Maple Creamees

We had heard about Mac's Maple from Emily so last Saturday morning after taking the trash and recycling to the recycling center we went to find it.  It was too cold for creamees but we did buy Canadian bacon and half a dozen doughnuts.  The doughnuts were amazing.

Mac's Maple is owned by the McNamara Dairy which sits right next door.  So combining maple with soft ice cream takes the best of both,

The store will require another visit come Christmas time.

Sunday we loaded the car and all 6 of us headed to Mac's for creamees. You can only order from the car (Covid restrictions) but can eat it on their grounds.  We unloaded three (Matt and granddaughters) from the car and three of us managed to carry six orders.  Only two were like the one below: waffle cone with soft ice cream and maple candy sprinkled on top. 

I ate the whole thing!  It was a late lunch!  Even the waffle cone had maple flavoring.

Better photos and more about Mac's Maple here.

You Gotta Laugh -3

  These were shared with me by my friend Marilyn under the category:

They Had One Job!

I hope you laugh as much as I did.

Saint-Gaudens National Historic Park

 

The Saint-Gaudens National Historic Park in the Upper Valley of New Hampshire is open to walk around the grounds.  The buildings and visitor center haven't been open at all during the pandemic.

You get a first glimpse of Saint-Gaudens' house as you come through the hedge. 

Augustus Saint-Gaudens is a famous sculptor of the Beaux Arts period who summered at this house from 1885-1897 and then permanently from 1900-1907 when he died.  He brought other artists to the area forming the Cornish Colony. More here.

The front of the house is dominated by this honey locust that's 135 years old.  I had granddaughter try to put her arms around it for scale.

We came here on Sunday, May 2nd to stroll the grounds and see what was blooming.  And also to admire the sculptures on display outside.

An inviting front door but not open for visits.  This is a fee park so when we return we can use our Senior passes.

On the side of the house is this lovely verandah/porch.  Daughter Emily said she met a friend here last spring for coffee, socially distancing of course.

From here you can see the studio.

Looking west from the verandah across the green field is the towering Mt. Ascutney in Vermont.

Some of the spring flowers we spied were in front of the studio.

Another view of the house from the studio shows off its grandeur.

Off to visit the sculptures.

The granddaughters had fun going along the paths through the hedges. Most of these were hemlock hedges which surprised us.

We could smell the fragrance of the magnolia before we saw it above the Adams Memorial. Like many of the sculptures here the originals are somewhere else.

This one is haunting.

The Shaw Memorial.  We have seen the plaster cast for this. It is on loan to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.  The original is in Boston.  It commemorates Colonel Robert Shaw and the Massachusetts 54th Regiment of African American troops who fought in the Civil War. 

The original of this sculpture is in Chicago.

Farragut is under a protective cover since the base is the original that was eroding in New York City.

The day had started clear but quickly went to clouds and threat of rain which it finally did by 1 o'clock.  When we arrived here it was blue sky again.  All the daily showers we seem to have have turned the grass so very green.

One last parting photo of Mt. Ascutney.

And here is Saint-Gaudens mark.

Green Discoveries

This is the field behind our house.  It is a glorious shade of green right now.  You can see just a tinge of colors in the trees beyond.

 

Here is our house where the grass is also a spectacular green.  Reminds me of Scotland.

The doors open are in the bulkhead going into the basement.  The piping up the side of the house is the radon abatement system that has done a great job reducing the radon in the house. Unlike Maryland where we had to put in an abatement system for the new owners of the house we sold in 2016, NH has no such law.  The radon reading was not even a requirement of the house inspection.

Spring is discovery time outside. This bush has buds swelling but I'm not sure what this is.  Weigela?

Another plant coming up nearer the house I mistook for asparagus.  It's not but I don't know what it is.

Two different mushrooms are growing at the base of a stump that sits next to the foundation

We have forsythia blooming.  It was planted at the well head.

This stand of lilac has grown on a pile.  We think the pile was put there when the basement was first dug out under the extension of the house.  I say the whole thing needs to go.

Nearer the deck is this massive lilac - some trunks as big as trees.  There are lilacs all over the property that need clearing out.

The grass in one spot is filled with violets.

Here's a volunteer in a plot that was once a vegetable garden.  Looks like some sort of squash.  I'm tempted to let it be just to see what it is.  Other plants in the space need transplanting (irises and day lilies) or taming (mint).

The yard is a work in progress - many years of work I'm realizing. It's still spring here and I'm still in the discovery stage of what is here waiting to pop up from the ground.