random reflections

Zoom In, Zoom Out At the Lake

Friday we spent the day on Owasco Lake. It's one of the smaller Finger Lakes, closer to Syracuse than Rochester. Our friends had rented a cottage there for a month, and we finally managed to get down there right at the end of their time at the lake. It was a cooler day than most, unless you were in the sun where it was plenty warm. The cottage sits at the top of a hill, and there are several sets of stairs down from the lake. The photos were taken from the first lower yard; the cottage is up still another set of stairs.

It was so cool when we left home, I didn't take a swimsuit with me. Probably a mistake, but I wasn't the least bit unhappy soaking up the sun sitting on the deck. Tina and Tracy enjoyed floating on the rafts, and Sue took out the little kayak.

All in all, it was a lovely way to spend one of the last days of summer. Although, I must admit, the forecast for tomorrow is for one of the highest temperatures of the summer. Saturday, when we're off on a little road trip to Canada, is expected to be in the mid-60's and rainy. Such is weather at the end of the season in western New York!

You can check out the other ZIZO pairings at Helena's blog.

 

A Bookish Birthday

One of my very good friends is an avid (and very fast) reader. She easily averages more books a week than I do in a month, so the September Simon Says Card Kit was a perfect match for her birthday card. It's all about books and reading.

Here's my first take with this stamp set.

The patterned papers are all from October Afternoon's "Public Library" line. I stamped a shelf for the books and plant, and found a perfect sentiment in Papertrey Ink's "All Booked Up" set.  I love the inside sentiment from "All Booked Up" as well.

Virginia's View has a new challenge up for this month using patterned paper. It's a perfect challenge for getting to some of those beautiful patterned papers in kits and my 6X6 paper pad collection.

I'm also in under the wire for Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes.