2010 Project 365, Week 8 (and about town)

Continuing on with the next collage from Project 365 here is Week 8! Clockwise from upper left, in no particular order: walk-bridge near the dam in Keene, NH; My side view mirror one day after work; spinich pizza pie at Sams's in Northampton, MA; Wii at my sister's house; the Town Common in Troy, NH; Field at dusk in Westhampton, MA; and the woods behind work in Fitzwilliam, NH.

Saturday was my last day in New Hampshire. I woke up to a gorgeous snow covered landscape. I saw the whole spectrum of weather from snow squall to a tiny hailstorm to the sun coming out and quickly melting all the snow on the trees. Then back to a light snow for the afternoon. Late evening turned foggy and warm. It was very odd.  Here is a selection of some of Saturdays pics.

Today I'm on my way to the airport in Manchester for a 10am flight out. And I will be back in JAX about 3pm.

Happy Trails!

Vacation, Days 10 & 11

Well, Saturday the 26th was my last full day of vacation. I started the day with my mom at Bruegger's Bagels in Downtown Northampton. After I enjoyed my asiago cheese bagel with veggie cream cheese and a large hot coffee, we headed to the farmers market across the road. It was a chilly but sunny morning. Lots of mums, winter root veggies, pumpkins, gourds and even a few indoor plants for sale. This frog is around the corner from the market.

After the farmer's market we went to the Holyoke mall. I picked up a few fall shirts at JC Penney. We had lunch at 99's (she loves that place!!), I'll eat wherever. I had a yummy shrimp and pasta dish. On the way home we stopped at a small farm stand/gift shop. The llama wasn't too happy, but I took his picture anyway. The Tasty Top was along the ride home from the mall. It has been there for as long as I can remember.

Sunday, I finished my packing, and packed a small box to be mailed back home to FL. There is still stuff in the attic there to go thru, and I always think I'll get more done, but only manage to spread it all out, look thru it, then box it back up. I did separate the tag sale items from keep items in the spare room, so when they have a tag sale, they won't have to worry about selling anything that might have been something I wanted: *cough*huge stack of Duran Duran memorabilia*cough*

Thankfully, the majority of the rain had finally left the Atlanta area for the flight home. What a drenching they had. We did circle atlanta for a bit, for one reason or another and when I looked out my window I saw this sight.

Anyhoo, That ends the vacation blogging for now. I will eventually share more Boston photos, as well as any scrappy pages made.

So for now I think I'll relax in this comfy Adirondack chair, and hope the llama can't spit this far!

Vacation, Days 8 & 9

On to Thursday & Friday of my vacation week. Work has been busy this week, and I haven't done anything more than coming home and just crashing. Hopefully next week I will be more used to getting up early. I definitely plan on going to the Riverside Arts Market on Saturday. The St John's Town Center was calling my name tonight, but I worked a way longer day than I usually do on Friday, so maybe I'll just go tomorrow after the market. Save a little gas that way, too!

Anyhoo.. On (vacation) Thursday, the 24th I didn't do much more than rest and veg around the house. I played with the dogs some in the backyard, and fooled around on the computer, burning cd's of the pics from Boston to give Jeanne on Friday. We share our vacation shots for scrapping, and so that we have pics of ourselves out and about. I took all of 10 pics on Thursday. I went out to lunch with my mom, we went to Webster's Fish Hook, and I had a scrod sandwich with tomato and melty cheese on it. It was very good! On my way downtown, I grabbed a couple quick photos of the bits of foliage that I was able to catch. There are a few areas around my parent's house that change much earlier than usual.

Friday, the 25th was our "Scrap Your Day" day. She reminded me when we met at The Bluebonnet Restaurant to have supper with a few of our former co-workers from a local bookstore we all worked at several years ago, before it closed. I'm so glad we've all kept in touch! Dinner was delicious, Jeanne & I both chose stuffed scrod, with a yummy butternut squash and roasted red potatoes. I believe I ate more seafood on this vacation than I normally eat in a year! Photos from SYD will appear in a later post when we have a chance to collaborate our efforts. But I think I can post this little tease. I can't wait to show the rest!! I'm glad I took these photos, or I would have have a very sad scrap your day!!

Vacation, Day 7

Day 7, Wednesday. This is when we hang out in Northampton, and stay out way too late watching Beau's band (the Beau Sasser trio) jamming away at Bishop's Lounge.

I met Jeanne at her place, and off we went. First to Target, then off to 'Hamp. We wandered about taking a few pics, deciding where to go for supper. A local bar/restaurant has half price appetizers during the week, so it was decided we'd go there. I got a couple sliders, and stuffed mushroom caps. Jeanne had some Chicken Ravioli and Scallops wrapped in bacon. All was delicious. It was actually pretty busy for a wednesday night, which made for some interesting people watching.

After more wandering and picture taking we sat in Starbucks for awhile enjoying a coffee and people watching. It had started to rain lightly, but as long as it stayed light we were good. The band doesn't usually start until about 10-ish, so we get there about 9 or so and start getting our drink on, making jokes with the band and bartender as they set up.

Started out with a Nut Brown Ale. I forget the brand, but was quite tasty, if not a tad heavy. I usually get Sam Adams, but the local microbrew ale's are just as good a choice.

I really thought I could fit more than one day per post, but that's not happening! Onward....

Vacation, Day 6

I need to get a little more caught up here, no? Day 6 would be tuesday, the 22nd, the day after Boston. The day with tired feet, 3 dead camera batteries, and one very full memory card. I spent a little time in the morning sorting thru the 400+ pics I got, weeding out the blurry, duplicate photos and the SP's I looked horrible in. :)

I knew my sister and I would be hanging out later in the day, but didn't know what she had planned yet. I met her in the next town over where she and her husband had a DR appointment after work. Once she got done there we took off and left Scott with their car. She then showed me the tickets to the Big E that they got thru work.

Since she was still not feeling well, we didn't go on any rides, but we definitely did plenty of walking around. We had some good food, watched the rides (which only made her more ill) and poked around the state buildings. I did good on food. I had to have stuffed clams from the Rhode Island Building, and a fresh squeezed lemonade. I only sampled the kettle korn, maple cotton candy, and pumpkin spice ice cream. YUM! Oh and I had to get the fried oreos. Kinda bummed they didn't offer a small order, because there was no way I could eat 7 of those, and they aren't much good when they get cold. Ah well.

These are a few of the rides. Top left is for those who like loop coasters, minus the parts that aren't a loop... Top right is a hang glider ride, kinda neat. If you look just to the left of the ride's name you can see the platform with 3 people on it....Bottom left is the zipper. 20 years ago, my favorite ride, hands down. Also the best place to find loose change falling out of pockets. Bottom right is the swings. I like that ride, but this one is different. Once people are on, it goes up, and up, then the ride begins. Aside from the ferris wheel, I don't like tall rides. The view is awesome, but I rather like something solid under my feet.

That ends day 6...coming soon, days 7-10.

Stay tuned..

Vacation, Days 3 & 4

On to days 3 & 4 of my vacation. I'm a third of the way thru now, and so far the weather has been super. Saturday was sunny and warm. Instead of heading to town as we had planned Jeanne & I went to the Old deerfield Craft Fair. You can visit her blog to see more photos as well! Lots of beautiful crafts, yummy sauces and dips to try, and "shooters" of different grades of maple syrup, from light amber to an almost black one. Definitely the Guinness of maple syrups! I had an Italian Sausage Grinder/Sub and Jeanne enjoyed a stuffed baked potato. We wandered down the street some and checked out the farm. There were sheep coming in from pasture.

After the craft fair Jeanne's husband picked us up and we drove up to Pocumtuck Ridge and admired the view while the guys talked Ham Radio stuff. It was a beautiful view up there! It will be even better to see when the colors have changed!

On Sunday I drove up to my sister's house, and we decided onvisiting the Hadley Flea Market and Atkins farm. They have unbelievably good cider donuts! We were going to carve pumpkins that afternoon, but we ran out of time. My parents were away for the weekend, and I needed to get the pups fed and outside. We got to the flea market late (for the vendors, not us), as most of them were already packing up, but it was a nice walk around, anyway. There's a horse farm right next door as well, and I enjoy watching the horses. We stopped at a couple local farm stands for mums and to check out the prices on other pumpkins.

Vacation, Day 2

On Friday, My mom & I went up to Vermont for a few hours, We had planned to do a big loop, but decided instead to just go up I-91, and make our way back down Rt 5. We stopped at Harlow farm for coffee and a muffin at Cafe Loco, and she got to pick out the biggest pumpkin she could find. I, as usual, amused myself taking odd pics of everthing.







We stopped at the Dummerston Covered Bridge, built in 1872. Several cars in the lot, but noone down by the water, so it must have been a good day for kayaking. I grabbed a couple nice river stones for the trip to Boston.






The weather was sporadic for most of the day, going from cool and cloudy to sunny and hot every 10 minutes. It never did rain until after we got home to go out for dinner.

Day 1 - Sept. 2009

The travels yesterday were a little less than perfect, but since I didn't have to be anywhere important the flight delay/missed connection wasn't too big a deal, just one of life's little inconveniences. I grabbed lunch (at 9:30am) and a white chocolate mocha at Seattles Best, and settled down for the rest of the morning. This is why I prefer the window seat.

On a happier note, my rental car is awesome, way better than the poorly handling Ford Focus I had back in May. This time I got a PT Cruiser! Sweet!

Today mom & I are headed to southern Vermont to drive around and visit our favorite places noted in yesterday's post. She wants to get her pumpkin at Harlow's. :) I thnk we'll be passing through Bennington to catch a couple Moose.

Have a great day!!

More Vacation Memories

As I mentioned in my previous post, the Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory has much more than just butterflies & Moths. Top center: some kind of lizard (couldn't find it on the website), top right: Female Australian Stick Insect, left & center: Owl Butterfly, Bottom left: Akbar, a Senegal Parrot, and bottom center: the iguana. On the bottom right is a close-up of the nursery, where all the coccoons waiting to hatch are pinned up.

While Jeanne was jumping for joy, I was twirling about next to a small flower petal circle. Not sure of it's signifigance, but it was pretty.

Here's are several views of the area around Paradise Pond. clockwise from top left: tree from right side of Boat house, The island as seen from the tree, The flower grouping, and the boat house.

I can remember when I was much younger, they used to plow the whole pond in winter, around the island even, so ice skaters had plenty of space to move around. There was a sign hung in front of the boat house telling the thickness of the ice, and whether skating was allowed. We pulled each other around holding onto each others scarf, and probably spent as much time on our butts as we did skating. As I got older, and less people went there, they plowed a smaller and smaller area, and no longer went around the island at all. I can remember walking down the steps with my rubber blade guards on, and having hot cocoa with marshmallows when I got home afterwards. It all looks so much smaller than it did when I was a kid.

/vacation..

If Wednesday was Wicked, then Friday was

Fabulous. We were thinking of going to a movie, because the weather was so crappy, and the only thing that came to mind as something to do for a good amount of time inside was the Butterfly Conservatory, Magic Wings. I hadn't been there in ages, and along with butterflies and moths, they have several other creatures in cages, or roaming (more or less) free.

Once we got used to the dive-bombing of the butterflies, we just stood still as possible so they would land on us. They definitely like bright colors. We both got some great shots! When we left there (3 school groups full of screaming children later) it had brightened up some, and was shaping up to be a pretty nice day.


Off we went for a drive up Mt. Sugarloaf. The view was awesome & the clouds were high enough that we could see the mountains beyond, and still see pretty far off into the distance. After Sugarloaf, it was off to Jeanne's to pick up her car, so we could both drive to Hamp. I had to be home by 5 to feed and let out the pups, and that would give us at least a whole extra hour in town.

We first went to Local's for those delicious Burgers, onion rings and fried pickles. It was so good, and there was no way we could even finish it all. After that we wandered around Upper Main St, and into St John's Episcopal Church, then up to Smith College for the Greenhouse, Botanical Garden and some fun pictures down by paradise Pond.

We had a blast here, recounting all the memories each of us had in the area. By the time we finished there, it was already time to head back toward the cars. We made stops into Faces (they have the best t-shirts here) and Starbucks on the way, of course.

More pictures to be posted soon!!

Wicked Awesome Wednesday

What a great day we had! The weather could have been a little better, but it also could have been a lot worse. I met Jeanne at her place a little after 2pm and we headed into town. There was so much we wanted to pack into the day, where to start? Starting from the top of the parking garage in town, and just wherever we went there was something to attract our attention. Here are some of the flowers we came across.

We had an early dinner at the Teapot Restaurant, including some Bubble Tea. Here is my Mango Chicken with both of our bubble teas in the background.

After walking around some and digesting that, we decided to stop into the new-ish Local Burgers & Fries place. Wow!! I had an order of regular fries, and were they delish! So good in fact, that instead of going up north a bit as originally planned for Friday, decided to stick around closer to home and go there for lunch! Not only was the food great, the service and people working there were awesome as well. Casual, friendly, fast, reasonably priced, clean. Pretty much perfect.

We checked out the Urban Outfitters, and hung out at Starbucks before heading down to Bishop's Lounge to check out the boys.

By the time we got home it was about 2am. Thursday I had no plans but to relax. Friday is another fun day!

New Scrap Projects!

A couple of weeks ago, Jeanne & I decided to do a chipboard album together using inspiration for the book by Ali Edwards she got me (& herself) for my birthday. It's an awesome book full of cool ideas. we gave ourselves 2 weeks to figure out what we each wanted to do, and I chose a New England theme. I'm using this album to "showcase" some of my favorite places, and people, too. Some of the pics are older, and many are newer, but all are pics I love.

So, these are a few of the pages. I used a BasicGrey 6x6 chipboard album, and lots of neutral cardstock, and acrylic paints. It will definitely be an ongoing project, or a "work in progress" as Jeanne & I have come to call it.

So, go here to see what kind of cool project Jeanne is making, and have a lovely week!!!

Sky Watch Friday

Today I thought I'd do something a little different, and post some neat photos of the sky. What? Oh. Right. Well, on with it then. :)



Up first is a cool view I saw while we were stopped to pick up some corn while in Massachusetts.

Love the pumpkin field too, it just screams Autumn in sooo many ways! Those sweeping clouds aren't too shabby either!

I caught someone taking a photo of the State House in boston...Jeanne? Is that you?? hehe

We were so glad that the weather held off for us while we did what we do best when in Boston. Next up is one of my favorite sights..as much as I also love a good starbucks, or Seattle's Best, there's just something about Dunkin' Donuts.

And last but not least is a night shot taken enjoying the parent's new fire pit. We toasted marshmallows and made s'mores, and just enjoyed the evening around the dancing flames. You can just see the moon above the tree in the center.

As always stop over at The Official Skywatch Blog and check out some of the links to other Skywatch participants. Have a great weekend all!