Labor Day Weekend

The weekend celebrations started Friday evening with the arrival of Dawn and her two French friends, followed by Malima and Ross on Saturday morning.  We tried to plan some American activities for Yann and Fabien so we headed to minigolf.

 

Of course we ate hot dogs at the snack bar first, played golf, and then headed back into the snack bar for ice cream--it's tradition!  On the way home we stopped at a farm stand to buy corn on the cob to go with the salad and steaks we were planning for dinner--another first for Yann and Fab.  I just read an article in today's WSJ that mentioned corn is more typically used for animal feed in France than for human consumption.  They were such good sports--they ate everything we served them!

We also had to prepare some food for the annual family reunion in Otis on Sunday of Labor Day weekend.  Our contribution was quinoa salad, Malima made cone sushi, and Dawn helped her French friends make some fabulous desserts. (Fabulous is too mild a compliment, they were incredible--and I've never seen desserts vanish so quickly during one of our reunions.) We enjoyed singing along with the player piano and finished our evening watching a classic American movie:  Animal House!

Whew, that was Saturday!  My next post will be about fun in Otis on Sunday.

 

New Birthday Toys

I have been looking for a new purse for quite a long time without any luck, mostly because I love the one I have been using daily for the past several years.  It's the perfect size, goes with everything, and I love the way it hangs securely under my arm without being stuck in my armpit.  However it's worn and faded past redemption so it's time to move on.

At the last possible store I could think of visiting, Marshalls in Avon, I found one that will work!  The size is right, it's a rich shade of teal (my preferred color), and the shoulder strap can be adjusted to fit the same way as my previous purse.  I may even use it as a satchel (those darn handbag handles are everywhere).  The major drawback for me is the large gold-tone MK, but it will be easy enough to wear against my body so it's not so noticeable.  And the best part is the price--half off retail! 

Since we were out and about looking at purses, we stopped at Farmington Valley Equipment to buy something Mark had been eyeing for a long time.  He used it this past weekend.

It's a new Stihl chain saw!  After several years of struggling with cheap ones from big box stores that needed constant repairs, Mark decided to upgrade.  Normally I would probably try to convince him that he should consider retiring from chainsawing at this point in his life, but after two consecutive years with two hurricanes and that freak October snowstorm, I realize that a working chainsaw can come in handy when trees and branches are down everywhere.

On Saturday Mark chopped down the dying birch and by Sunday afternoon we had a nice stack of firewood in the driveway!  I think the new saw helped us make quick work of a big job, and the nice weather didn't hurt either.  With luck the wood will dry out more and be ready to use in the little woodstove by January.

Although they are not really birthday presents, I am thoroughly enjoying my new washer and dryer!

I love the touchscreen controls!  So easy to use!  And the clothes come out nice and clean!  Between the new toys and family time over Labor Day weekend, I had a wonderful extended birthday celebration. 

All Kinds of Carousel Animals

While the carousel horses are my favorites, there are all kinds of animals at the New England Carousel Museum.

This camel and two giraffes from a child-size carousel certainly have long necks that would be perfect to wrap your arms around.  A giraffe would have to be pretty tall to look like it belongs on an adults' carousel.

A zebra might belong to the horse family, but I find this one especially appealing with the very graphic placement of its stripes.

This tiger looks pretty scary!

 

 

This adult-size camel looked pretty realistic and had the sweetest eyes.

 

 

One more giraffe!  And I think I've reached the end of my photos from the carousel museum!

Back to the Carousel Museum

The same old factory building that houses the Carousel Museum also contains 2 other small museums:

OK, the Museum of Greek Culture is actually one room.

The Museum of Fire History did take up one section of the second floor and contains the personal collection of a Bristol resident.

Fortunately most of the building showcases beautiful carousel animals in the Carousel Museum.

When our guide asked if anyone knew what kind of animal this is, Malima correctly said it was a hippocampus!

There was a display showing a horse in the process of being carved.  One of the current carousel restorers also carves new animals and he is very talented.

I especially enjoyed looking at some of the more unusual animals.  This king of the beasts was quite ferocious!

Family Fun

We got to do some serious visiting when Adria was in town recently.

With Dawn and Ross and Malima here to visit their Auntie, we had a wonderful lunch at the new Middle Eastern restaurant in Unionville.

Adria and I spent a couple of days in our hometown, and we met our first cousin Rita and her sister-in-law Sophie at Point Breeze for a delicious lunch.

Then we spent an overnight with our great-aunts (our maternal grandfather's half-sisters) and returned to Point Breeze the following day to celebrate Aunt Marie's 85th birthday.  Around the table from left to right we have Aunt Jenny (age 94), Aunt Alice (age 93), Aunt Marie, the birthday girl, who was married to the three sisters' brother, and Aunt Harriet (age 95).  Harriet's daughter, our cousin Janet, is standing behind her mother. The three sisters have so much fun together and are game to try just about anything!  Aunt Harriet suffers from dementia and Janet does a wonderful job taking care of her. The two younger sisters are getting physically frail but their minds are still pretty sharp. Aunt Alice in particular is quick with a funny comeback. It was so good to see them!

The Carousel Museum in Bristol, Connecticut

I just love carousel animals--especially the horses!  So when Ross, Malima, and her sister Vio came to visit us for Easter, we were happy to share The New England Carousel Museum and its wonders with some new victims (oops, I mean visitors!).  We took lots of photos and I hope you enjoy carousel animals too because I intend to post many of them.   ;-)

The museum restores antique carousel animals and occasionally exhibits new ones created by one of their carvers.  This antique jumper has beautiful gold leaf detailing. As someone who gets motion sickness very easily, carousels are just my speed!

The price of admission includes a ride on their children's indoor carousel that is used for birthday parties.  The horses may be small, but we all took a ride!  The Museum also operates the Bushnell Park Carousel in Hartford.

Do you see Lincoln's head on the trappings of this beautiful black horse?

Although I usually prefer the jumpers, this standing horse is one of my favorites.  Its trappings are fairly simple but this horse looks so realistic and majestic.

This ornate horse is actually fairly small in comparison to the others.  Its compact shape was designed for portable carousels that would travel to different fairgrounds--more horses could be stacked and shipped in a smaller container for moving from place to place.  I never tire of looking at these animals!

Maple Sugaring Part 2

As suspected, when my tech experts arrive, the problem with Blogger and the photos disappears!  So let me try again...

We enjoyed our visit to Lamothe's Sugar House to watch the process of making maple sap into maple syrup.

The weather in March was ideal for gathering maple sap:  nights below freezing and days above.

 

Here's Mark admiring the reverse osmosis system that Mr. Lamothe is explaining.

That's Mr. Lamothe behind the steam from the evaporator which is boiling the sap that has already gone through the reverse osmosis system to remove most of its water and is now becoming even more concentrated as more water boils off.  This is the final step in making maple syrup.

 

We wanted to make sure that our California girl could watch closely!  We stopped in the gift shop after the syrup-making demonstration to buy some of the finished product--there's nothing in the world that tastes as good as maple syrup!  In my humble opinion, after you've had the real thing, you'll never want to use the corn syrup imitations again!