Yesterday we worshipped in the Temple of Nature. Right here.
And if this little cove was our temple, then this was the altar.
It’s been extremely hot here this past week with no rain, temperatures in the 90’s and the heat index up to 107! Saturday morning the heat wave finally broke and we got over 2 inches of much needed rain.
We vowed to each other that when we woke on Sunday morning we would feed the dogs and cats, throw on some clothes, toss the canoe on top of the truck and head out to Green Turtle pond again. We were on the pond by 7:30 a.m., which is pretty good for us.
The morning mist was still hovering near the surface of the water, leaving an almost monochromatic look to the scene.
But soon the sun burned off the mist and we were left with beautiful blue sky and still waters.
And look who was back again: Mr. Great Blue Heron. Same bird (probably). Same rock. Only this time I had my zoom lens.
A morning perfect for paddling as no breeze had yet started. We’ve figured out that the breeze starts around 8:15 and it usually catches us paddling back up the opposite side of the pond. We timed this trip just right.
My muscles were still a bit sore from last week, but it still felt good. I can’t tell you how peaceful it is out there in the early morning. Birdsong floats down through the trees and bullfrogs croak from the reeds.
I liked the colors and reflection of this fisherman.
After our paddle around the pond we came home, took showers, and headed off in Mia to the market in Warwick. Goat cheese (for our lunch), bread, and blueberries were on our list.
Lunch was a new recipe of Planked Figs: fresh halved figs dipped in Calvados and ground pepper, left to marinate for about 20 minutes, then wrapped in pancetta and topped with fresh goat cheese and a little fried pancetta and cooked on a cedar plank on the grill. After cooking they were drizzled with wildflower honey. Delicious!
Eaten poolside, of course.
The rest of the day was spent in and around the pool. All in all, another lovely Sunday.
We had a good weekend, did you? Both busy and relaxing: a combo of the two.
On Friday night we drove to Hoboken to have dinner with friends. I am sorry I didn’t take my camera because there were several missed photo opportunities:
1. The skyline of Manhattan
2. Carlo’s City Hall Bake Shop (home of the Cake Boss show on TV) where people were lined up 20-30 deep just to get in the door!
3. Great old brownstone buildings.
We ate wonderful authentic Mexican food at Charritos and had a great night out. I want to go back! (with camera)
On Saturday morning friends called to see if we wanted to join them hiking with their dog in Jungle Habitat. Rick was out doing yard work, so I declined, plus it was already getting too hot for out black-coated kids. It’s just as well that we didn’t go with them, because look what they found when they got there:
Aggressive bear!! Yikes, we’ve never seen a bear while hiking here. A hiker and his dog were “attacked” by the bear while walking the trails. The dog was seriously wounded and had to spend the night in the animal hospital, but the man had only minor injuries as a result of having just been knocked down by the bear. The bear did not maul him or lay a paw on him. Who knows what really happened here.
The wild raspberries and black caps are all ripening now, plus I understand that it is also mating season for the bears. This incident is unfortunate (not only for the poor dog and its human) since it comes within one week of the local fireworks display which takes place in Jungle Habitat. Unless the bear can be trapped by July 2nd, the fireworks will be cancelled. We don’t usually go but this year we were thinking of hiking to the top of the neighbor’s hill behind their house to watch from there.
The rest of Saturday was spent running a few errands in Mia and then relaxing by the pool. It’s so pretty right now with the day lilies in full bloom.
I felt a bit like Cleopatra as Rick pulled me slowly around the pool on my “barge.”
Then we just floated around. It was a perfect afternoon for the pool. Not too hot and the pool temperature is now up to 82 degrees!
Sunday morning we drove Mia to the market in Warwick to pick up items for our dinner. We came home with a freshly butchered rabbit, fresh peas, bread, the best pesto in the world, cipollini onions, and fresh strawberries and blueberries. We took a different route home hoping to find a road Rick wanted to take but we turned too early and missed it.
After lunch I told Rick I thought we should take another drive and try to find the road we had missed. It’s hard not to take advantage of such great top-down weather. So, that’s exactly what we did. Note to self for next time: remember to put sunscreen on and Rick needs to remember to take a cap with him on these sunny days.
Not only are the day lilies blooming in my back yard but all along the roadsides around us. Everywhere you look they are growing wild. This photo taken from Mia doesn’t begin to give you the scope of how numerous and beautiful they are. Last year they barely bloomed due to all our rain and cool temperatures. But this year they are out in full force, drinking in the sun.
We found the road we were looking for and them some. Take a look at this sign about halfway through our drive.
The views over the Warwick valley, although seen through the haze of humidity, were pretty.
See? More roadside lilies!
We passed an old abandoned farm on the historic register. It looked sad and forlorn. Probably because it remembers the road during horse and carriage days.
After we got home we pooled it for awhile, then on to cooking dinner.
While our proscuitto-wrapped-rabbit-italian sausage & sage skewers cooked ...
... we drank a glass of wine on the deck and chatted. I heard a great flapping of wings and some squawking, and turned around to see this momma turkey with her three turkettes in our back yard! She must have flown over the fence while the little ones squeezed under. They pecked around for a while then she took them off into the woods. Very cute.
As I sat on the deck I saw that the light was hitting a tree in the woods within our yard and lighting it up in a very nice way. I grabbed my camera and headed down to see if it was a good photo prospect. Just as I got to the tree I caught movement out of the corner of my eye—a black bear rump running away from me! Yikes! Here we are up on the deck and we had no idea a bear was over the fence in the wooded part of the yard. He obviously was not bothered by us talking and the smell of our rabbit grilling. Or maybe he thought it smelled too good? He was in the area where we have berry bushes and I guess I spooked him from his snack.
We could hear the sounds of our neighbors that we don’t know on the side of us having a family get-together. The sounds of children playing and laughing carried through the woods. Just after I had spooked the bear and was back up on the deck we heard the kids start screaming next door. Next came silence. No more laughing squealing kids. Then the sound of an air horn went off. Once. Twice. Three times. We knew the bear had just crashed their party! (Many people keep air horns to scare bears away. We don’t have one.)
The rest of the evening passed without any other excitements. Our dinner was delicious!
So, that was our weekend. How was yours?
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UPDATE: Taken from the Thunder in the Highlands website:
The West Milford PAL Board of Directors has postponed the Fireworks display until July 9, 2010 due to unforeseen issues with a “special resident and her cubs” at the Jungle Habitat Property.
A new category has been added to my blog. Since the addition to our family of our Miata, (more commonly known to us as Mia) I foresee new adventures in our future in which she plays a major role. Therefore she deserves her very own category: Driving Miss Mia. The blog posts will range from me snapping photos along the way, to photos once we reach our destination and who knows what else.
It was a beautiful weekend. Perfect “top-down” weather for sure. On Saturday morning we started our drive up to Monroe, New York and Warwick.
Our drive took us along the shore of Greenwood Lake.
A stop for ice cream at Bellvale Farms. They have the best view of the lovely Warwick valley.
A funny sign on the way back from the Warwick Winery. It says something completely different on the other side as you approach the Winery but we didn’t realize it until we were past it. Next time…
And no, we didn’t taste. We just drove there to find out where it was never having been there before.
An old barn along the way.
Look who’s driving!
Later on that day friends Bill and Carol called to see if we wanted to take a drive down to Lake Mohawk in the Sparta area. They have a convertible too, you see. On glorious days the “Convertible Club” (which also consists of neighbors Kim and Mark) get together and go for drives, usually ending up somewhere to eat.
It was a beautiful drive down and I can’t wait to do it again once the trees are out.
It’s a quaint little town with odd architecture here and there.
We walked along the boardwalk next to the lake.
We stopped into a local pub and had a beer, then a slice of pizza and headed home.
After watching this pretty hawk fly over us I had to wonder ... do people in convertibles get bird poop on their heads very often? Certainly something to ponder.
