Apple Fest

Last weekend, we went to the Aullwood Farm, near Englewood Metropark, for their 2012 Apple Fest. Apple pie, apple dumplings, apple butter - of course! But also corn on the cob, steamed in a steel garbage can (clean!) from steam generated by an old (really old - I think it belonged to James Watt!) steam tractor. So cool. We also saw lots of animals, including alpacas - those guys are the cutest. I want one for the back yard. Bob says city regulations prohibit livestock in the yard. Oh pooh. Who makes up these rules, anyway?

Seriously cute.

Also cute.

The old steam tractor.

Swallowtail caterpillar.

What happens if you hold a swallowtail caterpillar too long. Caterpillar frass (aka poop).

They say have tofurky for Thanksgiving.

I'm underneath the combine chute. Not to worry - it's not running.

3 little pigs. I'm assuming these are the ones who built their house from straw.

Don't know this lady, but she had a chicken on her head. Couldn't resist a photo.

Pat and Sylvie make the blog

Pat and Sylvie came to visit (Pat is Bob's sister). I found out they're readers of the blog, so naturally, I have to include them in a post. The four of us went on a little hike in Englewood Metropark, north of Dayton. We followed one trail to a waterfall, though not much water is falling right now. Bob and I are going back to the park later - they have an 18-hole disc golf course (Troy's is a 9-hole course).

Pat and Pat at Patty Shelter at Englewood Metropark (no, I don't know why a shelter is named Patty).

Pat and Sylvie on our hike.

Penny was so proud - Ed hopped up to see her. Don't tell her he made friends with Pat & Sylvie right away.

One of our chipmunks with full cheeks. Too cute for words.

They're harvesting these soybeans. It's dusty work.

Isaac ... not so much

We've waited for days to be inundated with rain from the remnants of Hurricane Isaac. Didn't happen. We got some light rain, some sprinkles - but the 5" predicted was more like 0.25". Oh well. Poor Louisiana got clobbered. I hope the next hurricane just floats off into the northern Atlantic Ocean and doesn't bother anyone (though some rain here in Miami Co. would be a good thing).

This bird/squirrel food dish was dry. Look at the inundation.

Just because it's September doesn't mean it's not humid. Poor Bob is all sweaty after raking.

Our lemon cucumbers are finally big enough to harvest. Also on display - one of my jars of refrigerator pickles, made with the other kind of cucumbers.

Isabella is fascinated by a walking stick (insect) on the screen.

The Ohio River

We took Mom to Newport, KY - right across the Ohio River from Cincinnati - to board a paddle wheel boat for a 1 1/2 hour cruise along the Ohio. She had never been to Kentucky, or on a paddle wheel boat for that matter, so there were new experiences at every turn. I haven't been through Cincinnati for a year - so it's easy to forget how big it is. We usually get as far south as West Chester, home of Ohio's only Ikea. :)

We're standing in Kentucky, with the Cinci skyline in back.

Cincinnati's riverfront, near the baseball stadium. I dare not say "Go Reds" or I'll bring down the wrath of the forever Cubs fans, Bob and Penny.

John Roebling's bridge over the Ohio. This one came before his Brooklyn Bridge, but note the similarities.

Mom eats chicken in Kentucky.

Our boat, the River Queen. Yes, my mother with bad hips and a bad left knee climbed all the stairs to the upper deck!

Bob with his trusty camera before the cruise.

The paddle wheel in action. Actually, it's all for show. The boat is powered by big Cummins diesel engines! (Sorry to disillusion anyone out there.)

Mom sightseeing from the upper deck. KY on right; OH on left.

Early August

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. Too lazy, too hot! It's a lovely day today. The humidity is down and the temperatures are lower. Perhaps the weather gods are done punishing us. We're harvesting lots of cucumbers and tomatoes from the garden. We have edible cantaloupes, which surprises me no end, since I've never grown a cantaloupe in my life. The peppers are coming along, too. In mid-May, when we put those small plants into the ground, I don't think we ever expected real food to result! Love it.

Me at Grand Lake St. Mary's - Ohio's second biggest lake after Lake Erie.

One of the marinas at GLSM's.

One of our new dining room chairs. Our dining room is too small for the bigger chairs. We got these at Ikea.

A new house across the street. There are 3 new houses on the next street. Does this mean the economy is better?

Hazy, lazy, crazy days of summer

It's still hot. It's still not raining ... well, other than a couple of brief (a few minutes long) rains that revive the flowers for a while. It was over 100 degrees again today, then the little rain lowered the temperature 30 degrees. Afterwards, the temperature climbed again, though not so high. We've been trying to keep the lawn alive ... many people have given up and have brown and crispy lawns. Our garden is doing well. Tomatoes love hot weather, though ours are very slow to turn red or yellow (we have two kinds).

Grandniece Ava and I attempt to get her on the floating tiger.

I tried to get closer to the sign, but the boxer on the right growled and tried to chase me away. OK, dog, I'm going.

Hey, it's hot outside. The boys decided to rest inside with the AC.

One of our cantaloupes. I'm just amazed that stuff is actually growing out there.

The new motion sensor in the laundry room. No more light switches. Love it!

The replacement ceiling fan in our bedroom. The old one was big, dark, ugly, and somewhat creepy.

Weird weather

It's been hotter than a pistol. Day after day over 100 degrees. On June 29, we were hit by a derecho - which I'd never heard of until it roared through. It's a straight-line windstorm, as opposed to a tornado which rotates. Also, derechos are long-lived. I was confused by the straight-line definition, because I thought "derecho" was Spanish for "right." Turns out it means both things. Go figure. Anyway, the derecho came down on us and ripped limbs off trees (none of ours) and left lots of people with no power (luckily again, not us). Then two days later, on July 1st, we were hit by a severe thunderstorm that ripped some more limbs off trees and knocked out electricity again (this time, ours was off for about 5 hours). Excitement all around.

This limb came down at the golf course. Note my bike in the lower left.

I think the limb above smacked into this dumpster. The tree limb won that round.

A hackberry tree with nearly half itself gone.

A common job after both storms - roof repair.

Our first tomatoes! They're Elbertas.

No, he's not dead. This squirrel was tucked into the dirt on a hot day. Perhaps he was contemplating life.