A Whirlwind Week!

It's so great to have company!  Friends we met and spend the winter with in Florida made their first trip to New England in their motorhome with car in tow last week.  Jim and Gail are full time nomads, on the road in their lovely 'home on wheels'.  They parked in our special place for friends in RV's who wish to visit us.  What a good few days we had showing them around and doing some things new to them.

One day we went on a mystery ride, enjoying finding some of our covered bridges, stopping to look at the Queeche Gorge and watch the amazing glass blowers at the Simon Pierce store there in Queeche..  Lunch was fun at a quaint little diner and then some shopping at Gillingham's, an old fashioned country store in Woodstock that offers all the hard to find things of yesteryear.  Then on home for a quiet dinner at home and a nice little bonfire on the back patio listening to the crickets and other night noises along with the crackle of the fire and its welcome warmth on a beautiful cool night.

The Windsor/Cornish Bridge

This is the longest wooden bridge in the US and the longest 2 span covered bridge in the world.

One morning we took them kayaking, another first for them, at a very peaceful, remote pond and had a picnic on the small island there watching the geese and scaring up a few ducks as we left.  Back home again and after a bit of a rest, we took a walk in the woods along the river to the falls about a mile from our house.  Here we were met by our son in-law Paul who drove us on to check out the bald eagle's nest. No eagle siting today... he often soars high above the meadow across from our house hunting for small prey that might be scurrying through the grass there.  We have never seen him swoop down to catch anything but sure is nice to see him ride the wind currents.  He is a lot quieter than the airplanes that pull the gliders up and let them go to soar like the eagle!  All this exercise makes us really hungry so we go to the Black Rock Restaurant to savor great steaks served on a VERY hot rock ... 700 degrees hot they say, upon which we each can cook our meat to our favorite doneness.  Sooo yummy! This too was something not experienced before by our guests.

Looking for the eagles

Another day was spent just relaxing and enjoying this near perfect weather we have been so blessed with.  In the evening, the guys went off to an antique show in NH and we girls had a little night out going to the little Scottish Pub nearby for a unique supper of Cock a Leeky Pie and a fabulous dessert resembling peanut butter pie with whipped cream topping.

It was a wonderful time we shared and we are so glad they decided to check out our part of Vt.  It was a real bonus to have such warm, sunny,
 blue-sky days and such cool nights so good for sound sleeping.
We hope they find many more fun things to do as they travel through parts of NH and Maine and that they stop back by around Labor Day as they wend their way back to Indiana and Kentucky to visit with relatives before heading to Florida for the winter months.

Now it is all quiet around here and time to pick the garden and make some jam and get back to finishing up some of my UFO's  (un-finished- projects) .

Hope you all enjoy these wonderful end of summer days.  Remember that " Today is a gift, that is why it is called 'The Present' "

Perfect Summer Days

This has been a perfect summer day here in VT.  The sky is bluer than blue... the eagle is soaring over the field that son in-law, Paul keep mowed.  She can see the little critters better that way if any should be scurrying through the grass.  I would love to see her swoop way down for a better look !  We can see her white head at times and then she climbs higher and just rides the breeze that is so delightful today.  I saw her fly over our backyard where I hang out the sheets to dry.  I guess she follows the river as she scopes out the fields and meadows.  Her nest is high in the big pine tree about 2 miles from our house, just off the river bank.  Some say she had two little eaglets there this year.  A couple years ago we were kayaking in that area and as we rounded a bend in the river, there she sat on the shore watching for fish.  A beautiful sight to see as she took to the sky as soon as she saw us.

We had a lovely weekend with the weather cooperating as we attended a graduation party for our step granddaughter, Lindsey.  The 'Vermont version' as we already enjoyed the CT party at the end of June. Angel and Paul did a great job with the food and we all had a good time playing the Bean Bag Toss game on the back lawn.  Great granddaughter, Brie gathered enough Maple leaves to weave into a necklace, (remember how we used to do that on a lazy summer day?)  We called her our Maple Leaf Princess and she posed and pirouetted for us in her green finery.

Our little Maple Leaf Princess

I was excited to have a visit last week from my friend Madelyn.  We were the best of friends way back in the Little Room at the old Perkinsville School years ago.  ( We only had the two rooms there at the old schoolhouse, with the little room for the first 3 grades and the big room for the upper 3 grades. Then it was off to Springfield for 7th and 8th grade and High School.)  Madelyn brought a lovely old heirloom quilt to show me.  It was so well made many years ago by her mother's relative.  It was a version of the Sun Bonnet Sue pattern only these were pretty ladies.  The very tiny, tiny stitches in the applique work were amazing and all hand done.  She also brought me a couple really nice rainbow trout that her husband had caught at the lake and one that he had smoked.  They were delicious !  I baked the biggest one and froze the other one for a treat later. Thanks Bill !

I never got to finish this post the other day!  Now, three days later I have time to sit and write a bit and check out other blogs etc.  Summertime can get pretty busy!   I am finishing up lots of small projects this summer and as I read my friend Cyndy's blog today I had to chuckle as it seems she is doing the very same thing!  We both had a batch of Comfrey/Plantain Salve in the works and I have finished mine up, with a yield of 10 jars of wonderful, healing salve.  The infusion with oil takes 4-6 weeks and mine was ready the other day to strain and add some beeswax and essential oil and pour into the little jars and tins I save up for the project.  I am looking for a source of the little tins and jars and the lip balm cases but everywhere I look on line, the price of the shipping is more than the goods !   This is SO ridiculous!  Especially since the weight of a couple dozen little tins is really minimal.  I'll keep looking and maybe I will find them at a Co-Op somewhere and save my shipping money!

Another project finished, or nearly so, I still have to put the binding on, is a quilt I started a long time ago and just now got back from the lady who has a long arm quilting machine and did the quilting for me.  I have another smaller one to finish up and that I will put on the quilt frame and tie instead of quilting the layers together.  I want it to be softer and a bit fluffier which the ties will accomplish.

SO, today I have to make pies for the big sale the Historical Society calls the Frippery, a great time of browsing around looking at all kinds of really nice things folks donate to be sold with the proceeds going to the Society.  The pie sale is a favorite and there are lots of yummy pies to choose from.

Have a great day, it is a nice rainy day here.  A soft rain falling is just what we need and it is supposed to be a nice weekend.   Blessings to you all and thanks for coming over !