Look Who's Growing !

To say that we've been excited to get recent photos  of our two great nieces would be an understatement. The two cousins were born two weeks apart in NJ last month. 

Napping is a favorite activity of these dark-haired beauties, Autumn Rose (L) and Savannah Marie (R), and one which great uncle Grenville endorses as well.

Their first holiday, Halloween, was celebrated at the end of last month and both girls wore the appropriate "first" outfits. 

My brother and his wife, who became first-time grandparents, twice in one month, with their granddaughters October births, are already smitten. 

Autumn is older than her cousin, Savannah, by two weeks and is already becoming a photo model. She and her mom, Julie, visited a sunflower garden in mid-October.

Last week, she posed for a one-month photo opp.

We're happily (and excitedly) looking forward to meeting our newest, smallest and youngest family members during the upcoming holiday season. And, of course, there will be more photos then (and maybe even before).

Cemetery Seens in Color

A recent post appropriately on Halloween highlighted my recent walk through Edgewood Cemetery in Nashua, NH. That post featured only B&W scenes. However, but the day they were taken, there was a lot of fall color still evident. That's no longer true thanks to some recent rain and wind storms. 

Walking among the headstones was very peaceful and quiet. There was no one else around during my nearly 2-hour walks, which was fine with me. I like solitude at times like this.

Although the day was overcast, chilly and damp, I had an interesting stroll through the cemetery, which is about 2 miles from our mill apt residence and located in a residential area of Nashua, NH. It's quite large at slightly over 33 acres.

The cemetery gateway was a gift from long-time city resident Ira F. Harris in 1912Harris. was a cashier at the former Indian Head National Bank in downtown Nashua, a member of the local Rotary club, and served with various local groups. He also authored several publications on his travels in the Far East.

Walking among the headstones was tranquil and I read as many as I could. The cemetery dates to the 1800s by the inscriptions on some of the earliest ones. Again, an online search did not produce much any information on the cemetery's history.

Many headstones were simple and quite to the point with no other details included.

Years ago, many children died at a very young age. There was no shortage of headstones that attested to their early passing. A number of these headstones bore only a single name. I'm not sure whether or not these marked a child's grave.

I spotted a  few other markers, specifically for grandparents including a poignant message left on a pumpkin. 

While I didn't walk the entire grounds, I found quite an interesting cross-section of headstones. For example, this one showed twins Heather and Hanna born in July, but dying very soon afterwards with unusual wording under Jackie Pearl's name.

Sadly, it appeared that this family lost two sets of twins in the mid-1940s going by the dates listed. 

Some final photos from this fall cemetery walk. The next time I revisit this cemetery will most likely be when there's snow cover on the ground. Winter weather is forecast here this week, with a possible wintry rain/snow mix late Monday night into early Tuesday.

Today, November 11, is Veterans Day, a U.S. state and federal holiday, set aside to honor men and women who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. (This holiday differs from Memorial Day, a holiday in May, which honors those who died while in military service.)

We appreciate and thank all veterans, including my husband, Patrick (Grenville), who served in the U.S. Navy.

Friday Funnies

Super Size?

Last week, an order from Amazon came in this size box. Amazon should seriously reconsider its packaging options. A bubble mailer would have worked for small items.

Here's what was in the box — a single "button" battery Grenville ordered for his watch This week, an order of 2 similar sized batteries and an SD memory card arrived in the same size package. I saw customer videos of similar oversize packaging for similar items.

Just wondering — Have you had any super-sized package experiences too?

Enjoy Your weekend, Everyone.

(A cold one is forecast; it's flannel bedding time.)

Falling Down

No, I'm not talking about Grenville or myself taking a fall, but the leaves falling down in Mine Falls Park in Nashua, NH, a short walk from our mill apartment.

 

I've posted about this park in the past. Its seasonal beauty is always worth exploring again. Come along for a walk and don't forget to crunch the leaves as you walk along.

Photos in this post were taken on three separate outings in early to mid-October when the foliage was plentiful and very colorful. Recent wind and rain storms have blown off most of the leaves. In the coming months we'll explore the park in snow.

Mine Falls Park is one of the most popular areas in the city. The park is located in the heart of the city and covers 325-acres that include forest, wetlands, and open fields. The park is bordered on the north by the Nashua River and on the south by the Millpond and canal system.

The park property was part of a large complex owned by the Nashua Manufacturing Company, which harnessed the river's flow to power its textile mills downstream on Factory Street. When the mills closed in 1948, a new owner sold the Mine Falls land to the a group of local businessmen, the Nashua, New Hampshire Foundation.

The name Mine Falls dates to the 1700s, when low quality lead was thought to have been mined from the island below the falls. In the early 1800s, the potential of the Nashua River to drive the wheels of industry was recognized. Workers used shovels and mules to dig a three-mile long canal. It's no longer used for industrial purposes, and the walking trail along the canal was bursting with fall colors 2 weeks ago when we walked it.

In 1987, the Nashua River Canal and the Nashua Manufacturing Company Historic District (the Millyard) were placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1992, the park trails were designated as part of the New Hampshire Heritage Trail system, which extends 130 miles along the Merrimack River from Massachusetts to Canada.

In addition to the walking/hiking trails, Mine Falls Park has a lot of other sport and recreational activities such as kayaking, fishing, cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing, and biking with no admission or parking fees. Several sports fields are used for baseball, lacrosse and soccer. Park trails are used for high school cross country training.

Mine Falls Park is located within the second largest city in the state of NH. Yet, when we're out walking, there's no distracting sounds, aside from humans, dogs and wildlife on the trails. In addition to its extensive trail network, the park has several wildlife viewing points like the one below. 

In late spring to early June, large-mouth bass and sunfish can be seen in the canals. The wetlands provide nesting sites for red-winged blackbirds, song sparrows, and mallards among others. We've also seen Canada Geese, herons and swans on our walks.

Of course, the trees are home for many bird species, including year-round chickadees, nuthatches, blue jays and woodpeckers. Chipmunks, squirrels, beavers, muskrats, turtles otters and raccoons are usually spotted the river and canal or in the woodlands. During a recent walk, Grenville found a conveniently located tree seat.

Fortunately for us, Mine Falls Park is a short walking distance from our apartment. The mill residence we live in was formerly the Nashua Manufacturing Company.

We go to the park as often as possible and appreciate that it's so close to our residence. It's a very scenic way to exercise. Thanks for coming along; hope you enjoyed the views.

Turning Back Time

Tower Clock at Our Mill Apt Building

That wasn't just an expression this past weekend. Daylight Saving Time (DST) took effect on Sunday, Nov. 3, at 2 a.m. Most areas of the U.S., fell back to Standard time as clocks were set back an hour. 

No need to change clocks in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and most of Arizona. 

But, we live in N.H., which follows DST. Here's a room breakdown of how many time pieces we reset, mostly inside our apt:

Kitchen: 4 (appliances, wall clock)
Dining Room: 1 mantel clock
Living Room: 4 wall clocks
Porch: 1 wall clock
Master Bedroom: 2 alarm clocks
Guest Bedroom: 1 wall clock
Guest Bathroom: 1 mantel clock
Cars: 2 
Misc: 4 wrist watches, 1 Kindle, 1 "house" phone

YIKES ! That's 22 total resets. Thankfully, the computers, tablets, and cell phones reset without human intervention. We're doubly thankful that we won't need to do this again until March 2020 when time springs ahead. 

What was your reset count in your home?

The clock in the above photo and the first one are interior views of the tower clock at the mill residence where we live in Nashua, NH.

This is an exterior view of the clocks. We're really glad we don't have to reset these.

Friday Funnies

This doggone driver was next to my car at a traffic light in downtown Nashua, NH this week.

He did appear to be keeping a close eye on traffic. Hopefully, his human companion was doing the same.

Enjoy Your weekend, Everyone.

Cemetery Seens

Today's the day when ghosts and goblins and other things that go bump in the night are thought to be out. Grenville and I won't be tempting fate. We plan to remain at home tonight watching our favorite 🎃 films, Beetlejuice and The Addams Family. (Comedy is our preference as we're not into Halloween slasher movies, like Friday the 13th.)

But last week on an overcast and very dreary day, I explored a Nashua, NH cemetery that's about 2 miles from our mill apt residence. It wasn't to look for spirits, and thankfully none appeared. My purpose was to do shoot B&W white scenes using various exposures and an overcast day seemed ideal.

Edgewood Cemetery is one of the city's oldest burial sites. Some headstones date to the early 1800s, and many were topped over perhaps due to age or, worse yet, vandalism.  

While they hadn't collapsed (yet), these headstones, and others, were leaning rather precariously.

Many of the trees here are as old, most likely older, then the headstones. And like the headstones shown above, many of the older trees were not doing well.

Some trees had already fallen and the stump was left in place. 

Other trees were hosts for various fungi, which were really quite intricate, despite my macro shots not being as sharp as possible.

While I don't know the term for the way this tree has expanded, it was an interesting subject. (Please leave a comment, if you do know.) 

Can you see the face in this tree trunk? 

Despite the cemetery being a large one, there was a single mausoleum which bore the family name of Anderson. So I did a bit of online sleuthing and learned that, in 1885, Frank Anderson co-founded a large Nashua shoe factory that stretched an entire city block. The factory was sold in 1912 and an Indiana casket company from the town of Batesville took over the plant. Today, that building houses Palm Square Residences.

After Anderson's 1925 death, his widow approached city and cemetery officials with an offer to present a stone chapel to Edgewood Cemetery in her husband's memory. The chapel sits atop a rise in the Northwest end of the cemetery. Last year, the 83-year old building received a $100,000 make-over, a gift from a local family in memory of their son.

As stated, while I didn't see anyone else, living or otherwise, during my outing, it was time to leave after spotting these headstones. There's no need to tempt fate.

However, you're spending Halloween, keep a lookout 👀 for any 👻 spirits, as 💀 it's their day to celebrate.

Happy 🎃 Halloween