Hadley Mtn

This past weekend Matt and I climbed and camped on Hadley Mountain.
We started the hike shortly before noon on Saturday. Hiked part way up the mountain and started looking for a somewhat flat spot to set up camp which proved to be a bit of a challenge and took a bit of a bushwhack to accomplish. After setting up camp we headed to the summit for some outstanding views. We had planned on bushwhacking over to Rountop Mtn. as well but with the shorter days we decided to just head back to camp. We hung out, made dinner and relaxed by the campfire until we "finally" turned in at around 8:30pm. Awoke at daylight and hiked out to return to a nice waffle breakfast at home.
Daytime high on Saturday was probably in the mid 30s with a nice cold breeze at the top. At night it was probably in the teens with a very clear sky.

Porch update

When we bought the house we knew that the front porch needed to be replaced and this fall we had the work done. I have to dig around for the "before" picture but here is what it looks like now. All that is left is to put some lattice work underneath, move the front bushes around a little and put then plant some tulip bulbs in the hopes that they all come up in the spring. As you can see Natalie really got into the painting as well and was a big help.

2007 World Champions

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/playoffs2007_slideshow/

Did not have to wait another 86 years for this one!

Puffer Pond

This past weekend we loaded up our brand new Santa Fe and headed to Puffer Pond along with our pooch Natalie, and our friend Laura. There we met up with Matt and Len Fudge.
We hit the trail around 11am Saturday morning amidst an overcast sky but comfortable temps. After a brief detour half way up Chimney Mountain we found our way to the lean to at Puffer Pond around 1:30 pm or so. We hung out in the lean-to, gathered firewood and relaxed during a few brief passing showers. After a nice relaxing evening sitting around the fire we headed to bed around 9pm under clearing skies and a very strong breeze. Everyone slept great and awoke to a near perfect blue sky Sunday morning which made for a very nice hike back out.

You can view more pictures from this trip at

http://picasaweb.google.com/markhay22/20071021PufferPond

Backsplash Fever

Our kitchen work is nearing completion. Tonight we put the backsplash up. All that is left is to put the light under the cabinet and some minor trim work.

Mets vs Phillies at Shea Stadium 9-15-07

My friend Ian's Uncle has season tickets to the Mets which are 7 rows from the Mets undeck circle. When he offered the seats to Ian we obviously could not pass them up. Ian, his friend Casey, myself and my old college roommie Mark (Puffy) all went down to the game yesterday. It was raining all morning but by the 1pm gametime the sun was out and it was a really nice early fall day.

Pedro Martinez had 9 strikeouts and left with the Mets winning 3-1 but the bullpen blew it and the Phillies won 5-3 beating the Mets for the 7 straight time.

Here are some pictures from the game. You can click on each pic for a larger version.

Pedro getting ready to throw a pitch

David Wright with a big wiff

David Wright next to Ryan Howard

View from our seats with the new ballbark being built beyond the outfield.

Phillies dugout.

Tom "Flash"Gordon

Jose Reyes steals second.

Marlon Anderson obviously not agreeing with the call.

Kitchen Update

The last few days my Dad has been helping me update part of our kitchen around the sink area.

Orginally we just had an old cast iron porcelin sink with no cabinets below or above the sink. Although the sink looked nice and is an antique it just was not very functional. Whomever did dishes would be soaked by the end of washing since the sink was so shallow.

Here is a before picture.

My parents got us a dishwasher as part of our wedding gift and with all the gift cards we got for the wedding we got ourselves new cabinets, countertop and a sink. Big Les worked 3 solid days and with my help our kitchen is finally almost complete. Next step is to add a old style tin backsplash and put the light in under the cabinet. Here is what it looks like now...

Golf at the Iron Works

This morning Danielle and I tried out the Iron Works Golf Course on Schoharie Turnpike in Duansburg. It is a 9 hole executive course which stresses that it is a practice course. 9 holes with a cart is 12 bucks and you can hit as many balls as you want on each hole.
Course was very scenic and in great shape. Even though the holes were short they were pretty challenging as the greens were often small and slopped.

We give the course two enthusiastic thumbs up!

Bog River Trip

This past weekend Danielle and I along with our friends Jaime and Barry Koller went on a canoe trip on the Bog River Flow.

We arrived at the flow Thursday evening and paddled in hoping to make it to site #12. Saw many beaver, loons, ducks and a bald eagle on the way in. However on the way in all the sites were already taken and due to the on coming darkness we decided to camp at what was actually just a picnic area in between sites 11 and 12. We celebrated the start of our trip with a taco dinner, sat around the camp fire and watched shooting stars under a crystal clear sky and the sounds of loons calling in the night.

Friday morning we woke up bright and early and went for a paddle. We saw the people at site #12 up and around so we chatted with them for a bit and since they were getting ready to leave they let us throw our stuff up on shore so as to save the site for us.

Friday was a perfect day with bright blue skies and temps in the mid to upper 60s. We spent the day relaxing, swam a bit, napped etc. Friday evening we had brats cooked over the fire with a side of mac and cheese. After dinner it started to rain and rained on through the night. With all the tree cover we were still able to sit around the fire though. Saturday morning it stopped raining but was rather cool and breezy. We went out for a nice 3 hour paddle up to Lows Lake and back. Along the way the sun came out and was a pretty nice afternoon. We spotted some deer, more loons, ducks and another bald eagle along the paddle. Saturday evening we had the traditional chicken and stuffing in a zip lock which perfect for the cool evening. During the night we heard some coyotes calling near our camp but they then moved off in the distance.

Sunday morning was a perfect morning for the paddle back out and we were back to our cars around 11am. We spotted another bald eagle on the way out.

Pics of this great adventure can be found here http://picasaweb.google.com/markhay22/BogRiverCanoeTrip

Peanut Feeder

A few weeks ago I made a peanut feeder for our backyard. It took some time but the feeder now gets frequent visits from woodpeckers, chickadees and the occasional nuthatch.

Had a squirrel problem too until I got a baffle to help keep them off of it. They did manage to chew up the wood pretty good trying to get at the nuts. They did not have much luck though.

Big Happenings

The few faithful readers of Hay Dayz probably have noticed that updates have been few and far between. I deeply apologize but there was a little thing involving a wedding that got in the way.

Here is a link to some of the honeymoon pics. Wedding pics will come shortly.

http://www.wintercampers.com/honeymoon

Sarah's First NYC Trip

Back in February, Shelly, Danielle and I took Sarah to NYC for her first time. I just used Picasa's web album tool to upload the photos.
You can view them here...
NYC Pics

Valley Cats's Game 6-25-07

Matt's XC team got honored at a recent Valley Cat's game for winning Sectionals. The Valley Cats are a Single A team for the Houston Astros.

Backyard Bird Pics

First Post

Let me be the first to welcome myself to the blog world.
Going to use this blog mainly to post pics and things like that.
Lets get started....