I turned in my keys at the B&B that I worked at. I went in to work in the morning, but the owner said he tried to call to tell me not to come in. I gave him the keys and walked home.

With my gf I went to Daily Bread Bakery and just missed lunch, which was served till 3 pm. Still we got some pastries and walked around town.

There was a mini market that we discovered all too late, since this is our last week here in the Berkshires. It had all the essentials and fresh lunch.

We walked over to Red Lion's Inn for lunch. In the Red Lion Den we had the day's special - meatloaf and potatoes. Apple pie with vanilla ice cream was for dessert. The place seemed pretty sweet and it was a great value for casual dining. The Inn also offered more elegant dining, and more expensive options, upstairs.

We went back home and worked on the shutters. Then we got ready to go see a movie. This weekend definitely feels like a vacation and we've been relaxing for a few days.

In Hudson, NY we went to see a showing of Girl Who Played With Fire. It was a dark thriller. Intriguing and intense.

I love how author's build characters. I think of people that could exist, and my imagination carries me away. At the end of the daydream I realize that I created a character that a story could be built around. Do author's typically build them in this way?

We went to Catherine's Chocolates today. Yummy!

We were home alone all day and I defragmented my laptop for the first time. It took 5 hours.

I have work in the morning at the B&B.

Life is great with all the extra time I get to spend with my gf.

Today we both worked on the shutters after sleeping in. She made an awesome eggs-with-veggies breakfast. After a while we took a break, something she was never allowed working on the farm, and we went for a walk. We ended up hiking up the mountain behind the house, all the way up to the top. We discovered Laura's Tower, which had a view of the entire town.

When we came back home the guinea hen started attacking me, probably because I had picked it up earlier and put it near the house so that it wouldn't follow us into the woods. The bird loves following people. Anyway, it's lucky that it is a pet, and that my gf loves him.

Since the hostess wasn't planning on cooking dinner we went into Great Barrington, downtown, and did some groceries at the Co-Op. Then we had the most delicious pizza at Babba Louie's. They specialize in "wood-fired organic sourdough pizza, and the one we had was called Hannah Jo. The toppings: fresh mozzarella, ricotta, red onions, shrimp, pineapple, prosciutto, green chili sauce, and dried coconut. We switched out the prosciutto for garlic sausage and it was amazing.

We laughed, ate and had a wonderful couple-y time. Now that she has more energy it feels great to be out at night with her. We had a beer and thumb wrestled at the table. We watched a fly get drunk off of some of the beer in the cup. We laughed as we teased each other and people watched.

After dinner we got into the apartment building upstairs from the businesses. We climbed the outside stairs, once we got through the fire escape door, and hung out on the roof. There was an almost-full moon in the sky and it was a beautiful night.

At Price Chopper we bought brownies and milk, and ended the evening by watching a show together on her laptop.

In celebration of my gf's new found freedom, we didn't work at all today.

There was a thunderstorm and we made zucchini pancakes for a late breakfast.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/zucchini-pancakes-recipe/index.html

We tried them with everything from maple syrup (the strangest combo) to jelly, yogurt, butter, and jam.

For linner (lunch and dinner) we went to Kripalu.

http://www.kripalu.org/

It's a yoga and meditation center on a huge piece of beautiful property with views of a lake, hills and mountains. They have a dinner buffet with tons of healthy delicious foods.

Today it was back to the shutters for me. I scraped old paint off in preparation for the primer. There are 12 more shutters to repaint after this set of 4 to complete the second floor.

I thought I should post some pictures of these shutters I've been talking about. Here is one panel as it is right after being taken off the wall:

Here is what it looks like after all the peeling sections are scraped off:

These are the tools I use:

And since I bought a camera for the NY trip, I will be happy to post pictures of the previous painting assignments and the wood splitting assignments. Just to get a taste of my job.

An update on my posts: they may come later in the night, but with good news. My gf left her farm slave labor, so she'll be home working with me. We get to stay up later! Tomorrow will be the first day of that. Since she won't be exhausted anymore, I might be reporting on fun activities in Massachusetts.

People around here say things very differently.

For example, when I first came I was told to go down what sounded like "Iceland Road." I repeated "Iceland" and they said yes, that is what it's called. When I see the street sign, it is actually "Ice Glen Road."

Today I discovered the entrance to the hiking trail leading to what I thought was "Lars Tower." But of course, it was not named this. It is called "Laura's Tower."

Around 7 pm there was a storm passing over our area. The thunder boomed and echoed in the valley between the mountains. Lightning cracked. The dog came to stay with us in the bathroom. I realized how hairy and soft he actually is as he quietly curled up on our feet.

After our dinner of soup, scrambled eggs with veggies, and curried cubed potatoes (okay, it tastes awesome despite it sounding convoluted) we made a late night trip to Price Chopper for some cookies: ginger snap and chocolate chip.

Since I was gone for the weekend, I will have an extensive post about the trip to Queens in addition to today's daily post.