Happy, Little, Time Wasters

 

Torvill and Dean "Paso Doble" 1984

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1. The Young One arrived for a 10 day visit

2. The Young One needed some new clothes so we went shopping.

3. I cleaned glassware and dishes for the holiday. God bless the little dishwasher.

4. The Eldest had the holiday off from work at the hospital lab so the four of us were together again

5. Himself brother came to spend Thanksgiving with us, too, so we had a good food and a nice visit.

How was your week?

I Walked By

 

the oven, and it thought I was cool. Thank you, Oven.

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Thursday

 

Doodling for Stress Reduction

 

On Mondays via Zoom, I participate in a class where we spend  a half an hour doodling our stress away.  

The exercise was wavy lines filled in with circles. The leaders example made me think of fish and bubbles. I doodled the fish and bubbles in every other space and added the text from a children's rhyme

One, two, three, four, five

once I caught a fish alive.

Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,

then I threw him back again.

The doodles were colored in with Prisma watercolor pencils done over several days.

T Stands for Dragon Tea Set

Image from I Love Dragon on Facebook

The Young One is visiting for the Thanksgiving holiday. She loves dragons so in her honor a gorgeous dragon tea set.

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.

Monet and Me

 

The Young One is here! Monet and I are trying to think of places and things we can go with the Young One.

Maybe to the Mall to get bubble tea and cookies from Crumbl. We could pop into the Paper Store because I need a baby shower card and wrappings for a baby shower gift. Maybe we could take a trip to the New England Botanic Garden to see the Gnomevember exhibit. Or a trip to WAM to see the new Wall. Maybe a trip to Starbucks or Panera for Hot Chai tea. Maybe we'll just hang out, watch movies, and talk.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

 

Short post this week. The biggest news that happened in the garden this week, we got much needed rain! We are in a drought and though this rain didn't alleviate it, it also didn't rain so hard that there was flash flooding. 

The weather dudes are predicting another chance of rain at the end of the week, maybe for Thanksgiving.

How does your garden grow?

Happy, Little, Time Wasters

 

COCKPIT VIEW OF LANDING AT BOSTON LOGAN AIRPORT RWY 04R

The Young One will be landing tonight for a 10 day visit.

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1. I bought some stamps at the post office and the clerk kindly found a large, glassine envelope for me to take them home.

2. Made a breakfast date with Teague

3. We had planned to go to First Bite, the pink place, but they were closed. We ended up at The Depot.

4. I had to cancel a couple of appointments so gained a day.

5. Himself's Brother was in the area and stopped in for a nice visit. Himself invited his brother to spend Thanksgiving with us.

How was your week?

2OLOTR - The Search for Elizabeth Freeman Known By The Name Mumbet - Part 1

Two Old Ladies on the Road traveled to Sheffield, Massachusetts on a beautiful Fall day

Teague had heard of the Ashley Farm and wanted to find out about an enslaved woman, Elizabeth Freeman known by the name of Mumbet. 

Inside this little cabin was Mumbet's story.

"During the Revolutionary War, Patriots spoke of "Freedom" and "Liberty" throughout the Commonwealth [ed: of Massachusetts] But those words meant something very different for enslaved people living in Massachusetts.

The commerce of slavery was deeply integrated into the Massachusetts economy in the 18th century. Many white colonists, including Colonel John Ashley, who owned this house and the surrounding fields in the 1700s, used enslaved laborers.

This story is about Elizabeth Freeman who was enslaved in Colonel Ashley's home. In 1781, during the American Revolution, Freeman and an enslaved man named Brom, sued Colonel Ashley for their freedom and won."

Enslaved men worked mostly in the fields. Enslaved women like Bett "worked in the house cooking, cleaning, spinning, sewing, hauling water and ash, and attending to visitors.

Even during her years in slavery, Bett was well-known in the community for her skills as a nurse and midwife giving her more independence than other enslaved people. This work connected her with other local families including the Sedgwicks, who later supported her suit for freedom"

"While working in the Ashley home, Bett educated herself by "keeping still and minding things" while prominent Sheffield men discussed politics in the study. In this way she heard the words of the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution, which declared that "all men are born free and equal."

"Bett understood what those words meant that she, too, had a right to be free and equal. In 1781, she met with lawyer Theodore Sedgwick and asked her to represent her in a lawsuit. Sedgwick agreed.

Brom, a man enslaved to Col. Ashley's son, also joined the suit. The higher legal and social status of men meant that the case was more likely to be taken seriously with Brom involved.

In May 1781, Brom and Bett sued for the right to own themselves in the case now known as Brom and Bett vs. Ashley. Sedgwick argued that Ashley did not own Bett and Brom because slavery was unlawful under the new [ed: state] Constitution.

On August 21, 1781, Bett and Brom won their suit and their freedom. Other enslaved individuals had won freedom by claiming abuse, but Bett's victory was special. It asserted that the entire practice of slavery - not just the abuse that accompanied it -  was not legal.

Bett's suit did not officially end slavery in Massachusetts, but it did make slavery impossible to defend in court. After the suit, many others were freed including all those enslaved with Col. Ashley. 

After the trial, Bett chose a new name for herself: ELIZABETH FREEMAN"

After the trial Ashley asked Bett to continue to work for him as a paid domestic. She refused and went to work for the lawyer, Theodore Sedgwick. After 20 years, she had saved up enough money to own her own farm. Sedgwick was also grateful for the care Elizabeth gave to his sick wife, that Elizabeth was buried in the Sedgwick family plot in the Stockbridge Cemetery

So we went on a Head Stoner's tour of the huge Stockbridge Cemetery. We drove around and around and somehow found ourselves outside of the cemetery 

overlooking

Naumkeag (I think)

We finally found our way back into the cemetery and got out to see if who we could find. I found this stone for Little Mark. 

We walked around some more and a man jogging through the cemetery noted we were lost and said are you looking for Rockwell? He's over here.

I love how people leave stones as a calling card. There were no stones on the ground so I left a pinecone.

We head to another section still looking for Elizabeth Freeman

This woman had an interesting occupation. Clairvoyant Curator. She was also born a few towns over from where I live now.

Lots of famous people are buried in this cemetery. Like Reinhold Niebuhr. He was a theologian, ethicist, and political commentator thought to be the author of The Serenity Prayer

We wandered into a copse where a family by the name of Hallowell was buried. Lots of fun and interesting carvings. Norwood was a thespian or at least loved the theater.

The sun was starting to go down and we still hadn't found the grave of Elizabeth Freeman.

Doodling for Stress Reduction

 

On Mondays via Zoom, I participate in a class where we spend  a half an hour doodling our stress away.  

The exercise was just filling your page with small rectangles. The leaders example reminded me of city buildings so that's what I doodle.

T Stands for KC's Classic Burger Bar

 

Teague had an errand to run in Attleboro, but it was close to lunch time so she pulled into KC's Classic Burger Bar

It was an old-style, 1950s/early 1960s diner with a classic car theme.

It was close to Halloween so besides the letters cut from old license plates indicating the Mens Room, there was also Count Dracula.

Booth and car fins

It was a warmish day so I decided to have a vanilla shake sans whipped cream. Teague had a chocolate shake.

For lunch I built my own burger. Lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese, and bacon with waffle fries as a side. The fries came with KC's Maple Bacon Mayo sauce for a different take on the fries.

The food was pretty good and our only complaint was the choice of music. Classic Doo-Wop and Early 1960s music would have added to the old-style ambiance instead of listening to artist like Elton John and Billy Joel. Though to some, I suppose that music is now considered "Oldies".

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.

Monet and Me

 

Hey Kid! 

Monet and I want to remind you when you go into CVS and you see this new Santa, we want you to walk on by. Do not purchase Santa when he goes on sale, no matter how many points and coupons you have to make the sale practically nothing. One life-size Santa with dead eyes in the house is enough.

Thank you.

💙

Monet and Me

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Harvey doing some wishful thinking about rain. A drought has overspread the region. This has been the 2nd driest Fall in Boston and 1st dries Fall in Worcester since 1914. 

Through the front window I saw the Scarecrow peeking in. I went out to yell at him to turn around.

The lawn guy came and took care of all the leaves in the backyard,

the front yard,

the leaves that had collected on the bottom step

and even the ditch.

All the leaves are gone, but two marigolds are hanging on.

How does your garden grow?

Happy, Little, Time Wasters

 

The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made 

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. I moved the television from the sunroom to the bedroom

2. I watched the early news in bed while having a cup of tea.

3. I found some fun things at Target for the Young One's upcoming visit.

4. Calli was a lovebug. She sat with me in the rocking chair and wanted a rock and a cuddle. Usually, she only lets us pet her with our eyes.

5. Quill woke me up with a kiss, or maybe it was a taste.

How was your week?

2OLOTR - Sheffield, Massachusetts

2 Old Ladies on the Road

Our next stop was to Covered Bridge Lane.in the town of Sheffield, Massachusetts 

The sign explains the covered bridge built in 1999 is a replica of a bridge that was originally built in 1832 but destroyed by a fire in 1994. 

Scenery

The bridge spans the  

Housatonic River.

and is only open to foot traffic. The bridge is a lattice and truss design and is 93 feet long. Before the bridge was destroyed by fire, it was the oldest covered bridge in Massachusetts.

Granite stones from a nearby quarry were used for the retaining wall of the original bridge.

Though the bridge was quaint. We were here to see the Thom Reed UFO Park  On September 1,1969 Thom Reed and his family experienced a close encounter of the third kind.  Around 200 or so residents also witnessed the craft.

The plaque was

Donated by the History Channel's

Ancient Aliens

Welcome to the site of the

first UFO incident officially

inducted into the U.S. as historically true.

Sculpture by

Len Morneau

New Hartford, Connecticut

In 2015, Governor Charles Baker (Chahlie Baykah, as we say in Boston) issued a recognition citation

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Thomas E. Reed

On behalf of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

I am pleased to confer upon you this Governor's Citation in recognition

of the off-world incident on September 1, 1969, which engaged the Reed family, which

has been established. Your dedicated service to the incident was factually upheld

founded, and deemed historically significant, and true by means of Massachusetts historians.

The records highlighting this historic event are now officially part of the

Great Barrington, MA Historical Society's Collection and your recent induction into

Massachusetts History

This 3rd day of November 2015

The bench where Teague took our picture

The bench was sponsored by the

International UFO Museum

Research Center Roswell, NM

&

Thomas E. Reed

Miami Models

In 1969 I was 14 years old, and I don't ever recall hearing about this event. Fourteen year old me steeped in the television series, Star Trek, would have been very interested. 

On the other hand, at the time I lived 25 miles outside of Boston in the area now known as Metro-West. News only happened in Boston and surrounding areas. Anything in other parts of the state, especially the western part of the state, didn't register.