Tag Archives: animals

Evie at the Zoo

Posted on September 30, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

I neglected to make a post about a recent visit to the Utica Zoo with some members of my family.  My sister Cheryl called and invited me to join them in celebrating my great-niece Evie’s birthday.  I was delighted to join them.  Unfortunately, most of the pictures I took of the animals did not come out very well.

I guess even the camel is a bit in shadow.

We had a nice time walking around the zoo.  I especially enjoy the paths up through greenery and around exhibits.

You can almost see some members of our group way up ahead.

We enjoyed things such as stumps you can stand on.

Evie strikes an intimidating pose.

Before I snapped the picture, Evie put her hands over her head and said in a deep voice, “I am the Dread Pirate Roberts!” Anybody who does not get that reference, I urge you to watch the movie The Princess Bride.

I walked around the post and took another shot, not back-lit.

Alas that I did not get any pictures of Sheppy, my great-nephew. Full disclosure:  I did get a picture of him and a few others impersonating owls on some posts provided for that purpose. My niece Kimi said I was not allowed to use that picture in the blog.  I wonder if she would have preferred I did not even mention it. If so, I hope she will forgive me.

I highly recommend the Utica Zoo as a nice place to spend a few hours, even if you do not have a dramatic great-niece to walk around with.

 

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Going Overboard for the Animals

Posted on August 1, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have not been to many garage sales this year. Partly it is because I have not had much chance, but it is mostly because I’ve been thinking lately that I just own too much stuff. I need to get rid of some of it before I add any more.

That said, when I noticed that the Herkimer County Humane Society was holding a garage sale last Saturday, I thought it couldn’t hurt to just go take a look. After all, it was such a worthy cause. I could buy maybe one or two small things. I didn’t have to go overboard.

I’m sure everybody knows how this is going to end.

It was really more of a yard sale than a garage sale, with items laid out across the front lawn, but I suppose that is mere quibbling. I found a convenient parking space on the side f the road and commenced to browse.

The first thing I found was a pair of green velvet gloves with black feather trim. No idea when I might wear something like that, but I had to have them. Then I found a nice little tin. Steven likes to put Christmas presents in tins instead of wrapping paper. Of all the books, the only one that really tempted me was a paperback Agatha Christie murder mystery. I have in to temptation. Next was a slipcover for a love seat, which we have been looking for Naturally I grabbed a few post cards, two of Lawrence Welk and one of the Episcopal Church in Herkimer (the church we attend when we go to church)(those were the only ones I found; had there been more, I would have taken them, too).

My arms were getting pretty full. I put everything down very carefully to try on a Halloween vest. It fit! The last thing I picked up was a dismembered skeleton in sparkly black. How wonderful is that going to look this October!

Loading myself back up, I looked for who I should pay. They were giving everybody yellow canvas bags with the picture of a dog and cat over the slogan “Adopt!” That was helpful for my smaller items. Nothing was priced. They were asking people to think about the animals and make a donation.

I’ll be honest, I think my donation could have been bigger, but I have what I thought I could afford. I promised to give more when I could and asked about volunteer opportunities. I took away a flier and said I would look at my schedule and see what I could do. I think volunteering for the Humane Society would be an excellent thing for Mohawk Valley Girl to do. I could probably get some good blog posts out of it.

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Fun at Fly Creek

Posted on May 16, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Any place that offers free samples is an OK place in my book. At the top of the list is the Fly Creek Cider Mill.

You can walk around the sales floor and sample dips, sauces, salsas and more. You can also try the hard cider and apple wine, if you’re over 21, which I am. If you’re hungrier than samples will satisfy, there is a snack bar. On a recent trip with a family group, some people in the group were that hungry.

“But if you buy something inside, you can get 10 percent off at the snack bar,” I told them. “You can have some free samples to hold you over.” I was out-voted. That was OK. The snack bar offers some pretty tasty stuff, and I saved room for samples.

The fellow at the wine tasting bar was very knowledgeable. I learned that true ice wine is made when the fruit has frozen before being picked. Some unscrupulous winemakers freeze the fruit after picking and fall it ice wine, but the Apple Wine we sampled was the real thing. Very sweet, definitely a dessert wine, in case you wanted to know.

After some sampling, we went upstairs to admire gifts and decorations. I’m not exactly ready to think about Christmas yet, but they sure do have some pretty stuff.

One of my favorite things to do at the cider mill is to feed the ducks, geese and chickens. Several vending machines dispense a handful of corn for a quarter. I also gathered some corn from the ground, where people had dropped it. Waste not, want not. I especially like to go up on the deck and toss corn into the pond for the ducks to dive for.

I usually go to the Fly Creek Cider Mill several times a year. For more information you can visit their website at www.flycreekcidermill.com. You can also Like them on Facebook. I did.

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