EARLY NOVEMBER FAVES

 

This week was a slower one around our house. And we had our first real frost yesterday morning. It made the yard look so pretty!  But it warmed up which was nice and it was a sunny day. I was thankful for that. We had many blessings..sometimes it's hard to choose just FIVE to be our FAVES, isn't it?  God blesses us each day with some thing, or some one. I'm joining in with other like-minded bloggers who all link up together at Susanne's site. Thank you, Susanne for hosting this each week!

FIVE FAVES

• GOOD REPORT:  Dave came home from work this past week with news from his annual performance review as a software engineer/software IT tech director.  His new boss gave him a glowing review and he has earned a significant raise. God is good.  I'm thankful for my hard-working husband and I thank God he works with many Christians. I'm thankful that he is reaping what he has sown into this company. 

The Fulton County Five Hiking Challenge

• BADGE!! The Fulton County Five Hiking Challenge I  began last September (2022)was a lot of fun. I was done in late August and yet for some reason the Chamber of Commerce took this long to send out the badges.  (My sister Hope and her husband Donny also completed this challenge...it was their first and my 7th hiking challenge).  So far, it's been the only challenge that required the hiker to complete it in one calendar year although your year could begin any time. We chose to do it Sept through August.  There are 5 required trails you must hike and they were all ones I had hiked in past years except for one.  That one was the most fun, too, as well as the most miles. We finally got our badges this past week.  And the chamber of commerce included  a certificate of completion along with a personal letter from the organizer. I'm thankful for fun events in our beloved mountains. 

Waterfall Way trail
Columbia County NY

High Falls
and the end of the main trail, 
the highest waterfalls in Columbia County

Gorgeous warm weather for last Friday's hike

Agawamuck Creek
the Mohican word for "Creek of many fish"

The ladder/stairs up from the lower trail
named Agawamuck Trail

• WATERFALLS HIKE!  Dave was working from home last Friday and the day was so warm and perfect. It felt like the beginning of September instead of the end of October! I just had to get out and hike. I didn't want to go far so I chose something off my "local hikes I wanna try and safe to do solo" list. These waterfalls have been on my bucket list for a little while and I'm so glad I took the morning to drive out there. It's only a 35 min drive from my house. The trail is located in the High Falls Conservation Area of Columbia County which is the county to the east of us heading south towards the Catskills and across the Hudson River. It's popular with tourists and I was definitely not alone on the main trail.  It was disappointing only in length. I had seen information that said the hike was 1.4 miles.  That was incorrect. It was only a .4 mile hike to the falls!!  Less than a half mile BUT there was also a lower trail (named after the creek) that ran .4 miles along the creek before ending at the ladder and then re-joining the main trail.  I hiked the main trail to the falls,  ate a little snack, drank water, took photos, and then hiked down to the lower trail and spent time by the creek just doing some "forest bathing". Oh my.  It was glorious because I only saw 2 people on the lower trail. In total, I hiked 1.2 miles that day. I'm thankful for beautiful nature areas in the Capital Region of NY. 

• FIXED!!  We have had many plumbing issues in this house ever since we had it built. In fact, many neighbors have complained of their plumbing as well. The first plumber we hired said whomever the builders used did a terrible job.  That plumber ended up having to totally re-do our shower! But...he was very pricey and not always available. Finally,  we found an excellent plumber about 15 years ago, who happened to go to our church!  Now that man is a paid staff member of our church so his son has taken over the plumbing business. He is excellent. Well, he's done a lot of work for us on this (our half bath/guest bathroom)  bathroom sink over the last year.  He did tell us last time he was here that we might need an entire new faucet.  Dave and I went to Lowe's to choose one and our plumber was able to come Wednesday morning to put it in, take the old one out, and really check the pipes. He says it was definitely the old faucet and explained the problem. It was a less than $100 fix (he has very reasonable rates) and I'm so thankful I no longer need a bowl in the cupboard under the sink to catch the leaks. I'm also super thankful it was not a problem with the pipes like we originally thought. 

Blue sky behind the pines

Crossings Park Pond

just past peak at The Crossings

• WALKS AND TALKS:  This past week I was blessed to have some good power walks every single day either in my own neighborhood or the local park or bike path. Monday, the chiropractor told me to rest, because she worked on my spine/back/neck.  Thankfully, this last visit was miraculous in a way as I literally felt my headache go away just as she was adjusting my neck.  But I followed her advice and didn't  do much after the appointment on Monday. Tuesday I was able to get in a good power walk in my neighborhood and then Wednesday I went over to the large park in the town south of us to get in a mile while talking with a friend. That was an important conversation and I'm glad I took the time to listen and talk with her. Yesterday I had an errand to run in Saratoga Springs so purposefully parked my car in a lot that was 4 city blocks away so I could get some steps in.  Then I had an oil change and afterwards, I walked 1.5 miles on the bike path near our home. I'm thankful for good talks with friends and beautiful mid-Autumn walks. 

I also have to add that another two blessings are that we had our oldest daughter over for dinner on Sunday after church and our youngest daughter came over for dinner last evening. We hadn't had a meal with our oldest in over a month so it was a huge blessing to chat with her.  We will find out this weekend who was accepted into the Christmas Eve Choir. I'm also leading a hike tomorrow for the bulk of the day up in the southern Adirondacks. 

What are your plans for this weekend?? 

I hope whatever you do, that you take time to pause and give thanks for all the blessings God brings into our lives. 

HAPPY WEEKEND!