Goats and Figs

 Our neighbor's goats have been trying to attack our garden

so we built a little scarecrow. 

We were kind of lacking in the scaregoat wardrobe department, so i sacrificed my favorite pair of jeans.

One of the first things to bloom were the blackberries. (At least that's what they call them in California. These are nothing like the blackberries we grew in our garden in Nebraska. These are what I would call black raspberries. But no one here knows what I'm talking about when I say that.)

Another thing that was blooming was our fig tree.

We had a little pile of them building up, but I didn't really know what to do with them.

Aside from the occasional fig newton, I don't have a lot of experience with figs.

So I googled around and found this recipe at http://justgetfloury.blogspot.com/2008/02/i-figgin-love-chocolate.html

First, we peeled them.

Then, we broke out the chocolate

and some butter,

a little brown sugar,

and vanilla.

We melted the butter and the chocolate chips.

Added the brown sugar

and melted it until it was smooth.

We added a little flour,

some cocoa powder,

(It still tastes terrible, just like the last time he tried it.)

The kids took turns cracking the eggs

we picked out the shells, threw in the other ingredients, 

threw it in the oven 


and Voila' , Super Figgy Brownies!

Excitement Isn't Over Yet

Morning came very early.  

We were at the border crossing by 8:00 a.m.

 

I seem to have a knack for picking the slowest lane wherever I am.

Today was no different.  

The lanes next to us processed six vehicles for every one that went the our line.

It took us nearly an hour before we could re-enter the country.

Surprisingly enough, the bridge into the USA didn't bother me like I thought it would.

 

This one, however, was a different story.

 

But we made it to the Buffalo International Airport 

without incident and waited for our flight to depart.

We got brave and tried a "Beef on Weck" sandwich.

We had seen signs all over advertising them.

They are evidently all the rage in the East.

A short time later we arrived in Detroit and commenced waiting again.

We were just a little late in boarding, and the flight was somewhat turbulent.

We tried to land in Denver but the weather wasn't co-operating

so we circled and circled and circled DIA.

They attempted to land two more times but the wind shear was too great and actually damaged the spoiler on one wing.  Since we were low on fuel, they took us into Cheyenne and we landed on a runway that was much too short for the size of plane we were on.  We landed safely, but then there wasn't a jump bridge to accommodate the plane.  We sat on the plane for well over an hour while they scared up a ladder.

 

 

Then we deplaned one at a time.  They arranged for buses to take us back to Denver; however, there weren't buses available in Cheyenne, so they brought them in from Denver.  In fact, we are sitting in the Cheyenne Regional Airport waiting for the bus to arrive (2:00 a.m.) so that we can ride to Denver and then turn around and drive the four hours home! 

Naturally, there are no rental cars available because of some week-end event.

Do you recall the hassle we had coming home from our conference last year?!

Next summer I am not writing a grant that involves ANY travel.

But it's not all bad ...... if this hadn't happened, we would never have gotten to see this:

 

 

Crossing the Border

 

We woke early and hit the road so that we would be sure to be in Albion in time for lunch with Vicki's daughter and son-in-law.  We got in about half an hour early, so we wandered down to the Erie Canal and walked around.  We were treated to a raising of the bridge for a boat.  

 

Albion is a pretty little town.

I was continually amazed at the hanging baskets.

After lunch we headed to Lockport to learn more about the Erie Canal.

But, somehow, our little rental car was just drawn into a farmer's market where I was forced to buy some cherries and goat milk soap.  Sister Two, you would love New York.  Every other residence has a greenhouse.  This is the one that I want!

 

We arrived at Lockport without incident.  We didn't even get lost!

There are two of the original locks here.  It was very interesting.

 

We opted to take in the cave tour and underground boat ride.

In order to get to the cave entrance, we had to descend 212 steps.

 

After bracing our legs for four and a half hours yesterday, this stair case was NOT a welcome sight.

But we managed, and soon arrived at the mouth of the cave.

 

Our guide, who was at least twelve years old, was explaining that the tunnel/cave was used to power several factories.  The entrance is nothing more than a six foot pipe

 

that you walk through to get to the narrow pathway

that parallels an underground waterway.

The cave was man-made, but is now old enough that it is taking on natural cave characteristics.

This stalactite is 8 years old.

 

These shrooms were growing just inside the entrance.

 

The tour culminated in a short underground boat ride.

 

From there we went to Niagara Falls on the Canadian side.

 

The falls are beautiful, but the walk about did us in!

 

 

We toyed with the idea of hanging out until the lights came on, but we were both too beat.

This image will have to do.

 

After yesterday's fiasco on the whale watching vessel, we opted not to take a ride on Maid of the Mist.

We watched from the sidelines instead.

 

Tomorrow morning we travel back to the United States.

We'll go to Buffalo and then fly home.

I can hardly wait to get there!