All In a Weekend, Part 2

The boys went home Sunday afternoon, except Graham and Pa who stayed in NY for Monday and Tuesday to hunt with Graham's friend Jim. We went to Letchworth State Park during the afternoon on Monday, then visited Grandpa and Grandma for the evening.
Middle Falls

Graham- the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

Me -at the rainbow's end:)

Graham on some of the vast amount of stonework done by the CCC (civilian conservation camps) in the 1930's.

Middle Falls, Upper Falls hidden from view behind the tree tops. Note the Portage High Bridge in the back ground. It stands 234 feet above the river, and spans the 675 feet gorge. There are No Trespassing signs on the bridge, but Graham and I were naughty and walked to the middle of the railroad bridge to get a better look at Upper Falls. The view is spectacular! The water from Upper Falls drops 70 feet, then rushes over Middle Falls at a drop of 107 feet, before winding through the gorge and over Lower Falls, a pretty little cascade of 30 feet.

I don't mind heights as long as I don't look down for too long...

Graham by the tracks. it's hard to see in this picture, but the railroad ties are spaced far enough apart that your foot can slide through...as you can imagine, we stayed on the grating!

My brother is a nice guy to do stuff with; not a daredevil, but not chicken-hearted either. Thanks, Graham!

On the other hand, don't let him hold the camera; he's apt to use it. I'm not showing you, but he took several shots of me wriggling under the "NO TRESPASSING" fence. In this photo, I'm outside the fence-Graham's inside!

Have you ever heard of "The White Woman of the Genesee"? Mary Jemison was captured by the Indians from Chester County, PA in 1758 taken to Ohio, traded to the Seneca Indians and brought to the Letchworth area. She married an Indian chief and had several children. When given the opportunity to return to the white people, she refused and died well respected by her neighbors, Indian and otherwise.

She is buried here, and a statue was raised in her memory.

Graham and Jim reading the plaque on the Indian counsel house. In the background is the cabin that Mary Jemison built for her daughter in 1817, I believe.

Graham and Jim doing dishes for Grandma and me. After the long weekend & meal fixin', it was a welcome treat!

All In a Weekend, Part 1

On May 1st, I went with the Long Family to the Anne of Green Gables play at the Family Life Ministries headquarters in Bath. As you can see by the way Ruthie's ice cream is melting, it was a hot & humid day. Little Miss Janie is really owning her ice pop-love the expression on her face!

Timmy making a "whoa-that-Root Beer-is-fizzy" face!

Beautiful Becca-she played to role of one of the townspeople in the play. What a pretty girl! The outfit with the braids really suits her well! Her dad, David is in the background.

Eric (on the far right) got the role of Avonlea mailman. He had several singing parts-wow! He has talent! It's so much more fun to watch a play when you know the people; I was very impressed by the great acting I saw by all the kids! Micah was also in the play as a townsman, I love his outfit! Janie has his hat, and Ruthie is sporting Becca's! I had a wonderful time, thank-you, Long Family!

Louisa had her fourth birthday party Saturday evening, she ordered a "brown cake with brown frosting and pink sprinkles please, Aunt Jessie." Grandpa Vanderbosch is holding Retta and Diana. It was hard work for Diana to keep from blowing out Louisa's candles! (Louisa blew them out in two puffs)!

Uncle Asa reading to Retta. It was an all-boy weekend at The Little Farm on West Creek (my folk's NY place, where I grew up) as they were here on a Spring gobbler turkey hunting expedition. I'll just let you in on a secret-the turkey's fared very well, the boys did not fill any tags :( :)

On Sunday, Kelvin and I went to church with the hunting gang, visiting a Mennonite church in Rockstream, NY. Afterwards, we went to visit and old friend of the family's that we haven't seen in about 10 years.

John Coffer is a tintype photographer, which is old-time photograghy like they had during the civil war. He does the whole process authentically, and teaches classes at his homestead in Dundee. He lives very primatively-when you step out of the car, it's like turning the clock back a hundred years or more. He has chosen this lifestyle, and it is evident that he really enjoys living like an "antique"!

Photos soaking in the solution. Note the photo hanging on the tent wall-an example of his work. You can see many more examples of his photos, etc, by looking up his website http://www.johncoffer.com/ or looking up his name on google.

John's most recent acquistion is a 1927 Model T. John is very good at giving demonstrations, and ours wasn't abriviated. Pa, Sheldon and Marlin all got rides in the Model T-On the farm lanes because John doesn't have a driver's licence!

Kelvin and me trying to look like we stepped out of the 1930's-do we pass?

Giving the car a crank to get her started.

John's cabin-it looks just the way it did 10 years ago when my family came to John's house for meeting every Sunday. I remember many,many Sunday afternoons at John's. I must admit-back then, as a teenage girl, I was bored out of my mind most of the time!

Da Gallery.

I love chickens! The bedframe is for the camper that doesn't like sleeping on the ground. I wonder if there's a matress hidden away in the gallery somewhere? I know I would hope so if that were my guest quarters! (I would also hope for a clear forecast-a rainy night would be a real bummer!)

This, folks, is the bathroom. Or at least the bathing area, complete with a curtain and V05! Want a bath?! No problem. Haul wood. Haul water. Start fire. Feed fire. Wait for water to heat. bucket water into tub. Pull curtain. Hope it's warm out. Or-have someone willing to hand you more warm water! Gee! I'd have to smell myself comin' before I went to all that work!

(Um 'cause I know you are all wondering, John is single!)

Pa and John are dressed alike-isn't that too funny?! I couldn't believe it when I noticed!

Marlin, Sheldon, my brothers: Graham, Asa, and Jacob, doing a goofy pic

Boys + me standing in front of the tipee-more guest quarters for people taking the Camp Tintype Workshops.

The whole group!

Sheldon in the tipee-great shot, huh?

My husband Kelvin. I love this picture. Such a pretty smile :)

Two Days in the City

I spent Tuesday on a field trip with my friend Sheila, my sister-in-law Jessica, her sister-in law Fannie, and all their children at the Rochester Science Center. Some of you might think that inviting yourself along on a field trip with 3 adults and 12 children is akin to suicide, but for me, it was many times better than the best anti-depressant on the market! I love helping to keep track of the busy little people, but the funny thing is, sometimes I forget that I have small charges, and become engrossed in a display and totally lose track of the children. I guess it's because they aren't mine, and I'm not used to having them around-at least I hope that is the problem!

Tim and Becca going up!

Sheila explaining how the Erie Canal locks work; Janie, Ryan, and Todd operating the canal lock gates.

Janie adjusting her safety goggles while digging for Mastodon bones with Ruthie.

Becca and Janie welding their brushes.

Todd, Carlton, Ryan and Ruthie uncovering more bones buried in recycled ground-up tires.

Don't they make great archeologist's?!

REALLY scary dinosaurs: Becca, Ruthie and Todd!


Wednesday was shopping and lunch at The Olive Garden with my friend Katie, her mom Cindy, and sister Becky.

This is Katie's sweet little lady, Lexi, at Target trying on a hat. She really dresses up a hat, don't you think?!

Beautiful Miss Lexi!

Katie and I sporting our hats. Nope, we didn't buy them, just borrowed them for the picture!

I gotta tell you folks. Today I'm having an identity crisis. Yesterday, I was mistaken for a: Quaker, a grandmother and a lesbian. In that order. Help! what a day! Let me tell you the story.

Katie and I were both wearing long denim skirts and pink shirts from Katie's Mercantile ( Cindy, Katie and Becky's conservative clothing business) shopping in Jo Ann Fabric when a gal said; "Excuse me, but are you girls Quakers?" She was visibly disappointed when we declined the label. We didn't make any further explanation, and decided there were much worse things to be mistaken for. I shared that my mother would probably be gratified that her daughter was mistaken for a Quaker while shopping in Rochester!

On the way home, Katie and I stopped in Dansville to take advantage of the 50% off sale at Salvation Army, our local thrift store. In the checkout line, the cashier rang me up, then I turned to take a wriggly Lexi so her mommy would have a free hand to put her purchases on the counter to pay. The cashier says "O, don't tell me; mommy, grandma and granddaughter out shopping for the day." We shook our heads, and we must have looked at her funny, because in effort to fix her mistake she says, "O, O, I'm sorry. It's mommy and MOMMY! Your little girl is beautiful". We decided this time a full explanation was in order. We explained that I was a friend and Lexi was Katie's daughter. Then the cashier says, "O! Well, I can see she got her big blue eyes from you", referring to Katie. At least she got that part straight!

So today, I am not bothered by being Quaker, and although being taken for a female partner is disconcerting, the part that bites is the fact that someone thinks I look old enough to be a grandmother. Worse than that, I'm only 3 years and 7 months older than Katie. Golly! My life is practically over! I want to be a grandma, but I'd like to wait a few years if it's okay with you guys! I'M ONLY 27!

Pulling Taps & Collecting Sap Buckets

Today my friend Wren and her children came to my rescue and helped me pull taps and gather up all the buckets and barrels out of the woods and bring them back to the barn to be washed and stored. Prince was a very good boy, and made four trips without too much fuss.

Wren pulling taps.

The kids taking a whittling break from picking up bucket. What good workers they are!

Wren was determined to get all the barrels on one load. She got them all strung on with baling twine. They all stayed on until we got home. It looks like a gypsy wagon!

I am very thankful for my friends. Wren and her children are so fun to work with-the day flew by; we got a lot of done and had a great time doing it!