The Granite State

Five days in New Hampshire: a lovely 200+ year old inn (which we mostly had to ourselves, this not being prime leaf-season), country roads, great food in Keene, NH, some cool art on the way there in Fitchburg, MA, and some pretty flowers on the way back in Shelburne Falls, MA. Great get-away less than a two hour drive from Boston.

Fitchburg Art Museum - great, small, FREE museum with an interesting collection. 

Our home for 5 days. 

Part of an estate built in 1774

Short hike along Chesterfield Gorge

Day trip to Waterbury, VT

sample of the day was mango - delicious.

A walk at the Distant Hills Nature Preserve

The Bridge of Flowers, a pedestrian bridge in Shelburne Falls, MA which crosses the Deerfiled River, has recently been rebuilt and replanted, so it won't be restored to its former glory (from what I understand) for a while. 

at one of several great restaurants we found in Keen, NH

Fenway

 I took a tour of Fenway Park when I first came to Boston in May of 2022, but today I actually saw a game there. It was the Red Sox against the Baltimore Orioles - and the Sox took quite a beating (8-1). But it was a lovely summer Thursday, and it certainly beat working. 

 

Boise - Again

Memorial Day weekend seemed like a good time to go back to Boise to hang out with Torunn and Seth, and Sara Baker. I can't ever seem to say Sara's name without adding her last name; it's a thing. Seth drew me in the annual Unsworth-Christmas-Eve-Gift-Exchange and gifted me a Boise-area wine tour. It was a lovely (if boozy... I stopped sipping after the third winery) day out with, as Ellen would say, "the young people."

Torunn and Seth's indoor-soccer-cage-match

Lunch at Peaceful Belly Farm

Vancouver, B.C.

Felt the need to get out of town so went to Vancouver last weekend. 

I've worked with Mel(issa) for years and we're definitely buddies,
but we've only met twice -- now three times.

Adam (across from me), I last saw when he was about 8 years old in Sri Lanka.
He goes to UBC now and I took him and his buddy Aidan out to dinner.  

 

Before we went out to dinner, Adam showed me around the UBC campus.

The following day, I took a walking tour of downtown Vancouver. 

our guide, Marina, who showed up with a box of
kouign-amann pastries 

Inside the Marine Building - great examples of Art Deco

Last stop was Mink Chocolates

Not sure about rosemary in chocolate,
but this was interesting if not to my taste.