Saturday Mini Adventures

I can't believe it -- I slept until 10:15 a.m.! Obviously, I was tired.  But I was only a little late to see the Victorian Dancers on the grounds of the Strong House (Amherst Historical Society). 

If you go there to visit the house, don't do what I did.  I brushed up against the lamp post and noticed something was buzzing me while I was getting my camera out.  A helpful woman told me to move because there was a wasp's nest in the lamp and they were really swarming around.  You betcha!

Here's Larry, who writes Only in the Republic of Amherst blog.  He gets lots of good shots with his drone too, but this was not drone appropriate.

That field stone is the side of the Jones Library.

After watching the dancing for a while, Lisa and I went to the Farmers' Market. I bought some tomato starter plants and some lettuce to eat. Then I bought some spring rolls for lunch.

After she worked, Cyndi bought some haddock and I gave a little cooking lesson. I had suggested shrimp for an appetizer, but she got mussels -- another favorite of mine!

First you cut the haddock, then bread it with panko crumbs. Put it in the oven to bake with a little lemon and butter..

 Meanwhile cook the asparagus in the microwave.

Make a nice plate.

And !voila! yummy food.

And a happy Cyndi who thought she couldn't cook but who has just made a whole dinner from appetizers to finish.  (She didn't make the chocolate gelato, but she did well to choose it!)

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I'll let you know how tomorrow goes. We're going to look at open houses because Cyndi is thinking of buying a house.  Fun, fun, fun!

Animals, Animals, Animals

So after the drum factory, we went down the road a bit to an ice cream shop with animals. Personally, I couldn't stand the barnyard smell, so I went inside.  Cyndi took these pictures.

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And My Heart Beats Like a Drum

Yup, they have been in business since 1854, making drums for the Civil War (Northern side).

We entered their office entrance.

Checking in, Cyndi had reserved and paid in advance.

A peek at the factory floor; toy drums in progress stacked in the middle

Noble Cooley was one of the first Disney licensees. This is upstairs where the talk and exhibits were.

Various items from private collections were on display upstairs.

Drums and barrels of he past

Part of the Dane collection

Fraggle Rock was a favorite of my girls.

Muppet Babies

Picking up a piece of razor thin metal

Embossing machine

Feed the notched, painted metal into the embossing machine to get raised pattern in the ovals.

Bring it over to the bending machine

His mother could make 30 dozen drums in a day.

Squishing machine rolls down the razor sharp edges so nobody bleeds out!

Puttin' on the struts.

Done drum! These drums are destined for Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.  Mostly, however, the factory makes high end musicians' drums.  They begin by cutting the wood on their land, making veneer and taking it from there.

From their web site:  The Noble & Cooley SS Maple Classic

 Snare Drum is an industry legend. It is the stage and 

studio standard, and few professional drummers don't

 own at least one of these remarkable instruments. 

The SS Maple Classic was Noble & Cooley's initial 

offering in the professional drum arena, and served to 

establish our reputation as a manufacturer of "The 

World's Best Drums."

As we left, Cathy on the left and Cyndi on the right, we decided we needed a picture with Old Glory outside of the factory (to the right of the Office door).