Marlborough

The winter skies of March are starting to bring me down. Both times this week when I traveled to the rural town of Marlborough, it was spitting snow. While snow-covered trees and roads can make for some peaceful feeling photos, the grey skies leave me longing for spring. But…March does herald the beginning of maple syrup season in NH and I found plenty of evidence as I traveled through Marlborough…

I discovered there are quite a few methods of sap collecting. What always comes to my mind first are the galvanized pails hanging from the trunks of all the sugar maples. That is probably fine for a small operation, but with the demand for quality syrup on the rise, more often than not, sap lines (plastic tubing) are strung from tree to tree and the sap is collected in a central container. I spent some time with George Iselin at Earth Haven Farm, he uses a fine pair of horses to get from one central container to the next. He was kind enough to let me tag along…

Earth Haven Farm is also home to Mary Iselin, a fine arts painter. She showed me around her studio and also introduced me to some of her models. Her paintings are gorgeous and her models are four-legged and darn cute…

I’d like to thank George and Mary for giving me the opportunity to photograph at their farm and for the warm welcome I received. They also invited me back anytime I was in the area. On the homepage of TouringNH.com, you will find a link titled, Revisited. When I return to an area that I have already toured, I will post a link on the revisited page. There are other artists in Marlborough as well…

I didn’t get a chance to meet this talented carver, but I did enjoy his road front works! Artistry comes in many forms and one of my favorite varieties is chocolate…

On the weekends, you can stop and have brunch at Unbridled Chocolates. I had a great chat with owner, Alan Crofut, and the blintze that he made for my breakfast (cheese, strawberry and chocolate) was to die for! My husband had eggs, homefries and beef sausage, judging by how clean the plate was when he was done, it must have been pretty darn good too!  After satisfying our hunger, We continued on our way, going down some of the less traveled roads…

There are so many cool barns in Marlborough…

The snowy, cloudy skies didn’t stop me from finding some great views…

Not all of the animals I saw in Marlborough were domesticated…

These turkeys had quite the system. The one in the bush was knocking the berries off and the ones on the ground were having a feast.

I had to go back to Marlborough one more time for this post. It was the first sunny day we’ve had in quite a while, so I took advantage of that and went to Minnewawa Brook to see the falls…

If rural beauty inspires you, head to Marlborough for the day!

To learn more about Marlborough visit the town’s website or the state’s website

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Click any pin on the map to see what I found there…