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!

Weekend Re-Cap in Photos!

Saturday I decided to take a short drive up to Kinzua Dam.  I didn't go to the actual Dam but the Big Bend Area. 

If I were to actually make a stop at the Dam I would be in a Parking Lot or at the Bridge going over top of the Dam that you see here. 

I wanted to do some thinking.  I also wanted to take some photos.  It's been a while since my last stop up there.  It's one of those places that people from far away visit often but the locals don't usually frequent.

If you visit my Instagram Account you can see more photos and even a short video, too!

The weather was gorgeous that day!  It seemed like it was the perfect temperature.  It wasn't muggy (like it has been most of the time the last couple years in the summertime) and it had just the right amount of breeze.  As you can see from the photos...the skies were blue and had some lovely, light clouds.

This photo is looking down 'water' from the Dam from the same spot.  One of these days I might go up to the Dam and the Bridge area and take some more photos to post here.

I wanted to go over to a small waterfall that is tucked off the road into the Allegheny National Forest a bit but ran out of time.

We left our house to make a quick trip up to the Buffalo area and stopped at The Pizza Plant for an early dinner.  Of course, I'm always excited because they not only have Vegan Pizza - they have Vegan Cheese for their Vegan Pizza!  I wanted to do a different topping for it this time around, tho.  Usually, I opt for Tomatoes or Mushrooms.  This time I went with the Artichokes.  It was fantastic!  I ate it for 4 meals!

Driving back wasn't fun.  There was a lot of construction.  We made a mistake with a detour and went about a half hour out of our way.  Oops!

Here's a close-up of an individual piece in case you're interested.

In other news...I've decided to take on another volunteering project.  This past month The Dyslexic Advantage eNewsletter was asking for volunteers to voice certain articles of their monthly online magazine.  I figured since I'm in radio full-time and have access to the equipment both at work and at home, I thought it was something I could easily do.  Plus, I have been wanting to get more involved in advocating for Dyslexics (since I, too, am one).

This past Thursday, there was a chair meeting for our Zonta Club.  It was a real eye-opener about just how much we do in our area.  I hope to help get the word out more about the efforts.  In the meantime, I was asked to chair the Service Committee so I'm looking forward to that, too!

Another thing we did this past weekend was stop in to our some-what-new, local Ollie's Bargain Outlet and we found some extra large fuzzy blankets for cheap.  We bought them and some other stuff for the house and I have to say that the blankets are a HIT with the dogs!  They LOVE them!

Here is a photo of Cricket sleeping on my lap...on the new blanket, of course.

What did you do over the weekend!?

Vegan Maple Hot Chocolate, Raw Books, & Recent Stops!

This is my 2nd post of the day so be sure to keep scrolling!  This post you are reading now will be a lengthy one, too!  First up...I wanted to tell you about a lovely treat I am enjoying as I type this!  It's Maple Hot Chocolate from 3Leaf...and it's pretty incredible!  It's a combo of simple and pure ingredients including: Pure Cane Sugar, Raw Organic Cacao, and Natural Flavors...and it's VEGAN!  Today has been a dark, rainy mess of a day and I found this in my stash and FINALLY decided to try it!  I'm glad I did!  This was certainly a treat for me I don't have a lot of sweets and/or vegan dessert-like beverages or vegan hot chocolates.  It tasted like a darker chocolate with a nice splash of maple flavor!

 
I was telling you in my first post of today that I went with my parents to Sam's Club on Sunday.  My mother bought me two books!

Yup!  Here are the covers!  The first one is Raw Energy In A Glass.  I was excited about this one because I have the original Raw Energy Book and really LOVE it and I think this one I like even more than that one!  I already thumbed thru the whole thing and can't wait to try some of the blended soups, energy shots, and juice-smoothies...among others!

The 2nd book I got was this one and I about 70 pages in already!  It breaks down many of the fruits, greens, etc and tells you all about them and have multiple simple recipes on most pages highlighting that specific juicing or smoothie ingredient!

I know it sounds silly but I like the 'feel' of the pages!  They are thick and nice to grip!  This book is oddly sized but I like it!  It's tall and skinny almost like a half page in width.  I think it will stand out in my collection.  I can see myself referring back to BOTH of these books often!

Now on to some of the stops I have made over the last week or so!  In my travels for work I stopped at a local art gallery.  They have two art showings happening at the same time...and actually I think they are just finishing up with these two before they switch to another opening there!  One of the artists is a wonderful woman I know Ellen Paquette!  Her and her husband are so nice and SO TALENTED!  I linked her name to her website if you are interested!  I bought one of her Wee Beasties years ago and ADORE IT!  Check out her paintings HERE - these are the ones that were on display at The Crary Art Gallery.

Out of respect for the artists and their paintings and art I didn't take photos of them but here you can see some of the sculptures that are always on display at the art gallery!  Next...I'm looking forward to THESE oil paintings, too!

Yesterday - in between raining and crappy weather - I was able to visit Kinzua Wolf Run Marina and Docksiders Cafe up near Kinzua Dam.  Here is a photo from the marina.  In about 3 weeks this will look extremely different because then all of the docks will be full!  I hope to post more photos of my work travels in the near future.

Some of the roadside photos you will see in the next few months might just be over a lunch break.  A midday meditation of sorts.

Like these next photos from a local Pollinator Garden.  You may remember this garden from a VIDEO I did last year.

Here are some of my favorites from my recent walk thru the Pollinator Garden.  A group of local people do this garden every year.  They are called The Penn State Master Gardeners.

I hope to see more of what their group is doing at this years Warren County Fair and also our local Farmers Market which should start next month.

I'm also looking forward to seeing which growers will be participating in the local farmers market again this year.  Last year was a little rough on them.

And speaking of some of the festivities of last years Farmers Market I noticed you can see some photos of me HERE and HERE...from their Facebook Page.

That little sweetie is Cricket!  I can't believe it's almost been a years since we've had her!

You can tell from their PHOTO SECTION that it's a very Pet Friendly Farmers Market!

I'll leave you with one last photo from the Pollinator Garden that is under the direction of Penn State Master Gardeners and is inside Betts Park in Warren.  It's a large park here in the area that has many baseball and softball fields, Bocce Ball, Basketball, Pickle Ball areas - as well as a wonderful place to walk/jog/run along riverside.

I'm hoping the weather improves and it's more photo friendly so I can share some better pics with you soon!

Past Weekend Adventures, Yogivore, Thrown Together Meals

Slowly but surely I am trying to catch up on blogging!  This post will be a mish-mash of a post but there are two other posts if you scroll down that I wrote earlier today that DO have a method to their madness!

A few weeks ago my husband's brother and his girlfriend, Dale, and I went on a ride.  He recently bought a used Mini Cooper so we drove around a bit in our Abarth.  We ended up in Bradford, PA, one weekend and the next weekend we ended up near Bemus Point, NY.  Neither are too far away from where we live but still a nice day trip!

The first photo is of Dale and myself in front of the Kinzua Dam near where we live.  Believe it or not this was just a few short weeks ago!  There were hardly any leaves on the trees and now the trees are FULL and green and gorgeous!  Mother Nature is funny sometimes!

With how crazy work has been paired with family and extended family health issues I have been throwing a lot of meals together based on when is on hand.  This photo is actually taken at my mother's house.  She doesn't usually stock her pantry very well since it's just the two of them and neither one of my parents are vegetarian.  Plus they haven't been doing much cooking at home lately.  I was able to find some white rice I 'doctored up' with some Wildtree sauce and did some potato/fries on stove top instead of in the oven with a bit of grapeseed oil.  They turned out good and filled my tummy that day!

I don't usually do that - create a plate lacking veggies - but that day it was what was available.  Since then I have been doing much better and I hope to post more of the meals I have been making soon, too!

One thing I will be starting today is my Yogivore Adventures!  For more information on that swing by The Happy Herbivore Blog!

I'm mostly doing this to challenge myself but also break up the day a little bit.  I've been getting into this routine of waking up - going to work - eating - writing - and going to sleep - and I need to switch it up a bit!