Riding the Rails

Our grandson Noah's birthday was last month, and our gift to him was a ride on a real train, since he is in love with all things train-ish.  

While awaiting the train, we were lucky enough to find some fun stuff to play with.

 



 

Old railroad signs were too exciting to pass up.

 

All Aboard!!

 

When he wasn't sitting with his nose glued to the window, commenting on everything he saw as we rode along, he was snuggling with Grampy.

 

And horsing around with Memere.

 

We disembarked in West Concord and

after stopping in at Pete and Betsi Mandrioli's store for a snack, we made our way to the toy store, where - how exciting!!! - they had a model train set up.

Another stop in the 5 and 10 (which, BTW, apprarently no longer stands for 5 and 10 CENTS) for a couple of cars to play with.....and then waiting for the pizza.

 



Hawaiin pizza.....a tradition for Noah and Grampy.

 



 

A little walk around, including a glimpse into the fire barn to look at the trucks.  Good thing the alarm didn't go off!

 

Waiting on the platform....here comes the train!

 

A tired but happy Noah on the way home.

Gift VS. Memories

I had the unfortunate need to go to a store today.  I very rarely shop, and when I do, it's in and out...no fooling around.   I was looking for a specific thing, and found myself wandering around the Halloween costume department.  

First of all - really????  Has Halloween become such a huge commercial enterprise?  I guess I should have been clued in by the four or five Halloween stores that popped up the last month or so, and that's just in my hometown.  What happened to the days when kids made costumes out of old bed sheets and second-hand clothing castoffs?

But I digress.

As I wandered around, I was awestruck by the amazing amount of stuff.   Just stuff and stuff and more stuff.   Do we really need all this stuff?  Must we have it?  A retro hotdog and bun toaster?  Really?

And it reaffirmed a decision that Hubby and I made to give our grandchildren memories instead of gifts.

It started with our niece.  She's the only young one left of our nieces and nephews, so she gets the honor of being the one whose birthday we still celebrate.   Four or five years ago, we decided to take her out for her birthday rather than give her a gift, since her birthday is December 16.  It was a huge hit.  Since then, we've taken her to the movies, to a play, to the Science Museum, and to the Planetarium.

This year, she's turning 13.   Last time we saw her, I told her she should start thinking about what kind of outing she'd like to go  on with us this year.  "Unless," I said, "you're getting too cool to go out with Auntie and Uncle".   "Oh no," she says, "I love hanging with you guys."  

I'm so happy that she still loves our adventures, and that we seem to be a pretty cool Aunt and Uncle.

Now we've decided to carry on the tradition with our grandchildren.   In August, we took Emily to York Beach Animal Farm for her 5th birthday.   We all had a ball.   And now we've decided to take Noah on a train ride this Saturday for his 4th birthday.

We hope that spending the day with Memere and Pepere will be a memory that they'll hold in their hearts forever......and will mean more to them than the toy that gets played with for a week and then gets shoved under the bed.

The memories for Pepere and I are priceless.

Pepere's Birthday Cake

After a discussion a couple weeks ago about Pepere's upcoming birthday, I invited Emily over to help me make him a birthday cake.  She was happy to do it, as long as it was a white cake with rainbow frosting. 

 

After making the batter, it's always fun to make goo out of leftover flour and water.

 

 

 

We mixed up some colored frosting for our rainbow.  Emily was careful to check and make sure each and every color tasted good.

Even while she was helping Pepere frost the cake!

 



 

Then it was time to frost.  She carefully made rainbow stripes with each of the colors.

 

And then it was time to put on the candles.  Even though Pepere is turning 58, we only had one box of 36 candles, so she decided they should all go on. 

 

Each colored candle had to go on the right color of frosting, except for white which "can go anywhere".

 

 

 

 

She looks quite pleased with the results.

 

 

We lit all the candles, serenaded him with a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday to You" and they blew out the candles together!!

 



 

Quechee, VT

Hubby and I did our annual fall trip this past weekend.  This year, it was to Quechee, VT.   Here are a few photos:

Our first stop was at Cider Hill Gardens.  Hubby found this place in his internet searching.  It had some interesting outdoor "scuplture" including this wooden lady flying between the trees.

 

We then went to Saint-Gaudens, which is the site of the home of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, a sculpture who produced such masterpieces as the "Seated Lincoln". 

 

The grounds were beautiful.

They had a reproduction of his studio

 



 

 

This sculpture is a reproduction of the one in Boston Common.

 

We saw a few of these in our travels.

 

There was a pathway about 1/2 mile long that led from our Inn to Quechee Gorge.  We walked it several times.

 

The Gorge from the top of the bridge.

 

 

When you get down to the bottom you can climb on the rocks.

View of the bridge from the bottom.

 



"The Thinker"

 



 

Hubby's Artsy Fartsy shot

Then we headed over to Billings Farm and Museum.  Quite the place. They were having a farm day.  Lots to see and do, including the museum which was quite extensive and well-done.

 



 

A little one-month old calf.

 

She likes me!

 

AND she likes the camera!

 

Jim and Joe, the drought horses.

 

Coming out of the Inn on Sunday morning, we heard a strange noise and looked up to see this!  We chatted with the balloon "chaser", who was following along to pick up the balloon and its passengers when it finally touched down.

 

Then we went for a ride on a train....not this one.

 

It was the "Green Mountain Flyer" and it took us to Cedar Circle Farm for a Fall Festival.

 

We spent most of the time listening to these guys.....The Wall Stiles

 

There was a hay ride

 



Hubby had fun on the tractor

Pumpkin Patch

Corn Maze....can you find Hubby?

 



And some entertainment on the train on the way back!

 



 

Stopped off at Cracker Barrel on the way home and that makes for a great vacation!!!

 

My English Garden

I've always wanted to have an English Garden.   I love the look of them.   Hubby pulled a huge shrub from the corner of our front yard, near the driveway.  It left a perfect-size area to put my garden.

Our plan had been to "steal" as many of the flowers as we could.   We see so many beautiful flowers along the highways and byways........brown-eyed susans, daisies, queen anne's lace.....we figured  we could just stop and put some in buckets we would conveniently keep in our car, and we'd replant them in the garden.....no one being the wiser.

But we waited a bit too long.  We can't see any flowers on the highways any more.  So, I got the bright idea to put an ad on Freecycle and see if anyone had perennials they wanted to get rid of.

And boy, did they!  I got about a half-dozen responses with long lists of flowers people were just dying to give me!  So I chose one person who was nearby and Hubby and I went over Sunday night.

Even this late in the year, I could see the beautiful extensive gardens this woman had.  She had already dug up dozens of flowers for me.   And we started putting them in the buckets we'd brought and putting them in the car.  

The woman was very knowledgable and told me the name and interesting facts about all the flowers she gave me.  Unfortunately, I don't rememeber most of what she said!  So I now have a garden with no idea what's planted in it!  

Of course, it doesn't look very sexy right now.  I do remember she told me not to cut back all the stems and leaves until they were dead.  So I have half-dead flower plants in the ground.   I guess it's going to be an interesting surprise to see what comes up next year!

With no idea what they are, I have idea how tall they get.  I tried to plant them based on how tall they look right now!  I'm sure there'll be some re-planting and rearranging next year when I see how this all looks.  

And tonight, I'm going to another person's house for some other flowers that she says she has available!  Oh my!

Sunday Night Chit Chat

My friend Joan over at "How to be a Housewife" put up a Meme called Sunday Night Chit Chat.  It's a fun way to get to know a little bit about everyone else. 

What are you.......

Reading?  Right now I'm reading the newest book out by Danielle Steel.   The title is "Friends Forever".  It's about five friends who meet in kindergarten and are friends for the rest of their lives.  I'm about halfway through.  I have to say, I liked Danielle Steel's books much more when she first started writing.  There were a couple of her books that I literally read from cover to cover without stopping.  Her newer books seem less involved, less personal, and almost read like someone else wrote them!   I can't help getting them out of the library, though, in hopes that she'll publish one just as good as her older ones.

Watching?  I'm happy to say my favorites are starting up again for the fall.  I've been a "Survivor" fan since day one.  I absolutely love the social interactions.   And I saw the first episode of the season for "The Amazing Race" last night.   Also, in the past year, I've become a huge fan of "Big Bang Theory."   That show is just hilarious!

Listening to?  Mostly, I listen to local artists who have published their own CDs.  My favorites are "Cooper and Kenneally",   Tom Smith,  "Two Cat Folk"   and Jon Swenson.

Cooking/Baking?  I've been trying to find things to make with the plethora of tomatoes we are harvesting from our garden!   I've made salsa, tomato and mozzarrella salad, pizza, eggplant w/tomato and  some very yummy chili to eat while watching the football game.  (Go Patriots!)

Happy you accomplished this week?    I finished a couple of sewing projects, and finally got my garden bed ready for my English Garden.   I went on freecycle and asked for some perennials, and got such a response, I have buckets of perennials to plant after work tonight!

Looking forward to next week?    Hubby and I are taking our fall vacation to Vermont!  We'll be staying at a bed and breakfast in Quechee Gorge.  We plan to visit a couple of farms for their fall festivals, visit a couple of botanical gardens/art galleries, and go on a train ride up to Thetford, VT.  I can't wait!!!!

Thankful for today?  I'm so thankful for the wonderful and generous friends who've been donating to my walkathon.  I walk each year at the Making Strides walkathon in honor of my Mom, who passed away two years ago from cancer.   Each donation feels like a great big hug from the people I love!

*** Bonus Question***
What is the grossest thing you ever ate?   I have to say, I don't really eat gross things.  I guess I'm smart enough to avoid anything that might taste nasty!!!

Leave me a comment here if you post this meme on your blog so I can come snoop read it, but also head over to "How to be a Housewife"  and leave a link to your post.

Thanks for playing, and have a great First Day of October!