We love Ithaca, Part I

Our holiday up north was so beautiful, so relaxing, so inspiring and full - I am going to try and squeeze a couple days into every post, so as to catch us up to the present, while not overwhelming each post with photographs...This was the second time this year that we've managed to piggy-back on one of Dan's work trips for Starball, turning it into an adventure for everyone.  This time we didn't get as far as his gig, for a number of reasons; he was not only there to perform at the planetarium, he was also trying to fit in research and in the in-between times, finish up his grading for the quarter - none of this was going to leave time to spend together or with friends, so we opted for stopping short of the city in Ithaca, to see my cousins. And their dogs.

Friday after Dan left, we headed to the water as the temperatures soared.  Lake Cuyuga is cold! But it was a beautiful place to splash around, watching the gulls and the boats and admiring the wild grass dogs.

The cold water doesn't deter the girls for long, of course...

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Saturday we headed out to the farmer's market, which is all kinds of beautiful, from its lakeside location to its vegetables and goods.

guerilla knitting - a tree huggie?

A long-overdue post that I'm writing will someday tell you that we are learning how to make baskets here with a friend of ours, and Eliza and I were absolutely in awe of this basket maker's market stand.  He works in ash, and had examples of the various stages of his work there, as well as one of his youngest helpers demonstrating how they prepare the wood.  He was very modest and quiet and I felt shy of taking more photos of his beautiful craftsmanship, but I will tell you that we drooled for a long while over a $750 backpack basket.

We loved that the market was on the water - what better place to welcome the weekend, with chocolate croissants and breakfast burritos to die for, watching the boats and the ducks? 

Lovely cousins

A surprise meet-up with dear MG, my cousin's girlfriend

The girls spent the afternoon with my cousin, Christopher, who is absolutely the influence they need in their lives to balance all of my practical healthy living - when else will they eat twizzlers, tons of popcorn and huge ice creams all in the span of a few hours (I was distracted with bra shopping with my cousin Jessica. It was lovely.)?  Plus he talks to them as if he hasn't noticed they're children, which is mostly how I think kids like to be talked to - asks them questions and listens closely.  He's also volunteered to take them hunting if and when they ever express an interest in such a thing.  They adore him.

We ended the day with eating amazing food - homemade bread baked with bree inside of it, a kombu/noodle/apricot salad that was the most adventurous and successful thing I've had in a long while, and garlic scapes pesto on everything...