Need I Say More… Thanksgiving 2011

I think these pictures say it all. We had a quiet, relaxing Thanksgiving holiday. Heavy rains with the potential for snow in some areas were predicted for the Wednesday before. In lieu of the weather predictions Greg picked Emily up on Tuesday. I had to work evenings so he was on his own. Things went smoothly until he was about 30 miles from her school. The western part of the state had been hit hard from the hurricane at the end        of summer. Part of the road was washed out through the mountains so Greg encountered a detour. There was a lot of tree damage and evidence of erosion in  the area. Other than that the trip was uneventful. Derek came in later on Wednesday.

We all used this time to relax and recharge. We’re looking forward to repeating this during the Christmas holidays.

Who Would Have Guessed?

Who would have guessed that the northeast would be hit with a freak snowstorm just before Halloween. I sure wouldn’t have. Our town picked up about 3 inches of very heavy wet snow that put the lights out in pretty much the whole town.

The town and state scrambled to get their plows on and the stores were hit with a rush equal to the day before Thanksgiving.

Most of the leaves were still on the trees and the wet snow brought down trees and branches all over town. We were very fortunate at our house because we only lost power for 6 hours. The vast majority of town was out for many days, some almost a whole week. Because we are all well and septic that meant no heat, water or flushes. Halloween was cancelled on Monday and rescheduled for Friday.

Emily is attending school in North Adams in the far western part of the state. She had two feet of snow. Who gets two feet of snow in October? I can say I don’t ever remember this happening.

I sure hope this doesn’t foreshadow our winter to come.

Autumn In New England

 

Last Sunday Greg went in to Boston to watch the Head of the Charles regatta. Here are some photos from his day.

The Cambridge Boat Club hosts the event and is the site for the live webcast.

Greg enjoys watching the ‘eights’.

The Weld Boathouse at Harvard University.

It’s a great way to spend an afternoon on a nice fall day, but with an October Nor’easter it would have been a different story as you will see in our next post.

October Update Part 2

On Columbus Day Greg and I went to the Topsfield Fair. We haven’t missed one yet since we’ve been here. This year was #30.

The great pumpkin weigh-off is an annual event. This big boy was the winner. They make up for in weight what they lack in beauty.

This was the first year there was a tiger show. They always have a petting zoo.

The above vegetable took first place and I’m sure it looked great at the time. We went the last day of the fair after there had been a warm stretch. Local scouting troops always decorate pumpkins. Looks like the candy corn quills couldn’t take the warm weather.

I think seeing the quilts got us both inspired for our Keepsake trip the next day.

What’s the fair without tractors?

One of the nice perks about going the last day is the sand sculpture is complete.

You had to know there would be some horse pictures although we didn’t see any shows this time. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police come every other year.

The flower barn is a peaceful oasis from the chaos of the fair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The high point that we enjoyed was the demolition derby at the end of the day. It heralded an end of another fair.

2011 Demolition Derby 

(click on the link above to watch the first heat. Can’t beat that simple fair fun.)

On the way out we took this final sand castle shot at night.

October Update Part 1

I always have good intentions to blog but every day life keeps getting in the way. Very inconvenient Anyway, Greg took some vacation time off around Columbus Day. We went to the Topsfield Fair on the 10th. I’ll blog about that hopefully sooner rather than later. He also took off the 11th. It was a beautiful fall day so we decided to take a pilgrimage to Meredith, NH, home of my most favorite quilt shop, Keepsake Quilting. I can’t believe its been 10 years since we were there last. The fall colors have been slow to come out this year but we did see some along the way. Logging is huge up north. Anybody watch, American Logger on the History Channel, it takes place in Maine.

Meredith is slightly under 2 hours from us. It sits nestled on Lake Winnipesauke. I’m sure the lake is bustling during the summer but for us it was very peaceful with the summer folks long gone.

 

There was a wonderful view of the mountains off in the distance. Both Greg and I took notice of how fresh the air was there. No city smells in this part of the country.

We parked in the municipal lot right by the lake and took in the beautiful scenery.

This is a local hotel. The flowers decorating it were so beautiful especially against the bright blue sky.

 

 

 

 

Finally we made it to our destination. Keepsake Quilting has expanded since we were there last. I was so sensory overloaded it didn’t even occur to me to take pictures. I bought lots of material for projects that will probably take me forever but both Greg and I had a good time. He picked out some nice material for his own quilt. Maybe someday I’ll be able to post completed photos.

On the way home we stopped at one of our favorite restaurants and had a great turkey dinner. This day felt a little bit like what retirement might feel like. I think I could get used to that.