SPRING FAVES

 

Whew....it's Friday already!

Where did this week rush off to? 

I'm pausing with a steaming mug of hot coffee this morning to write up my fave blessings from the week. I can always find more than five, but I will share FIVE for the FRIDAY FAVES and link up at Susanne's blog where other bloggers join in to share their faves, too. Warning: photo overload though because this post is all about five Spring faves and I took a lot of pics this week! I actually really like looking at people's photos so hopefully you do too!  Other things I'm thankful for this week: time with Dave on Sunday to go shoe shopping for both of us, relaxing in the backyard with drinks and books and good conversation; Dave doing the yardwork while I cooked a new to us dinner; my new glasses that our youngest daughter brought to me on Wednesday evening and that fit me perfectly, and the sunshine we had most days!  Now....here's some highlights: 

right side of the garage if facing the back wall
organized all the hiking boots along with the snowshoes
and some gardening items. 

back wall of garage and left side. 
organized the life jackets and beach chairs hanging on the left
organized Dave's various tools, car stuff, shovels, etc.
that's our small electric snowblower hanging next to the shovels
we keep our recycling bin in the garage as we can then just toss 
recyclables from the kitchen door into the bin. 

• GARAGE CLEAN-UP!  Last Friday afternoon, I devoted to vacuuming my car, sweeping out the garage and re-organizing things.  I got rid of some broken outdoor decor and checked life jackets, kayak paddles, etc.  It  felt good to get the salt and dirt swept out from the winter months and just tidy up as best as a garage can get.We had a box of old batteries that needed to be recycled and our waste company wont' take them but where Dave works, they have a bin for them, so he brought them over.  I'm thankful I had the time to do this chore. 

Fox Preserve 
begins through a miniature wetlands

Fave part of Fox Preserve 
this is just after coming down a steep ridge
to the stream and it follows the stream
for about 900 yards

The highest point of land at Fox Preserve
includes benches and a picnic table for families
At this point, I go straight through the center of the pic
to make for a 1.18 miles hike through the entire preserve
or you can bear left next to the picnic table and loop back
to car which only makes the hike about a half mile. 

Beaver swimming in middle of the tributary
heading towards the open water of the Erie Canal
I extended my hike by crossing the road and hitting
 the bike path for a fast power walk to the benches at the canal. 

• SOLO MONDAY HIKE:  The class I take every Monday morning was cancelled again this week so because it was a glorious Spring day with temps creeping up to the low 70s, I decided rather spontaneously to hike solo at a local preserve.   This is located about 10 minutes from my home, right in the same town I live in. I used to trail run here! I had the entire trail to myself as someone had just checked out when I was arriving. I saw no humans, heard and saw  plenty of woodpeckers, cardinals, wood thrush, bluejays, crows and a garter snake slithered away from me on the side of the grassy part of the trail.  I followed up the hike by doing some power walking on the bike path and then leisurely walked back to my car after sitting on the bench for a bit to do some reading. I'm thankful for local nature preserves to grab a quick hike.

front  flower garden ...I ran out of fresh garden soil
so will finish this project on the next warm day
most of my tulips are on the left side of the  garden if you're facing the house
so the bottom corner not shown in the pic. you can see just the one pink one
Behind the tulips, my irises are coming up (not shown)
and next to the irises I planted sunflower seeds
The plants in the back and front corners on the right side of the garden are peony bushes.
And I have a pot of gerbera daisies that will go into a bigger pot in about a week. 

Our Cherry Trees are in full bloom!

• PRETTY PLANTS! I'm so thankful that plants and trees are blooming.  They're all so pretty.  Our bradford pear is now past peak although the blooms are lingering....and the cherry trees are at peak about 2 weeks earlier than normal!  My gerberas and violas are doing well. And my morning glory seedlings got put into the ground on Saturday morning. I started them from seeds about 3 weeks ago.  (I didn't snap a pic). 

Geyser Creek Loop Trail
begins after crossing the creek and heads north
along a dirt path that then crosses a road
near where the Geyser Spring is located. 

• PARK POWER WALK: Tuesday morning was another gorgeous Spring day and temps were in the low 60s.  I put on work out clothes and drove 20 minutes north of my house to my fave state park to walk the Geyser Creek trail. It's in a quieter section of the park and features a stream (Geyser Creek), a toddler/preschooler playground, a grassy picnic area with tables and grills and the loop trail plus 2 different parking lots, the bathrooms, and a Nature Center with sculptures. This part of the park also features 4 different  springs with Geyser spring the largest and open. The other ones are enclosed and can be drunk from if you're brave and don't mind the sulphur water. FDR  used to come to Saratoga for the mineral water as it's healing and for the Lincoln baths  which are in the main part of the park. You can read about the springs here.  (I've tasted the water from one of the downtown springs and....i'll stick to the pure regular, sparkling or still  Saratoga water that is sold in the markets. Many of the Saratoga restaurants also feature the sparkling or still waters...you order by the bottle.  I'm thankful for the NYSParks. 
  
  

After crossing the road and walking further down the path 
like the one in the first pic, you can take the stairs down to the lower level 
and walk next to the creek. I used to power walk the opposite way to get the 
cardio benefits of walking up the stairs but there was a tour when I was starting out
so I reversed my normal direction. 

The path along the lower level

Geyser Spring....which is in the middle of the stream! 

This is where I ended up, back towards my car.
I had a beach chair in my trunk so I set it up here on the grass
and ate a protein bar, drank water and read my book for a bit. 
It was a lovely way to spend the mid-morning. 

• WOMENS BRUNCH:  My church's Wednesday class (I don't take that class this year) hosted a womens brunch on Wednesday and one of my dear friends (Diane) invited me to her table. I went and had such a great time seeing some ladies I hadn't seen in a bit and also at my table were 3 women from my hiking group. My bff Lynn was also there and brought little treat bags for us.......it touched my heart.  The worship time was powerful and meaningful and the food was delicious. The devotional that the instructor of the class gave was very meaningful as well and she followed it up with more worship time and prayer.  I also won one of the raffle baskets!  Here are some of the items that Lynn had in a bag for us: 

The scent of the gerbera daisy is subtle
and I gave the peach tea to my daughter Claire
as she really likes peach tea.  The sunflower seeds got planted in my yard. 
I'm thankful for good friends,  a vibrant church and special events like this Spring Brunch....not pictured is the raffle prize which was a box of Scripture cards and a pretty pen and a chocolate truffle. 

Those are the main things that made me smile and say "Thank You, God" this week. 

How was your week?  What are you thankful for??