Thursday, August 13, 2009

Weekend Adventure

Last weekend my hubby and I decided to take off on Saturday and go to New Hampshire. I heard about this little place called Pickity Place. It is where the illustrations for Little Red Riding Hood were done. Not to mention there was a luncheon served that was to die for. The traffic through Boston was bumper to bumper and when we got past that I called to make a reservation.....I should have known it was not a good sign, I was crisply informed they had no openings for today! Oh well, we would still go and look, the gardens were said to be delightful. So GPS working off we went, now the roads turned into dirt roads, sort of over the hill and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go......Could this be right, my hubby assures me to trust the GPS! Then we do indeed come upon it, even the parking lot was gravel and full! In the middle of the woods no less. It was so quiet, the silence was amazing.
Here it is. The quaint little cottage.






There were some disappointments, the place needed repairs and TLC. Notice the tarp over the sun porch. It hasn't rained in awhile, I wonder what that is all about.



This was the little drying shed and it looked like everything is there had been drying for years. I couldn't understand why everything wasn't cleaned out and new things drying for this year. I did get a nice picture of my sweetie!



Oh yes, turnabout is fair play.....he got me too~


Look at the old gnarled tree in front of the cottage. I would love to draw that tree. Such a beautiful sight, I wonder how old it is. You could see cables holding it together and see tree work had been done. It would be a shame to loose such an old tree.



Around the back was a nice gift shop and greenhouse, the plants looked a little stressed, so I will pass....We did find a sweet lady who told us to go up and ask, sometimes a guest does not show for lunch. It does smell divine~



One of the gardens, lunch fare is reported to come from their own gardens.





OK, we waited and about 2:15 a pleasant lady came out and told us they could not fit us in today, oh disappointment, but we now know where it is and it is a beautiful day, clear dry and in the 70's~
So hubby said anywhere else you want to go? Ahhhh there is a little shop I saw in Country Register. It doesn't look too far away. What is the address he said and punched it into the GPS.
Little did I know it was 2 1/2 hours away. We did stop and get a quick lunch. Now I know it is getting late and my ad said they close at 5PM. Hubby said well let's just look and see it you might want to come back another time, we are close enough now. As we pull up, I am so frustrated at how our day has gone and the shop owners husband is just taking in the OPEN flag....oh the shop looks so nice, the home the gardens all look wonderful. He sees us and said Come on in!! Oh Joy! The shop owner Suzanne is just as welcoming. What a pleasant greeting. We found a bookcase for my office and some other goodies. We had a pleasant conversation with the Bogannan's. He told us some stories about the property, about the shop that was close to the street and moving it up the hill...amazing. He shared some stories about the work they did, the garden they built. Everything was just beautiful. I asked to take pictures, but Suzanne said the gardens were not picture ready, she had been really busy. The gardens looked wonderful, but each gardener is their own worst critic. They had a beautiful greenhouse I would love to have taken a picture of. The envy I felt. It was to die for and the hubby told us how they got the greenhouse and added it to their home. I now have a reason to go back, some pictures and some shopping perhaps? Oh we were at Apple Hill in Tuftonboro New Hampshire.






The pictures above are from their website so go on by and take a peek, just click here.


Ok the pictures are blurry, but I couldn't get a good one on the way home...through Boston again. My hubby is such a patient man...we did stop for ice cream on the way home.....

And the sunset was a beauty too...it was way better then staying home and doing yard work~















5 comments:

Linda - Behind My Red Door said...

OH Donna! I wish I had know you were going! I would have warned you about the reservations! I have been to Pickity Place dozens of times and the food is sooooooooooo good. I have blogged about it a few times too. It has always been in need of repair since I first went 25 years ago but I think the economy has gotten the better of them lately. And the owners now have changed the gift shop a lot since the first 10 -12 years when the first owners were there. It has much too much new age stuff and not enough country to it. OH and the tarp - it is to shade the greenhouse in the hot summer sun. It is miserable in there otherwise! They use the sun as heat in the cooler months so that is why they didn't put a solid roof on it.

And Apple Hill - LOVE IT! There is another shop very close by in Wolfeboro called the General Wolfe - I would have told you about that too. I blogged about Apple Hill in the fall too. I can't wait to get back there. I am so glad the owners let you in. At least the trip ended on a great note!!

hugs, Linda

The Farmers Oldest Daughter said...

Great pictures. Makes me want to visit there. Someday, hopefully, I can get to the East coast.

Maxine

Teresa @ Grammy Girlfriend said...

Great pictures.....love your blog...your music makes me smile.

What a great post....so glad that I stopped tonight. This summer has been so crazy that I have not visited some of my favorite blogs often. I always enjoy stopping by yours. Have a Happy Sunday! I have a giveaway going through Monday morning.

Brenda Pruitt said...

Not only does he sound patient, he sounds very thoughtful and accommodating! He's a keeper!
Brenda

Loretta said...

Hi Donna,
Thank you for your advice about the bittersweet. I am hearing the same thing from so many people. Grammy Linda told me that you can't even sell it in Mass. How can such a lovely plant be so bothersome? There is a huge bush of bittersweet just down the road fom me. I am going to cut some branches from it and I will be careful to put it in the garbage rather than tossing it in the woods behind my home. Hugs, Loretta