New Ride for the Grandchildren

 

 My Worksman Industrial Tricycle came with a small metal "basket" on the back platform that the grandchildren loved riding in last fall.  In the firm belief that they would outgrow that space by spring, I have created a larger wooden seat area that allows for their continued growth for a while.  Our friend Mike who has an upholstery business created a very nice cushion for them to sit on.  I asked him for some scrap foam, and got a professional cushion instead - Thank You Mike!

 With their names on the back,

 

and the name of my new movingwoodstudio.com
 on the sides,

they now have a much larger and more luxurious ride!
Maya and CJ haven't seen it yet - maybe tomorrow if it gets a little less snowy and a little more spring like?

One Of A Kind!

Cheryl loves to create figures from scraps and leftovers, and these are some of those. Never to be repeated, so I took some pictures. These range from about 12" tall to around 18" tall. Come to the show this weekend in Northampton, MA to meet them in person, and add one or more of them to your collection!

Click here for more info on the Paradise City Show

October 8, 9, 10 - Saturday, Sunday, and Monday!
Mention this blog entry, and get a free tiny angel!
No purchase necessary!

Windtamer Turbines

Click pictures to Embiggen!

A while back I got a link to information about these new "home" wind turbines from my old friend and teacher Richard Hunt.  The other day, while on our way home from the Washington DC "no sales" trip, we stopped to take pictures of this great new system.... just north of Hemlock, NY.   They are bigger than I had imagined, but due to new technology, can generate enough electricity for home or small business use with a lot shorter tower, and a lot less wind than you might think.  I suspect this is the largest of the three models available.  WindTamer Turbines is located right here in the Rochester area, and this looks like a pretty cool green solution.  Click here for their web site with a video that explains how it works.

Well, we're back home.  Above is a picture of our booth at The Kennedy Center on Sunday afternoon.  We had modest sales because well over half of the audience could not make it through the snowed in streets of the Washington DC area.  We had a lovely drive home on Monday between the storms.  Here in Rochester, we just have a nice pleasant dusting of snow that a nice stiff broom removes with ease!


Our hearts go out to the folks doing the Buyer's Market of American Crafts show this weekend.  This is our first year of not doing this show, but many of our friends are there with high hopes, and the airport closed!  Jewelry preview tonight, and the show opens tomorrow.  Hopefully most of the gallery and store owners will make it in sometime over the weekend!  The following banner appears over the opening page of the show web site.....

The Buyers Market of American Craft WILL open as scheduled on Friday, February 12. The Jewelry Preview will take place on Thursday from 4-7 p.m.

Working on a new e-commerce web site - click here to check it out and give us feedback.... probably best to not actually place an order yet?

Right out of the 1950's !!!

On the way home from Morristown, we stopped at a place right out of the 1950's - established in 1956. Sorry to say I was even misled by their sign - a blatant knockoff of the iconic Carvel sign - see below. The hamburger was to die for though, and the raspberry sundae was a classic!

Gabels Ice Cream in Tannersville, PA. Click pictures to embiggen!

Wonderful place, but beware - they won't replace dropped cones!

Evolution in action!

These white deer are found in Romulus, NY at the former Seneca Army Depot.... a fully fenced in army base that protected these white deer from predators including man. (they are not albinos - just a white mutation that has survived in a unique environment) An early morning or early evening drive by on Route 96 will usually reward you with a view of several of these lovely creatures. On the way home on yesterday I stopped and got this shot. A fellow a bit further on was getting some great shots of a young buck, but I decided that he would not be happy if I stopped to join him and scared off his subject!

Click here for some more info.

Steve

Steve has been in a wheelchair for 32 years. He is about my age, give or take a few, and he is not one to just sit on his #$%&^. Well, actually he has to, but he was working the Elmwood Festival last weekend..... juggling in a wheelchair! He has got quite a show worked out. By most standards, he is at best an OK juggler. No 5 or 7 ball tricks, no rings, no clubs, no fire, and no chainsaws! He just sits there and juggles 3 balls - not all that easy sitting down with the arms of the wheelchair limiting where your arms can go. He does not need to worry all that much about drops because there is pretty much always somebody around to chase after the loose balls and toss them back to him. In fact, I think that is part of the deal. I noticed that folks who chased after the loose props were more likely to drop a buck in his bucket! His one fancy move is a high behind the chair toss with just the right spin to bounce the ball back to his waiting hands. He usually makes it, but if not --- another audience member chases it down, and sets a good example by dropping some change in the bucket!

A little video of Steve below for your enjoyment. If you are ever in Buffalo, NY check around downtown, or wander the edges of a local festival, and tell him Don and Cheryl say Hi!

Colorful Transportation

Some transportation options seen at the Elmwood Festival last weekend!

The bicycle is an Amsterdam by Electra
.

And above - AutoMobius from Joe's Service Center..... for those who aren't sure which way to go?

Guy Fieri

A favorite Food Network show is Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives with Guy Fieri. I always dream of visiting one of those places, and last night we did! We stopped by a favorite diner in Buffalo after we packed up our show, and while waiting to order spotted the above on the wall behind the counter. When I asked when Guy had been there, we were told - "a couple of weeks ago". August 17th to be exact, and the show has not yet aired! So, my wish has been granted. I've had potato pancakes and a side of bacon at a place soon to be featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives! Cheryl had a fried chicken dinner.

The Lake Effect Diner features locally grown food, prepared like your Mom used to if she was a great cook!
Thank you to the food gods for granting my wish. Some web searching indicates that Guy visited several places in the Buffalo, NY area, and possibly not all will make the cut, but still - I'm happy!

Not the usual craft fair shot!

Who is that frolicking with the geese out behind the booth?

If I hide quietly under the canopy of that big tree ---- ? Yup! I got it!

Click the pic to make it bigger - it really is a pretty good shot!

More African Violets

Midnight Romance is the name of this variety.

Come see us Saturday or Sunday at Sonnenberg Gardens .

Great weekend with a stressfull end.

The weekend began on Friday with a visit from Wyatt (above) and Maeve (below). Not a long visit - I took them home Saturday evening, but a great time. Maeve spent Friday evening with her friends from the Wayland Cohocton graduating senior class at Seabreeze Amusement Park. We hung out some with grandma and grandpa, visited Maya whom they hadn't seen since the explosion of talking! Longest time I've heard Maeve quiet in a long time! Maeve practiced parallel parking with cousin Casey. I also learned about Charlie The Unicorn! If you are into amazingly silly stuff, click the link and waste a few minutes! It is almost as good as The Llama Song of several years ago.
Sunday was devoted to a little local one day Art/Craft show. Pretty much the entire gamut of outdoor craft show experiences. Wonderful folks from the National Council of Jewish Women sponsored the one day event. A more friendly and helpful bunch of folks could not be found! The weather could not have been better for the first few hours, and the crowd was good for a small show, and sales were OK. Around 2:30 the sky began to look a lot less friendly, and within the hour it was raining hard. By around 4 we gave up, and we all began to pack up wet stuff, and fold up wet tents --- that is an especially wet job because at that point you no longer have ANY dry place to be! Very special thanks to our friend Jerry Romanowski and his son who helped us pack up in that downpour! This morning we need to set up the tent and the walls again in the driveway to let them dry out!

Cheryl before the storm!

The booth before the storm!

We could have been home sooner!

Coming home on Route 28 through the Catskills and central New York, and then connecting to Route 20 across the state to home took about 3.5 hours longer than getting on the Thruway. But we would have missed these moments along Tremper Mountain Trail, just off Old Route 28 near Phoenicia, NY. This little stream feeds Esopus Creek that winds along Route 28 on it's way to the Hudson River.

You miss so much traveling on those big highways that offer panoramic views, but little detail! As always, click the pics for even more detail..... there were 4 creeks coming down the mountainside along the trail within about 50 yards. How does each drop of rain know which creek to head for when it lands in this magnificent place?

And on the Thruway, lunch would have been chicken nuggets and a milk shake at the arches. Instead, it was the folks at The Delhi Diner, Main St., Delhi, NY, who gave us a break and some lunch along the way! The place was crowded, the food was OK, and the bathroom was up old wooden stairs on the second floor..... somehow much more satisfying than another thruway stop with the standard automatic faucets, the standard line at McDonalds, and the standard decor that makes you not sure if you are in Syracuse, Auburn, Albany, ?????Thanks to the Catskills for a few extra hours well spent!

Another one for Salena

I love diners, and even more when they are this cool, have good diner food, and are located about 100 yards from the hotel we are staying at. We ate too much and got stomach misery, but it was worth it. I mention Salena in the title, because she loves food, and hangs out with a guy named Ed, and is my favorite blogger besides myself of course!

Located in Hyde Park, NY near the Roosevelt home (note Franklin on the left in the mural above), The Eveready is classic diner in every sense of the word with the possible exception of size! Check it out if you are going down Route 9, or even take a detour off The Thruway! You miss so much traveling on those big highways that offer panoramic views, but little detail!

BIG frogs

We were at the Northampton show this past weekend again. There is a medium sized pond located at the end of the main building, and all weekend the frogs - several varieties - were booming out their mating calls. Finally on the last day, I got to see some of them, and get these shots. The fellow (Rana catesbeiana - the american bull frog) above must tip the scales at 3 pounds! All the pictures are clickable for a closer view.

The one below looks almost like a cartoon, but that's a real frog!

Below - the reason all those frogs were booming out their mating calls across the pond.Below - the female - the one on the bottom - has expelled her eggs, and the male is adding his sperm over them to create the next generation of frogs! Moments later they swam off into the sunset their main task in life complete!

Never read a book in your booth!

One of the rules of selling at craft shows is to never read a book in your booth. These neighbors were neither in their booth, nor reading, so I guess they were OK????

Neighborhood Pumpkins

Halloween and Wyatt! How could life be better?

O Bam A

Another collection of miscellaneous Obama Pins. I couldn't get the couple with the McCain/Palin baseball caps to stop for a picture? That one would have been cool because the woman also had on a floor length coat covered with colorful elephants! Oddly, both the woman above, and the one immediately below asked me if I was photographing their politics or their chest? Seemed like an oddly liberal thing to say?