Friday Finish and Fun!

 

This week I have been slow going on my new projects, I finished the stitching on my stitchery but I have to decide on the finish and it may take me a few more weeks at least, to quilt the table runner. I did make time to get some masks made for the boys.

This was fun fabric to work but it is hard to fussy cut and get exactly what you want with masks, since some get lost in the folds. I made 3D masks since I find they are easier to breath and talk in and want to see how the boys like them. I also made two fitted masks in case the others don't fit. It is hard to figure out sizes with kids and the boys are smaller than kids their age.

I was feeling better over the weekend and I know fresh air always lifts my spirts, so we got out for a few walks. My test came back negative so I guess the meds worked. I want to thank you all for your well wishes.

We went out to park at a camp lot, at a casino in Connecticut, the reason is that it is on the river and I wanted to see if we could get a spot with views. Well, they closed that lot and put campers in a back section, so that didn't work. While we were sitting in the lot, security came by to ask me if we planned on camping there and I said no, just taking a break and heading to another park, which is how I found out, no dogs at that park, so that was out. I wanted to walk a bit so we headed to the Fish Hatchery and took a little walk along the river.

On Sunday we headed to Connecticut to check out a few places. On the way to one, we took a wrong turn and ended up at the ocean and found a public parking area at the mouth of the river. It was a nice place to relax and there was a public beach, but Bean was with us, so we rode around a beautiful community on the point and enjoyed the many marshes in the area, filled with egrets. While at the Parking lot, I was getting ready to leave and caught a bird chasing a small hawk. 

The hawk was actually a Merlin, a nice surprise for me, I have never seen one before, that I know of.

Our next stop was an old farm that is now a state park. It was a beautiful place, lots of fields with old stone ruins and lots of paths to explore. We took the path that went around the salt pond and back along a short cut through the woods. We will definitely come back and I know the boys would love this place.

The area is filled with a variety of birds, but most flew by too fast.  This mockingbird was nice enough to pose for a photo.

This week Bill started first shift. It is hard to reset my time, since I am used to staying up late, but I find it is easier to get up earlier, just getting to sleep at night is the problem. The benefit is, he is home later in the afternoon, so we can enjoy a few hours at the ocean. We will be going more now that the crowds are gone and bringing dinner so we can eat at the lighthouse and watch the sunset.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. For those near the fires, may you stay safe and prayers for you all, and for rain.

Weekend Wanderings!

We did a lot this weekend, and now I am tired out, but it is a good tired. Saturday we planned on a ride but got a late start, so we decided to check out the art festival in Scituate. The nice thing is, it is also a craft fair and antique market.

It is a beautiful historic town that is on the Scituate reservoir and we had to cross a strip of land to get across the lake. Beautiful views and pops of color among the trees.

One of the reasons I wanted to go was, I had never heard of the festival until a friend liked one of the artists on Facebook. Of course I had to find and visit her booth and I was not disappointed. This is what was left in her booth on the first day, I guess the morning patrons took half of the things, before we got there. I did treat myself to one doll, see the pumpkin man sitting on the shelf, with the wool pants? He now lives with me and he makes me smile:) You can visit her Facebook page, Folk friends and see photos of her booth before the show.

I also found a rug hooking studio and found out, she is Deanne Fitzpatrick's sister. Sharon and her daughter hook together and have a store in Swansea, Massachusetts, called Loop by Loop Studio.

On Sunday we watched Nick. His dad was working on the house, so we took him to church with us. Our church has a back room for mom's with small children and we sat there, so he could play with the other kids and we could try and concentrate on the service, not easy with a hyper grandchild, lol. I call it a service of joy, since that is what Nick brings to me. After we took him home, the guys worked on the house and Nick and I went for a walk by the river.

Today we got out for our ride in Connecticut. We drove down the back roads to Willimantic. It is an old Mill town and as we crossed the bridge, this is what we were greeted with, frogs on both ends. They are sitting on spools to honor the history of the mills and if you follow this Link, you can see the story of the frogs.

We stopped at the old mills to look at the river. There is a bridge that goes across and it is covered with gardens, a beautiful place to just sit and enjoy the views.

After we saw a bit of the town, we headed up to the lakes. I wanted to see the dam, but we took the wrong road and ended up at the boat launch. By then I was tired and hot and had no brain energy to figure out which way to go to get to the larger falls, so we enjoyed walking bean around the launch area. I would definitely want to come back and paddle here.

The next stop was the Natchaug forest area. There is a pond, hiking trails and a beautiful bike trail in the area, but with Bean, we stick to walking. We just enjoyed the immediate area, and the sound of shotguns in the distance did not instill a sense of safety since this is also a hunting area. It was a nice day to just explore and we enjoyed a lot of beautiful towns and scenery and I did stop at a wonderful old graveyard to get photos and a few churches, they will be future design ideas;)

I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend and try to explore in your own backyard and surrounding areas, you never know what you will find. 

X-Rated Walk!

Today we went for a walk at Trustom Pond. It was a beautiful day with a nice breeze.

The first trail goes around a field and into the woods, then it comes out on a point with water on both sides, it is the perfect place to exercise and relax.

The views from this point, stretch out to the ocean and Block Island. The ferry was making it's way to the island.

This area is a bird sanctuary, so the trees were filled with the sounds of birds. There are a lot of varieties, but they tend to fly out and away, before you can get a shot. This guy sat still just long enough for me to get a shot.

After we finish enjoying the view here, we walk down the path and down a long side path to another point. At this point we noticed an osprey flying by with a long stick in his mouth. He was building a nest.

He was quite proud of himself and was showing off for his wife.

Then his wife decided to get some materials for the nest and this is what she came back with. Well, kid you not, she dropped it in and he started squawking at her and I would swear he was saying, "That is all you got". LOL

This is a view of the area that they are nesting, they own their own little island. Most of it in in the water, the heavy rains have raised the water levels.

After we enjoyed watching the Opreys, we headed back down the trail towards the cars. There is a small pond on the way and I was hoping I would get to see the old snapping turtle. I was thrilled to see he was there and before I knew what happened, he was jumping on another turtle. I guess he isn't as old as I thought;) At first I thought he was hurting her, lol. He smacked down on top of her, dug his claws in and pushed her underwater. He had her down for a long time and finally he started rolling around and she pushed up to get some air. We watched them until they quit, I'd say it was at least 15 minutes, lol. What I will do for entertainment;)

I kept this photo large so you can see the details of their skin and shells. 

And what would a pond be without frogs.

It was a wonderful walk today, we saw a lot of different birds, chipmunks, and snakes. I hope you had a wonderful weekend, as well.