Wednesday Hodgepodge

It's WEDNESDAY and I'm liking the Hodgepodge questions this week so decided to play along today.  Head over to This Side of the Pond blog to learn more 

1.  What's something you may do this month?

 We may kayak on one of the  state park lakes near our home (there are 3 we like) 

2. Hola! Hodgepodge Day lands just after Cinco de Mayo... how do you feel about Mexican food? What's your favorite dish? Do you make it at home or is it a strictly dine out option? 

I like some Mexican food. I used to like it better when I was younger. When I cook it which is rare, I can't use cilantro as I'm one of those small percentage of people who taste soap when it's consumed. 

My fave dish is a vegetarian tostada made by my fave Mexican restaurant in Saratoga Springs. They don't use cilantro in it!!

I make tacos once in a great while (I use chicken, ground bison, or beyond meat "beef"; I also make fish tacos once in a great while ) and I also have a delicious fairly easy recipe for enchiladas.  You can find it here.  But usually we got out to my fave place in Saratoga.  I usually order the bean tostada although I did have it with the chicken once. Because I don't eat beef, it can be hard to find good Mexican dishes without it. 

Honestly, when we were in Albuquerque last May, we went to a super good Mexican restaurant that featured fish tacos and they were the best ones I've ever had and I've had a LOT...they were even better than the ones on Cape Cod! 

3. When the children of today grow up what do you think they'll say about this time period? What do you most hope they remember? 

This particular  time period? as in 2024-2026? They'll say "oh how did those people ever survive that "leader"??!!   

What I hope they remember: that some of us are still kind, still good, and still believe in loving our neighbors as ourselves.....and that some of us still love God with our whole heart, soul and mind even though we might not understand His ways. 

4. What advice would you give a new mother? 

that parenting is the only job that doesn't come with an instructional manuel.  (I literally used to say this to my special needs prek students' parents at their first IEP mtg of the year and I used to say it to my parenting clients when I taught Parenting Skills classes). 

I would also tell them to get their children off social media and to NOT post alot of pictures of their little ones ......and to embrace each moment....every single developmental milestone...and to be present.  To keep their iphones away.  To play with their children from ages birth-12. to have regular "dates" with their teens.  To be honest and authentic with them.  To set good boundaries and follow through.  

To learn the difference between punishment and discipline and embrace or learn discipline techniques for those "frustrated fours". 

To learn the difference between blind obedience and cooperation and to make their goal cooperation and for the love of all things maternal to stop asking questions that a toddler will just yell "NO" to ( example: can you pick up your toys? NO says the 2 yr old.  the better way:  "let's pick up your toys so we can have fun in the bathtub....ready set go! "

And to learn their child's love language.....

To not sweat the small stuff and to pick their battles (important  during the teen years!) 

and read to them every.single.night (to engage Daddy in this too if there's a dad in the house).

And most of all: Pray.  

5. What's a phrase your mother often said to you? If you're a mom do you say it to your own children? 

"Don't track dirt into the house" 

I didn't say this to my own daughters. Rather, I taught them to remove their shoes at the door.  We are a shoeless house. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

We have a rainy day and I'm thankful for it.....we need the moisture and I have a lot of housework I want to get done. 

our deck and backyard at 8 AM
rain is needed! 

HAPPY WEDNESDAY

and if you're a Mom, Happy Mother's Day on Sunday!

MAY meme for Tuesday 4

Welcome friends!

This weeks Tuesday 4 in memory of our frien d Toni Taddeo is from Mary who blogs at Visits With Mary. and it's all about the month of May.   Thanks Mary!

I'm linking up at this blog for the Tuesday 4. Head over here to jump in!

 Hello May

1. May’s First Glimpse — What is the very first thing you notice or feel when May arrives each year?

I first notice all the green.....the green grass is more vibrant and verdant and requires cutting every week here than in April, typically.  Our maple trees in the backyard have larger green leaves which will be at peak by the end of May....and the leaves of my irises are up and will soon have flowers. I also begin to notice "May Flowers" a wildflower that grow in the mountains in the month of May...they are typically a light shade of blue.  They also grow on Cape Cod as we've camped in May there and have seen them in the woods. 

2. Simple May Joys — What small pleasures do you look forward to in May — flowers, breezes, routines, or traditions?

Backyard bonfires when it's still cool enough at night to fully enjoy them, our first adventure on one of our fave lakes with the kayaks usually happens sometime during Memorial Day weekend, beach days with friends and families and hikes on more local trails due to black flies arriving in the mountains in mid-May (typically Mother's Day to Father's Day), and evenings to grill dinner foods like chicken, potatoes, corn, tofu (I tried it last year and it came out great), bison and vegan burgers; breakfast or morning coffee and lunch on the deck when the morning sun is beaming and there's no cold wind......and dinners on the deck once Memorial Day weekend gets here and life slows down a little more and the air is warmer. (our deck gets the sun from dawn until about 2 pm and then is in the shade )

3. May Memories — Do you have a favorite May memory from childhood, family life, or recent years?

A fave memory from childhood: heading up to our camp in the southern Adirondacks to "open it up" for the Summer season; riding on my uncle's boat on the Great Sacandaga  during Memorial Day weekend; eating peanut butter sandwiches on Sunbeam bread at grandma M's who lived right on the lake; playing tag with my 2 younger sisters (the 4th sister wasn't born until I was 15) at camp; sitting by the outdoor fireplace with my dad for the first time since the previous Labor Day weekend. 

A fave family life memory when the girls were little: Spending time at the family beach house on Buzzards Bay (just before you get on Cape Cod proper).....There were just 4 houses on our strip of the peninsula surrounded by ocean and the Audubon Protected lands on the other side (rare birds were there). We loved gathering with Dave's side of the family at "the beach house" that Karen's husband bought for the fam. Our turn to use it was usually the month of August.  Memorial Day weekend in 2012 was a fun one because Karen and Hanna, who was heading back to Scotland in the fall, were there.  Not shown in the pic:  my husband Dave, his parents, Peter's wife Kathy and their kids Adam and Beth. 

my two girls, then 13 and 17 in 2012
Memorial Day weekend

Memorial Day Weekend 2012
from l-r: My sister in law Karen (Dave's oldest sis) 
on the ground her only child Hanna age 19
Claire age 13, Courtney age  17, Peter (Dave's older bro) 

  A fave recent memory:   

Memorial Day Weekend at home!
Dave and I
May 2022

Our Oldest  girl had moved out the previous year
to her own apartment but came over for our Memorial Day  bonfire

Our youngest daughter was moving into her own apt
at the end of the summer...here she is with her vegan s'more!
Yes, vegan marshmallows are SO good. Way less sticky than regular ones.
put it with oatmilk dark chocolate and a graham cracker and......yummy!

                                                                                                      
It was so nice to have the girls together and to actually spend Memorial Day weekend at home for once (we used to camp or go to the beach house which is no longer in the family or to either my parents' home in central NYS or to Dave's parents' home in Plymouth Co, MA or we'd be hosting hike and beach bbq days.  That year (2022) we took the kayaks to one of the local state park lakes  and had a picnic but the bulk of the weekend was spent at home in our own backyard. I cherish the memory. 

4. May Intentions — What gentle goals or hopes do you carry into this new month?

I don't know what is meant by "gentle goals" but I carry a couple of hopes:  I hope May is nowhere near as wet (with rain)  as last May so that I can keep my hiking group's scheduled hikes on the days I've scheduled them for and not have to cancel! 

And I'm hoping my husband gets his requested time off (his company is supposed to let him know by the end of this week)  the last week of July for his gaming convention in Cincinnati because it's the week my oldest daughter and I went to head north to the mountains and rent a cottage and do some touring up that way while he's gone. She gets 3 weeks vacation and actually wants to spend a week with me!! 

Happy Tuesday!!

First Weekend of May Wrap-Up

 

What a busy, but fun,  weekend, we had!  

FRIDAY EVENING

Dave worked from home, as usual, all day Friday and after his normal 8-5 time, had to then take an online class for the job....learning some kind of new computer program, so dinner was Pizza as take out since I wasn't sure when his class would end.  I ordered the pizza and surprised him by getting mushrooms on half of it for him (I don't do mushrooms). We also had green peppers on it.  While he worked on some things in the basement, I prepped my backpack and hiking clothes for the next day's mountain hike with my hiking group, SoulSteps.  There were originally 4 people signed up for this, but 2 people had to drop out, leaving just my friend Evelyn and I. Evelyn is someone I just met last May (2025) when she joined the group .....and that's when I found out she is the mom of my oldest daughter's boyfriend, whom Courtney had just started dating last May! Dave was mentally tired from work so wanted to crawl into bed by 10 pm. ......I joined him to read for a bit. 

SATURDAY

Saturday's weather promised partly sunny for the area of the Adirondack Mountains where the mountain hike was taking place, along with 5% chance of rain, and temps only in the 40s on the ground (which means only in the 30s on the summit!). After coffee and a protein packed breakfast, Evelyn arrived and since she offered to drive, I put all my hiking gear in her car and off we went at the early hour of 7:30 AM.  Dave had a gaming event from 11 AM-8 PM so he said there was no need for us to  rush home after the hike. We arrived at the trailhead around 9:15 and to our surprise, the black flies hadn't started yet up there!  Black Fly season in the ADK is typically Mothers Day through Fathers Day and sometimes until the end of June if a particularly wet Spring. Our Spring hasn't been super wet (yet) like last year so we were happy there were no bugs. However, it was cold. We needed hats to start out.  We had some clouds at first but then about a half mile into the hike, the sun and blue sky showed up.  It was warming up, as well and was a pleasant 48 degrees.  We had layers on and shed the hats. We were the only people on the trail. 

This is about .9 miles into the hike
we crossed this stream by rock hopping
as there is no bridge here and paused to take in
the bog/meadow view 

I spied some trillium beginning to bloom!
This is a protected plant in NYS
which means do not pick!! 

Here is about the 1.2 mile mark
and where the trail now begins a significant switchback
before a significant climb. You can see that here
in the Central ADK which is about 1.5 hours northwest of my home,
 that the trees are just now budding....they are about 3 weeks behind us

This is at one of the 11 overlooks
(Not counting the Summit!)
where we could get a good glimpse
of Gore Mt and some of the higher peaks

Evelyn takes in the view from one of the overlooks
You can see that at this point, we had full sun and beautiful blue skies

Here I am on the Ridgeline
We are about at the 2 mile point at this spot
only another .8 miles to go! 

This is just after crossing over the ridge
and the clouds starting moving in again

I don't know if you can see it, 
but there was a drop of rain in the center 
of this fir tree branch.....it rained for about 45 seconds!
and then the sun came out again as you can see

We are almost to the summit at this point,
and it began to sleet! 
it was now about 32 degrees F so on went the hat again! 

The sun came out for about 5 minutes on the summit
so we ate our lunch sitting on the large rocks to the side.
3 other hikers...all college aged girls with a dog arrived on the summit
about 10 minutes after we did......they left just before us.....
while we were gathering our lunch things, it began to sleet again!
I had to add a layer (a windbreaker under my down vest and over my 2 hiking shirts....
when you are used to hiking in the northeast, you learn to dress in layers in the Spring and Autumn)
and then as we were about to leave the summit,  a man around our age arrived.
On our way down the trail heading back down the mountain, we met his friend.
We told him it was only about 32 on the summit and he said yup and sleeting I'm guessing.
It stayed sleeting for about 10 minutes and then it cleared up again to stay partly sunny the rest of the trek down. All in all, it was a fantastic climb and my 5th time up Moxham Mt. 
We hiked a total of 5.78 miles

It was such a great "First Mountain of  2026" hike! It was Evelyn's first time up this mountain and she really enjoyed it. She said she felt the stress of her work week just slip away.  I said yes...I could feel the pain in my upper back just slip away as I approached the summit. The mountains are very healing. 

When I arrived back at my house, it was about 4:30 PM so I unpacked, had a nice long hot shower and put on comfy yoga pants and a tee shirt.  I checked on my flowers to make sure the rabbits had stayed away and did a load of laundry.  I had leftover pizza and salad for dinner and then spent the evening reading blogs, reading my book group assignment and watching the rest of a series I had started on Netflix. Dave arrived home around 9 PM and we chatted about our days and then read in bed a bit before sleep. 

SUNDAY 

Dave and I were up early Sunday morning to have coffee and go to the 9 AM church service. The sanctuary was full! After talking to a couple of friends, we came home and I started prepping veggies and chicken to make Chicken Curry over rice for our company. While I cooked, Dave mowed most of the backyard, both sides and the front lawns.  Everything came out great and I had enough for the 6 of us (I'm not used to cooking Indian food for a crowd!).  On the side we also had steamed green beans and steamed spinach. Our company was our oldest daughter Courtney and her boyfriend Tyler, along with our "third daughter" Hannah and her husband Scott. Scott is employed full time at our church as the Production Manager and Coordinator.  Hannah is our choir director, our  daughter Courtney's good friend...and our good friend...she is a vocal music teacher in our local school district. They arrived around 1 pm after the 11 AM service.  I was so busy hosting and fellowshipping, I neglected to take photos.  Everyone seemed to love the food and dessert was homemade mocha brownies. I sent some home with Courtney so we wouldn't have the sweets left in the house. After everyone left around 4 pm, I sat down to read, after loading up the dishwasher and Dave went outside to finish mowing the back yard. We are spending the evening watching a Netflix movie and reading. 

This week has a few obligations but not too many so I'm hoping to get some more spring cleaning done by tackling the guest bathroom floor and going through some old camping items for the local thrift store. I have one hike to lead this week (Friday) and my annual blood work is early Tuesday morning followed by joining my friend Cheryl's hiking group on a hike in the Lake George area.  On Thursday, if it's a nice day, I'm planning on visiting my cousin Kenny who lives in the Adirondack village where my family camp used to be when I was a child. It's located in the southern Adirondacks and is only about 1 hour and 20 min from my house.  I'm also thinking of applying for a volunteer job at a local visitor's center...I need to look into what it entails this week. 

I hope you have had a wonderful weekend!

SPRING FAVES

 

Whew....it's Friday already!

Where did this week rush off to? 

I'm pausing with a steaming mug of hot coffee this morning to write up my fave blessings from the week. I can always find more than five, but I will share FIVE for the FRIDAY FAVES and link up at Susanne's blog where other bloggers join in to share their faves, too. Warning: photo overload though because this post is all about five Spring faves and I took a lot of pics this week! I actually really like looking at people's photos so hopefully you do too!  Other things I'm thankful for this week: time with Dave on Sunday to go shoe shopping for both of us, relaxing in the backyard with drinks and books and good conversation; Dave doing the yardwork while I cooked a new to us dinner; my new glasses that our youngest daughter brought to me on Wednesday evening and that fit me perfectly, and the sunshine we had most days!  Now....here's some highlights: 

right side of the garage if facing the back wall
organized all the hiking boots along with the snowshoes
and some gardening items. 

back wall of garage and left side. 
organized the life jackets and beach chairs hanging on the left
organized Dave's various tools, car stuff, shovels, etc.
that's our small electric snowblower hanging next to the shovels
we keep our recycling bin in the garage as we can then just toss 
recyclables from the kitchen door into the bin. 

• GARAGE CLEAN-UP!  Last Friday afternoon, I devoted to vacuuming my car, sweeping out the garage and re-organizing things.  I got rid of some broken outdoor decor and checked life jackets, kayak paddles, etc.  It  felt good to get the salt and dirt swept out from the winter months and just tidy up as best as a garage can get.We had a box of old batteries that needed to be recycled and our waste company wont' take them but where Dave works, they have a bin for them, so he brought them over.  I'm thankful I had the time to do this chore. 

Fox Preserve 
begins through a miniature wetlands

Fave part of Fox Preserve 
this is just after coming down a steep ridge
to the stream and it follows the stream
for about 900 yards

The highest point of land at Fox Preserve
includes benches and a picnic table for families
At this point, I go straight through the center of the pic
to make for a 1.18 miles hike through the entire preserve
or you can bear left next to the picnic table and loop back
to car which only makes the hike about a half mile. 

Beaver swimming in middle of the tributary
heading towards the open water of the Erie Canal
I extended my hike by crossing the road and hitting
 the bike path for a fast power walk to the benches at the canal. 

• SOLO MONDAY HIKE:  The class I take every Monday morning was cancelled again this week so because it was a glorious Spring day with temps creeping up to the low 70s, I decided rather spontaneously to hike solo at a local preserve.   This is located about 10 minutes from my home, right in the same town I live in. I used to trail run here! I had the entire trail to myself as someone had just checked out when I was arriving. I saw no humans, heard and saw  plenty of woodpeckers, cardinals, wood thrush, bluejays, crows and a garter snake slithered away from me on the side of the grassy part of the trail.  I followed up the hike by doing some power walking on the bike path and then leisurely walked back to my car after sitting on the bench for a bit to do some reading. I'm thankful for local nature preserves to grab a quick hike.

front  flower garden ...I ran out of fresh garden soil
so will finish this project on the next warm day
most of my tulips are on the left side of the  garden if you're facing the house
so the bottom corner not shown in the pic. you can see just the one pink one
Behind the tulips, my irises are coming up (not shown)
and next to the irises I planted sunflower seeds
The plants in the back and front corners on the right side of the garden are peony bushes.
And I have a pot of gerbera daisies that will go into a bigger pot in about a week. 

Our Cherry Trees are in full bloom!

• PRETTY PLANTS! I'm so thankful that plants and trees are blooming.  They're all so pretty.  Our bradford pear is now past peak although the blooms are lingering....and the cherry trees are at peak about 2 weeks earlier than normal!  My gerberas and violas are doing well. And my morning glory seedlings got put into the ground on Saturday morning. I started them from seeds about 3 weeks ago.  (I didn't snap a pic). 

Geyser Creek Loop Trail
begins after crossing the creek and heads north
along a dirt path that then crosses a road
near where the Geyser Spring is located. 

• PARK POWER WALK: Tuesday morning was another gorgeous Spring day and temps were in the low 60s.  I put on work out clothes and drove 20 minutes north of my house to my fave state park to walk the Geyser Creek trail. It's in a quieter section of the park and features a stream (Geyser Creek), a toddler/preschooler playground, a grassy picnic area with tables and grills and the loop trail plus 2 different parking lots, the bathrooms, and a Nature Center with sculptures. This part of the park also features 4 different  springs with Geyser spring the largest and open. The other ones are enclosed and can be drunk from if you're brave and don't mind the sulphur water. FDR  used to come to Saratoga for the mineral water as it's healing and for the Lincoln baths  which are in the main part of the park. You can read about the springs here.  (I've tasted the water from one of the downtown springs and....i'll stick to the pure regular, sparkling or still  Saratoga water that is sold in the markets. Many of the Saratoga restaurants also feature the sparkling or still waters...you order by the bottle.  I'm thankful for the NYSParks. 
  
  

After crossing the road and walking further down the path 
like the one in the first pic, you can take the stairs down to the lower level 
and walk next to the creek. I used to power walk the opposite way to get the 
cardio benefits of walking up the stairs but there was a tour when I was starting out
so I reversed my normal direction. 

The path along the lower level

Geyser Spring....which is in the middle of the stream! 

This is where I ended up, back towards my car.
I had a beach chair in my trunk so I set it up here on the grass
and ate a protein bar, drank water and read my book for a bit. 
It was a lovely way to spend the mid-morning. 

• WOMENS BRUNCH:  My church's Wednesday class (I don't take that class this year) hosted a womens brunch on Wednesday and one of my dear friends (Diane) invited me to her table. I went and had such a great time seeing some ladies I hadn't seen in a bit and also at my table were 3 women from my hiking group. My bff Lynn was also there and brought little treat bags for us.......it touched my heart.  The worship time was powerful and meaningful and the food was delicious. The devotional that the instructor of the class gave was very meaningful as well and she followed it up with more worship time and prayer.  I also won one of the raffle baskets!  Here are some of the items that Lynn had in a bag for us: 

The scent of the gerbera daisy is subtle
and I gave the peach tea to my daughter Claire
as she really likes peach tea.  The sunflower seeds got planted in my yard. 
I'm thankful for good friends,  a vibrant church and special events like this Spring Brunch....not pictured is the raffle prize which was a box of Scripture cards and a pretty pen and a chocolate truffle. 

Those are the main things that made me smile and say "Thank You, God" this week. 

How was your week?  What are you thankful for??