Friday Finish and Fun!

 

This week I finished one item that I had been working on. I thought it was a bit plain with the solid blue background, so I added some words and extras and it makes a fun wall hanging for Christmas. The design is a free pattern I got from Heart to Hands. 

I also made up a batch of masks. It seems the 3D is the best and my DIL loves that style and the blue, floral bandana, so I made her 4 from what I had left. I also tried some fun fabric I had for Halloween. My brain wasn't working too well and I cut in the wrong direction and meant to place a pumpkin in the front, but they still look ok. I have a lot of yardage of this print, so I just used a piece from the cut end, the rest will go into a halloween quilt or backing for next year.

Last week my son called to say they wanted to go out with us, so we had a family day. They wanted some family photos, but I think they need to not wear hats and gear for family photos, so once I get better at using the new camera, I can do some nice ones for their Christmas card. I also got lucky and a Great Blue Heron flew by and landed in a tree. He was high up and I didn't have a good area to shoot from, but I was able to get a decent shot. One thing with the new camera is it is photoshop ready, so editing comes out much nicer.

On Sunday Bill and I took Bean out for a hike. We went to a new park in Connecticut called Day Pond. It had nice large parking areas and we got a nice hike through the forest to a beautiful cascading waterfall.

I also have been enjoying the birds that are visiting. These were all near the feeder and the birds do not sit still for long. A cardinal, Carolina wren, Tufted Titmouse and a White Breasted Nuthatch, are a few of the bird species that visit.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and enjoy a bit of nature and the outdoors in your area.

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.

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.