Frances, the Shaker

Some parents drag their kids to Civil War battlefields. Some kids get dragged through museums. Frances Elliott Upton gets to see Shaker villages. Yes, Mark and I have an interest in all things Shaker, so we headed to very Western Massachusetts to see the Hancock Shaker Village, which at its largest housed 300 to 400 earnest souls. Frances, as usual, took everything in good-naturedly.



The grounds were beautiful, but their round barn is the Hancock Shaker Village's particular claim to fame. It housed a manure trough underground, a horse and cow stable on the ground floor and a hay loft on the second floor.

Inside the round barn.

There were also plenty of live animals to talk to.

Sir, we're practicing saying "Baaa," but no luck so far. She's far more versed at something that sounds like "Dah-di." I'm sure "Grandfather Sir" is right around the corner.

I believe this was the kitchen in the basement of the living quarters. I liked the irregular marble floor. I'm making notes just in case Mark lets me have some say in the design of our future house. A girl can dream.

Workshops, divided east and west so men and women wouldn't have to interact.

The ice house. Ice was gathered from frozen lakes and stored upstairs on slatted floors. Cold air and water preserved food downstairs.

The school house. The Shakers may have been celibate, but they reared many children, both from their lives before joining the Brethren and foster children in hopes of swelling their ranks. Only about 10 percent of the foster children became Shakers.

I think the docent in the school house was a little bored. As soon as we came through the door, she wanted to know Frances's name so she could spell it out. We were completely pleased with her, of course.

The worship house, where the Shakers earned their name, shaking with the holy spirit.

Frances appreciated all the room to move around.

Then it was back in the car for the two hour trip home. Frances slept the whole way, and still was in bed by 8 o'clock. What a good baby.

More Maine

In no particular order, some more Maine shots.

We lounged on the green in Bar Harbor, taking in the harbor view.


We took the western trail around Jordan's Pond. This board walk went on and on and we thought it was particularly magical. When we explained that to a fellow walker we passed on the way she literally laughed at us. Oh, well. Some people see magic, others see a twisted ankle. You can't please everyone all of the time.




Coming down Beech Hill. You can't see Frances because she's on Mark's back. Mark was quite the trooper, carrying Frances around.



On top of Beech Hill. We didn't have Sir with us to give us the usual talk naming each mountain, cove and island, so we recruited this very willing stranger. Plus, his dog cleaned all the Graham Cracker off Frances's face.

Our lobster dinner. No points for originality, I know, but I'll take "yummy" over "original" any day.

Beka, conquering that waves.

We sailed and saw a seal and a porpoise that day. Not bad.

Mark, contemplating the waves.

Frances, taking it all in.

Nine Months of Bubby Frances!

These are sort of funny pictures, but we spent all of Frances's nine month birthday in the car, so some car shots seemed appropriate.

• Firsts: first top tooth (unfortunately, it came in while Frances had her cold; sad baby) and first successful attempts at forward motion (we've got a video of it we'll get up here eventually)
• Favorite food: not a big fan of eating right now. Some days I feel like giving up on trying to get her to eat solids for the sake of my sanity.
• Frequent comment: "He's so adorable!" Oh, well. They're half right.
• Favorite activity: Still a big fan of "walking" while holding on to our fingers, except now she really provides a lot of the forward motion herself. And she's figured out she can hold on to chairs and couches while standing. Very impressed with herself.

Last night at camp

Yes, dear Haywards, it is more photos of The Most Photographed Tree, but really we were happy for a good sunset. We hadn't had one all week. Beka and Dan, you have to come back for hors d'oeuvres under a Maine sunset. It may be WASPy, but is that really such a bad thing?

Thank you, Mimi and Sir, for a really wonderful week. It made our summer.

Back at the O.K. Corral

Getting all the day's sunscreen off Frances took a special scrub down.


Any excuse for a bath photo. Can you see her two bottom teeth? One of her top teeth came in over the week, as well.

Heaven

Friday morning was much more promising. As soon as Frances got up, we headed out for a picnic.



You'll notice she's still in her pajamas here.


We motored over to a nearby island and found a deserted beach. The water was about as warm as that water gets. Frances thought it was a hoot.

The beach was very sunny, so while Mark grilled us some burgers, Frances and I headed into the woods to take advantage of the shade. She found a mussel shell which intrigued her very much. Perhaps it was salty?

Back on the beach, Frances found our bag of chips, but she actually stayed with the mussel shell much longer.

"Hmm, what is this specimen?" she says, inquisitively.

The water was very warm and the beach was very secluded...

It was a very full, very wonderful day. Frances fell asleep almost as soon as we were back on the boat. A day to remember!

And then the rain came...

...well, not so much the rain as the fog. Here's the view from the dock:


Frances was still feeling under the weather, so we hung around the house in the morning.

By the afternoon, we were feeling a little stir-crazy, so despite some menacing weather, we headed over to Witch Hole Pond to do some walking. The carriage road we walked on meanders between ponds and beavers were much in evidence.

Frances wasn't sure why she was being asked to stand next to a swamp, but she smiled through her confusion. She's a trooper.