Weekend happenings!

This weekend was a mix of sun and rain, but we did get out one day and enjoy exploring a new area. We headed to Salmon River Forest, the main destination was the Comstock covered bridge in Connecticut. We took a back road down, so we enjoyed new views and old barns, but most were hard to stop and get photos of.

The Comstock bridge had to be rebuilt, but they kept the original bridge, just new lumber and trusses to keep it from falling again. It was a beautiful spot to get out and walk along the river.

The bridge is the route for the bike path, we will have to come back to ride, someday. We walked along the river on the main trail and came up some steep hills to enjoy this beautiful view. We walked a bit more, but it seemed the trail was heading away from the river, so we turned back. Now I wish I had remembered to print a map, there was a waterfall not too much further and I really wanted to see that, next time.

There is a bit of color but not what i was hoping for, maybe next weekend. It is still beautiful though and there was a hawk flying down the river, searching for dinner.

We saw a road on the other side of the river and decided to check it out. Along the road was an old mill, it was wonderful to explore, as I walked around the outside, but a bit creepy since it was so large and filled with places, critters might be living.

We continued on and came out to a parking lot, where you could park and start on the bike path. The old railroad bridge is part of the path, beautiful area surrounding by woods.

We got a late start and it was a longer drive, so we will definitely go back to the area and explore more. The towns above this area are historical and lots of parks with hikes. On Sunday it rained in the morning so we waited till it stopped and headed over the Jamestown and walked along the beach at Fort Getty. I wanted to get a few more rocks for painting and it is a great place for Bean to play. Unfortunately the rain came again, so we rode to the lighthouse and it stopped again, long enough to enjoy a walk around the lighthouse loop and hide a few rocks.

On the way home we passed through the village and the kids were trick or treating at the stores. I couldn't get photos as we were moving, but I did get a shot of this storefront, they always have a decorating contest at the local stores, this one was fun.

And online, I saw a beautiful rock that a neighbor found. It was an angel with the saying, " Your wings were ready, but my heart was not". I thought that was the perfect one for me to find and then she messaged me to see if I wanted it. It wasn't a message that had meaning to her, but for some reason she decided to take it and then thought of me, so I thought that was really nice. Now the angel is in my rock garden, in my beach room and she will stay there for now, someday I will see someone who needs that message and pass it along to them.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We lost power at 11pm last night and it is still out. We are always one of the first to get it back since we live near a school, but it seems everyone else is getting theirs, but not us. We do have a generator, but it is a pain to have wires all over the house and I really need to wash some laundry, lol.

Friday Finishes!

This week seemed to go by quickly, and the weekend is here again and I am ready for some adventures, lol. We are going to explore a new area in Connecticut and see how the foliage is, then we can decide if we need to go up or down from there.

Of course I always have to have something to keep my hands busy during the week so I decided to try some bookmarks. And of course, I cannot follow directions, to save my life, so mine are a bit simpler.

I wanted to try them first to see how it worked and they were fun and quick to make. I may try the next with machine sewing on the edge, so I can put in a nicer ribbon. I used fabric from my scrap box and felt that I had won, lots of it to use up and it is perfect for bookmarks. They also have a stiffer felt at the craft store which would work nicely for this. I did a stiff kitty with it and use wool appliqué on top of that and it sews nicely.

The pattern is free at Craftsy, and it would be nice in appliqué too. This would be fun to leave in libraries and a tag can be easily attached with floss. If you are good at machine embroidery, you could  make a tag for the back. I do need to learn how to use my machine, I love the idea of making my own tags.

The bookmark is 7" long. Two pieces of wool are attached with a blanket stitch.
I would like to try some of my own designs that the girls can use to make for others and if you are interested, you can join in at DSmiles4Miles on Facebook. If you are interested, please fill out the questions, that lets me know you are a real person. Someone has made a request, but when I click on her Facebook page and there is nothing there, so it makes me suspicious.

Another item I finished was another block from Suzy's Sitcom, called Words of Wisdom. I skipped last months but I did like this one, so I will see when it is done, I like having an odd block so I can add my own saying and name for the recipient.

I am also working on another large stitchery and started a project from Cheri's Facebook group. She is so wonderful with sharing her patterns and making new ones for us to have for free, even though she is going through her own struggles right now.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, filled with adventures, and creating.

Weekend Wanderings!

We had a beautiful weekend, although it was a bit warmer than I expected, those fall days when it is too warm for pants and too cool for shorts. On Saturday we decided to go to Connecticut again, lots of towns that we pass by and this time we wanted to explore the town of Woodstock.

The town is full of history, old churches and historic home and some wonderful antique stores, but we didn't do any shopping since this was Bean's day and we wanted to stay outside.

In town I got to enjoy seeing Roseland Cottage, a time when Pink was in, lol. It looks small from the front, but the home extends out in the back and surrounded by beautiful gardens.

Then we went to Cemetery Road and checked out the graveyard. I love looking at the old stones and it sat beside a beautiful historic church. I thought this stone was unique, an old mill stone with the first family at the top in the 1800's, to the latest members in recent years.

The owner of the pink mansion also built a park for the town and his friends. Originally it had water fountains and over 1,000 rose bushes, now it has a few buildings left and the gazebo so visitors can walk out onto the lake.

On the way home, we took the long way around the Patchaug Forest. We got out at one trail and looked around, a beautiful river runs through. We kept going to see if there was a park entrance and stumbled onto a beautiful waterfall and basin. I just happened to see the sign as we were driving by and the cars parked there, so I made Bill turn around and I am glad I did. It is much nicer in person, and the cool air blowing down the stream was refreshing. Further up there is a large basic, where some kids were taking a swim, even thought it said no swimming;)

I had noticed another forest at the end of this one, so we drove around and came to another portion of the forest. I was surprised when we came into the parking area, it is an area we have been to before and I didn't realize it was there, since we usually come by from a different route. It is also a park that has a bike path section, so we will definitely come back, I can imagine biking around the side of this lake into the Patchaug forest above, maybe next weekend.

On Saturday we took Nick out. First we stopped at the park near his house to get a few photos, then we headed to the waterfalls, then the park, and from there we went to the apple orchards and finished it off with a walk up part of Lantern Hill.

In this photo, Nick is walking on the path at Lantern Hill, we had a steep climb than it levels out, then it goes up a steeper climb, so we just walked to the end of the path and turned around. I had to hold his hand all the way up one incline, I wasn't sure we could do the higher one, since we had been out all day and we were all getting tired. I would have liked to take him to the next level to see the views, but I think the next trip will be Bill and I, so we can go to the top to see the foliage from the cliffs.

He loves the bridge and the railroad tracks, I am not sure if any trains ever come this way, but I think a special seasonal train does, for a foliage ride.

And what would a day with Nick be, without a little silliness.

And treasure hunting, Nick found a few rocks, he kept the first one and the rest we left and at the orchards he found a flag rock, so I left it at the park near his house. We also left a few of our rocks for DSmiles4miles on Facebook.

After we dropped Nick off, we passed by the pond and the sun was setting, so we stopped and enjoyed the views. It was a wonderful but tiring weekend and I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and some adventures of your own.

Friday Finishes!

I received my issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects and I loved the hooked rug by Mad Hen Primitives. I decided to try it with punch needle so I reduced the design to make a pillow. I was trying to keep it toned down and similar colors, not sure if I really like how it came out, but not too bad.

My arm has been bothering me more this week, so I don't have the control I would like and it tends to make me stiffen up, so my punching gets tighter, as you can see by the various blobs of hoops that got smashed into it;)

I used two pieces of rug yarn and twisted them as I whip stitched it on. I also gave it a light coat of antique stain. It is a 6" pillow and I think it does look better in person than in a photo.

I also have plans to get out this weekend, warm weather and the leaves are turning, so we are heading up towards Massachusetts and hopefully hit the foliage. I wanted to have some rocks to hide as we travel, so I whipped up a quick batch. I do think the ghosts are fun and they are easy to make, maybe I should see if I can find some more of those shapes and make some for next weekend.

I did try a new pen, it is the same brand but it was a brush tip. I found it hard to see where I was going and it doesn't dry like the thin pen, so I couldn't clean around it without smudging it. I do like it though, for rocks it would be nice to color them in but they are not cheap, so I will stick with paint.

If you are interested in making your own rocks or other items to hide, for others to find, you can join my group on Facebook, DSmiles4miles.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, I plan on enjoying the nice weather.

Weekend Wanderings!

We had another weekend with rain, on and off, so we were able to get out when it stopped. Last weekend my son came by and snuck off without Nick, if we ask, he gets upset and wants to go with them. This time I called and did FaceTime with Nick and asked  him if he wanted to go out with us and he was eager to go, so hopefully his fear of leaving his parents is over.

We too him to Connecticut since I wanted to get some more apples, but we decided to stop by Mohegan Park to check it out. It was a beautiful place to visit, paved walkways around the pond, treed archways and two playgrounds. Nick had a blast and loved walking and playing at the park.

We also found this rock garden on the trail, it is a Connecticut girl scout group that is participating in Kindness rocks. Nick wanted to take more, but I told him to chose the one he liked the best and he took that one that said boo. Further along we found a larger stone with pink butterflies so I let him take that home to his mom for her garden.

Of course he loved the apple orchards, especially since he got to ride in the tractor cart. We let him have his own bag and pick some apples to take home.

And some time to be silly, a fun way to end the day.

Sunday was another overcast day but I wanted to go on a foliage ride, so we headed north to the top of our state. There were a few trees turning and we enjoyed a nice view from the state park.

Next we headed into Connecticut, and I couldn't resist getting a photo of this house, they really like halloween horror. I cut the photo in two so you can see it better.

There was more on each side, it was that big. A cellar door with a creature trying to get out and on the other side a flying witch and skeleton horse with rider. 

From there we headed into Putnam, I always love to stop at the waterfalls and stroll on the river walk.
I did enhance this photo, there wasn't much color, so I made my own, it will be like that next week, lol.

We saw this little guy, sitting on a rock at the edge of the river.

A family of ducks was resting on the edges of the river.

And this fun sculpture, it is called 4 people, not a very creative name, I think Family makes more sense;)

We walked down and I got a shot of the old mill from the backside. I read that they may make them into condos, would be nice to see it restored.

It was a nice walk, but Bean had to walk on a leash, not his favorite thing, so on the way home, I saw a launch sign, which means a place to stop and play. We took a look and it was a beautiful area and I saw a beach down a path, so we took him there to play. A nice way to end the day. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, today was catch up on cleaning and working on my angel.

Friday this and that!

With the long weekend, I didn't get as much done at home and we decided to extend it one day, since the weather was so beautiful. We ended up going to Newport and enjoy the fresh air and walks in the area.

We went to one beach to let Bean play, but there were a lot more people and surfers, so we enjoyed watching them and headed back to the cliff walk. We were lucky to find a spot close to the walk entrance, even if we had to pay to park, it was worth it. Here is a view of the beach, after the walk, we rested here and had a snack lunch and I collected a lot of glass. The waves would roll in and push pebbles and glass in, then go out and come in with another batch. A lot was new, so I just took the worn pieces.

The cliff walk was nice, but it was a lot hotter than I expected, so we only went half way. I realized later that half was was 3 miles, so I guess I got a good walk in. Hard to notice how far you walk when you have views like this.

We took the scenic route back and stopped at Fort Adams. At this point I was tired and it was low tide, so Bean was able to have some fun on this beach. It was nice getting out, but it did wear me out.

Since Bill had more time off, we went shopping and found some boards for my beach room. They are aged gray, so I am leaving them as is, I like the gray and will make a nice backdrop to hang art pieces. I am not sure about the darker boards now, maybe I will white wash them, later.

I also started a punch needle. It is a design by Tonya Robey from Primitive Quilts and Projects. It is a rug design, so I reduced it for punching. I had to redo the face, my needle had a burr and I realized when I looked at the front that it was all messed up. I am still debating on the background, thinking dark blues to bring out the lighter colors?

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I am hoping the rains stay away and we can get out and see some foliage.

Weekend Wanderings!

This weekend had on and off rain, so we didn't get out as much, but we did get out enough to enjoy the good weather. We always like to give Bean a day where he can have fun, so on Saturday we took him to Jamestown so he could play at the beaches and go for a walk.

We spent the first part at Fort Getty, where Bean had the beach to himself and I hunted for rocks, but the tide had just started going out so not many good choices. After the beach we walked along the cliff path and enjoyed the fresh air and views. In the fields there were a few thistles and the remaining butterflies were getting their fill of nectar.

We walked around the lighthouse loop and then headed to the diver's beach, another beach all to ourselves, at least for awhile. Bean made another new friend who was goofier than he was. The tide was out enough that I found a few heart rocks and pieces of glass for my collection. Someday I want to make something with multi-art techniques, with them.

That night it was foggy and I really wanted to get a photo of the moon rise. We took the chance and of course the moon was barely visible but it did pop out at times. I was able to get one decent shot of the moon over a Bridge in Newport.

On Sunday the kids came over, and it was raining, so they visited and then slipped out, while I kept Nick occupied. He will not stay if they leave, so it was time we got him over his fear. Once I told him they had to go home to get something and we were going to the beach and then taking him home, he was fine and ready to go. He enjoyed playing at Fisherman's Memorial and running around the hill top.

Even Grandpa had fun running around. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Prayers for those in California.

Friday Finishes!

This week I received the newest stitchery of the month, by Kathy Schmitz. I love this one, was the perfect design for my beach room and I think it will be a great gift for the beach lovers. I did mine as she did, I liked the simple pillow with the frayed edges. Of course I aged mine, I do like the primitive look.

I also made some pumpkin flat pillows. I wanted to try something I could use to hide and keep it simple, as well as easy to leave in places. I got a bit carried away with the size and they ended up more prim than I had planned, but once I start making something, I never know where it will take me. I think for the Facebook group DSmiles4miles, I will try some smaller wool ones and use the fun faces that I paint on rocks.

These are so fun, I had to place them in areas around the house.

I also made some more message hearts. These will be gifted since they are prim, but I will do more with seasonal fabrics. I always like to try things first, then I can see what I do and don't like, so I can improve on them.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Weekend Wanderings!

This weekend was good and bad. On Saturday we stayed home, it was raining and we had to wait for my wood to come in, so Bill could work on that. Well, it did not come until 7:30 at night, so too late to use it and that didn't matter, because the wood is junk. I wanted rustic wood, but this was so rough, Bill got a splinter, picking one up. Their were 8 boards in a box, and they were all crooked, so they went back today. We will just get our own wood and do the sanding and painting, not worth the cost of finished when they did a horrible  job on the wood.

Sunday was our day to get out. The bad thing was, I was sick, a combination of fighting off the latest flu and inhaling toxic smoke. I could hardly breath and I was coughing, so I took some med and headed out for the day. The med cleared up my lungs but I am still sick, but at least I can breath a lot better.

We headed to the apple orchards in Connecticut, but our first stop was an old prison building. We always see them on the way and I wanted to get a few photos. There are several building complexes along the road, but this is the only one without fencing. It is falling apart and all the windows are broken, such a shame to let buildings like this go to waste, lots of beautiful architecture on them. Also a bit creepy.

Of course we stopped at the orchard next and I got a large bag of apples and a few pears, they weren't as good as last time. Golden delicious are Bill's favorite, so half the bag is filled with those.

Afterwards I noticed a pull over at the river and then a sign, I can't pass by a historic cemetery. We walked around and I took a few more photos, sadly a lot of the graves are sinking into the wet ground. 

Since I was feeling better, I decided to head down to Groton and enjoy the views from the beaches. On the way I saw a tall stone tower, so we took a side road and headed up to see what it was. What we found was Fort Griswold. It was the site of a battle in the Revolutionary war, involving Benedict Arnold. This is the tower that I saw, it was erected later, as a monument to the men who fought in the wars.

We walked through the gates and entered into a large depression surrounded by earthen mounds. There was a door and an opening, so we checked it out.

It was a tunnel, that led to the other side.

On the other side was the area were the men were stationed with the guns and lookouts for enemies coming up the river. The tunnel was their escape route, they could run up and through, to the area we started in, to protect them from incoming fire.

On the edge of the banks, we could enjoy the views of New London and the ferries.

Some of the buildings are still there, the old furnace, where they heated up the canon balls, so that they would burst into flame, when they hit.

And the powder house, were they stored the munitions. It was a fun place to visit and I left a rock at the gate and it was found by a wonderful family, so they posted a photo of their little boy on DSmiles4miles on Facebook. It is fun for us too, when someone posts and we get to see the smiles.

Our last stop was  Eastern Point beach, it is at the end of the Thames River, so it is a nice spot to relax and enjoy the views and of course the boats and ferries, come and go.

A fishing boat coming past the Haunted lighthouse.

And to end the journey, a funny story. Maybe not for one seagull though. I was taking photos of these two guys, fighting for some reason and the other gulls seemed to be egging them on. Just as I was readjusting my focus, the one gull threw the other one off the roof and the gull went falling down the side. It was comical, especially when the poor guy got up and walked off, the flew away, no harm done. I also left a few rocks on some ledges on the house, on the backside, rough sea areas are not good places to hide things.

I hope you all had a good weekend. I am working on finishing a few more pillows and a new stitchery of the month.