New England - Hot Fun in the Summertime

Paul and I were SO excited about heading back to New England.  Why?  Well, milder temperatures, cool breezes (ocean breezes at the Cape), beautiful scenery, dear friends and family.  Not necessarily in that order.   Sigh....in a Norman Rockwell painting, maybe.

What we GOT were temperatures hotter than hell - it was as hot in Massachusetts, Vermont, and Connecticut as it was in South Carolina.  Oh. My. Gosh.  It was hot, hot, hot.  Even in Vermont.  I mean, come on - the land of covered bridges and breathtaking scenery.  We saw kids jumping into the river from the openings in one of the covered bridges (The Scott Bridge in Townshend Vermont).  We have photos - you will not believe it.  They also had a rope swing so that they could swing outward from the banks and let go - SPLASH! - right into the river.  Not me.

Anyway, we looked at property - both residential and business.  We found this amazing house for sale in Western Massachusetts.  It used to be a one-room schoolhouse and now it's this 10 room magnificent home that sits at the top of this mountain (I guess it's a mountain) with views you just would not believe.  You have to see it.  It has New England colonial charm, fireplaces, antique doors and windows with strap hinges (you do know what those are, right?)  a chauffeur's quarters behind the detached carriage house - WITH A FIREPLACE! 

Could this be the B&B I've looked for all these years?  Oh yea, it could.  Maybe this Southern girl is ready to go back North for good.....at least until the snow starts.  Then what?

This Southern Girl is headed Nawth!

Today this Southern belle and the Northern husband get packing - we are headed NORTH!  To New England.  Should be an interesting ride in the car - with me driving as far as DC (in the daylight) and then he will drive the reset of the way (in the darkness) with me assistant-driving from the front passenger seat.  Now you ask, why don't you sleep?  SLEEP?  One of the last times we drove to New England we hydro-planed across two lanes of traffice IN FRONT OF A SEMI and spun around and slid backwards into a ditch!  On the first day of autumn, I might add.  Autumn - my favorite season of the year - by far.  So, no sleep for me.  I will have to help him watch the road.  Maybe I should have one of those little kid steering wheels I can suction to the dash so I can help steer the car, too!  I promise lots of pix of our travels...including my beloved covered bridges.  We just don't have those in the South.  Check out this site and you'll see what I mean, my friends:    vermont vacation   Aah, Vermont - so beautiful, it's just this side of heaven. 

In the Beginning....

I was born in South Carolina in the mid 1950's.  My father passed away when I was very young, and I was raised by my mother.  My ADOPTIVE mother.  So, you see, I was sort of like a human pound puppy.  My mother (mama) was a strong woman - she could make a sailor blush, and was considered mean spirited, some might say.  She had a hard life - lived through the depression and all that went with it.  Because of this poor childhood she had, my mother taught me many valuable things......like how to save all the old buttons one could possibly ever want....I have buttons that I don't even have the clothes for any more!  (you never know when you might need a button).  She also kept all the bread ties after the bread was gone.  There were different colored wire ties for different days of the week and she knew ALL the colors.  If I brought home the wrong colored tie on a loaf of bread, it was back to the store I went.  God forbid the bread was a day old.  I never did know which color was which.  Or rather how SHE knew.  Now they just stamp the dates on the bread.  Jeez, why didn't they do that back then?  Let's see, where was I?  Oh yes, the frugality of being raised by someone from the "Great Depression".    She and my Aunt Mary (her sister, in Savannah) both had the same idiosynchrosies about things.  Aunt Mary hoarded apple juice, toilet paper and soap.  I never could figure out WHY those particular things.  Perhaps they didn't have them 'back then'.      I try not to hoard things, but I have to tell you - right now I have enough toilet paper, paper towels, paper napkins, bars of soap, bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and even q-tips to open a small sundry store.  We will never run out of toilet paper - I know this is a comfort to those of you who visit on a regular basis! 

While I save virtually EVERYTHING, my husband saves nothing.  Nothing!  Even things he SHOULD save.  So the way I see it, we balance each other.  Between the two of us, we have an acceptable amount of 'stuff'.  He and I met each other in midlife.  I already had a home, so did he.  When we combined the two, we acquired SOOO much stuff that we have no room for it all.  I either need a bigger house, or to get rid of some things.  As the child of Depression - Era hoarders, we know that won't happen.  I'm keeping my stuff....just in case.  Even all the buttons.

This is where our story begins.