Or should I say a random, rambling, recipe-filled post?
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| At Newfound Lake |
Our Labor Day weekend was packed with activity, it seems. I have very few pictures to show for it, but will try and add in a few photos from other times so there are at least some pictures here.
Let's see ... on Saturday morning we got up very early to head for
The Wilds of New England, one of our favorite places. A church from Massachusetts, one where we have many old friends, was holding their annual Labor Day weekend campout at The Wilds of New England. Mr. T and I didn't feel that we could take the time to spend the weekend there, but we could go for most of Saturday. So we did, and got there in time for breakfast. We enjoyed great food and fellowship, including a coconut Italian cream soda in the coffee shop (below), wonderful Bible teaching and a nice quiet time by the campfire (below),
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| This is from the couples' retreat last year. Sorry for the old photos, but I just didn't take any this weekend! |
a hike, a hayride, lots of time visiting with friends, and a Pumpkin Pie Nor'eastah in the Sweet Shoppe. This treat is similar to a Blizzard or a McFlurry, but is made with vanilla ice cream and pumpkin pie filling. It is outstanding! Our friends who accompanied us to the Sweet Shoppe had never tasted one but thought it was great.
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| Again, from a previous year. The building at left houses the coffee shop and game rooms. |
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| The Sweet Shoppe |
Mr. T also enjoyed the zipline, twice, because there was no line when he finished his first trip.
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| Also from last year |
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| And, obviously, also from fall last year |
We left right after supper to get home and tend to eldercare responsibilities. It had been a nice respite from our usual busy lives.
Sunday we spent most of the day in church -- we both teach Sunday School, then attend a morning worship service, have a nice potluck lunch, and an afternoon service. I brought
Creamy Country Chicken and Vegetables for my main dish and these
Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookie Bars (below) for dessert. I left the chocolate topping off these as they just didn't seem to need it, but I have no doubt it would have been delicious.
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| Photo from Inside BruCrew Life |
(I also made some pumpkin butterscotch blondies -- NOT from the same source -- but they were a fail. I am ditching that recipe and Pinterest pin for sure. I should have suspected something when a blondie recipe for a 13x9 pan called for only one egg.)
Oh, and speaking of blondies, our dessert at The Wilds on Saturday evening was a delicious s'mores blondie. It seemed be be a basic blondie recipe with graham cracker crumbs in it, then a marshmallow drizzle and a chocolate drizzle over the top.
After church, we came home and did a few things around the house, plus Mr. T studied for a message he is doing at our Wednesday evening service, and paid a few bills. Then we took my dad out for ice cream at our favorite local place, the one with Adirondack chairs just like the ones below. This place features homemade ice cream. We ran into friends there and it was so nice to have some unexpected fellowship over ice cream. My friend recommended the lemon ice cream and it was simply fantastic and so refreshing!
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| Photo from Pixabay |
On Monday, Mr. T was blessed to have Labor Day off from work. It doesn't always work out that way, but this time it did and was a real blessing, since Monday was also his birthday. We got up early and I did a couple loads of laundry and hung them out to dry.
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| My clothespin bag from a vintage tea towel |
Mr. T worked on his message some more
and then went to help some friends move a freezer. He also stopped in and checked on my dad. Meanwhile, I was making
Bacon Chive Potato Salad to take to our daughter's home later in the day for part of a birthday supper.
At around eleven, we went to meet up with some friends who live on Newfound Lake. (Hence the picture at the top of the post!) One of their nearby ice cream places gives away free ice cream on the last day of the season, until it is gone. So they had invited everyone at church to join them there for free ice cream. Not everyone came, of course, but about seven couples did. We went over to our friends' home afterward for fellowship and further refreshment.
Then, we headed home again so Mr. T could finish up his message and I could take down the dry laundry. In the late afternoon we headed over to our daughter's home as she, her hubby and kiddos had invited us over for Mr. T's birthday. She served delicious
Blackened Chicken
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| Photo from Taste of Home |
along with grilled corn and the potato salad I had brought. For dessert -- the birthday cake -- she made
Chocolate Zucchini Cake.
She also made a healthier version of the cake which was absolutely wonderful. After that sumptuous meal, we had to head back to our eldercare responsibilities, but did so with lighter hearts.
Hope you've enjoyed this random account of our weekend! It really was a lot of fun and very relaxing despite all of the running around. And now that I read it over, I'm thinking that
ice cream is the common thread that runs through our weekend's activities!
How was your Labor Day weekend?
Well hello, Mrs. T! Thank you for your visit...you have lovely blog! It looks as though you had a busy Labor Day and ate a lot of wonderful things. I have only been to New England once, many years ago but would love to make the trip again. I enjoy the buildings so much...everything looks so fresh and clean. I am also your newest follower :)
ReplyDeleteHello to you, too, Debby, and welcome! It is so good to see you here! If you ever do happen to make a trip to New England again, let me know. We will manage to meet up somehow. Yes, there is just something about New England, isn't there? We have visited other parts of our country, but New England is just special.
ReplyDeleteStop in anytime ... the archives are full of posts that may interest you!
Ice cream does seem like "the tie that binds." =D Lemon ice cream...I've never even considered it, but will try some if they have it at Gifford's. We enjoyed a busy, very warm and muggy weekend...AC is still going tonight.
ReplyDeleteYou have been a busy bee Mrs T!! So glad you and Mr T were able to have some good times together over the weekend. For the first time in ages, we did not do a cook out. Our grill was broken beyond repair and we have not replaced it. Maybe next year!!
ReplyDeleteHello, ladies! Thanks for stopping in at my kitchen table today! It's a hot and humid one here.
ReplyDeleteVee -- yes, ice cream is the "tie that binds" in this post for sure. I forgot to mention there was ice cream with the chocolate zucchini birthday cake, but you knew that, I'm sure. I wasn't sure about lemon ice cream either -- I'm more used to lemon sherbet, which I enjoy in certain contexts -- but my friend recommended it and I was pretty sure she wouldn't steer me wrong. Plus, the ice cream here is homemade, so we gave it a try. It actually had small pieces of lemon zest in it and was very refreshing, while still tasting nice and rich as homemade ice cream should. Yes, still warm and muggy here too. No AC in this house. We tend to open windows at night and then close the house up in the morning, and things stay pretty cool. Not today, though. Just too hot and humid.
Arlene -- yes, it was busy but a very nice change from our regular routine. We were on the go a lot but we tried to be sensible about getting to bed at a decent time and pacing ourselves by factoring in a lot of other necessary tasks along with the fun. It was a good balance. Too bad about your grill! Maybe you can find a good deal on one now that summer is waning?