Day 6.271: A snake, in the grass...

Here's a snake (and some more traditional sights of autumn) from our walk at Five Rivers on Sunday:

Actually, we have no idea what the fruit on the top right are - do you?

And talking of inexplicable sights...

...what's that in the grass? Could it be a discarded corn dog?

Day 6.269: Fall - catch - and relax!

After a chore-filled day yesterday, we filled today with - my last fairly-long run before the marathon next Sunday, a trip to church (including collecting Exile #3 from her middle-school group lock-in (sleepover) and a visit to Five Rivers (without play-dating Exile #4) where a very important event occurred:

The first leaf-catch of fall!

Later followed by numbers two and three:

So now I can relax and enjoy the rest of the season.

Day 6.258: What's the matter - too corny for ya?

I spotted this while out for my long run on Sunday:

I wondered what these five stalks of corn had done wrong (or right) to be left behind by the harvester.

Which in turn reminded me of this:

Day 6.257: New England - new conkers!

Remember my post about conkers from a couple of years ago? If not - go ahead and read it - it will only take you a minute!

We had never knowingly seen a horse-chestnut tree here in the US - until Saturday when we were waiting for the gig to start and Exile #3 brought these strange nuts she had found over. I'm pretty sure she remembered what they were but was not sure enough to call it.

But, sure enough, conkers they were. Exile #4 showed some good skills in breaking the shells open and a few other kids showed an interest due to their lead. In the UK, in a park like this, all the good conkers would be gone within minutes of falling if any children were close by.

We let them keep a couple each - maybe we'll have a game at the weekend!

Day 6.240: Vroman's Nose

The wonderfully named Vroman's Nose is a nearby hike we've known about for some time but avoided due to the thought of its trails-along-cliff-edge with our son-with-no-sense-of-danger.

We finally decided that we were ready and went there today. Spoiler: we all made it back in one piece.

The hike (a simple up-one-side down-the-other loop) is only 1.2 miles, but it is quite steep in places.  Here are a few shots from the way up and the way back down:

The pay-off for the hard-work - beautiful uninterrupted views of the Schoharie valley - is hard to beat!

But yes - the trail does lead right up to high vertical cliff in several places!

And here are a few things that caught our eye - the excellent signs at the parking lot (Vroman's nose trails?! and EXTRA PARKING ON GRAss), a strange globular fungus and a very accommodating black swallowtail butterfly.

We also had a very nice lunch at a place Exile #2 had spotted looking very busy when we were in the area a couple of weeks ago.  It turned out to be the excellent Apple Barrel Country Store cafe.  Simple real food prepared freshly - not the cheapest place perhaps - but very good indeed.

Day 6.237: Some are, summer not...

In a brief break in the rainy weather (and a lull in the pork smoking activity) on Monday, we ventured out to see what the trails at Five Rivers had to offer at the end of the summer season.

First of all - fun - even though E5N1 slipped on some mud within minutes of setting off nearly causing an early issue.

Secondly - a surprising variety of flowers - summer isn't over yet!

Then again, there are plenty of signs of fall too:

And of course, trees and streams which are there all year around:

Although the dying cicada splashing around is definitely a late August/early September speciality!

Day 6.203: PvZ Live!

Thanks to my nephew who introduced it to his cousins during our visit to the UK, we've become a Plants vs Zombies household. Only Exile #2 has resisted completely. E5N1 is the most obsessed - regularly (when he has not got access to the iPad or iPhone version) enticing Exile #4 into playing a live-action version of the game in which plants defend a suburban home against an attack of potentially brain-devouring zombies. Today, E5N1 and Exile #2 apparently spent some time making PvZ models out of Lego.

At dinner time yesterday, E5N1 was showing off his zombie walk. After eating some cherries for dessert, it was even more effective:

At least we'll be ready when the zombie apocalypse comes - if we can prevent the local wildlife eating all our plants!

Day 6.175: Ramble-on!

We were all a little weary after our exertions yesterday.  I supplemented my weariness with a 10 mile run before breakfast.

Nevertheless, we managed to get out for a fairly short and fairly gentle hike in Dimmingsdale.

The sun even shone on us.

Here we all are:

And here are some of the other things we saw:

Tomorrow is time to move on again!

Day 6.168: Zoning out

I managed to keep my training on-course by getting up for a run this morning - quite an achievement given the timezone change.

My run took me across fields and along a Roman road as well as, less comfortably, along some narrow country roads where the only way to get out of the way of any errant drivers would have been to dive (probably head-first) into the hedgerow. Fortunately, the reality was less eventful than that.

Later, we played various games inside and out and had a nice walk across the village - all the time fighting our bodies' rebellion against the clock.

It was worth it for moments like this:

and for some quality time with my parents.

Day 6.139: Prettier than January

Or March for that matter.

Late May in southern South Korea: 

Day 6.128: Five Rivers and a lively woodchuck

We went to Five Rivers this morning.  We chose the Vlomankill Trail because it had been a while - and this time of year when it is ice-free and not-too-buggy is definitely its most pleasant time.

Once again Exile #4 and E5N1 did some paddling (it's getting less unthinkable now - but the rest of us kept our feet dry).  There were interesting broken rocks on the beach - two are pictured.  Also, E5N1 wrote on some other stones - a message for Mom (with a heart) and one for me (with an exclamation mark)!

On the way back - a lively woodchuck crossed our path.

Here are some of the other things that caught my eye:

Day 6.121: Weeds and creeps

It's been a bit of a rainy day, but we managed to all get out of the house twice. First time was to do some weeding. The kids were set to work removing the wild garlic from the bottom of the back yard - they (mostly the girls) filled a bin and a half to add to Exile #2's earlier haul.

Meanwhile, Exile #2 and I found ourselves attacking some Virginia creeper.  I quite like this plant - it climbs and forms impressive Tarzan-friendly vines in the trees without apparently bothering them.  It has fairly plain foliage but it turns bright red in the autumn - often at a different time than the trees it is climbing in.  Today, however, we discovered a vast network of it creeping - rather than climbing - for the most part through or just under the grass in the lawn forming a circle at least 20 ft in diameter around its main vine.  Pulling it up proved rather satisfying and a little addictive once we started - you can see our harvest in the black bin just behind the ones the kids filled above.

Our second trip was a walk to the library where I picked up the two sequels to The Hunger Games which I am currently thoroughly enjoying after a recommendation from Exile #2 and Exile #3 who have both read the whole series.

Day 6.092: Le Jardin Botanique

Bonsai, orchids, cacti, fruit, ....

The greenhouses at the botanical gardens in Montreal are rather stunning.

We also visited the Insectarium.  We were all getting a little tired by then and didn't fully appreciate it, but here is a taste:

and a quiz: how many stick insects (walking sticks to the US readers) do you see in the top picture? Take a close look. I won't ask how many beetles you see in the bottom left!

Day 6.075: High (grass)

I'm ability-impaired right now - but due to jet-lag not illicit substances.

So, to keep things ticking over, here's a picture from my mountain adventure that I just spotted and was rather pleased with.

Day 6.074: In a different season-zone

I answered my first work email at around ten to five this morning and my last one at five to eleven tonight. Jet-lag has its advantages for my employer - and for the same recipient of both of those emails - albeit on two different days for him!

Meanwhile I'm coming to terms with having had this side of Spring:

snatched from me after being very much in evidence in southern South Korea last week!

Day 6.051: The long-lost trail

Exile #2 reminded me that there was still a trail at Five Rivers that we had never walked. She has walked it on several occasions and my parents have, but despite our many visit there, we had never walked most of the North Loop trail - until today.

E5N1 was on particularly good form - neither complaining about the distance, nor bickering with his sister. Instead they formed a formidable team set on breaking all the thin ice on the rapidly melting puddles!

All of which made for a very enjoyable outing.  For us all.

Here are some of the things that caught my eye.  Leaves burying themselves in ice (working theory is that they get warm in the day because of their dark shade and gradually sink into the surrounding ice), some extensive fungus and, the unsolved mystery of the apparently abused pine trees with orange ribbons (there were quite a few - anyone know what's going on?)

E5N1 declared it the best walk at Five Rivers ever and - partly thanks to that - I might be inclined to agree!

Day 6.046: What lies beneath

The Discovery Center at the Pine Bush Preserve has some great displays. I love this view of the roots of the small pine trees that live there - truly as much below ground as above!

Day 5.286: Beautiful signs of fall

Before it was brought to a sudden end, our aim on visiting Five Rivers on Saturday was to spot some signs of fall for a school project of E5N1's. It was a beautiful afternoon and we saw a lot!

Sunshine on autumnal leaves and seed pods (and a deer):

And, less seasonally perhaps, some excellent shape-spotting clouds.  Here we have sea-turtle and crocodile/dinosaur clouds:

(second half of the walk not pictured!)