Pool time on Saturday afternoon.

 

Saturday night dinner: Margarita Shrimp & Scallops with Mango Salsa

 

The sky as we ate.

 

Early morning canoe trip on Green Turtle Pond on Sunday.

 

With water like glass.

 

A heron.

 

 

Reflections.

 

A lady duck.

 

A trip to the Warwick Farmer's Market.

 

 

 

We have canceled our Mexico trip officially. We were traveling on frequent flyer miles and if we use them again before May of 2014 we won't forfeit the mileage so that's a plus. We still don't know about the first deposit  on our casita and have asked them that if they rent the house out despite us, could they apply it to future rental. We still don't know the outcome of that.

We talked about all the issues and we both came to the same conclusion: that we should cancel and go at another time. It would have been a nice get-away for us, but other than that we don't have any real reasons for going at this time. Yes, we are considering San Miguel as a winter  residence in retirement, but we are still at least three or more years away from that particular phase of our lives. I think in any scenario that we have to contend with, either putting Alex up at the uncomfortable vet clinic, to the more familiar kennel, or even someone being able to housesit for us, it still boiled down to our comfort level with any of those choices. Alex, although feeling physically good at this point, is still a bit challenging on the eating end of things. I can't put that on anybody else but ourselves.

The upside is that Rick will have more vacation days to spend, either tacking on another few days to our Colorado cabin visit (see? more vacation time!) or just a few three-day weekends and more time at the holidays. 

You might do things differently than us, but our dogs are our kids. Alex has been a phenomenal part of our family for 10.5 years and we just don't feel right leaving him while he is still undergoing chemotherapy with all its ups and downs. 

As far as frogs are concerned, we still fish out seven or eight every morning. This is getting a bit old at this point. We have had a lot of rain over the past few days and rain does seem to factor into the frog problem. Friend Carolyn suggested we collect them in a bucket and take them down to the pond. I have no idea if it's the same stupid frogs each day or different ones (and I know I aided the demise of at least one the other day by mistake) but if we are dealing with the same situation tomorrow morning with no additional rainfall, then we'll collect them and take them down to the pond with us and release them as we set off on our canoe trip around the pond. It's either that or frog legs for dinner tomorrow night. 

 

Photo: Cherubic fountain at Skylands. 

So far, so good.

1.
Take the canoe out on Green Turtle Pond.
CHECK!

A stop at Jessie’s Deli for a pre-paddle breakfast New Jersey style: Taylor ham-egg-and cheese-on a hard roll. (Taylor ham is special to New Jersey and the closest thing I can think of to it would be Spam!)

On the pond the water was like a mirror.

This Great Blue Heron was enjoying the pond as well.

Until we disturbed him!

2.
Eat fresh figs.
Wrap them with pancetta and grill/broil them and drink Prosecco!
CHECK!

3.
Camp out Saturday night on the air mattress in the cabana by the pool.
NOT YET! It looks like maybe some rain is headed our way so we might have to postpone.

4.
Hopefully swim some.
CHECK! After lunch, 30 lengths of the pool in 75 degree water.

5.
Maybe dress up in our renaissance garb and head to the Ren Faire.
STILL TO BE DECIDED UPON! Check back tomorrow.

 

 

The truck w/canoe in our driveway.

Sunday morning we loaded up the canoe and headed to our five-minute-away destination: Monksville Reservoir. The morning was crisp, but calm. We had originally planned our canoe outing for Saturday but it was a bit too breezy for paddling around. We thought we would need light jackets but once we go there we realized it had warmed up enough to go without them.

When we first started out the lake was like a mirror. The colors are just now slightly past peak, but still pretty. The light was typical for a fall day with the sun in and out of the clouds.

Monksville Reservoir was filled in 1987. There were a few houses that were of historical significance that were moved elsewhere, but the majority of the 15 homes that once existed here were demolished. The reservoir is huge but so far we have only paddled in the shallower section near the Wanaque river feed.

We like it because of all the dead standing trees. It’s eerie and pretty all at the same time. It’s challenging too (at least for Rick who steers) because there are many submerged tree stumps and fallen trees that can snag you if you don’t see them lurking under the water. It’s like a cemetary for trees and many of them have met with a watery grave.

The bleached dead wood makes for a stark contrast against the vibrantly colored trees.

We disturbed a cormorant resting on a rock. Until I took these photos I had no idea they had blue eyes!

Finally airborne and away from those people in that canoe! Whew!

The cemetary of dead trees.

We (or should I say Rick) navigated through the dead trees while I stopped paddling to be on the lookout for submerged stumps. It’s a strange feeling floating among the watery forest.

The colors here were interesting to me ... muted greens and pinks from the green scum on the water and the burning bushes; reminiscent of a Monet painting I thought.

We got back in the channel and paddled up to the end where the Wanaque river feeds the reservoir.

There was some kind of foam in the water but to us it looked like a galaxy spinning around on the surface.

A captive maple leaf.

And somehow plants find a way to survive.

On our way back to the dock the wind kicked up and the sun was becoming obscured behind clouds. We were glad we had chosen the time we did to come. And, all the more glad when we saw lots of people unloading canoes at the dock. A canoeing club was about to take over the waters! After accepting many compliments on how beautiful our canoe was (and an invitation from one man to join the Hackensack Canoe Club) we were on our way home.

Whew! That’s a lot of photos! I know my sweet hubbie would tell me “edit, Lynne!” but I’ve had a hard enough time just getting this posted. I kept looking at the photos and deciding which ones to leave out and never came to a good conclusion. So, since this post has been waiting to be published now for two days, I just decided to go with all of them.

I hope you enjoyed the paddle!

Unlike that old 60’s song that goes ...
Hey 98.6, it’s good to have you back again…

It’s NOT good to have you back. Again. Just when you think summer is over (like last week with all the rain and temps in the 60’s) it comes back to slap you right in the face. WHACK! Not over yet, thank you very much. ouch. That hurts. I am so done with summer. Especially since the pool has not gone above 71 degrees in spite of the hot temperatures. Not fair! Look at yesterday’s weather stats taken from our weather station.

Maybe Earl will have something to say about that this weekend. Will he impact us or or not?

And for those of you who are too young to remember the song, go here to hear it. For some reason I am having trouble inbedding videos into my blog.

I leave you today with a few early morning shots of Green Turtle pond from our Sunday canoe paddle-around.

The mist was still rising from the surface when we first go there.

After the mist cleared the surface was like a piece of glass.