Life in the Bristolwood

When Ben was a wee little laddie of about three or four,  people must have mistakenly thought that Mark worked for Disney.  You see, our dear little fellow would explain, upon inquiry, that his dad was a “magical engineer”!  Ah yes, that one syllable between “magical” and “mechanical” was too insurmountable in Ben’s young vocabulary. I must say, though, there were times when I, too, was convinced that Mark’s capabilities did indeed verge on “magical”!  After all, he had no inkling, nor inclination to build a house until we were married and I convinced him it “could be done”!

As I mentioned to Mark my brilliant idea of adding a little (teeny-tiny)  balcony off the bedroom, he became quite pensive. Ah, thought I…perhaps?

After some time, Mark made a suggestion. He told me to remove the screen from the one window (the other is sans screen, as that is the window I use for non-”scarey” birds, like female Goldfinches…I can open it just enough to scoot the lens of the camera out and snap a picture without the dear little girlies feeling threatened by my appearance!) and place the feeder INSIDE the room.  Then, he rationalized, I would be known as the “Bristolwood Bird Woman”!

Harrumph! There goes but one more of my clever and fine ideas….down the tube! That’s okay….there are plenty more where that came from!

Today was a rather busy day. The kids were going to (only) have two friends over for dinner, then Mark was taking them to see the movie Prince Caspian. I hopped out of bed, took care of the Scottie boys, then made up some macaroni salad and three dozen chocolate chip cookies.

The boys came over at 2, so I had a break for awhile, then I began cooking dinner. As soon as everyone was finished, it was time to head on out the door for the movie. One of the boys asked if I didn’t like C.S. Lewis writings…to which I replied that it is nearly impossible for me to sit still long enough to watch a movie!

As I was enjoying my “alone time”, I suddenly had this wonderful brainstorm! I was looking at the many photos I took yesterday of the Cardinals….most all of my bird photos are taken through the windows. Sad, but true….So (here’s the brainstorm!) why not put a little balcony outside of the bedroom?

We could just replace the double windows with French doors…..

And add a nice little balcony. It needn’t be anything fancy. Heaven knows I just need a little space where I could sit very still and shoot away! The trees are located about 30 feet from the house, so my little balcony could get me even a tad closer to the birds!

Well, it certainly doesn’t cost anything to dream! Of course, if I got that balcony, there would probably be no way to get me to come inside!

No sooner than I had pressed the “Publish” button on my last entry, I looked outside the window to see a gorgeous male Cardinal sitting right outside the bedroom window! Thrilled, I snatched up the camera and took 3 shots! A few minutes later, when I was ready to review the photos, I realized the SD card was still mounted in the laptop!

Totally discouraged, I removed the card from the laptop and replaced it in the camera, Feeling rather as though I had mised the chance of a lifetime, I went to place the Nikon into its bag.  (yes, I know, there will be numerous real chances of a lifetime, but….)

I looked out the window once more and there she was……

A beautiful female Cardinal was perched outside the window, looking down at the window feeder, and assessing whether to check out the “diner”, or not! I was so happy to catch her, but then…………….

Yes! Her husband decided to join her! Not sure why his crest is down, but he was so stunning anyway! I did discover it is harder to capture a brightly colored bird than the more “drab” female!

So, I am pretty happy!!!

 This morning, it was obvious we had gotten some much needed rain.  I fed the Scottie boys and took them outside, then grabbed my Nikon and went back outside.

As I stepped out, the chill in the air felt so refreshing….as I took in deep breaths of air, the smell of dampened earth filled my nostrils. You have no idea how wonderful that scent can be! For a brief instant, I was drawn back to nearly nine years ago when Mark came into the house and fell to the floor, unable to walk. And, I remembered in June of that year…how the clouds would roll in, and as though playing a cruel trick, they would pass by.  The leaves on every tree, every bush, every plant had been chewed off by the gypsy moths, and it felt as though we were living under a gigantic magnifying glass held over our home…..burning….burning….and the “pellets” from those destructive moths were the only sound of anything falling from above. I remember that time, feeling as though our entire world had caved in on us…..I felt tears beginning to well up, when a songbird began chirping in the distance. Then another. And another. Suddnenly, I was translated back to this day, and the hope of life all around me!

This purple Columbine on the side of the house is one of my favorites. The flowers have a stunning resemblence to crepe paper!

As I walked about the yard, I noticed a pair of eyes watching me! Yes, one is never alone in the woods!

I guess I should have monkeyed a bit with the colors on these photos…well, not the color, but I should have lightened them some….but then, they would not have appeared as photos taken early in the morning on a cool, dark day!

You can see in the photo below how low the clouds were as I looked down the hill from our driveway.  The one thing I did notice is that all the various greens this time of the year would make even an Irishman’s eyes spin!

I looped around into the woods a little deeper before coming into the house.  I kept hearing the familiar “Tkk,tkk,tkk” of a Junco. As I looked up, there was the bird, sitting directly in front of me with a wee bit of nesting material in its beak!

One of these days, I think I will talk to Mark about remortgaging the house to buy a long lens with better capabilty to capture photos in dark places, like the woods……think he’ll buy????

This evening, Mark and I dropped the kids off at the youth group and we drove on up to Canandaigua.  I was so hungry, so I told Mark a Spicy Chicken Sandwich from Wendy’s would be just the ticket.

After ordering, we were asked to pull ahead, as they had to make the sandwich and it would take a few minutes. As we sat waiting, Mark chuckled and asked for the camera…a little Mallard drake was quacking beneath his open window, begging for french fries or a little bread. Since we had nothing, he turned and walked away, behind the truck!

That brave little soul walked right up to the order window! And yes, he did indeed waddle off (briskly!) when the car began to pull ahead!

At the Canandaigua Econo Lodge!

I had posted photos previously of the seemingly meticulous razing of this building….the front walls had been torn off, exposing the individual rooms. I couldn’t figure out why they didn’t just doze the whole kit and kaboodle in one easy swipe!

I took these photos a few weeks ago, but believe it or not, the sign still remains!

This is what was left……

The piles in these photos have since been mechanically ‘crushed’, resulting in what looks like a small mountain of gravel!

Wouldn’t you think the sign should be removed? haha!

Since the building was demolished, there is a really nice view of the water park now.  It really did improve the look! However, there is a big sign on that rental fence stating that the property is for lease, with the owner willing to build to suit.

 We have lived in the Bristolwood for nearly 16 years and we have frequently been to Naples. I was always curious about a little sign along Main Street indicating “Grimes Glen” was to the right….

Carly has a book full of hiking trails throughout New York and Grimes Glen is amongst them. She and her kids explored this little gem last year, so after our first adventure, the kids were agreeable to hike this gorge!

This sign greets wayfarers entering the head of the Grimes Glen trail. I am unsure what, exactly, it means…but, there you have it!

Anyone with an eye for flora would find this area a delight! Of course, how could I pass up a cluster of *blue* Forget-Me-Nots?

Within just a few yards of the entrance (across a bridge in need of a bit of repair) we came upon the most magnificent Trilliums! I have seen these in different colors and I have seen white flowers with red streaks, but this burgundy-colored flower was gorgeous. AND, there were many of them!

 There were so many “Kodak moments” along this pathway! Just look at this stream flowing so beautifully!

And since we are looking, take a gander at this nosegay of Wood Violets! Are they not wonderful?

So, enough of the flowers…How about another waterfall

We wandered a little farther, taking in sights and just enjoying this experience so immensely! One of the boys had to be home to babysit his sisters, so we turned around and headed back….

But as I turned back to drink in the beauty, I whispered, “Oh, I shall be back here again…..trust me!”

The following are more photos from the area I showed last night.  I mentioned we were surrounded by walls of shale and the next two photos are pretty good depictions!

The next photo is of the waterfall we walked to….it was really beautiful, but the kids were tired from the (somewhat) strenuous walk!

Silly me….while the kids rested near the waterfall, I tried out my mountain goat capabilities and climbed upward, thinking perhaps I might get to the top! I did cheat some, using tree roots and trees as “grab bars” to help boost me upward! The problem, however, is clearly evident in the next picture….

 Yeah….I would have to cross over about 5 or 6 feet of loose shale. There were trees below to catch hold of, but I really didn’t think it would be too cool for me to be sliding down this grade if the shale let loose on me! As it was, when my foot wandered on a slippery rock during our excursion, the kids thought I might fall….hahaha  I never even came close!

After a rest, we discovered another ravine next to the first. This one, however, was filled with boulders and tangled messes of trees that had washed along it. As we climbed upward, one of the kids wondered aloud something to the effect that, what if there was a dam  above us that was stopped up and it suddenly opened as we climbed! Needless to say, I wasn’t laughing!

We all stopped and looked, in awe, at this unique waterfall……

It was more of a “veil” than a waterfall!

This was the point where we turned back and went to grab some food. But, our adventure wasn’t over….oh no! Not yet……

Today is Mother’s Day here in the United States, so to all the mothers reading, no matter what part of the world you find yourself in, Happy, Happy Mother’s Day!

It was on Mother’s Day, 2003, that I found myself scurrying about outside, gathering little sticks and branches to use as kindling for a fire in the woodstove. It was raining and a right miserable day! As I walked along one of the paths in the woods, I came upon a small piece of Fabric lying in front of me.  My mind wandered, wondering what the kids were doing with fabric….my fabric!….in the woods!

As I moved closer, I realized that what I was seeing was *not* fabric…..there, at my feet, lay the tiniest little fawn! I stood, peering down upon this perfect little animal, it’s eyes and ears seeming ridiculously huge for the tiny body. It didn’t move a muscle, but looked up at me; I just stood, feeling as though I was looking upon something so very “sacred”….

Since then, I have seen fawns……that same year, I nearly stepped on another one out front along a path. However, I never saw the likes of one seen on that very special Mother’s Day.

It was then that I purposed to always have a camera in my pocket, as my greatest regret was that I was not able to capture that precious experience….only in my mind and with words that seem so bankrupt!

So, I will leave you with a fawn I did capture in June of 2004. This little one was nestled in tall grass beside the drainage ditch in our side “yard”.  It was found there for a few days, and every time I saw it, each time was just so exciting!