New England's Narrow Road

My Trip to Holderness and The Manor on Golden Pond

Holderness is a small town in the northern part of the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. The Lakes Region is such a beautiful area, I always love driving through and this past April was the first time I’ve had the chance to stay there.

In fact it’s the first time I’ve been away at all in many years. I went to stay for one night, at the Manor on Golden Pond, with my daughter and her fiance. This is where she is planning to hold her wedding next year and we wanted to check it out.

The Manor is located very near Squam Lake which is where the movie “On Golden Pond” with Henry and Jane Fonda and Kathryn Hepburn was filmed. They have a poster (like the one below) on the wall.

This Manor was built by an Englishman who came to the region and loved it so much that the bought the land and proceeded to build his estate there. Over the years the place was sold and fixed up and converted to an upscale Inn with quaint rooms and delicious food. You can read all about the history – and see photos – in the album that is in the little “library” room where afternoon tea is served.

Entering the lobby — Lobby and fireplace area.

We were welcomed by Kathryn who had an English accent, as most of the staff do. They are recruited from England to come work at the Manor.

The lobby was quiet and deserted for most of our stay and it has a big fireplace with a salt and pepper chess set in front of it. My daughter and I worked on a puzzle at one point – for a few minutes – and there were other little games scattered around. We went for our visit the end of April which is still the off-season for area establishments. In fact besides us, there were only two other couples staying at the Manor.

View of Squam Lake from my room — View from the “Windsor” room

We happened to visit on the most beautiful weekend! It was sunny and the views were lovely, although the wind was whipping and it was not warm. This is the view from the room I stayed in. I got a surprise upgrade to the “Windsor” which is located on the second floor in the corner that faces the lake.
I loved it! I could even enjoy the view from my bathroom… (see below).

bathroom windows and view — Even in the bathroom, the views were pretty nice.

Want to read more and see my room photos? GO SEE

Trying To Keep The Birds Around, But…

Instead of birds flocking to my yard this Spring, I mostly have squirrels doing acrobatics on my feeders so they can chew up the seed.

Without many plants and flowers in my new yard, I wanted to keep the bug-eating birds here by offering them seed, but the gray squirrels take over and help themselves. They are funny to watch. Before I got this shot, this guy was holding onto the metal pole with one foot and the feeder with the other. By the time I got the camera he had changed position and was happily snarking down the sunflower seeds, upside down.

Oh, and I had a bear walk through the back yard the other evening. I suppose he was looking for the seeds too. All feeders were in, thank goodness and he headed back into the woods as soon as he came.

Pretty Tulip Pictures

Just wanted to share some of my tulip photos. Here I have red, purple and pretty yellow flowers. The yellow one has frilly edges.

I planted these bulbs last Fall and most came up nicely in very pretty colors. Some have gone by already and others are still budding.
They are welcome color in my mostly flower-free yard.

yellow frilly tulip — Yellow frilly tulip

Photos of Spring – Tulips and Daffodils in New Hampshire (newenglandsnarrowroad.wordpress.com)
Growing Hyacinths (newenglandsnarrowroad.wordpress.com)

Wine and Cheese – Pansy Colors

red and yellow pansies — Wine and Cheese Pansies

I am not a huge fan of pansies, but this color combination was so pretty that I bought a six-pack. Christa at Tenney Farm told me it was a color combination called “wine and cheese” and the name is perfect!

With the dark purple and burgundy “wine” colors and the light yellow for the “cheese” this 6-pack is quite pretty.

Pansies come in small containers and are a pain to plant and they only like the cool weather so don’t look good into Summer. I just find them a waste of time usually, but they are pretty if planted correctly.

I also bought some very small Pansies / violets and planted them by the side of the driveway. I have a very rocky area there and can’t dig down too deep so it’s the perfect place to put something small like that.