Saturday, September 26, 2009
Here's what Mt. Monadnock (which is right next to Kimball Farm/Jaffrey) looked like from far away today. The word "monadnock" ("a mountain or rocky mass that has resisted erosion and stands isolated in an essentially level area") was named after it! Cool, huh?
Posted at 11:53:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
We flew really low today, and took a different route home than usual because there was a TFR at Rentschler Field. We followed the Connecticut River, and went by lots of cool stuff that we don't usually see, like Turners Falls (big falls!) and Amherst (hi, Emily D.!) in Massachusetts, and Corbins Corner in West Hartford. :-) Saw a field of pumpkins waiting for October, and horses cows sheep. Farms farms farms and trees trees trees. Beautiful soft blue hills, blue river, green treetops so close I felt like I could reach out and touch.
Superb lobster roll today at Kimball Farm. Moanworthingly delicious lobster salad with tons of huge claws, and perfectly prepared bun. I said to Dean, "See? This is the way all lobster rolls should be." They totally redeemed themselves after a slight quality slip and insanely snaily ice cream line last time. (I think they had new workers on staff with students going back to school, but now they've got the hang of it.) There was also NO line. They had pumpkin ice cream but we didn't have to get it since the Pumpkin Injunction isn't in effect until Thursday. (So we got our usual peppermint stick, natch.) Kimball Farm closes for the season on October 18th, but if this was our last visit it was a perfect one. Such a nice nice afternoon.
Wow, we're about 20 southeast of Jaffrey, and we can see Boston way off in the distance, 50 miles away! It is SO clear today.
Posted at 4:13:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Wow, there are already a lot of colored trees mixed in with the green. They're easy to see from the air. Bright redorange, orange, rust, and yellow. And we're still in CT!
Posted at 3:57:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Posted at 6:46:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Wow, this is the first time I've noticed that the Cheshire bike trail is called "Farmington Canal Linear Park." Kind of like my brain, except the opposite. (Ooops, no, it's not the first time I've noticed. But I thought it was. Heh.)
This is definitely the first time we met the park ranger, though. His name is Vinnie and Dean knew he was the ranger because he was wearing a Hamden Parks & Recreation t-shirt and he let the chickens run around. I was totally oblivious and didn't notice either thing because I was pal-ing around with my friend Maaaa! so much. Who do you think is smiling more in this photo, me or Maaaa!? She was pressing up against my arm so hard it was trapped between her side and the fence! :-)
I figured out that Vinnie had something to do with the farm when he told us we should come to their festival, which is always the 3rd Saturday of October. I obviously don't want to go, since there will be lots of people there and events going on and I wouldn't have any alone time with Maaaa!, but it was still nice of him to tell us about it.
When we were leaving, I saw him walking by again and asked, "Does the big white sheep have a name? She's my special friend." He tried really really hard to think of what her name was (he said she's had two different names at various times), but just couldn't. That's okay, since her name is Maaaa! Then he commented that he'd "never seen her act like that to anyone before" (except he called her "it") and added something about how she "really seems to have a bond with you." He asked if we come often, and I said, no, only three or four times a year, but it really does seem as if she knows me. And I told him how I read online about sheep being really good at facial recognition, so maybe it's true.
We also visited the peacocks, chickens, and rabbits. (We hardly ever visit the rabbits.) It was a really nice hounding and I was totally surprised when it was over. It seemed so short. I saw ducks in the water alongside the trail, heard something rustling in the woods (wild turkeys?) and smelled the Newbie grapes multiple times. Nice.
Cat Stats: Distance - 7.30 miles; Average speed - 10.6 mph; Max speed - 14.7 mph; Total time - 41'09.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Posted at 11:03:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
I sewed together the initial version of my chocolate fleece skirt last night, but I undid it all today to make mods. I like it. I added ornamental pockets. Well, they're actually real, functioning pockets, but I added them solely to add warmth and interest to the look of the skirt front. I don't think they'd show up in a photograph, since it's brown fabric on brown fabric, with brown thread, but it looks sort of like the diagram to the right, except all the same color chocolately brown, and with smaller zig-zag stitches on the exposed edges (the zigs aren't to scale). I didn't do a waistband yet. Obviously, the pockets are insanely deep, so pretty much anything you put in them would get lost, but they actually work pretty well for an iPod. I used the real finished edge of the fabric for the bottom of the skirt, and it's got this cool shiny satiny strip there, about an inch wide. It looks a little bit darker than the soft fuzzy part of the fabric, because of the way the light hits it. This skirt is all about textures.
I'm tiiiiiiired tonight. Combo of staying up past 5 AM, not getting up late (not late for me, at least), and doing row weights at NEAC. The massage lady last week told me I should do rows, which is true, but I never do because they're hard for me since I have no back muscles. It was so nice out today. Again. But even nicer! I sat outside in the sun at Rocky (!) and drank a really good dry cappuccino. The clear aquablue-and-white sky was amazing. I even told the barista not to put caramel drizzle on it when I saw how good the foam looked. Very surprising. I didn't think I would, but I officially LOVE Facebook.
Oh my God, I was just looking at my old "Those Wonderful School Years" (gag) memory album thingy, and I've been the same height and weight since 8th grade! That's scary. No wonder people think I look like I'm 13. :-/
Posted at 4:43:00 AM by Laura W. Petix.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
I got some super-soft anti-pill chocolate fleece at Jo-Ann's on Saturday, and I'm going to try skirting it for warm autumnal purposes. It was on sale, so a yard was only FIVE dollars! It's soooo pretty. It reminds me of Dean's yak sweater.
Posted at 8:37:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Aaaaah! Kunik = ♥.
Posted at 8:29:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
!!! Smith & Hawken: "Store Closing, Nothing Held Back, Entire Store 40-50% Off!" Yikes. S&H is the cornerstone of the Glastonbury roundy shopping center. Or, the middlestone, really, since it's in the center. Wow. :-( I bought some stones for our bonsai. The store lady said they're getting Christmas ornaments tomorrow, which I don't need any more of, but maybe I'll look at them...
Posted at 5:07:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
It was all overcast today, but still warm, and the Connecticut River was smooth as glass when I drove over. I talked to my Whole Foods pal again, and found out he's studying to be a graphic designer. I told him I'm not surprised, because he looks like a graphic designer, and he asked me if that was good or bad. Of course it's good! I bought another small hunk of Kunik, and the cheesemonger suggested I try another Nettle Meadow cheese, Crane Mountain, which he said he likes even better. He gave me a little piece to taste. It was good but I think I still like Kunik better. Cheesemongers are scary. I'm really intimidated by the cheesemonger.
I'm making a leek feast for supper to welcome autumn, even though autumn isn't my friend.
Whaaat?? Royal Lunch milk crackers have been discontinued, and no one else makes milk crackers anymore, not even for ready money?? They're classic! I can't remember if we bought them ourselves, but I can still picture the box. Who always had them around? Grandma Whaples? I loved them and was intrigued by them, because they're so New England-y and we never had them in Maryland. And they were good! That is tragic. People need milk crackers!
Posted at 11:08:00 AM by Laura W. Petix.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Oooh, that ("A Fiery Birth") was a great episode of Wild Pacific!! Except for the part where they villainized crown-of-thorns. Grrrrr. At least they admitted PARROTFISH EAT CORAL, TOO!!! though. Anyway, great great great episode, full of volcanoes and flowing orange lava and remote life and a pristine coral reef (!! so colorful) and Jellyfish Lake. Aaaahh!! I would love love love LOVE to snorkel in Jellyfish Lake.
Posted at 11:27:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Why are oyster crackers called oyster crackers? Are you supposed to eat them with oysters? Because I thought you were supposed to eat them with clam chowda. Or is it because they look like oysters? (?) And why does Westminster brand have a monopoly on oyster crackers?? Everywhere you go, they always give out Westminster. And they're made in Vermont! They don't even have oysters and clams in Vermont! (Native ones, I mean, since it's landlocked.) Any insight on this, Wendy???
Posted at 2:25:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
[Edit: Hmmm, Wikipedia provides reasonable answers to some of these burning questions. (I have never heard of oyster soup, though.) Also, the oyster toadfish (linked from said Wikipedia page) sure is cool.]
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Something Natural was pretty good. (I asked Dean if Something Natural is like It's Only Natural but instead of only natural things they just have one token natural item.) Lucky for us, there was no one else there, so zero screaming children were encountered. The off season is nice. We each had two half sandwiches. (Note: a half sandwich from Something Natural is the size of a normal whole sandwich.) I got Turkey Salad (turkey, granny smith apples, raisins) on oatmeal bread, then Cream Cheese & Olive on herb bread. They were both excellent choices. Dean got Sheila's Favorite (extremely messy, due to shredded carrots), then Avocado, Cheddar and Chutney, with the same bread scheme as mine. His were both really good too, according to him. (Mine were clearly better.) Cream cheese & olive = saltwater sandwich. Yum, and great texture. We also had our requisite watermelon juice and best-ever mint chip waffle cone from the Juice Bar after the hounding, natch. No fog today. So clear. The horizon was the most incredible BRIGHT orange on the flight home.
Posted at 6:25:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Cat Stats: Distance - 15.13 miles; Average speed - 8.6 mph; Max speed - 21.0 mph; Total time - 1:44'50.
It is so CAVU. Flying over the Thames, Groton, Fisher's Island, Block Island. Montauk. It seems like I can see every bit of Long Island. Westerly, Watch Hill, Point Judith. Martha's Vineyard. Newport. All at the same time. Can't see Nan yet though. The ocean's nice and blue today.
Posted at 1:28:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
CAVU! Flying to Nantucket for one last summer hounding. We're going to try a new route and food joint today! Cliff Road. Something Natural. There are supposed to be lots of screaming children there during the high season so it seems like a good op. :-)
Posted at 1:05:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
