Tessi the Squirrel Watcher

"I'm a squirrel watcher- I'm a squirrel watcher" The song wasn't playing in the background but Tessi had the most fun watching a squirrel retrieve french fry after french fry this past week. He would go down into the garbage and then come up with a fry and sit and eat it. Note her focused look in the rear view mirror.

Honors to Dev

So it isn't the golden ticket but close. Devin has been invited to join the Golden Key International Honor Society. Congratulations!

Skene Manor - Whitehall, New York

We took a trip to Vermont this past week-end. Before entering Vermont we spotted a stone house on the hill overlooking Whitehall, NY. Following the Mountain Road leading up the hill we found the entrance to what is now called Skene Manor. An elderly gentlemen came over and invited us in to have a look around.

We learned that it was built by New York State Supreme Court Judge Joseph Potter who contracted with the architectural firm of Isaac H. Hobbs & Sons of Philadelphia to design a permanent home for him. Contracting Designer Almon Chandler Hopson built the home with the finest materials and stone quarried from the site. The reported cost of construction was $25,000, which was a very expensive structure by 1874 standards. Judge Potter called his home "Mountain Terrace". Judge Potter died in 1902, and his widow Catherine sold Mountain Terrace to Edgar Lowenstein in 1906. Renamed "Lowen’s Castle", gas fixtures were installed and the carriage house built. It changed hands several times over the years but ended up vacant for several years as well. During this time there was water damage and kids vandalized it. Being the last of five such "castle" houses built in Whitehall a group of concerned citizens have raised money to buy and restore the home. They are in the 12th year of restoration but lack of funds and resources have made the process extremely slow.

October brings apples; lot and lots of apples!

The road is done- would be a great drag racing spot.
The mountains are multi colored now and the deer are on the run. The tourists are here driving around to see the leaves, go on hayrides, buy a pumpkin or a bushel of apples. Soon, the snow will fall so for now I will enjoy the journey.

September in Galway

Terry at the Saratoga Battlefield overlooking the Green Mountains of Vermont. [Some Roundy ancestors were Green Mountain Boys...]


The rumbling outside our house is not thunder but the sound of heavy duty construction trucks tearing up Jockey Street. It is now a dirt road for all practical purposes... It seems that the county took so long in repairing the road that now they have to tear it down, put a new base in and then pave a new road. It should be nice once it is completed but in the meantime, argh! There is no reason at all to get my car washed.


Thank heavens I have things going on to keep my mind off of the road. The rest of the month will be super busy for me! I have training of a new ward Relief Society presidency this Sunday, then we are giving training to the Bishoprics, Branch Presidencies and High Council on adoption services on the 2oth. We have the stake Preparedness Fair on the 22nd and then I am giving a big Herbal Remedies Workshop at the Glenville Hills Garden Club on the 24th. [I have an article appearing in the Nov/Dec issue of The Essential Herbal] Needless to say I have many piles in various degrees of preparation in my dining room for all I am preparing for.

And... the apples are ready for picking! ahhh, fresh apple pie and cinnamon ice cream. There is nothing like it in the fall. Wish you were here. I could use help making applesauce...

P.S. Got my first vodka today. No, I haven't taken up drinking. I am making the most wonderful Bergamot air freshener. You can make it too. Just email me for the recipe.

August is leaving us...

Upstate New York will soon be bathed in the warm colors of autumn. Right now a few trees are trying to get a jump start but I don't understand the rush.