Fishin' with the Cows

Chris has Tuesdays off so last Tuesday we went fishing!  The pond was down that beautiful winding farm road that I mentioned in the past post.  It was a bit of a cloudy, windy and somewhat chilly day but it was nice enough for fishing.  The wind and chilly weather actually kept away the black flies so it was great to have a bug free fishing trip. That morning we went to a little country shop that quite literally has everything from swim toys, jewelry, fishing poles, garden tools, and guns to get myself a fishing licence and bait. I actually think we may have some worms in the fridge still but the power bait seems to work the best.

This fishing spot is very neat; you open a gate and drive down a dirt path to get to the pond.

Looking back at the path we drove in down. 

We set up 3 fishing poles and watched them intently. It was windy so the poles kept tricking us and Chris would stare them down and ask if that was the wind or if a fish was stealing our bait.  I like to hold the fishing pole so I practiced casting and got my hook stuck in the rocks far too many times. 

Then....  Cows came into the field/pasture!!!  I really did think this was the coolest thing.

  It amazed me that people are allowed to open the gate of the cow pasture and drive down to the pond to fish.  Those cows are very important (and expensive I assume) to a farmer so I think that's putting a good deal of trust in people but it seems to work out. The older couple that was there when we first arrived simply said "make sure you close the gate" as they left.  I was told that you're allowed to fish that pond because the state stocks it.

 Then the cows made their way through the swampy mud.

 And then they walked past me taking pictures and went to visit Chris by the pond.  How neat is that?

They drink out of the pond.

 We called this one Big Mama. She seemed to be the leader or investigator. 

Chris caught two rainbow trout and we now have dinner  :)   He showed me how to gut them so next time will be my turn. 

 Later that night we went on a search for ice cream but it seems as though most of the places still aren't open yet, at least not on week nights. I guess it's not worth it now since the tourists aren't here yet. So, we went to the Route 104 Diner for dessert and since I must have a corny sense of humor, I thought this diner lingo was funny.  Nervous pudding = Bowl of Jell-O  

Random Rambling Thoughts from this week...

• I've found a few radio stations and present my country stations. "from haulin' logs to office jobs, it's 93.3 The Wolf"
• I wish I could remember important things the way I can remember song lyrics.
• I love baby goats, and apparently cows. 

Take a back road...

I didn't get a chance to write towards the end of last week but I meant to.  So... we are settling in pretty well! I'm still going through some boxes, cleaning, and organizing but I've also been driving around trying to learn my way around.  Luckily we are fairly familiar with this area so I'm just trying to connect how you get to all of the places I've been.  I'll drive by somewhere and think, "oh I know where we are" but really, I'm not always sure how to get there.  Well, might as well take a back road.....

I went driving down this beautiful winding and hilly road with farms and large rolling fields on each side.  I really should have stopped and taken pictures but it wasn't very wide and I was distracted with how pretty it was.  There were even pastures where there were very old tractors parked holding a flag blowing in the wind.  The sun would shine over the hill and shine on the old rock walls.  And of course, there were baby cows! I thought this road was so neat and was excited to drive the road with Chris on his next day off but come to find out, this is the road where the pond is that Chris planned to take us fishing. More on that in the next post.

There are also many of those back roads that are not paved.  Or they are paved in some spots but not others.  However, they seem to keep the sandy, dirty roads well maintained.

Many are better maintained than RI roads. Not to throw in a jab there but Rhode Island gained the nickname "the pot-hole state" for a reason. 

Earlier last week we had also brought the dogs to Newfound Lake to run around a bit. It was drizzling a little and the rain on the lake was extra pretty!  That lake is just beautiful and the sky was a blue, purple, pink and orange kind of color that reflected on the lake. Again, only had my cell phone but the following pictures might give you an idea of how beautiful the lake is with the mountains in the background. 

The dogs are also getting comfortable.  We actually went to buy some fence pieces from a very friendly couple so eventually these mutts will get to lay around outside!  It has been rainy though  : /

It really hasn't been very sunny but on this particular day, Gadget was enjoying the sun. I had a couple pea plants that survived so I planted them in the yard but of course, the dogs like to step on them. We are excited to get the actual garden going but that is going to require plowing, there is a lot of growth and quite a lot of rocks. Hopefully that won't be too much of a problem.

We also get these little birds that visit :)  And Maggie stares them down!

Last weekend I only went back to RI to clean the house and I stayed with my sister. It was great to see my niece in the morning, she babbled away and whispered to me. She was very happy and silly! 

I also went to the salon with my sister because she wanted to try out some ombre hair and they did this to her.... 

So funny. 

And so the next chapter begins...

Sunday morning we hit the road to move from RI to the lakes region of NH. I kept describing this move as the time to start the next chapter of our lives, so I decided I could also write the next chapter. Our drive up was pretty easy going, I just sing along to the radio and the time passes at a good pace; usually takes about 2 1/2 hours.

And then you're reminded that the mesmerizing mountains of
NH are just ahead.

The weather was so nice and there were these beautiful white puffy clouds.














 I originally took this picture because Mickey Mouse was peeking out from behind a cloud and my friend loves Disney, but it is hard to see in this picture.



Luckily I don't mind the drive because we plan on making the trip back often to visit family and friends.  We still have almost all of our family and really great friends in RI. However, we are now only about an hour from some other really great friends (that's you Ben and Jess ;) 

I managed to transport some of our plants too!  Maggie really didn't mind the crate as much as it looks in this picture, it was just easier to transport the crates that way than to fold them down. 

After driving winding roads through mountains, crossing over rushing brooks, and passing the local grocery store... we had arrived at our driveway.

We had lots of help unpacking from my mother-in law and her boyfriend so that also went smoothly, I think.









They helped unloading the truck so we had time to go to dinner with them!  I have been trying to take pictures often but you really can't capture the colors with a cell phone so I think I'm going to start carrying my "real" camera around and see if I have any better luck. I'm like a tourist, stopping on the side of the road to take a picture of the view. However, until I have lived here longer I am still like a tourist :D

Here are a couple pictures of the view from the restaurant.  

Like I said, the camera doesn't do the sights justice but I just wanted to show that it's mostly beautiful everywhere you go. In fact, here is the view from the Walmart in Plymouth. 

I will continue on with my exploring...

Please feel free to comment below and hopefully my posts will get more interesting!

Random Rambling thoughts of the day:

• How can one little dog be so stinky? He's giving me the tongue.
  
• Why do roosters cock-a-doodle-doo in the middle of the night?  I wonder what they’re “saying.” 
• Do people up here really move slower?  I didn't exactly believe the bologna but that cashier at walmart was trying to prove me wrong.  She even said "we're getting there, slowly but surely". She then picked the coupons off my merchandise and scanned them to use that time. Okay.