Week Nine: The Ducks & Geese at Twin Lakes in Eden Park

Ducks are inherently funny.  They waddle, they quack, and they have the ability to stick their heads completely underwater, which leaves their butts sticking straight up in the air.

Lucky for me, the Twin Lakes section of Eden Park where the ducks hang out is just a quick jaunt down the hill from our house.

I'm not sure what time of year they fly south, but I'm happy to have them as neighbors during the Summer. Sometimes I can hear them quacking early in the morning before I leave for work!

I was happy to see that the Canadian geese were also swimming about (imagine "about' pronounced with a Canadian accent a la Strange Brew).

If you've never fed ducks, you're missing out.  These guys aren't shy; they'll come right up to you and take bread right out of your hand.  I saw a man and his son feeding them this way, and they were having a blast. They were taunting some of the ducks saying things like "Don't be a bully!" when a brazen duck would hog all the scraps.

It was also fun watching the young children, who were both thrilled and terrified at how close the ducks would come up to them.

Did I mention their webbed feet?  Webbed feet are hilarious! Just knowing these characters are hanging out down the street makes me smile.

Week Eight: The Peterloon Estate

The Peterloon Estate is one of the most fanciful places I've visited in Cincinnati, and until recently, I never knew it existed.  It hides in plain sight; tucked away a few blocks behind bustling Montgomery Rd. on Hopewell Rd.

The estate was built by John Emery for his wife and family.  The history of  John Emery and the Peterloon estate is on their website http://www.peterloon.org/. 

Before entering the main building you are greeted by charming sculptures of snails, roosters and fish.

Inside the estate is still fully furnished and decorated.  I was amazed at the beauty and whimsy of each room.  I took so many pictures!  You can find them all grouped together on my Flickr page.

Author Curtis Sittenfeld at Peterloon

If you ever get the chance you must go visit for yourself.  

My wonderful mother-in-law Sally and her delightful friend Diana invited me to Peterloon to hear author Curtis Sittenfeld read excepts from her three novels: Prep, The Man of My Dreams: A Novel, and American Wife.  

This reading was the final segment in the Sunday Salon Series fundraisers for Women Helping Women.  Hopefully they continue this series next year, as I'd like to attend more.

Week Seven (better late then never): The Flying Pig Marathon

Once a year, every year, I awake very early to the sounds of cowbell and long rips of "Wooooo!".  It's the sounds of crowds gathered in Eden Park cheering on runners of the Flying Pig Marathon.   Normally, I cover my ears and try to ignore it.  But this year, I decided to gather up the dogs and walk down to the park to see what all the hubbub was about.

The Flying Pig Marathon, which started in 1999,  is a 26.2 mile race across the city of Cincinnati.  The route begins downtown, loops up around Mariemont, then circles back through Hyde Park and Walnut Hills.  Since I'm not a runner, I've never really paid much attention to the race other than to try to figure out how to get around my neighborhood with all the street closures.

Once I made it down the street to view the runners coming through the park I was so glad I did!  Not to be corny, but I really was amazed to see hundreds of everyday people running this marathon.  It was rainy and cold, but they were running through this beautiful setting undeterred by the weather.  I joined the cheering crowd along side the route and shouted words of encouragement myself; and after all these years, I found the source of the cowbell.

Week Six: Armleder Dog Park

Armleder dog park is my favorite dog park in Cincinnati. There's nothing fancy about it; it's pretty close to where I live and there's lots of space for the dogs to gallop and play.

Armleder is large enough that you can sit on the grass without getting run over by a pack of romping rovers.  There are plenty of shade trees under which you can lounge with your tired-out pooch after they've run themselves ragged.  In warm weather there's also fresh water available both inside and outside the gated areas.

This Friday afternoon Andrew and I took Olivet & Meynard out to Armleder.  It wasn't too crowded, and there were just enough dogs in attendance to make it fun.  The weather was perfect and we had a delightful time.  Andrew threw tennis balls to Olivet for about an hour until she finally ran out of steam.  Meynard had a great time playing with the other dogs.

I'm thankful for SPCA Cincinnati who fostered Meynard for 3 months before we adopted him.  I met him while volunteering to walk the shelter dogs there, and he was my favorite dog from the get-go.  I would start each shift by checking for Meynard in hopes that he had been adopted.  My heart would sink every time I realized that he was still there.  Unfortunately, he was just one of the many "long timers" that hadn't yet met his new family.

Eventually I realized that he might be waiting on me to take him home.  So, that's what I asked for from Andrew and Olivet for Christmas.  We brought Olivet up to the SPCA to meet Meynard and she was fine with him (a Christmas miracle!)

Meynard was 5 years old when we got him and came "pre-programmed" with tricks and manners.  He's a shining example of how adopting an older dog can be just as rewarding, if not more so, than adopting a puppy.  And he's been a great big-brother to Olivet.

So far I'm on Day 2 of  Happy Herbivore's WHOLE Days challenge.  I feel pretty good.  You can check out my thoughts on the 30 WHOLE Days Challenge page of this blog.

I did allow myself one small appliance purchase for this challenge.  (I'm an appliance junkie - it's just a fact).  I bought an old school hot air popcorn popper so I could make popcorn without oil.  I was worried I wouldn't like plain popcorn, but I do!  I forgot I used to eat plain air-popped popcorn at my babysitter's after grade school (before microwave popcorn even existed!).  It's by far my new favorite snack.

Week Five: Great American Ball Park

I am lucky enough to work for a company that still funds outings for their employees.

This Saturday I went to the Great American Ball Park to watch the Reds game. I actually watched little of the game - I mostly chit-chatted with coworkers and enjoyed free food and drinks! I even smuggled in a couple veggie dogs from home so I could participate in the ballpark nosh.

Great American Ball Park is very cool. The painted steel construction reflects the style of the bridges spanning the Ohio river that can be seen from several areas of the stadium. The open architecture allows fans to watch the game, see the river and view the surrounding skyscrapers from their seats.

The only thing that could make the ball park even better would be a light rail to take fans into downtown and back from the surrounding areas of the city.

Pictured below is my "Sunday Scraps" casserole. I usually make a version of this every Sunday, and this time I remembered to take pictures. I take all my leftover veggies from the week, cut them up and put them in my favorite Le Creuset dish to bake. It's always my favorite meal of the week.

I've been eating so much over-processed junk food lately - I'm really going to try to make better food choices this week.

I just finished watching Food, Inc. and it made me grateful that I've made the decision to be vegan/vegetarian. It also opened my eyes to all the other things that I eat without questioning what it's made of and where it comes from. I signed up for fellow blogger Happy Herbivore's 30 Day Whole Food Challenge that begins on May 1st. I'm hoping it helps me get focused on eating the good stuff and ignoring the junk!

Week Four: Roller Derby

This Saturday I attended my first Cincinnati Roller Girls game at Cincinnati Gardens. I went with two of my old-school friends and we had an absolute blast.

For $10 we were able to see both the junior varsity team The Silent Lambs vs. The St. Lunachix and the varsity team The Black Sheep vs. the ARRG All Stars.

Roller Derby is an amateur sport, and the players are owners and operators of the their teams. While we were waiting in line to get tickets, several roller girls were mingling with the fans and signing autographs.

Before going I did some research into the rules of the game. There are basically 3 types of skaters: pivots, blockers and jammers. The helmets of the pivots have stripes, and the helmets of the jammers have stars. The jammer starts a few seconds behind the pack and must get through the blockers and pivots in order to score. It's a full contact sport and very exciting to watch. All the players have crazy names like "Hannah Ouchocinco" and "Cherry Choke."

I was made aware of this phenomenon thanks to friends I follow on Twitter and Facebook. I also participated in my first tailgate and "Tweetup" thanks to @Mojojacob.

The next home game for the Cincinnati Rollergirls is May 8th and I will most certainly be in attendance.