November Updates :)

Hello everyone!  You may have noticed that I've been kind of hibernating this month.  This was due in part to the cooler weather and in part to my participation in Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month), in which people all over the country try to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.  It's not necessarily the best way to write something of quality, but it is a motivating way to get back into writing after a long hiatus.  And I am happy to announce that I officially claimed my win today!

I also joined the East Hampton Writers Guild and we had our first meeting last week.  They seem like a good group of people, and I'm excited to get to know them better.  We're having our next couple meetings here at the Bevin House, which should be fun.  It's such a great house, with so much history and character--the perfect setting for deep talks about life and literature.

Things at the inn have been quiet, but productive.  We are sold out for the Santa Experience and the Murder Mystery Evening, and we have started decorating for Christmas.  Jess and I went to a wreath making party, where I got to meet Dean's cool sister, have some yummy food, and make my very first wreath!

Kept writing more and more over the following days, and before I knew it, I was hitting my 5,000 word benchmarks like crazy!  I also had a visit from a member of the EH Writers Guild, my new friend, Maureen.  I gave her a tour of the Bevin House and we had such a nice visit. 

The next few days were slow going--getting the lights on the tree, getting the rest of the decorations out of the barn.  Little by little it's coming together, but not fast enough--the Santa Experience is Sunday!  Fortunately, we have a special visitor coming--my MOM!  She is a pro at decorating, and I'm so excited to have her help.  Plus, I have really missed her, and it will be great to spend some time together.  Lots of fun things planned...

 

Reading, Writing, and not-so-much Wandering...

Hello, everyone!  I just realized it's been over a week since my last post, so I thought I'd update anyone who cares on what's been going on.  It's been chilly lately, so I haven't been out exploring as much as I normally would. 

Guest-wise things have been quiet here at the Bevin House, though I've still been giving tours, having meetings about upcoming events, and doing lots of little cleaning & organizing projects. 

I had to chuck most of our plants and pumpkins, because we had a hard frost a few days ago and everything died :(  But my mom is officially coming for a visit right after Thanksgiving, and I can't think of anyone more talented to help with the Christmas decorations!

We have 2 big events coming up that I'm looking forward to...

 

We also have a Mahjong Club coming for breakfast next month, and possibly a book club (I'm giving them a tour tonight).  So things are moving right along...

I've also been spending time (almost) every day writing, which is huge for me because I haven't written regularly since I finished my first screenplay this spring.  I'm doing a novel adaptation based on a short story I wrote while at SVU.  It's called "The Suspension of William Worthington."  Here's my mock book-cover, because I'm a super nerd...

 I'm currently behind my quota, but I'm almost at 25,000 words (the goal is 50,000), which is exciting.  I'm also joining a local writing group-- The East Hampton Writers Guild, and our first meeting is next week.  It'll be nice to meet some local writers and get a little more involved with the town.  To be honest, lately my socializing consists of 3 places--the Bevin House, the library, and the grocery store.  Don't get me wrong, I like those places... but I am feeling a little isolated lately.

I'm also reading again.  I set aside Uncle Tom's Cabin because for the life of me, I could not get excited about reading it.  So now I'm reading a book that I actually enjoy reading...

It's perfect timing, because of my recent trip to the Emily Dickinson Museum & my recent viewing of "A Quiet Passion," a film about Emily Dickinson staring Cynthia Nixon.  Not gonna lie, parts of it are a little painful, but on the whole it's pretty well researched and seems true to life.  The book however, is not a biography, as I initially thought, but a novel, written as if from the secret mind of Emily herself, and in a language that's quick, electric, and very inspiring for my current project.

Anyway, now the tagline of my blog "an Innkeepers adventures as she reads, writes, and wanders her way through New England" is a little more honest :) 

Litchfield Part 2

We had a lovely couple here for 4 days (they were in town visiting their daughter, who is a student at Wesleyan).  I wanted their last breakfast to be special, so I made Eggs in a Nest and my sister's famous Braided Blueberry & Cream Cheese Pastry.  It was a hit!

Took Dean to the airport and from there I drove back up to the Litchfield area to do some more exploring.  First stop, Topsmeade State Park...

It was beautiful, but about 20 degrees colder than East Hampton and I was not prepared for it, so I didn't stay too long.

From there I went to Washington Memorial State Park, where there is a cool little museum about the local history and ecosystem.

(This is a picture of a picture, btw, not an actual landscape, it's the view from another nearby spot called Apple Hill... next time.)

I learned about taxidermy (which I didn't know I was interested in).

And here's a piece of bone that looks like Darth Vader, because... why not?

Probably my favorite exhibit was this night scene where you look for local critters.  I found all of them except the mouse, which must be freaking invisible.

The best was this guy, who was clearly up to no good...

I mean, look at that face and those curly fingers...

Look at the sneakiness...

Also, who knew Beaver dams were so thick?  I didn't...

Took another hike through a pretty area nearby...

It was all fun and games until I took this crazy long hike on the marshland boardwalk...

It just went on and on and on...

I found this pretty spot, which I have officially named The Blushing Woods.

And this spot, which I named The Witching Tree.

I was getting cold, tired, hungry, and over it by this point, and I wasn't especially confident about how to get back to the car.  I hoped that the trail made a complete loop, but I wasn't sure.  Luckily, about a half hour later I passed a nice guy on a bike, and he informed me the little bridge I'd seen at the beginning was just around the bend.  Thank goodness.

Got home, found this sweet note from the guests, and Jess and I made a yummy dinner and watched "This is Us."

I'm a little behind in my Nanowrimo project, but I'm still making progress.  Onward!

Litchfield Part 1

The other day I decided to drive back up to Ender's Falls, to see what the leaves were up to.  I've heard the foliage is not what it should be this year, but I still thought it was quite pretty.  I also saw a beautiful red fox while hiking :)

From there I decided to head over to Litchfield, because I didn't get a proper look at it when I was there with my sisters (b/c it was already dark and they were being tired, whiny babies :)

Saville Dam was looking particularly mysterious and enchanting...

The Litchfield Hills area of Connecticut (in the Northwest corner) is known for being quite beautiful, and I agree.  In fact, it wasn't long before I decided to use it as the setting of my Nanowrimo work in progress!  I'm finding lots of inspiration on my adventures and I'm excited to keep exploring.

 

Went through the Litchfield Historical Society Museum...

And into a few charming little shops...

And then I went to the other Historical Society Museum, at the Tapping Reeve House, which was way cool.  (and Free, which is my favorite thing).

More Litchfield adventures to come...