What a great weather weekend! We spent a ton of time outdoors doing yard work and riding. John got a mini chain saw and started cutting down some shrubbery. Then came the digging out of the stumps, which was really hard work. Here is the overgrown before:
And progress made:
It is a ton of work getting this down to a clean slate. We will be removing those other shrubs as well, but the half dead ones had to go first as they were such an eyesore. I do have to say that the soil is wonderful and it makes my gardener’s heart sing to have that to work with. I don’t really have a plan quite yet for these beds, but some ideas. I would like to have some climbing roses around the front stoop, so I am going to get a couple Zephrine Drouhin, which are old-fashioned climbers that bloom in partial shade. Hopefully they will look something like this:
This landscaping is going to be years in the making. Not a bad thing about that, though.
Anyway, on to riding! We decided to go all the way to the lake on Saturday since the paths were finally cleared of snow. We are about 6 miles closer to the lake at our new house, so what used to be about a 32 mile round trip is now 19. It also cut out most of the flat part of the ride and plops us right into hills for a challenge.
It’s still pretty brown, but I think buds are starting to appear on the trees if you squint really hard.
The marshy area is quite wet right now.
We be biking!
😀
The peak point of the climb.
It’s actually a little easier to get up this climb with a shorter ride in front of it. Still tough early in the season, though. Phew! This is right by the outlet malls. Later in the season this road gets backed up with traffic going to the shops. We can just skate on over it.
They freshly paved this part. The tree roots were buckling the path in this section and it was really bumpy. Now nice and smooth for riding – and taking pictures while riding!
Arrival at the lake!
There was a surprising amount of people out and about. I guess all the locals got out to the lake before the tourists get here. Only some shops are open. Most wait until Memorial Day, but not this place :
The phantom was playing on the second story. That’s him in the purple. Gotta love Lake George.
We stopped by the Lake George Baking Company for a snack and took it to sit near the lake.
The wind was actually starting to pick up pretty hard while we were here. We saw later that gusts were up to 49 mph, which seemed right. It was almost blowing us over a couple times waiting at stop lights on the way home.
We are still exploring different roads around our new place and when we took a loop home, we came across this nature preserve:
The cool thing? It’s only 1.5 miles from our house! I can’t wait to check it out. We might try doing some cross-country skiing next winter. I tried downhill and really didn’t enjoy it at all, but I did like cross-country when I tried it. Then maybe we might get outside more in the winter.
We have the hiking shoes now 😀
Home.
Not a bad ride for early in the season. It was actually about 20, but my bike computer wasn’t working for the first part of the ride. We will likely be going to the lake a lot more rather than Saratoga, especially earlier while we build the distance legs.
I love that y’all are able to ride on the weekends again – always enjoy the picture part of the ride with you!!
I like that rose, and am especially interested that it will bloom in partial shade. i am going to check that out.
Its so nice that they repave your bike paths. And SO NICE to see you out riding and enjoying! The nature preserve close to your house–how cool!
Believe it or not, I liked downhill skiing, and did not enjoy cross country. But that was in the olden days 🙂
I have read a lot of reviews on the zepherine and it seems it will bloom in partial shade. We get lots of morning sun in the front, so I am hoping that they work 😀 If not, back to the drawing board!
Yikes, 49 mph gusts! I hope they were at your back.
They were mostly from the rear and the side, which was where we felt the gusts the most.
Such a beautiful house. What fun it will be to create your gardens. May I suggest a sturdy trellis for the roses? If it climbs up your house, it can damage the brickwork.
I look forward to seeing what you do with the yard. Thanks for sharing 🙂
We also have brick clips, which I am going to put some rose ties on to help secure them. If they grow there 😀
So hard, but so satisfying! (I did something similar on Friday, breaking big branches off a fallen tree and clearing everything that had grown up around it.) How did you get rid of those piles of branches?
Also, what a perfect-looking cannoli! it’s giving me major cannoli envy.
The city comes around and picks up yard waste weekly, which is nice. We just have to put it at the curb. Brush and branches will be collected starting next week through early June, so we have them in a pile waiting to be picked up. We are saving some of the larger branches to use in our (hopefully) firepit after they dry out.
and IM sitting here loving the red brick.
I MISS CALIFORNIA and the eclectic homes.
I MISS PENNSYLVANIA and the red brick…
What a cool discovery – a nature preserve practically in your backyard! I predict lots and lots of new adventures, both on the bike and in hiking shoes! How fun. 🙂
It is cool. There are so many things to do in this area without having to go very far.
What a wonderful weekend it was. Saturday I ran in the 5k at Betar Byway, then took the rest of the weekend off, Lol. I also got out fron tof my house, but only managed to pull last yrs dried out remains from one garden bed, onto the next 2 this coming weekend. Unlike you, this is not one of my favorite things to do, but I so enjoy the end results. So happy to see all your efforts on the new house and yard, how exciting.
I love the Betar. Short stretch, but very pretty!
I love your home – so cool looking!!
What a beautiful ride Lori!!! I know you love getting outside again!
Every time I see that bike path I hanker for one around here so I could run without traffic. Do you have a bit of a time adjusting to traffic when you first start biking? I find it bothers me when I’m first off the treadmill and out running, even though I might even be completely safe on the sidewalk. It disturbs my peace lol!
The traffic, yes it bothers me. Some times of day are worse than others as well. Yesterday the traffic was really bothering me as we were road riding and, for whatever reason, there were semi trucks out on a Sunday afternoon and it bothered me. First time on that section of bike route, which isn’t really my favorite.
Hooray for no more snow!! Finally. And that nature path looks very similar to the river nature path near my house – I love that no one will ever be able to build on it because it’s a preserve – my SIL and I walked it yesterday and she’s lived in the area for 30+ years and it was her first time on the trail!
Wow, great progress in the yard! Are you related to the Energizer Bunny by chance?
Ooooh, a nature preserve!
You guys are way ahead of me on the spring biking. I did get my hitch cleaned and the bike rack attached this weekend. I won’t ride the roads, so that is critical to getting out to the parks and bike trails. Your trip reports are motivating. I won’t mention that cannoli. Won’t even think about it. What cannoli? I didn’t see any luscious cream and chocolate chip filled cannoli. Yep, so not thinking about that cannoli.
Not related to the EB. I do tend to overdo stuff, though 😀
Nice ride! Glad to see you are finally able to get out there.
It is so nice to see you back on your bikes, and sharing your beautiful part of the world with us!!!!!
Woohoo I missed your biking posts so much over the long winter you had. And how cool that you found that nature reservate. Can’t wait to see your photo’s when you are going to explore it.
And I still love your house, it looks so English to me and some roses will look great on it.
The house definitely has an english cottage feel to it and my hope is to make the landscaping an informal cottage garden style.