10 Places You’d Take a Tourist to See in Your Hometown

I live in a very small town surrounded by other small towns. There aren’t 10 interesting places to see in this little village, so I’m going to include other towns in the area. I’m sure that there are probably 45 other places or things to do, but this is a list of my favorites.

1. Cady-Copp Cottage. It’s the oldest standing house in Putnam, CT, some 250 years old or so. Sweet Baboo and I visited it a couple of times and it’s included on the National Register of Historic Places. There has been a lot of fund-raising held to preserve it.
2. The antique district of Putnam. I’m not sure how many there are, but it’s a great way to spend a rainy afternoon. Or sunny or snowy…..
3. The River Trail Walk in Putnam. A little over a mile in length, it runs parallel to the river. Duh. Very pretty and well paved — a nice way to see wildlife, too.
4. And speaking of the river, we have River Fires 2 or 3 times in the summer. Braziers/barrels are anchored in the river and filled with wood, then lit at twilight. Great music and lot’s of people just wandering around, enjoying it.
5. A nice long ride through charming Woodstock, while it’s still rural. Houses are popping up practically overnight and it’s not the bucolic area that it once was. Just another casualty of progress. In the meantime, there are lovely vistas, spectacular landscapes and rolling hills.
6. Old Trinity Church in Brooklyn, which is purported to be haunted. The church is open a few times every year, not used except for special occasions.
7. Zip’s Diner in Dayville. Everybody should eat in a diner once in their life. The food is good, plentiful and cheap.
8. Fourth of July fireworks. The streets are closed off around Rotary Park with fireworks at 9 or so. For a small town, we have the best fireworks show in the area!! There are literally thousands of people that come to it.
9. In October, there is an event called Walking Weekend put on by The Last Green Valley, a non-profit organization. Historical and nature walks are held in old mills, along rivers, cemeteries, old schools — very informative and the weather is usually nice.
10. Relay for Life in Woodstock each May, benefiting the American Cancer Society. There is nothing to prepare you for the humbling and emotional feeling you will get the first time you see the luminaria ceremony. Each luminaria is lit in memory of a loved one who has died of cancer. There are hundreds of them along the walk, showing how widespread this despicable disease is.

Another Little Bag-Ette

I love the process of learning from my mistakes. I look at the first bag that I made and what I learned from it, so that I can apply it to the next. Every bag gets a little better than the one before it. What’s funny is that I made the first one in about an hour and each bag thereafter takes progressively longer.  I think it’s because I tend to over-analyze everything. Bags included.

I have bemoaned the fact that I have SOOOOOO much fabric in my closet, in totes, in bags, and in baskets.  I have to say, tho, it’s nice to be able to just sift through all of the colors and patterns on the floor of my sewing room in my jammies, rather than going to a fabric store.

This is my latest one. About 10″ tall by 11″ across the top, with a 6″ x 6″ square bottom. I really need to see about getting some beads with large holes. Tying knots in the ends of the drawstrings just doesn’t flip my skirt — just doesn’t seem to be finished.

I’m not sure what this bag’s assignment will be. The base is bigger, so maybe it would make a better lunch bag. Decisions, decisions…… But cute, eh? I love the little wagons with the bluebirds perched on them.

Little Project Bag-ettes

These two little bags turned out pretty well. They are both about 9 inches tall, but one is a little smaller in diameter than the other. Not by choice. I measured and cut before I measured, measured again, and then cut. (Sigh) You’d think I’d learn after awhile.

This is the smaller of the two, my second attempt. I was going to use it as a lunch bag, but now I think I will use the other one because it’s bigger. I’ll be using this one for my knitting.

And this is the former project bag now promoted to lunch bag. I took off the other drawstrings that I had originally put on and replaced them with bias tape. Then I disassembled some of my jewelry for the beads. The price one pays for creativity…….

I’ll probably make 6 or 7 more of these before my obsession with them finally peaks. Then I’ll be off to something else that catches my fancy.