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!

Animal Photography - Color and Black & White

Thank you to those who are helping me narrow down my photos for this years fair!  I was able to get my hands on the categories and I have some MAJOR narrowing down to do now that I know what I am looking for!  I was hoping you could help me YET AGAIN!

First up...Animal Photography!  I think I have narrowed it down to 3.  A cat, a dog, and a Prairie Dog!  I can enter ONLY ONE in each category BUT there is a color category for animals and a black and white category for animals.  These first two are the Stray Cat.  

Next up is a Blue Lab.  This first photo is the color one and below is the black and white one of the Blue Lab.  

I guess the best way to ask is...out of the 3 animals which one do you think I should enter for the color and which one should I enter for the black and white?

The last of the 3 animal photos I have is this Prairie Dog!  Above is the color and below is the black and white version.

I'm not sure which I should enter in each category!  Can you guys and gals help me!?

State of Bliss Photography

Just a quick update today...and I'm also asking for some help!

Would you be able to visit THIS SITE - it is my NEW Photoblog.  I'm posting some of my photographs there in hopes to narrow down what I could and should submit in out fair this summer.

It would REALLY HELP ME if you could hop over and click on the ones you like best and comment in some way!  The photos with the most feedback by this spring I will be printing and entering in our fair.

I haven't done this in the past but some of the rules have changed and they no longer require matting so I thought I would see if I could get a few ribbons!

Again...my NEW Photoblog is:
State of Bliss Photography

Letchworth State Park

Back in Mid-September DH and I decided to take a day trip to Letchworth State Park.  Eventho I grew up in and around Western New York I never visited Letchworth.  Come to find out, I used to live about an hour away from it!  People from the Buffalo/Niagara Falls area joke that locals don't visit The Falls (or more specifically ride on The Maid of The Mist) until after we move from the area.  I guess the same could be said of Letchworth State Park.

These first two photos are part of the Glen Iris Inn at Letchworth State Park.  It was formerly the estate of William Pryor Letchworth and has been a country inn since 1914.  It overlooks the Middle Falls on the Gennessee River and overlooks Letchworth. 

Before I start posting the waterfall photos I wanted to make special mention of this area within Letchworth.  It's called Tea Table Rock area.  It's located in the Wolf Creek section of the park and named for the unusual rock formation.  In the 1920's, photographs of the scenic area were said to show the 'table' high on the edge of the cliff.  As for this specific photo that I took this is one of the many picnic areas of Tea Table.  It was an open-air pavilion.  There was a back wall with a fireplace and chimney.  The two sides were somewhat enclosed but had window frames that were cut out much like you see on this back wall...other parts of the sides had half walls that were about hip-high or so.  Where I was standing - taking the photo - that entrance side was open and exposed.  I think it was a great way for people to huddle to get away from the elements but still have open air for the nature lovers.  It looked VERY old and really took me back to a different time.

Here is a photo of some of the cliffs they were referring to.  When we went in mid-September, the leaves had yet to change...as you can see here.  It was still an amazing sight to see, tho!

I tried to take as many photos as I could before DH's patience ran thin.  There is a lower falls, middle falls, and upper falls.  The Middle Falls was the largest.  We mistakenly thought that was the Upper Falls and didn't actually make it up to the top.  I know we have to go back at some point so when we do I will report back and hopefully have more photos of that waterfall.

I know it's hard to see, but close to the middle of this photo, there is a small bridge that you can walk over.  We didn't make it over to the other side so I didn't get any photos from that area.  Again, I hope to go back and explore it more!

Here is a closer look at one of the bridges.  It's a little grainy because I zoomed in as much as I could.  Again, we didn't make it over to that side or else I would have gotten a better snapshot.

Here's another angle of the gorge area.  And another one of the many cliffs.  Overall, Letchworth State Park is nearly 14,500 acres and about 17 miles long.  It's about a 35 mile drive from Rochester and a 60 mile drive from Buffalo.

I was able to get more photos of the Middle Falls when we went.  Here is one as we were approaching.  In the upper right-hand corner, (which is actually the Portage Viaduct), you can see what looks like a bridge and/or railroad bridge way type structure or skywalk.  That area is where the Upper Falls is.

As we continued to walk, we could feel the mist of the falls.  The stone surrounding everything was truly amazing!  It was a bit windy that day and because we arrived earlier in the day it wasn't too busy YET and was a tad chilly.

I've always LOVED waterfalls!  When I saw how massive the Middle Falls were I knew I had to take as many pictures as possible!  I'm bummed we didn't make it to the Upper Falls that day.  Letchworth State Park is also known as the "Grand Canyon of the East".

Here's a side-shot of the Middle Falls.  I read that as many as 50 waterfalls found on tributaries that flow into Gennessee River.  In some places, the rock walls are over 550 feet high!  I had a lot of fun that day and can't wait to go back!

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!?

Dill Pickle Cashews, Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen, & FotoJet

Lengthy Post Alert!  LOTS to cover today!  First...a new snack I have been enjoying...Dill Pickle Cashews!  This isn't the exact bag I am eating from but you'll get the visual idea!  Many of you know I LOVE cashews and I can't get enough of Dill these days so it was the perfect duo.

I found them on Jet.com at a good price while doing some Christmas Shopping last week and HAD to grab them.  I also bought a pound of raw cashews, too!  Again, the price was right!  Cheaper than I could find them locally, that is.  I also found a few other little things for snacks and lunches I will share with you down the road!

Another book DH bought me this past weekend was Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen.  This is the first of Chloe's books I have added to my collection so far.  I have a feeling I will be adding others to my wishlist for down the road!  Sure there are your stereotypical vegan pasta recipes in there but she puts her own twist on them but she doesn't stop there!  Recipes that I wouldn't have considered to be Vegan Italian were throughout the book as well.  I was going to list a few of the recipes I was interested in but the list ended up being too long so once I jump in I will let you know which ones I do end up doing! 

Next up and LONG OVERDUE is my chattering about a free online graphic design site called FotoJet.com.  There are elements of it that are similar to other sites but it seems to offer much more in the terms of fonts and templates!  When I saw this first one I knew I had to make something with it because I've always adored the LOVE BUS!

In most browsers, you can click on these photos to enlarge them from my site.  This one says MyBlissfulJourney - Family - Food - Fiats - Friends - More!  I haven't quite figured out a way to resize EASILY for the header but I knew I loved the look especially because of the teacup on the upper left.  Plus it looked like a neat workstation and place to think.

I could see me using this a lot for blogging graphics!  I see it as a place for inspiration but also for organizing things on my blog at some point.  I have a lot of Projects in the Works so I thought a simple graphic like this would come in handy.

And speaking of inspiration...check this Daily Yoga Graphic out!  Something I surely need to get my rear in gear and do more daily yoga!  I've always thought of this blog as not only an archive but a way to be accountable and I really need to get back into Yoga!  This might help!  With FotoJet you can edit photos, make collages, and much more!

Just to mess around with the site I used some of the photos I have taken in the past and went with the Comic Book feature and made this!  Some of the other things you can do with FotoJet is make Magazine Covers, Posters, Invitations, Cards, Facebook Covers, YouTube Channel Art, Facebook & Instagram Posts, Google+ Covers, Twitter, Tumbler, & Email Headers, Thumbnails, Pinterest Graphics, and more! 

It's a great Marketing Tool, too!  You can create Logos, Flyers, Business Cards, Leaderboards, and Facebook Ads...just to name a few!

Gosh!  I still have so much to share from the weekend!  I will really try and post another blog entry later tonight!  In the meantime...which features do you like from FotoJet.com?  Let me know!

Warren County Fair From Different Eyes

I have at least 4 posts I will be doing from the Warren County Fair Week but I thought I would ease into it with a few 'behind the scenes' type photos to start.

This was taken Sunday Evening as I was just getting back from WNY VegFest.  The sky was so beautiful!  I couldn't resist taking a photo of it.

I tried to get to sleep early that night because we had to get up around 3:30am to prepare for the Morning Show.  We did double air shifts Monday thru Friday that week!  Then all of the other festivities that went along with being a volunteer and board duties my hubby had that week, too!

We can't help but think of a friend of ours during fair time (and every day we are at work for that matter).
He's been gone for a few years now...I actually can't believe it's been that long!  He will always be missed!
 
This was his saying!  A friend of ours found this mug and gave it to Dale the first day of Fair.  He got pretty choked up about it.

We talked about our friend and co-worker often that week.  It would have also been his birthday, too!

Cancer is an awful thing.

This year we installed a park model that was found for a wonderful price.  It's in the backstage area for the entertainment who visit our fair.

This was a photo taken from the deck.  Many people worked on the space throughout the summer to make it look nice.

We had some wonderful feedback about it too!

I will probably have more photos of this space down the road.

This was my view from Monday after the Media Lunch was over.

Around The Grounds...

I still have a few more posts to blog about with more pictures to show off from our trip to West Palm Beach Florida last month and our stay at The Breakers!

Today I thought I would share with you some of the random photos I took from around the grounds of The Breakers.  I still have pics coming soon from our trip to the Garden of Life Headquarters as well as our downtown West Palm Beach Walk.

First up...I'm pretty sure that this is an old Fiat.  I could be wrong I couldn't get much closer to it that day but I thought it wasn't something we saw every day and thought I would take a pic of it.

In addition to all of the photos I've already posted having to do with the Organic Herb and Vegetable Gardens they have at The Breakers I thought I would post this, too!  It's a photo of a sign that I saw more than once on their grounds.

The Breakers utilizes reverse osmosis, an environmentally friendly alternative water source, to irrigate our golf course and landscaping.

I thought this was so cool!  The Breakers is a very old and historic place and even they are able to take steps to help the environment so why can't everyone else?  Every little bit or large step helps!

Here's a photograph of one of the ducks we saw on a walk one day.  It was on the one golf course.  He wasn't afraid of us in the slightest!

This duck is a Muscovy Duck.

He was pretty cool!

I wish I was able to see more wildlife while we were there - we did see more birds in the middle of flight - but we didn't see very many on the ground while we were there.

For those of you who are from or have visited Florida - what's your favorite bird of the region?

And finally - this is one of the many hallways in The Breakers.  I just LOVED all the lamps, tapestries, chandeliers, ceilings, rugs, comfy chairs - you name it!  They really have mixed past and present with the decor at just about every turn!

To the left of this hallway was one of the bars and restaurants called HMF. The name of the restaurant stood for Henry Morrison Flagler the owner of the original Breakers. Did you know that The Breakers Hotel Complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973? In 1973, the 105-acre listed area included 15 contributing buildings and one other contributing object.