Fryeburg Fair

In concluding my previous post I promised to write about our visit to the Fryeburg Fair. Fryeburg is the oldest town in Maine's Oxford County and was settled in the mid 1750's. The town's Fryeburg Academy, a day and boarding prep school, was founded in 1792 and is one of America's oldest schools. The fair is held every year in late September and early October, and attracts more than 300,000 visitors, the season coinciding with a massive influx of tourists to the region to view the Fall foliage.

We drove down to Fryeburg on Saturday 4th October, my grandson Luke's 2nd birthday, following Route 302 through Littleton, Bethlehem, Bartlett and North Conway. This route takes you through the spectacular Crawford Notch around the foot of Mount Washington, and past the renowned Mount Washington Hotel, which opened in 1902.

It was unfortunate that the enjoyment of the day was marred by inclement weather. One of the main reasons that Liz and I visited the fair was to see the exhibits in the Natural Resource Center, which I had strong recollections of from my previous visit to the fair 9 years ago.This time we made some interesting woodworking contacts as well as meeting several people of interest. One of the most out of the ordinary exhibits was that of Antique Wagons, all of which turned out to be wonderfully restored Gypsey wagons. It's a pity that they were the only genre!

We returned to the North Country by way of the Kancamagus Highway, which winds through New Hampshire's White Mountains from Conway to Lincoln. On the way the rain, which had been mostly drizzle until then, became harder and harder, and by the time we hit Littleton it was a regular downpour. All in all though, a memorable day.

Fall - a Time of Change

It is a time of change here in New England. Autumn (or Fall as it is called in the States) started officially a few days ago, heralded by the pagan festival of Beltane. The magnificent forests of the North Country are starting to change into the glorious colors that Fall brings. The ever-green hardwood trees of summer - oaks, elms, maples and birches - have started their seasonal change of costume, bringing red, brown, orange and yellow hues to the already beautiful landscape. This is an event that has to be seen, and sees thousands of tourists pour into the region to witness it.

Today's picture

The time of change has come to our lives too. A few weeks back I discovered that I did not need to fly back and forth to the UK every 90 days, and have submitted the appropriate forms, documents and moneys to the USCIS. At about the same time Liz started a new job. She had been working at the local county nursing home in dietary - a job she had come to hate - the 5 a.m. rising, lack of benefits and an environment in which she was surrounded by Alzheimer's and other age-related ailments. She loves her new job, is making new friends, will soon be getting excellent benefits, and has regular hours.

At about the same time all of our freight arrived from Cape Town - all 105 boxes of it. We have only been able to unpack a small amount - the apartment we have rented is only 725ft² - ridiculously small when compared with the 4,570ft² of our Eastern Cape farmhouse. Anyway to cut a long story short this has prompted us to look for a larger property, and a few days ago we viewed what would be an ideal one. It is a good size, has loads of storage space, a heated workshop - in short, just our cup of tea, which has just prompted me to switch on the kettle. We also found what would be a good vehicle for me - a 2002 Subaru Legacy AWD station wagon with only 67,700 miles on the clock. Now all we have to do is raise finance for the to items, so "hold thumbs" please and say a few prayers for us.

In a little over a week's time Liz and I will be taking in the Fryeburg Fair in Maine. I visited it this time 9 years ago and was awestruck. Look forward to a report back on this page shortly.