End of August Faves

It's the end of August already!

I've been on vacation the last 2 weeks and it's been....interesting....I haven't gone away...just day trips..but I've been busy yet also have had some down time.

I'm here to share FIVE of the FAVE moments from the past week. It's hard to narrow it down this week because there's been many blessings as well as much memory making which always turns into blessings, whether big or small.  I'm joining in with others who look for the blessings and we link up over at Susanne's site.

FIVE FAVES

• FOUND! For those of you who were following the drama that occurred when we moved our youngest daughter into her dorm at UNH last week, the car keys were turned in by someone who found them in a bathroom and the Resident Hall Director contacted Claire Saturday evening with the good news!  Praise God!!  (and also, the extra set that I overnighted, arrived safe and sound to her mailbox  that morning).

Me and Ingrid at the base of Shelving Rock Falls
Eastern ADKS
25 August 

Shelving Rock Falls
Eastern Adirondack Mountains

• WATERFALLS AND MOUNTAIN HIKE!  After the early church service on Sunday, my friend Ingrid and I decided kind of spontaneously to drive north to the Lake George area and hike to one of the waterfalls in the 50 Falls Challenge and then because that was only a mile hike, we drove down the road to the trail-head for the mountain with the same name: Shelving Rock Falls and Shelving Rock Mountain. The mountain is only a little over 2000 feet high so the hike was fairly easy....a little steep in a couple spots but mostly a trail of switchbacks.  We enjoyed our lunch at the top and then sat and chatted for a bit. The falls were spectacular and lots of families were there wading in the water.  It was a perfect summer day...high 70s. We followed our hike up with soft serve ice cream and made it home in time for dinner with our families. I thank God for friends who can be spontaneous and for beautiful places to hike. I'd never hiked that mountain before so I was happy to do it!

Lake George and some of the Eastern ADK peaks
as seen from the summit of Shelving Rock Mt

• RELAXING!  Monday and Wednesday were total relaxation days for me. Dave and Courtney were at work of course and with Claire back in NH, things are pretty quiet around here. It didn't take me long to get errands done, food shopping completed and house chores accomplished which left me the afternoons to sit out in my backyard and read! I also started the small group study  book I'll be leading from and I enjoyed morning coffee on the deck with my devotions/Bible.  I'm thankful for these two days when I had large chunks of time to just relax!

• HIGH PEAKS HIKE!  Tuesday was another perfect summer day and actually perfect for hiking as the temps were only in the high 60s/low 70s in the high peaks region of the Adirondack Mountains.  I live exactly two hours from the high peaks exit and my niece lives about an hour away.  So I picked her up...she's 11 and the only one in her family who really hikes....and so I took her to the first High Peak I ever climbed.  I climbed it all the way to the summit when I was about 19 years old...it was great.  It's called Giant Mt and it's the 12th highest mountain in NYS.  Because Mady still doesn't have hiking boots, I only took her half way up the mountain to what is known as "the Nubble"...a huge ledge jutting out over the side of the mountain looking down upon the Giant Mt Wilderness Area and the northern high peaks.  What a trip!  We started hiking at 9:30 and finished and back to  the car by 1:45.  We really hiked fast.  (she had to be home by 4:30).  We also took the side trail to the Roaring Brook Waterfalls and then after the hike I treated her to ice cream and then we went down the road a bit to see Split Rock Falls and dip our feet in the Boquet River.  I'm so thankful I had this wonderful day with my niece!  Here are a few fave photos from that day.  (I have SO many..it's hard to pick just a few!)

yes we had to hike through this...it's called a scramble
Trail up Nubble on Giant Mountain

Easier part of the trail

Me and my 11 yr old niece Mady
on The Nubble of Giant Mt

Giant Mt Wilderness Area and northern High Peaks
from summit of the Nubble on Giant Mt

Split Rock Falls on the Boquet River

• BLOOMS!  I noticed about a week ago that my petunias..or are they pansies? I can never remember...weren't blooming very well. I've had them since late May so thought maybe their time was up. But yesterday I noticed they were all blooming again!  and the large pot in the front yard is blooming too!  The yellow flowers are ones that were on sale and so all I had to do was re-pot them. I like how they look on the deck steps.  And the morning glories are finally up!  They're about a month late this year...maybe because we had such a wet spring?  not sure but they sure are pretty in the morning. The photo was taken at about 3 pm so most of the blooms are closed.  I'm thankful for flowers and the summer colors!

on the deck rail...these were just about dead 2 days ago!

 

morning  glories...finally....
not as plentiful as previous years...they've been faithfully growing
and climbing since the summer of 1997.

That wraps up my faves.

Schools start again here in New York State next week.  My first day back is Tuesday and my students will arrive on Wednesday.  We are still in the summer season though so I will enjoy these last couple of weeks of this glorious weather and am praying we have a mild autumn!

ENJOY THE LONG WEEKEND!!