Due to Priscilla's stressful schedule, Rachel and I went out for Sister's Day without her. (Isn't that sad?) It was a nice day and the colors were beautiful. Gmj would be proud, Rachel can drive with camera in hand. Not only is she beautiful, but she is talented too.
We spent some time browsing through antique shops in Bloomfield and then headed for Naples to find some lunch. (That was an interesting experience...) We thought we would eat at Bob and Ruth's. We went in and found a seat. The elderly waitress smiled and said hello. She seemed pleasant enough. Another couple came in, sat down and were given menus. We waited. Soon a group of six came in, sat down, and were given menus. Rachel said to the waitress, "Um, can we get some menus?" "Oh, I'm not your waitress, she is," she replied, pointing across the restaurant. We waited. The other waitress seemed busy. She scurried about and waited on other parties. She never once looked our direction. Rachel was not impressed, she was hungry. She decided we were not going to sit around and wait any longer. We got up, walked out, and no one seemed to care in the least. Down the road we found another place to eat, the Redwood Restaurant. The waitresses were smiling, friendly, and ready to serve us. Much better! We both ordered reuben sandwiches and decided it was the best restaurant in town. The waitresses were quite amused by our story from the "other" place.
After lunch we hiked back into Grimes Glen. We checked for trolls under the bridge and then tramped across. It looked dangerously like a bridge from an Indiana Jones movie but really there were some nice big logs underneath and it was very safe. I jumped up and down just to make sure.
Rachel did not fall over the cliff on the way back to the waterfall and fortunately neither did I. This was the only really treacherous part of the trail, as long as one is wearing spiked shoes, he is perfectly safe. I'm happy to report that neither one of us even got a soaker, though I did try.
After browsing a few more shops and taking in the local scenery, we headed back toward Canandaigua and ended our day out by visiting the Rheinblick. We both enjoyed delicious German dinners with scrumptious red cabbage and spatzle. Too bad we were too full to order dessert. Maybe next time. Thank you, Gudl and Gary, for such a great place to visit.
It is firewood weather. Each morning for the past week my husband has built a fire in the wood stove. There is something about the warmth of a fire that makes a house warm and welcoming. On chilly mornings everyone tries to find a spot on the couch or in a chair close to the fire. Jasmine stretches out on the rug on the floor, and every once in a while one of us takes a turn standing close to the front of the stove where the heat from the fire warms up our backside. A few years ago, when the power was out for four days, we cooked our meals and heated water on the wood stove and huddled around it to stay warm. I imagine that's how it was in the old days, families gathered around the primary heat source, playing games and working where it was warm while the rest of the house was cold and silent.
Soon fall will be over and the leaf piles will have either been hauled away or blown into the neighbor's yard. I always feel just slightly guilty for the leaves that blow across the street from our yard into Bob's. He tries so hard to keep an immaculate home. He is always out picking up, raking, and trying to keep things neat and tidy. Here... well, we do try but when there are still leaves on the trees it seems a waste of time to rake the yard, besides they look so pretty laying all over the ground and they're so much fun to jump in!
My kids used to have burdock wars down at the park. It was a fun game unless it got tangled in their hair. Burdock should definitely be kept out of Sofie's hair. She got a few on her face and tangled in her ear the other day. Not a good thing. Luckily she isn't the type of dog who will be scrounging through the underbrush so her encounters with burdock should be few. Her haircut is still looking good, (still short enough to pull burdock out of). She looks so much cuter when she is able to see.
