GOLD in the CLOUDS : First Full Week of Summer Faves

WOWZA! What a first week of Summer it has been here in New York State. We came back from Maine at the end of last week to hot, humid, blistering temps. Felt like July, yet Summer had just begun! My prayers go out to the people in central NYS who had a horrific storm and the lives of twin little girls were lost, among others. Now they face a clean up. Here in the Capital Region, we are back to the more cooler temps which I love (I love anywhere between 65-85 with ZERO humidity! I can even take a little humidity if the temps are lower than 85). But enough about the weather...let's find FIVE of our FAVE blessings from this first full week of Summer and share them with others by linking up at Susanne's.

It is good to give thanks to God who is the Source of our blessings, big and small.

Central Air Conditioning: I'm super thankful that after living here for 4 summers (house was built in 1994) we decided on central air the summer I was pregnant with daughter #2. (1998). I knew it was my last pregnancy and at age 38, it was tough, because that summer was HOT. So thankful that with the press of a button on the thermostat, we program how cool/high we want it at different times. Evenings are set for 70 and daytimes for 74 but there was one evening, I brought it down to 68 because our bedroom was sweltering. So thankful for this luxury. (since Thursday morning, we have had all windows open as those high temps broke as well as the high humidity!)

Avocado Peanut Handroll

Vegetarian Udon dish

We loved these napkins!

BELATED FATHER'S DAY CELEBRATION: Last Sunday, our first weekend home after our New England trip, the girls treated Dave (I paid for mine) to the amazing Sushi-Sashimi restaurant Wasabi. I didn't realize our area had two (one in Albany, one in Saratoga). I thought it was just in Saratoga so I was surprised when Claire, our youngest, said that Albany had one only about 10 minutes south of us. We met there after church on Sunday and wow! Amazing food. All authentic and so very good from the service to the re-fills. If you aren't familiar with Wasabi and how they do things, click here. Basically, you pay one price (lower during the week) and can order as many items as many times as you want! It was phenomenal!! I had a Sweet Potato hand roll, and then the above foods that are pictured. Dave had several seafood dishes and Claire had 3 different vegan ones. Courtney had 3 different items as well but I can't remember what hers were. SO good. I'm thankful we were all together for a meal and some fellowship afterwards and I was so busy getting caught up with our girls that I neglected to take pics of them with their father. 😞

SAFE TRAVELS: I was super thankful that Claire, our youngest, who took last Friday off to go visit her grandmother (Dave's 90 yr old mom) had safe travels to and from the south shore Boston area. She did the drive in one day which is a lot of driving...about 6 hours! Traffic was heavier going east mid morning due to people heading for the Cape of course.....she said she was so thankful coming west on Friday evening the traffic was lighter. She was home just a little after 10 pm so made great time and spent about 3 hours with her grandmother which included Claire helping her grammy take a walk outdoors and down the street which B can't do alone anymore, even with the walker. I'm so thankful our girls take time to go visit their grandmother and that God keeps them safe on the interstates.

July decor

Petunias and gerberas are thriving again

baby bunny comes pretty close to me
when I'm on the swing in the evenings

early morning coffee

basil is growing well!

CHORES DONE: Due to the high heat on Monday, I ran one errand and spent the rest of the time inside doing household chores,putting out some summer decor (didn't bother taking pics of most) tending to my flowers, and laundry. I had walked in the very early morning and then enjoyed a cup of coffee on the deck before it got even more humid. I love changing up the decor for the different seasons and getting my house ready for a new month. I also did some weeding in the front garden and noticed my two rose bushes are springing back to life, and that my day lilies are just beginning to open. I have several tea roses in bloom now too. I'm thankful for checking things off the to do list and seeing the results of things I planted in early May.

me (in front) and Meg hiking down the trail
to Blue Ledges pictured below
photos courtesy of Joan B

Blue Ledges on the Hudson
Hudson Gorge Wilderness area
central Adirondacks

The Hudson River looking east at Blue Ledges

River was deep enough here to swim in, which we did!
I had swim shorts on here which I wore under my hiking shorts
the cold mountain water felt so refreshing on our very hot, sticky skin

HOT, HUMID HIKE!! Tuesday was 97 here in town. A neighbor told me no, it actually got up to 100 degrees F mid-day here. Where I was hiking, it was 90 although 88 was the predicted high. The humidity was just a tad bit lower in the central ADK mountains than down here in the Capital Region (82%). It was HOT. It was HUMID. We had to spray on sunscreen, bug spray and wet bandanas in the brook at the beginning of the trail to keep our upper bodies warm. I had told everyone to bring something to wrap around their neck and to wear wick away clothing. Everyone complied. It was my 5th time visiting this lovely trail and the other 4 people in the group (Joan, Meg, Ping, and Dave D) were loving this first-for-them wilderness hike. We are all experienced hikers which is why I didn't cancel the hike. I did have 3 other people who had signed up but they dropped out due to the heat. Some people with certain health conditions shouldn't be hiking in these conditions. We were fine. And once we got to the river, off came our hiking boots and socks and in we plunged! I'm so thankful everyone kept safe and that we enjoyed an hour in and out of the water and that we had plenty of water. But at age 65, I am starting to get "too old" for this kind of hike in these conditions. We were 7 miles in from the main road and over 12 miles from the nearest village and over 20 miles from cell phone service. We hiked 6.6 miles and took 2.5 hours longer than it has taken me in the past. Add to that, all the deer flies, mosquitoes, blowdown from the winter which means climbing over logs and sometimes whole trees that are downed, plus schlepping through ankle deep mud (due to the very rainy Spring including last Saturday!) and let's just say we were completely exhausted but exhilarated upon getting back to the cars by 5 pm. I slept well that night and put in 22, 268 steps that day! (for those of you with hiking experience: I would not have done this hike if it was a mountain climb....this was mostly flat minus two sections that were steep but not vertical).
SoulSteps Hikers at Blue Ledges on the Hudson
l-r: Ping, Meg, Joan, and in the river: Dave D, Faith
Photo with permission and compliments of Ping