Another Excellent Adventure

My dad always said, "Life is short; never go the same way twice." Indeed, whenever we visited relatives or went out for a Sunday afternoon drive, he always took a different route home. I am my father's daughter so I do the same thing. More about that later . . .

Yesterday, for the tenth Friday in a row we had rain. Knowing that none of the annuals on my picnic table would get planted, I decided to drive up to Contoocook, NH, to pick up a quilt that was ready at Dancing Crane Quilting. I normally quilt my own quilts, but this was the hexagon grandmother's flower garden quilt that I worked on while recovering from BC, and so I wanted this one professionally quilted.  My friend Laurel drove up with me and after picking up my quilt and stopping for lunch, we headed home hoping to get a jump on Boston rush hour traffic.

Down the road from Dancing Crane Quilting, we spotted this beautiful, weathered old barn, and of course, we stopped to take photos. Since it had been raining earlier, I unfortunately had not brought along my 'good' camera; these were taken with my iPhone.

While we were photographing this lovely old structure, the owner drove up and told us a bit about its history and his desire to preserve the structure.  He recently replaced the flooring and has plans to fortify the inner walls.

Look at the lovely arched windows.

He purchased this old tractor and had it placed in front of the barn for which  all photographers are grateful.   The license plate reads "Moooo." :-)

Now, did we then head directly back in hopes of getting a jump on Boston traffic? No . . . friends who ride with me know that the drive is seldom direct. I may spot an interesting road and decide to go check it out. Sometimes it may be a dead end or nothing special, but sometimes it may offer a delightful surprise. I also can't resist checking out interesting signs.

"Beech Hill Farm - Ice Cream Barn" Who could resist? Down a side road we went and we were delighted by what we found. 

There were cows, lambs, goats, pigs and even two peacocks.

There were tempting garden art pieces in The Gardener's Barn.

 Out back there was a large pile of dirt with many toy bulldozers which are no doubt a huge hit with the juice box set.

The building that had the ice cream also had a gift shop!!! I bought some wind chimes with a beautiful tone (I tried out all of them) and a small planter. Laurel also found two items.

Here's the view looking down on Beech Hill Farm. Wouldn't this be a magnificent autumn scene?  I'll surely have to return in the fall.

All in all, it was a long day but another most excellent adventure.