Photos - Hancock Shaker Village

Photos - Lake Placid and Whiteface Mountain

Niagara Falls to Lake Placid

I bought a cheap little tablet to use on our travels and it's not turned out to be hugely successful. It simply doesn't like the Blogger app. I have to use a friend's laptop to post photos so will do that when I have the opportunity.

What a delight the Autumn..... or "fall"..... foliage is. We noticed it on our drive from Cleveland to Niagara Falls but the Adirondack Mountains were a whole other story. The colour is so intense! We stopped overnight on the way to Lake Placid to break up the drive. The place we stayed was called Old Forge and was lovely. We had a room overlooking a pretty lake and the village had shops to browse. When we went out to have dinner there were 3 deer grazing on the roadside in the main street. They were getting quite a bit of attention from visitors. One silly couple with a young child tried to entice the deer to eat from their hand. The deer were quite skittish and I had visions of that little girl being injured by the gangly legs of the deer.

We thoroughly enjoyed Lake Placid. It's such a picturesque place. Unfortunately the boat trips on the lake had ended for the season just 3 days earlier. Instead we drove to the top of Whiteface Mountain. It was incredible. The elevator that usually takes you to the very peak was out of order so we trekked up the very steep steps in strong winds. We did bail out of the very last section which was no longer steps but just rocks.

Our accommodation at Lake Placid was at the Crowne Plaza golf club. There were fabulous views from the front of the hotel and the public areas. We did have a nice view from our window, just not facing Mirror Lake. On our last morning there we had breakfast in the hotel buffet and the couple at the next table had eloped and were getting married that day at the top of Whiteface. How romantic!!

Niagara Falls

Our first destination on our USA trip was Niagara Falls.  We had amazing views from our hotel!  On the way we came across an apple butter festival which was a bit of fun.

It's been a while!

The blog has gone by the wayside lately with the routine of everyday life. I'm resurrecting my posts for a visit to the USA with my friend Tammy. We will be spending some time with the New England Autumn foliage. As a bit of a test post..... here is some of our own deciduous trees planted when we returned from the UK.

House - kitchen and dining

Well, here it is.... finished at last.  Today we received our Certificate of Occupancy (although we've been living in the house 2/3 weeks now).  Mick's spent the time while we've been living here finishing off the many fiddly things.  He built a fabulous built in shelving unit too.

We spent yesterday unpacking boxes to fill the built in shelving. It was a fun day and we really enjoyed rediscovering our favourite books and knick knacks. It's really starting to feel like home. We love it!

For a start, here's some photos of the kitchen and dining area. A bit of an odd assortment taken day and night.  I'll take some more next weekend.

House - cabinets and cooker

Despite the heat, work on the house has progressed.  We've had quite a few new items piling up in the shed waiting for installation.  We bought a Belling freestanding cooker, a Morso wood burner, and an instantaneous gas hot water unit.  The dollars are rolling out the door.  The cooker is in place and I really like it.

Mick's made a huge leap forward with getting the bathroom vanity unit in place. It was an awkward moment as we maneuvered it down the hallway and there was no way we could turn the corner into the bathroom with it! We tipped it up, we turned it over, we started talking about which bits he might have to remove to get it through the doorway and then we decided to have one more go. We carried it on its side down the hall and then very carefully tilted it into the doorway, turning it as we went. I'm guessing we had about 3mm to spare!

The laundry cabinets are in place now too. We bought a two drawer flat pack unit that will be our laundry hamper. We had a pull out hamper in our house before going to the UK and loved it. We wanted one again and this was a great solution in a small space. I'm very happy with the amount of storage we've managed to squeeze in.  The washing machine can be pulled out of storage and put in place now.

The timber benchtops for the bathroom vanity, the laundry, and the kitchen island are almost complete. I'm sure I've taken some photos of them but they must be on my camera so maybe next time.

Klara is a keen supervisor.  We've made a decision that she won't be allowed down the hall and into the bedrooms, bathroom or laundry.  So, we have started teaching her that she must stay in the open plan living/kitchen area and not follow us down the hall.  It's going better than I expected because until now she's had run of the place.  We are trialing a spot for her bed and will see how that goes.  At the moment she just wants to sprawl on the floor because of the heat.

Ridiculous weather!

We were glad to reach the official end of Summer but now this!