Newport, Rhode Island

This past weekend, I met very dear friends (baby club) in Newport, RI for a girls weekend.  I had never been to Newport and I absolutely loved it.  Honestly, I can't wait to go back with Bryce!  Here's a bit of our itinerary over the weekend...

We didn't arrive in Newport until the evening so we really only had time for dinner and some chatting in our pajamas.  We had a delicious meal at the Black Pearl.

The next morning, we had breakfast at Cru and then set off to wander around town a bit to get our bearings and go in a few of their darling stores.

Later that day, we took a sunset sail that was so fun and so beautiful!

The next day was for visiting the Mansions (only 3 were open due to filming for "The Gilded Age.") The mansions of Newport were built as a way for the wealthiest Americans to show off their money and social rankings.  Fun fact: the term "gilded age" was never meant as a compliment but rather makes reference to how things are not what they appear under the surface of materialism and social climbing.  

Our first mansion was The Breakers, the Vanderbilts home which was the biggest, and the most expensive, mansion of them all.  It was truly staggering to see both the attention to detail and the money that was spent on creating this crown jewel!

I always love to see the kitchen areas of these massive homes.  The Breakers did not disappoint.  I so wanted to explore the two story butlers pantry.

Our next stop was RoseCliff, which was lovely, but not nearly as comprehensive of a tour as The Breakers.  It was sad to hear the story of the original owner who as the gilded age came to a close, couldn't accept that the parties were over and was said to wander the home talking to imaginary guests and friends and offering them glasses of champagne.

From the mansions, we made our way to the Cliff Walk and enjoyed the stunning views of the water and cliffs.

We also enjoyed a truly stunning sunset!

That evening we enjoyed another fabulous meal, this time at the Clarke Cook House, where we celebrated Candace.  Before we headed to the airport the next day we toured one more mansion and wandered around town for a bit.  It was a fabulous weekend and I'm so thankful that I got to spend it with these friends of 23 years!

Goings On...

Here we are in the fall already!  Time just keeps moving faster and faster it seems.  There's been a lot of little things going on, day to day things that keep us busy.  Of course, we've been missing Grace but I'm happy to report that she seems to have really settled in this year.  She's living in a fantastic flat with her two best friends in St Andrews and appears to have found a happy balance between social, school and doing her favorite things.  She is still writing her newsletter that can be found here https://fromgrace.substack.com/p/the-craft  .

Harris got the screws out of his jaw.  It's been six weeks since he broke it and he can finally eat crunchy foods!  It was a relief to get to that point and so very surreal to look back at that first week or two.  What a time.  

He also went to his girlfriends homecoming (they are not in the same school)!  Of course, he had to take her flowers!

The garden is definitely winding down now.  While we aren't getting as much produce we are, finally, getting dahlias.  They are just so beautiful! Also, in a very happy accident, we got pumpkins from the farm compost!

We are deep into the fall chores here at the farm.  It's the time to put the garden to bed, which requires a lot of clean up and prep for next year.  It's also the best time to plant trees and shrubs that we are adding to the landscape!  We recently added this Japanese Maple.  26 years ago when we got married, a friend gave us a Japanese Maple as a wedding gift.  We moved that tree to three different houses until it just got too big to move.  So I really felt like we needed one at the farm because I associate it with our marriage, sort of weird but true. 

On a sad note, we've had absolute carnage on the farm this summer.  Our chickens were picked off one by one and we could not figure out what was getting to them.  We've had poultry for almost 6 years and haven't had a problem.  We believe it was a fox or raccoon that shouldn't have been able to get to them but clearly was.  We've now got baby chicks but will have to make sure the coop is completely safe before they are allowed to move out there.  We also have gotten guineas in the hopes that they can do some tick control!  Both the chicks and the guineas are still inside in a brooder. 

Last, but not least, Rosie is just living her best life here.  It's pouring rain here and currently 3:15 in the afternoon and she has not yet felt the need to venture downstairs and is still curled up comfy and cozy.