Duck Break

This afternoon, one of my coworkers rushed into my office to tell me that there were ducks outside.  Having ducks wandering around is not a usual occurrence at work and she obviously that it was blog worthy enough for me to stop my archiving and take a break to check it out.

There really isn't much food to be found at this location, could it be that they were looking to buy a ticket for a special event?  

Just like any tourist that happens to come during the off season, we had to tell the ducks there was no special show this weekend.  

With the rain coming tonight and tomorrow, I'm pretty sure this put the ducks in a bad mood and they contemplated getting sent via FedEx to another location.

Mourning Dove Mystery

Okay, so I might be a little obsessed by any animal that happens to come on our property.  

Last year I watched Blue Jays build a nest in the cedar right outside our living room window.  I watched the mother sit on her eggs for days, I worried about the mother and her babies during an awful windstorm that hit, I made notes on the fluffiness of the babies feathers and waited for the day that I would see them fly.  Unfortunately in the middle of the night I heard a raucous at the bird feeder and the next morning they were all gone!  Me being sad is a bit of an understatement.

This year, that same nest was taken over by a Mourning Dove.  At first I wasn't that excited because the mourning dove was never my favorite bird.  Their cooing kind of gets to me.  At any rate, I grew to love watching the Mourning Dove sit on the nest for days winking at me and anticipated the baby birds hatching in the near future.  And then it happened.  The dove left the nest.  I didn't even get to watch the birds hatch and grow up like I had with the Blue Jays.  I inspected further and noticed that their nest was quite disheveled and was very loose. 

Could something else have gotten them too?  Why did they leave? Could it be because they felt the eyes of a predator?  

A few days passed since no one lived in the nest and I noticed Mango obsessively watching something outside the other night.  I got up to check it out myself and noticed two Mourning Doves on the ground all puffed up together.  This really confuses me, the dove couldn't be thinking it would be safe to have her babies on the ground.  

Maybe the Mourning Dove was never going to have babies and just wanted a nice nest to sleep in for a couple weeks.  I really don't know what to make of all of this bird business, but if this Mourning Dove has been playing tricks on me for the last few weeks, I'm going to have to put it at the bottom of my favorite bird list once again!

Pancake Breakfast

This morning before work I met up with Heather and her beau at the Shipman Youth Center in Lake Placid because they were having a Pancake Breakfast.  The Youth Center collected sap this spring with the Cornell Maple Program and now had a finished product that we would be able to sample on a stack of pancakes along with sausage and juice or coffee for only $5!  

Usually I find that I go into a food coma after eating pancakes and was reluctant to do this before work, but thought it would be a nice alternative to my usual english muffin with peanut butter.  Heather's beau has the same experience with pancakes as me and Heather doesn't even like real maple syrup (Gasp!), but we all must have shared the same thought, that it would be nice to eat and support the Youth Center at the same time.

Of course I had no problem eating up my pancakes and am pleased to say that they didn't make me feel like a lump afterwards.  In fact, I enjoyed them so much, I forgot to take a picture of them.  Luckily, our former mayor was sitting right next to us and allowed me to take a picture of his plate.  

Mmmmm Mmmmm Good!

Digging in the Dirt

The rain held off for us today and we were able to start weeding and doing other maintenance in our flower garden. 

I realize that others all over the country have also started their gardening and that this is not unique to living "Along the Ausable."  However, I was a little shocked by how many worms I came across while weeding and was wondering if anyone else has noticed an abundance of worms this year?  

It wasn't just a worm here or there, but clumps of worms every two inches of soil I overturned. The worms were crawling everywhere and I kept having to fling them out of the way so I wouldn't claw them and cut them in half.  I feel a little bad that I was moving them away from their own little private underworld on Earth Day and all, but there was work to be done! 

Happy Earth Day to all of my readers and to the worms that live in your lawn too!

Alligator Ice?

This morning when we were dropping off our dvd rental at Devin's, I noticed this ad for Alligator Ice in the window and wasn't really sure what it was.  From a distance it looked like an alligator holding a beer and I thought it might be some kind of exotic beer from Australia that had been imported all the way to our little hamlet of Jay.  I didn't think much of it and we said, "See ya later alligator!" and headed off to Plattsburgh.  

After awhile, crocodile got to me and I had to figure out what Alligator Ice was all about. There it was right behind the counter.  

I am very excited about this find because last summer when I was training for my marathon, I would go to Devin's after a long training run and treat myself to a Slush Puppy.  The Slush Puppy would cool me right down, but I was always disappointed because the consistency of the ice and syrup was never even and I'd have to go back home and eat my slush with a spoon.  

I've been told by the ladies at Devin's that the Alligator Ice is so much better than a Slush Puppy.  It almost makes me want to go out out and run 18 miles in 88 degree weather again! No, not really ready for hallucinating like that ever again, but I am looking forward to a hot summer day sipping some Alligator Ice.

Mystery Spot #4

Can you guess this location?

Travy G's

Travy G's Pizzeria in Ausable Forks is the closest pizza joint to where we live in Jay and I had heard good things about their food from friends. If I had one last meal, it would be pizza and I will admit that I have high expectations when trying out a new pizza place.  Just the name, Travy G's, made me think that it would be good pizza.  If it had been Travis Pizza, that would have made me skeptical.  At any rate, I called Travy G's and ordered us a cheese pizza and some garlic knots.  When we walked in to pick up our pizza, I could smell the garlic knots and that got me really excited to tear open the box and eat one.  Of course I waited until we got home and was a little disappointed because they were cold.  We both agreed that it wasn't just the drive home that made them cold, they must have been cold to begin with.  They were still edible and we liked them, but I probably should have put them in the oven to warm them up so we could have experienced the warm garlic knots that so many people had told me I needed to try.  Maybe if we ate there, they would have served them fresh out of the oven.

The pizza looked promising and it was still hot.  

The crust wasn't too dry or doughy and they didn't skimp on the cheese or sauce.  We both thought the pizza was good, but not great.  There was just something about the sauce that our taste buds weren't used to and we couldn't figure it out.  We ate about half of it that night and put the rest in the refrigerator.  

We each took a slice to work the next day for lunch.  I had warmed mine up in the toaster oven in my office and was really surprised that I liked it more than the night before.  Drew had called and told me that he had his pizza cold and enjoyed it more too.  Perhaps the sauce just had to settle in with the seasonings.  I'm not sure if there were miniature chefs working in our refrigerator for the night, but whatever happened in the night made Travy G's leftover pizza most excellent!

Paul's Bakery

I had been waiting months in anticipation of trying out Paul's Bakery in Upper Jay and finally this morning I got to try it out.  Paul was open this morning for Easter weekend with a variety of baked goods and Easter treats.

As soon as I got to the door I could smell the heavenly baked goods!  He had way more than I expected.  In his antique cases there were muffins, scones, turnovers, perfect looking chocolate cupcakes, and bunny cookies too! 

 I apologize to Paul because this photo does no justice to his goods.

My coworker usually brings me a donut or some kind of treat once a week and I was way overdue in bringing something in for him.  I debated on buying the hot cross buns vs. cinnamon sweet rolls.  In the end, I decided on the sweet rolls and Paul packaged them in a nice box and tied it with a red and white bakery string, which I love!  Such a nice little touch.

The sweet rolls arrived to work unharmed and they were delicious!  The dough was nice and light, they weren't greasy at all and they had just the right amount of cinnamon swirl.  Oh, and of course I thought the icing on top was perfection too.  

I can't wait until this summer when Paul will be open more consistently and I can sit on the screened in porch sipping some tea and eating something scrumptious.  I can already imagine sitting on that swing on a Saturday morning before work.

If you are from the area, Paul will be open this Saturday too and I highly recommend going in to get a treat of your own.  Enjoy!

Hunan Oshaka's Latest Addition

Driving down Main Street Lake Placid, I noticed something different about the front of the Japanese & Chinese Restaurant, Hunan Oshaka.There in front of me was a sign for Mexico City, Authentic Mexican Restaurant and Cantina.  I decided I better take a picture since no one was there to pinch me.  I thought maybe I was seeing things because at the time it was snowing and I was dreaming of being south.  I went inside to ask when it would be opening and they had told me, "Maybe at the end of May or beginning of June."  I am glad that the owners of Hunan Oshaka are doing so well in this economy and that they are able to expand their restaurant's offerings. 

To be honest, I am a little thrown by the addition of Mexico City at this location.  I'm all for multiculturalism, but this town already has a Mexican Restaurant.  What we don't have is a Thai restaurant and believe it or not we have no options to sample Malaysian cuisine here either.  Geographically speaking, these two would have made more sense to me.  I don't know about you, but I rarely order sushi with a side of refried beans.

Ausable Acres Adventure

Last week my friend Emilie and I were out exploring and came across this old water tower down in Ausable Acres.  We had noticed a couple pull-offs where we could park and a well worn trail that took us down to the river.  Here we discovered an old water dam.  This was off the beaten path and it felt very creepy being down there.  I just couldn't figure out what it was that was giving us the heebie jeebies.  

I had gone home that night and told my husband all about this strange place and he showed some interest in seeing it.  Today, I took Drew there to show him this quiet, hidden spot. 

 I hadn't told him about the eeriness I felt just one week prior, but when I caught up to him, his first words were, "This is pretty spooky down here, very weird."  

We carefully looked down the dam at the rapids below.  This scary feeling about the area wasn't just about the possibility of falling 30 feet into freezing cold water with no one around, there was just something about this spot. 

Just before leaving, I had turned around and found my answer.  There it was in a pool of still water in the old stone foundation, an actual human toe!  

APRIL FOOL'S!!!!  

Seriously though, this place is creepy!