Butterfly Garden at Powdermill III

Yesterday we celebrated the opening of the butterfly garden at Powdermill. Dr. John Wenzel thanked Nikki and me for our gift of the garden and introduced Martha Oliver, the garden designer. Martha began her remarks with a poem by Emily Dickinson: 

TO make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,—
One clover, and a bee,
And revery.
The revery alone will do
If bees are few. Martha's point was how the garden would benefit the propagation of bees, but I think there is a lot in this poem about dreaming dreams and making them come true, one small bee (step) at a time.

Martha then led us on a tour of the garden, pointing out the plants and the insects that are attracted to each.

The garden is beautiful and will be a magnet for butterflies and children alike. We are grateful to John Wenzel, Cokie Lindsay, and Martha Oliver for making our idea, our gift to children in memory of Tina, truly come alive.

What's a celebration without a little reception? The wine, cheese, smoked salmon, and conversations were wonderful!

Powdermill -- even more alive!

Butterfly Garden at Powdermill II

A few days ago we went over to Powdermill to check the progress of the butterfly garden. As you see it is developing beautifully and will achieve our goal of being a garden of great interest and activity for children. Thanks again to John, Cokie, and Martha for a very professional job. Can't wait to see the educational programming that will be developed for kids.

This was to have been the site of the butterfly garden. Good decision to move it to its new location. This site works much better as the new herb garden. Note the water barrel.

Charlie's Playdate at the Greers

Stephen and Mei Greer and their three children, George, Ashley, and Haley, live in Hong Kong but are spending much of the summer here in Ligonier with Stephen's parents. So we set up a playdate for Charlie to make some new friends.

Charlie was a bit shy and kept to himself at first. Superboy on the Batcycle.

But pretty quickly he was pulling Haley in the wagon. Is that cute, or what?

We picked a lot of blackberries -- very tasty. The dog helped but was not good at sharing.

The kids enjoyed a popsicle break and watched a low flying plane with great interest.

All together now with new friends. Does it get any better than this?

Weight, Weight, Don't Tell Me

Two years and 3,000+ miles of biking have strengthened my legs, increased my stamina, and improved my balance, but have not resulted in the loss of an ounce of weight. It was time to take some action, so I signed up for Weight Watchers Online. The program looked good on the screen, as it were, but after a couple weeks of effort I just couldn't make friends with the point system. So I developed Dave's Food Plan (DFP). The DFP centers around the foods shown here -- lots of fruits and veggies (cabbage salad, anyone?), baked chicken, some fish, baby carrots for snacks, and a comforting vin ordinaire at the end of the day.

No baked goods, no bread, no dessert, no pasta, no cream sauces. So far I'm down 8 lbs.

A Family Day

Last Saturday we went to the Columbus Zoo, a Smith family favorite place. Our main interest was the polar bear exhibit, and it did not disappoint!

The tank is filled with rainbow trout. Yummy, unless you're the trout.

Brian and Nikki closely watched Henry and Charlie in the polar playground.
Charlie had a blast running from place to place.
Long runs with short legs does take a toll on a guy!
We capped off the day with a pasta dinner.
Well, enough is enough, I guess.

Brian Smith

Our son Brian is 41 years old. We know this to be true as we were there when he was born and we were there when he sat behind the chocolate octopus cake with the big 41 candles and proceeded to extinguish them with the help of his two boys. This was one of life's really good moments!

Chimney Bluffs

One of the relatively unknown sights in the Rochester area is Chimney Bluffs, located on Lake Ontario just east of Sodus Bay. The bluffs are the eroded remains of drumlins.
A stark beauty, indeed.



Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane, ....

It's a bird after all. Bank swallows nesting all over the place. Very cool. Thanks to our friend Mike Lanzone for the positive ID.

Edna's Japanese Garden

Knowing of our interest in developing a small Japanese garden at our home in FL, Chris and Gary introduced us to their friend Edna. Edna has spent the past 20 years or so developing her Japanese garden and it is a show piece. She was kind enough to give us a tour on very short notice.

The almost hidden entrance, almost magical. The sign informs you that you are entering the Garden of the Humble Administrator.

The pebble stream along the path.
The lantern accents the bamboo and the pine tree.
A small lantern, water feature, and pebble pond/stream.

Edna explains.
A quiet corner.
We got some good ideas. We loved Edna's garden and we loved Edna!

Visiting Old Fort Niagara

While visiting with Chris and Gary we took a trip to Old Fort Niagara, which is located at the mouth of the Niagara River at Lake Ontario. A fort at this strategic location controlled access to the other Great Lakes and therefore the interior of North America.

The French built this fort in 1726. The main building, the "Castle," was built to look like a French manor house to convince the natives of their peaceful intentions. We don't know if French noses grew like Cyrano's as a result.

Reconstructed fortifications.

A War of 1812 American soldier reenactor giving a musket demonstration.

A real native American reenacting the life of an ancestor. He was very good.

Time for a break.
Fife and drum reenactors, both girls.

Enlisted men's quarters.

Commander's quarters. It's good to be the boss!


The chapel.

Happy history buff tourists!

Chris's Birthday

Can you believe this attractive, slender woman is 64 years old???? Apparently her secret is wine and chocolate.

What does it mean?

While visiting Mom last month we went over to Alvirne Cemetery in Hudson, NH, where Dad, all of my grandparents, and several aunts and uncles are buried. The above tombstone is nearby the Smith plot. I'm still scratching my head trying to "divine" the meaning.

Butterfly Garden at Powdermill

Several years ago Nikki and I made a gift to Powdermill in support of the capital campaign to build the new building, for which I was responsible as Director. We wanted there to be a focal point for kids and decided on a butterfly garden in memory of Tina. The garden was a long time in coming, but thanks to Dr. John Wenzel (new director) and Cokie Lindsay (lady who makes things happen there) the garden is now staked out, fenced, and planted. Plant selections and layout were done by Martha Oliver, a nearby resident and well known in horticultural circles.

We could not have been more pleased with what we saw on our first visit. The garden was designed with kids in mind and signage to be installed will educate adults as well.

Our thanks to the team -- John, Cokie, and Martha -- for making our vision a reality.

The bees seem content as well.