Wisconsin visit

Friday 21 October – Albany to Whitewater

After an awful night waking many times for no reason other than my brain, I went to breakfast at the hotel at 5:30 am. I was at the airport before 7 am and my big bag only weighed 49.5 lbs (allowance is 50 lbs or 23 kg). Hooray! I logged on to the airport wifi and updated my blog and email as I had difficulties with the hotel wifi last night.

The flight was uneventful with cloud cover most of the way. One fascinating thing I watched was a small double completely circular rainbow that stayed on the northern side of the plane for almost the whole trip. We were travelling through misty fog above the thicker cloud layer.

Nic and Megan met me at the luggage carousel as arranged soon after I had collected my bags. Our first stop was the Chicago Botanic Gardens where we spent 4 hours or so.

It is a beautiful garden and the large lake in which it is set gave it a wonderful feeling of spaciousness. Nic knew one of the botanists there so he (Norm) gave us a guided tour of the science building including the green roof garden where they test all sorts of plants for green roof suitability.

  

There were some magnificent displays of bonsais and insectivorous plants.

 

After we had walked enough we drove north towards home. We had a stop at the Mars Cheese Castle (cheese and other dairy is big in Wisconsin) where we were amazed by the variety of cheeses and of course tasted and bought a selection. On then to Elkhorn where Nic needed to buy an ingredient for his home brewing. We walked to the shop passing a quilting shop so I decided to browse in there instead.

Home then to Whitewater where we started the evening with cheese, crackers and apple and of course a glass of wine. This was later followed by steak, salad and Boston beans (Nic remembered that they were a favourite of ours). Nic had also been praising our rice pudding which he remembered fondly so we were able to make a 3-2-1 rice pudding for dessert and it was delicious. Amazing how some tiny things make such an impact.

By bed time I was quite exhausted having had little sleep the night before and an extra hour in the day with time zone change.

Saturday 22 October

Today started slowly with coffee and home made pumpkin muffins for breakfast. Then it was time to head out for a day of Wisconsin adventure. First stop was the Whitewater farmers market then a tour of Nic's building, lab and greenhouses at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater campus. We then drove to Cambridge to have another look for Megan and Nic at a house that is for sale. We then headed on into Madison to the farmers market there. This one was impressively huge and went right around the capitol building block with thousands of people moving in one direction around the stalls. There were lots of things to taste – cheeses and dips, turnips, breads and all sorts of vegetables and fruits. Nic bought some huckleberries to experiment with at home.

We walked two blocks of the market then headed down State St which is full of eating places and costume shops. We had lunch at the Kabul restaurant which served Afghan food. We had an absolutely delicious meal. We walked slowly back to the car passing a printing exhibition where Megan saw someone she knew. There we found out about a local book sale. So our next stop was the Fitchburg Public Library where Nic and Megan filled a large bag with books and paid just $3 for the lot.

By then we all wanted afternoon tea so Megan found Charming B's cafe, one of a few shops built into an old church at Milton. It certainly was charming and served excellent coffee. 

 

Another shop in the complex was a plant shop where Nic bought a Rubber Tree and got some information on worm farming.

Nic had questioned why some barns had quilt blocks painted on them then in one of the tourist booklets we found a whole list of Barn Quilts in the area (and more sites). I will have to investigate this.

As a result of our afternoon tea stop Megan found reference to Goodrich Hall antique shop nearby in one of the old buildings of Milton College. We spent some time browsing but I can't fit much more into my luggage, especially not one of their lovely assortment of footstools or old quilts. However, Megan did buy a lovely yellow bowl.

Time then to return home. The weather has been perfect with the temperature in the mid 20s at least, clear and sunny.

Sunday 23 October – Wisconsin to Utah

Breakfast today was huckleberry crepes cooked by Nic. The huckleberries worked out quite well. It is amazing how much one can fit into a day. It seems an age ago that I left Nic and Megan at Chicago airport after our 2 hour drive from Whitewater.

I was picked on by security at the airport. The cheese I bought Mary was swabbed 4 times for drugs or explosives as were my hands and my checked-in bag was opened by security after it left me. However, all was well and the flight across was very smooth. Saw a huge windfarm in Wyoming. The mountains on the Wyoming-Utah border had a little snow on them but when I landed in Salt Lake City the temperature was still in the mid 20s. C.

I met Mary easily the airport. Unfortunately she has a cold so I hope she gets over it quickly and I don't catch it from her.

We drove straight to Logan, dumped my bags, then drove up Green Canyon for a quick walk while the weather is so good. Home again to sample the cheese with some wine and olives before cooking our dinner. A few skypes and a bit of sorting ended a very long day. Another hour of time zone change to cope with.

Back to Adams

Monday 17 October

Well this is my last few days in Adams so I need to spend time checking flights and baggage allowances and posting things.

Overnight the temperature was down to about 1 C so an extra blanket was needed, especially as I do like my window open just a little.

I went online to check flights and hit my first two issues. Firstly, the flight out of Salt Lake City has been moved later by half an hour so I might have to change that one. I'll either check it when I get there or by phone from here. Secondly, the Air Canada flights to get home do not show up online. I rang to check those to find that unless you book them online they don't show online – seems strange!

Marion and I drove down to the PO and I asked the lady there to calculate all sorts of options. Once we had done banking and grocery shopping I returned home to pack and weigh my postal box. Am now posting things through to Mary as the cheapest option for getting them home.

After we'd finished with the packing and postal activities Marion and I did some more sewing. She has now finished her block for our next group quilt. I have almost finished another 'twister' table mat with 2 matching coasters. I'll try to finish those tomorrow as I'd like to give them to Marion and Barre before I go. We had a bit of an issue when the sewing machine jammed but Marion was able to fix it.

The day finished with dinner and TV and a bit of botany for Barre and I trying to identify on of the waterplants Surrey had planted in our back yard.

Tuesday 18 October

This morning I was able to finish the little gift for Barre and Marion after a bit of unpicking. I am quite pleased with the result.

I then spent the day reading, typing up various bits and pieces and catching up on all the other blogs and websites I like to follow. I even spent time cleaning up my computer.

I needed to get a bit closer to Surrey today feeling quite lonely so I spent a bit of time browsing our old blog and reading all the lovely comments again that others have added.

After dinner Harold (who had driven Surrey and I to the airport last time) came to visit and brought me some maple sugar sweets.

Wednesday 19 October

My first task today, even before breakfast was to change my Delta flight from Salt Lake City to Seattle. The lady on the phone wanted to charge me $800 so I yelled and ranted that as they had changed the flight time so I missed my connecting flights to Australia I did not feel that expense was appropriate. Hopefully I am now booked on an earlier flight at no extra charge except bags. I'll even try to pay my bags with my accumulated frequent flyer miles.

Next there was washing to be done. I have decorated the lounge room with that because that is the warmest room.

The rest of the day was spent with Barre writing a plant identification key and Marion and I finishing two more of her charity quilts. I was great to sew watching the fall happen right outside the window with leaves blowing down and scattering across the lawn (much to Barre's annoyance).

We went out for Chinese for dinner and it was delicious.

Thursday 20 October – Adams to Albany

I was well awake by 6:30 this morning and went downstairs to finalise folding washing and packing. Once everything was downstairs and in suitcases (I hope I am not overweight) Marion got out her civil war quilt blocks that she had left unfinished because she was having problems with what to do next. By lunch time we had worked it all out and the blocks all now have sashing and are ready to be joined together to form the quilt top. It is a beautiful quilt and will look fantastic when finished.

As we left the house and Adams it was obvious that the fall colours were at an end. Many of the trees had lost their leaves while others were just dull yellow-browns. Fall does not last very long.

At about 2 pm we left for Albany where Barre had booked me into the Best Western Airport Hotel. We dumped my bags then enjoyed dinner together (albeit only 4:30 pm) at the Olive Garden. Surrey and I had stayed and eaten at the same places last visit.

After dinner I bid farewell to Barre and Marion hoping to see them back in Australia some time soon. I then walked back to the motel and settled in for the evening. It is very lonely in a motel room all on my own but I'll update the blog and get some reading done.

Connecticut

Thursday 13 October

We woke to a drizzly day today and no internet access so Marion and I began putting together the blocks she had cut for another donation quilt. By lunch time all the blocks were together.

Barre and I also finished watching the DVD 'Never cry wolf'. I really enjoyed it.

I finished sewing together Marion's quilt top in the afternoon so felt as though we had achieved something positive today.

After phoning about the internet and speaking to someone in India, Barre got a phone call to say that there was something wrong on a local line and they'd call back when the problem was solved. Needless to say we discovered it was back on later in the day and have still received no phone call. I then updated the blog.

Friday 14 October – Adams to Connecticut

Marion and I left Adams at about 10 am just as rain started. By the time we were on Route 116 it was heavy rain. Then about 2 miles of the road was graded for resurfacing and had lots of washouts. We just crawled along avoiding all the potholes.

Eventually we reached Williamsburg where Marion took me to a real baker (Williamsburg General Store) and we bought some cheese bread to take to Don and Jane's. We got absolutely drenched just running to and from the car but continued our journey south on Route 91.

Soon after we were on the highway it started pelting down and we had to keep going. To slow down too much would cause a pile up and there were cars entering the highway that were difficult to see. It really needed our two sets of eyes and the GPS lady to continue. At last we reached the exit we needed and at the same time the rain eased just a little. The trip became a little less stressful and we were able to hear the GPS lady's instructions.

We arrived at Don and Jane's soon after noon and enjoyed chatting with Jane and sharing lunch together. After lunch Jane drove us to a favourite fabric shop called Affordable Fabrics where everything is $2.99 per yard – this included dress, furnishing, quilting and specialty fabrics.

On the way home we stopped at Shady Glen, an old fashioned style ice cream parlour. They make their own ice cream and their specialty flavours for October are licorice and a pumpkin flavour. Jane convinced me to try the licorice. Yum!

Home again to start Jane's first quilting lesson so she could make a block for our next quilt. This involved a trip to her attic to look through stash and choose appropriate fabrics. Just after we decided we should do something about dinner Don arrived home from work so the rest of the evening was spent socialising and catching up on botany news.

Saturday 15 October

After breakfast of cinnamon toast we all headed south to Mystic Seaport. This is a fantastic outdoor boating museum and village of old buildings rescued and brought into the site as well as some original buildings. Each building houses an activity or display like rope making, boat preservation or building, tugboats, nautical instruments, figureheads, scrimshaw and lots more. I just loved some of the patterns and huge pieces of timber and rigging.

There were also real ships, some at least 100 years old. We were able to wander on the boats. There were lots of volunteers ready to answer questions or involved in some of the building and maintenance jobs.

Rather than stay longer for afternoon tea we drove home as we were all exhausted. Our first stop was a little way down the road to find one of  Don and Barre's waterplants - Hydrilla. Once we got home dinner was barbecued prawns and scallops with rice and sauteed asparagus.

After dinner we spent some hours looking at photos of various properties, grandchildren, quilts and chooks then did a few internet searches for books and sewing machines.

Sunday 16 October – Connecticut to Adams

Up later today after we were all woken at about 3 am by the dead battery in one of the fire alarms giving its warning beeps every 30 seconds or so. Having had the same thing happen at home I knew what it was and got back to sleep easily before too long.

After breakfast Marion and I started guiding Jane through the first steps of creating her block while Don mowed the lawn. Jane actually did three blocks by lunchtime and learned quite a lot in the process. The blocks are for our next 2 Rainbow quilts and are now ready for me to take home.

After lunch together Marion and I left and allowed the GPS lady to guide us back to Route 91. Once on that, Marion knew her way. We had a short stop at the Williamsburg General Store again and this time had a little more time to look around.

We arrived home by about 5:30 pm in time to settle in and create dinner from various leftovers.

Monday 10 October – Barre and Marion's Anniversary

What a lovely slow day I've had today! Up after 7 am and a long hot shower, coffee and breakfast.

Marion and I took a bit of time sorting the quilt camp paraphernalia then we both got to work with a bit more cutting and sewing. I had fun with more mini things. I made 6 more keyrings and also made a mini square-dance sample. Lots of fun to experiment with such tiny pieces.

I sat on the back step to eat my lunch and saw a weasel. Just about the size of a squirrel but long and slinky. He was black but apparently they turn white in winter.

I skyped Elaine and we enjoyed a bit of a chat about the final stages of her holiday. She is now back home safe and sound.

The fall colours are beginning to look stunningly beautiful around Adams now that there was a frost while we were away. The temperatures are now up again in their typical 'indian summer' range of high 20s C. Again a hot, dry day.

Tonight we went to Dakota's restaurant about 40 km away to celebrate Barre and Marion's anniversary. The meal was great and we could get small serves but finished off with 'mud pie'. This was a HUGE serving of coffee ice cream topped with chocolate, cream and slivered almonds. Luckily Barre and Marion were familiar with the size of the serving so we ordered one serve with 3 forks. We even then had trouble finishing it!

Back home to finalise some internet seat booking and send a few emails to organise the next few steps of my journey.

Tuesday 11 October

This morning we woke to a heavy fog. The trees looked beautiful hidden in the mist.

Marion and I did a bit of household shopping this morning and we also visited the local fabric/quilt shops. One of the chores was to collect mail and there were two parcels for me so this afternoon I repacked those boxes and stuffed even more things in. I'll post them back home if it ends up cheaper than excess baggage.

I spent a lovely lazy few hours reading my book. With a bit of luck I'll be able to leave it behind and save a bit of weight there.

Had a lovely pork dinner cooked by Marion tonight with a glass of wine then watched NCIS before bed.

Wednesday 12 October – back to Concord, NH

Today we headed back to Concord, New Hampshire to retrieve Marion's bags she left behind at quilting. It was a 3 hour drive each way. However, I am glad I went because on the way over through Willmington that was so devastated by the hurricane floods we noticed the quilt shop and country store were open again. We also saw some fabulous fall colours in New Hampshire that were not there when we drove over that way last week.

It is all quite difficult to describe and pictures just don't do it. There is the dark green of the evergreen conifers and the mid greens of the leaves that have not yet changed. Then there are yellows, lime green yellows, orange yellows and yellow browns. But the highlights are the dazzling pink/red/maroons of the red maples in the mix. It is difficult to believe and it is brilliant.

Anyway we stopped for lunch at Friendly's and met Linda T at LLBean for the swap and a bit of a browse then headed back.

At Willmington I could not resist asking for a stop at the Norton House Quilt Shop where I bought 3 pieces of flooded fabric (batik's at $10 for a 3 yard piece!). These are usually about $26 per metre in Sydney! I also bought a piece of locally made cheese at the Country Store. Going through the town slowly this time we were able to see a bit more detail of the flood damage. Basically the river just went through the main street above head height and most of the buildings are wooden with basements. There are lots of videos and photos of the flood that hit the town in the link to the town website above.

Dinner was real french onion soup that Marion made. It was delicious!

Ossipee and Kennybunk Beach

Tuesday 4 October – Adams-Ossipee #2

I woke early this morning which was a pity because I did not need to. We slowly packed and left again for Lake Ossipee by about 10 am.

This time we drove north into Vermont then followed Route 9 east to see all the damage done by hurricane Irene. The lovely fabric shop and country store that Surrey and I had visited had been completely under water and were quite damaged. There were lots of parts of the road washed away but now open and fixed but there is still a lot of work to be done.

We stopped for lunch at the Chelsea Royal Diner at Brattleboro again and then for an over-the-top ice cream at Johnson's at New Durham. We followed a slightly different route in New Hampshire this time as well.

We arrived at the lake at about 5 pm, unloaded and settled in for the evening. The heavy rain we had for most of the drive has stopped and is supposed to be clearing tomorrow.

As the light faded two woodpeckers came to the tree outside the verandah window right at my eye level. Unfortunately, because of the light, I was unable to take a good photo but it was fascinating to watch them.

Gordon came over to chat and then Barre and I walked down the stairs to the lake. There had been so much rain that the level was noticeably higher than when we were here last week.

After a light dinner Merilee came to join us in a game of “Ticket to Ride”. It is quite a good game.

We watched the last half of NCIS then I went to bed and read for a while. I didn't want to go to bed too early so I don't wake too early in the morning.

I miss Elaine and with no internet don't even know how her trip to Vancouver went.

Wednesday 5 October – Lake Ossipee

We woke this morning to sunshine and 10 C. The air was fresh and reminded me of autumn at the block. It is so nice.

Merilee came over to join Marion and I on our trip to Keepsake Quilting. I was able to buy the remaining things I need for the coming weekend. Merilee bought fabrics for a quilt she wants to make and Marion bought a few fat quarters. Then I searched through their scrap basket and found some lovely yellow gold pieces, probably about half a metre in 5 pieces.

Again our parcels were tied with fabric strips. I swapped a piece of my scrap purchase for Merilee's fabric strip.

Home for lunch and I had my slice of pie that Merilee had brought over last night. It was delicious and I really liked the pastry.

After lunch Merilee came over with another fabric scrap for me then said she was going back to bake an apple pie. As I had loved her pastry so much I said I'd love to come over for a demo. So half an hour later we were at Merilee's having a pastry lesson.

All the normal rules applied (keep it cold, work cold, use iced water) but some things were different (use lard instead of butter, crumb with a pastry cutter, crumbs should be pea sized not smaller as I usually do, roll on a floured cloth and a cloth-covered rolling pin). The size needed for the rolled circle was even drawn on the rolling cloth. Merilee rolls to 1/8 inch or even finer. The lard and iced water seems to make it more elastic than “Crisco” (whatever that is).

Then there was the apple filling spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice (not mixed spice).

Cooking is about 10 minutes in a very hot oven then about 45 minutes at moderate. Merilee freezes uncooked pies as well but then does the very hot oven for about 15 minutes.

I am going to try Merilee's method for the pumpkin pie I want to make Elaine when I get home.

Back again to watch a video about “Gross Morne” national park in Newfoundland, a favourite place of Barre's.

Merilee came over again at about 5 pm inviting us for a walk which I accepted with enthusiasm. It was only a short walk but we went down the road to where the lake flows out downstream. The water was running very swiftly after all the rain and I certainly would not like to own a house down on the river flat area. It looks as though it will flood very easily.

Thursday 6 October – Quilting #1

After some 'justing' this morning we left Ossipee at about 10:15 and let the GPS lady guide us to our destination for the quilting weekend. She took us down roads that Barre and Marion had not travelled before. It was quite an interesting trip with some huge houses along the way.

When we arrived in Kennybunk Port we found parking and had lunch at Hurricane Restaurant. There were unexpected crowds of people for a Thursday but it turned out that the QE2 was in at Portland and was bussing people to various towns for an outing. We saw 5 buses at lunch time and there were queues everywhere.

Once we'd had lunch we let the GPS lady 'recalculate' and lead us to our final destination – The Franciscan Guest House at Kennybunk Beach.

We soon settled into our room and set up our sewing stations in the gymnasium. Linda K (Michelle's mum) had sent along here spare sewing machine for me to use. Marion had also put in spare tools for me. I had the fabric and thread I had bought along the way, a cutter and small ruler so I was set.

By the end of the afternoon I had done a few prototypes of the blocks I had to make and introduced myself to the other ladies on our table.

Dinner was simple food Lithuanian style. It was really good and serve yourself which meant the servings were not humungous.

Even after dinner people continued sewing and others arrived. Linda K arrived after dinner with Anne Marie making 7 in our corner – Marion, Linda K, Lori, Cheryl, Sandy, Anne Marie and myself.

Eventually I quit and went up to bed exhausted. Marion followed soon after. We turned the lights off at about 10:30 – very late for me.

Friday 7 October – Quilting #2

Up at abut 7 am and down to breakfast shortly after. I enjoyed some porridge without all the added flavours that seem to abound over here. Then back to the sweat shop after sorting a few emails.

About mid-morning Lori invited us to take a drive to some fabric shops so I accepted and she, Sandy, Cheryl, Anne Marie and I headed north, stopping at a few places along the way. We got as far north as Portland then had a 'sandwich' (about 3” of meat slices with a lettuce leaf) and headed back, arriving at about 2pm.

Linda T arrived just after we returned so we are now 8 mad quilters. There are probably over 30 in all in a gymnasium with 4 huge workstations, coffee and food corner, seats for audience type things and a wall of ironing boards and irons.

I worked very hard to finish my quilt except for the final border by dinner time. Again dinner was great. The young Lithuanian cook is great and very friendly.

More sewing on a few experiments after dinner before crashing at about 9pm.

Saturday 8 October – Quilting #3

Up a bit earlier this morning and once I was dressed I went down to the dining room for coffee (none in the bedrooms). Got onto the internet there and answered a few emails.

After breakfast it was back to sewing. I finished my quilt top then made 7 little patchwork keyrings for each of the ladies on my table and for the leader of the group, Nancy.

My 'Fall' quilt

Marion and I had our biscuits and cheese for lunch with an apple sitting in the dining room (lunch is not included). Soon after some of the ladies from my table invited me for a walk to the beach. What a different beach! Wide sand with the tide out and the sea as flat as a tack. The huge houses are built right on the beach and there is very little in the way of dunes. There were lots of people sunbathing, cycling, walking dogs, playing bocce and other games. There were even some swimming. I went in up to my ankles but it was really very cold. I declined to walk further and returned to finish off my keyrings.

Kennybunk Beach

Lori, Betty, Anne Marie, Cheryl

I gave a few mini lessons to some of the ladies – stack and slash, mini squares blocks and mitering binding corners. Then I ran out of work to do so am now finishing a quilt for Marion. She often does mine when she visits Sydney so I thought that was fair.

After dinner we had a 'Yankee Swap'. This was really fun. Everyone brought a wrapped gift with them to a value of $15. We all sat in a circle with our gift while Nancy read a story with lots of the words 'right' and 'left' in it. When you heard 'right' you passed the gift in your hand to the person on your right an so on. Eventually the gifts were passed a number of places around the circle. Everyone opened their new gift and described it to the gathering. Such a laugh and there quite a mix of gifts.

A bit more sewing and chatting then I had skypes with both Geoff and Ellen and even got to talk to Alex and Luke. Went up to bed around 9 pm and even had enough energy to read for a bit.

Sunday 9 October – Quilting #4

Down early for breakfast and email again today. I even had a bit of time to write up diary.

The morning was spent finishing the border of Marion's quilt. We also had a show-and-tell when everyone had a chance to hold up the projects they had worked on over the weekend. There was certainly a huge amount done!

Barre came around noon and we drove home (a 6 hour journey including short stops). Arriving home exhausted Barre went out for pizza and Marion got a phone call to say she had left all her personal bags behind including her Cpap machine. Arrangements have now been made to do a 3 hour drive on Wednesday to collect them from Linda T. At least it is not all the way back!

Farewell to Elaine

Monday 3 October – Elaine leaves
We got up with alarms at 6 am to another drizzly day. After a quick breakfast we drove Elaine to Albany airport (about a 2 hour drive) for her trip back to Vancouver via Toronto. Unfortunately the flight to Toronto was 2 hours late so her two flights had to be changed and she will arrive much later in Vancouver. These changes were eventually made and her bag booked in so we had a coffee together to settle all our stresses. Elaine rang her cousin Kay in Vancouver to notify her of the later arrival forgetting the time change. She woke Kay at 6 am. This whole episode took about 2 hours.

Once Elaine was safely ready to go through security we said our goodbyes. It has been fantastic having Elaine as a travel companion and yes, we are still talking to one another.

Back to North Adams for some grocery shopping then home for lunch.

The afternoon was spent packing to return to Lake Ossipee then on to our quilting weekend. I have also beenf trying to change my flight through to Salt Lake City so that I can visit Nic and Megan in Madison, Wisconsin. However, this is proving awkward. I hope it works out. At the time I booked the tickets Nic was in the throws of moving and was not sure where he would be so I was unable to make the arrangements.

Dinner was a yummy 'hamburg soup'. This is cooked up hamburger mince mixed with a tin of mixed vegetables, a tin of tomatoes and some beef stock. So easy and really yummy.

New Hampshire

Wednesday 28 September – Adams-Ossipee

We had a slow start to the day and were eventually packed and ready to leave for Lake Ossipee by about 10am. We stopped at Adams for bank, PO and supermarket. Because of heavy rains earlier in the year we had to take a very long detour around a washed out bridge on Route 2.

At Brattleboro we stopped at the Chelsea Royal Diner for lunch. We had stopped there last time Surrey and I were here. It is a real American diner! I had butternut squash shepherd's pie (i.e. shepherd's pie with mashed pumpkin on top rather than potato).

Then we continued on to Hillsboro where we had yummy ice cream (Barre is a bit of an ice cream freak) at the High Tide Take Out (www.hightidetakeout.com). The ice cream was excellent.

At Centre Harbour, quite close to Ossipee we stopped at the Keepsake Quilting Shop (www.keepsakequilting.com ). Marion usually brings me a catalogue from this shop when she visits Sydney but I had no idea it was on the direct route to Lake Ossipee. It is huge and has all sorts of things we don't seem to see at home as well as a wonderful array of fabrics. They even tied my plastic bag of goodies with a fabric offcut.

Then we stopped at the Moultonboro Country Store. This store has been in operation from the 1700s and is full of barrels of foods and all sorts of goods. Another place I have not visited before. We were going to try to visit the Weston Country Store in Vermont but flooding has closed many of the roads so Barre did not want to risk wasting time on too many detours for closed roads.

We arrived at Barre and Marion's summer house at Lake Ossipee by around 5 pm, settled in and had a busy time showing Elaine around, taking photos of the magnificent sunset over the lake and catching up on diary. Dinner was Boston baked beans and ham, a real New England meal.

Thursday 29 September – Conway Scenic Railway

This morning we woke to rain and the temperature was only 15 C at breakfast time. After breakfast we did a load of washing to keep it up to date for Elaine's return home.

We drove up to North Conway to join our Conway Scenic Railway tour to Fabyan and return that Barre had booked for us months ago. This included a sit down cooked lunch as well.

We had a little time to wander around all the trains in the yard including a steam engine about to leave on a down line journey and an engine with a huge snow plough on the front. Our train eventually drew into the station and we were loaded on one by one.

Soon after we started our climb up the valley we went into lunch in the dining car. I had New England chowder and an open burger with blue cheese and bacon over the meat patty. Too big again so I left some, but the ice cream sundae for dessert was yum.

It was a fantastic ride up into the fog with the woodland in autumn colours. We saw some of the areas that had been washed out by hurricane Irene earlier in the year. There really must have been a huge amount of water rushing off the mountains in a very short time.

Our first stop was Crawford Notch then on to Fabyan. Surrey and I had driven the route with Barre and Marion and had lunch in the Fabyan Station so it was fun to retrace our steps by train this time. He would have loved it. Elaine and I certainly did.

On our return trip we were back in the carriage but Elaine, Marion and I walked down to the open air carriage at the front end of the train. I stayed there for most of the trip but the other two got cold very quickly. I revelled in the cold and wet and felt comfortably cool for the first time since we'd left home. I even got some photos of the train going over the Frankenstein Trestle bridge which was over 30 m from the valley floor.

Photography back in the cabin was difficult with so much rain on the window but in the open air carriage I just got completely wet.

Back at North Conway around 5 pm we stopped at Dairy Queen for a Blizzard ice cream. Not bad! Then home via the Madison Boulder. Although I'd seen it before it was still impressive. It was dumped by the last glacier about 10000 years ago that started up in Canada and went as far south as New Jersey.

Back home for crackers, cheese and apples for dinner while we had a brief thunderstorm. Then we had a game of a most appropriate board game that Barre and Marion own called 'Ticket to Ride'. Then diary writing before bed at last.

Friday 30 September – Moose hunt!

Today we set out on an extremely fine day to find a moose so we were on the road again for yet another day.

This time we drove north in New Hampshire stopping at a few lookouts between North Conway and the Mt Washington lookout which is as far as I had been before. We then continued north on Route 16. At Errol we tried to find lunch without luck. There was a Subway but nowhere to sit so we turned onto Route 26 towards Colebrook. The fall colours were magnificent! No photo will really do it justice but we did stop to take a few more anyway. Dixville Notch (the actual summit of the road) was a surprise in its sudden peak. At any higher speed the car could have almost become airborne at the top as the road fell away on the other side quite suddenly.

At Colebrook we had lunch at Howard's Diner (restaurant). Again the food was excellent but this time I was able to have just a sandwich (BLT) and orange juice. Our placemat at the diner had lots of ads for local businesses. One was for a quilt shop further north out of Pittsburg on the main road. When Barre asked if we wanted to stop I said yes for a bit of a break but in fact it was a fabulous shop. Smaller than others we'd seen, under a lady's house, but lots of fabrics and all on special. The shop (Moose Country Quilting) was surprisingly busy for somewhere so remote. Marion found another waterlily fabric and Elaine and I both found other fabrics but had to be strong or we would have bought far too much. Fat quarters were only $1.99 each, even the ones she cut for us.

We then drove on as far as the Canadian border and even took some dirt roads to try to find a moose but no luck so we turned and came home a lot more quickly.

We followed Route 3 south to Twin Mountains, followed the train line from Fabyan to Bartlett then skirted the towns on a back road.

Home by 7:30pm and quickly got a toasted cheese sandwich before we went next door to visit Gordon (Barre's cousin) and his wife Merilee. I had stayed with them in 2000 when they lived at White River Junction and Barre was in Dartmouth hospital.

Merilee had made extra corn chowder for us to share so I had a small taste and it was fabulous. Potatoes and onions fried in butter, sweet corn off a cob, salt, cumin and all in milk after they are cooked.

What a long day in the car! It was great to eventually collapse into bed.

Saturday 1 October – Ice Hockey

Before leaving Lake Ossipee Elaine and I were able to take a walk along the shore of the lake then back via the road. We were on the road again by 10 ish, this time to the south eastern Maine coast and then west to Durham, New Hampshire.

It took us a while to get away this morning but eventually we left in very foggy drizzle conditions. We drove to the coast at Wells where we had lunch at Mike's Clam Shack. I had a shrimp ceasar salad that was delicious but I still had to leave half the lettuce. Just too much.

On then to Nubble Light at Cape Neddick. It is out on a rock and so isolated and exposed even though we could have yelled to anyone out there. It was even sounding the fog horn as it was such a heavy fog. However, we did have the Atlantic Ocean lapping at our feet which was quite cool.

Our sightseeing over, we headed to Dick and Katy's house in Durham. We arrived at about 2:15 pm and sat chatting until it was time to go to the UNH ice hockey game about 2 km away. Katy, Marion and Elaine walked while Dick, Barre and I got a lift with friends Linda and Tom up the hill.

The game was quite an experience. So fast! University of New Hampshire (UNH) playing University of New Brunswick (UBC) from Canada. It was unfortunate that the microphones the two singers used for the two national anthems were not working but it was quite ethereal to hear the fans singing very softly to support the singers rather than drown them out. It was in fact very moving.

UNH had a band (it was their home arena) that played every now and then or just made noises or chanted their chants. But the PA noise and 'music' was unbearably loud and echoed so much you could not actually understand what was being said. UNH won 3:0. There are 3 sections of the game and at each interval many of the audience get up and walk around the back of the arena for a bit of exercise.

After the game we returned to Dick and Katy's for dinner with Linda and Tom as well. It was a great time sitting and chatting around the table but eventually both Elaine and I did a quick email check now that we are back online then collapsed into bed quite late.

Katy had left both Elaine and I a little jar of maple syrup on our beds. It was so welcoming.

Sunday 2 October – Durham-Ossipee

Up at 7 am to another drizzly day after a bit of a sleep-in. Katy and Dick made us a fantastic breakfast of sausages, onions, capsicum and scrambled eggs with English muffins.

After a little chatting we left and travelled west towards Adams again. Our first stop was at Piece Time Puzzles, a shop where Barre had his waterlily photos made into jig-saw puzzles, a shop full of puzzles of all sorts.

Then on to Brattleboro for lunch at Friendly's. We all had seniors meals. Mine was a hamburger followed by a hot chocolate sundae over coffee ice cream. Elaine and I also shared a coffee Fribble (a sort of iced coffee).

On and on we drove, arriving in Adams by about 4 pm. We had time for Elaine to sort and pack ready for leaving tomorrow, for me to sort all the photos so she could take a copy of everything home with her, and for Marion to sort quilting things and do a load of washing. Of course there was also the usual diary homework.

Dinner was New England hot dogs.

Spring Garden at home

Isn't it pretty! Ellen took some pics of it.