Showing posts with label town forest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label town forest. Show all posts

Sunday, July 10, 2022

A lovely weekend

Our weather has been fantastic the last couple of days - sunny, low humidity, warm but not too warm, and plenty cool for sleeping.  Perfect!  Friday we took Manny and Mary out to a long, leisurely lunch at a local favorite.  We ate far too much, and I ended up taking a nap at 4 pm.  This made it hard to sleep, so I woke up too early on Saturday.  

We drove to Burlington to attend a play at St. Michael's Playhouse called Into the Breeches.  It took place during World War II when "all" the men were fighting and the women were home and in need of some entertainment.  A few women actors decided to put on Shakespeare's Henry IV and Henry V.  All the parts were to be played by women, including the male parts.  Hilarity ensued, and it was so nice to get back to theater again after three summers without.   During the intermission, a librarian we knew and worked with came by to chat.  It was fun to see her and her husband again.

We have been meaning to get out into the Town Forest for another walk, and this morning we finally did.  We took the Grand Lookout Trail, one of our favorites because it ends with a fantastic view of Barre and the mountains, including Camel's Hump, the distinctive peak on our state quarter.  Along the way are a series of sculptures, including Hephaestus, god of fire.  Funny thing is, when I got home, Facebook reminded me that four years ago on this day, I posted another picture of Paul and a group of walkers at this very spot.



Friday, May 13, 2022

Town Forest walks

We haven't walked in the Town Forest in two years.  The first year, the pandemic was in full swing, and last year, Paul wasn't up to it, our dear walking friend was dying, and other walkers were busy.  Paul and I resolved to get more walks in there this summer and took our first one this morning.  We left home around 8 am, before it got too hot.  The leaves are just beginning to pop out, so much of the area was sunny or very lightly dappled.  It will be deep forest in a few weeks.  It was good to get out today, though, because it's quite busy in the forest on weekends.  It's a multi-use trail, so there are walkers, bikers, disc golfers, and the occasional horse.

Our first destination was The Old Man in the Quarry, just off the #6 Trail which is lined by sweetly blooming periwinkle.  Vinca is an invasive "weed" but really lovely.  Still, it's obvious why they call it "invasive," since it has really been spreading fast through that area of the forest.  Now that it has taken hold, it will be impossible to remove, which is OK by me.

The Old Man does bear a slight resemblance to what used to be the Old Man in the Mountain in New Hampshire before it fell down.  There's a picnic table and a disc golf hole nearby, so it's a nice spot to sit and watch the world go by.  We proceeded on to the #6 Quarry and then along the Mainline trail for a while before returning to the car.  

There are still red trillium blooming here and there, but many of the early blooms seem to have come and gone.  We also saw some shad blooming, and soon the apple trees will start.

We walked a little under a mile and returned home by 9 am when it was already getting hot out.  Glad we went, we hope to get out there a few times a week now.  

Monday, January 18, 2021

Serious snow

 

This, or actually something similar, was our view Saturday and yesterday.  The snow kept on falling, and, because it was quite wet, made for slushy streets.  But it was beautiful!  My friends Samantha and Vicki were brave enough to drive up to the Town Forest to snowshoe and take pictures, including this one.  It's one of my favorite spots in the forest, a peaceful place to rest by a quiet quarry and to gaze at the lovely "Westside" area with its old railroad bed and canopy of trees.  

It almost makes me want to strap on my snowshoes and head up there myself.   Instead of getting wet and cold, I choose to make snow days my sew days.  After making a loaf of bread, I played around with leftover pieces from the Grassy Creek mystery.  I don't know if they'll end up in the borders of the quilt which is now 69" x 69".  But I had fun nonetheless.

I also knit quite a bit on a new hat which uses up leftover gray and lilac yarn.  I have about an inch left to knit before I start decreasing for the crown.  Hope it fits!

Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Forest walk season begins


Today was our first Tuesday morning walk in the town forest, and it was a lovely, cool morning.  What's fun about the walks is that there are 25 miles of trails to explore, and the views change every week with the seasons.  There weren't too many spring wildflowers left, but we did see a few red trillium and Canada mayflowers. 

There was a group waiting when we arrived; they had driven about 45 min. to join us.  Our friend Fred had arranged it and requested that we go to the Grand Lookout.  I revised the route I'd planned, which is usually fine with me, and nine of us and one big black dog headed out.  Our first stop was the Capitol Quarry, which is rumored to have supplied some of the stone for the Vermont State House, but may actually be named for the granite company that worked it.  I'm not sure.

We passed the "pot truck," which continues to receive attention from graffiti artists.  I sometimes stop there for photos, but no one seemed so inclined.   The walk continued to the Grand Lookout with its amazing views of the quarries, the Southgate Steeplejacks building, and state forest land in the distance.  At the end of the trail is a view of downtown Barre and all of the major mountains in northern Vermont, and we can almost pick out our house on a good day.  Along the way there are some lovely quarry views and a couple of walls that have small carvings done by some of the area's best sculptors.  "Vulcan's Pavilion" (above) is an amazing surprise along this trail.

We walked about 2.5 miles today - not bad after a sedentary winter.  Glad we went this morning - it looks like rain again this afternoon!


Friday, October 26, 2018

Rain and gloom

This year's October weather seems much like past years' November that I hope we don't slip right into December weather after Halloween.  
We did manage to take a short walk in the forest with Suzanne this week when she came down to get her car serviced.  The sky was gloomy but what was left of the foliage was quite pretty.  We have had a little wet snow the last couple of days, too.  Rib-sticking meals have been the order of the day - chili, mashed potatoes, beets.

I've been chipping away at UFOs this week and have just one more border to finish appliqueing on the Goose in the Pond medallion I started last winter.  Actually, the center block is about 3 or 4 years old.  I cut all the strips for two plain outer borders as well as the binding, so I am looking forward to finishing soon.  

My bookshelf row-by-row quilt returned yesterday after having been worked on by six quilters in Australia, London, Washington state, North Carolina, and Florida.  It looks fabulous!   I am still considering setting the "shelves" in two ranges with a wall above for a mini quilt.  That will probably necessitate making another "shelf" or two of books.  Row-by-row quilts tend to be 36" wide, but I'm thinking 72" or so would be more practical.  I need to figure out what the outside of the "shelves" will be made of.  Perhaps a "grunge" fabric will mimic antiqued wood?  The quilt shops are having a Halloween shopping event, so I might run down later today.  Saturday is the state quilt guild meeting, always a source of interesting ideas, and sometimes a source of interesting fabric, too.

Tuesday, September 4, 2018

"Lifestyle changes"

I have been making a conscious effort to eat less and walk more as part of my "lifestyle change" regimen.  The P.A. used this gentle way of telling me to lose weight and lower my cholesterol which has always been OK until recently.   It's especially difficult when one goes out to eat, as we did last night, but I did pretty well.  First of all, I did a little walking, first in the mall and later from the Old Labor Hall to the restaurant and back, a good half mile, for dinner with Paul and Fred.   I chose a falafel burger, with salad rather than fries on the side or pizza.  Absolutely no dessert and, thankfully, no wine (the house variety costs $10 at this particular place).    Eating at home is easier to control.  Tonight I'll make a pork tenderloin with vegetables.

Our Tuesday morning walk went up to Barclay Quarry and back, over 7,000 steps, and everyone seemed o enjoy it.  It has been very humid and last night's rains made the forest quite steamy.    Here's some  ragweed  I noticed near Barclay Quarry this morning.
As Suzy says, for an ugly flower, it sure causes trouble for some people.   Some mistake goldenrod for ragweed, but that isn't usually allergenic.   In fact, goldenrod looks really nice in bouquets with asters at this time of year.

Even though I don't like to have a schedule, I will miss the Tuesday morning walks when they're over at the end of September.   Our little group of "regulars" is nice, and I enjoy introducing newcomers to the trails.

Saturday, July 7, 2018

The heat wave has broken!

We had a lot of wind and some heavy downpours yesterday, and today is a gorgeous one, with low humidity and in the 70s.  What a relief after six days of heat and humidity.  We took some friends along for a walk up the Grand Lookout Trail by the town forest.  We wanted to check out a new sculpture in an abandoned quarry building.   The granite columns are older, but the bust of Vulcan was recently made to go along with the annual "Rockfire" event held last weekend.  It fits the site perfectly.
From the top of the Grand Lookout, one can see all of downtown and the mountains to the west and northeast.   We could also look down to where they are loading huge chunks of grout (waste granite) onto railroad cars.  During the week we've been hearing 5 or 6 trains a day coming down from the quarries and going through downtown.  Paul suggested that with climate change, municipalities are building higher, stronger breakwaters with the stone.


Monday, June 11, 2018

Forest walks begin

Last Tuesday was our first walk in the Town Forest for the season.  We'll be leading nature walks on the 25 miles of trails through September.  Mainly, the same people come every week, but every now and then a new person or two joins us.  I also try to attend the every-other-Sunday walks with my friend, a former science teacher and photography buff.


There are Sundays when I have other things to do, but I always feel better walking these trails which change every week.  Right now, there is new growth everywhere and not as many flowers in the understory.  Yet the birds are very active.  We saw a downy woodpecker and heard a warbler, among others.

It has been beautiful weather this week, and yesterday's outing was very nice, with two couples and a sweet dog joining us.  One couple had retired to our area after living in Boston for 30 years - quite a change, but they are enjoying the peace and quiet.  And I enjoyed meeting them.  That's one of the benefits of leading these walks.

We took a fairly easy route, stopping by the #6 Quarry and then going up to Lawson's Lookout, which, like so many of the lookouts, is a former grout (Scottish for "waste") pile that has overgrown.  One hundred years ago, what is now forest was once a tree-less quarry works owned by various companies.  The trails were made by workers and then, as the quarries were abandoned, kept up by walkers, hunters, and wildlife.  Here is what the group found atop Lawson's Lookout.  She stayed up there a long time, trying to figure out how to get down.  My friend walked up to check and snapped this photo before we continued on our way.

Hope you had a lovely Sunday, too.


Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Last Tuesday walk of the season

The Tuesday morning walkers went out of the Town Forest yesterday to go up the Grand Lookout Trail.  It's a relatively easy walk with a slight incline and an amazing view at the end.  It has been hot and humid for the last few days, so the morning fog has been slow to burn off.  From the Grand Lookout, we could still see very low hanging clouds and not as much fall foliage as we had hoped.  Still, there are some amazing trees turning red, losing their chlorophyll.

After we reached the parking lot, we had a little tail gate party.  One of the walkers, Pam, often says when we reach some nice spot, "this would be perfect if there was a cappuccino bar."  Paul and I produced a cooler with some "Frappacino" drinks (very sweet) and gluten-free muffins (two of our walkers are GF).  It was the perfect end to a very nice summer of walks!


Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Walking in the forest

We haven't had as much rain lately, so for Tuesday morning's walk in the town forest, I proposed taking a trail we haven't used this year because it tends to be wet.  Going along the Mainline trail to look at the tree identification signs put up a few years ago, we ended up taking a slightly backwards route to the Empire Lookout.
This is a little dark, but we had nine people, including six from our neighborhood.  Nancy, Suzy, and Chris live elsewhere in the city or town, and we are a fairly congenial group which welcomes new people.  You can see that most of us wore jackets because the mornings have been in the 40's lately.  But the sun came out on the way back to the parking lot, and it got fairly warm.  We took a winding route back that climbed up past the Little John Quarry, and then walked along Pierre's field to a part of the VAST trail we rarely use. 

I will be sorry to see the walks end at the end of September and wonder where we can go to get such great conditions.   Even though we have to watch for tree roots and stones in the forest, the dirt trails are cushiony underfoot.  The mall is dull and its tile floor is hard;  downtown is OK except for the traffic; the neighborhood or the treadmill get old really fast.  

Next week, weather permitting, we'll try Rauli's Run, a new trail for beginning bikers.  Should be interesting.

Thursday, July 6, 2017

The 4th of July


We really didn't think many people would join us on our usual Tuesday morning walk in the Town Forest on Independence Day, but we had ten plus a very nice dog, Max.  The weather was wonderful - sunny, low humidity, clear, breezy.  Because the trails are still a bit wet, I chose the Mainline because it has some gravel and usually doesn't get as muddy.  There were some wet spots, and we took a turn onto the Boulder Dash trail to get to Little John Road more quickly.  From there we walked over to the Empire Lookout where Lois can see her old house.  We took the Upper Mainline trail back, and then I suggested taking a short cut through disc golf tee #4 to get to the VAST trail down to the parking lot.  It's almost all rock, so dry.  Even though I was toward the end of the line, I beat everyone to the VAST trail because they took a different route and were beset by a few dogs along the way.  It was about a 3 mile walk and felt really good to be outdoors.

Sunday, June 11, 2017

A summer walk

Yesterday was a busy day, but so nice because the sun was shining!  Friday afternoon (it threatened rain as usual), I baked chocolate chip cookies to take to the library's volunteer luncheon yesterday.  The staff holds it every year to thank the many volunteers who do things from gathering recycling to keeping the circulation desk running and more.  As a trustee, I am really grateful, and as a member of the Friends, I'm one of those helpers, too.  There were about 75 people there. 

I couldn't stay until the end because children's librarian Ian and I were heading up to the town forest for storytime.  Pam, a Friend and fellow retired librarian, helped, too, although her granddaughter didn't join us as we had hoped.  Just back from a couple of weeks vacation in Scotland, Ian piped us up to the story area in the forest, nicely marked out by Al, disc golfer extraordinaire, and his pug, Angie.  He wanted to make sure no one threw any stray discs our way.

Ian had taken some storytelling classes while on vacation and shared one about "Witch Wash-a-Dish" with the group.  It was a good one because the kids could get involved, naming potential suitors for the picky princess and serving as various trees.  He lead a fingerplay and then read a story about fairy houses before the grand finale - building fairy houses in the forest.  On an earlier walk I had spotted a fairy house from last year, a little worse for the wear, but still available for occupancy.  There were 18 kids and parents there, and a good time was had by all.

After a light dinner (considering the luncheon was pot luck and delicious), Paul and I went to the Opera House for a Hank Williams tribute.  We spotted his sister and her husband up in the balcony.  The musicians, especially the pedal steel/lead guitarist, were very good.  It was a fun day!



Monday, June 5, 2017

27 Days!

That's right - 27 days of rain in May, and rain every day so far in June.  Vermont is as green as it can be which is fine unless you want to do something outside.  Yesterday we did find a little morning sun to walk in the forest for a welcome change.   Most of the wildflowers have finished blooming but the ferns are still filling out, and we were pleased that the trails weren't as wet as they might have been.  Nearing the parking area, we heard the distinct sound of a woodpecker on metal.  There is very little metal in the forest, naturally, so we had to stop and find out what it was.  Samantha took a short video, but also this photo:
It was such a distinctive looking woodpecker that Samantha used her phone app to find out what type it was.  While she was looking, I jokingly said, "a yellow bellied sapsucker," and it really was!

It did rain later in the day, so I dove into the latest Elly Griffiths mystery, The Chalk Pit, her ninth featuring archaeologist Ruth Galloway.   Earlier, I finished putting together a bookshelf for the row-by-row robin I'll be participating in later this year.  It was easy - why haven't I made one of these quilts before?

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Forest walks

This is the fourth year that Suzy and I have been leading walks in the Town Forest on Tuesday mornings.  We have some great "regulars" and always a few newbies join us.  Yesterday we had 11 people, five of whom were nearly 80.  They were visiting our neighbor Lois and attending their 60th high school reunion.  Lois had said she wanted to take them to the Empire Lookout which has views of her old house.  Paul and Janice wanted to get home by 10:30, so I didn't tarry but led a brisk march through the woods.   I'm usually pretty slow, with Suzy taking the lead.  She had a sore throat and didn't come.  We were also missing Bill (biking?) and Lee (on vacation).


When we finally got to the lookout, about a mile from the start, one of the reunion ladies told me that she had had a stroke last year and that's why she was lagging.  I felt so bad!  I had originally planned a shorter walk in another area, but changed my plan in order to please Lois, a very nimble 78 year old.  So we left the reunion people sitting by the side of the road while Lois went back and got her car.  This incident put a pall on the walk for me although I was trying to accommodate everyone.  Sigh.  Still and all, it was a lovely day for a walk in the woods.  The Empire Lookout is one of my favorites because you approach over pine needles past a lovely quarry.

Monday, June 13, 2016

Getting my steps in

It was a rainy weekend, so a nice time to do a little hand sewing.  My small quilt group was "homeless" for its June meeting, so I invited them here.  Only two people came (it's a busy time of year with high school graduations and such), but we had a nice bee anyway.  I got a few Lafayette Orange Peels sewn and/or prepped.  Whatever this will end up being is coming together quite quickly.

At last week's applique class, one person asked if I could show how to finish the block I designed, so this week I hope to get it machine quilted, just to show how applique can be handled.  I think it will end up as a pillow anyway.  Yesterday I basted the parts of the same block which I will use for the next class, since this was their homework.  It wouldn't do for the instructor not to do the homework!

We did get in another forest walk in between raindrops yesterday.  Walking with Samantha is always interesting because she notices things I don't always see.  This time it was a variety of amazing fungi growing on trees.  The small group had a good time.  One of our newbies was the guy who owns the comic book/collectible card shop.  He was a favorite of Chris' when he was growing up.  These walks are a fun way of meeting new people and sharing our enthusiasm for the forest, the views, and the history of the abandoned quarries.  AND I got in almost 8,000 steps Sunday!

Friday, June 10, 2016

Lots of distractions

We started our Tuesday morning walks in the Town Forest this week.  It rained a little early but more held off until later in the day.  There were plenty of wet spots after Sunday's day-long rain, but we took a route that I know to be dry.  We had three newcomers who seemed to enjoy themselves.  One was confused by the map and wanted to follow along.  I forget the names of the trails over the winter, so I had to refresh my memory.  I hope they don't think I don't know where I'm going.  This is the fourth year of our walks, so I do know the 355 acres pretty well.  It was great to see some of our walking friends again.

When we got home, our cleaning ladies were busy across the street so we knew they were imminent.  Paul hates to be here when they come - our house immediately seems tiny with three people vaccuuming, dusting, cleaning, etc.  So it was a good time to look for a new-to-us car since our Honda CRV needs extreme repair or replacement.  It has served us well.  We test drove a Toyota RAV4 and liked it, but we weren't ready to commit.  After lunch, we stayed home, and I appliqued a few more Lafayette's Orange Peel blocks.  They are a great ongoing pick up project, and I need to prepare a few more.

Wednesday morning, I had a library board meeting followed by yoga, so in the afternoon I sewed the binding onto the quilt that came back from the quilter's.  If it ever stops raining, I'll set up the quilt rack (it's bed-sized) and take some photos.  Love it!  We got back to car shopping yesterday and tried a few Hondas, both the new HRV and a used CRV.  Now to make a decision...

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Another gorgeous day

It was sunny and in the mid-60's this afternoon, so we took another walk up to the Grand Lookout.  Every time we go, we say "this will be our last trip up here," but on the way down today we thought we might be lucky enough to get another walk up if we have just a little snow.  It ought to be really pretty then.  In this photo you can see an area of oak trees that are hanging on to their leaves.  Many of the beeches also had their leaves, a little lighter brown, on.

After we got home, I put the last border onto my "Insane Squares" quilt.  It was from a fall issue of American Patchwork and Quilting, so their quilt had black, oranges, and golds.  This one uses lots of different purple, blue, and turquoise batiks, mostly from a "Tonga Treat" package.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find yardage of the darker Tonga blue batik, but I got something that I think works pretty well.  It was a bit of an intense project, since I wanted certain colors to fall in various sequences.   Now I'm waiting for the backing fabric to arrive in the mail, and then I will drive down to NH to deliver it to the longarmer.  Maybe next week?

I'm glad to be finished, though, as I have a long list of UFOs, including one pretty good-sized BoB (Box of Blocks) from two swaps.  I also want to sandwich my "Atlantic Crossing" wall hanging so I can start hand quilting it.  The back for that is in the dryer... oh, gosh!  Better get it out!


Sunday, September 27, 2015

Storytime in the forest

Yesterday I started making Pat's row for the row robin and, crazy as it seems, decided to paper piece my blocks.  What was I thinking!?!  I like the way paper pieced blocks look, but I sure hate taking the paper out.  I made a pineapple center for the guild round robin last week (forgot to take a photo) and swore I wouldn't paper piece again.  So much for that!  Pat's is a great row robin - Christmas theme in red and white fabrics.  I love it.  I got a few blocks done between grocery shopping and the farmer's market.

Then it was off to the forest for the fall storytime with our children's librarian/award-winning bagpiper.  And what fun everyone had!
 Twenty preschoolers through first graders, parents, grandparents, two dogs, and others who love stories followed Ian up into the forest.  As you can see, it was a gorgeous day with temperatures in the 60's and not a cloud in the sky.  There's a clearing not far up where I had set out tarps to sit on, and there are also some blocks of granite for sitting.

Ian read my favorite version of Little Red Ridinghood, by James Marshall.  When the hunter finally gets Red Ridinghood and Grandma out of the wolf, Granny says, "It was so dark, I couldn't read in there!"  After that story, we learned a song to go with a story about dressing the Big Bad Wolf.  He had brought a cardboard wolf to dress which the kids loved.  It was a great afternoon, capped off by some more paperpieced blocks when I got home!

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Way too busy!

This is a crazy week which began with having my teeth cleaned Monday.  That evening, my jaw started to wobble and feel bad, and so far it has been a little difficult to chew.  I think I stretched while at the dentist, so now I have to take it easy while eating.  My neck and shoulder are sore, too, so I have been taking Ibuprophen to sleep.  Ugh!

Yesterday, we had a nice long walk in the forest.  The weather couldn't be more beautiful lately - warm days, cool nights.  We walked over the Mainline Trail, following old railroad beds through the abandoned quarries.  A few weeks ago, I noticed some seed pods on a tree that looked like beech, but I was told they are hazlenuts and that squirrels love them.  They really must because there are none left.  Instead, we did notice this odd seed pod, the red speckled blob in the middle.  It turns out to be a seed pod for jack-in-the-pulpit.  Quite interesting!  We will have to look hard for the flower next spring.

Last night was our first quilt guild meeting of the new year, and I talked about the gift bag challenge for the coming year.  Next month, anyone who wants to participate will bring a gift bag, which I will put into a brown paper bag.  Then each person will pick up a brown bag on the way home and make something quilty inspired by that bag.  Should be fun.  There's also going to be a round robin, and I can't resist!  I have already decided not to do the mystery quilt for the year as I never like what I end up with.  We'll see how my round robin turns out - I still have to make a center block and think it may be a square of four scrappy pineapple blocks.

Today we ran around, too, so I didn't get a lot of stitching in.  I do have two sections of the big rainbow scrappy quilt put together and hand sewed the backs together this morning.  Hope to get a little quilting in tomorrow and then, maybe put the next section on.  I am soooo anxious for this quilt to be finished, but it will be another week or two, I think!

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Fairy houses

'Ian Gauthier'Last Saturday, the Town Recreation Commission held an open house for the town forest, and I organized a "spring awakenings" walk with Samantha and a fairy house building activity.  Never mind the fact that the state quilt was holding its semiannual meeting on the same day.  What a wild and crazy day.  My Fitbit told me I packed a lot of activity into the day, and so did my feet!

Our children's librarian, Ian, also plays the bagpipes, so he led us up a hill to the spot for a story followed by house building.  18 kids, ranging in age from about 2 to 10, and their parents and grandparents came along, and it was fun.

The kids did a wonderful job, using sticks, pine cones, pods, and other natural items Tracy and I had assembled.  We let them take home flowers crocheted by Linda, stickers, and fairy dolls Tracy and I made (with a lot of hot glue to hold them together), so they could build houses in their own yards, too. 

'Avery's fairy house'Sunday, Paul and I walked up to see how the houses had done overnight, and many were still there... if you knew where to look.  Hope the fairies take up residence!