Summertime and the Livin' Is...

Busy! We spent the weekend with friends in the Hudson Valley region of NY.  It was fun just doing vacation-y things rather than the busy days of a chili cook off weekend. We drove down on Friday, and if any of you hear me say we are heading to CT or NY again, PLEASE message the BaldMan and tell him "DO NOT go by way of I-84!" Yeesh!

On Saturday morning,  we went to the Walkway Over the Hudson. Our friends walked and we had brought our bikes, so we rode. We rode back and forth on the bridge for a total of about 8 miles. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and pretty blue skies. We got out early enough that the temperature wasn't too hot yet.

Here are a couple pictures I took of the Hudson River from the walkway:

When we got back, we walked down  to an  old cemetery not far from our friends' house. These old graveyards fascinate me. I love looking at the headstones and reading the names and dates. Some were very specific: So-and-So died August 1825, 66 years, 3 months and 5 days. I wonder who was counting? A few pictures from that walk:

On the weather front, Summer has hit! With the Solstice, came the heat. 90+ degree temps for a few days at the end of the week kept everyone, Dog included, enjoying the air conditioned indoors. Not that I mind the heat. As long as the humidity is low, I would rather high heat than bitter cold. And the garden is grateful. We had a few weeks of either warm-ish weather or damp and chilly, and the tomatoes and peppers were not as happy as they could be. Now, they are quite green and getting taller. I'm seeing blossoms on many tomatoes and tomatillos. I've harvested a few small radishes where thinning was needed, and some greens. There are carrots growing nicely, as well. The chickens are getting back to full laying, also, now that the weather has gotten better. They do slow down in winter, and ramp up slowly through Spring. And they always lay better when they can get out of the pen and onto grass where they can enjoy greens and all the bugs they can catch.

We had thunderstorms while we were driving to NY, and rain part of the evening. That cooled things off a bit and definitely dropped the humidity.

Now I get to do more laundry and prepare for our next trip. This is the longer vacation trip, and heading to NY, OH, and IL. We'll be gone for about two weeks. We will also get to visit with the newest grandson when we get to IL. I hope I can get a little down time  in there, too!