Peace Pagoda in Leverette, MA

This was a really pleasant trip about 35 minutes from Enfield to see the Peace Pagoda. When we were in Northampton a local had told us about this place, said it was a beautiful spot to hang out and enjoy nature. Known to be a favorite among photographers in the area.  It was a great trip so allow us to show you the Peace Pagoda in Leverette, MA.
The directions were real sketchy on both mapquest and the Peace Pagoda's website which looked as though it had not been updated in 10 years! But we found it following hand painting signs such as this one.
Once we arrived we had to park the car and walk as no cars were allowed on the premises.  The walk was a real work out let me tell ya...all up hill!
All along the way were these little stone stupas erected by passerby's or maybe by the monks who tend the grounds.

Finally after much effort we see the Pagoda!! It is very beautiful set in a picturesque natural surroundings. We learned that the person who built this Pagoda had in his heart a wish for peace and nuclear disarmament. He vowed to raise money and build these Pagodas all over the world  as a place for people to come and contemplate peace.

Elizabeth is wearing the cool shirt she got in Northampton the week before at the Tibet store. Fierce! Goes well with the surroundings E.  :  )
I take a minute to sit on the rock bridge and enjoy the sun....hey,that was before I got my hair cut...drum roll please....I cut my hair!
I think it is much more me...here it is slick and sassy but I also can wear it curly and with clips all fun and cutesy. I am liking it very much and it is sooooo much cooler for the summer, summer time!
Okay back to the story....the Japanese style gardens surrounding the Pagoda structure were breath taking. Lots of beautiful flowers of every color broke through the sun drench pond surface.
Prayer flags swayed in the summer wind across the pond....
Life was just every where....a little birds' nest in a shade gazebo near the pond.
Such a tranquil place! I could see why photogs like the place too.
There were some of the biggest tadpoles I had ever seen...and I'm a country girl! Look at those babies!
Sparkly! Sparkly! Pretty.
Can a say it was a gorgeous sunny day!
Flowers were all around the pond along side stones and decorative grasses.
Ahhhhh!
The top of the Pagoda looked very nice against the striking blue sky of the day.
The walk ways and relief works were really incredible.
Praying monks relief.
These stones lined the pathways around the Pagoda...they looked like the lotus blossoms in the pond!
Dragon flies! I love those guys...they were every where!
I love pictures that have reflections in them....so cool!
The stone walk way around the Pagoda.
Just thought I would throw this photo in to show the scale of the structure itself...see Elizabeth in the bottom of the frame! It was huge!

The ponds had many stone structures and bridges...lots of little alcoves you could loose yourself in.
It was such a nice day trip. Well we  enjoyed sharing the photos from our little trip to the peace Pagoda. Hope you did too.

PEACE AND LOVE TO YOU ALL!!  : )

Northampton - Our kind of town!

This weekend we ventured to Northampton, MA.  What an awesome town!  It is only about 30 minutes drive from our home in Enfield. It is a wonderful town filled with unique shops and eateries with a bohemian, New England feel. It is also home to Smith College.  Elizabeth said she found it ironic that this very earthy crunchy town is one of the most affluent and highly priced towns in the area!  That's New England for ya.  So please allow us to take you through our day in Northampton.  As always the pictures are clickable, so click on them and they will come up full screen.Our first stop was this great vintage clothing store. I mean this place was like walking into the prop closet in a theater department. Three floors filled from floor to ceiling with EVERYTHING...wigs, clothes from every era, costumes, shoes...any and everything you could imagine.  Just like all the people we met on this day the store owner was so nice and told us about the store and let us have the run of the place trying on all kind of crazy things. We decided we would need to have a 70's party so we could wear some of the to die for clothes they had of the era.  
Here is Elizabeth trying on a very cool Mardi Gras mask she found!

Yea, that glitter Fedora was calling to me! Note all the stuff in the shot...the large costume heads etc.

Next we went to a cute little french store.  Loads of scented drawer papers, stationary, children books and these cute little unique guys...homemade stuffed teddy bears made from french fabrics.   Awwwww!

As we left the french store an elderly woman came up to us and told us about a peace protest going on across the street.  For more than nine years the northhampton community has been holding a vigil for peace  and justice against the war and occupation and the innocent people caught in the middle.  Elizabeth and I had just been talking on the drive about the alarming new numbers being published of members of the armed services committing suicide on a daily basis. God how sad.  So we grabbed a sign and joined in.  Just an interesting side note to this too, most of the protesters were in there 70's and 80's. I first found this kinda unusual...most times when you go to protests it's more a younger crowd.  After talking to one older gentleman I understood more as he told me how his generation had seen war up-close and knew how futile it was and of his concern for his grandchildren having to pay the debt of bad decisions. "Bush can apply that stimulus package to my granddaughters credit cards!"  he remarked. LOL  I found seeing our older generation out there working for peace so inspirational. As one grandmother remarked "it is NEVER right to kill another" Amen to that and may peace be our ultimate destiny.

After the peace protest was over we walked through the lovely fresh market. There were flowers and fresh vegetables by local growers, honey and home-made canned goods also.

Okay this is my new favorite dog store....We needed to get new holster leads for our two boys (because they pull on the lease so hard they almost choke themselves!) so we stopped in here. The young girl inside helped us and was just so friendly...much to our surprise this 20 something was the store owner!  I really liked that every shop we went into the owners were there...right at the cash register.  I love purchasing from people I can get to know and feel like I know where my money is going.  Buy local!

Then we stopped for lunch. You are not going to believe this....this is Lhasa Cafe...a TIBETAN RESTAURANT.  I so love living in the east... I mean where else could you go for tibetan food!

Here is the yummy and healthy food we ate.  We had dumplings with some sort of hot sauce that was very tasty. 
And a dish that was tofu and vegatables in a sauce that had something like gram masala in it. It was really good. I noticed on the menu that they served Yak meat. So I asked our waiter (Tashi)..."where do you get Yak meat from in the states?"  his reply.... "some where in NEBRASKA!"  LOL 

After lunch we continued looking/shopping and we purchased this great watch for Elizabeth from a shop called Harlow.  The owner was an English women and we spent some time talking about life in New England.  
Then on to a store called Glimpse of Tibet. All the product are from Tibet. I met the sweetest older gentleman who was visiting his niece who owned the store there.  He had just come from Tibet and was such a jolly fellow and he and I (kristi) enjoyed a really nice chat.  Below are a few of the purchases we made there.  

 We will be going back to Northampton all the time. Those of you coming to visit us we will for sure go there. It is such a great town with something for everyones taste.  I hope you enjoyed this little day trip to Northampton.  : )

Pics of The Cottage

We just thought we would show ya a few pics from around the cottage now that we have all our stuff placed in it.  So here we go with the tour...

Here is the view off the deck toward the back yard... If we purchase this place that scary shed is coming down though! You can see the yard has a lot of potential...I can see raised flower and vegetable beds and all sort of great stuff out there...or concrete and a pool! Lots o' potential. Those are Elizabeth's flowers..looking good E! ...Elizabeth is out walking with the boys to get them use to the property and where they are allowed to go. We love sitting out there for morning coffee.
This is a little cut through to the kitchen from the living room, a great place for fresh flowers and a few candles.  
This is a little eating area we made to be able to have a place for that sort of thing in the kitchen ...Elizabeth uses it often to sit and talk to me while I make dinner.  : ) 
The kitchen prep area and cut through to sun-room...I like that the sink is one of those old farm house sinks, very durable and large. If we were to purchase this house new cabinets and granite counter top would really spiff this kitchen up.  But we love it as is! As we love the whole house...it's just great layout and just the right amount of space for us...much more manageable. 
Really bad pic of the living room sofa area....BUT cool new japanese rice paper screen lamp on the table.

Above is the living room...my apologies now for the photo quality of all these pictures. There are issues with the thing, what can I say.  Love the hard wood floors! 
Living room entrance to kitchen. The only surviving book case after the move...there are boxes and boxes of books in the basement which you will not get to see! LOL  Awwww and the boys just hanging out being cute. 
The living room...stayed with the retro modern stuff we had from our other house...new floor lamp behind the chair though that I adore! 
Back door entrance and cut through to kitchen. This is the buffet from our old dining room being used as an entrance way piece (personal note to "the boy"... do you see the rock piece you bought us in Portland! giggle) We come in through this space into the sunroom (sorry no picture of that included) and it adjoins the kitchen space so we have our dining room out there. It's great for eating dinner and drinking coffee and watching squirrels (K's new hobby).
Our bedroom is always the one room we have never done for ourselves but it currently is in light colors with all the Heart Art we won at various auctions in support of Camp Kindle and The Diamond Foundation.  We no longer have a bed due to the crappy movers...thank you very much! But E and I go with the flow you know ...can't sweat the little stuff...E says it feels even more supportive on the floor! : ) We will be looking for a platform japanese style bed when the sale of the house happens. Which speaking of that....could all my very much loved friends and family send some love, prayers, visualizations ..whatever is your path..towards the sell of our home in Omaha. We really appreciate that!  
Elizabeth in the guest bedroom checking her PDA.... For all those guest coming, we have cable TV , computer internet and printer, tropical fish tank and new bed all in a spa like room awaiting you. ; ) We had put a screen saver of Poo on the computer in preparation for Monica's stay!!  lol
This is "Simey Guys" room! (or at least he thought it was for that moment) / second guest bedroom. It's a cute old style room with handmade bedspread by Elizabeth's grandmother, framed vintage saucers and on the opposite end of the room a rocking chair and old timey record player!  Elizabeth laughed that it was so cute it just needed a little girl to put in it. Laughing out loud!! awww a  little Asian girl would be so cute. NO!! We are not adopting a little child! LOL
This is the front door entrance...and a crappy picture. lol
Okay this is the Tv / entertainment area, with the jeweled golden buddha given by my (kristi's) dear brother. Guest rooms to either side...I like the way the pink curtains from the guest room to the right make a pink glow radiate from  that room. This is also funny for the baby gates...those of you who have dogs know this drill well....can I just tell you how many times E or I have busted it stepping across baby gates...it's too many bruises to count I tell ya!  LOL

Well hope you enjoyed this little tour....it's not all of the house but gives you an idea, for the rest you have to come for a visit and see your self!!  

I think Elizabeth and I are going to the beaches in the lower part of the state this weekend so I will make sure to take some pictures and I am going to even try to take a short little video so we can actually say hello to all of you.  Okay tootles for now.

International Shop Til Ya Drop

Elizabeth and I were excited to do something today that we used to love to do every Sunday when we lived in the northeast before...go shopping at the asian grocery store and go dollar store shopping. So today we decided we would locate where to go to start this time honored Sunday tradition.  This was also our first trip into Hartford (the big city! giggle) for shopping. So here we go..... (click on pictures to enlarge them fullscreen)

A Dong Market!!!  This is the area's largest asian grocery store.  If you have never been to an asian grocery store it is an adventure in all the senses....the sights, sounds, smells and tastes are all thrilling (except near the fish dept - ewww).  They have everything from home interiors to food to stuff you have no idea what it is. This store is located in West Hartford in a shopping center that is all asian shops.  When we pulled up I knew it was the spot because there was not a western face to be seen.  As we walked into the grocery store all eyes were on us.  It is not impolite to stare in eastern culture, so as we walked up and down the aisles people stopped and just stared at us.  Children smiled and followed us about.  We had so much fun looking at all the interesting gifts and kitchen supply items and of course the food. We were on a mission for vegetable dumplings and asian candy (which is the best!!!). Of course there were also rows and rows of HELLO KITTY stuff! I was in heaven.  We also got a little propaganda with our shopping as we heard the Chinese National Anthem played over the intercom (which oddly sounds like Auld Lang Syne!).  Here are some of the items we purchased.
Kristi holding two of her favorite snack foods....strawberry soda which comes in a glass bottle which has a glass marble in the lid.  You use a tool provided with the soda to dislodge the glass marble  into the neck of the glass bottle....this is thought to help keep the soda's fizz from escaping...I don't know if that works but it's cool! and my favorite....EVERY BURGER!!
Here is the outside of the box. Yum Yum trust me they are to die for!!!
Here is what the actual cookie looks like....they are little cookies that have milk chocolate (the burger) and white chocolate (the cheese) in the middle and they look like little burgers. I mean come on how cute is that.  
And we scored the vegetable dumplings!!!  I'll be making those for dinner  : )
Then it was off to the dollar store....I know that isn't international but Elizabeth says "well everything in here is made in China!" giggle
Then on to the Jamaican Bakery for some patties and cocoa bread and Kool Kat soda!
No international shopping trip is complete until you finish off the day with sushi.  Here we are at Oyama Sushi restaurant in our little town of Enfield.
And let me just tell you... sushi with FRIED SWEET POTATO in the middle is REALLY YUMMY!!! or as they say in Japan.... Oishi des!! (delicious).  Well that was our international shopping spree. Hope you enjoyed seeing how we will be spending our sundays.

We made it!!

I can't believe it but we did it!!!! with four animals and a car loaded down with supplies.  It was not without it's challenges though....like forgetting Elizabeth's crucial work clothes for the first week of her new job and having to turn around and get them adding about an hour and 45 minutes to the opening of our drive. Oh well! We were just ahead of all the bad weather. We were glad to hear from the real estate company in Omaha that things are doing okay at the property there, just some yard waste needed removing and the driveway had to be trenched for water drainage due to all the rapid amounts of rain. 

On to some of the highlights of the move process....the movers broke PLENTY of our stuff!  Oh lawd! These were by far the least professional movers we have ever had. It's a luck of the draw with these things but from inappropriate actions by the driver like...screaming on the phone in an argument with the management handling the union packer workers to wanting to sleep in his semi ideling outside our quite residential home in Omaha...lawd the list just goes on and on.  But the important thing is we did get our stuff...even if some of it was broken or had water damage????


Elizabeth and Mokie just before we loaded the truck in Omaha.
When we got to the new house we realized there were no window treatments...You know how violated you feel when the whole world can look into your house....so that had to be the first thing to go up.  This is a job for Elizabeth.  This is where she shows she really is a Heelan.  She has good measuring and engineering skills.  
Here is E brushing here teeth and getting ready to head off for her first day of work at the new job.  E is REALLY loving her new job!!  The people are really nice and she has a s-w-e-e-t office with a terrace!
Okay, I thought I would do a little intro to our awesome new town. We both love it sooooooo much. It has so much charm.  The picture above is of the town hall. On the green here they hold craft shows and things in the summer.

The picture directly below is a very typical looking residential street scene in my town. The pictures following that are of shade tobacco. We live in what is called the Tobacco Valley and this VERY expensive form of tobacco called Shade Tobacco is grown in the region...as you drive you see fields like the pictures below hanging with this gauzy cloth blowing in the wind...very neat.  The tobacco can not take heat or wind so the shadey gauze is moved around by workers as needed to protect it...all that babying makes for a sweet cigar we hear.

Our town has a very old world feel with places like Russo's Italian Pastry Shop where John the owner wouldn't let me take my cannoli's I had purchased with me into the record 100 degree heat we had the other day because I had another errand to run and was not going straight home and he did not want them to melt....so I had to run my other errand and come back by to pick up the cannolis!  To a younger more vibrant feel of young working class people with busy lives (and lots of kids) who take advantage of the great starter homes in the community and close proximity to all greater New England has to offer. We have heard the town is basically made up of these two types of people: the young people and the older people who originally built these 1950's gems. (You know I am partial to the great and long forgotten craftsmanship of the 1950's house!) with a few professionals enjoying the convenience of it all thrown in for good measure. All I know is we love it!!! I love the new house, it's got a fierce cottage vibe going on. I will post more pictures of the house on the next blog entry.  I should have things out of boxes by then....maybe.

I need some Advil now

Well....no move is complete without some drama.  We had issues with our pack and load day...the packer guys (who get paid by the driver) were not happy that they did not receive double time pay for their work on sunday and did not show up on Monday to load the truck.  Well they were loosers because we had planned to tip them both $50 dollars when they returned on load day. The driver started loading the truck himself and then after some unprofessional yelling on the phone on the part of the driver the dispatch service sent over another guy and the truck got loaded.  What should have been done in 4 hours took 9 hours!  This put us behind for everything else so we are this morning at the last minute finishing up the cleaning.  I so just want to get the hell out of this house now.  Both Elizabeth and I have worked to total physical failure of our bodies.  To say the least we are both on a 4 hour schedule for the Advil.  So this is it people...after I hit send on this blog we are packing up the car with all our stuff and animals and gettin' out of here.  So the next entry will be from the other side.  Wish us luck in our journey and we will talk soon.  : )

P.S. - A lovely parting gift from the house...one of the large pines off our drive way died. (yea the one we planted St. Joe under - not sure what that means!!!!) and we had to spend 1,000 bucks to have it removed.  Nice! 

P.S.S. - Please forgive any grammar and spelling mistakes...at this point it's scrambled eggs for brains.