New Hampshire – Page 2 – New England's Narrow Road

Seasonal Photos of a Rural Life

colorful fall leaves — Autumn Leaf Collection

I collected these leaves while on a walk along a dirt road one day. I used to live in a very rural location and I didn’t own my own place, so I had a lot of time to walk. Fall and winter were always my favorite seasons to take landscape photography around the nearby lake. I walked alone mostly, but sometimes I took my landlady’s dog with me for company. The area was full of dirt roads and paths to follow through the woods. It was fun to find moose tracks (never saw one though) and spot wildlife.

In winter I got out early with the camera to capture the morning sun glinting on the tall pines. When I was a kid I always wanted to be the first one to go out in a new snowfall and make the first tracks. There is just something about a landscape of fresh smooth snow that calls to me!

Although I knew it was not my true home, that area where I lived for a few years made an impact because of it’s beauty. I enjoy solitude, and my rental years near the lake gave me plenty of that. The change of seasons was especially pretty there, and I always looked forward to the leaves changing color in fall. Many of the houses around the lake are seasonal, and are empty during foliage season. During summer the place is buzzing with visitors to beach and boat ramp, but once the kids go back to school the place becomes mostly deserted.

Since I work from home, I could take time during the day and get my photos without any people getting in my way. So here I share some of my photos.

dirt road forest photo — “Missing Sun” poster

fall landscape photography — “Autumn Pond”

winter sunrise — “Winter Morning” postcard

Apple Picking at Norway Hill Orchard

It’s October and apple picking time in New England. And aren’t we glad that the apples come into season in Fall? Picking at Norway Hill Orchard in New Hampshire is such a treat. Not only does it have a view of Mt. Monadnock, but the hill is a beautiful place to visit. Lovely old (and new) homes line the drive up to the top where the orchard is home to some trees that are over 100 years old.

My neighbor and I headed to Hancock (New Hampshire) mid-day on Thursday, October 3rd, in hopes that it wouldn’t be too crowded, and it wasn’t. But the car paths and “parking” signs we saw as we walked to the through the orchard, told of the many visitors that come on the weekends.

The stand near the road has bagged up apples ready to sell, but we wanted to pick our own. It was a gorgeous, sunny day with temps in the 70’s, so we were not in a hurry. The man at the stand gave us directions to find the Macintosh trees, and also the Courtlands, if we wanted them.

The first trees we found were pretty much picked clean, but after walking further we found trees that were just loaded with gorgeous fruit. The bags fill up fast, and we stuffed them to overflowing. At $10.50 for a peck, it’s not exactly cheap to pick your own apples, but they are as fresh as you can get, and it’s a once in a year treat.

Save money by choosing to fill up the bag with “drops”. Gather apples off the ground, which are still good, but much less money. It’s an honor system, but I think the man could tell if you lied and said they were drops but they weren’t. He looked at our bags and said, Oh, you picked from the trees. He’s an expert!

We asked about the Macouns which would be coming in next, and he handed each of us one to try. I may go back if my bag empties too soon from all the pies, muffins, pancakes, and crisps I’ll be making.

Little Deer Visits on Day of Our First Snow

little deer in the garden — Hey, that’s my parsley!

Yesterday we had our first snow in the area and it wasn’t much but it brought a little deer into my yard who had fun finding it’s breakfast among my garden.
The blackberry leaves were the first to be munched, and they she began nosing through the greenery poking through the snow and found my parsley! Hey! She also liked the long leaf from my new Iris (which never bloomed last year) so at least it was good for something.
I’m sharing a few more shots below:

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Summer at Lake Sunapee

Did you know that Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler has a home on beautiful Lake Sunapee in New Hampshire? I watched the new Oprah show where she interviewed him at his home there. I almost believed that he was just a regular guy – ha! Who dresses funny. But I love water. Love lakes. Love boating. And it’s always been my dream to live on the water, so I found the interview fascinating and even more so because he has a home on a lake – that is only an hour away from me.

Before I saw the interview, I had seen local news reporters (months before) reporting that Oprah Winfrey had been spotted riding around in a car with Steven Tyler up that way. The reporter even tried to get some info from the maid? or someone at the house, but the gates remained locked for him. Sure enough, a few months later we could see what all the fuss was about. During the interview the two megastars ventured out in Tylers convertible and rode through Sunapee Harbor and out to someplace to tramp through the woods. (Bet Oprah loved that!)

But – I recognized the Anchorage restaurant they passed, where I had eaten a few times (and where S.T. met Joe Perry, I believe) and I decided to make a trip up to Lake Sunapee this summer and go out on the Harbor Cruise. My son from Florida has been visiting and we did just that this past week. We also ate at the Anchorage.

Enjoy my photos from the cruise – Can you guess which home belongs to Steven Tyler?

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