My House

Some people have expressed an interest in my house - I don't understand why, but anyway, here's some pictures for you. This is my house in 1931.
This next picture is me and my 11 year old painting the house last fall.

This bit of loveliness is my mantle (pardon the blurriness). It's all that's left from the great keeping room hearth. When the house was turned into a post office they went modern and took out the old chimney and replaced it with a new one - bad mistake, the floor sags toward the chimney now because the original one was what actually supported the interior of the structure, but the new one is free standing and the new posts they put in have shrunken or sank or whatever, so it's useless. They bricked up the fireplace as well and put in outlets for stove pipe in all the old fireplaces. (Yes I made the quilt, Yes that's Moxie on the mantle - this is New England after all). This picture is a prime example of the rubble stone walls in my basement. This is another bit of stupidity on the part of the previous owners...there was a bulkhead here, which they filled in, so we have no way to get into or out of the basement except by the door in my living room. I think they may have done this in a vain attempt to keep water from coming in - it didn't work, the water rises from the floor.

I appologize for the crappy photo quality - my battery was almost dead and I wanted to snap the pictures quickly - this one's blury too. Anyway, here's a lovely tree post. It appears to be cedar. It has shrunk in the years it's been holding up the floor ablove and so it's married with another post now. (that's our old furnace in the background - we can't get it out because we no longer have a bulkhead - I suppose we could dismantle it and cart it out that way, but it's really not important enough for all the work that entails).

So you see, the house is OLD, it looks OLD, and just 'cause it's old doesn't mean it's pretty.

Wool tour day

We went to the NH Wool Arts Tour today. Here are the girls running to see the Alpacas at Mirage Alpacas...

They sure were nice...
Here's the loot... We didn't get anything at the Wool Room, but I overheard Anne saying that she wasn't going to participate next year so it was nice to see the place one last time. At Chauncy Farm we got a pumpkin, some apple butter from Thyme and Ewe farm in Claremont (which isn't on the picture 'cause the hubs had put it in the fridge and I forgot to get it back out, sorry Thyme and Ewe), hats for the girls from We-Z Farm in Hancock and the harp player was fantastic...Quinnie was wary of him while he was playing, but she struck up a conversation with him between songs - apparently he's only scary when he's playing. On to Western View Farm where I got some sweet shetland roving from Hope Thomas. We didn't buy anything at Mirage Alpacas either, but we spent an inordinate amount of time with their alpacas and their turkeys - Quinnie loved them. And last but certainly not least the Fiber Studio...Wow what a change! I hadn't been there since it was taken over by the new owners, they were busy and I didn't get a chance to talk to them, but they seemed friendly enough. The place has gone through a major overhaul though....they moved almost all the knitting yarns into the weaving studio area, and the upstairs was open to the public, and they had a new staircase that went downstairs to a classroom/studio space and there were two more vendors down there. The whole place just seemed open and airy and you could find things without going into tunnels and it just was lovely. I got two balls of sock yarn to make my sister Beth and Brother-in-law Kris socks for Christmas, and a braid of pretty dyed roving from one of the vendors outside the name of which regrettably I didn't pay attention to 'cause I figured the name would be on the receipt and sadly, it wasn't...well in any even it's very pretty and quite soft....I plan to spin it thin and make some gloves out of it.

I had an awesome time.

Potatoes and Beets

One of the items I wanted to try for the growing challenge was potatoes. I tried them last year but I don't know what happened to them 'cause when I went to harvest them they weren't there. I think someone, or should I say some thing ate them. So this year I put in a few potato pieces I hacked from some store bought potatoes 'cause the seed potatoes I had ordered were sold out. So anyway I waited until the plants died back. I never did get to hill them, lacking a ready supply of stuff to do that wit and not having the energy/ability/ambition to dig any dirt in the oppressive humidity that was our summer.. So considering I didn't hill them and there were only a dozen or so pieces of commercial potatoes I think I did all right. Quinnie had a blast helping me find them, and she was very proud of her haul.

Labor Day Hike

Sean had to work today so it was just the girls and me. Since Quinn is used to getting up early we were all up before 6 even though I would have preferred to sleep in until 8. We had a nice breakfast of Zucchini bread (isn't everyone eating tons of Zucchini bread this time of year?) and headed down to Reservation road to Hike Pawtuckaway's Boulder field.

There are tons of caves, and the girls enjoyed some spelunking in them. The rocks are huge and of varying levels of difficulty for climbing. Most of the climbing is the free climbing sort - no ropes required. Quite a few, in fact I'd say all of the good rocks have chalk residue from previous climbers.

This is Ali on top of the Lower Slab (yup we New Englanders sure can pick romantic names for things can't we) Check out the next picture for some perspective. Ali's in the same spot, can you see her?
We turned around after these and did some more cave exploring, and then we came home. Next time we're taking Dad 'cause he'd be able to give Ali some boost up to better rocks and maybe free me up from Quinn carrying duty enough to pack a lunch and some drinks and we could picnic up there.

Pawtuckaway is such a neat place. There are so many glacial deposits, every trail is a winner. I love it there!

Goodwill score for Ali

Ali had her inaugural goodwill shopping spree today. Around here the good children's clothes are found at specialty children's consignment shop, and we've shopped those her whole life as well as hand-me-downs she's real big on hand-me-downs. But she's outgrown children's clothes, and she's the same size as her cousin, and Sam-me-downs don't come as often as they used to when she used to live here. Soooo I took her to goodwill today.

The loot:
Fake fur full length coat (she looks like a bear)
a hot pink fun fur hat (to go with the bear coat)
6 wicked awesome shirts
a pair of shoes
a pair of slippers
2 belts and
a pair of corduroys

All for less than $50! And that included an overstock pkg of socks for yours truly.

Good Deal no?

So after we hit up Goodwill, we went to Jo-Ann's and got some coordinating material and some pretty ribbons to make some headbands. We also got a couple pants patterns - the fleece is cheaper at Ben Franklin so we'll pick that up later, but the pattern we got is suitable for both fleece and rip-stop nylon so her fleece pants and rain pants for the environment camp will be all set. It's a teaching pattern too so that'll be great for Ali to learn on.

It's not often I go shopping, and we got terrifically lucky, so this was a good day.

Last day of Vacation

I've got some mixed feelings about the end of summer. On the one hand, I'm glad we'll be back on a schedule. Quinnie has been missing her bus time - it's really the only time she gets a nap. Her mind is telling her she's too old for naps but her body tells a different story, and lately when she goes without a nap she gets hurt. Last Sunday (not yesterday), she fell off the playground equipment and got a concussion and three stitches in the back of her head. Last night she nearly toppled off the trampoline trying to get out of it (we have a safety net for the rest of it).

On the other hand, I don't want to give up days at the beach. We didn't have enough of those this year due to the near constant thunder storms and then when the weather finally cooperated Quinn's stitches. Today is, as I said, the last day of vacation and it's sunny and beautiful and we really should be hanging out at the beach, but Ali is off school shopping with Grammy and I don't want to go there without her.

They'll close the town beach after labor day, even though the weather still is nice. I suppose we could swim at the boat launch, or we could actually go to the ocean (it's only 1/2 hr away but we don't like the crowds of summertime people so we don't go in season).

Then again school sports have started and I'll have lots of trips to do, so I'll likely be busy most weekends, and we have Ali's special Pete Seeger trip coming up too.

Soon the weather will be turning cool and I'll have the energy to do all the yardwork I've been putting off since it got hot (I hate the heat). I have a chicken run to build and the rest of the fence to get in, and the winter garden to plant (gotta get going on that). Plus I've wanted to do some dyeing and canning and couldn't bring myself to run the stove (or bear the heat of cooking outside). Soon the leaves will change colors....Aaaahhhhh I love fall.

I got my bus back, and my new run, and I'm pleased with both.

Over all I guess I'm more pleased than not about the changing of the seasons. Still it's hard to let go of the beach.

Out of shape

Ugh! I'm too out of shape. I'm currently close to 100lbs overweight. Yup, there I said it. I admit it. I'm fat. I'm out of shape.

About 20 years ago, when I first had Sam, I was only marginally overweight and in very good shape. I would go for day long bike rides and not be bothered by it. I had energy galore. Slowly, after sitting on the sidelines watching the children play I got chunkier and more out of shape. It was imperceptible at first, but it became staunchly noticeable when we moved to Deerfield a decade ago. In Exeter, there were a few hills but none were prolonged enough to require walking, they were either a long shallow slope or a quick steep one. Nothing one can't handle with a granny gear even toting 2 toddlers in a burley. But here, OMG! The hills are steep and a mile long, and wouldn't you know we were stupid enough to buy the house directly on TOP of a big one! I pretty much stopped riding my bike when we moved here. I can barely get my fat rear up the hills with the granny gear never mind toting a 35lb dead weight (I'm referring to Quinn here) in addition to my extra 100 lbs. Dude I can't even describe how bad it sucks!

I hate it. Being fat and out of shape that is. I want to do all the things I used to do, but it's harder to do them because of weight issues. My hips hurt when I walk for long periods, and my feet too but that's 'cause I have old non supportive shoes, and I need to get some new ones. I've tried diets, but I hate, hate, hate feeling even moderately hungry, and I LOVE food. The only way for me to decrease my weight is to increase my exercise. That's easier said than done. First off I don't do heat well - that's great most of the year, but in August, even 78 degrees and sunny is enough to put me off climbing the stairs let alone going outside and tackling the hills. I have a small child too, so I either have to carry her, or exercise when my husband is watching her, which with our current schedules is the hottest darn part of the day. So we're back to square one.

My husband briefly mentioned the other day the possibility of going to the 8:00am shift at work (his current shift is 3 am so he has to go to bed at dinner time). It would be awesome if he did get this shift 'cause then I could exercise after dinner when It's cooler, and he can put Quinny to bed - hey that's only fair, I've had bed duty for 19yrs and 10 mos straight, it'd be a welcome change. Ali could join me, it'd give us some special one on one time and we'd both get in better shape (and she can't run worth beans so I'll be able to keep up). Keep your fingers crossed for me.

In the mean time I've been intentionally increasing my exercise. The other day we took a 3 mile walk. That was nice, but I really need new shoes. I was able to free swim at the lake the other day 'cause my Mom was watching Quinn (usually I have to be right on her because our town beach doesn't allow PFDs and she's too daring and walks right out to her ears, and Ali needs the exercise as much as I do and I hate to call her in from the dock so Mommy can have a turn). The swimming out deep and for a long time felt really good (and I had fun with my nephew who I hardly ever get to see anymore). Yesterday we went to our "swimming hole" along the Swift River and I selfishly made Sean give me turns swimming upstream and riding the rapids (which isn't really exercise but the climbing over the rocks to get there sure is). It felt really awesome to do that too. I want to feel really awesome all the time. I want to get back out and enjoy all the things I used to. Hiking is a no brainer - Quinn and I walk at the same pace so I have a hiking partner already. We should pobably find some safty orange vests before hunting season though, Sean nearly had a fit when we went hiking last fall. Walking and running - should Sean get his 8:00 shift, won't be a big problem either. But I've got to really work on this whole biking thing.

Today I took Quinnie down to the local gas station (to add air to my tires and buy her a lollipop to bribe her back into the bike - "waaah no! Quinnie fall me!" - cherry tootsie pops smooth over the roughest of tribulations, but I don't keep them in the house so we always have to go somewhere to get one). It was a 3 mile round trip and I walked probably a mile of it - even with the granny gear.But my legs no longer feel like jelly and my heart isn't trying to jump out of my chest, and I've long since caught my breath, and I don't think this ride will affect my ability to mow the lawn later this afternoon, so despite the failure at getting up the hill ON my bike, I'll call this a win.