A Much Needed Trip to the Country and Some Bling
The past few weeks have been an ongoing series of unfortunate events. The bedbugs are still not vanquished, so we continue to live in a stripped down limbo of endless laundry and vacuuming and piles of diatomaceous earth. The exterminators smashed the chargers for Leit's phone, and while he was shopping for a replacement, he had his pocket picked at the mall. We keep discovering new fallout from this, starting with his running out of gas because he couldn't fill the tank without money, leading up to a failure of our EZ Pass because we had to cancel the card that refills it, and my just now remembering that the medical debit card also has to be replaced, lest the thieves load up on sudafed for their meth lab at our expense. In between there has been some major auto repair and the general malaise of summer. So we were very much looking forward to our long-planned escape to New Hampshire this weekend to visit Kethrai and Lucky Strike.
The main street of their town:
It was a beautiful drive through the wooded parkways of Westchester and the many confusing left exits of Connecticut. We hit some heavy traffic in Massachusetts, and had an interesting stop along the way.
I'd always imagined it would be much more difficult to get in, but we just drove right up.
We arrived on Friday afternoon at an old farmhouse full of interesting projects and happy pets and friendly people who were wilting a little in the unaccustomed heat. After a leisurely dinner, we went out back to sit in their stone circle and admire the stars. It's good and dark up there, so you can see really far. The Milky Way stands out brightly. It was very restorative. We slept wonderfully in the country quiet with open windows and stirred ourselves for a walk around the town and a visit to the cemetery. It dates back to the 18th Century and is still well-kept and in current use. It's full of a mish-mash of different stones and monuments. Somebody around there really liked obelisks for a while. My favorites were the older stones, though. I always love the themes of the weeping willow and the baby-faced angels, like the ones on these stones from the early 19th Century:
On our walk back, we passed the one-time train station, now a home, as is the caboose on the shaded siding.
After lunch, I took a much needed nap and then we went to check out the local swimming hole. The local kids jump off the low bridge into the dammed up part of the small river, but we waded in at the boat launch, being cautious city folk. The water was cool and sweet and we floated and splashed for an hour or so. I also discovered Leit's previously unknown talent for skipping rocks really far across the water. It was like the credits of the Andy Griffith Show!
Our hosts were running a yard sale that devolved into a sort of potluck cookout. Leit got his first taste of Moxie. Since he is a serious beverage connoisseur, the locals got a kick out of his thoughtful swishing, tasting, and analysis. I don't think we will be buying any soon, though I rather like it. But heck, I also like the taste of Listerine.
Then Kethrai and I went inside to work on our Big Project. Now, Kethrai makes stuff. Lots of really cool stuff. She sews Ren Faire accessories and big furry purses with monster faces on them. She cooks up natural soaps and lotions and salves. (I used a whole lot of her bug-repellent Hippie Goo, because I am, apparently, The Mosquito Whisperer.) And she makes wonderfully fanciful jewelry from wire and stones and various sparkly bits. She sells all this stuff on her Etsy shop under the name Antika Nueva, www.antikanueva.etsy.com. So I had asked Kethrai to help me with my headpiece for the wedding. I'd amassed a bunch of feathers and beads that I liked, and I'd asked her help in obtaining a metal stamping of a bat like the one in my favorite necklace that Leit gave me for my birthday last year. She took all this stuff and came up with a wonderful concoction that fulfills my wildest flapper fantasty. (One of the lingering guests commented that it made him want to break out in a Charleston.) So here's the piece I am calling my Wed Head:
There are some more photos, including the fascinator for my sister and some matching earrings for everything. I hope I can post those tomorrow. I feel so glamorous! It was a much-needed boost.
Many thanks to our delightful hosts for a truly restorative long weekend.
The main street of their town:
It was a beautiful drive through the wooded parkways of Westchester and the many confusing left exits of Connecticut. We hit some heavy traffic in Massachusetts, and had an interesting stop along the way.
I'd always imagined it would be much more difficult to get in, but we just drove right up.
We arrived on Friday afternoon at an old farmhouse full of interesting projects and happy pets and friendly people who were wilting a little in the unaccustomed heat. After a leisurely dinner, we went out back to sit in their stone circle and admire the stars. It's good and dark up there, so you can see really far. The Milky Way stands out brightly. It was very restorative. We slept wonderfully in the country quiet with open windows and stirred ourselves for a walk around the town and a visit to the cemetery. It dates back to the 18th Century and is still well-kept and in current use. It's full of a mish-mash of different stones and monuments. Somebody around there really liked obelisks for a while. My favorites were the older stones, though. I always love the themes of the weeping willow and the baby-faced angels, like the ones on these stones from the early 19th Century:
On our walk back, we passed the one-time train station, now a home, as is the caboose on the shaded siding.
After lunch, I took a much needed nap and then we went to check out the local swimming hole. The local kids jump off the low bridge into the dammed up part of the small river, but we waded in at the boat launch, being cautious city folk. The water was cool and sweet and we floated and splashed for an hour or so. I also discovered Leit's previously unknown talent for skipping rocks really far across the water. It was like the credits of the Andy Griffith Show!
Our hosts were running a yard sale that devolved into a sort of potluck cookout. Leit got his first taste of Moxie. Since he is a serious beverage connoisseur, the locals got a kick out of his thoughtful swishing, tasting, and analysis. I don't think we will be buying any soon, though I rather like it. But heck, I also like the taste of Listerine.
Then Kethrai and I went inside to work on our Big Project. Now, Kethrai makes stuff. Lots of really cool stuff. She sews Ren Faire accessories and big furry purses with monster faces on them. She cooks up natural soaps and lotions and salves. (I used a whole lot of her bug-repellent Hippie Goo, because I am, apparently, The Mosquito Whisperer.) And she makes wonderfully fanciful jewelry from wire and stones and various sparkly bits. She sells all this stuff on her Etsy shop under the name Antika Nueva, www.antikanueva.etsy.com. So I had asked Kethrai to help me with my headpiece for the wedding. I'd amassed a bunch of feathers and beads that I liked, and I'd asked her help in obtaining a metal stamping of a bat like the one in my favorite necklace that Leit gave me for my birthday last year. She took all this stuff and came up with a wonderful concoction that fulfills my wildest flapper fantasty. (One of the lingering guests commented that it made him want to break out in a Charleston.) So here's the piece I am calling my Wed Head:
There are some more photos, including the fascinator for my sister and some matching earrings for everything. I hope I can post those tomorrow. I feel so glamorous! It was a much-needed boost.
Many thanks to our delightful hosts for a truly restorative long weekend.