It has arrived

Winter that is. After such a nice mild November, December is bringing on the winter feel. Instead of 40's the temperature is low 20's. And yesterday on the walk home the wind was biting, blowing the falling snow so it stings. Above is the walk home.

Some people around here say that last time Rochester had such a mild November, the rest of the winter was terrible with many blizzards. We will see what the next few months bring.

This is our garage window with lots of little ice crystals forming on it.

A special day

You've had a birthday shout "Hooray!"

We want to sing to you today.

One year older and wiser, too.

Happy Birthday to you!

Chipotle vs Moe's

When we moved to Rochester Caleb was so disappointed there was no Chipotle. Soon Moe's opened nearby which has a similar concept. He soon became a big fan. Then this year in August Chipotle came to town. So Caleb and Ryan decided to do a side by side comparison. Chipotle vs Moe's. We tried to get the same things on each. (can you tell which is which in the picture?) I am not sure which burrito won that night. But I think Caleb prefers Moe's (with the free chips and salsa it comes with).

A busy end to October

The past few days my parents have been visiting. They like to go, go, go. So, we had a busy three days and explored some new parts of Rochester. Here is a list of some of the things we did:
got pumpkins
saw giant corn stalk teepees
had hot cider
painted glass luminaries
visited the George Eastman house
walked through the Sacred Grove
bought milk from a local dairy
tried Sweetango apples
watched an improv comedy show
ate chicken pot pie
put in soffit covers
saw a 1940's musical review
carved pumpkins
took autumn photos
watched Fringe
drank hot chocolate
gave out Halloween candy
dropped off Caleb's lunch
visited Pittsford Wegmans
And that is not all. A fun time was had by all. We really enjoyed the visit and look forward to seeing them again soon for the holidays.

Cooling down

As the weather has been cooling down, so has the temperature inside the house. We usually keep it between 60-65 in the winter and decided it is time to turn on the heater again. So to keep us cozy we have pulled out some blankets. There are typically 2-3 on the couch for easy use. The dogs appear to enjoy them as well.
In the picture Sadie is the dark spot on the couch. She does not photograph well--always looking like a shadow. Sylvester loves to sit on things-people, pillows, Sadie, etc. Thus he is perched on the armrest.

Under Construction

For the past couple weeks this is what our street has looked like. Each morning as we leave for work the road is blocked by backhoes and dump trucks. They are replacing the water main in the neighborhood and so are digging everything up. They leave their equipment pared in people's yards, tearing up all the grass. It is quite a mess. They have made it through phase one but I thing they have several more weeks of work to go. What fun.

Safflowers

A couple of weeks ago I saw these really neat flowers at the store. I have never seen anything quite like them before. I thought that they would open up more but they never did. It is just the orange/yellow tops sticking out of the green bulb.

This is what I have learned about this unique flower:

Carthamus tinctorius, one the oldest cultivated plants of record. Seeds have been found in pharaohs' tombs dating back at least to 2000 B.C. and safflower has been cultivated by the ancient Chinese as an oil crop and for medicinal use. In more recent centuries the flowers have been used for yellow, orange and red dyes as well as 'saffron-like' food additives. In the U.S. in the first half of the last century saffron oil was used as a high-quality paint medium. Today the oil is a readily-available cosmetic & food additive, including its use as a cooking and salad oil.