8th Annual Currier and Ives Cookie Tour

Cookie tours are a delightful cross between trick-or-treating (without going through the trouble of dressing in a costume) and the thrill of house hunting (without the impending mortgage payment).

You get to tour the inside of an inn, bed and breakfast, store, library or historical society with your friends, see enchanting Christmas decorations and ideas for your home – AND you get a cookie treat (and a recipe card)! It doesn’t get any better than this.

The Monadnock Region’s Currier & Ives Cookie Tour – held this year on December 8, 2012 from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. -- takes you on a 13-stop tour through the quintessentially New England towns of Fitzwilliam, Jaffrey, Rindge, Troy, Marlborough, Peterborough and Swanzey. Tickets are $10; a portion of this year's proceeds will be donated to the Santa's House of Jaffrey, which provides toys to local children in need.

Tour Stops include:
Little River Bed & Breakfast, Peterborough*
Paper & Roses, Peterborough
Anytime Apparel, Peterborough
The Woodbound Inn, Rindge*
Jaffrey Public Library (Santa’s House), Jaffrey
The Monadnock Inn, Jaffrey*
The Inn at East Hill Farm, Troy*
Common Collections, Troy
The Fitzwilliam Historical Society, Fitzwilliam
The Troy Historical Society, Troy*
Inn of the Tartan Fox, Swanzey
Swanzey Historical Society, Swanzey
Unbridled Chocolates, Marlborough

*Tickets can be purchased at these locations from November 26 through the day of the tour. Cash or check only.

A tour map will be printed on your ticket. You can begin the tour at any location. The average time between locations is about a 10 minute drive. Make sure you bring a cookie tin or container to store your cookies.

So pack up your friends, your sense of adventure, and have a great time touring great local establishments and tasting delicious homemade cookies!  Turn your cookie tour into an overnight or weekend getaway by staying at a local B&B or inn.

En Plein Air: Art in the Great Outdoors

“En plein air” is a French term that translates to “in the open air.” In the art world, the expression is used to describe artists who take their canvases, brushes, paints and create their art outside, in the natural light.

Much like creating art “en plein air” is an exceptional way to capture nature’s beauty on canvas, viewing art in the great outdoors – in the natural light -- is quite a different experience than viewing artwork in an indoor gallery.

In the Monadnock Region, the biggest outdoor art exhibit is “Art in the Park,” which takes place at the Ashuelot Park on West Street in Keene every Labor Day weekend. This year’s 54th Annual Art in the Park, which is run by the Monadnock Area Artists Association falls on September 1-2, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

More than 80 artists from around New England are represented and will exhibit and sell their work; there is also an area for students from the region’s two high schools to exhibit their artwork. There is also a raffle to fund art scholarships.

For more information visit Monadnock Area Artists for more information.

Once Art in the Park is over you can get your local artist fix in a few more weekends of art events this fall.

These two events are studio tours that take you right into an artists’ working environment:

September 15-16: The 7th Annual Hillsborough Open Studio Tour. This take you to artists’ studios within a 20 mile radius of downtown Hillsborough.

October 6-7 (Columbus Day Weekend):

17th Annual Monadnock Open Studio Art Tour: This tour travels through the towns surrounding Mt. Monadnock: Chesham, Dublin, Hancock, Harrisville, Jaffrey, Marlborough, Peterborough and Sharon.

Fall Foliage Art Studio Tour: Another wonderful tour that takes you through the Monadnock region including the towns of New Ipswich, Rindge, Swanzey, Spofford, Keene, Nelson, Stoddard and Antrim.

28th Annual NH Wool Arts Tour: The tour features fiber artists who work in wool from local sheep and alpacas, and farms that sell yarn and wool.  This event is fun for the whole family and is great for people who enjoy the fiber arts or would simply like to meet the animals, enjoy the fall colors and visit some farms.

November 3 & 4:

Keene Art Tour. A self-guided art studio tour featuring 19 artists in 13 studios in Keene, New Hampshire.  Featuring painting, pottery, furniture, jewelry, drawing, sculpture and more.  Free and open to the public. Pick up your brochure and map at our headquarters, Creative Encounters at 18 Main Street in Keene.

Secret Gardens

For a gardener, there is something enticing about a “secret garden” … those home gardens that you might catch a small but inviting glimpse of an arbor, the turn of stone path, a flower bed alive with color.   For us avid gardeners, it takes every ounce of restraint not to edge in and take a closer peek.

The best way to indulge the voyeuristic gardener in us – and to get new ideas for your own garden – is to go on a garden tour. The most popular garden tour in the Monadnock Region is the annual Secret Gardens of Keene.

The Secret Gardens of Keene tour, hosted by the Cheshire Housing Trust, is held this year (rain or shine) on June 23 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The tour is actually a successful fundraiser for the nonprofit organization to support its mission to provide affordable housing for moderate- to low-income families (the Cheshire Housing Trust runs 63 affordable apartments or rooms in Keene, Marlborough and Hinsdale).

Each year the tour features new gardens throughout Keene – from traditional landscapes to more eclectic gardening styles. Tickets can be purchased in advance for $12 each at various locations throughout the region, or purchased at the day of the tour for $15 at Ashuelot River Park (273 West Street in Keene).

Once the Secret Gardens of Keene tour day is over, make sure you mark your calendar for The Garden Conservancy’s “Open Days” which will be held twice this year in the Monadnock Region.

The Garden Conservancy’s Monadnock Region Open Days:

• June 30, 2012, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. A tour of four exquisite private family gardens in Peterborough, Harrisville and Nelson. 
• July 1, 2012, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tour includes gardens in Walpole, Alstead Center and nearby Wilmington, Vt.

Here are some tips for attending a garden tour:

• Stay on the paths. Don’t ever wander into a garden bed.
• Never take any seeds, seedlings or plants without permission.
• Don’t stop in the middle of the pathway – if you want to linger to admire a plant or take photographs let other visitors pass you.
• Don’t go into any roped off areas for any reason.
• Carpool to each location with friends in order to reduce traffic and pollution.
• Thank the host at each stop – it is a lot of work getting a garden ready to be viewed by the general public.

The best way to enjoy a garden tour is with your family or a group of friends. If you are from outside the Monadnock Region, book an overnight stay at a B&B or inn to get an early jump on the tour; and take a break during the middle of the day with lunch at one of the many Monadnock Region’s restaurants.