Look What I Made

 

One Monday Emily gave me a lesson in wreath making.  It was totally different than how I'd made wreaths before.  You make little bundles of layered greens about the size of your hand or larger and then wire them to the frame, laying one bundle overlapping the previous one.  The ribbon bow I knew how to make.  

Didn't I do well for the first time? The wreath frame was 24 inches but it was the only one left at Joanns.  But as it turns out it will be perfect size.

Here's the big news!  This wreath will hang outside our new house come December 4th!

Yes, we found a house that meets our needs.  We now will be stewards of history caring for a house built in 1839.  I don't know the backstory of who built this house but intend to find out someday.

Newfound Lake

 

Tuesday we drove to Newfound Lake and had intended to take a walk through the Audubon Sanctuary but the lack of a spot a pot changed our plans.  We drove to the nearest town and a country store where the sign on the door said "No Public Restrooms".  Drove farther to another town where there was no restroom in the store but a spot a pot outside.  

We didn't return to the Sanctuary but stopped at Wellington State Park instead and had our picnic lunch.  Since I was still not feeling all that well we headed home from there, but because of the vagaries of our GPS, Miss Direction, we traveled lots of miles on unpaved roads some of which came to dead ends  despite Miss Direction telling us that was the way to go.  

Here are the scenes from the shore of Newfound Lake at Wellington State Park.  Let your eyes forget that there are reflections in the water. It becomes an optical illusion.

In the foreground is the sandy beach.  Judging by the size of the parking lot this is a popular swimming location in the summer.  

The lake is ringed with vacation homes.  Don't those look like alligators with their mouths opened?

Actually the docks are lifted from the water for the winter.

"Newfound Lake is a glacial lake that is noted for its depth, clarity, and purity.  A deep river valley before the glaciers, the ice sheet scoured it deeper and then filled the valley with glacial debris.  The debris damned the water to form a very deep lake -- even deeper that it is now -- and presently it reaches a depth of 180 feet."  Source: pamphlet on the Newfound Lake Audubon Sanctuary.

*****

We made one other driving trip to Newfound Lake earlier this fall.  We were in search of an inn that we had stayed at in 1983 when daughter Emily was just a toddler.  It was in the fall, too.  Going back in the photo albums I found the old name of the inn and a search of that name produced its current name, The Inn on Newfound Lake.  Sure enough when we saw the Inn we remembered it.  We didn't remember the lake though but then we spent our time at Mt. Washington and then climbing Mt. Cardigan.  It's family lore now that Emily came to Dartmouth for college and stayed in this area because of this trip. After all she took a drink from one of the streams on our hike and got "the granite of New Hampshire" in her brain (so the Dartmouth song goes).

Veterans Day 2020

 Honoring my father, Omar R. Buchwalter, who despite having a family, volunteered to serve in WWII as a chaplain and was assigned to the Pacific Theater.

Here he is 3rd from left in the Fiji Islands.

Below is the Veterans Memorial in Anthem, AZ.

My brother Steve who lives there donated a brick to honor Dad.

I don't remember how we found it among all the named bricks there.

To all veterans reading this - thank you for your service to our country!

Signs of the Times

With tRump refusing to concede these signs are still applicable.  How many days until he has to move out?