Peaceful, easy feeling

Reaching out. As my dear wife Karen and I started our stroll down the Brewerton lane that flanked the pretty waterside, we looked out over a small but sturdy dock busy with small vessels ready to enjoy both the inlet and, I assumed, action out on Oneida Lake. Of course, one could just choose to…

Pretty waterfront walk

Post-lunch view. When a recent Friday turned out bright, sunny and warm, my dear wife Karen suggested a fun drive a dozen or so miles north to Brewerton, N.Y., for lunch at The Waterfront Tavern. After our delicious meal of her burger and my soup and sandwich, we stowed leftovers in the car and decided…

To feed that baseball jones

Brett Baty, still working on that swing. While baseball rests for the All-Star break, I’ll pull out two photos stockpiled from our latest visit for a Syracuse Mets game at NBT Bank Stadium. Night game! As my dear wife Karen, terrific daughter Elisabeth and wonderful George Three enjoyed ourselves in our great seats, I declared…

Fearsome foursome

Sunny personalities. I continued my bounce back season for golf with a visit to Woodcrest for a round with Tater, Nolan and Steve. We got through the high temperatures and endless sun to enjoy good talk and fair golf. Hey, my surprisingly good short game around the green led to five long hole-outs for pars.…

Oh, happy day lily

Bright spot. The short side new fence ended up being a wonderful spot for the red day lily bulb put in the ground by my dear wife Karen.

Keeping up with the fig

Getting wide. Yes, the fig tree brought to our house by our friend and master figger John made it through another winter inside our house. My dear wife Karen nursed it well in her dressing room. At the start of summer, it’s quite wide in its pot. No signs of figs, though …

So that’s the hibiscus

The thin one. Not it. When my dear wife Karen and I were wondering what plant exactly to choose for No. 3 during this spring’s visit to favorite Liverpool nursery Ballantyne Gardens, we spotted a clipped down hibiscus. Interesting. I wondered what it would do in the ground. When summer arrived, one of the shoots…

Hydrangea gives us a bloom

First year, A-OK. After multiple years visiting hydrangeas around the trails of the Heritage Museums and Gardens during our annual visit to Cape Cod, my dear wife Karen and I decided to purchase our very own at favorite Liverpool nursery Ballantyne Gardens. It’s doing very well at the start of summer in its first year…

Butterfly bush goes wide

Bring on the wings. It’s time for a summer’s-here report on the three plants we picked up at our favorite Liverpool nursery Ballantyne Gardens this spring. All three are flourishing along the far side new fence, glad to say! First up, the butterfly bush, coming in wide and welcoming. (More the next two days, of…

Something about that full moon glow

Found it out back. In June, my dear wife Karen looked up from her phone and told me it was our night for a Strawberry Super Moon. Let’s go look, I said, so we linked arms and ventured into the evening. Bright and full. Bingo, in our backyard, out over the roof of the neighboring…