Category: New Hampshire

Fairground Antique Market – Swanzey New Hampshire

I have driven by this antique mall hundreds, if not thousands, of times as I travel to Keene for various errands but I never stopped in because the outside of the place looks confusing and uninviting. These days this doesn’t bother me, I’ll still poke around, buy in previous years I wasn’t so adventurous. This time around I decided it was time and drove into their dirt parking lot that promised antiques through various signs. I parked near a door I thought was the entrance but alas it wasn’t and I had to hop and skip around a number of icy puddles around the building to get into the correct door. I wasn’t expecting much but this place turned out to be huge and filled to the brim with all sorts of neat things.

There were a few probably haunted dolls, oodles of absolutely bizarre knick knacks, a delightful smattering of cast iron, a herd of Breyer horses (appaloosas to be exact,) two black Raggedy Anne dolls, a depressed Gothic Raggedy Anne doll, a series of old toasters that looked like they’d work better as inciniary devices, and some fun vintage hats and clothes including a lacy Victorian child’s nightie that looked fit to be buried in. You know, ghost clothes.

This store also did well what it didn’t have – no N@zi bullshit, not a single item I could find, no “Chinamen” type bricabracs, no weird Native American stuff clearly made by white people, and no mammies! Hell, I only found one racist doll that looked like a Yeti doing a minstrel. At least he had character.

Every time I go to a place like this I tell myself I need to educate myself on what’s actually valuable so I can start a career in picking. I sometimes flip through cases of old vinyl records hoping to find gold but this place oddly didn’t have many vinyls. And my phone had no internet or reception in the building so I couldn’t even look it up if I found something. I was however really drawn to this particular cast iron cauldron I found. It was $125 and I couldn’t really justify spending that much but boy it was weird and beautiful. After I got home I looked it up and found out it was an early piece from Fall River Massachussetts, produced at a mill that burned down in the 1920’s after nearly a century of production. There was a mint condition one selling on ebay for seven and a half grand. WHAT?! I didn’t even know cast iron could have that kind of value! I mean this one wasn’t in mint condition as it was clearly used and loved with chips along the rim but there’s a huge gap between $125 and $7,500+! So I went back the next day and bought it. And while I was looking through this place again I found a cast iron ladle in another booth and they looked so fetching together it came home with me too. I guess I’m probably an honorary witch now.

The cashier was sweet and asked if I had an old house to put my new purchase in. I smiled broadly and said, “Not yet!” But I do have a terrible fondness for houses from the 1700’s, especially shakerbox style, and if it still has a fireplace this cauldron would be a hell of a showpiece to put in it. She warned me such places are money pits, she knows because she owns one, and I laughed. I know, but it’s worth the ghosts that probably haunt them. I know these days my daydreaming might seem a bit childish when the world feels like it is collapsing around me, but it’s these moments that make life worth living and memories of these moments no one can take away.

Anyway… If you’re looking for a large place to pick through and maybe find your own treasures check it out! It’s not only large but there’s two other antique stores across the parking lot. Make a day of it and be happy.

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Main Street Pastries and More Greenville New Hampshire

It’s that time of year again – my birthday, and I decided this year it might be fun to find two bakeries and pit their cakes against each other in a sugary sweet death match. But alas, I did not realize bakeries these days are hidden establishments only getting customers via word of mouth with entrances that may or may not require a secret handshake to get in. Long gone are the days of boozy speakeasies, these days it’s all about the sweets. Only those in the know can go into a diabetic coma like a king!

On this particular day I’d chosen two bakeries somewhat nearby. The first was in Peterborough and had high reviews. I love Peterborough and am familiar with the area but the bakery was nowhere to be seen. Was my GPS toying with me or was it hidden? I didn’t know but I decided to leave it be and try to find another bakery that Google suggested before I left but it mysteriously wasn’t coming up in searches anymore. I was already starting to feel like the pastry gods were out there just fucking with me. I had to drive halfway home and ask Google again before it finally stopped gaslighting me and gave me the address.

It’d be another long drive through the woods, so weird and winding that at one point I passed a near life-size wooden T Rex skeleton leaping from the tree line on someone’s property.

This bakery wasn’t in the woods though, it was on Main Street, so I figured it’d be super easy to find, right? Nope, drove right by it several times as I looked. When I did find it on a street corner it had what looked like a 3-car parking lot but it was beyond an old beaten down curb. Do people park there?? I turned up the side street it was on and found a car parked on the sidewalk, a small parking lot directly across the street saying it was only for municipal parking. When I drove down main street I couldn’t tell if there was streetside parking or not as there were no lines painted and no cars in sight, although there was one handicapped parking space marked out which seemed to imply beyond it was also parking but I honestly couldn’t tell. I drove probably an eighth of a mile up the road and found a truck parked in front if the police station. Figuring this was the sign I was looking for I parked behind him and walked to the damn bakery.

It was a really small place and I was clearly the only customer in there. The woman working there seemed very happy to see me. I asked her about her cakes and she had chocolate, vanilla, lemon, and carrot. I went for the largest (which was still a petite round cake.) It was vanilla flavored. Looking around this place also had cookies, cannolis, scones, muffins, and really a decent assortment of pastries for such a small place.

I was told this place sells out every day and I’d gotten there at just the right time – between noon and one – which was a dead zone between the morning crowd and the after church crowd. Good to know!

The cake was $22 and oddly heavy for it’s size. As it’s now autumn it was decorated with red, yellow, and brown flowers. As for the flavor it was dense and moist, anything I could have wanted for a little vanilla cake. I would like to return some day to try some of the other options, otherwise this was a sweet little place for a tasty treat if you live in the area.

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Gramwell Trail – Mountain Brook Reservoir – Jaffrey NH

It has come to my attention this entry from last fall was never published so I’ve decided to release it into the world today. Late is better than never! So here we go…

Over the past few years I have had to get more creative in how I find trails, especially ones close to home that no one seems to know about – like this one! Believe it or not I found it while looking at a Redfin map. Whhhy it was on a realtor’s map I couldn’t tell you but I knew I had to swing by and check it out.

I had no idea that I’d be driving down a series of sketchy camp/dirt roads to get here. The Prius LOVES me for these unplanned adventures, especially when fallen leaves obscure the road and make everythign slippery. Nothing like having the fear of God put back into you because you’re driving a Prius.

ANYWAY. This place is near civilization and yet still in the middle of nowhere. It’s odd, but the PERFECT introvert’s trail! Although there was a cute little parking lot which had room for numerous vehicles we were the only ones there on this day and according to reviews online this seems like it is usually the case. Maybe because it’s new? The trail board claimed it was only set up in 2016 and already was faded almost beyond being able to read. A handwritten note to the side pleaded for help to repair the bridges.

The trail itself was a bit wet and slippery under a thick layer of dead leaves but other than that it was an easy trail that ends at a cute little pond view before attaching to a well known snow mobile trail. It made for a really lovely afternoon walk. We didn’t see another soul and it was SO QUIET. A hidden gem indeed.

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Shadow and Soul Emporium & Tea Lounge

Keene is such an adorable city. Walking down the main street is always a joy but I hadn’t done so in a number of years and a lot of the stores have changed. One of these fresh new faces was this absolutely bonkers tea lounge and emporium. It. Was. Wild.

Straight in the door you see a line of fabulous witches hats along with some greenery, a bunch of separate booths with all sorts of witchy and steam punky things, with sitting spots throughout and a tea lounge at the back with a huge wall of every kind of tea you could ever desire. This place had all the vibes! And I was surprised by all the spell bottles – so precise and so many to choose from! And the delightful hats? Come on. You can’t beat a nice hat. Or a good crystal. Or a ton of politically left leaning stickers.

Well, it’s been a rough few days for me and it doesn’t look like it’s going to return to sanity for a long while so I would just like to thank anyone who is reading this for following along my adventures. This summer has seen Catching Marbles really take off and I am SO grateful and thankful for all of you. Keep joy in your heart and go get some tea! Much love, Theophanes.

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Mason Brook Plant Nursery – Mason New Hampshire

I was so insistent this year to have a garden that I planted a ton of tomatoes and peppers months ago indoors. But in my typical distracted ADHD way the tomatoes were only cherry tomatoes (as I kept getting distracted before planting the sandwich tomatoes) and I also forgot to plant … well, everything else. So I sewed a bunch of seeds directly into the ground which resulted in one very fat chipmunk who ate all my goddamn seeds.

I know I’m late in getting this all together but I thought there’d be SOMETHING for plants left in shops! No, everywhere I went had tomatoes and hot peppers and literally nothing else. *cries*

That’s how I ended up trying the Mason Brook Plant Nursery. It was an adventure to get to. My GPS decided to be a jerk and bring me to a random residential neighborhood nearby and signs aside the road were less than clear to me. Honestly, when I drove in I thought I was either on my way to a dead end road or maybe someone’s driveway as I didn’t see a nursery but after I passed a couple houses I found it tucked in the woods.

This is not a huge nursery but it had a whole greenhouse dedicated to vegetables and although they too were fairly cleaned out I did manage to get my hands on some cucumbers, pumpkins, and a summer squash. They also had more hot peppers, spaghetti squash, rhubarb, strawberries, and an impressive selection of herbs.

Outside there was a very nice selection of fruit and ornamental trees I tried my best to ignore (as I really want my own orchard!) There was another larger greenhouse full of flowers and a weird mini antique shed?? I looked around for someone to pay halfway expecting to find an honor box but alas there was a sweet old lady wandering around and giving off only the chillest of vibes. She found my choice of sugar pumpkins interesting. I’m not sure why. My hair is orange.. I love pumpkins!

Sadly, I did not find any watermelon, peas, or winter squash but I was thankful for what I did find and paid my $21 in cash before wandering off.

Would I suggest this place? Absolutely! It had lovely rural country vibes and a few unusual options I hadn’t seen at the bigger places like rhubarb. If you happen to live nearby I’d say it’s well worth a poke.

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Hannah Grimes Gallery – Keene NH

This wasn’t the first time I have been to the Hannah Grimes Gallery, but it is probably the first time I have blogged about it and definitely the first time I have spoken about it since they got a large expansion to their space!

I always liked this place because of the community feel it has to it. It is stocked almost entirely (or possibly entirely) with arts and goods made by local artisans. This means that although much of it remains familiar – like the greeting cards and various food stuffs, much of changes over time as new artists move in. So, there is always something to see or check out and I love this.

Some of the art is very accessible to those of lower means such as the greeting cards and soaps allowing even sorry sods like me to support this whole endeavor. However, if you are someone with means this place has a lot more to offer – glassware, ceramics, wood sculptures, paintings, metal sculptures, lovingly crocheted plushies, quilts, you name it! And a lot of it is GORGEOUS. They even had the swankiest bat house I have ever seen. Those are going to be some spoiled bats!

Keene is a wonderful town to just walk main street indulging in the gallery, a chocolatier, a bakery, a candy shop, lots of proper eateries, a theater, jewelry shops, clothing stores, you name it! And being a college town it’s also very art friendly and busting with charm. The perfect way to spend a summer day if you enjoy walking a city while still being in the country!

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Route 1 Antiques – Hampton Falls New Hampshire

We had decided to go to Maine to attend the Cryptozoology Convention and in the process we decided to take the opportunity to hit a few antique stores during the long drive north. Route 1 Antiques in Hampton Falls NH (not to be confused with Route 1A Relics in Ellesworth Maine) was the first of three we would check out on this day.

This was a shop that was clearly situated in a repurposed old farmhouse and upon walking in I felt it was a place that was a little rich for my blood. All I saw was well maintained display cases. But there was a shop dog working as a door buzzer and being that she was rather cute I settled in. This first part of the store was indeed a little much for me. They even had a super realistic sculpture of a hawk that I thought was taxidermy! The keep was excited to talk to us about it saying it was a rare piece and told us about the artist. I love art and supporting independent artists buuuut I don’t think I’ll ever have the money to pay for proper rich people art! Luckily this place also had a basement and an attic which were easier on the old wallet.

The basement was neat in that it still had this crazy old fireplace in it but otherwise there wasn’t too much interesting down there for us. The attic however was filled with toys for all ages starting with the mandatory Howdie Doody memorabilia which is much beloved by the Silent Generation and scares the ever lovin’ bejesus out of the rest of us. They also had this primo haunted marionette doll that was out for my own heart, a “Ken doll with prosthetics” which I am pretty sure was the Million Dollar Man, some Rock em’ Sock em’ Robots, and even a few things from my generation including a Star Wars ship and an original Optimus Prime with real metal parts! So I’m told by my companion. His excitement was adorable. Sorry to say I wasn’t allowed to watch many cartoons, TV, or movies, growing up, transformers among them. My mother thought I should be spending my time playing in the dirt. This has resulted a reverence for nature and a profound lack of cultural reference points.

This place was cute. I definitely would say it’s worth checking out if you like antiques of all price ranges. Or toys. So many toys.

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Wildcat Falls – Merrimack New Hampshire

I had to go in for an MRI and I don’t know, there’s just something about being shoved in a tiny tube and having a jack hammer whip around your head banging, clanking, and beeping at high speeds, that makes you really want to run away into the safety of the trees! So, after I gathered myself and found something to eat (to finally break another ghastly fast) I decided to look up local waterfalls. This one was the highest on the list so I said why not, let’s go,

I was surprised to find the entrance to the trail was situated in a lovely little neighborhood right behind a very busy highway. Since it was raining and very early in the season I was lucky in that the parking lot only had two other cars, the occupant of one was heading in with her dog. I took my time putting on my knee braces so I wouldn’t be stalking just behind her. I must say the new knee braces are AWESOME. My entire life walking and hiking has always put me in pain and lately I hadn’t been taking a lot of hikes because it was taking me up to three days to recover from the soreness. The knee braces were a one-off chance, something I heard EDS patients say helped them (even though my doctors won’t even approach diagnosing me with something that seems so fucking obvious!) This was my first time out in both knee braces and it was weeeird, like I was being propelled by them! And walking was so easy! And not taxing! Is this what normal people feel like?! I was amazed.

But back to the trail. It was decent enough, a little pine forest with a mostly flat trail but being so close to the highway and with the lack of leaves on the trees it was still VERY LOUD. This was not the sort of quiet tree hugging moment of solitude I was looking for. To be frank I was a little put off and I wasn’t the only one. The large German Shepard mix I had witnessed enter these woods with its master was now trying desperately to get out, so much so it nearly bowled me over on the way tot he exit. The owner apologized, “She’s not liking this!”

I continued on until I hit the power lines going directly across the highway. Well.. I could only go away from that noise now I had gotten that close… so onward I went. The path was quite ordinary for a pine forest, nothing of particular note except perhaps the wet moss and lichen on the tree trunks. And then I came up to the waterfall. By then the trail seemed to have split in a hundred different very well-travelled mini paths. I was confused at first but then I went around the corner and found the offshoot to the waterfall with a big sign reading, “Swim at your own risk.” OH! I had found a local swimming hole! But today was not the day for such an activity as the runoff and recent rains of spring had filled the river well past capacity and the waters were raging. I toddled with my knee braces onto the rocks above to take a few photos, concerning whoever lived across the river who probably either thought I was about to topple in or willfully throw myself into the churning waters below. He wandered his yard and kept looking over to see if I was still there. Thanks for the concern but tragic accidents weren’t on my bucket list for today.

I stayed for quite a while just letting the overwhelming sound of the water rushing by completely overtake everything else in my brain. No longer could I hear cars, no longer was I trying to soothe my frazzled nerves, it was all just… river rapids and the sounds coming off them. Ahhhhhhh, that’s what I needed. I felt great after this, so much so I was able to tackle the steep hill from the river back to the path and find my way back to the car from there going back the way I came instead of continuing the loop. This was definitely a different experience. I do think in the summer when the water is calm this place probably is a wonderful hidden gem of a swimming hole and if that’s what you’re looking for I would definitely recommend it!

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Cidar Mill Trailhead – Brookline New Hampshire

It’ the beginning of the season so I was looking for something easy and beautiful to get myself and my mother out if the house and into the fresh air. I had chosen a trail a few days prior and then forgot what it was…. I don’t think I ended up at the same place. I thought I’d be trekking around a pretty pond. Nope!

The Cidar Mill Trail is easy to get to with ample parking, a lovely map on the board, and a series of plaques throughout explaining the wildlife in the area (though I’m betting the bobcats and bears are a lot less frequent visitors than the turtles and foxes!)

I had decided to take the Cidar Mill Trail to its end (at a different parking lot) and then come back, pick up the Sergeant’s Trail, and end up in a nice little loop going by the heron rookery. The map made this look like a piece of pie and upon seeing how wide and road-like the trails were I didn’t think this would be a problem. We read the wildlife boards on our way and then kept going until we started seeing other trails jutting off. Other trails that were not touching each other on the map. Confusing. With an assortment of red and green markers… er… travelling further still we never reached a parking lot and it was really quiet out there which freaked my mother out a little bit. She’s always worried about getting lost. We’d only walked straight so this was not really possible but nonetheless we turned around. (And why is it only when I have her with me that we get lost?!) I found the entrance to the Sergeants and off we went. We walked for a little way until we found the heron rookery and took this little offshoot to see it. Only thing is my distance vision is absolute shit at this point in my life and peer as I may out into that forest of dead trees in the swamp I could not see a nest. Turns out it was directly in front of me. I don’t think it would have been a challenge to see for people with reliable peepers.

From here we left and were met with three options. Go the way we came back up the Sergeant’s Trail, take a little connector back to the Cider Mill Trail towards the car, or wander aimlessly off on another unknown/unmapped trail going in the opposite direction. Clearly, we had to accidentally chose the latter because neither one of us have a sense of direction. We walked past another couple wildlife boards and two little bridges but the trail markers had stopped and everything was getting quiet again. I tried to get my phone to tell me where I was and what direction I needed to be heading but it was being a shit today and would only answer what town I was in. THANKS, THAT WAS NOT HELPFUL.

We walked back to the rookery and found and the four way intersection it formed. Should we go back up Sergeant’s since we knew where that trail went or try this other trail we thought was the connector? My phone, finally giving me a tiny bit of something suddenly claimed we were walking back towards the car. OK… let’s just do that then. The connector was way longer than it showed on the map. In fact the map on the board at the entrance was goddamn horrible. I don’t know if they rerouted the trails and didn’t update it or what but it did not reflect any current reality. Finally, out of breath, we managed to get back to the Cider Mill Trail and to the car. During this whole time we were the only ones out there.

Later I’d find a much better map online from a different blogger. All and all it was a decent walk, very easy with little no elevation, that seemed to be a good place to bring a gaggle of kids or maybe a leashed dog but otherwise wasn’t particularly breath taking or unique. Maybe I’m just jaded but I was sort of hoping to see the foundation of an old cider mill or something. Nothing. And the rookery was nice but we’d arrived far too early in the year to see it occupied by baby herons. We did however hit Aquatic Creations LLC on the way home.

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Hiroshi Loop Trail – Dublin New Hampshire

Well, I FINALLY have my car back. I haven’t gone out exploring since before Christmas and to be more than honest I have been going out of my mind! I needed some trees!! So off I went to the woods.

I decided on the Hiroshi Loop Trail because it was a loop and claimed to be easy with no more than a 3% grade incline. After my winter torpor it’s probably best to start off easy… It was very wet but GORGEOUS. I had no idea such a lovely trail was hidden here! Moss and lichen grew on many of the trees and tree roots, beavers left their handywork everywhere, and I even scared a pair of grumpy ducks and two Canadian geese. I also found a geo cache signed by sooo many children with little doodles on some of the pages. It was quite darling! I wish I had something to leave with it. I did sign it. It seemed right to do so.

I was the only one on the trail for most of my journey. I travelled through a mixed woodland and passed the “singing stream” although I don’t know why it’s called that. It didn’t seem to be singing today. It did however give me a gift – or rather the beavers did. I found THE PERFECT walking stick in one of their piles. It was hardwood, heavy, exactly the right height for me, and they’d done me a great courtesy in eating all the bark off it first making it smooth and pretty. Also it was chewed to a spike at the end whcih was great for traction! I’d need the stick later on as the loop was longer than I had anticipated. Luckily it wasn’t difficult with only two parts that seemed to have an incline and they were short lived.

I met a woman and her dog as I was getting close to the end of the trail. The trailhead board did say that dog’s were welcomed here. Other than that I didn’t see or hear a soul. It was just this slightly drizzly Saint Patrick’s Day and I completely lost myself taking photos of the raindrops on the water and leaves. It made this place sort of magical.

This was the perfect first hike of the year and I look so much forward to the next one!

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