Even a leisurely day isn't leisurely

11 October 2013

713

R. Linda:

Tonya had a teachers' conference and we decided since I had the day off as well, we'd take a fall foliage AKA leaf peepers ride to see the fall colours. We never should have left home because we have more colour here than in the western part of the state. However, it was the thought we could pick up and go, spend the day out for a nice drive, get lunch out and take a leisurely drive home.

As we got to Keene, New Hampshire the sun was out and it was very pretty. Our goal was to take the Connecticut River Byway and see a few covered bridges, you know, do the New England thing. We went on up to Walpole, Wolfie's old stomping grounds, and as we got there the clouds started to roll in. We drove on, and as we got up to the bridge to Bellows Falls, Vermont we decided what the heck let's go. We'll see the Green Mountains of Vermont, which should be beautiful this time of year. However, as we drove the river on "our" side, the mountains on the Vermont side were very noticeable. I suspected they were the Green Mountains and I was right, but too late we had crossed over and now we know why the Green Mountains are called the GREEN mountains. There was no real colour to speak of because they are all fir treed. Yes, indeed, like the White Mountains of New Hampshire, which I thought were called that because they were perpetually snow-capped, and then found out what I was staring up at was NOT snow, but white granite ROCK, I have now learned about the mountain range on the other side!

 

Vermont side of the Connecticut River 

We decided to turn around and go back to Bellows Falls, and cross back to New Hampshire where there was some colour. Oi! But as I came up the road to turn, there was the Vermont mecca of meccas, the Vermont Country Store! Tonya made noises to pull over and get out we were going shopping! Have you seen this place online? Let me tell you it is a quaint kind of place, looks like an attraction actually and it is of sorts. The inside was jammed with people. I mean we were out in the middle of nowhere, hardly any traffic and why? Because everyone who lives in Vermont was at the Vermont Country Store, that's why.

 

Yup, perfect old timers shopping experience

We walk in and instantly the wife disappears in the masses of shoppers all of an age I noticed: retired. Try manoeuvring your way with three kiddos through browsing old people wall to wall. I tell ya it was like a minefield. Just as I was at me wit's end I ran into (quite literally) the wife, and seeing I needed a break she took the "children" from me and left me on me own. What to do? I'll tell ya what I did, I ate me way through the entire store. There were sample dips, jellies, jams, crackers, cheeses, pretzels, and candy all laid out for the tasting. I was starved and this was nirvana, I was in Vermont hog heaven I was. I even went up to the clearance floor to see if there were leftovers up there.

I have to say the munchies make you hungrier than you realise while stuffing your face. When the wife rounded me up, we went outside and there was a burger stand that smelled yummy. But she didn't want burgers, she wanted a sit-down lunch. So off we went back to Bellows Falls, across the Connecticut River and back to the other side. I headed north and we came into Charlestown. What Charlestown is known for is an old 1740s Fort No. 4 that is on the river and filled with historical artefacts. Being married to an educator, we were off to educate the little darlings and ME.

 

THE FORT . . . uh number 4

Tonya said she had seen a brochure of the place and she could get some decorating ideas for our antique house because there were 'residences' inside the fort. Well, no I'm sorry to say unless we go RUSTIC big time no ideas! I be not about to pull down the ceilings and walls to expose the wood, so we'll just have to stay as we are. Gees!

 

Room with canon, oh yeah

We had a tour guide for two sites within the fort before he up and left or actually we up and left him. He came running over as he was the only guide, and because it was a weekday, nothing was going on at the fort so . . . he told us about the Abenaki Indians and what they had to do with the Fort and a little about the Indian wars and how everyone came to the Fort for protection. While he talked I was trying to extract O'Hare from sitting in a birch canoe, and Tonya was running after Guido who had spied an early settlers axe and was about to pick it up. The wee one was meanwhile asleep in the ride-along-pack strapped to me back. We had a hell of a time, each artefact the guide pointed out was immediately seized by greedy little hands and then ours, to pry them off and put things back, to where I took Guido outside because he could not mind. I was shortly followed by Tonya dragging a protesting O'Hare. I was on me way to a canon to amuse the kiddo in me charge and that's when we sort of lost our guide. I think he had enough. So we saw the rest of the place on our own and the kiddos were better behaved (well think about it, no one to point the good stuff out).

We decided since it was nearly two, and the day overcast to where it looked a lot later, we'd head back and get lunch/dinner along the way. Before we left the fort Tonya asked the woman at the ticket counter if she could recommend someplace close by. The nice lady said there were no places but one in Walpole, in the village. Getting the directions from her we were off. We arrived at about 2:30 to a packed house. The hostess asked us if we had reservations, and we were stunned, it was late, who knew? But we were seated within minutes. This was a four-star restaurant but it should have been 2 stars. The bread was rock hard and I nearly broke me teeth on a piece of cold sausage served with me appetiser. The mains were good, but the dessert was hard and we could not (try as we might) cut the thing with a fork. We were sharing, so I covertly broke the damn thing in half with my hands. I said to Tonya, "Tell me if anyone is looking, I'll try to do this fast."

We went to the attached candy shop and I bought each of us a chocolate ghost. Probably hard too, I haven't had mine yet. I still can't get over reservations for a 2:30 luncheon. That was the highlight of me life thus far. But it doesn't end there. Me old neighbour has an old (and I mean old) Canadian sleigh that O'Hare drools over when he's down at the man's barn. Well, the old guy gave it to O'Hare and said to use it as a Christmas decoration and of course, the boyos are thrilled. Me, not so much. Tonya decided to paint the thing, but as she scraped the paint the rotten wood disintegrated and there were holes . . . big holes. What to do? Call GABRIEL to fix it. Oh yeah like I know about woodworking and stuff like that. NOT. So I went online and found bendable plywood, and went out and found reconstructing a sleigh is as much fun as getting every single tooth pulled out of your head without anaesthesia.

 

Oh boy

I have notta clue what the heck I'm doing, but I'm doing it! Maybe in five Christmases from now, it'll be sort of done. Might look funny, but won't have any holes. And IF that project isn't bad enough, Tonya has another one for me. Yes, she does. It's called put windows in the old chicken coop.

Okay here's the story on that. We have this old chicken coop that has sat empty since we moved here. Tonya decided to clean it out and once she did, she had me put shelves in so she could put her gardening tools and things inside it for the winter. Great idea huh? Not so fast, when she's inside re-potting plants there are no windows and gee golly gee she'd like to look out to keep an eye on the kiddos in the backyard. SO Gabriel put some windows in. Oh sure, like I know how to do that! I went online and read up on it, and informed her she needed to get some windows because I could not build them. This news I thought would end putting windows in a chicken coop. But NO! She went online and found windows on Ebay, yes she did. They are ridiculously expensive windows that some guy was selling for next to nothing to unload them because he has to move and can't use them. Enter Tonya with Paypal and SALE! So he sends them, gorgeous, gorgeous windows. They arrived yesterday and I think the wife is nuts. The windows are too nice for a chicken coop but like she said she got them for what she budgeted (actually for less - we are talking professional shopper here) and so . . . I go out to the garden shed formally known as the chicken coop, and I measure and I cut out and I install one window and it looks slightly crooked, but it is plumb. What isn't plumb is the garden/chicken building. Tonya comes out and looks, then she says, "Eyeball it, don't measure it because whoever built it didn't measure."

Right, we are and ok. So I eyeball the second one and it looks perfect BUT the other one looks even more crooked. Oi! I was annoyed I was, and she saw I was, so she told me to leave it, just leave it, it has character. Oh yeah it does! But the adventure doesn't end here, no, no, the guy who sold her these gorgeous windows wants to see what they look like once installed.

I said, "Does he know what you bought them for?"

"Uh . . . no." Says she.

She has come up with the harebrained idea of taking a picture of some other building that is "pretty" and taking a picture of the windows in the chicken coop, and shipping them off to Weasil, so he'll do his Photoshop magic of photoshopping the windows into the "pretty" building and you get the idea. She demented I tell ya! And she says I should be committed with some of the things I do. Well, I tell ya!

Equal time here -- a shot of the New Hampshire side of the river.

 

Connecticut River view from Charleston (the river be right behind that first row of trees R. Linda!)

Gabe
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