Roll'n on the River

Blue skies, fluffy white clouds and a breeze to keep me saying, it is great to live in "Clara, PA".  It has been a long time since we have had a hot, sunny, blue sky, big white clouds kinda summer.  It makes the lack of rain much more tolerable.  The clouds never stop entertaining us.  Each time one of us see that special shock and awe cloud we just have to tell the other to look at it.  For a while today they seemed to be suspended in mid air, with little to no movement across the sky.  They are amazingly beautiful this summer.  What perfect colors that all seem to be in sync of each other.  Our beautiful tall green Potter County hills that reach up to the blue sky and topped off with the white/blue/gray clouds.  The evening and morning colors of red, purple and pinks are gorgeous. Picking wall colors, drapes and throw pillows would be quite easy, just use the colors that nature uses of green, blue, red and white tones. What a day to say, hey let's just kick back, relax and enjoy the view.

We took about 5 hours off from Clara to go traveling with our friends from Olean.  Ken and Donna wanted to take us to a restaurant on the Clarion River called.......The Dam Restaurant.  Well it was a damn good place to enjoy the Clarion River with all the kayakers and fishermen.  Plus listening to the river gurgle and bubble along was quite soothing even before the glass of wine I had.  The waiter was super duper funny and very tentative to each table which ended up being about 5 tables and 1 very large table full.  He didn't miss a beat and also was tending the bar!  This guy is worth is weight in gold.  The food, well it rates a 10.  I had pulled pork nachos and the pork had a beautiful smoky flavor, just the right amount of cheese, sour cream, a reduced barbeque sauce and jalapenos on top.  The guys had an Italian Sub which they also liked and my gal friend had Oriental Chicken Salad.  It must be good because it was what she had the last time she was there.  Nothing better than a beautiful ride through the Pennsylvania hills, good conversation, great restaurant with a view.  I must also mention the played our kind of music, that was like having dessert.  We went on roads we had never been on before, I love new views.  Our next stop was the Wilcox Winery for a little sampling.  I ran through their selection and decided on trying a Blueberry, a Blackberry and a Niagara.  All keepers for those lazy, relaxing, porch setting nights at Cook'n By the Creek.

The view from our table!

Good food, wine and friends on the Clarion River.



If you remember reading last August about the refinishing maple hardwood floors I will update you on what I think of the finish we decided on, Tung Oil.  We are loving the finish.  For the first time in 17 years I can honestly say, I love these floors.  I liked it the minute we finished all of the hard work of chemically stripping the polyurethane off, sanding with the giant drum sander and then applying 7 coats of Tung Oil cut with citrus solvent.  Citrus solvent rather than mineral spirits is the way to go.  The citrus is exactly that and smells like oranges.  No nasty odors as we worked on the 7 applications.  Now let me tell ya, it took over 6 weeks from start to finish.  That means the house was in upheaval but so worth it in the end.  I wore out a pair f jeans, 3 pair of socks and probably 3 miles of nerves!  There were days I could have just said, to hell with it let's get carpet.  Fortunately or unfortunately whatever way my husband sees it I am too stubborn to give in and let something win.  Even a hardwood floor.  Well, it's all a memory now and life is so much easier taking care of the low luster finish.  No dog toenail scratches and no scratches from moving furniture which I like to do often.  Tung Oil finish is not like a poly finish.  The oil sinks into the wood then hardens.  Poly sets on top of the wood causing a top coat finish which scratches easily.  Although poly process is faster to apply and dries quicker I prefer the finish of Tung Oil.  At least the first year, we shall see how it looks next August.  For now I am one happy cleaning lady!

The Amish are coming, the Amish are coming.  As of  7 am Monday morning there will be 2 Amish men here to set the foundation poles for the "cabin".  Once that is done more will be here the next day to start the actual construction.  Joe Mullet and his sons are the ones we chose to do the work.  As with most Amish ya have to haul them back and forth, morning and night.  It's about a 40 minute ride over the river and through the woods to their place.  Which by the way is amazing.  Neat as a pin from the barn, garden, yard to the house.  I'm not sure how many kids in the family but I have counted 8, 4 boys and 4 girls.  They are usually busy with lawn, garden, fire wood, taking care of the horses and laundry.  Saturday night I watched the older boy bathing and grooming a horse.  Made me wonder if he was getting it all shined up for a date..... They never look pouty or sad, always a smile on their young faces, life is good for them.

Such a tiny little girl with her clean white apron.  I love watching the Amish children.

I think they were pretending the dogs were horses, they would make them stop, go,
run and walk.  Now folks that is true everyday fun on the farm for these young
Amish children.

The cabin site, by Wednesday there should be the shell of the cabin waiting for us
to finish the windows, doors, siding and inside.  It's a winter project.