In honor of National Coffee Day let's enjoy a few early autumn images!

It's time for me to enjoy my daily afternoon coffee. 

It also seems like the perfect time to post a few images I shot this past Thursday while up north on the Kancamagus. 

It's not to often I buy Victoria magazine anymore but my curiosity was peaked when I realized it contained an article about the White Mountains of New Hampshire in the fall. Perfect reading for National Coffee Day!

Are you celebrating in any particular way? Or just a cup of joe as usual. Or maybe you're not a joe person at all.

 My hope was to get over to Lil's for a latte and some people watching but that was not to be. Instead I have enjoyed the company of my animals along with a wonderful walk with my neighbor and good friend, Dottie.

Each year I try to make at least one trip up north to view the fall foliage in all it's glory, and though the trees weren't quite at peak, they were pretty impressive. Let me just say if you can get to New England to see the foliage, this is the year to do it! The colors are the most brilliant I've seen in several years. Last winter might have been an absolute bear but we are definitely reaping its rewards this fall!

Seeing as how we live along the coast of NH my husband and I decided to drive 93 north to up around the Loon Mountain area. From there we hopped onto the Kancamagus, had a delicious lunch at Half Baked & Fully Brewed  in Lincoln then continued the 34 mile journey to route 16 in Conway.

I hope you enjoy just a taste of the scenery.

Lily Pond

Swift River

Although the colors were not very impressive in town this tree happened to catch my eye while we waited in traffic. It's located just across from the fire department on 16 in Conway. 

Thanks for tagging along on my day trip!

Happy National Coffee Day! Happy Autumn! Happy everything :)

Autumn Drive and Funky pumpkins

I'm glad so many of you enjoyed the photos I posted from our trip up north last week! Goodness knows it was a beauty, that's for sure!

If you don't mind, here are a few more photos.

A little confession about our trip though. The day before we went, I had been to the doctor for sciatica and lower back spasms. Even though I was very uncomfortable, and just starting prednisone, I was determined to make the trip.



About an hour after I took these photos I was in absolute agony and wondering how I would get home, the pain was so bad. While we were on the Kancamagus highway I called the doctor and she told me to take 4 ibuprofen, which I did. My husband hightailed it back to Rt 93 as quickly as possible and the whole 2 hour ride home I had to lie down in the back seat. It was a real bummer end to what was supposed to be a fabulous day.

Now I'm in physical therapy 2x a week and slowly getting better! But sitting at the computer only makes it worse : (

Remind me never to take Prednisone again. Hate, hate, hate that stuff and now I'm having withdrawal symptoms.











This past Saturday we went to a local church in Portsmouth that sells all kinds of unique pumpkins. I like 'em white, striped, and wrinkly! They come at a cost though ... $28 for those three pumpkins! Holy cow!




A photo from up by the Flume. Last night I had all my hair cut off, like Halle Berry's. Short I tell ya', but I like it.




The display out by our front door. Soft and pretty.

I hope Autumn is bringing cooler temps and brighter colors your way!

Woodstock, NH, riverview

Today my husband and I made the 2 hour trip up to the Lincoln, NH area. On the way we took a side road through Woodstock, NH. It was a fluke thing, asking my husband to turn around so we could 'take that little road back there'. I'm SO glad we did!

That little road turned out to be route 175 which runs along side Route 93. It's a nice scenic drive. I'm always a big fan of the road less traveled.

Wouldn't it have been perfect if the train were on the tressel? Now THAT would have been a picture! Sorry, I couldn't wait that long.

As you can see the foliage in the area was pretty much at peak

Hey, there's that train!

Actually I thought I saw the light through the trees as we were coming down the road. As hard as I tried, I literally had a second to get the shot. My camera wasn't on the right setting so it ended up a bit blurry since the car was moving. Oh well. Maybe next time.

Directly across the street from the river sat a home decorated for fall. I'll bet the lights on the fence are pretty at night. Living across the street from such a beautiful river must be nice, but it's so remote that I just couldn't handle it.

I hope to share more photos from our trip very soon.

In the Pink

I cannot image my life without animals in it. There may be days when they're tearing up the furniture, scratching the floors, chewing up a sock, stealing food, throwing up, or worse, but the joy they bring to my heart on a daily basis far out weighs the challenges.

I love Lily and Winston.

My Girl

Lily's absolutely favorite ball in the world, the Squeaker ball. There can be a whole bag full of tennis balls and this is the one she will sniff out and find . . . every, single, time.
You can buy them in a 4-pack at Target.

. . . and that's the truth.


* Do you feel the same way about your dogs/cats?

A day well deserved ~ Mosaic Monday

On Wednesday my husband and I took a drive up to Wolfeboro. We hadn't been in a couple years so I was anxious to go back. My one regret while we were there is that I didn't take any pictures in town. I don't know why, I just didn't.

On our way there we drove near Lake Wentworth . . .

We followed a sign that was supposed to take us to the historic site of Governor John Wentworths home. You can see the dirt road we drove down in the upper left corner. When we arrived at our destination it was a plaque on a rock and an old stone foundation. That's about it. He didn't have the best view either because it didn't even overlook the lake with his namesake!

In the two bottom photos: A tree growing right up over a big rock, and Lake Wentworth on a very calm, cool, and quite autumn day.

The view out our window during lunch in Wolfeboro: A squirrel eating his meal of Maple Tree seeds.

Above and below: Views from the dock over looking Lake Winnepesaukee

My husband catching a few rays

An old wooden boat cruising across the lake. It must have been cold out there!

A Loon weathervane on Alton Bay

And finally a bad picture of us that I tried to salvage with textures and such. I used the timer, and we took several shots, but they all came out horrible. This was the best of the worst.

We had an excellent day. Wolfeboro was glorious as always. As we made our way back to the car we happened to walk past Jimmy Fallon who was about to enter Garwoods Restaurant with an older couple, possibly his parents, who knows. Being that it was such a quiet day, no one else was around, just us. We didn't say anything to him though, just stared like crazy and walked on by. Kind of a weird moment that took us both by surprise. He was awesome on the Emmy's!



After taking a week off I'm going to try to get back in the blogging groove. Pretty soon I'll be starting a new job which I hope will give my life the shot in the arm it desperately needs right now. As much as I was dreading going back to work I think my spirit needs the distraction.


Mosaic Monday at Mary's Little Red House

Autumn splendor for Mosaic Monday

I thought I'd give the Storyboard action from The CoffeeShop Blog a try and this is what I came up with.

A mish-mash of different views. All of these are photos from 2 years ago.

Top left to right:

• Scarecrows from Wolfeboro, NH
  
• White Birch in the White Mountains
• Pumpkin bins from a local farm stand
• Mums from my own front yard
• A view of Lake Winnipesaukee from Mount Major on Columbus Day
  

The foliage this year is less than stellar so I had to dig into the archives.

We have gorgeous yellows but the reds and oranges just aren't there like they usually are. Still, it's a nice Autumn. My husband had the week off and I wish I could say we did something special, like a trip to the mountains, or lunch at the beach, but it didn't happen. We weren't feeling it, plus the weather wasn't all that great.

Well, we did do one special thing ... we rushed the Pug, aka Winston, to the Emergency Vets on Tuesday night for vomiting and diarrhea. Yup, that was a fun one alright. The boy ate mushrooms in the yard and ended up so sick he was hemorrhaging blood. The vets wanted him to spend the night, to the tune of $1,200, but we decided to bring him home (around 1:00 am) at a 1/3 of the price. He was quite tired the next day but fine. We kept an eagle eye on him in case he needed fluids.

Tomorrow my husband goes back to work, the girls have the day off of school because of Columbus Day, and I'll be going to an interview in the morning for a j-o-b. Hubby thinks I'm going to sabotage the interview on purpose so I don't have to work. Heee heee . . .

I hope you have some beautiful colors where you live. If only the mental stimulation brought on by Fall could carry us through the long, and cold, and brutal New England winter that lies ahead!


Guess what! It's Mosaic Monday over at Mary's Little Red House!

A golden glow

Just a few simple photos taken in my own yard. Nothing fancy.

Just a little, teeny hole to let the sunlight through.

It seems there's plenty of yellows and golds this year, but reds are starting to make an entrance.

For the container next to our front steps I used a mixture of left over summer plants and added the Kale and Mum. It looks good to me! I've yet to buy any decorative pumpkins but since my husband is on vacation next week you can bet we'll be making a trip to a local pumpkin grower!

Or maybe we'll go to the church I went to last year . . .

Girls being Girls

Bare with me, I’m enjoying playing with textures.

I had taken these pictures in late October. It was getting dark and quite foggy so they didn’t come out that great. My camera seemed to pick up on the fog making it look bright outside, but it’s not. Of course realizing I had my camera on the wrong setting after taking most of the shots didn’t help either. Layering textures on seemed to rescue them a bit.

This is my older daughter Andria swinging on the wet tree swing for the first time … in a dress. The swing belongs to my younger daughters friend, Shannon, so Andria had heard about it first hand. The younger girls couldn’t wait to push her as high as they could just to make her scream. Scream she did. We were all laughing hysterically!

 

My younger daughter, Elise, takes a turn by herself.

Don’t you wish you could feel that kind of joy? Don’t you wish you could still swing on your stomach, flying around in circles? Remember winding the rope or chains as tight as they would go then pulling yourself in as it untwirled? 

This swing totally rocks! I wanted to swing too. Didn’t happen. Older daughter was late for a date.

  A little heavy on the textures for this shot, but I still kind of like it.

Girls just being girls.

Oyster River Landing, Durham, NH

Living in the area all my life I drive through here quite often yet seldom think much about it. The fact is, Oyster River Landing is a beautiful and historic place. Seeing it as I drive over the bridge and seeing it up close are two different things.

Walking along side the river you can feel the history. Looking around at the old trees and historic homes built in the 1700's you know this was once where the action was. At least as much action as Durham had 200 years ago, which for a small community probably wasn't much.

A charming home that's seen it's share of renovations, I'd say.

This location hasn't been the center of town for many, many years. The center of town now resides where the University of New Hampshire is located, up the road a piece.

Oyster River Landing is far more appealing.



Looking at the map on the sign we're standing on Old Landing Road (letter I) near Newmarket road and the Mill Pond bridge


View Left down river

A favorite spot for ice fishing in the winter

View Right toward the dam and more historic homes

In my next post I'll show you a few more views of the immediate area. Foliage was just about to let go during my visit but the colors were still impressive and brilliant. It was an overcast day but the clouds did nothing to hamper the beauty.