Art in the Park

This weekend was perfect weather to stroll an art show in a local park and that's what we did on Sunday.

The Greeley Park Art Show in Nashua, NH

The 73rd annual Greeley Art Show sponsored by the Nashua Area Arts Association was held in Greeley Park, Nashua, NH. This annual 2-day event is always held on the last weekend in August featuring work from local artists and from other New England states.

The Greeley Park stone house

This public park sits on 125 acres on property originally bought in 1801 by Joseph Greeley. In 1896, his grandson deeded the land to the City of Nashua 1896. In 1901, a local businessman donated $5,000 matched by city funds, to change the Greeley Farm into a public park. The monies were used to create a stone and cement rest house, fountain, shallow pond, gravel walk and flower beds. The park includes hiking trails, horseshoe pits, ball fields, tennis courts and a community garden.  

Some art on display at the Greeley Park art show

Over 50 artists exhibited their work throughout the weekend including painters, water colorists, woodworkers, photographers and mixed media artists. 

Ornaments and lamps crafted from old books

One of the most unique displays was this one which features various items including animal figures, snowmen, ornaments and lamps made from old books. The artist told me that after her mother-law-passed away, a couple thousand books were in her home and that these provided the material for this craft.

The weekend event featured live performances by area musicians such as Electrik Soul (above) as well as artist demonstrations, children's games and a raffle.

This year's exhibitors included painters, photographers, woodworkers, potters, water colorists and mixed media.

Woodworker Ronald Marcoux presented live demonstrations of his craft during the two-day show and was very animated in discussing his craft.

I've learned from previous art shows that while some artisans don't mind photos being taken of their work, others are much less accommodating and have even posted signage, no photos allowed. Unfortunately, there are some who would seek to copy another's work. Therefore, I don't linger too long or take many individual photos.

Hopefully, you had a good weekend for anything outdoors. 

Welcome to a new month.

Friday Funnies

Every now and then you see a photo opp(ortunity) which has some distractions in the way. 

This post has a couple of examples. The photos were taken last weekend in Alton Bay, NH, after we went to Pop’s Clam Shell and stayed to watch a water skiing competition.

This canine has one paw on the wheel as he/she snoozed on the dashboard.

Shortly after the first photo was taken, the pup woke up still keeping a paw on the wheel.

This license plate aptly describes this post and, ironically, was spotted the same day.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

 We're going to the 73rd annual art show of the Nashua Area Artists association

in Greeley Park, Nashua, NH

Homemade Dutch Oven

I enjoy baking fresh bread at and admittedly do less in the summer months.

But, now that cooler weather is arriving, a return to home baking is coming not only in the form of bread, but also popovers, pizza, muffins and more. 

Baking is true comfort, not only does it provide me with a sense of accomplishment, but we get to eat the results. There's nothing quite like fresh-baked bread with butter or enjoyed with a meal.

Years ago, I owned a bread machine (long gone) and also have used a cast iron Dutch oven. But, there's nothing more needed than loaf pans and metal binder clips to bake an easy, no-knead, quick-rising bread. 

The recipe is mixed in a single bowl and baked in a homemade dutch oven created from two 9x5-inch loaf pans and two metal binder clips. 

Other things needed are a plastic mixing spoon, spatula, salt, instant yeast, bread flour, water, glass bowl, measuring cup, sesame seeds (optional):

• 12 oz warm water
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1-1/2 tsp salt
• 3 C bread flour
• sesame seeds (optional)

Turn on the hot water, when it gets warm, rinse a glass bowl then dry. Fill the measuring cup with 14 oz warm water (105°F to 110°F) and pour into bowl.

Sprinkle instant yeast on top of the water, add salt, stir to combine. Add bread flour by dropping it along the side of the bowl so it doesn't splash.

Stir to combine using the spoon handle, scrape bowl along the sides to bring the flour into the center of bowl. Scrape the bowl side with the spatula.

Tumble the dough with the spoon handle to thoroughly mix wet and dry dough. The dough will be what's called a shaggy dough.

Cover the dough bowl with plastic wrap and place it in a warm spot to rise. Hint: an oven with the door closed and the light turned on is a perfect proofing spot.

Proof for 1-1/2 hours, after this time the dough should have doubled.

Spray the two loaf pans with a non-stick spray.

Use the spoon handle to pull and de-gas the dough, scrape the bowl sides with a spatula. Sprinkle some flour on the dough and roll to coat. Sprinkle 2 TBSP of sesame seeds (optional) on top of the wet dough. 

Pour the dough into the prepared pan. There's no need to shape the dough to the pan as it will expand with the second rise. 

Place the second loaf pan on top, secure the ends with two binder clips. Keep pans clipped together and proof 30 minutes for second rise.

Before the end of the second rise, move an oven rack to the lower third position and preheat to 400℉.

Bake 35 minutes at 400℉ with the top pan on. Carefully remove the clips and top pan using oven proof gloves. Bake for 5-10 minutes to finish the crust.

Remove from pan and cool completely on rack before cutting and enjoying homemade bread.

Recipe courtesy of Steve Gamelin who hosts a YouTube channel, artisanbreadwithsteve.

How We Celebrated

First, Thank You to everyone who extended well wishes on our 27th wedding anniversary this past Friday. We enjoyed reading all the comments and appreciated all of them. 

We had a very enjoyable anniversary weekend from Friday evening to Sunday morning even without venturing out of state. We ate some foods that while normally do not, except, of course, for the ice cream

Our weekend celebration started Friday evening with the Celebration of Life event for Sue's husband who passed away in 2022. We met her on our Alaska cruise last August and have stayed in contact since. We'll reconnect with her in December when she visits family in NH.

Pop's Clam Shell, Alton Bay, NH

On Saturday we took a road trip to Alton Bay, NH for our first and only lobster roll of this waning summer season. Our destination was Pop's Clam Shell, a road side eatery popular with tourists and locals serving local fresh seafood and summertime favorites and unlike many fast-food places, everything is made in-house. Pop's is open seasonally and will be closing shortly after Labor Day. It's been family-owned and operated for 40 years and often has three generations of family working within. 

Lobster rolls, onion rings, coleslaw from Pop's

Aside from enjoying lobster rolls, we had the pleasure of another meet-up with fellow blogger Erika and her husband, Dave. We all enjoyed lunch on the rooftop deck at Pop's.

Anniversary ice cream treats

After a short walk around Alton Bay and watching a demonstration of water skiing, we enjoyed a celebration dessert of ice cream sundaes.

Omelets breakfasts at Midfield Cafe, Nashua, NH

Capping off the weekend, we went for Sunday breakfast at Midfield Cafe in Nashua. What sets it apart from other local breakfast places is the view. If you're lucky enough to get a window seat you can watch small planes landing and taking off while dining. Unfortunately, Sundays are the busiest day and we missed out on window seating this time.

Cards are always displayed on our LR bookcase

Our living room bookcase has anniversary cards on display replacing the recent birthday cards for Grenville's July birthday.

We're planning to take a short New England road trip after the upcoming U.S. Labor Day holiday. The first of several long-distance adventures will start in mid-September. These will not be auto trips, but will include planes and boats. More to come later.

Celebrating 27 Years

It was that many years that we said I do in our home state of NJ. We're still celebrating every year day and this year’s anniversary date will be no exception as you will learn below.

People often are surprised to learn that we met on a dating site. This was years before the onset of online videos. Instead, we exchanged text messages for a couple of months before finally meeting in person. The card above was often sent back and forth in messages between us. Framed, it now has a spot on our bedroom wall. where we have a penguin theme going with cards.

Longtime friends, Sara and David, who know of our fondness for penguins have sent this same card for at least two anniversaries, so it's been framed for display as well.

This year they sent a different one, but also with a penguin theme. They know us so well.

This card traveled the farthest distance, across the pond, and was sent by Kath and Andrew, UK friends, who share the same wedding anniversary date. We met up with them in London a few years ago and hope to again next month when we will tour the Yorkshire Dales in the UK.

A previous post showed the many decorative signs in our apartment home. But, we also have a few magnets. These are two that I gave to Grenville (Patrick) after our marriage and they are still on display today after all these years.

Today, we're attending a Celebration of Life, ironically for a man (David) we never met. Granted, that sounds strange, but we met his wife/widow, Sue, on our Alaska cruise last year. She shared that they had lived in the Nashua, NH, area for years before relocating to AZ, which is why she's having the event a nearby town. A couple of others we met on the cruise will also be there, so we will know other attendees.

As for our anniversary celebration, we plan to on a road trip after the Labor Day holiday. Now, many New England locations are over crowded and/or over priced, mostly both.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

We're going to Pop's Clam Shell (Alton, NH) for our first & last lobster roll this year

Everywhere a Sign

We like signs, which you would readily see if you ever visited our apartment, as there's quite a varied collection. Signs are everywhere — above doorways, bedroom walls, kitchen walls, in the dining area, living room and in the entryway.

Since we can't invite everyone to our home, although you are always welcome, this post shows most of our sign and wall decor. The two below are in the entry.

These next two signs ↓ are in the kitchen area. To date, the first one hasn't deterred anyone from dining in our apartment. The second one is really so true.

The next signs ↓ are in the dining area above the wine glass holder and wine rack.

The two bathroom doorways and the bedroom doorways also have signs on top.

Our bedroom walls ↓ display a collection of signs, photo art and framed cards.

The bedroom also has these large decals on three walls; the last behind the headboard.

The wall hanging below is a handmade gift sent years ago by fellow blogger, Kathleen, and it's also on display in our bedroom.

Signs ↓ related to age and adulthood are displayed in the living room above bookcases.

This top shelf of a bookcase dedicated to a collection of penguin and snowmen also has a sign above it.

Our living room bookcases contain cookbooks and framed family photos with a few signs. A message composed with Scrabble tiles is displayed in front of Boyds bears figurines.

Our largest sign is a roadmap for life; it summarizes some of the sayings on many other signs. It's the final line on this sign that says it all.

We create messages using Scrabble tiles with magnets glued on the back and have a board with extra letters. Correct spelling is optional, if we get the meaning.

The outside entry to our apartment also has signage, which is rotated seasonally or by holidays. The top sign previously hung in our VA home, where we did have a back door.

Yes, this post has lot of wall art and signage, but looking at these daily makes us happy and these days that's not such a bad thing.

Speaking of signs, does anyone remember the 1970s protest-rock song, Signs?

Performed by the Canadian rock group, Five Man Electrical Band, it was penned by the group's lead, Les Emmerson, who as he was traveling on Route 66 to Los Angeles from Canada, was offended by signs and billboards obscuring his view of the scenery. This reportedly led to his penning the tune which questions who had the right to make arbitrary rules interfering with nature and people. 

Signs was originally a B-side to an 1970 unsuccessful single, Hello Melinda Goodbye. After it was re-released as an A-side in 1971, it reached No. 4 on Canadian pop charts and No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Overall, it ranked as the No. 24 song of 1971 selling over 2 million copies worldwide and garnering a gold record.

Five Man Electrical Band disbanded in 1975 after touring fatigue and member departures. Emmerson, the lead singer and songwriter, revived a local version of the band for live performances. He died in 2021 at age 77 from COVID-19 complications.

If anyone wants to listen to Signs, again, or for the first time, you can find it online,

Listen at the risk of having an ear worm the rest of the day.