Here we are, almost to the end of October. It's a Friday so that means I'm participating in the weekly Fave Fives meme hosted by Susanne. It's a time to share 5 of our favorite blessings from the past week. There's quite a few bloggers who participate in this and I always look forward to reading what has blessed these blogger friends.
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| the former driveway (1920s) to FoxLair Estate southern Adirondacks 22 October |
- DREAMS FULFILLED! For the last 30 years, I have wanted to find the ruins to this place, ever since reading about them in a Adirondack history book. The problem was that 1. I never had anyone to go with because it requires someone with a good knowledge of the woods and hiking/bushwhacking experience and 2. We could never find the correct road in, not to mention the correct trail which isn't marked. Well last Saturday, my dream was fulfilled! My childhood friend Cheryl and I finally learned of where the exact road in to the remote camping is located AND we discovered which of the 2 roads was the correct one to drive down. FoxLair was to the south of where we parked. My car wouldn't have been able to handle it so we used her SUV. We came to where you could no longer drive, got out, and began the trek. Long story short: God provided 2 hunters (men) who "happened" to be camping at one of the wilderness campsites and they knew exactly which trail (none are marked/blazed by the state so we used bright pink tape to mark our way) led to the ancient steps and ruins. The trail is what you see in the first photo at its widest. Most of it was through dense underbrush and pines! We had spent 20 min on the wrong trail! I go into more detail on Facebook with scads more photos. Here are the fave photos from the day. I'm thankful we found most of the ruins....we have plans to go back in 2023 to find the standing oven/kiln and the old diving board pieces from one of the 2 pools.
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| this used to be a bridge in the 1920s.... We had to cross Kibby Creek by wading in icy cold mountain water |
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| the middle of the grand staircase (in the early part of the 20th century, this staircase led to the mansion |
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| Lead pipes from plumbing |
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| the Staircase continues up before turning left |
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| These steps are across the "trail" (former driveway) and lead down to the East Branch of the Sacandaga River In the Estate days, these steps led down to the Dance Pavilion and Tennis Courts overlooking the River |
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| East Branch of the Sacandaga River Siamese Pond Wilderness Area Former FoxLair Estate |
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| I marked our bushwhack every few feet with bright tape so that we could find our way back to the creek and car |
- MONDAY NIGHT DINNER: Monday after work, Claire came over for dinner before heading out to teach a Pure Barre class that she does every Monday at 6:30 pm. She told us about her case manager work and we ate homemade vegan chili and fresh out of the oven dinner rolls. We made a plan that she will eat with us every Monday evening for an early dinner so she doesn't have to go back to her apartment until after she teaches the fitness class. This way she will save on gas. (We live in the same town as the fitness place but she lives 20 min south). Her day job is in the city of Albany so about the same distance to our town as to her new town. I'm thankful we worked out this plan and that we will get to enjoy her company for an hour every Monday.
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| A mama and her fawn. |
- CUTE TEXT: Dave texted me while I was at work (Students had just left and I was on my lunch break so saw it come through) and he was on his lunch break. He had snapped a pic of a doe cleaning her baby right outside his office window in good ole suburban Schenectady! It's so cute. I'm thankful for all of God's creation and for Dave making me smile with this cute photo.
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| a dinner kit! |
- DINNER KIT! When I was food shopping on Tuesday after work, I was in the fresh prepared foods section looking for our fave pizza dough. They didn't have it but they had something I had never noticed before: Kitchen Table dinner kits. Had never heard of them but knew my husband would LOVE anything with real bacon (I no longer buy pork bacon). I bought this kit for dinner that evening and how easy it was to put together! It tasted so good although we preferred my leftover mashed potatoes from Sunday dinner vs the ones that came in the kit. Dave ate both though and was very thankful for another meat based meal. I'm thankful it was so easy to prep!
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| the horses from Cherry Hill Farm' across the road from us |
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| the woods near the cemetery it's on the National Historic Register as a revolutionary hero is buried here this was about 5 pm on Tuesday afternoon during my power walk |
- WALKS, SUNSHINE AND SICK DAYS: I'm thankful I got in 3 good power walks this week so far and that yesterday I could use my accumulated sick time to have a stay home and rest day. I was dealing with the allergy headaches all week and none of the meds were really working well. I also developed a mild sore throat Wednesday evening so made the decision to rest my body. I'm thankful for pretty autumn scenes, sunshine and paid sick time! It's not something I want to take for granted.
That wraps up my fave blessings from the week....of course there were many more....hugs from my youngest daughter, a phone chat with my oldest girl, a message from a hiker friend, and my husband's arms around me.
What tops your list of blessings this week?? do share in the comment section or link up at Susanne's!
HAPPY WEEKEND!!
8 comments:
Hi Faith. Sorry you haven't been feeling well, but I am glad you had paid sick time so you could get feeling better. It's great that your girls are close enough that you get to see them often. That hike you went on to the ruins sounds super neat and fun. So glad you found these ruins that you had been looking for! Hope your headache abates and that you have a good weekend. See you again soon!
I'm so sorry you're still dealing with those allergy headaches! How great that you and your friend found those ruins. There are some called Elkmont here in the Smoky Mountains Nat'l Park that I'd love to investigate. It's the same with me - I need to find someone to go with me. These ruins, I understand are easier to find than the ones you visited. That's a great arrangement for your daughter to have Monday dinners with you. And saving gas is a bonus. How cute to see the two deer. The other week when we made our icy trip to Clingman's Dome, we saw two bears on the side of the road. The Park has closed off several trails right now so that bears can feast on acorns in preparation for winter. Have a great weekend!
I am so enamored with your walking.. such amazingly beautiful nature all around you.. But your story about you and your friend trekking to find the ruins of that historical mansion should be televised.. how amazing. YOU are something to get out that far into the mountains, just you and your friend. I would be too afraid to attempt it yet, look what I would have missed. God bless you and keep you well during this amazing season and into the next! Blessings!!! Schotzy
Sometimes the wisest thing to do is to rest, isn't it? I love the story about your hike! Reading about it I can certainly understand why it was a longtime dream of yours to find it.
Hi Faith, I enjoyed all your pretty pictures. I live in the city so I appreciate all the fall pictures. We don't eat pork either. We eat turkey bacon. I hope you feel better soon.
Wow, that old mansion is interesting. And so remote. Now I am going to have to go back and read all your facebook posts. And maybe find an article on its history.
We are leaving soon on a road trip. I want to find some good places to hike/walk along the way. Your FFF posts always encourage me to keep going.
I hope those headaches go away and you find some relief for them.
We try to do a meal together once a week although with Younger Daughter's class schedule, that has bee hard lately.
Enjoy your weekend!
Well what a fun adventure finding the ruins finally! I'm curious, did you leave your pink markers for other hikers to be able to find it or did you take them down on your way out? So nice that you are able to regularly have your girls over even though they don't live at home anymore. Hope you are feeling better.
So glad you finally got to visit those ruins. That sounds like a great arrangement with your daughter. When my youngest son first moved out, we saw him once a week when he came by to do laundry. But then he got his own washer and dryer. The deer are so cute, and how fun to get a text about them during the day. I'll have to keep an eye out for those Kitchen Table dinner kits. It's good you had enough sick days to take some time off and rest when needed. Sure wish those headaches would go away for you.
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