A New Bakery in Avon

Dorine has introduced me to a magical little shop in Avon called Taste by Spellbound.

It's located in one of the old stone Ensign-Bickford buildings right off of Route 44, and the inside is magical indeed.

 

It's like stepping into a fairytale!  You can find photos of the delicious desserts on their website, and it's a perfect place to relax with a cup of tea and a sweet on a cool autumn day.  Everything is handmade right in this location too--definitely worth a visit!

Local Fun

Mark took a couple of vacation days last week to finish up some indoor and outdoor greenhouse painting before the weather turns cold and all the plants have to be moved back inside. Taking advantage of the beautiful weather, we had some fun too.

We went to Riverdale Farms shopping area in nearby Avon to have breakfast at Avon Country Deli.  Mark enjoys their homemade hash and I love that they serve breakfast all day.  One of their specials was apple cinnamon pancakes and they were delicious!  The apples were just the way I like them--a little firm yet cooked. 

We're starting to see some nice color in our area now even though there is still a lot of green.

After a leisurely breakfast, it was time to leave Riverdale Farms and head home to paint. I just love these clear autumn days with pumpkins and apples everywhere.

Fall in New England--my favorite time of year! 

Saturday Travels

On Saturday morning we got up bright and early to headed to Boston to the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Museum of Science.  It was fascinating to see examples of written language from 5,000 years ago. But the one item that really spoke to me from the whole exhibit was the pair of leather soles from sandals that were 2,000 years old--complete with impressions of the wearer's feet.  There was also a fabric remnant from Masada where the dark blue and tan threads were woven in a very distinct and still recognizable pattern. Somehow the fact that these items were worn by people so long ago made them very precious to me.

From the museum we went to visit Ross and Malima's new apartment, arriving in time to see Ross pull into the driveway. He's just taken off his helmet in this photo.

 

After the apartment tour, which took awhile since their new place is quite spacious, Malima's sister joined us for a walk to Sei Bar where we had a delicious lunch.  Mark had noticed an ice cream place and we stopped there for dessert on our way back to the apartment. I was favorably impressed by the size of their regular sundaes!

We were lucky to have good weather for our trip to Boston and even saw the beginnings of good fall foliage along the highway.  Even with a minor traffic jam in Hartford, we arrived back home by six. I'm glad we had an early start to the day and were able to see the Dead Sea scrolls before the museum became too crowded--a good plan to remember for next time.

A Fabulous Friday

As a continuation of her special birthday plans for me, Dorine picked me up this morning and we headed to Mozzicato's in Plainville for coffee and a sweet.

There are just so many delicious things in the display cases that it's hard to choose!  What I really want to say is, "Gimme one of each!"

So I went with an old Italian favorite, a cannoli with ricotta filling--and it was delicious.  Well, there was some cappuccino left in my cup so I had to get a couple of biscotti to go with it.  I must admit it made for a very interesting brunch.

 

Then we went to The Pottery Piazza, which is also in Plainville, to pick up the platters we decorated during Ladies' Night last Thursday.  First Dorine had surprised me with dinner at First and Last Tavern where we enjoyed the eggplant pizza, and she presented me with the lovely vintage rhinestone pin that I'm wearing on a ribbon necklace in the photo above.  But the best surprise was our trip to The Pottery Piazza!  We had so much fun gabbing and decorating our platters, and then we had to go back to pick up the fired pieces today.  Dorine used the symbol of her business as The Collegeologist to decorate her platter, and I decided to paint autumn leaves.  It's quite a painstaking process--3 1/2 hours of applying the glazes and waiting for them to dry between coats before the platters were ready for the kiln.  Definitely worth the wait--and I'm looking forward to making something else next time!

Thank you, Dorine, for finding the perfect birthday surprise for your crafty friend!

First Week of Autumn

Autumn began late Sunday evening and it is time for me to do some fall decorating.

Mums are 3/$15 at Big Y, our local supermarket--they are a good size and just coming into bloom, so I picked a yellow, a creamy white, and a rusty red to put with the faux pumpkins from Michael's. 

I just love the look of sunflowers in this old green earthenware pitcher.  The tablecloth has a pattern of colorful autumn leaves.

 

The cooler weather inspired me to make the Mushroom and Leek Lasagna recipe from Flour, Too by Joanne Chang, one of the cookbooks that Dawn got me for my birthday.  I served it to book group and Laurel kindly took this photo.  Everyone enjoyed it, and Mark said he likes the roasted tomatoes better than the tomato sauce that most lasagnas have.  While it wasn't difficult to make, it did have many steps and took several hours to prepare and assemble for baking.  Worth the effort!  I think I'll try one of the soup recipes next.

 

 

We brought Kita home on September 23, 2008--hard to believe she's been with us for 5 years now and will be turning 9 next month.  I sure love that little doggie!  Hmmm, I wore that same blouse yesterday...



NY Maker Faire

On Sunday, we headed to New York City to attend Maker Faire.  The weather cleared and we had a beautiful crisp day.  First on our agenda was attending a talk Dawn gave, entitled "When Makers Apply for College".  You can see the talk in its entirety at:
http://fora.tv/2013/09/22/when_makers_apply_for_college

After a long Q & A session, we explored Maker Faire.  Some exhibits were in the New York Hall of Science, and many more were set up outside under tents on the grounds of the 1965 World's Fair. There was sooo much to see--lots of techie things but also a large crafts area.

Here's Dawn standing next to the Maker mascot!

 

This is the first time I've ever seen the World's Fair globe up close--we've seen it from the road when going to JFK International Airport and even from the air upon takeoff.  Mark remembers going to the Fair but doesn't really remember what he saw.  My Girl Scout troop discussed taking a field trip to the Fair but never went beyond the planning stage.  I think my sister went--I'll have to ask her about it!

 

Of course the globe and the observation towers were featured prominently in one of our favorite movies, Men in Black.

Traffic on the way home was crazier and much more congested--reminding me why we rarely drive to NYC even though it's only two hours away (in perfect conditions) from where we live.  It was a long but very enjoyable day.



Annual Family Reunion

Despite a few sprinkles, we managed to spend a lot of time outside in Otis on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, our traditional family reunion.

 

After Ross took Fab for a ride on the jet ski, Fab returned the favor.

 

 

Yann had fun with the paddleboard.

 

Malima and Dawn enjoyed swimming.

 

 

Here's Dana during a rare quiet moment (OK, I asked her to pose there).

 

 

 

At six months, Kate is the youngest member of our clan.  She watched everything very closely!

 

On the way home, Dawn picked up pizza from Naples to share with her Parisian friends. And then we watched a movie (I guess the weekend really went by quickly--in my last post I stated we watched one on Saturday but I think it was actually on Sunday!)  And on Labor Day everyone had to pack up and return to Boston...but what a great weekend!