On Wednesday I hiked with neighbor Luke to Terrace Pond. Although there are No Swimming signs posted both at the beginning of the trail and at the pond itself, Luke assures me this used to be (and probably still is) a popular swimming hole.

The trail, like the other hike that Rick and I took back in the fall, is an uphill climb with a few rock scrambles. Here is Luke at the beginning of the trail.

And up the rocky trail we go! See the blue blaze marks on the rocks?

The view from the first uphill climb. Pretty! It was a gorgeous day: clear blue sky with not a cloud in it, perfect temperature, and lower humidity.

A bit further up the trail the rocks got a bit more dramatic. I wasn’t brave enough to join Luke in admiring the view. Can you blame me or do you think I’m a wimp? (Actually I was mindful of twisting my back again since it’s mostly healed.)

Luke thought this mushroom looked like a slightly over-cooked pancake and I agree.

The trail was easier than I thought it was going to be and after a few more rocky places and a few bogs we soon reached our destination: Terrace Pond.

The water was clear and calm. Bullfrogs were giving a concert from the edge of the pond sounding very much like they were plucking guitar strings. We stopped to eat a bite of lunch before heading back down.

Luke showed me this cool sheltering overhang that made a sort of cave. It would offer a lot of protection from the elements if you needed it.

Are you getting the idea that New Jersey is one rocky place?

These Indian Pipe Plants took advantage of a mulchy spot on the rocks.

The hike back down took about half the time of the hike up. All in all a very pleasant hike and a great way to spend a few hours. Next time we need to find the loop trail that goes all the way around the pond for more of a challenge!

Beergaritas poolside.

I took this photo yesterday afternoon during yet another thunderstorm with heavy rain. I liked the reflection of my dining room light projected into the darkness outside.

Things have been strange this week. Lots of passings. Poor Farrah. She had the bad luck to die on the same day as Michael Jackson. Her death was totally over shadowed by that dark man. And by dark I am not referring to his color but to what a tortured soul he was. He was brilliant once upon a time. Maybe too much so. Everybody remembers what they were doing in life when Thriller came out. We were living in Germany at the time and whenever I hear songs from that album it takes me back there. Good times. Good memories. Where were you?

It was a strange day yesterday with a mix of clouds, sun, and of course, rain. Only two days this month have not registered any kind of precipitation at all. It’s been one of the wettest Junes on record. We have lots of mushrooms popping up in the yard and I even picked some fresh puffballs to contemplate eating. But, we aren’t completely sure of that even though we know they are edible. They smell wonderful and when cut in half have a creamy looking texture to them. Still thinking.

I mowed around this one the other day so I could take a photo of it. Not eating this one, but I think it’s pretty awesome!

The pool is warming up. Finally! The night before last we took our first skinny-dip. It was heaven. The pool temperature was up to 76 degrees. Still a little chilly but it felt great. We hope to get in some pool time over the weekend in-between the predicted afternoon thunderstorms. Hopefully some grilling can take place on the deck too. We still need to plan out our menus. I don’t want to get too carried away with planning because we are going to the Warwick farmer’s market tomorrow and will hopefully find some nice fresh peas. We did get peas from our CSA but they are too little to actually shell and must be eaten like snap peas.

We have used up everything in our produce box except for the peas. The romaine lettuce went into a wonderful Caesar salad. The recipe can be found here. The dressing was awesome and the homemade croutons are a definite must-do. I forgot to take a photo ... oops. We added leftover chicken for protein. (Leftover chicken from oven “fried” chicken the previous night.) We’ll be making this recipe again!

Last night we used the bunch of spinach in a delicious Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing. Just click for the recipe. This recipe we saw on Good Eats on the Food Network (Alton Brown). And, I did remember to take a photo before devouring it.

The day lilies have started to bloom. I just love it when they are blooming and the dragonflies do too! I took these photos yesterday after a little rain shower.

I love how the stamens look like an orange forest; the anthers covered in pollen, just waiting.

I know this is a strange mix of topics for a blog post, but it’s just what is on my mind this morning. I could show you a photo of how I’m coming on my embroidery but I think I’ve finally run out of steam for today.

As you already know, our nearly ten-month-old Berner Bella loves the water. She has gone in the pool once before but I was not smart enough with the video camera to actually turn it “on.” sigh. Okay, today was not perfect pool weather and the temperature has not increased any (still 70-ish degrees), but we had to dunk ourselves today in the tiny sunny window that we had. Hey, after nearly another inch of rain in the past two days I think we need to take advantage of any short sunlit opportunity that comes our way.

You can view Bella’s super cool movie one of three ways:

The best quality with a fast internet connection can be viewed here:
http://gallery.me.com/bmtndog/100200

You can view it on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ15Nl61lZs

Or you can watch it here:

I was manning the video, but Rick did all the super editing of the movie and he is responsible for the end result.

I hope it makes you smile!

Since there is no blue, either now or predicted to be in my day today, I am posting this photo from San Miguel. I loved the color of this house. Somehow I don’t think it would look right here in New Jersey.