Friday Finish!

 I hope everyone had a nice week. I have been enjoying the cooler autumn days and it seems I have more energy without the heat. This week is our church yard sale, so I was able to clean up a bit and help out with that. I also made a new stitchery, from Kathy Schmitz's Stitch Club.

I reduced it a little and made a lavender sachet. Gift giving season is right around the corner and I like having smalls to add to the boxes. I did make mine simpler, basic stitching and coloring with pencils, but I do like how it came out.

Our weekend wanderings were closer to home. We drove up to the northern end of our state and then into Connecticut, lots of stops along the way and some nice views. This is a few shots from Pulaski State Park in Rhode Island. With all the rain we have had this year, the waterfalls are running nicely again.

We drove across into Connecticut to visit the Thompson Dam and then into Putnam to see the falls. The park had some nice displays along the walkways.

A few views around the park at the falls.

On the way home we took a side road, which has several farms and views of the valley below. 

And even though we didn't get to go out with the boys, I got to see them in their costumes. 

And of course a few days at the beach this week. Now that it is getting darker earlier, we can only walk for  an hour, before it gets dark. I was still able to find a few nice pieces, yesterday.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and week ahead. Hopefully we can get out for a new adventure this weekend.

Week in Review!

This has been a whirlwind week, going all day and coming home to clean and cook, then back at it, the next day. Today we stayed home and I caught up with some real cleaning and resting. We did look at trailers and picked one out, but it didn't work out. I loved the size, but realized it lacked the storage I wanted. We were all set but Bill's security for credit access, shut them out, so we said it would take too long and we would rather wait. I have decided to look for a small truck camper for weekend getaways and wait until we find the right size and type of trailer, that we want.

We had a great week for getting out, a bit hot but always cooler by the beach. We made beach stops are several places, but the tides were usually high. We did find a bit of glass and some driftwood.

We spent one day in Newport, the tower was impressive, but closed, so we couldn't go to the top. We also did a 4 mile hike around the trails at the bird sanctuary and then we stopped to get photos of the Castle lighthouse. As usual, we had bad timing, there was a wedding going on and they were about to get photos at the lighthouse, so I took a quick shot from the path.

The next day was spent with the boys at the state boat launch in Burlingame. The launch has a large cove with shallow water, so it was perfect for the boys. I was so happy to see Alex get over his fears. He did not want to go in and being in deep water was ok if I held him. But after a while, he was going up to his chest without a life jacket and going out in the boat with me. Nick was showing me how he could swim and even paddled by himself.

Thursday we wanted to go back to the pond, but they closed due to high bacteria. Found out later that it was only certain areas, but better to be safe with the boys. We took them on a picnic near a waterfall and then went to another boat launch beach, lots of shallow waters. It was so crowded we couldn't park, but I got out with Nick for a quick look and someone left, so Bill parked the truck and we were able to enjoy a few hours at the shore. The kids loved playing in the water and seeing the little crabs, running around in the shells. We even go to see two large horseshoe crabs.

I got a few shots of birds at the sanctuary and spotted a Great Egret at the boat launch. Wonderful to see such a variety this week.

Today I got caught up. I also had to empty the trailer and clean it, and now it has to be repacked. But it is good, it needed a good cleaning and a lot of things will be left out so I have more storage space. We even found a good spot at the ocean in two weeks, so a three day weekend will be nice.

This week our Robin's eggs hatched. Her fist eggs never hatched, so I was happy to see that two survived. Even though I am exhausted, it was a week filled with beauty and happy memories with the boys. I hope you all had a wonderful week and a fun filled weekend.

Weekend Wanderings!

First I would like to mention something a follower mentioned, about my previous post. On the word, It's, it should be Its, no apostrophe. I got the idea for the bell, then the saying since it had bell in it and looked it up to get the right saying, and I took one that had the apostrophe without thinking. I do that a lot and I know I write my posts without thinking and no editing, so I need to be more careful, since they do seem confusing, even to me.

With the lyme, I have days where I cannot remember what I did 5 minutes ago, forget words and mess things up, so you will have to bear with me on those days;) Other days I am back to normal, it is an up and down process but I am having better days, so that gives me hope.

One of the things that helps me feel better is getting out in the fresh air and exercising. Now that I can move again, I thought it was a good time to go to the beach. It is relaxing, lots of fresh air and swimming is one exercise where I can move freely without pain.

Bill had Friday off so we could go to the beach without the crowds. We decided to go to East Beach since we never get to go there on the weekends and there is limited parking. It is a strip of land that divides a salt water pond and the ocean. They also have two camping areas at the end, but no dogs allowed.

It was a beautiful day, the water was warm and very few people on the beach.

The tide was going out and that means more waves. It was fun body surfing in the waves, not so fun when I got slammed a few times when I wasn't looking, lol. The island in the distance is Block Island, that is where the ferries go.

Saturday we we went to East Matunuck Beach. This beach is harder to get to since the roads are narrow, but perfect for a Saturday. Not as many people as at the main beaches and great waves.

It is also a nice place for great views, the channel was to our left and we could watch the ferries that go to Block Island.

They also have large areas with salt water marshes behind the beach, and an area where the Piping Plovers nest. Great place to stroll along the beach and look for heart stones.

I was hesitant about going to the beaches on a Sunday, but we decided to go later in the afternoon and this time we went back to Roger Wheelers Beach. They have a larger parking area and separate sections so you can pick a spot away from the main crowds.

We parked at the end and walked up the dunes, figuring there would be less people.

The minute we got to the end, we ran into, wall to wall tents. This must be the party end, luckily they all set up at the main entrance, we walked down, closer to the water. The tide was going out so we were able to find a spot further down and enjoy a few hours, even with the crowds. Great place to people watch and watch the boats coming in. This beach is on the other side of the channel, that we were at on Saturday. We could watch the ferries as well as the fishing boats that came across, to unload their catch at the docks.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and if you would like to see my videos, you can check out my YouTube Channel. You can see more of the views and hear the sounds of the sea.