Pumpkins and Pizza

On Saturday I went with Steve and Eva to a few fall festivals. The first was at a Horse farm. We got here as they were opening so things were still getting going but there was still plenty to do. Starting with an assault course.

Race around the cones

They had lots of pumpkins around, as does everywhere at the moment. Apparently painted pumpkins are just as common as carved ones around here.

Painted pumpkins

There was a pony ride, trail rides, and tractor rides. So Eva went on a pony ride.

Looking a bit cautious (it was big pony)

Lucky the pony

We did get tickets for the tractor ride but no one seemed to know what was going on. I thought about offering to drive but doubted anyone would get on the back if I did! So we amused ourselves with the games around. Well, Steve and Eva amused themselves and I took photos!

Seesaw

Lassoing the "bull"

Get that bull!

It become a tug of war - Eva won of course.

The weirdest was the udder toss which just sounds wrong. It's like corn holes, where you have boards with holes in and the idea is to throw bean bags throw the holes in the opposite teams boards - very popular in tailgating (pre-football drinking and eating in car parks). Except here they had gloves filled with water to look like udders and the aim was to throw them into the opposite teams bucket.

Toss the udder 

Climbing on the hay bales

Nap time!

After the horse farm (we never did get those tractor rides), we headed to Sinklands, which is a pumpkin farm where  they have a festival throughout October. There was lots to do and very colorful.

Pumpkin scarecrows.

They had lots of pumpkins still, though this was the last week. I decided not to get one as I still have about 3 butternut squashes in my fridge. I don't think a pumpkin will fit. (I have developed a serious addiction to homemade butternut squash soup!)

Pumpkin patch

Colorful pumpkins

We got some chili and sandwiches for lunch and tried to avoid the yellow jackets (local wasps) while eating. (Eva wanted to give them her cheetos to make friends.) The sun was out and it was so nice sitting outside. It is not going to be possible for long. It is supposed to snow this coming weekend! :-(

Tractor

They had a very cute little maze which Eva enjoyed.

Headed for home!

They also had some animals to pet. My favorite was the cutest little kid I have seen in a long time!

Mini ponies.

Cute kid

I also went into my first corn maze! Eva was leading and did a very good job. (Though we did take some interesting routes which I am not convinced were actually paths.)

Corn maze

The advantage of being a kid.

After the maze, we had to go on the hay ride. (I made sure! I have never been on one before so we HAD to!) We got some kettle corn for the trip. It was only about 10 minutes but fun munching away as we bounced along.

Tasty kettle corn.

They also had a pumpkin toss - Shooting pumpkins from a sling as far as they can go, which is quite far. It seemed fun but a waste. I would rather find a way to eat them!
I was really tempted by the tiny pumpkins. I have no idea what I would do with them but they were so cute.

Lots of little ones!

The creepy Hokie bird was also out. It's a guy on stilts and very steam punk. He even had a tip jar but it was on his butt. Strange!

Steam punk Hokie bird

Last stop was for ice-cream. I stole a bit of Steve's pumpkin ice-cream, which was tasty but I had eaten way too much kettle corn by this point. (And Eva was not going to share any of hers - she put away the whole tub!)

Tiger eyes.

More pumpkins.

They dropped me home for a few hours while Eva went to her friends Birthday party. I try to avoid those - loud! So I skyped home to catch up as my parents have been away for the week. After the party, on the way back Steve and Eva picked me up and we made pizzas. I was going to try a new recipe for the dough but forgot a few of the ingredients. :-( But thankfully I brought some bases (just in case the recipe didn't work). I was going to take photos but the kettle corn had worn off and they didn't last long enough. :-)
Eva and I curled up and watched a movie before books and bedtime dancing. It was very sweet. Steve and I then drank too much wine before I got a taxi home.
The rest of the weekend was the normal - work. :-( But needs to be done.

This week has been the usual - work. But I am going to the ballet tomorrow night which I am very excited about. It has been ages and I am looking forward to seeing the new arts centre at VT. 

Fall Foliage Float

On Saturday I went with the Blacksburg Parks and recreation center on a canoe trip down the James River. The weather was supposed to be very cold (which is was) and sunny (which for the most part it was not!). But the colors are pretty good at the moment. On the way to the rec center I walk past this great derelict house and amazing tree.

Old house.

After meeting at the rec center, they drove us up past Roanoke to the drop off on the James river in Botetourt county. We got kitted up and waited for the instructors to unload the canoes and get the shuttle over to a pickup point.

Canoes at the ready

Ready to go.

Because I was on my own and everyone else was in pairs (the usual story), I ended up sharing a canoe with Travis, the guy in charge. Which had its good and bad sides. Good side - I was with someone who knew exactly that they were doing. Bad side - we went through all the rapids first to test out the best path and he was slightly insane! He liked to rock the boat. Literally! I really did think we were going to get dunked. Especially when he stood up in the canoe yelling "This is what not to do!" Thankfully that did not happe. (Did I mention it was really cold?)

Getting the canoes in.

Despite the clouds, the sun did come through a couple of times and it was very pretty and peaceful.

The James River

There were a lot of different groups on the trip. There were a few parent/kid groups (one of who were the first to going for an unplanned swim but despite being freezing the kid was a trooper!).  They were all great fun and we had a good laugh (usually when someone ran into a tree or kept going in circles).

Along the trip there were some quite impressive rapids as the water was really high apparently. I loved it! Despite the splashes of cold water. (And mild terror occasionally - maybe due to the crazy man steering!)

Camille (11) and her mom, Alex 

We stopped on the river for lunch. This was after a couple of big rapids (which I didm't get any photos of - I was too busy paddling and hoping not to go swimming) so it was nice to have a chance to dry off a little. and chat.

Climbing ashore for lunch.

The little guy is the one who went swimming.

Fall leaves

After lunch we headed out again. On this section, we spent some time holding onto each other canoes and just drifting while we waited for some else to be fished out of the drink. It was nice just to chill out and drift and chat.

Near miss with a tree!

Some rocky water

The sun did come out in the afternoon for a little and made all the difference. I got a bit wet in each of the rapids (Travis like to aim for the wave trains - the biggest waves - which was fun until you a re freezing after!). Anyway the heat from the sun was much appreciated!

The sun comes out.

Doesn't look like it but there was sun I promise.

The trees weren't as good as I had hoped. High winds have removed a lot of the leaves, especially the red one for some reason. (someone tried to explain but I didn't get it). But they were still pretty, especially in the sun.

Fall colors

Moody shot

And we were lucky enough to see a red-tailed hawk. This was the best shot I could get with my little waterproof. I would have loved to have had my DSLR but there was no way it was going anywhere near the water! (I didn't even ask it for the bus just in case I was tempted.)

red-tailed Hawk

The second stop was just to stretch our legs and try to scalage for a snack. Most people stayed in their canoes to avoid getting their feet wet. But mine were already wet (thanks to the amount of water now in the bottom of the canoe) so why not? A few of us went looking for pawpaws which are apparently a cross between a fig and a banana. I was very curious (they aren't sold in shops, generally scavenged from river sides, and are only available on the female version of the tree). Unfortunately it seems everyone else on the river before us had the same plan and the trees were bare. :-(

Break site.

Looking for extra layers to stay warm (Travis is the guy in red)

More fall colors

Getting out of the break site back onto the river was tricky. The water here wasn't very deep so we pretty much had to shuffle the boats along with our butts and paddles. Not the most elegant (and in fact quite comical at times) but it worked.

Some blue sky!

Of course as we got close to our takeout point (just before the bridge), the clouds cleared and the sun came out. Thankfully the last leg was uneventful (we did go through the biggest rapid and everyone got wet but no one went swimming there). Everyone was really grateful for the heat when we got out and desperate to get back to the shuttle to change into warm clothes!

Sunny at last!

In total only 3 people capsized. I was happy not to be one of them. In the summer, sure. But not in 50 F weather. It was a lovely day and I topped it off with Thai curry and R collection cab sauv wine when I got home. I'll definitely be doing more of the rec center trips in the future (one in a few weeks in fact) and certainly more of the canoeing/kayaking trips. But in the spring/summer!
Sunday was spent working. Boring but necessary. Also planning conferences and travel for next year though. So I have some fun things to look forward to! :-)

Food!

This weekend was pretty boring. I spent it cooking and working. I have been using up things form my freezer so decided to restock. I have been wanting to make soup for a while and autumn soups are the best. I made a really tasty butternut squash soup. It was so thick it doesn't exactly pour.

Massive pan of butternut squash soup

 On Saturday evening I made a red thai curry and had it with a nice glass of Riesling. So vey civilized.

Curry

 I also made a few other things for the freezer and cooked a lamb shank but the lamb is not very good here.
And finally Blacksburg goes truly international. They now have an English food section in Kroger. It has only been here a week. And when I saw it, I did a happy dance in the aisle. :-) It got me a few strange looks but those people have obviously never tried malteasers or Aero or brown sauce

British food section

I got a nice little selection. It did not help my food bill - a can of soup was about $5! But it is worth it. I am going to horde some and have them for special occasions. There is something very comforting about tomato soup or a cheese and Branson sandwich! Makes me miss home. I am already putting in my food orders with mom for when I go back next! :-)

Tasty!