Snowtober ...

Yes, that is indeed what the local newspaper has dubbed our freaky October snowstorm that has left millions in the northeastern states without power and with lots of property damage. While it was predicted that we would get 6 - 10 inches of snow Saturday afternoon and evening, it's clear that the weathermen missed the mark. Here at our place in Holden we measured about 16" on the deck and 13" on the railings, with all that snow falling within about 10 hours time.

It sure looks pretty on the trees -- at least early on!

What we woke up to in the morning (Sunday, October 30th) 

About 13" on the railings and about 16" on the deck.

Our pile of snow just from shoveling the front walk!

Our lights started to flicker early in the evening and then totally went out about 10 p.m. Fortunately the house never really got so cold that we couldn't manage by bundling up a bit. I think it dropped down to about 56 degrees at one point but once Sunday morning arrived and the sun started pouring in, we warmed right up!

Power (luckily!) was restored here about 5:30 p.m. (on Sunday, October 30th) so we didn't have to endure another night of darkness and cold. Others in our area didn't fare as well. Many areas are still without power. Since Dow Chemical was closed today (Snow Day!) we took a drive around the area and soon discovered why. The heavy snow broke branches off trees, split many trees in half and uprooted others. We saw clean up crews moving trees off roofs today and trees and power lines down and blocking roads. While it was difficult to pull over to take pictures, we did get these while in North Brookfield ....

Everywhere we drove there were trees still lying in the roads.

Wires were pulled down when trees fell over ... many were still blocking the road like this.

Have I mentioned that no matter where you go in Massachusetts there are rocks? Big ones!

We really enjoyed our ride, even though it was heartbreaking to see so much storm damage. It was obvious people had been out with chainsaws as branches lined the roads waiting for pickup. Schools were closed all over the area (some places have even postponed Halloween) and many businesses are still closed as they wait for power.

We took a drive up to St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer (this is a cloistered Roman Catholic monastery of monks of the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance, popularly known as Trappists) to see what they were all about. What a beautiful place. It's here that the monks make the famous Trappist preserves.

Next time hopefully the gift shop will be open and we can pick up a few jars of these yummy preserves!

The grounds are incredible and the chapel and retreat house are beautiful as well. I had to stop and take a few pictures. I can imagine how peaceful it must be to stay here ...

The St. Joseph's Abbey Visitor's Chapel

A view of the roadway leading up to the chapel and retreat house.

Is this a view or is this a view?

I just loved this steeple. I wished we could have heard the bells chiming.

Another view of the chapel.

Beautiful stonework on the arches at the entrance.

Just loved this doorway!

Another view of the Chapel and Retreat House

And now we're home again ... waiting for the kids to start ringing the doorbell, driving Rascal and Daisy crazy. It's surely been an interesting Halloween (and end to October!)

Pumpkin Carving and Sweet Pics

We were talking tonight about how fortunate we are to live in an age with such incredible technology. It's not always easy living 6 hours away from our grandchildren and not being there in person to see Delilah's first spoonful of real food being tasted or to hear about Will's first preschool field trip to the apple farm.

Thank goodness for iPhones that can take pictures and send them almost instantly. And how great are the videos they record (also able to be sent within seconds.) Then there is Skype -- the ability to see the kids via webcams in real-time.

Tonight was pumpkin carving time at Josh and Jessica's. Jess sent us a couple of cute videos of Will as they started to get the pumpkin ready. What a thrill to be a part of this experience. I'm posting those videos here and a picture of the final product ... and then I'm also going to post a few pics we've received over the past week or so ... we are so thankful for the opportunity to stay connected!

Will with his pumpkin. Good job Will!!

The owl hat finally fits!

Lilah's first taste of real food!

Lilah at Sticky Lips -- no ribs (yet) for you sweetie pie!

Good morning Grandma!

Will on his first pre-K field trip to the apple farm.

Will at Sticky Lips!

Visiting Vermont and New Hampshire ...

Still working on our list, we headed up north this weekend to Vermont and New Hampshire. We wanted to see some fall colors and also wanted to see if we could find the house where Dave's Aunt Eleanor lived.

We found both.

We got kind of a late start and were glad we brought the pups with us. We've felt bad leaving them home so much lately.

Dave had to do a little detective work in order to find his aunt's house ... all he had to go on was a post office box number and the memory of it being off Rt. 9 in Chesterfield. He remembered it was very close to Lake Spofford (or is it Spofford Lake?) He zoomed in on some online maps and found what he thought was the road where the house was located. Sure enough -- he was right!

We followed the directions provided by Google Maps to get to New Hampshire ... and while it was a pretty ride, it wasn't a very direct route. We went through a lot of little towns and made a few wrong turns due to some not-so-great directions. We finally decided to use the GPS and had much better luck finding our way.

After we found the Johndro's house, we went over to Spofford Lake. It was much colder than we expected and I think even the pups were happy to get back in the car!

No one swimming today! 

Perhaps this was a sailboating class ...

Another view of the lake ... the wind was kicking up!

This picture doesn't do the fall colors justice ... the leaves were so pretty.

Back in the car -- I think they were happy to be warm again!

Always have to see what's going on ... cute little pups!

We drove around Keene (New Hampshire) a bit and then headed over to Brattleboro (Vermont). I really liked the small town atmosphere of Brattleboro and wish we could have gotten out and walked around a bit. Lots of cute little shops. I think there was some sort of fall festival going on so there was definitely a lot of traffic. 

We did stop and grab a couple pictures off the bridge that separates Vermont and New Hampshire. 

The colors were so pretty ... it was like this everywhere we looked.

Not a great shot but this was the other side of the bridge ...

We had a great day and loved just driving around looking at the colors. We wish we could have taken more pictures because the scenery was just beautiful but we really would need a better camera with a wide-angle lens that could really capture the view. Even then I think it would be hard to due justice to the beauty of it all.

I'm guessing we'll make this an annual trek. We'd love to go further north and see more of the mountains. Maybe even do an overnight somewhere. New England sure had plenty to do and see!

Roger Williams Park Video

I made up a video from our day in Providence last weekend ... we just had so much fun and loved our time in the park. There's still so much that we didn't even have a chance to see or take pictures of. Can't wait to go back again!

We Have A Wegmans!

The day we've long waited for arrived ... on October 16, 2011 at 7 a.m., the Northborough Wegmans store opened!

Here she is! Although the parking lot was a little bit fuller when we arrived!

We spent about 2 hours just walking around and taking it all in. It's just as wonderful as we had hoped. There's a fantastic Market Cafe (with a Vegetarian Bar, Burrito Bar, AND a Food Bar!) There's a Wine, Beer, and Liquor store as well. The store is laid out a little bit different than the ones we went to in New York, but perhaps that's because it's bigger and better than the ones we left behind. Can you believe the Northborough store is actually 4,000 square feet BIGGER than the Pittsford store?

I took a few pictures as we entered the store but once inside it was just too crowded to take any more. After our first initial look around, we stopped to talk with the store manager - Kevin Russell - a wonderful guy that we immediately liked. Wegmans knew what they were doing when they picked him!

Wegmans knows how to make you feel special!

Beautiful entrance -- as usual!

It's just like being in Rochester !

It was so wonderful to see familiar packaging, displays, even just the reusable grocery bags were a sight for sore eyes. We felt like we were home again.

We left with a cart full of groceries -- including a sub, chicken wings, and a raspberry danish! We're hoping to stop by on Wednesday after I pick Dave up and try out their Food Bar.

Welcome Wegmans! How we've missed you :)

Roger Williams Park in Providence RI

Dave and I have been working our way down the list of places we want to go and see before the snow flies and Roger Williams Park in Providence, RI was high up on the list. We poked around the park a little bit this past winter but it was so cold and lifeless, we just knew we had to make a return visit. We weren't disappointed!


Roger Williams came to America in pursuit of religious freedom. He ultimately ended up in what is now Providence RI where he established a colony and founded what what later became Rhode Island. You can read more about his life here.


According to Wikipedia:

The land for the park was a gift to the people of Providence in 1871, in accordance with the will of Betsy Williams, the great-great-great-granddaughter, and last surviving descendant of the founder to own the land. It had been the family farm and represented the last of the original land grant to Roger Williams in 1638 from Canonicus, chief of the Narragansett tribe. The family farmhouse (built in 1773), known as the Betsy* Williams Cottage, and the Williams family burial ground (including Betsy's grave) are still maintained within the park.^[2]

• (While her headstone name spells as "Betsey Williams," through the centuries since she has been called "Betsy" as it appears on numerous articles, postcards, and books.)

The park also contains seven lakes which comprise approximately 98 acres (40 ha). It is located in the southernmost part of the city of Providence bordering the city of Cranston. The park was designed by Horace Cleveland in 1878, and was constructed in the 1880s. Many of the roads, bridges and sidewalks were built by the Works Progress Administration from 1935 to 1940. Currently it contains the Roger Williams Park Zoo, the Roger Williams Park Museum of Natural History and Planetarium, the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center, the Japanese Gardens, the Victorian Rose Gardens, the Providence Police Department's Mounted Command center, the Dalrymple Boathouse and boat rentals, historical tours, a Carousel Village for children that includes the "HasbroBoundless Playground" which is accessible for handicapped children, the Temple to Music, the Roger Williams Park Casino, large greenspaces, and many miles of walking paths.The National Trust for Historic Preservation has declared Roger Williams Park to be one of the finest urban parks in the U.S.

We spent most of our day just driving around the park, stopping along the way to take pictures of the landscaping and beauty. Another time we hope to actually visit the Zoo, Park Natural History Museum, and Botanical Center. They all look worthy of an entire afternoon!


Some of the pictures from the day ...

The Casino -- just inside the park entrance. They host gatherings here.

Is this Lady Liberty? She adorns the bottom part of the statue of Roger Williams.

And this would be Roger Williams!

Betsy Williams Cottage ... I peeked in the windows and it appears
they are working to restore the inside for viewing.

The beautiful bandstand. It sits just behind (and below) The Casino. 

Roger Williams tombstone in the Williams Family Cemetery. 

Betsy Williams is buried here too. Notice the different spelling of her name.

Another view of the cemetery.

I loved the fence around the family cemetery.
And notice the "ark" on top of Roger Williams tombstone.

This is a view of the duck house in the pond near the bandstand.

This is a statue of  Brigadier General Casimir Pulaski. He is known as the
Father of the American Cavalry and was a hero of the American Revolution.

There unfortunately was no marker indicating who this statue honors. 

The Carousel -- very nice inside!

One of the horses of the Carousel.

A picture of the bridge across the water next to the Dalrymple Boathouse.

Swan paddle boats! They looked like so much fun!

Pretty ironwork on the bridge across the pond.

An example of the beautiful stonework on the roadway bridges around the park.

Doorway into the Dalrymple Boathouse.

There are benches and walkways all over the park. 

A view of the bridge from the boathouse. I just love the many swans in the park.

After we left the park we decided to check our Wrights Farm for dinner. We'd heard about this place that is just over the border in Rhode Island from one of Dave's co-workers. It's an absolutely huge restaurant and banquet facility that basically just serves chicken. It's family style dining and you just pay one price ($11.75 per adult) for an all-you-can-eat dinner. The chicken is oven roasted and the meal includes salad with their house dressing, rolls, pasta with their house sauce, french fries, and chicken. It was delicious and kind of a fun experience. We waited about 40 minutes to be seated -- which wasn't bad if you could have seen the number of people waiting.

It was starting to get dark so I really couldn't get a picture of the place but this huge chicken is above the entrance to one of the buildings in the back.


Now for some interesting Wrights Farm facts (as per our server Lori):


* They are only open Thursday through Sunday
* In those four days they typically serve between 10,000 and 12, 000 people.
* They start cooking the chickens at 7:30 a.m. to be ready for the first guests at 11:00.
* They have 88 ovens and each holds about 30 chickens.
* Unique Eats from The Cooking Channel filmed a spot about Wrights Farm that aired June 26, 2011.

So that about wraps up our Saturday ... another great weekend of exploring!