End of August Faves

Wow.  The final Friday of August!  This time next week I will be in Canada heading towards Lake Huron/Michigan after spending the day/night before in western New York.  So I won't be here to participate in the FFF for the first Friday of September. For today I will pause in my packing and share FIVE of my FAVE blessings from the week.  I link up at Susanne's site who is our gracious host and helps us to be intentional with our gratitude for the things God brings to us. 

FIVE FAVES

Farm Stand purchases

Dining Room Table Centerpiece 
compliments of the Farm Stand

• FARM FRESH!  I finally went to this farm stand that I've driven past numerous times all throughout the spring and summer  and for years I've told myself I'm going to pop in one day. That day was finally this week and now I'm obsessed with this place.  I met the owner, Chrissy, and she is a wonderful person. Her shop is filled with their farm fresh produce at such better prices than the regular grocery stores AND it's all fresh picked.  Sheh as an abundance of locally sourced products as well.  I bought large tomatoes for a fraction of the grocery store price and they're so much bigger and better; a pint of sweet orange tomatoes, peach bellini  preserves made in a town near us; and  sunflowers for a dining room bouquet.  All for only $20!! I'm so thankful I finally went to this farm stand and I told her I would be back weekly. (she's open until Halloween). 

photo courtesy of the pizza place website

• PIZZA AND HULU:  Saturday evening Courtney came over for our monthly pizza dinner and another episode of Handmaid's Tale on Hulu. We finally finished Season 3 and have just the last two seasons to watch. We're hoping to finish this series by the end of summer 2024. I love when she has a free weekend night to  come over and help us eat the amazing roasted red pepper pizza we usually get from our fave pizza place.  I'm thankful for our oldest daughter and this love we have for this series.  We know it's strayed far from what Margaret Atwood wrote in her two books which this series is based on,  but the performance of Elisabeth Moss is just outstanding.  It also leads to some good conversations about what could really happen in our nation if we let cult -like leaders take over!  And we always end up talking about what Scripture actually says about men/women and our roles in society.  I'm so thankful we share this together. 

Each hole of the miniature  golf course had signage 
explaining the history behind Saratoga
and/or some historic spots that our beloved city is known for
of course, this one was my fave

This was easy for me:  I got a hole-in-one
It took Dave 3 attempts......but he still won the game overall!

the grounds are impeccable

This was a fave sculpture towards the middle of the course

•  DATE DAY!  Dave and I finally had another date day last Sunday afternoon! We hadn't had one since the beginning of July! We decided to try a new to us mini golf course I had just learned about. Mini golf dates have always been one of our fave things to do together and yes we are quite competitive!  And the cool thing is, it's off the beaten path in our fave NY city which is only about 25 minutes north of us. We loved it.  The course is just beautiful and has the cheapest rates in our area.  We will be back for sure! I'm thankful we had a fun date and yes...we followed it up with soft serve small dishes of yummy ice cream.  

• CONVERSATION AND CATCH-UP!  I went to the 11 AM service on Sunday and was so thankful I did because some dear friends of ours whom we hadn't seen since right before Covid-19 hit in 2020 were there to see their first  grandbaby girl get dedicated.  They have been our friends since about 1990 when Dave and I were first married and they also went to our former church for years before the Lord led them out of there and to the place where we've been since 2005.  Their oldest daughter and our youngest used to be friends when they were very little girls and in fact, they were in youth group together.   It was so much fun to get caught up and we  had such a great conversation. We have plans to keep in touch better and they might join our small  group in September. They currently go to the site that's just to the north of us. I was so thankful we ran into them!!  

Mady leads the way past the summit 
to the observer's cabin where we sat on the porch and ate lunch

My niece Mady and I
on the summit of Kane Mt

Canada Lake as seen from the Kane Mt firetower
southern region of the Adirondacks

The trail down....making the hike a loop up and around one side of Kane Mt
Shaker Mountain Wild Forest Area
town of Caroga
southern Adk

• ANNUAL MOUNTAIN CLIMB:  On Tuesday, a beautiful summer day, with temps only a high of 71 at our destination, my 15 year old niece and I did our annual mountain climb together. This year I chose a shorter mountain (only 2185 feet high) but it's much steeper than the taller and longer routes that we've climbed in the past.  This year we needed a short hike due to  time constraints.  We started up the short, harder trail which is only .8 miles BUT it's so steep that the heart rate is elevated very quickly and your thighs feel like they're on fire. It's such a great work-out for cardio endurance.  After resting on the fire tower and eating lunch, we headed back down the other side of the mountain which is longer but less steep for a total of 1.8 miles.  Typically it's only 1.2 but there was so much blowdown from the July storms and the trail was still super muddy so much of it has been re-routed. I'm thankful we had the time together. It's so hard to believe my youngest niece and my hiking buddy since she was 8 is now 15!! I treated her to soft serve ice cream at my fave Adirondack place on the way home.  She got a Coffee Heath Bar ice cream and I got the Chocolate Orange Dream. We were in heaven and I'm thankful we had a lovely day. 

That wraps up my faves for the week!

I hope you all have a wonderful final August weekend!!