They kept a watchful eye is all.

When I first drove up I spotted Bambi and her fawn.

See Baby leaping into the woods?  Later after my nap Momma was outside my window.  She wanted soooo badly to cross through the grass but she finally decided to play it safe.  I think she was looking for Baby.

This shot was taken through the screen from inside the camper.  Later on when I went for a walk I found their tracks and that is how I confirmed she had a fawn with her earlier.

I also found evidence of the raccoon that stole the bread!

Coons can be a real nuisance camping.  I quickly remembered to crate the dogs next to the food.

Stay tuned for Part 3!

Camping Trip Part 1

Some of you may remember the front end hitch I had installed back in the winter.  Here it is in all its glory.

It comes in real handy when I have to back the trailer into my driveway.  Camping is supposed to be fun and this little implement is worth every penny!

My home away from home.  This is a real change from my back packing days when a whole weekend's worth of food, shelter, and clothing fit onto my back!  Luxury camping at its finest.  Here is a peek inside.....

I made those little thingies so I could reach the zippers to open the windows. 

 We were asked to leave the first campsite but as it turned out we got a better one.  The trails were closed to horses so the equine section was open to regular folks like us.  We had a nice view.

The dogs liked going for walks without a leash. 

Peabody is getting old so he decided to stay behind.

Sugar was able to trot along quite well after her arthritis pill! Uno, of course, was all over everything.

      
There wasn't a soul on the trails which pleased me.  I like the solitude with my dogs.

The weather was perfect.  I hardly broke a sweat and it was very relaxing and peaceful.  But as you will see next time, I had some interesting neighbors!

The Visitor

Sitting in my swing the other afternoon doing my usual crocheting and sipping a beverage I had a visitor.  She has been around quite a lot lately.  She has big brown eyes and I have been wanting to get a picture of her to show!    I've watched her fighting with the other neighbor gal a couple of doors down.  She must be very territorial.  So, I dashed inside and got my camera and I managed to get a few pictures before she dashed around the side of the neighbor's house.

I tried to get closer so you could see her lovely long ears.

But she ran.

 I look forward to seeing her again, and maybe her babies too!  I think she owns this yard and the next one over because it looked like the other rabbit won the fight.

I will be offline until early next week so everyone have a great weekend and I hope to have lots of pictures of random beauty to share when I get back.

The Drive to Work

I take the same route to work everyday due to some construction and I always admire the huge old houses that line Broadway.  Now the old houses are only found on the north side of downtown and I still remember when they tore down the old houses on the south end.  It was painful to watch as the bits and pieces of a time gone by was laid on the curb for trash only to be replaced by fast food restaurants and medical buildings.  A shame really.  I would wince as I drove past and saw bullseye molding in pieces and other odds and ends.  I suppose the consumer driven monster behind it all found it more lucrative to replace rather than restore.

The character of my small city completely changes when you pass through its tiny downtown.  It is like stepping into the past if you gaze upward at the old houses.  They are truly lovely.  I decided to stop on the way to work this morning and share one house in particular with you.

Isn't it lovely?  I can imagine peeking out the window in the turret and seeing horse drawn carriages slowly making their way down the street.

This style is quite popular here.  And I love how they mix the stone with brick.

Circular rooms have always fascinated me.  I imagine it took a skilled mason to lay these stones.

Yes it looks like 3 stories of history here.  I wish I knew more about this house.

Across the street is another house.  Someone is doing some work on it as you can tell.

I'm not sure what the gray thing is on the side.

This white stone has a name I can't recall, but it is common to see here as well.  Old houses like these have it as well as those built in the '40's and '50s.  Buildings later than that do not have it.

Another turret!  Notice the stone.  Like the other house it is bedford stone.  You see lots more of that stone further west.  In fact, there is a town in Indiana named for it.  Indiana for my friends abroad is the neighboring state across the river.

Another shot of the turret.  I would LOVE to look out the upper most window.

Right across the street from the gray panel is a park!  I had never noticed this tiny park.  If it is on private property they are willing to share this bit of green space!

At first I wondered if this monument memorialized some eccentric person's "beloved" pet. 

Let's look around this tiny park.

There are actually two benches and the park runs nearly a full block.

I was very happy to find this.  I only stopped because there was a spot to park and I wanted a photograph.  Somehow it made me feel better about the world to see that someone had taken the time to put a nice little spot here in downtown for no apparent purpose except to provide a respite for pedestrians.  The area has quite a few homeless people and it was very generous of the owners to invite anyone to sit right outside their window.