Weekend Wanderings!

We had one good day this weekend and we took advantage of the weather and the foliage. We headed  across the Connecticut river and visited a few new places.

Of course I can't resist a cemetery and we found an old one on the way and a large one called Indian Hill. It was on a hill and was a wonderful place to walk around and enjoy the views, as well.

The next stop was Wadsworth Falls. It was a beautiful place and the falls were beautiful. Someone was taking a photo shoot with this woman. She was barefoot and standing at the edge of the falls, not the safest place to be.

We headed to Meriden to visit Castle Graig. You can drive to the top, but it was crowded and slow going since the road was narrow and we had to pull over every so often. Here is a view, looking up at the tower, from the park.

And at the top, views of the surrounding towns and on one side, you can see to the ocean on a clear day.

On the way back, we stopped at another cemetary that had a funeral going on. It had a lot of old stones, but the clouds were covering what was left of the sun, so I couldn't get too many good photos. The row of stones are all from 1863 and 1864, war veterans.

And at home, my neighbor's trees are in full bloom and mine are turning fast. Bill had to work Sunday which was fine, since it was raining. Tomorrow he is taking his day off, so we can enjoy another ride into Ct. This time the falls and castle, since that is the last places to turn. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Friday Finish!

I have decided it is time to get going on Christmas, it comes so quick and I am always rushing, so I am starting early. A friend gifted me an older book, Kindred Spirits Christmas. I love the older books and designs, they are prim, easy to work up and can be modified, if I want.

This one was a large stitchery, so I reduced it for a smaller pillow. It is 9" x 7", just the right size to set in a grouping or on a cupboard. I really love the design and think it would be fun in bright colors or with applique figures, so I may do another for people who don't do prim. The material on this one is a medium brown, but it is hard to see that in the photo, this one I may keep for me.

I also want to do at least one new thing each week, something I can make to give or hide in stores during the holiday. I loved doing this, it worked up quick and you can use felt, which is easy to get. I happened to win a batch, years ago, so now I can use the green bolt for these trees. If you like the idea of giving gifts to others, just to bring a smile, you can check out my facebook group; DSmiles4miles.

I didn't add a hanger yet, but I will add a tag with a saying and the group name. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, we have one nice day and one rain day, so I plan on making the most of tomorrow and checking out areas, we missed last week.

The pattern for the trees and other free felt patterns can be found at Touch the Beauty.

Weekend Wanderings!

We had a nice weekend, one day of sun and one cloudy day, but as long as it isn't raining, I am happy. We decided to head into Connecticut and go across the upper, middle area. That way we could decide which was to go, since there are places in all directions.

We ended up going straight across to a town called Glastonbury, which is on the Connecticut river. The town was really built up, lots of stores and homes on the outskirts and we would have had to go further up to get to the city section and historic areas, so we just made a stop for coffee and headed back down on a scenic road.

We had never been in this area, so we drove until we saw something. Of course there are always lots of churches, so I took some photos and we stopped at one that had a large graveyard. It was in the town of Portland. The church is beautiful, a lot of beautiful detail and sculpture on the church.

There were a lot of old stones, but the slate was deteriorating and most of the fronts were missing. There were quite a few war heroes, from all periods of history.

The next thing I spotted was a ferry sign, so I wanted to check that out. It also means access to the river. There were a couple of cars waiting and the sign said,  honk when you want to come over, lol. The ferry is a barge that is pushed by a tugboat.

As we came down, we saw a bridge across the river and a large area of the town, so we went to see what was on the other side. There was a church right by the bridge and we found a parking lot in the back and an old graveyard. I was walking around and most of the stones were people from Ireland and all their info and place of birth was on the stones.

I had to steal a photo from the internet. I started to walk through the cemetery and I realized it was under the bridge in a bad neighborhood and there were older kids arguing with a man. I listened long enough and the man left, then I left, the kid was still screaming and getting upset, so not the place I wanted to stay. So no photos from me. Now I wish I had known where we  were, Wesleyn College was down the road and there was a larger cemetery on a hill, with views of the valleys. Now I can go back and know the area better. There is also a park with falls, so lots more to explore.

Saturday was a day with the boys, so I didn't want to go too far. I also wanted to try the new apples at the orchard, they are supposed to have a hint of pineapple flavor. I got a few for me and Nick said he liked them, so I let him pick his own small bag for his lunches. Not sure if they taste like pineapple, but it is a flavor that tastes funny but gets better as you eat more, lol.

This is a new crop for them, so these took 4 years to produce. They are called sun crisp.

I decided to take the boys to Mohegan park, Nick's favorite place, which is anywhere with a playground. Alex loved checking out all the fun things at the kiddie section.

And we enjoyed a walk around the pond, Nick likes to run ahead and Alex is always trying to keep up with him and Grandma is trying to keep up, period.

There were areas bursting with color and others, just starting to turn.

We ended the day with a stop at the farm stand for ice cream. The boys enjoyed eating in the old hay wagon.

The clouds were out all day and by the time we headed home, it was nearing dusk, but I was able to get a few nice shots of the pond in Acadia, before we dropped the boys off. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Friday Finish!

I have decided that if I want to get things done by Christmas, I better start now. I know I will never finish all the projects I would like to do, but hopefully a few of them. I also start making gifts, so it is good to get started early.

I received the new issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects and I loved Tonya's of Mad Hen Primitives, rug pattern and decided to do it in punch needle. It was fun to do and I was able to use up scraps, on most of it. I also used Lopi wool yarn on his beard in a higher height. I separated the strands to get a smaller piece for punching, it is white with gray flecks. I wish the colors and antiquing showed up better.

I received a nice surprise in the mail this week. Brenda from Rusty Thimble sent me two beautiful, velvet pumpkins. The stems on top, are real pumpkin stems, I love them. She has been making new things again, so hopefully she will have her Etsy store, up and running soon.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I am hoping to go exploring again and find more foliage in the upper areas of Connecticut.

Weekend Wanderings!

A long weekend means a lot of activity and we kept busy, each day. We were lucky enough to have nice weather so we could get out.

On Saturday we did an easy day and went to the beach. It was a little cooler, but that meant less people. We have been making friends with the regular beach combers, so Bean had fun too, meeting up with his friends.

We got a few nice treasures, I just enjoy being outside and chatting with people, so anything I find is a bonus.

With the recent storm and winds, we wanted to check the girl's graves to make sure there was no damage. Everything was fine and the cemetery was full of fall colors.

We made one more stop at the pond and let Bean go for a short walk and enjoyed the views and the colors were starting to pop in some areas.

On Sunday we went up state and visited with my nephew who was camping, so we got a late start to the day. The colors popped in some areas and some are still green. Of course, I see a cemetery and have to stop for a look. I loved this memorial and the fall colors.

We stopped at a few ponds and headed to Putnam. The falls and surrounding area are worth the stop. They also have a lot of antique stores and historic buildings, as well as a river walk. A few sights along the river.

Today I woke up late, so we went for a shorter ride and stayed in central Connecticut, near the city of Norwalk. The first place we headed to was Occum, a small town but the ride up, is along the river and beautiful views. We stop at the Dam to see the falls and this time we drove to the other side and found a little country church. The larger church is in the city of Norwalk.

Next on the stop was Yantic falls. We always love going there, unfortunately the leaves were just starting to turn.

And another stop at a nearby cemetery, Connecticut has plenty of churches and cemeteries. And cemeteries are the best place for old oaks, maples and color.

We ended the day with a trip to the apple orchards and filled our bucket. The orchards are almost bare, so that is going to be the last batch that we can pick. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed exploring with me.

Friday Finishes!

This week I was able to work on a few fall pieces. I got last years issues from Punch Needle and Primitive Stitchery. It is nice that you can get back issues at a reduced cost and be able to store them on my computer, instead of finding new spaces for magazines. And I don't have to dust them.

One of the patterns I liked was by Teresa Kogut. This was a fun and simple piece to do and I could use up some scraps. I wish I could figure out how to get better photos, this one I like more in person, than the photo. I did antique it, so it is with brighter colors, but all dulled down with walnut stain.

Another piece I made was a stitchery with a design by Kelley Belfast. I joined a new facebook group called Uncounted Cross stitch. Perfect for someone like me, who cannot count tiny stitches. I traced the design on with a washable marker and filled in, the best that I could. I missed a few holes, and I know I went over the same stitches in some places, but it was fun to try and relaxing, since I didn't have to be perfect.

I made black facial features and realized I couldn't make a black cat, so I did white around the face and then ended up using a dark shade, so that is why he has a weird face, lol. This was on 32 count, I think if I do it again, I will use a 14 count.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Last weekend we did get out, but the foliage isn't peaking yet. We did get to see a bit of color and explored some new areas for fun. Hopefully we can get further out this weekend and find some foliage.

I also love to find old towns with mills and churches, so I will be on the hunt for some new towns, we haven't been in. I also need to remember not to move when I press the shutter, my photos always come out crooked and it makes it tough when I am doing close ups of churches.

Friday Finish!

This week I worked on some new stitcheries, both from Kathy Schmitz. When she sent out the newsletter, she showed a fun halloween piece, that was featured in, American Patchwork and Quilting. I had received a few magazines from my friend when we camped together and that issue was one of them.

It was a fun piece, so I decided to use fun colors and I even added glitter paint to the cape and hat. I also antiqued it, so it has that vintage look. I like making prim, but a little whimsey and color for the boys to see, when they visit.

My second piece, I did in simpler colors and kept prim. I enjoy making a few new pieces for fall, to decorate with.  This piece was the offering for the monthly stitch club. She also gave us an extra with a pumpkin to put on a tea towel. I only have a red stripe left, so I guess I need to get more, in different colors.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Hopefully Bill and I can find some new places to explore and see the start of foliage. The temps are dropping, so perfect time for hiking.

The two pieces have more dark spotting, but it doesn't show up in the photo.