Monday, October 18, 2021

T Stands for a Day Out with My Daughter

 Hi everyone. Happy Tuesday/T day once again. We'd been having some lovely October weather, but, now autumn has really arrived. Brr. It was chilly today.

For T this week I am going to take you on another little road trip I took a few weeks back, this time with my daughter. Yes, this has been a great early fall for road trips. I love it!

I  met my daughter right over the Vermont border  (New Hampshire and Vermont share a long common border on the west side of New Hampshire) at a park and ride. I wanted to go to the King Arthur Flour  baker's store to stock up on some not so easy to find baking supplies for my fall, winter and holiday baking. My daughter  had a few errands to run also. 

After our morning at the baking store and some lunch. we also decided to visit a national art historic monument, St. Gaudens National Monument, in Cornish, New Hampshire. The house and grounds had been the summer home of Augustus Saint Gaudens. St. Gaudens was a popular and prolific sculptor in the late 1880's and into the very early years of the 1900's.

His works can be found in many places including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY, the Boston Common, in Chicago, Central Park in NY, and  a few places in Washington DC. He also designed some US coins during his lifetime.  I even discovered on Wikipedia he has a statue in Dublin, Ireland, as he was born in that country.

This area is now owned and operated by the United Sates National Park Service.


Here we are in a selfie.

It's been many years since I visited this park. There are several original sculptures and copies of some of St. Gaudens' sculptures on the grounds.  He was a man of his time, and the art is very classical. Several of the sculptures have to do with events or people from the American Civil War (1860-1865), which occurred when St. Gaudens was a young man.

One of the most "wow" places on the grounds is this courtyard.





This frog wasn't too impressed with the art, but he loved the pool.



It was a grey day, and the gold leaf really popped.

The first floor of St. Gauden's home was open for a few hours while we visited. He used this as his summer home until the last few years of his life, when he moved here permanently. After he died, his wife (interestingly named Augusta) went back to using it as a summer home. We went and checked it out.

It was a pretty classic New England colonial home, one of my favorite kinds.  And it is not a very big home either, even though these outside photos make it look that way.  There was 4 rooms on the first floor, the with kitchen expanded off the side of the house.



Because St. Gaudens' wife and son made this home into a park, (which was then later picked up by the US National Park Service), all the furnishing are original to the family.





In this next photo dinner is served for us. The wine is already poured. 


This is my ticket for T this week over at Bleubeard's and Elizabeth's blog.


Let me end this post with a few pretty outside views.







Sadly, there was some antisemitic vandalism in the park recently (since I visited) and some of the monuments were spray painted. First of all, it is sad that people are still antisemitic in this day and age. Actually more than sad.  Who you are should make you more interesting if you respect others. Second of all, why ruin something that is there for anyone to enjoy?  I'm not sure what the spray painters hoped to accomplish, but I hope if they are caught they are charged with the cost of getting the monuments cleaned up. They say that it will expensive to do that.

Next week for T, I will show you more of the grounds and sculptures, pre-vandalism.  You can read about the sculptor St. Gaudens here: St. Gaudens.

I hope you enjoyed this little visit. Have a wonderful T day and rest of your week.
And as always, thanks for visiting.












 

25 comments:

gluten Free A_Z Blog said...

I really enjoyed looking at all of your stunning and interesting photos. Sounds like a wonderful day out with your daughter. I agree that the COLD is setting in. Going down to the mid 40's tonight.

Linda Kunsman said...

oh what a fantastic day trip! I know how you enjoy going to the King Arthur Flour store and I bet we'll be seeing lots more baked goods to have us drooling over;)
That home sure does look quite large despite what you say about the actual size. I absolutely love it- especially the interior designed rooms- that oven/stove - wow!! The sculptures are beautiful .So sad that some folk have nothing better in their hearts than to destroy...
looking forward to next post showing more of this delightful place. Happy T day!

Mae Travels said...

David McCullough's The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris (published 2011) has quite a bit about St. Gaudens’ time in Paris when he had skilled workers to realize his monumental statues. I’d love to see the house as you described it! Thanks for the great tour.

best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com

kathyinozarks said...

Well my most favorite photo was of that awesome wood cook stove-that is something I had always wanted to have and learn how to bake in.
what a lovely historic grounds to visit and so happy it is now a national park as well (so awful about the vandalism, I don't understand the hatred, and cancel culture going on in our society today
thank you so much for sharing this trip with us-we really do not get out and go anywhere these days-so I travel through travel posts-I really enjoyed this one. and that would be just so awesome to visit King Arthur-I have been purchasing their products for a very long time
Happy T wishes Kathy

Kate Yetter said...

I loved seeing the pictures of your visit to the historic garden and house. That courtyard is stunning! I love a pond with sculptures and water lilies. That is great that all the furnishings are original to the family. Yes, it is sad that people feel the need to deface other's property, especially a historical site.
Looks like you had a great day with your daughter!
Happy Tea Day,
Kate

Carola Bartz said...

How wonderful to spend a day with your daughter! I miss those days - well, I miss my daughter. The house looks beautiful and so does the garden. How sad that some people still have to cling to their antisemitic attitudes and ruin it for everybody. I simply don't get that, but it seems that behavior like that is getting worse and not better. Shameful.

Sharon Madson said...

Lovely home and gardens, and great photos! The vandalism does make me sad. We have had vandalism in our city to the bathrooms in parks. I just don't understand it. They are hurting themselves destroying things that help them and other people enjoy the parks. Love the selfie of you and your daughter. Sounds like a great day. Happy T Day.

Angie's Recipes said...

Those photos are so gorgeous. And it looks like that you two beautiful ladies had a great time. Thanks for sharing with us!

Iris Flavia said...

What a fun pic of you two! Sweet!
The courtyard is "wow" indeed. To sit on that bench, read a book and occasionally get lost enjoying the view... must be bliss.
King Frogs say hi.
The stove sure is impressive. I would never brave up working that!
Love the golden man!
Yes. those stupid, antisemitic guys are back here, too. But... it´s Muslims, not Germans, crazy (and still so dumb).

Looking forward to the next visit, happy T-Day!

Valerie-Jael said...

What a fabulous place you visited with your daughter, love the photos. I will come back later and look at them again! Happy T Day, hugs, Valerie

Lisca said...

How awful that the place was vandalised! It is so beautiful. I don't understand anti semitism and never will. I must read up on it as I don't know where it comes from.
That property is beautiful. Complete with frog and 'Monet' pond. I liked the tortoise water feature of course.
The house is lovely. I liked the fact we saw the original furniture. The dining room is so cozy. I would just like to sit down to a nice dinner. And that stove is to die for!
I can see you had a great day out with your daughter.
Happy T-Day,
Hugs,
Lisca

nwilliams6 said...

Great post, Erika. Love seeing the picure of you and your daughter!

The gardens and home are so pretty. Some lovely stuff and so glad someone has kept it up so people can see this history. I am with you, different is good not bad and hate of any kind is so evil and distructive and wrong. Urgh. Wish they had cameras and could prosecute.

Sounds like a wonderful day!

Happy T-day and have a great week!

CJ Kennedy said...

I've been wanting to get to St. Gaudens. He carved the lions at the entrance to the McKim building at the Boston Public Library. Supposedly, my great uncle Manny worked on the lions, too. I was hoping to see if there were records from the early 1900s of who St. Gauden outsourced the work. Gorgeous home and grounds. The turtle found reminds me of the one at Tower Hill Botanic Garden. Thanks for the tour. Happy T Day

J said...

Gorgeous photos and how lovely to have a day out with your daughter too .
Graffiti is awful anyway but not when it’s against others, very sad people, there’s a lot of graffiti here but usually just names nothing more but it still looks a mess
Lovely house, I love that huge stove and lovely grounds too
Happy T Day
Jan

Divers and Sundry said...

What a wonderful outing! It must be nice to live within an easy drive of such places.

I'm sorry the evil encroached on such a peaceful place. It's disgusting that people feel more enabled to express these views these days. I know who I blame :(

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Thank you and your daughter for taking us to St. Gaudens National Monument. The grounds are beautiful, at least pre-attack. I also can't understand people, either. I hope the culprits not only have to pay for the restoration, but they also have to spend time in jail for a hate crime. This was a beautiful place and your photos were lovely. I enjoyed seeing the dining room with the wine, but that cook stove in the kitchen really caught my eye. Thanks for sharing St. Gaudens National Monument with us for T this Tuesday, dear Erika.

David M. Gascoigne, said...

It is good to visit these historical places to ensure that they continue to operate for others to enjoy. As for antisemitism it s a scourge that never seems to go away, often committed by those who have never even met a Jew, and unless they were told wouldn't know anyway. I would hope that their punishment, if caught, would entail more than the cost of restoring the damaged items, and would include a mandatory period of sensitivity training. For at least some, that might do some good.

DVArtist said...

Wow what a fabulous day trip. The photos are beautiful and shows so much of your day. Thank you for sharing with us.

Spyder said...

What a fabulous place to visit and what super photos too! I live in Hampshire too, so I could say Old Hamshire as it's in England! I'm running very later so I'll just say have a great T for Tuesday and keep on crafting!
(Lyn)

Lowcarb team member said...

What a wonderful day out with your daughter, lovely to spend time together.
I enjoyed your photographs, it looks a very nice place to visit.

Enjoy the rest of the week.

All the best Jan

Jeanie said...

What a wonderful day out and what a gorgeous home and sculptor. I'm very familiar with his name and now must look him up to see why. I know he did something very famous -- -maybe the one of Evelyn Nesbitt? I'm curious now! I love visiting historic homes and seeing how they lived. The antisemitism is terrible -- I'm so sorry to hear that. So wrong.

I'm dying to know what you bought at King Arthur! And what a great way to spend time with your daughter!

Anne (cornucopia) said...

Fantastic place to get to visit. Thanks for sharing your photos. It got a little chilly here in Connecticut this week, too.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

We also visited Saint Gaudens State Park this year, Erika, but on a very warm day so didn’t walk the entire grounds, but what we did see was very impressive. The house was closed for tours during our vidit so it was nice to see the interiors here. Vandalism of any type is terrible and even worse at a historic site. Yes, those responsible should be fully prosecuted and made to pay for restoration.

craftytrog said...

Great photos Erika, looks like a lovely day out with your daughter!

Empire of the Cat said...

looks like a great place to visit Erika, glad you had a good day out with your DD. That house looks lovely, and apple trees is it, outside? The gold statuary is impressive, but I love the lily pond and the frog, he looks quite impressive too, much bigger than mine. Sorry for my lateness, Happy T Day! Elle/EOTC xx