10 rules for your summer vacation

With no guest breakfasts one morning last week, I enjoyed my tea while flipping through the National Geographic Traveler – June/July issue.  It’s one of my favorite magazines.  I love to imagine traveling to new places and remember some of the wonderful places I’ve been lucky enough to visit.

This issue features The New Rules of Summer.  There are 15 rules which are too many for something as free flowing as summer but there are 10 worth sharing with a Henniker House sensibility.

1)  “Take your vacation.  It’s good for everybody.”  The article notes that on average, Americans leave 3 paid vacation days unused a year.  That sounds right given my 27 year corporate experience.  Now with 10 years of innkeeping under my belt, I know how restorative vacation can be and try to savor every day off.  You should too.

 2)  “Eat ice cream every day.”  It’s summer and to quote Dave Anderson of the Society for the Protection of NH Forests – “A perfect summer day has a hike, a swim and an ice cream.”  We try to alternate indulging our sweet-tooth at Intervale Ice Cream (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Intervale-Ice-Cream/101935370397) at the foot of Pats Peak and Beech Hill Ice Cream Barn (http://beechhillfarm.com/) with their baby farm animals in Hopkinton. 

3)  “Give up the car keys.”  Bring your bicycle and we’ll send you off to explore the region.  Following the river is a nice level ride.  When you’re ready for some hills, we’ve got those too.   For years we partnered with other B&Bs in the region to conduct inn to inn bike tours.  We still have the routes and are happy to share them with guests.

4)  “Keep calm and paddle on.”  In the Spring, the Contoocook River is favored by kayakers. 









In the summer a tube is a preferred 'vessel'

Pleasant Pond has good fishing from your canoe and swimming at the beach.

5)  “Put your nose in a new book.”  With window seats in rooms and a canopied swing on the deck, we have great reading venues for a summer afternoon.

 6)  “Be kind to animals.”  The article urged you to plan a safari now.  We can show you some wild life right around the house. 

These baby squirrels imprinted on Phil

The snapper knows about the pace of life. 

 

7)  “Don’t be stupid.”  Your safety is important.  Please know to avoid "leaves of three", have sun block and a hat.  And as the article says – “don’t hike in heels”.  Actually no heels required for your stay at Henniker House.

8)  “Go local or go home.”  This is the primary reason to choose a B&B (anywhere) over a impersonal  hotel.  Your hosts know the area and come to know you.  Tell them your interests and they will have recommendations for you.  From hikes to restaurants to historic sites – the locals know best.

9)  “Stop and smell the wild flowers.”  The article listed a few outdoor festivals and events.  While Tanglewood might have the Boston Pops, the Henniker Summer Concert series is bringing blue grass, Dixieland, Doo Wop and more to the Community Center lawn Tuesday evenings at 7 from June to mid-August.  The Chili Festival in August is a great day for fire on the mountain (http://www.chilinewhampshire.org/) .   A ride in a  balloon at the festival is on many a bucket list.  (http://www.balloonfestival.org/)  For a little history and a great weekend, living history appeals to all ages (http://livinghistoryeventnh.com/) .   The summer is full of fun here in New Hampshire.

10)  “Carry extra batteries.”  Really?  You’re not camping here at Henniker House; we have electricity so just bring your chargers.  Better yet, turn off the devices and listen to the birds.  

 

The last frame says "sometimes you have to lose the signal to get the message"

Come, let the river soothe you.

Our backyard - The Contoocook River

What do you see?

Well, when our returning guest RC arrived he exclaimed “my fishing chair”.  He wasn’t talking about the one armed Victorian ladies chair on left.

When he was with us in 2011, RC bought a chair to sit in while he fished.  He didn’t think it was worth taking back to Arizona so he left it in our care.  He used it when he returned in 2014 and it was here waiting for him to use in this year’s fish chase.  We always refer to it as the RC Memorial Chair – as though it were a endowed chair in the classics department at an Ivy League College.

  

The chair isn’t exclusively a fishing chair.  It’s been to Tuesday night concerts in the Community Park in Henniker.  Last weekend it attended a rowing event in Lowell MA.  So you see - this chair gets around.

RC grew up in New England, had a professional career in the Bay Area and is now retired in Phoenix. Coming to Henniker in May is just the thing for his Yankee heart.  He favors the Balcony room where he can enjoy the apple blossoms from the deck.

We know there are fish in the Contoocook River out back.  I’ve seen fish & game wardens putting them in. 

We've seen otters and herons taking them out.  We even cooked one a guest caught. 

Most days there is someone out there trying to get their own.

We can set you up with Gerry and Jim who are the NH Rivers Guide Service (http://nhriversguide.com/) if you want to perfect your cast.  

Or, you’re welcome to come, use the RC Memorial Chair and just let the river soothe you.

A short sweet season

Readers of this blog & folks here in New England know that I’m not talking about winter 2014/15 when I say short.  I love winter, I love snow – as I confessed in an earlier blog and this winter started with our first snow fall of 15 inches on the day before Thanksgiving and our latest (last?) 3 inches on April 8.  That’s not a short season.  I’m talking about the maple sugaring season.

It just snuck up me this year.  I knew I’d opened my 4^th and last gallon of 2014 maple syrup in early February so I’d need to restock my supply soon but it was only yesterday that I made my visit to Ben’s Sugar Shack in Newbury. It turns out would be the last weekend that they're boiling this year.

Ben Fisk is an enterprising young man who credits a preschool trip to a maple sugar house as the seed for his dream.  He has thousands of trees tapped and processes the sap into syrup at two sugar houses.  I like to go to the shack  because it smells so wonderful there.  That’s not clouds above the shack – that’s steam from the sap boiling off.   If you can’t get there yourself, Ben runs an on line store http://www.bens-maple-syrup.com/  The web site is worth a visit for history and science of maple sugaring.

Ben tells me the season got a late start this year because we had so many cold days.  Springtime is the season for "sugaring", when nights are cold (below freezing) and days are warm - best around 40 degrees. The sap gathering stops abruptly when the weather turns balmy, for the tree's nutrients are being mobilized to feed the leaf buds, and these metabolites cause objectionable off-flavors in syrup.  It is forecast to be 70 degrees tomorrow so production will be shutting down this weekend.  Despite increasing the number of trees “under tap” this year, Ben will produce about the same amount as last year – 5,000 gallons.

Yes, the bucket is iconic and you'll see them around New Hampshire during the season.

Ben prefers the efficiency of lines and tanks - small detail but I think there are miles of blue lines woven round the woods in the background.  

His evaporator is very high tech but Ben relieves on his eye to check the consistency.

I nearly missed it so my advice is order on line and mark your calendar for next year.  It's a short sweet season you don't want to miss!  Me, I've got my stash and will be enjoying maple syrup on apple pancakes, French Toast and in a new oatmeal cookie recipe I picked up from Ben.  Yumm!  

I like winter, I like snow

I like winter, I like snow,

I like icy winds that blow.

I like snowflakes, oh so light,

Making all the ground so white.

Those are the first lines of a little book by Lois Lenski published in 1950.  When I say little, I mean perfect size for a child’s hands, with cheery illustrations.  I love that book and I love winter and all the things you can do in winter.  

Most of you know that Pats Peak (http://www.patspeak.com/)  is just 3 miles from us here at Henniker House B&B.  I try to get out most every day in January when the conditions are my favorite.  The season goes on till the end of March and you’ll see me on the trails till Pats closes – but maybe not every day in the spring.  With a seasons pass, I can pop over for an hour or stay all day - I wish - only on days when innkeeper chores don’t call me!.  Our guests tend to prefer day skiing but the Saturday night POP ticket is a real value and a party with a bonfire.  And did I mention that skiing is ageless?  Christmas week, a family came up from Florida so the boys (aged 7 & 9) could learn to ski.  Their grandmother (aged 80+), aunt and uncle all came from the Boston area to join in the fun.  Note – Grandma’s got her ski boots on too!

The flood plain of the Contoocook River stretches to the east of Henniker House B&B.  Strap on your snowshoes or cross country skis and head out our front door.  Last winter two of our guests snow shoed to the Henniker Brewery (http://www.hennikerbrewing.com/ ).   For the most part they followed the snowmobile trail and worked up a pretty good thirst.  

Visiting with guests at breakfast is one of the joys of innkeeping. Today, for the first time this winter, we spied a mink scampering across the ice.  I know he’s here year round but there are more sightings in the winter when the snow provides contrast. “I like winter, I like snow!”

As I write this, the radio is warning that tomorrow’s storm will bring us 18 to 25 inches of new snow.  I have my day planned; stack up the slow cooker with some comfort food, keep the walks cleared while Phil does the heavy driveway work but mostly sit inside the solarium, sip some hot chocolate and watch the snow fall.  Maybe you’d like to join me?

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jessica-Bartlet-Art/103981919655879d 

Come, let the river soothe you

Christmas Decorating – Henniker house style

This is our 10^th Christmas at Henniker House and we’re settling into our own style.  Some of you know we bought an operating B&B and its contents.  It took us months to sort through all the stuff, decide what to keep and what to move on.  The guys at the transfer station were our first and best friends in town.

The previous owner had several fake trees up in the attic.  We don’t know if she put them all up or if the collection resulted from the search for a perfect fake.  The tops of two served as outdoor decorations until last year when the elements took their toll.  Phil is currently fashioning planters for two real trees we got at Forster’s (http://forsterschristmastreefarm.com/ ) to adorn the front porch.  We hang garlands on the porch rails with purple bows to accent the trim on the house.  And there’s purple in the ski chair.

In addition to the fake trees, we also found boxes of decorations up in the attic.  Some decorations seemed to be color coordinated – perhaps an attempt at something like this.

All this was beyond me.  Trees were a bit of a mystery; real vs. fake, lights, tinsel and ornaments as cat toys – grrr!  For my adult life before innkeeping, I was the visiting Aunt who arrived at my siblings’ houses, bringing presents and getting their children high on sugar and Santa.  Even though I didn't put up a tree, I collected ornaments.  Now I decorate the tree with memories.

My mother was crafty and spoiled her cats.  From the mid 1980’s to the early 2000’s, she fed her cats enough Fancy Feast to redeem labels for the collector’s edition ornaments for her children.  

One year she asked us to save wine corks for a craft project.  She was a bit surprised how many we generated.  Now my cork reindeer is missing an eye but he makes me smile.

missing eye turned toward tree!
Note Bruce the Moose - another of Mom's creations

While working in Europe, I visited a Christmas market in Koln Germany.  When I hang the carved wood ornaments I bought there, I can almost taste the hot cider from that cold evening.  Chicago has a German style market (http://www.christkindlmarket.com/) where I found a wooden skier to celebrate the real live skier here in New Hampshire.

There are two canoes I hang on the tree.  One is a felt canoe from the year we went to see the Christmas Revels tell the French Canadian story of a flying canoe – wild dancing and kitchen music!  What a wonderful birthday celebration for me.  The other is a little red canoe that makes me think of summers at my grandmother’s cottage in Muskoka Ontario.

There are two porcelain roses from Lucy who manned reception and served as surrogate mother to many. When Lucy passed away the daughter she gave birth to called to let us know, and Lucy’s GE daughters filled a row at church.  I made some good friends at GE and had the pleasure of seeing several this year.

There are a couple of things that go on the tree that others might have put in the trash.  One is a wire basket from a bottle of champagne that my niece Alison bought because she drinks the good stuff.  My niece Jess’ creative gift tags that look like art to me so up they went!  The angel on top was made out of a toilet paper roll, a paper doily and an aluminum foil ball for a head.  Phil’s daughter Jenna was 5 when she made that and I think it has its own special beauty.  

Besides the tree, there are stockings hung on a bookcase (no fireplace mantle here) and the Victorian village set up in the Bear room.  Most of the buildings were up in the attic when we arrived but my sister Jane gave us a house that looks a lot like Henniker House and I found Phil’s Diner at Edmund’s, here in town, to complete the scene.  This year I added Santa and reindeer from Mom’s attic to the village.  We should all have reindeer on the roof.

So there you have it – Christmas decorating Henniker House style. 

You now know a little more about the people who host you here than if we put up something like this








If you too hang memories on your tree, you’ll feel right at home at Henniker House.  Come visit during the holidays or anytime. 

Wishing you a very happy season surrounded by people you love.

Bart's Favorite Holiday

Fall is an expressway through holidays here in New England.  We roll from Columbus Day, the three-day weekend every wanderer uses to admire the foliage, into Halloween for sweets & spooks, and then finally the family holiday of Thanksgiving.  But wait!  For Bart, the most important weekend of the autumn is Goddess Weekend at Henniker House.

Perfect to curl up in

This is the weekend he waits for.  This is the weekend that makes his heart sing.  This is the weekend when the leaves that danced across the skylights no longer distract him because he has the Goddesses.  They bring containers to sit in, ribbons to play with and magic wands that catch sunlight and make a flash that needs to be chased across the walls.

Goddesses?  In Henniker?  Let me explain.

Ribbon, did you say kill the ribbon?

Nine years ago, Susan & Carleen booked a night at Henniker House so they could attend a workshop at Quilted Threads (http://www.quiltedthreads.com/ ).  When they came back from the class they asked if I’d consider hosting a group of friends for a weekend of sewing quilts – they promised they’d only include women they could vouch for.  So it began with 4 friends who had worked together – Susan, Carlene, Laurie, and Colleen.  To that mix they added Colleen’s sister Barbara, Colleen’s daughter Janice (we started to tease that it was a family reunion), Janice’s good friend Kari and her mom Peg (strategic add – Peg has a long arm machine - every quilting circle should include a long arm).  Then came Kari’s friend Tracy who has now finally finished the Bruin’s quilt for her new hubby. 

Wayne is such a Bruins fan that they had Rene Rancourt, who sings the anthems at the TD Garden, sing at their wedding.  Tracy is such a Henniker House fan they came here for a few relaxing days after the big day. 

There have been some fill-ins while Janice had a baby or Peg traveled to someplace more exotic than Henniker but the core is here and Bart enjoys every minute of it.

For the weeks leading up to their visit there are emails with each participant claiming a part in their pot luck.   Crock pot suppers and homemade bread that fill the air with delicious aromas.

Classic Goddess Weekend - no rotary cutters after the wine is opened

In one email there was an assignment of “tea”.  I jumped into that and said I had that covered with my selection from Harney & Sons Teas (https://www.harney.com/ ).  A kind explanation arrived that their tea came in bottles with corks.

It is easy to write what Bart enjoys about the Goddesses – his delight shows in his actions.  But in preparing this blog, I asked the ladies what are some of their favorite things about their weekend here.  The unanimous answer was Bart with a very quick addition of Beautiful Cat.  Her secret sauce to the weekend is more subtle. 

BC is the lap cat

But what else?  They report the space is bright and the river view is inspiring or distracting, however you look at it.  Yes, they like the breakfasts.  I try out new recipes on them and keep a log of what works and what doesn’t. But they say the best part is not doing the dishes themselves.  It’s a real vacation, the kids and boys stay at home; this isn’t just their own lives someplace else.  They wear their tiaras and oversized T-shirts without judgment, get caught up on each other’s lives and bask in the girlfriend glow.

Bart consults on the Tardis Quilt

For a stretch a few years ago, two of them took advantage of the in room massage.  This weekend Susan wished she had again.  (Innkeeper note already in calendar – inquire as part of reconfirming next time).  As years have gone by, one or two and now four have added Thursday night to the weekend.   As they left this time, they wondered about adding Sunday night to the next weekend.  The extended time, the ability to spread a project out and sometimes actually finish it are some of their favorite things about the getaway.  Collaboration on design and technique (a.k.a. emergency help) is also available from friends who know you & know how this is all done.

So now you know who the Goddesses are and why Bart and Henniker House love them.  Does this sound like a getaway you’d enjoy?  Unfortunately this group doesn’t have any openings but if you would gather 4 to 8 girlfriends and pick a date, we have a beautiful room overlooking the river and a couple of cats waiting for you.  Bart would be happy to chase yarn, ribbons, crumpled paper or fabric scraps.  BC is good at lap sitting.  If you don’t want to plan pot lucks, we have restaurants in walking distance.  The vacation can be as unstructured as you want.

If I'm in the bag, you can't pack and leave

                              Come, let the river soothe you.

Haunted Henniker House

Every year we get a call wanting to book the haunted room.  It usually comes in October and goes something like this:

“We’d like to book your haunted room for October 31^st”

“You’re welcome to book a room but we’re not haunted.”

“But I read it on the internet.”

“Don’t believe everything you see on the internet.”

And then there are the emails from the paranormal investigators who want to come and check out our place for ghosts.  “No thanks.  We’re not haunted”.

too cheery to be haunted

I know where they get this bad information.  The story of Ocean Born Mary, Gussie Roy and a photo of our bed & breakfast have been put together on a web site - http://www.hauntedhouses.com/states/nh/henniker_house.htm.  It was first brought to my attention after we’d been here about 2 months.  I was checking the web to see what was already out there with the B&B’s name (I found a really nasty review too).  I printed it out and filed it away under “interesting but not important”.  Even now, their write up just makes me laugh – 6,000 acres – we’re in town; the Main St is at our front door and the river behind, no way could you stake out 6,000 acres – even in the 18^th century.  And besides, the photo shows a fine old Victorian, not a grand house built by a retired pirate who was pillaging the seas in 1720.

Much of the press about the ghost can be caulked up to Louis Maurice Auguste Roy.  He bought a house in Henniker in 1917 and proceeded to create a legend.  The folks at Yankee Skeptic checked it out -  http://yankeeskeptic.com/2013/03/05/ocean-born-mary-or-why-a-ghost-is-good-for-business/.  The house he bought is outside of town, with sweeping views of the valley, but not 6,000 acres either.  Certainly a ghost was good for Gussie’s business but not for me and my B&B.  “We’re not haunted”.

The Henniker Historical Society does an excellant job summarizing the “actual history and the other side of the coin”   http://www.hennikerhistory.org/obmary.htm .  In 2011 the Historical Society hosted Jeremy D’Entremont who wrote “Ocean-Born Mary, the Truth Behind a New Hampshire Legend”.  This is a fascinating slim book published by The History Press, Charleston SC.  It includes illustrations, naval research as to who the pirate might have been and detail about Gussie Roy who is described as a “smaller scale P.T. Barnum of New Hampshire”.  It is just the thing to read on rainy afternoon.  I think I’ll put the kettle on now and refresh my knowledge of the facts so I’m ready for the next “I’d like to book your haunted room” call.