Category Archives: New England
Christmas Beauty at Hammond Castle
Since we’re still in the middle of the twelve days of Christmas, how about a blog where you can see the cheery holiday decorations at one of my favorite spots, Hammond Castle? I hadn’t been there for years, but I remembered how they did up the castle right for Christmas one of the times I was there many moons back. So, Yang and I decided to celebrate the season by visiting once again. We were not disappointed.
John Hammond built this castle early in the 1900s, funding it by the sale of his patents for all kinds of applications to navigation, radar, radio, etc. In fact, I believe he holds the record for the largest number of patents awarded in this country. He did come from a prominent and wealthy family, but they disowned him for marrying an older divorced woman – with whom he shared a long and happy marriage – so there Mom and Pop Hammond! The main shots we have here are of the Great Hall and the Courtyard. Yang took some really neat shots of the Great Hall. Hammond would have large family and friend gatherings here in his day, including lots of famous film political, and business figures. I remember back in the 1980s and later when I came here, I attended concerts on the pipe organ and by smaller consorts. I also got to watch silent films in the Great Hall. It was the perfect setting to enjoy Lon Chaney’s The Phantom of the Opera. In this photo, you can get an idea of the length of the hall. You can also see the beautiful rose window.
You can also observe some of the alcoves off the main hall in these photos. I wish we’d had a chance to take pictures in the dining room and the library off the Great Hall, facing the ocean, but the light was not great for photographing — too much sun coming in. Natasha would have liked it, though! Some of the decor were skillful reproductions of classical, medieval, and renaissance art; however, much was also pieces that had been rescued from ruins or antique dealers.
How about this huge hearth? Would it keep the entire hall warm? Well, maybe you ought to remove the Christmas decorations first! The courtyard was a real treat! Recreations or imports of medieval and renaissance shop fronts were integrated into the walls, leading into various rooms. The courtyard was roofed with glass skylighting, allowing for the growing of all kinds of plants that surrounded a long, eight-foot deep pool. Here is a view from the balcony to one end of the courtyard from which Mr. Hammond enjoyed diving off into the pool for a swim – but I think he changed into his trunks first. How would you like to jump in from here? We were lucky enough to meet two of the guides there who took our picture. We had a great chat with them about the castle and ruins, castles, mansions, and other haunted spots in new England. If we go back for a guided tour, I know that they would do a great job. they helped make our day! Anyway, here are some more shots of the courtyard.
Looking at these photos, you can see how Hammond integrated reliefs, tombstones, storefronts, etc, into the construction of the hall. It’s eclectic, but it works! The Christmastide greenery adds seasonal beauty and cheer to the castle. We don’t have photos of the bedrooms or the kitchen or Hammond’s workrooms. Maybe that’s for another day – or for you to find on your own trip to the castle. Finally, the outside is also a pleasure to enjoy. For one thing, there’s a draw bridge. An interesting story connects here. Apparently, Hammond also built a covered bridge for the cats to leave the castle near here as well – but they didn’t deign to use it. I think they were busy chilling in the boxes in which some of the antiquities arrived.
Of course, we can’t forget to include picture of the person to whom we can credit the majority of these photographs.
I love these Gothic arches framing the view of the Atlantic on this sunny winter’s day. For your final delectation, below is a video that reveals the glory of the Great Hall in panorama. If you want to enjoy Hammond castle for yourself, here’s a link to their web site. Their “Deck the Halls” tours are open until December 30th.
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November December Flora and Feathered Fauna
Autumn’s Last Will and Testament, Part One
Halloween at the Yang’s – BOO!
The Secret Place of Fall Foliage
Adieu, Summer, Adieu
Spring Excursions
Well, you haven’t seen any blogs in a while because this spring has been so busy. Yang and I have had more than a few excursions, so I have plenty to report. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of pictures because we were too busy enjoying the wonderful scenery or sighting extraordinary critters. So, let’s get started. To get a really good look at the photos, be sure to click on them.
While I was busy educating myself on Medieval and Renaissance literature, history, philosophy, and culture at the Keene State College Medieval and Renaissance forum, Yang was chugging up Mt. Monadnock. This was an extraordinary day with the temperature surging to 85 degrees. Still, you can hear the wind whipping through the trees in this video. Nevertheless, Yang almost made it to the top of the mountain. As you can see from these photos, the view was gorgeous. However, this is my favorite shot.
Later on, we were off on our bicycles and checked out the extension of the Fairhaven trail to Mattapoisett, MA. The day was warm and sunny. We were lucky enough to catch some sightings of neat shore birds. We saw this Greater Yellowlegs. You can’t actually see how yellow his legs are because he’s in pretty deep water. These birds are tall. This spring, we’ve also seen these guys in Connecticut and in western Mass. They love the shore on a lake or the ocean. We also saw a Great Egret. Sorry, no picture. But his legs and feet are something: long black gams finished with big lumpy bright yellow tootsies! Like clown shoes! We do have several pictures of a particularly gorgeous bird: Green Heron. His colors are gorgeous – green/blue crest and back, chesnut neck, white stripes from his eyes to the back of his head, splashes of white dripping down a beautiful chestnut front.
Bluff Point is near Mystic in Connecticut. So, after a nifty lunch of croissant sandwiches and (for me) coffee latte, we drove over for a new walk. You start out along the shore, on the edge of the woods, then the trail can lead you into the woods where Carolina Wrens call out to you and songbirds tease you. One trail veers back toward the shore where you can walk or swim (not when we went, though!), then along a rise that becomes the point at the end of a peninsula. Lots of water birds like Cormorants sport in the waves, while I saw three Guillemots fly past, which Yang missed because he was looking out to sea with his binoculars. Bluff Point is beautiful place for a hike and even a picnic.
We made it to the trail we call “The Secret Place,” even though it’s not so very secret since we usually see at least one person walking there – and that day we saw a few kayaks on the reservoir. Anyway, I’ve blogged on this spot before: click here. On this Sunday, after bagels at the best bagels I know, Bagel Time, we saw some cool birds. Here’s a shot of a Golden Crowned Kinglet. These guys are so high up, it’s hard to get a really good picture. Last year, we saw Ruby Crowned Kinglets like nobody’s business, but no Golden Crowneds. So, yay! we finally got to see the Golden Crowned. We also saw one of Yang’s favorites, the Eastern Kingbird. Thank goodness these guys LOVE to sit on top of dead trees and stand out against the sky. They are extremely bold and vocal. You can see from his ‘tude, how he got the “King” in his name. Yang also got this great shot of the Kingbord soaring through the blue, below. And wouldn’t you know, here’s another Yellowlegs. I’m not sure if it’s the Greater of the Lesser, but it’s definitely a Yellowlegs. To get a really good look, be sure to click on the photo. We also saw a Mamma Mallard with her ducklings. At one point, the kids swam into and around the Yellowlegs. He was all, “What in Sam Hill?!” But he kept on trucking in his direction and the kids kept trucking in their own. We saw Pappa Mallard fly off squawking, leaving Mom alone with the kids – and on Mother’s Day, too! Finally, we did sight an extraordinary first-ever bird for both of us: a Blue-Winged Warbler. Of course, we were unable to get a good shot of him, so I’ll include a professional photo of one. this guy was a brilliant yellow, almost with a hint of orange; his wings were a blue-grey. His color reminded me of the yellow warbler. It was cool to hear him serenade us whole heartedly from atop a towering Maple. This photo perfectly captures exactly how he looked as he sang. Click here for more info on this bird from the Cornell Lab “All About Birds,” also the source of this image
Finally, here’s a tale of Yang’s heroism. We were walking on the Blackstone River Trail in Worcester, when from our vantage point on a bridge, Yang spotted a Gamera-sized snapping turtle flailing away on its back. Yang’s first thought was to flip the turtle. My first thought was for him not to have any limbs snapped off. He figured on getting a a branch to use as a lever. I figured to tell him to make sure the branch was thick and looong. He managed to get down to the river bank, and it took him three thick long branches (because two of them snapped under 100lbs. of turtle), but he did it. So enjoy the shots of the turtle he rescued.
So, that’s all for now – and I haven’t even reported on everything!
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Halibut Point Feathered Friends
Two Fridays back, Yang and I happened to be on the North Shore, so we stayed overnight in order to make an early visit to Halibut Point State Park. We’d been meaning to get there since November, after hearing about all the cool water fowl hanging out there. Unfortunately, the opportunity hadn’t come up before this. So, after our breakfast of bagels and cream cheese (yum!), we headed out to the state park. We were not disappointed. In the quarry, we spotted a Scaup, Black Ducks, and Mallards. When we headed for the ocean, we got an even bigger treat. Here you see me peering out at the ocean’s wonderland – or wonderwater- of ducks. Isn’t that point beautiful?
At first, we saw only a couple of pairs of Harlequin Ducks, looking absolutely adorable. All the FB bird groups to which I belonged extolled the plenitude of Harlequins out here. So, we were happy to spot this couple chilling along.
Mrs. Harley seems to be finding a snack while her husband looks on. Neat as this sighting was, things got MUCH better. Looking all around and out to sea, we saw flocks of Harlequins diving, chilling, and looking good. There were so many that we couldn’t always get them all in one picture. I would say we saw several flocks ranging from 9-15 Harlequins. And that’s not counting the friendly-neighbor Long-tail Ducks who joined the party. Counting the ducks was never easy, because, all of a sudden, the whole kit and kaboodle would take a dive on a hunt for food. So, Yang had to time his shots carefully to catch them. I guess it’s true that these ducks love rough waters, because that’s exactly what they got here and in the other place we saw them, Sachuest Point, RI. This was the biggest contingent of Harleys that I had seen. Though the ducks are hard to pick out in these pictures, if you just click on them you will get a better look. Then we saw this Loon way off above the group of Harlequins. It’s the white figure in the upper left corner. Wouldn’t you know, we also saw plenty of flocks of Scoters.
Here’s a closeup of a female Scoter. I believe these are all Black Scoters.
When we moved onto the harbor at Rockport, Yang also got a shot of a male Eider Duck. Usually we see big flocks of these guys, especially at Cape Cod (check out this older blog). Today, we saw this guy all by his lonesome.
Then, finally, what should we espy on the other side of the point in the harbor in Rockport? We thought we it was a brown female eider – except, Yang said that once the critter dived he could see her walking under water. Huh? Then “she” came up.
Yup, a seal! So I hope this critter can be a “seal” of approval for today’s blog.
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