In June I gave what I thought was my last workshop, only to get a booking for May 2010. Sweet. June was also "Fireman's Day" in beautiful downtown Cadyville (which has only a post office and (volunteer) fire station--we don't even have a bar!) with parade and good food.
In July, my sister came to visit and we played touristas to places I'd either never been or hadn't been for years. Here's Alice at the Montreal Botanical Gardens. What a great visit.
Shortly thereafter I was in Omaha for a family emergency. No photos of that. Toward the end of the month Bruce & I went to Fort Ticonderoga, a trip he'd never made and I hadn't since my kids were about 9 & 10. (That would be about 20 years. Sigh.)
In August, both my daughters and both granddaughters came for a visit. Jenny isn't in this photo, but she stayed at her dad's so I didn't get many pictures of/with her.
In September, Bruce & I went to the NY State Fair in Syracuse. That was really fun, and another thing to cross off our bucket list. The photos below show the sand sculpture of the USS New York, apparently a trademark at the fair; Bruce with one of the huge warmblood horses in its stall; a small part of the miniature circus displays that just fascinated me; and a sort of overview of the fairgrounds.
Right after that there was the "Battle of Plattsburgh" quadricentennial celebration, with a re-enactment of the famous battle on Lake Champlain (in absolutely tiny and fragile-looking wooden boats), a period 18th century tavern, a big parade--for once--and fireworks. Quite the do for Plattsburgh. These are some of the re-enactors.
I also went to Tampa in September to babysit for the aforementioned grandgirls for 7 days & nights (that would be a whole week). Babysitting was just about what I'd expected. Only more tiring. Having been a working mom, I'd never really spent all day every day with the girls when they were babies. The first year in Plattsburgh, when I was home full-time, Emily was 3 & Jenny (who was too young then to vote against my desired Jennie spelling) was 18 mos., turning 2 midway through that year. So while I had one in diapers, she was mobile. Emily's house is two storeys as compared to my one-level and my knees got a real workout on the stairs! I actually got good a carseat straps and by the time I left I was getting Katie into hers without bumping her head ... or mine. The van with all the bells and whistles was nice, especially the start-before-you-get-to-it feature so the air conditioning was already working when I buckled up the girls. In 90+ degrees, that was a godsend. And so was the swimming pool! Everybody cooled off after a hot afternoon and everybody also got good and tired so bedtimes were a snap! I actually enjoyed myself but am considering the next job--I'm not so sure I'm up for a full week again. After all, we'll ALL be a year older then! But how could you not have a great time with this?
And now I'm packing to go to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, for two weeks.
No kids involved. Unless you count the dog. This is what it should look like again--the photo is from Oct. 2007.
It might get a little tedious when Bruce is gone fishing every day, but this year there are some other Plattsburgh women there with their husbands and I've been invited to join them for some day trips. That should be fun.
I think I'm ready for a do-nothing November!
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