foliage – New England's Narrow Road

Love New Hampshire For All These Reasons

After waiting a year, I am finally back home visiting all my favorite places in New Hampshire. I’ve run into old acquaintances and taken photos at my old favorite spots.

Tenney Farms produce — My Visit to Tenney Farm

I love New Hampshire for many reasons, and one is the farm stands. This late in the season (mid-October) Tenney Farms in Antrim is open fewer hours. The products are Autumn related, like pumpkins, Hubbard squash, and apple cider. Of course they have bags of apples from local orchards and I had to get some Macs.

apple, macintosh, fruit — New England Mac – delicious

The apples were quite big and extremely yummy. Macs have always been my favorite apple to pick in Fall. They are crisp and juicy when they are fresh. Usually they are not this big! If I lived here I would make a pie, but this time it will be applesauce for my daughter. I don’t have a kitchen in my rental, so have to use hers and she wants applesauce.

The wonderful cool air and pretty foliage is another thing to love about New Hampshire. Every drive is a scenic one, even if they are working on roads to get ready for winter.

Winding back roads with little traffic is also something I’ve missed. And the gorgeous homes people build up here are simply stunning in their size and landscaping.

The foliage is a bit gone by but still enjoyable. I couldn’t book my rental for the previous week, so I came a week later than I’d expected. As I walked around Gregg Lake in Antrim, I got some leaf photos and learned that the wind turbines would be coming soon! I’m wondering how the locals feel about that. (I’ll be writing more about this topic.)

And as I surveyed my surroundings at the rental I discovered a Magnolia tree and Pinky Winky hydrangea! I had one in my yard when I lived here and it was a favorite. The flowers begin white but by late fall the flowers are dark pink.

Health and well-being is on the minds of New Hampshire residents and it shows in the markets, restaurants, and health food stores. Local eateries (The Bantam Grill) use meat and produce from local farms. Organic food is easy to find, although it is not cheap.

Everyone is on the move, from joggers and hikers to neighborhood walkers. The air is cool and when the sun shines, people want to get outdoors. They know that winter is coming. But even in winter, skiing and snowboarding are popular sports. My daughter and her boyfriend just bought 4-wheelers to take advantage of the many woodland and mountain trails in the area.

The small town feel of the area is the last thing I will mention. Quaint and peaceful is the norm here. What could be better? I will be sorry to leave, but will return!

fall foliage lake bridge — Fall at the lake

A Trip to The Lake to Photograph Fall

fall foliage photography — Orange Leaves at Gregg Lake

I was finally able to take a ride around the area where I live in the Monadnock region of New Hampshire, and take some fall pictures. One of my favorite places to photograph is near a lake in Antrim. It’s usually quiet, and the scenery is very pretty at any time of year, but fall can be a great time to get photos.

We’d had some nasty rainy weather just about the time I noticed that the autumn color was really nice. I hate when that happens. The foliage brightens and then leaves us all to quickly as it is, and we don’t need the weather to knock the leaves off even earlier. But what can you do?

Fortunately I had driven along Rt. 202 to the computer repair shop in Antrim and my son was riding with me. I brought the camera and asked him to take pictures of anything that looked good along the way. And he got some pretty good images.

Then I went back up to Antrim to specifically visit Gregg Lake. But by the time there was good enough weather, the leaves were looking a bit gone by. And sure enough, when I got to the lake, it wasn’t too wonderful color wise. But I did take a bunch of photos anyway, like the one of the orange leaves headlining this post. I made it into a poster and will add it to other items in my Fall Colors online store.

I had a nice and peaceful visit to my old stomping grounds, and even ran into an old friend who was walking her dogs. Fall is still looking pretty good as I write this, but shortly the season will be ending, and we know what comes next!

Peterborough New Hampshire Celebrates 275 Years

scenic Peterborough foliage — Peterborough Downtown October 3, 2014

This weekend, October 11th, Peterborough, New Hampshire is celebrating 275 years from the time it was first “discovered”. It’s not a celebration of the official founding of the town, but the town prefers to follow the lead from the time the residents recognized the centennial year in 1839. I suppose they celebrate every 25 years, but I am not sure. I haven’t lived in this area very long. I managed to get these fall foliage photos as I was out driving one recent beautiful day.

The celebration is for the 275th year from the time the first settler came to the area. Thomas Morison is the man who traveled north from Massachusetts to find his own special tract of land in the area of what is now called Noone Falls. He came back later to build his house, but the anniversary is counted from the time of his first visit in 1739.

The celebration will be a big deal with lots of visitors expected. Shuttle busses will be transporting visitors from area parking lots, since downtown parking spots are at a minimum. It seems to me that the best place to park would be the Peterborough Shopping Plaza. From there you can walk the path that leads around the back of the Shell station (it goes under the road, so crossing traffic is not a problem) and then follow the sidewalk into town. Click here for a Bus MAP, where you’ll see the other two parking spots are at the Conval High School and the Community Center on Elm Street. You could also walk into town from Elm Street if you so desired.

There are ongoing events during the day, with a parade in the morning, at 10am, that will travel down into town from PES (Peterborough Elementary School) and the day will end with a fireworks show around 7pm.

This information was taken from the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript newspaper and the link will take you to the entire 275th special section, which includes lots of old photographs as well as aerial town views. Read more about what will take place at Peterborough’s 275th Celebration this coming weekend of October 11th.

If you can’t make it to Peterborough this coming weekend, maybe you will be free to enjoy the yearly event, Peak Into Peterborough, with more festivities next weekend, October 17th and 18th. That celebration includes free hay rides, food, music, demonstrations and a rummage sale. I hope the foliage hangs on, because it’s quite beautiful right now.

The yellow signs advertising the yearly fall event are up along all the major roads in town, as seen in my photo.

peak into peterborough celebration signs — Peak into Peterborough signs

Fall is Gone Too Fast

Fall leaves and pumpkin — Leaves and Pumpkin

Fall is here, in fact it is almost gone in my neck of the woods. Many trees are now bare, but some still hold onto yellow and orange leaves. The oak in front of my house is mostly green still, so it may be a while before I finish raking leaves.

I haven’t even bought a pumpkin yet. The photo I included here is from last year or maybe the year before. Money is tight, and to splurge on fall decorations like a pumpkin doesn’t seem anything but wasteful to me. I don’t have little kids who would want to carve it, and since we don’t even get Trick-or-Treaters, what is the point? Nature’s decorating is good enough for me.

I always tell myself that I will take long drives and find good spots for photos, but then I don’t. I did get back up to the lake for a few pictures, and that was nice, but the foliage color wasn’t even as good as I had hoped. But I always get outdoors this time of year as much as possible. I grabbed a blanket and had a nap in the sun out at the side yard the other day. I’m grabbing my natural vitamin D while I can.