Whatcha Doin?

 

Teague and I ran away to Ogunquit Beach. Whatcha doin?

T Stands For How You've Been Making Tea Wrong Your Entire Life

 

How You've Been Making Tea Wrong Your Entire Life

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

So Me

 

One of the illustrations in the Hallmark birthday card Himself gave me, just cracked me up. It's an angry cat driving a car and swearing. So me! I saw a meme that said if you don't swear while driving, you're not paying attention. While driving, I pay a lot of attention. 😸

How about you? Do you pay attention while driving? 😉

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Calli keeps an eye on me as I bring the trash out for pickup

A little bunny came out to sunbathe

Sunset

The hydrangea still going strong

Birthday month all done. Time to take the Birthday flag down

Squash? Cucumber? Some green thing with yellow flowers

Tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes

A tub. Calgon, take me away or another planter? Help me, Lord

Milkweed pods

The goldfinches enjoyed the petals of this sunflower

and now can enjoy the petals of this one.

Flowers on the watermelon

The corn is now over 5 feet tall, but it's all stalk and no ears. Oh, well, maybe it will be a Fall decoration.

How does your garden grow?

Happy, Little, Time Waster

 

How Play-Doh Is Made

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1. In the afternoon, a bag of dog food was delivered to my front door for someone named L.  I posted on the town Facebook page if anyone knew her thinking that the address must be 4 or 5 houses away. Someone did know her and I was able to make contact. Turns out the delivery people weren't even close. She lived 4 towns away from me and she got my pet delivery of kitty litter liners. 

Himself suggested we put in a take out order at Bertucci's and meet L there to exchange the items. Perfect, we get our correct order and I don't have to cook.

2. The Young One didn't get the Mrs. Field cookies and Birthday Teddy Bear I had delivered (possibly due to the CrowdStrike outage), but she did get my card on time.

3. The cookies and teddy bear arrived a day after her birthday. They weren't late. They were just prolonging the celebration.

4. I ordered supplies for the watercolor class. The cheapest prices were from Jerry's Artarama.

5. I splurged and bought a package of Stroopwafels

How was your week?

Henry's Cousin, Leo

 It's been a long time since I've posted Henry's Cousin, Leo. Himself found this for me.

From the David Attenborough Fans page on Facebook. World largest lion sculpture carved from a single dead redwood tree. It took 20 people over 3 years to complete.

Whatcha Doin?

 

Last week, I signed up for an online watercolor class through Willow Wolfe. (at a ridiculous low price of $14) While I wait for some supplies I bought from Jerry's Artarama, I'll look over the introductory lessons.

Whatcha doin?

T Stands for Mary Ann's Diner

After wandering all afternoon at America's Stonehenge, we decided to stop for a late lunch/dinner before heading home. Still in Salem, New Hampshire, Teague found Mary Ann's diner.

a fun 1950s style diner

with great tunes playing over a loudspeaker

Ice cream was going to be the order of the day. Teague had a chocolate frappe (rhymes with rap). It's what other places call a 'shake or milkshake. Except here in New England, a shake is just milk and flavoring. A frappe has milk, flavoring, and ice cream. This one was served in a cute mason jar mug with a dollop of whipped cream.

I had a boring unsweetened iced tea with lemon

a BLT (bacon, lettuce, and tomato) with sweet potato fries (chips)

and, a hot fudge sundae. I told you ice cream was going to be involved.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

America's Stonehenge

After visiting Mt. Agamenicus, Teague and I continue our journey home stopping at America's Stonehenge (also called Mystery Hill) in Salem, New Hampshire. 

The place is fascinating and a bit underwhelming. The use of Stonehenge makes one think of the giant trilithon structures of Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain in England. and that's not the kind of structure seen here in New Hampshire. In fact, most of the stonewalls look very typical of New England where farmers had stone walls to mark boundaries and pastures or were foundations for homes,barns, and other outbuildings.  The height of these structures seemed to be between 5 and 6 feet. We were able to walk through the Oracle Chamber. I'm a little over 5 feet tall and could stand upright in the structure without having to stoop over. 

Not much is known about who built this site. Ancient calendar or a PT Barnum place to draw in the crowds? Who knows. That's the mystery. It was a pleasant place to spend a couple of hours in the fresh air and to get a good walk in.

Even though I changed the code so Blogger would upload my photos in first to last order, Blogger decided to start backwards. 

If you want to get an overview of the site, you can watch the 11 minute film that visitors watch before entering the site 

If you want and you have a smartphone, you can download the America's Stonehenge tour app from your app store. Descriptions of the photos are from selections from the app.

There are also alpacas. This fellow came out to pose.

A big rock, but I can't seem to match it up to what it aligns with.

Grooved Table

4.5 tons and believed to have been used for ceremonial purposes.

Summer Solstice Sunrise Alignment

This is a ley line and if you follow the line through the Summer Solstice Sunrise stone, it will go directly through one of the trilithons at Stonehenge in England.

Astronomical Viewing Platform

Exit to Ramp Drain

This drain began over at the V Hut and exits here.

On the left wall just after the stone seat near the letter H is a very weathered inscription outlined in white. It is a carving of an antlered deer.

Another passageway of the Oracle Chamber

Inside the Oracle Chamber

Oracle Chamber Entrance

Sundeck Chamber

This chamber faces East and may have originally been the end of the East-West Chamber. The stonework above the roof of this chamber was restored in the 1980s and is believed to have been modified several times.

2000 B.C. Excavations

This area is one of the most important discoveries found on the site, as it produced three key carbon dates. Rotted pine roots found in the walls during a 1967  excavation dated the site to 1690 A.D. This proved that the walls were there prior to the Pattee family. In 1969, charcoal had sifted into the walls was found below these roots at 2 - 4 inches above the bedrock, and dated the site to 1400 B.C. In 1971, a third and older date of 2000 B.C was obtained.

Pathway to the Oracle Chamber

Large Wall

This is yet another example of ancient constructing techniques versus modern. A trained eye may notice that that bottom half of this wall is of much better construction thant the top half that was reconstructed by Goodwin's crews in the 1930s

Drilled Ledge and Drains

Water flowing from the drain below at Site 22 pases down into this area then under the broken roof slab at Site 11. 

Drain Exit

This area shows the vast amount of labor that was involved in creating this site. On a rainy day, water can be seen running through the cracks and channels that have been cut into the granite. The drains still work to keep the area dry

Mensa Stone

The Mensa Stone weight an estimated 6 to 8 tons. It appears to have been cut and raised to form a table of sorts. If you look at the wall above the Mensa Stone, you will be exable examine the differences between the ancient stonework and modern. It is known that Goodwin added the upper 12 to 18 inches of the wall in the 1930s.

Restoration

Restoration

This is a continuation of the East-West Chamber, and was restored during 1978, 1979, and 1980 by using pre-Goodwin-era photos.

East-West Chamber

This chamber was formerly known as The Tomb of Lost Souls because of its similarities to structures found on ancient European megalithic sites called Galler Graves.

The V Hut

This chamber was named for its wedged shape. In Western-Europe, similar huts in the shape of a V came to be known as wedge tombs.

Compound

A large structure once stood in this area. The foundation stones are much larger than those of the largest chambers on the site. It has been suggest that a small window in which light would pass through may have existed in the original chamber and would be in line with the Winter Solstice sunset

the 90-degree hole

90-Degree Hole

On the North face of the stone there is a marking that is referred to as a double-headed axe symbol. It has been suggested that this worn area was used to sharpen stone axes and other tools.

Quarry Post Socket

This feature is further evidence of the quarrying done on the site

The Pulpit

William Goodwin named the site The Pulpit because of his theory that Irish monks built the site.

South Facing Chamber (The Lilac Chamber)

Nicknamed The Lilac Chamber because of the lilac bushes on top that were likely planted by Mrs. Pattee

True South Point Wall

This wall points true South

Undetermined Structure

Two large slabs of stone from what was once a roof  slab similar to those found in the construction of the Oracle Chamber 

The Patee Area

This was once the basement of the Pattee Family's home. This also may have been a stop on the Underground Railroad helping slaves from the South heading North to Canada to gain their freedom. A mancle was found here and is on display in the museum 

Carved Circle and Tool Sharpening Groove

The crudely carved circle with the hole in the center may be a modern addition to the used used to make lye soap. Another explanation could be its use as a sundial. The groove may have been used to sharpen stone and antler tools.

The Upper Well (Well of Crystals)

Quartz found in this well came from a natural vertical fault in the bedrock

Sump Pit

This drain may have helped keep the adjacent chamger in the Pattee Area Dry. Pattee was the family that owned the property in the 1800s

Entrance to the Main Site

Lower Well and Clay Deposit

The inclusion of wells in stone wall is common in ancient sites, and is not considered part of the colonial period in America

The Double-Walled Pathway

leads to the main site

The Serpent Wall

is the largest of several serpent effigies on the site. This particular wall wraps entirely around the hill encircling 15 or so acres. The boulder which form a wall of the Watch House Chamber is the head of the serpent.

The Watch House is also a February 1st (pagan festival of Imbolc) sunrise alignment. The first sunlight of the day will shine into the opening and illuminate the chamber

The Watch House

The original purpose of the chamber is not known. Stone and bone pendants were found which might indicate the chamber was used as a burial structure.

The Pope Road Nature Trail

This area is also a conservation site for many animals, plants, and especially Bluebirds