We decided to fly the coop today and head for Maine, the place where life is “as it should be.” After all, winter is coming and we will be shut in enough. We expected to see more foliage, but the leaves are not really turning very much yet. The ferns are changing to yellow and rust, by the side of the road, a beautiful sight, and bunches of (lavender) New England wild asters are blooming there, too, right beside the yellow goldenrod. It seems that nature knows how to pick her colors well.
A beautiful New England Aster, growing in our backyard, is seen below. Underneath that photo is another one of Goldenrod, also in our yard.
Since today was a vacation day, we were determined to have “fun,” in our own inimitable way. We stopped at a few antique stores, but the pickings were slim in the textiles department, so we came home with nothing.
We pulled up at a second hand store and I found a couple of cute needlework patterns. I have found some neat quilt history books there, in the past. People often don’t know what they are discarding when “grandma” dies, or goes to a nursing home.
For a quarter, I found a pattern for a tooth fairy pillow (I don’t know when that will come in handy!), and an appliqué pattern of square dancers that just struck my fancy. That was also 25 cents.
Call us sticks in the mud. An outing for us usually includes bookstores, antique stores, and some place to eat. The Trailside Restaurant in Bridgton, Maine was a great place to dine. This time, we also stopped at the Country Store in Moultonboro, NH, a stone’s throw from Keepsake Quilting. Alas, the latter closes at 5 p.m. so we settled for poking around the country store. I bought a bottle of Sasparilla, a beverage that is a lot like root beer and hard to find around here. The store is loaded with everything from penny candy to notecards to stuffed animals, coffee mugs, postcards, moccasins, iron goods, welcome signs, cheese, and so much more.
They also have “new” cheese boxes that could be stained and stencilled and have a decorative fabric cover made for the top, as I once did. The unfinished boxes were $39.50. In the one I’d made, I created a fabric covered lining and used it to save sewing-related items. I took a class for the project ages ago from Diana Gallagher, who is now back in NH.
Jim took a photo of a wild turkey who was part of a group of hen turkeys, lurking by the side of the road. We parked, and watched this turkey as she kept continually going into the middle of the road. Her deceased sister was in a flattened position, up the road a piece, (as New Englanders say), proving that this kind of behavior does not always pay off. I’m sure Jim will share a picture or two with you a little later. (Of the LIVE bird, of course!) What were you thinking?
Ah, and here is the young hen turkey. The male turkeys are more stunning in appearance but they don’t “hang out” with the females until breeding season. Recently, New England has been overrun with wild turkeys. Like the deer, they probably “hide” during hunting season.
Best,
Pat from the Spider’s Web
