Is it a kitty seat or a people seat?

This past weekend we got a new bench for storage and extra seating at our dining room table. I'm not sure who likes it more, us or the cats...

And he's back in the woods...

Jason left Monday for another hiking trip in New Hampshire with Townes, and they will be hiking over 20 miles of the Appalachian Trail this week.

Recent pie baking

Museum of Science Signature Event, "The Science Behind"

Friday night we attended a fun event at the Museum of Science, thanks to free tickets from my employer. Jason and I got an early view of the new Harry Potter exhibit which is full of props from the movie. We got sorted by The Sorting Hat, saw the Goblet of Fire, Hagrid's hut, the head of the Hungarian Horntail, Buckbeak, one of the spiders from The Forbidden Forest, and loads more. It was really cool to see all of these items up close, and also to have a night out all dressed up. You can see Jason above in front of the knight Ron rides during the game of wizard's chess in the first movie.

What we've been up to...

Last weekend we went hiking and camping with some friends in the New Hampshire White Mountains. We hiked in 4.5 miles, slept at the Imp Shelter off the Appalachian Trail, then hiked about two miles to the top of Mt. Moriah, then another 4.5 miles down. As you can see, Day 2 of the trip treated us to our first New England snow as we reached the top of the mountain! (Thanks to Mark for passing along these photos. My camera has been acting up lately, so we haven't been using it much recently.)

Last weekend was a pretty grand adventure, but we've also been keeping busy with smaller things like checking out a cranberry bog near Cape Cod, visiting Plymouth and seeing the Plymouth Rock (kind of a letdown), and picking apples at an orchard in New Hampshire. This week we started winterizing the house by covering the windows in plastic. It's made a big difference, and just in time -- we had a bit of snow (that didn't stick) the day after putting up the plastic.

This weekend we're laying low. Friday night we spent in REI taking advantage of their fall sale. On our camping trip I realized that my sleep pad was too short to be useful at this time of year. Luckily REI has a fantastic return policy, so I was able to exchange it for a new one. We also got some new winter gloves, and Jason's going back today to get a zero degree sleeping bag. His 25 degree one was a bit too cold for camping at this time of year. He's planning to go on one last trip next week with Townes (the guy he hiked The Long Trail with) so a new sleeping bag is a must.

Yesterday we made a new recipe: baked ziti in pumpkin sauce with sage breadcrumb topping. It was pretty good and we took it to a potluck at my boss's house. It was fun hanging out with people from work and getting to meet their families. And in about an hour I'll be making another new recipe: almond biscotti. Perfect for having with tea on this rainy snowy, cold day.

Preview of Mt. Moriah Adventure