Week six of the photo challenge

The lovely summer is starting to wind down. We had a few extra days of hot weather, which was quite delightful. I went to June and Roger’s Labor Day Picnic, which is held annually at their house on the river on the Sunday before Labor Day. It features food, music, and the opportunity to try out a kayak and to swim in the river. Above is Alex of the Blood Thirsty Vegans.

Santiago brings El Buen Amigo to Grand Island! El Buen Amigo is a fair trade store that sells crafts from countries around the world, brings his wares to the picnic. They are colorful and delightful. The goods include jewelry, clothing, finger puppets, musical instruments, baskets, and other things.

Brian and Janna of the Blood Thirsty Vegans.

Brian and Janna’s son enjoys his first Labor Day picnic.

There are one- and two-person kayaks. I was happy to get an opportunity to try out a two person kayak. It was great fun to steer the kayak and to explore the wonders of the Niagara River.

This is Santiago. He is originally from Chile and left during the time of the Pinochet regime.

On Labor Day, I took a walk. Here is Woods Creek.

On Tuesday morning, I went to get the newspaper and I found this guy on the mailbox. I thought that this was an awfully cute spider so I went to grab my camera and take the spider’s picture. The spider did a great job in posing for its picture.

On Tuesday, after Zumba, I went to the farm stand on Grand Island to buy some fruit. It all looks yummy but I stuck with peaches and nectarines. I later used the peaches and nectarines to make a peach-pear sauce.

This corn is in the three sisters garden at Riverside-Salem Environmental Chapel on Grand Island. Since Riverside-Salem was still in summer mode, the program was held on Wednesday evening. During the summer, all programs at Riverside-Salem occur on Wednesday. During the rest of the year, the programs occur on Sunday evening.

Carol is making this delightful little sweater for a lucky little kid.

Here is one of the lovely flowers from the Riverside-Salem gardens.

The sunset over the Niagara River was quite a delightful and awe-inspiring spectacle.

Here is another view of the spectacular sunset.

Primary day occurred on Thursday, September 10th. I spent all day at the Fire Truck House on Stony Point working as an election inspector (my Big Government Job). That is district number 6. I was very happy to work with three great guys: Fred, Jim, and Richard. Fred is a beekeeper, and he is always happy to talk about the bees. I learned a lot about honey bees from Fred.

Everyone is welcome to vote. During a primary, however, in New York State, voters have to be affiliated with a political party to vote. That is because New York is a closed primary state. If you wish to switch parties or register in a party to vote in next year’s presidential primary, you must do so before this year’s general election, which is scheduled for November 3rd.

The mascot truly enjoys his tour of the Fire Truck House.

On Friday, September 11th, I was finished with my Big Government Job and was back to my Big Media Job (freelancer for the Island Dispatch). I went to Kaegebein School to cover the delivery of playground equipment to the school. A committee put together to raise the funds to buy a new playground for the school achieved its goals. The playground equipment was purchased, and it arrived in many pieces. Much assembly required!

Volunteers bring out the pieces of the future playground. The old playground had fallen apart and had to be removed because it was unsafe.

It is a warm, sunny day… a good day for unload a big truck full of playground equipment.

Principal Mary Haggerty said that the new playground will give the children a safe place to play.

The project took a lot of coordination. All of the equipment was unloaded from the truck in about an hour.

After a long photography session, it was nice to visit Jean and Paul for a tea party. We enjoyed raspberry tea and blueberry scones.

What a difference a day makes! Saturday was cold and rainy. I went to pick up two mums, and I went home. It was too cold and too wet to take the walk that I was hoping to take.

I stayed home and painted. Several weeks ago, I had participated in a sketch crawl. I went outside and drew the black-eyed Susans in my garden. On Saturday, I made a painting, based on the original drawing. The painting is mixed media (acrylic paint, india ink, and correction fluid).

Sunday was the date of the “open baptism.” Ten individuals came to Saint Martin-in-the-Fields to be baptized. They ranged in age from under one year to adult.

It is a happy day inside, although it is raining and cold outside.

On Monday, Mary and I went to take pictures in Ferry Village, which is the neighborhood adjacent to Beaver Island State Park.

Late summer is when the sunflowers bloom.

We were told that there are still two more good months of boating and fishing before winter sets in and the boats have to be removed from the water and stored.