Haunted Wanderings!

This weekend was another whirlwind of driving and exploring. Saturday I decided I wanted to check out some haunted places in Foster, Rhode Island.

We weren't sure if we could find the places so we drove to the area and got lost down some roads, and at one point ended up at a bridge on the reservoir. As we turned around, I noticed the graveyard on the hill, so we got out and took a few photos.

Not a lot of foliage in this area, it seems some areas turned early and some are still turning, but it is still a beautiful view.

I finally figure out where the haunted graveyard was. The area is said to be haunted by the ghost of a woman who drowned in the river nearby.

We had to park on the side of the road, and walk down a path to the graveyard, the bad thing is there is a shooting range nearby, so you could hear the guns but luckily not near the graveyard. It is an old graveyard, most of the stones are worn out and falling down and some are even sinking into the damp, mossy ground. No ghosts and it didn't seem spooky to me, but it was fun to find it.

We never did find the stream and bridge where the hauntings have been seen, so we went back to the area of the old mill. It is said to be haunted the ghost of one of the owners, who hung himself one night. You can read more about the story and see the ruins of the mill at, New England Folklore.

We started down a trail by a graveyard, seems to be a lot of those in the area. No trespassing signs were posted all along the sides, but I assumed it meant in the surrounding woods, but I may have been wrong. It was a nice walk along the river and it wasn't long before we came to the path across the inlet and pond.

The problem was, they had a lot of rain and the small pond was overflowing into the larger pond, so we could not cross. I was really disappointed but I took a photo of the area where the old mill area was.

When we turned back and I looked up, I swore I saw something long and blue and I kept walking when it hit me that it looked like a man in uniform, so who knows, maybe I did see something;) When I zoomed into that area, it looks like the remains of a skeleton or maybe a creepy ghost, not sure if i want to go back there;)

I didn't get a shot of the small falls on the river, so I stopped to get a photo with my new camera. Just as I came up to the area, I saw the small bush across the river move, not like blowing in the wind, but bending branches one after the other, like when someone brushes by them, a ghost? Sadly all this walking in the brush covered Bean in ticks and after this walk we noticed them when they got on Bill. He had one that day and the next day another that left a big mark, luckily I have lyme med, so I made him take that to be safe.

After this we decided we wanted to go for a relaxing walk and see if there was more foliage at the Old Furnace cliffs. It is a climb up, but short, so not too bad. The foliage wasn't as vibrant as I had hoped, and we never did get to see who was at the end of that rope.

I was still in the mood to walk, so we took the path along the peninsula and it was nice for Bean since it was a wide path and he could go on full leash. It was a nice walk and we found this Teepee hut that someone had built.

All in all, it was an interesting day and aside from the ticks, we had fun. Sunday we had another day of exploring, so I will post on Wednesday and tell you all about our adventures.

And my son sent a photo of Nick, he is too cute trying to be serious. Happy Halloween!

Friday Finishes!

This week I got an idea that I had to try. One of the things I love to do is, stop at old graveyards and photograph unique stones. For some reason this one caught my attention and I always like the designs on the stones. I was going through my files and thought, wouldn't it be fun to reproduce it in stitchery and make it a gravestone shape, so I did.

I was going to make it thinner and hang on a wall, but once I turned it inside out, I thought it made a fun pillow and I could stand it up, that way. I did the design exactly like the original stone, mistakes and all, thought that made it more fun. I was thinking I might do a booklet with gravestone designs and this would be a fun way to finish them and have grave pillows to decorate with, what do you think?

I used a darker stain on this piece, I wanted it to look like an aged stone, but my stain had a mind of it's own and kept pulling into the center when I dried it. I loved making this and will try some more and redo some designs to make them more fun for decorations and add my own touches. It will be something I can work on for next year.

Another piece I made was a mini pillow with a design by Cheri Saffiote. She was part of the Buttermilk Basin's blog hop and this piece was fun to do. I used coffee stained muslin by Moda for the background.

I also took my camera back, decided it was not smart to buy the floor model, too many dings that I hadn't noticed. They ordered me a new one and I got it in two days, so fast service. The photos today are with the new camera, taken outside since I have to buy an external flash, but I think the quality is much improved over my other camera and since it is lighter, I don't shake so much and the photos are clearer. I took it out yesterday for a practice run and this is one of the shots I took.

I Took a full photo of the boats in the harbor and cropped out these two boats. Another thing I like about this camera is it has a much higher resolution so you can take regular photos without zoom and crop out the section you want and it still looks close up. I got a Sony mirrorless camera, they come in different models so not sure which ones are good in the lower price range, this is one of their newest ones, but not the newest since that is double in price and this is just right for me. It is an early Bday present from Bill;) I am hoping we can find some nice foliage and new places to take photos tomorrow.

Weekend Wanderings and Surprises.

We had rain on saturday, so no day trips. Instead we went to Best Buy to look at cameras. I wanted something small and simple and of course nothing fit the bill. When you have a good camera, it is hard to compare with the smaller models, but I found the new mirror less cameras that give the same quality with a lot less weight. The camera fits perfectly for me and I can hold it without shaking, and it does take beautiful pictures. But, I am noticing by comparing online, that I am missing some parts and cords and since I took the floor model to save money, I am realizing, it looks more beat up than I thought, so considering taking it back. The following photos are taking with the phone and the new camera, so you can tell me what you think. I do need to learn the settings better, I am sure I could get better quality if I get that figured out.


Since we were getting high wind gusts in RI and Massachusetts, we decided to go to Devil's Hopyard and avoid the winds. The foliage hasn't turned much, but it was still beautiful and we got in a good hike, mostly uphill.

Lots of old bridges and underpasses in the park. Taken with new camera.

The main feature of course, is the waterfall, never fails to amaze me. I would love to just sit there and relax, but it seemed everyone was at the park. Trying to  take a relaxing walk with Bean and people and dogs, can be rough on my arm. Taken with my IPhone.

Of course we have to cross on the covered bridge. Taken with the new camera.

And for fun, a crop of the above photo, the new camera has a higher resolution so it is great for cropping to get close in.

Our final destination, the overlook. You can see the foliage is just starting in the valley areas, so we will have to go back when it is full. We hiked a new path which was going in the wrong direction, so we had to hike up, then down and back up to get to the main path, so we did over 5 miles. Taken with the new camera and a filter, I think the filter washes out the colors a bit.

To end our day we stopped at the apple orchards. They are nearing the end of the season, so all the apples were at the end of the orchard. They offer free rides, so we too advantage of a little fun ride. Of course I felt bad since Nick missed out on a tractor ride;) Taken with my iPhone.

The rest of the photos are from the IPhone. The other bad thing about the new camera is no built in flash and my old flash doesn't fit the mount, so another thing to buy, it does add up.

Kelley has been working on some gifts for me. I wanted to make hit and miss chair pads with stars to use up my stash, but Kelly wanted to make them to get back into hooking again and use up her worm stash. She read my mind and made them better than I imagined, here is one on the extra chairs. The others go at the table and I need to design a nice table topper to match them.

She also made me two runners, love them both and surprised me with some sand colored hearts sachets, perfect for the beach room. I put them on the table for the photograph, but they do look nice there too. They look much better in person, bad lighting for photographs in that room. Kelley does such a beautiful job with prim cuts, and she is also offering free designs this week, so be sure to visit With Hook and Needle.

And I also won Sandi's giveaway, she sent me a beautiful fat quarter. I guess I need to start planning some quilts and table toppers.

Friday Finish and Hikes!

Last week I was shopping at a discount store and they had needle felting kits. They were only 4.00, so I thought it would be fun to try one. It came with all the materials, a needle and a small foam block to punch on, so the extra tools are worth the price.

The stocking comes all cut out with the printed design, so all I had to do is punch in the roving. I used a bit of my own roving to give it more variation, and swapped the blue for the light green they had. I thought it was too close to the back material. The stocking is felt, so for me it was hard to felt on. It was fun to do and I Think I will embellish it a bit, before I put it together and decide who gets it, so I can put a name on it.

I think it would be fun to get another one and make them for the boys, maybe the baby blue for Alex and I can do Nicks with a gold.

We had some nice days this week, so we went for some walks. The first one was at the park, we walked around the lake and put in 3 miles.

Today we went to the bike path. We hiked down the bike path, which follows the cove.

Since we got an early start and had time, we walked further down and decided to follow an old road path into the woods. It was a nice walk, surrounded by woods and no people around. It came out the the other side of the harbor. Looking back to the area where Bill is standing in the first photo.

Of course Bean was thrilled with coming to a beach and since there was no one around, he got to play off leash. This is the bay side, you can see the ship at port in the distance. On the other side of that dock is the dog beach, that we usually go to. We will definitely come back to explore the area and enjoy walking along the beach, when we have more time. Today we walked 3.7 miles and I didn't realize it was going to be hot, so I  was in jeans and a sweat shirt, definitely a good workout today.

I hope  you all have a wonderful weekend. We are getting rain and high winds, so not sure what we will be able to do in that. I do need more apples before the orchards close, so hopefully we can go apple picking on Sunday and maybe take Nick and get him on a tractor.

Weekend Wanderings: Part Two

You know you have a busy weekend when you have to do it in two parts;) And when you spend your Monday, crashed out on the couch, lol. This time we had Bean and Nick, it is like having two toddlers and I was keeping my eyes on Nick and on Bill since Bean ends up jumping on people while Bill is zoned out, so for me it was a bit hectic.

We had to pick up Nick at his house, so we decided to go across into Connecticut and for our first stop we went outside of Norwich to the Yantic Falls. I used my phone to get directions and it took us to the main parking area, which meant more walking to get to the falls.

The falls are always beautiful, even when the water levels are down. A photo op with my favorite guys.

We walked across the bridge, Nick is becoming very independent and all I could think of was, he was going to fall through the rails, lol.

Our main destination was Gillette Castle. I thought it would be a good place for Nick and Bean, but Nick was off and running, luckily the walls are a bit higher than he is.

Nick was ready to explore the castle.

The guys enjoying the views from the castle.

Lots of nooks and crannies to play hide and seek.

We walked along some paths, but most are too hard for Nick to walk on, so we stuck to the main area and decided Nick was getting tired and headed home. He fell asleep a few minutes after he got in his seat so we took a back road and enjoyed a scenic ride while he slept. I wanted to get a pumpkin so I found out there was a farm ahead and we made another stop. Poor Nick had to wake up, but once he saw the farm, he was rearing to go. We let him pick out a smaller pumpkin to take home for his mom.

This is what I get, every time I tell him to smile, he is such a smart alec.

The one thing he didn't forget, was that I said we could ride on a tractor. Of course the minute we get there the tractor was coming in for a rest break. The poor kid just stood by that tractor and kept saying, ride the tractor, he loves tractors. There was no way I was going to climb up to let him sit on it. I guess I will have to take him to another farm before they close.

It was a good day and always fun to spend time with Nick. He got home and did not want to eat dinner, just said, he wanted to go to bed, guess we wore him out as much as he wore us out.

I also got the Ole Crow pattern done, so if you are looking for a fun fall project, you can click on the link to the left.

Weekend Wanderings - Part One!

We had quite the weekend, beautiful weather and lots of traveling and lots of walking, so I will do day one, today and part two on Wednesday. The foliage maps said the foliage was best at the upper corners of Connecticut, so we went up from RI and crossed over from there.

Since we were at the upper end of Rhode Island, I wanted to visit a campground I had seen online. It is a state park and they are just putting in real bathrooms and showers this year, so I wasn't sure how nice it was. I was surprised at how beautiful the campground was, large sites and a beautiful wooded area on a lake. We will definitely try a weekend next year.

They have a beautiful beach area, lots of sand but the dry season really lowered the lake. Of course Bean was happy to get out and enjoy some beach time. This would be a wonderful place to paddle, as well.

From there we crossed into Connecticut and I saw the sign for Quaddick State Park. Another area I have wanted to see and I was not disappointed. The park is beautiful, lots of picnic areas and a nice place to launch the kayak, we will be returning here.

We continued on and enjoyed the beautiful foliage and headed down to Putnam, our main destination. I always go online and looks for fun things to do in areas, we are traveling in and the Putnam River Trail looked like the perfect place to go for a walk. There are various places to park, so we took the one, closest to the falls.

The falls are amazing and this is with a lower water level.

We walked down the trail a bit further and I took a photo looking back up to where the falls come out to the river. The river has several old mills along the banks.

I saw several interesting building across the river, and the bridges were narrow, so I decided to drive around, since I was nervous about walking Bean on a narrow sidewalk. The first building that caught my attention was this old stone, Baptist church, framed by the beautiful foliage. It was on the corner of two streets, so it was hard to get all of it in a photo.

We found a park and walked a bit down the river, to another mill and waterfall. It is a beautiful area, and there are also a lot of antique stores and art studios, but we skipped that, on this trip.

Another area that I wanted to visit was Old Furnace State Park in Killingly. It was later in the day and I wasn't sure if I was up to another hike, but I wanted to at least visit to see what it was like and maybe enjoy some views from the lake.

We got there and found a nice parking area, and a trail that led up from the backside of the cliff. I couldn't pass up a view from the top, so up we went. The trail was not that bad, but it was all climb, the good thing is, it was a short hike and the view from the top, was well worth it.

No photos with Bean at the top, I wouldn't let him near the edge, he doesn't comprehend heights and is always trying to pull towards water, so not this time.

When we came down, we walked along a path at the bottom of the lake, and found an opening so we could look out at the pond and see the ledge, where we were standing. It was a long day, lots of walking and hiking, but rejuvenating. When we got home, the kids were here, so they visited and had some dinner with us and I crashed. And instead of staying home and resting, we took off on Sunday, stay tuned for part two, coming Wednesday.

Friday Finish!

It seems the weeks go by too fast, I am just starting with all my plans for the week and the next thing I know, it is friday. I need more hours in the day;)

This week I worked on the stitchery from Kathy's One Stitch Club. This is an older one and I finally got around to making some. I wanted to try it as a lavender sachet that people could use in their drawers, so I made a few but this is the only one I finished today, took a while to get the cording around the edge. My hands seem to have stiffened and with the nerves, they just don't work like they used to, so work is a bit slower these days.

I wish I could have gotten a better photo, but flash really brightens  up colors, it is a bit prim but also bright since I want it as a gift for linens, but I think it would be fun in prim too. I didn't go by the exact stitches, I am lazy and kept it simple;)

Since I had to go to the store to get cording, I grabbed some things to make a wreath. The fall things are all on sale and I had a 20% coupon. I had an old twig wreath, so I got one swag and tied it down to the wreath with twine so it doesn't show, added a few decorative picks and instant wreath for my door.

This weekend is going to be nice and I have lots of plans. Tomorrow will be stopping at the upper areas to see foliage, a river walk in Ct. and if I have the energy, a short hike to a cliff for views of Ct. I may crash after the river walk, not sure how long it is and the town is also a mecca for antique stores, so I may be tempted to check out the stores;) I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Weekend Wanderings!

This weekend we had the annual art and craft fair in Scituate. It is a wonderful fair in an older town, with hundreds of vendors, artists and crafters. It is nice to have a mix of arts and antiques and a nice place to just walk around and enjoy outdoor shopping.

The bad thing is, it was crowded, there is parking along the outer streets so parking there means walking a mile to get to the fair so we looked for a parking area. We found one right at the edge of the fair and had openings when we came in, but they charged 20.00, ouch.

The big thing I go for is to visit the Doll Maker, she also sells at the antique barn, we visit and I have been getting a mouse for each season. At the shows she has more variety and she was nice enough to hold a few that I really wanted. I also couldn't resist a cute snowman made by the woman next to her, who also makes hand made baskets, Baskets by Claudia. I wish I had gotten more snowmen, I know a few people who would love them and she only charges 12.00 for them, a great deal, I think.

She held the mice for me, the kitty on the pumpkin was another piece I couldn't resist. The snowman was made by Claudia, she makes small items to sell along with her baskets.

Sunday was a rainy day, and I didn't get much done around the house, we were lazy and watched movies from the free preview weekend;)

Today was a beautiful day, a bit windy but that kept the heat away, perfect for a ride in the country and some hiking.

We headed to Connecticut and took the fast way, so we could have more time at our destinations. The first stop was the Natchaug Forest. We enjoyed a walk around part of the pond, but it was rough terrain and rough on the knees, so we didn't get to do the full hike. The views were beautiful and the leaves are just turning enough to give pops of color to the area.

The second stop was down the road to Mansfield Hollow. It is a larger lake so we enjoyed the lake and headed to the dam. The last time we went, we could not find the dam, this time I knew how to get there.

We stopped at the bottom next to the mill and enjoyed the falls. Bean loves water and had to get in and check it out.

This is looking down the river, beautiful colors lined the banks.

We climbed up the stairs to the dam and it was windy as heck, so hard to take photos. This is a view of the mill, I had to lean on the gate to keep from blowing over.

They had an area on the other side to walk and enjoy the river. There was a beach area where Bean could go off leash and enjoy some play time, he was happy. Some beautiful foliage along the pathway.

It was fun re-exploring these places and having the time to stay and enjoy more of the areas. The bad thing was, the colors weren't as vibrant as they predicted for the area. The good thing is, we still have time to explore more places and enjoy the foliage.

We headed home and since we had the time, we took a short detour to the apple orchards. I got a smaller bag so I can get more fresh ones next week, I love eating fresh apples. They were also selling pumpkins and had activities for the kids, maybe we can bring Nick, next time.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and those who were in the storm's path, spared the devastation.