Holy Crepe!

Jack and I recently spent a wonderful, restful and playful weekend in Lewiston, NY, to celebrate Jack's birthday.  One of our outings was to attend a Wine and Food Festival at Artpark--and it was there that we came across this vendor--Holy Crepe!  What a thrill it was to watch the artistry of this young woman as she worked.  Enjoy!  After working on this post...I'm HUNGRY :)

            

Festival of Art...Lewiston, NY

This past weekend offered up blue skies...the perfect setting for the annual 

Art Festival held in the village of Lewiston, NY.  

Despite the high humidity (what's up with THAT here in Western NY?), 

the event fed the soul and the spirit as people strolled up and down Center Street.

There were musicians--

this young man's rendition of "Hallelujah" stopped festival-goers in their tracks...

and this young violinist (in a trio of entertainers) mesmerized...

and the acapella singing of 

Jymn the Singing Mime filled the air with style and grace

(note the play guitar he strummed during a few of his songs :) )...

and there was the happy music provided by 

the trio known as the Gringo Mariachis

 (the guy on the left with the accordian is my new "fav" LeeRon--of LeeRon Zydeco)...

and, last but not least, 

the artistic "voices" of today's youth 

"spoke" through their Chalk Art creations.

 

 Indeed, in Lewiston, NY, 

on a beautiful, fine August Saturday (2010)...

we were once again reminded that LIFE IS GOOD

Old Man River & LeeRon Zydeco

Hidey-Ho...we spent a fabulous Thursday afternoon at Old Man River, a local favorite food shack across from Niawanda Park at the Niagara River.  In photographs - here's what a lazy, late evening provided for us in the form of food and fanny-shakin' zydeco music.

Funky and fun...the patio

 

the lip smackin' lobster and clam cuisine

 

and, of course, the cajun-spiced music of LeeRon Zydeco

 

Hidey-Ho...

 

It was a "Clam Jam" with Mr. Clam for certain...

Dug's Dive on Lake Erie

Hidey-Ho....I am way behind in posting summer blogs...

so behind that I'm giving myself MAJOR permission to use the upcoming series of blogs as journal entries...

simple, surfing-style snippets...hidey ho!

Yesterday, we headed out Route 5 to Dug's Dive that is located 

on the Outer Harbor just outside of Buffalo.  

Once we arrived, Jack met his new "little buddy" -- Dug! :-)  

Check 'em out.

We ate on the back porch that allowed a view of the harbor and Lake Erie.

Then we headed down the Outer Harbor a bit to Gallagher Beach 

to watch some of the wind surfers...

zip across the bay area...

and take advantage of "gale-like" winds that were blowing ashore.  

HIDEY-HO...away we did go!  

Garden Walk...

Summer is definitely in full bloom in our neck of the country.  Everywhere you look, gardens abound with rainbows of color...reds and yellows and purples and pinks and whites and oranges--all such a treat for the soul.

And so, I wanted to record a little "garden walk" of my own by capturing the flowers that greet us every day as we walk outside our side entry door to be greeted by our frog bird bath standing guard over our home and the basket of lobelia and geraniums and thousand bell petunias...

down two short steps onto the driveway and stroll alongside our home (facing east)...



stop at the front northeast corner of the house...

turn left and walk up two flagstone steps onto our front walk that parallels our home...

and onto our front patio where we sit at the black wrought iron table under the red umbrella to find ourselves embraced by little gardens brimming with gerber daisies, coreopsis, salvia, black-eyed susans, sweet allysum, poppies, verbena, pincushions...

A slice of heaven for sure.  

Hosta La Vista...Baby

After moving to Tonawanda, NY, I began a whole new adventure in gardening…and one of my favorite plants that I mixed into our front rose bed was a hosta…what specific type of hosta I don’t recall…but it has grown into a gorgeous and huge treasure with leaves that are “dimpled with ripples” and blooms that are as "fragrant as sweet gardenias".

In doing a bit of research, I found that these unique shade-to-sun loving perennials—with foliage ranging in color from green to blue to yellow and all combinations and sizes from dwarf 3” tall specimens to large 3’ tall monsters—are easy to grow in this region.

As luck would have it, my neighbor, Sarah, invited me to join her on a little excursion to the “hosta farm” run by Jerry Murray http://www.murray-bros.com. We hopped in her SUV and headed to Orchard Park.  Little did I know what lay ahead.

When we turned into the winding drive that led to the “viewing area” it looked pretty much like any other country garden nursery, but as we drove around the slight bend in the road there were hostas everywhere—to the right, to the left, up ahead…OH MY!  We were promptly greeted by the owner’s grandson, who handed us a three-page document that listed about 350 varieties of hosta (with details for each plant) that they had for sale.

We began walking about the “viewing area” that meandered throughout the grounds—which allowed us to see each different type of hosta in its mature size!  Fabulous.  While there are far too many specific hostas to write about in this brief blog…here are a few snapshots to whet your appetite.   

I left with six new hosta treasures: three Blue Mammoths and three August Moons.  They have now found a spot in our gardens. 

Hidey-Ho...Hosta La Vista, Baby!