Friday Finish!

 I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays. As usual, it came quick, and went by quick, but I enjoyed the moments. I never took any photos, I like to enjoy the moments and not worrying about posting photos. I also feel for those who cannot spend time with family or have lost loved ones, who are not with them, so I kept it low key this year.

I also got sick as usual, but took meds and rested for a few days. I made up a stitchery, so I had something to keep my hands busy and was able to finish it, just in time. I am not sure who did the design, but it was offered on Facebook. 

We also got snow before Christmas, so the kids came over and went sledding on the school hill. I bought sleds last year and we never got to use them. 

Bill gets the whole week and a half off, so we got out for short walks and rides. Jamestown is always a fun place to go to. Views from every side and we were able to go for short walks, before we froze. There is a path that goes uphill to a point and I decided I wanted to see how far it went. It was a nice path and easy to traverse and came out to the end of the point, so we had nice views from a higher vantage point.

Looking back into the cove. 

After we stopped at the state park and looked for glass, not much luck these days. On the way out, I spotted a group of Snow Buntings, a nice surprise.

Today we did a ride around the southern beaches. When it is cold, places that we can drive to and see, without getting out, is always nice. In one area, we have a view of the pond where the boats and ferries go through. Today we spotted some fishermen, throwing in their pots. Not sure if they were crabbing, but looked like crab pots.

In the marsh, we spotted these guys running around the mud flats. 

Rain is predicted for the next 3 days, which I don't mind, it will keep me in and I can start working on finishing some quilts. I plan on finishing one Christmas one, and others that need finishing and binding. I have several with a summer, Americana theme, so those will be in the next batch to finish.

I hope this finds you all doing well and would love to know what your plans are for the coming year. 

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.

New Punch Needle Pattern!

I finally finished my piece and the pattern is ready. I made a few changes and finished it off with a white cording. The finished piece is 6 1/2 x 4 1/2. I think this would make a great gift idea for an ocean lover or a church lover. I may do it in an art quilt with a saying, love redoing designs in different ways.

I had Bill check out my DIL's Facebook page, I still am not on her list, so I have not seen any photos of Nick in months. There were a few and here is one with Nick and the baby, along with his cousins. A few more weeks and they should be coming home, can't wait to see them.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend. Bill told me he can take off a couple of extra days, now that the job is finished. But, all of the camps are full and I cannot imagine how crazy they would be on the last weekend of summer. It is also cooling down, so I told him not to take off time now and wait till next week, so hopefully we can get out and have some fun, after the holiday crowds have gone home.

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. I was finally able to get out for a nice hike and it felt so good to be outside and doing what I love. I am sore still but it was worth getting more sore for a good reason;)

I wanted to try a new place so we went to Green Fall Park in Connecticut. It is right over the border from the area we hiked at so not to far to travel and a beautiful area with a nice trail system that has with a diverse trail system that gives you a good workout and beautiful scenery.

We started at the campground and hiked around the pond. Looking across the pond with the dam in the distance.

We did a bit of climbing too, there were two trails, which I did not know at the time and of course I took the one that goes up, lol.

The trail follows the pond and then traverses an old levee system and comes out to the dam and waterfalls. There is a trail that follows the river down, so I will have to go back and explore the other trails when I have more energy.

The waterfalls were running strong with all the rain we have had, I could sit and watch them for hours.

At the falls there is a bridge and a grassy area, a perfect place to stop and take a break and enjoy the views. It was a beautiful day for hiking and a place I will come back to. They also have a kayak launch, so maybe next time we will enjoy a paddle.

Saturday Stroll!

Well, I don't know if I would call it a stroll, it was more of a hike. I wanted to try a trail that goes along a pond and up to a ledge with a view of the pond. I am out of shape, and I had to slow down and climb slowly, but it was well worth it and a beautiful day to be out.

The trail goes up and down, rocky paths and a lot of trees and branches from the recent storms. Most of the trail on this side, follows the pond with lots of areas to stop and enjoy the view, but I am not sure if we were on a real path at this point, lol.

The photo came out dark because of the bright sun in the wrong spot, so lightening it up, made it look like Bill is superimposed on the rock, lol.

The path goes up and around a high cliff area. I was out of breath on this one, need to do more uphill exercises.

But, it was worth it when we got to the top, views of the pond and the surrounding forest. Connecticut is on the other side of the lake. We walked along the path for a bit, I really wanted to walk into Connecticut but then I realized I didn't know if it was hunting season on that side or the rules, so we walked back, the way we came in.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, filled with the blessings that surround us.