Stoneview

Another visit to the rail trail

Having fully recovered from our last visit to the Nashua Rail Trail we pulled out the bikes again to enjoy another lovely sunny day. This time we made the trip a good deal shorter in hopes of preventing another shoulder flare and so far it seems to have done the trick. Yesterday was quite hot (well for this summer anyway) but we were out early enough that it was still bearable and there was a nice breeze. I do need to find myself some proper shorts as I again ended up with some uncomfortable abrasions. It also seems like my tires need pumped up each time as they were a bit too flat making it tougher to ride than it needed to be. The Canada geese were hopeful we'd toss them some bread when we stopped for a drink but quickly realized none was forthcoming and turned tail for more fertile feeding grounds.

Walkabout

Yesterday Jason took off work just a few hours early and we ventured out to Tower Hill Botanic Garden. It seems lovely any time of year we go and this time was no exception. There were lots of lovely things blooming and along the loop trail I saw the largest patch of Indian pipe I've ever seen. The full set of photos is over on Flickr here.

The trouble with having company

I've always had a fairly large request list at the library but it's grown exponentially since I joined Goodreads and began to get all sorts of fantastic book recommendations.  Emma and I stayed so busy last week that I didn't make it out to pick up my books as they came in which resulted in a very large pickup this week. Looks like I have some catching up to do!

On the waterfront

Yesterday we ventured in "to town" to visit the New England Aquarium. It's not really my favorite aquarium, having been spoiled at the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans and the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but it's been many years since I've visited so I wanted to give it a second chance. We had a lightspeed tour but it was just as well since the fire alarm went off and cut our visit short anyway. We grabbed a bite at the Summer Shack before heading home.

It was actually quite a chilly day (especially for July!) with highs in the 60's so I made some lovely chicken soup for dinner that banished that niggling sore throat I'd had all day.

Berrylicious

Yesterday morning the girls and I went to Tougas farm to pick blueberries. This is a large variety (and quite delicious despite all the talk about the tiny ones being the best) so picking was fairly quick. The girls stuck with it through about half the box and then went to the playground and petting zoo while I finished up. I put away about 2 gallons in the freezer and the rest were kept fresh for breakfasts and pie.

It's all in a day

Yesterday we headed into Boston for an afternoon Red Sox game but the MFA was having another open house so we planned to visit there in the morning. As has become usual for us we walked from the MFA through the fens to Fenway and visited the rose garden as we passed by. The cool rainy spring has made this the loveliest visit to the rose garden yet. Of course, the cool rainy weather also made for a very chilly damp ball game which we did not manage to finish. The chill in the air really made my jaw ache so we left int he middle of the 7th inning and beat a hasty retreat home via the liquor store and Whole Foods. We had a really fantastic seafood dinner complete with clams and scallops braised in white wine with garlic, shallots and tomatoes. I think that will be visiting our table more often! You can find a full set of photos over on Flickr here.

MFA Open House

Yesterday the MFA had an open house which included free admission to the museum and the special exhibition on rivals in Venice. There was a bit of a line to get in when we arrived but it moved quickly and soon we were standing in the cool interior of the museum. We visited the impressionists and some of the European art rooms before taking our turn in the crowded Venice exhibit (no photography allowed in that one) then we went on to visit the Korean and Japanese sections. On the way home we stopped at the Summer Shack for a proper New England seafood lunch. Yum!

A day of rest

Yesterday we slept in a bit and then headed out to Garden in the Woods for a relaxing stroll through some gorgeous garden. As usual I took many many pictures of all the beautiful blooms. The diehards can find a complete set in the Flickr set here which also includes all the photos from MmePurl's visit.

We made a brief stop at Knit Purl which is new since MmeP lived in the area. We both exercised great restraint and left without purchasing anything. We were still on a mission to find a travel tea mug with strainer like mine (we'd searched at the Concord kitchen shop with no luck) and Jason said he'd found it at Teavana.  Someone really needed to get in some seafood while visiting so we grabbed lunch at Legal's in the mall and visited Teavana after. I got a big 1 pound size cannister which has tea brewing temperatures and times on the back, very useful. I bought the most expensive Dragon Pearl Jasmine tea ever (I'd misunderstood the pricing) and am sorely disappointed with that as the stuff I get from Teazone in Somerville is not only much less expensive but also of a decidedly higher quailty. I do not recommend Teavana's tea but we were trhilled to get the travel mug as it's out of stock everywhere else. Our last stop on the way home was the Yarn and Fiber Company. Debbi loves this shop and has been trying to get me to go there for ages. She has had her first pattern published there and I wanted a copy. I also wanted to see what the shop was like having enjoyed their booth at the Knit and Crochet show last summer and I have to say they have a fantastic selection and a very welcoming shop.

Arrivals

Yesterday morning there was a final flurry of preparations for Madamepurl's arrival. The garden looked it's best and the house was fairly tidy. She arrived mid-morning and we headed off to Concord. We grabbed sandwiches and something for the evening's dessert at Concord Teacakes. Then we popped in to Quilter's Way for a peek about.

Then we popped over to the town center where we browsed the book store complete with requisite bearded book vendor. I picked up a copy of the current Cook's Illustrated so I could try out the cookie recipe Jerseyknitter recently raved about. We also visited my favorite little antique shop and button source. Of course I had to grab a few buttons while we were there. I'd also found some nice buttons at the quilt shop. After that we headed home where I made salmon with fennel, leeks and carrots in parchment packets. It took longer than expected but when they were done they were really delicious. Sadly I forgot to photograph them for you but that just means I'll have to make them again soon.

Tea beside the fire...

One of my nice finds this weekend was a cup plate for my little collection. This makes #15 in my little collection so it's quite easy to find things I don't yet have. Many of these are identified by a book called "American Glass Cup Plates" in which the authors give each unique style a corresponding number. Collectors refer to that as the Lee & Rose number. First I find a picture in the book that looks like the cup plate I've found but often there'll be more than one version that look nearly identical. I ID your cup plate you often have to get out the ruler for a precise measurement and count features, most often the little bumps along the edge of the plate. It's rare that I pay more than $10 for a cup plate so it's a very affordable hobby though if I wanted to get into the colored ones it would get a fair bit more pricey.

Feel the force

Who knew that when my youngest was 17 I'd still be sewing costumes. A Sith Lord costume has been requested for Halloween for wear at school. The pants and kimono style robe won't be too tough to do but the horns and makeup will be interesting to say the least. Our current plans for the horns is modeling clay. He thinks we can stick them on his stubbly head somehow but I'm thinking we may have to go with the tied on ones like in the link.

Another week, another visit to the farmer's market

Yesterday afternoon Jason and I visited the farmer's market again. He chose the bagels since he eats most of them and I visited my favorite new vendor. This time I took a picture of the most unfamiliar produce so that I can plan recipes with which to use them. Those mustard greens look quite different from the ones Grandma always grew and the amaranth and water spinach are unfamiliar as well. The cheese lady finally had her promised bacon and I was pleased to see fresh potatoes among the FM offerings as well. Grandpa used to grow potatoes and I didn't realize how much I missed having freshly dug ones, yum!

A fellow plurker offered up her dill and cheddar beer bread recipe yesterday morning and having had dill in the fridge already I snagged some cheddar from the cheese lady and whipped up a loaf to go with dinner. For dinner we had FM beets, FM greens, FM onions with smoked wild salmon and a dill/horseradish creme fraiche. Jason has to grate the horseradish for me as it stings my eyes so badly I can't see within seconds. It's tough even to scrape it off the board and stir in it, but gosh does it taste good, yum!

Yesterday morning I got Revontuli off the needles and put it to soak while we went to the farmer's market. Once I had the bread in the oven I spent some time setting it up on the blocking board. I love how this pattern shows off the long color repeats!

To market, to market

Coming back from a trip to Whole Foods a few weeks ago we noticed a Farmer's Market in Carlisle next to Kimball's. Having missed the Westford market while on vacation this week we thought we would give the Carlisle one a go. It's quite small but we found eggs, goat cheese and enough veggies to hold us until we can get out to the Westford one. I understand there is a year-round indoor one as well but with our internet down we couldn't look it up. We'll have to try that one another time.

The library walk

It's going to be a little while before I'm in shape enough to bike to the town center for the farmer's market or the library so yesterday we walked out again. I had books to return and books to pick up and it seemed a good reason to brave the trek a second time. We passed the lovely pond at Bridge street and discovered that the town has some agricultural conservation land with an extensive garden complete with several scarecrows.

And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street!

Yesterday was a lovely day for a walk and we had quite the surprise when we set out and ran across a stream of motorcycles coming down the street. A quick Google upon returning home informed me that it was a fund raiser for a good cause.

Sculpture

We both really loved the DeCordova sculpture park yesterday and the weather cooperated beautifully for that part of the day. We did get rained on at the Farmer's Market in the afternoon so we abandoned the spinning demo part of our day and just did a quick tour to buy lovely veggies and things. I don't think I've mentioned so far but there are loads more pictures of all the things we've been doing here on Flickr for the stout of heart.

MFA

Next up in our library pass extravaganza was the MFA yesterday morning. We printed off some kids activities and had a scavenger hunt of sorts. We searched for chocolate pots and dogs and later mummies. I quite enjoyed this portrait of the artists son which apparently employed a revolutionary technique whereby the child was portrayed as a child rather than a miniature adult. Afterwards we walked across the park to lunch at the Brown Sugar Cafe, a favorite of ours (though Emma was not terribly impressed).

On a side note: I've lost all my Google Reader subscriptions and am trying to rebuild them today. I would greatly appreciate comments with links to your blogs if you would be so kind as to leave them. I would hate to miss anyone's posts!

Zoo Visit

We are taking full advantage of the library passes for the week my niece is visiting. I reserved a different pass for every day that she is here. Yesterday we visited the Stone Zoo. I hadn't been before so I wasn't sure what to expect. I'd heard it was small but we all thought it was very nicely done for a small zoo and we quite enjoyed it.

The Beach

Yesterday we finally made it out to the beach. Several times we've tried to go when my niece was visiting but this is the first time it finally worked out that no one was sick and the weather was decent. We stopped at our favorite Lobster hut for lunch on the way home. I was still a wee bit under the weather so I skipped my usual fried shrimp and went for a crab roll instead, delish!

A visit to Lowell

We brought my niece home to visit with us for the week and I borrowed a friend's daughter for the day yesterday. We visited the quilt museum in Lowell and the Revolving Museum afterwards. Pictures are not allowed in the quilt museum so we can't show all the fun quilts we saw there.

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” Helen Keller

Over the weekend we went shopping for new glasses. Both of us wear prescription sunglasses so we had quite a pricey list to shop for. It's been quite awhile since we bought glasses and boy have the prices gone up.  The two pair on the right were ordered for me, the indoor glasses have moon and star graphics along the arms. The leftmost pair will be sunglasses for Jason and second from the left will be his indoor glasses. We should have them in two or three weeks.

Sushi

Earlier this week a friend was in town so we got together for dinner and some knitting. I missed the early-in-the-week get together as I still had company but I made it to the late-in-the-week one despite some nasty allergy shots. 

There's a new-ish sushi restaurant in town that's my current favorite. They also serve Chinese food so those who don't care for sushi can find something they like too. The best part, of course, is always the company. Thanks ladies for a lovely evening!

Visiting Salem

On day 2 of our visit Rose and I planned a visit to Salem. With the promise of afternoon showers we opted to do some walking in the morning with indoor activities planned for the afternoon. We parked in the garage adjacent to the visitor's center and picked up the convenient red line walking tour there. It's a perfect time of year to visit Salem as the only crowds were the school kids touring the witch museum. We did pop into the gift shop for a quick peak but quickly moved on.

Our walking tour led us past the House of the Seven Gables and we stopped in for a tour. It was too dark for nice pictures on my previous visit so I had a great time photographing the grounds and garden. Sadly photos are not allowed indoors on the tour.

After lunch we hightailed it over to the Peabody Essex Museum and crammed in a visit there as well, complete with a viewing of the Wedded Bliss exhibit and the Yin Yun Tang house that I'd sadly missed on my previous visit. I conned Rose into stopping in the origami exhibit and there our feet gave out after a most satisfying day. We headed home with one more stop at Debbi's house so Rose could look over the 37 bags of fleece Debbi has recently acquired. Waiting at home for us was a fabulous steak dinner prepared by Jason. I think we may have been a bit spoiled!

A most welcome visitor

One of the best things about May is that a visit from Rose is fast becoming an annual tradition. She's afraid I might move away and then it would be tougher to visit the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival where she gets some of her nicest fleeces for spinning. I'm always thrilled to have her visit and we always pack every second of our time with things to do. We started off our morning with some cinnamon rolls, Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day strikes again. I finally got Mom's glaze right, using milk to dissolve the sugar did the trick.

I had some scheduling issues on day 1 so we kept our travel close to home. We visited Tea Zone in Somerville  where I picked up some cocomint green. Beware if you visit, they drop addictive sample into your bag each time and you'll find yourself returning for refills. There were a few other tea stash additions on both our parts.

Before heading home again we grabbed a nice lunch at the Summer Shack. Rose had the award winning Lobster Roll and I had some fabulous fresh steamed crab. Yum!

Early morning walk

All this beautiful weather has tempted us  to start taking early morning walks again. Yesterday morning we caught the red winged blackbird, a lovely goat willow and a kitty wishing he was out for a walk too!