More Travels, Animals, Flora, Photos, Food, and Community!

I've probably posted a photo like this already when I mentioned my recent trip to our Audubon but I can't help but re-post this little guy!  This is Lincoln.  Ever since I met him I have been thinking about him.  He's a resident of the Audubon and was a rescue.  At some point I will be stopping by to make a donation specifically for his care.  I adore this guy!  LOOK!  He's even smiling!

One of the other stops I made while traveling for work not too long ago was one of my favorite places in our county.  This is the road to/from Kinzua Wolf Run Marina, Kinzua Dam, Kinzua Beach, Allegheny National Forest/Rim Rock, Jake's Rocks, etc.

I was thrilled with how this photo turned out considering the car was moving at about 55 mph when I took it.  Below you will see two more photos specifically from the Kinzua Beach location.  I will be revisiting Kinzua Beach this Saturday as I volunteer for a Bicycle Event and helping with registration.  My father will be helping with set-up today and the beer tent on Saturday.

But the last time I stopped at Kinzua Beach I was completely alone.  Well, I was the only human...let's put it that way!  It was a nice brain break.  Here is a photo I took while walking down the hill from the parking area.  There is a building behind me, several large parking lots, restrooms, and a few paths.  The grass you see is a small part of a LARGE grassy area where you can walk, sit, have a picnic, etc.  The bridge you see in the front is the bridge that goes over part of Kinzua and is near Kinzua Wolf Run Marina which is somewhat across the street on the other side of the bridge and Kinzua Dam itself - is not too far away.

That day I walked down to the water.  There were several ducks there.  They were not afraid of me in the least.  They actually came up to me and nibbled on my shoes and jeans.  I talked to them for several minutes.  I posted a video a while back on IG.  I was so surprised they came up to me like that but it totally made my day and I will not forget it!

Another brain break I took this past summer was to Bett's Park.  More specifically the Pollination Garden that Penn State Master Gardeners attends to each year.  These next few photos where some of the beautiful flowers I saw while there this year.

I have blogged about the Pollinator Garden before and I think I even did a walk thru video on YouTube a few years back.

Since I am backlogging these photos I must say most of the flowers and plants have since 'expired' for the season because fall is approaching.

And speaking of fall...my indoor/office plants are starting to realize what time of year it is, too!  I've already lost 3 plants and it's bumming me out.  This plant, however, is one of my newer ones.  It's called and Aluminum Plant.

This one is an Elephant Bush Plant.  I fell in LOVE with it but I think it's on its way out, too!  I hope I can save it.

My mother found a few old photos and here is one of them.  It's of my sister and I when we were in our church Kids Choir.  We were 'ewes'.  Oh...to be a kid in the 80s!

Here is a photo from the most recent Bra Shipping Party that our Zonta Club Members did.  If you remember seeing photos like these in the past you might recall we send the bras over to Free The Girls and they go to survivors of trafficking to help them start their own retail business.  Right now there are 3 countries that receive these shipments...Mozambique, Costa Rica, and El Salvador.  In about 9 months we have shipped 2,001 bras to Free The Girls from our rural area.

And now it's time for some vegan food!  Here is one of the items I found from Trader Joe's.  It was yummy and had a nice kick to it.

Right near where I work there is a NY Style Pizza and Deli place and the pizza dough just happens to be vegan.  They will put basically anything you want on a pizza.  I have enjoyed a few of them in the past but recently I decided to re-visit their 'build your own salad' and this is what they made for me.  It was darn hefty and VERY MUCH appreciated!

Greens, Broccoli, Tomato, Avocado, Cucumbers, Onion, Peppers, topped with a nice amount of Hummus, and French-Type Dressing.

Again, one of my side trips while traveling to work - and actually FOR work - I stopped in Kennedy, NY, at the Aber's Acres Produce Stand.  I couldn't pass up these AMAZING Organic Raspberries!

And...Cherry Tomatoes!  A few years ago they got their ORGANIC certification.  It was a 3 year process.  Their stuff is AMAZING, too!

Nourished & Nor'Easters

Just a quick post today.

This book was another book I recently grabbed lately.  I was thinking it was a vegan cookbook but it really isn't a cookbook, per say.

It IS, however, an amazing resource and wealth of knowledge that I will be referring to often.  The photography is lovely and the info STELLAR!  I hope to dip more into it on Sunday.

Tomorrow I will be volunteering at a Fundraiser for the local Zontas International that I hope to join over the next couple of months.

Last night we were hit with the latest Nor'Easter.  I couldn't help but post this meme.  It made me chuckle for a few reasons.  The Beavis & Butthead reference is something that DH, his brother, and mother often joke about.  As stupid as the show was - the silly comedy got them thru some challenging times.

This was a photo from the front of my house this morning as I tried to shovel my Fiat out of the driveway.  The photo doesn't do it much justice but the snow we received was heavier than usual and I'm sure we will have a lot of trees down because of it.

In some places, there was about a foot of snow dropping in a few hours.  It was 70 degrees just a few days ago and even this coming weekend we are supposed to see 40's and low 50s in temperatures.

I'm really hoping all of this doesn't freeze more than it already has.  Most of it's a heavy slush at the moment.

Yesterday I was doing some social media for work and noticed this...3 Movies Turning 30!  The movies Big, Willow, and Land Before Time - all turn 30 in early 2018!

Which of these 3 1988 movies was your favorite?

Another Question of the Day...did you get hit with the Nor'Easter?  If so - how much snow and/or flooding or winds did you see!?

What I'm...

Today's post will be a mish mash of tidbits.  Before I get started I must say that the logo above isn't mine but I was drawn to it.  I then went directly to the source which was The Mobility Hub of Africa.   It's a project by Art Moves Africa promoting just about everything Arts and Culture related.

Now...on to what I have been doing and a whole lot more...

 First off I will start by saying I attended an 8th Grade Career Day yesterday and that was interesting.  I was around 8th graders all day and some of them that stopped by our table were able to record and play back so they could hear what they would or could sound like on the air.  (If you are new to my site I should probably tell you that I work in radio full time).  3 of the attendees I was especially happy to see...hubby's cousin's daughter, a friend of ours' son, and a boy who has loved radio since he was 3 and has been in to tour the studios and has dropped by our live broadcast remotes often.  

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What I'm Watching...

I have been enjoying a lot of memories from my childhood, teen, and college years on Hulu+ and Netflix as of late.  I'm currently watching from the beginning A Different World.  I remember watching each and every episode when I was younger.  It's nice to re-watch them in the evenings when winding down.  We don't have Cable, Dish, Local TV, etc...but we do subscribe to both of these streaming services!  Do you?  If so...what are you currently watching?

What I'm Drinking...

In addition to many 52 Teas I have been sipping I have been getting back into Simpson & Vail's Teas.  I'm almost done with my stash of them, tho.  I really like their MANY Black Tea offerings.  I have also been trying to get into more herbals and you can read about a few of them over at The Sororitea Sisters Website.

Another thing I have been drinking is my morning smoothies!  Last week one of my mini goals was to be more consistent and make one each morning Monday Thru Friday.  I have been doing pretty good with this attempt with the except of yesterday while I attended the Career Day.  Instead I grabbed one of the Bolthouse Farm's Multi-V Goodness bottles I found at a small local grocery store.  I was surprised they had it.  This was the first time I had tried this flavor and it was really tasty.

What I've Been Listening To...

I often listen to a slew of different types of music.  I always find my way back to the 80s and 90s and over the past several months more specifically 90's Dance, New Wave, and Reggae music has been on that list, too.

What I've Been Thinking About For Fun...

Here's a card I did back in 2011!  I can't believe it's been 4 years!!!  But I have been trying to get back into paper crafting and mixed media once again.  As you can see here I did some shading and blending with craft markers.  I know I have better example of this somewhere.

And here's another one using the same digital stamp but with paper piecing.  If you aren't into paper crafting and aren't familiar with the term paper piecing it's basically using the digital stamp on patterned paper and cutting it out and piecing it on top of the same image to make it more colorful and eye catching.  Here are a few Halloween Themed Cards I made and the creator of the Digital Stamp is my ol' buddy Lindsay over at Lindsay's Stamp Stuff.

Be sure to check in TOMORROW I will be giving away a great prize from Garden of Life!
 Happy Weekend!

Music & Movie Monday

Many of you know that music is a huge part of my life and that I LOVE many different types of music.  Lately - I have been listening to more funk than usual.  And that was even before I watched Get On Up - the movie based on James Brown and his life and career.  We watched Get On Up last week and I thought it was wonderful.  The acting cast was amazing!  My husband continued to point out that there was lip-syncing going on some of the time but other than that it was a great flick.  Mick Jagger was one of the producers and there was a short bit of the movie about the encounter between James Brown and The Rolling Stones.  We watched the 'extras' and those were just as interesting as the movie.  Especially the relationship Dan Aykroyd had with James Brown - and I thought it was neat that he was in the movie -  you may remember that James Brown was in the Blues Brothers movie that Dan starred in years ago, too!

Just for kicks I thought I would list some of the latest tunes I have posted to my Soundtracking App:

Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove

Donell Jones - U Know What's Up

311 Love Song

Keith Sweat - Freak With Me

Bootsy Collins - Bootzilla

Oingo Boingo - Weird Science

Herbie Hancock - Chameleon

Terence Trent D'Arby - Wishing Well

Brian McKnight - Anytime

Kanye West & Jamie Foxx - Gold Digger

112 - Cupid 

Lindsey Buckingham - Go Insane

Adam Ant - Strip

Erasure - Chains of Love

Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories - Snow Day

Talk Talk - It's My Life

Papa Roach - Last Resort

Crazy Town - Butterfly

Next - Wifey

Stereo MC's - Connected 

Erykah Badu - Certainly

Salt N Pepa - Expression

Joan Jett - Love Hurts

No Doubt - Bathwater

Newcleus - Jam On It

World Party - All The Young Dudes

Supergrass - Alright

James Brown - Get On Up

The Cranberries - Zombie

They Might Be Giants - Istanbul

Roxette - Listen To Your Heart

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Rat Race

Ace of Base - Young And Proud

I could go on and on but that will give you a little hint at my diverse music hopping lately!  I have to add that I am not really a fan of Kanye but I like that song because of Jaime Foxx, mostly.  I like the beat and Ray Charles back-up sound that Jaime provided.  I seem to be going back to college days on many of them and I'll always LOVE the 80s, too! 

Childhood Memories

A few weeks ago Opal and I were chatting about Childhood Memories and Toys and keepsakes...things that were sentimental in some way or memorable, even.

Today I thought I would do a quick post about one of the stuff animals I remember growing up!  It was this lil guy!  The Purple Pig Puffalump!  Puffalumps were BIG in the mid 80's.

If you don't recall them...here's a little more more info about them...

They were created by Fisher-Price in 1986.  They were made out of parachute material and 'stuffed' with poly-fill material.  The WikiPedia Page is located HERE but I will tell you I remember MY Puffalump like it was yesterday.   However, I think I treasured it a bit too much - sometimes using it as a pillow - and the Poly-Fill became quite lifeless - but it did last a long time...I remember having it up until about 1997 or 1998 - around the time I was in college.  I wasn't much for "dolls" since I wasn't a "girly-girl" I was more of a "tomboy" but remember my sister collecting piles and piles of Barbies as well as Cabbage Patch Kids.  I would sometimes get My Little Pony's but only the Unicorn ones since I have ALWAYS collected Unicorns.  I think my mom sold them YEARS ago but might have to start looking for them online again.  What were some of your favorites growing up!?