Buoy Beach

In NH for a quick visit and some trick or treating with the Exeter nephews. Before they got home from school yesterday Sarah and I drove to North Hampton for seafood chowder at Petey's. After 20+ years in NYC I consider myself a New Yorker. But seriously folks, Manhattan chowder CAN NOT hold a candle to New England Style! And Petey's makes some of the best. Chunks of haddock, scallops, and shrimp, with a thin film of real butter.

After lunch we stopped to forage sumac berries; I was pleasantly surprised to find they had so much lemony zing this late in the season. Then we stopped at "the cranky man" (who isn't at ALL cranky...she has GOT to find something else to call him) and bought raspberries, blackberries, garlic, and apples.

Next Sarah took me to buoy beach, so called because that's where she's found most of the dozen (+/-) buoys that decorate her back fence. Sure enough, we found a green and white buoy on the rocks, and a little further down, a large apple tree laden with fruit. The apples were tart and delicious, and even though I didn't NEED them, I felt it was my duty as a forager to at least fill my pockets. I'm going to do something special with these apples...something worthy of their provenance.

All afternoon I kept thinking how beautiful everything was, how great the sea air smelled, how bright the colors were. I may consider myself a New Yorker, but who am I kidding? My heart is right here in New Hampshire.