Simple farmstand with wonderful vegetables.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
A trip to Concord
This morning we took a drive to a place called Verrill Farm in Concord. It was a beautiful sunny morning, and it seemed to me that we should try to get their early. Everyone in Massachusetts was on the road today and I wanted to beat the traffic. We got there at 9:30 and had coffee and the most wonderful cranberry scone. We bought beautiful purple carrots and long radishes and fresh corn and lettuce. We thought we were going to buy heirloom tomatoes, but they weren't on display. I think they were saving them for the tomato and corn festival which was to start at noon. They were setting up tents and getting the hotdog stand ready. I didn't want to pay the $8 admission, and I didn't feel like being in a crowd, so some lovely veggies on a beautiful morning suited me just fine.
We drove past the fields of vegetables and sunflowers and into the dark woods of that part of the world. I always imagine what it was like to live there in the 1600s when the early settlers moved in and fought for American independence. The area is beautiful and the fields must look similar. Some of the clapboard houses from the 1600s are still there!
We were home by noon with our bags full of beautiful vegetables and plants for our deck--a really nice Saturday morning!
We had dinner tonight of lettuce with tomatoes and peppers from our own garden and corn from the fields with baked cod. I love simple meals cooked at home.
Have a great weekend!
We drove past the fields of vegetables and sunflowers and into the dark woods of that part of the world. I always imagine what it was like to live there in the 1600s when the early settlers moved in and fought for American independence. The area is beautiful and the fields must look similar. Some of the clapboard houses from the 1600s are still there!
We were home by noon with our bags full of beautiful vegetables and plants for our deck--a really nice Saturday morning!
We had dinner tonight of lettuce with tomatoes and peppers from our own garden and corn from the fields with baked cod. I love simple meals cooked at home.
Have a great weekend!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Just because you can
Tonight I made these earrings. I saw this design on the web, and just had to try it. They are really long, and really fun! I didn't feel like putting up my photo studio to take a picture, so this will have to do. I will take them to work and show them around for fun, and then wear them in New Orleans over Labor Day! Fun fun fun.
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Welcome to Saturday!
I have a bad habit. I get up at 5:30 on Saturdays. I never get up that early when I have to go to work, but for some reason, I wake up and I have so many things I want to do; organize something, knit something, bead something, clean something, pet something....you get the idea.
This morning the temperature is 58 degrees. It is sunny and still and beautiful. No one is up yet except me and the scampering kitties. Oh, and a backyard visitor. Mr. Turkey likes our birdseed. He has been here almost every morning this week. Our resident night time visitor in our backyard is a friendly skunk, who digs a little, skulks around and I think discourages the family of woodchucks under the garage and makes them find a new home. One of the teenager woodchucks was out there yesterday morning, but the whole family seems to have moved on for now. No damage to our garden lately, and...well...here's hoping.
We like our sweet potato vines hanging from a window box on the deck, and our patio tomatoes are turning red. Patio tomatoes placed up on the table are our answer to woodchucks. Take that, Chucky!
Simba and Safari are so happy to have me up and drinking coffee with them that it is hard to stay in bed on such a beautiful morning. Everyone is hungry for a new day!
Have a good one.
This morning the temperature is 58 degrees. It is sunny and still and beautiful. No one is up yet except me and the scampering kitties. Oh, and a backyard visitor. Mr. Turkey likes our birdseed. He has been here almost every morning this week. Our resident night time visitor in our backyard is a friendly skunk, who digs a little, skulks around and I think discourages the family of woodchucks under the garage and makes them find a new home. One of the teenager woodchucks was out there yesterday morning, but the whole family seems to have moved on for now. No damage to our garden lately, and...well...here's hoping.
We like our sweet potato vines hanging from a window box on the deck, and our patio tomatoes are turning red. Patio tomatoes placed up on the table are our answer to woodchucks. Take that, Chucky!
Simba and Safari are so happy to have me up and drinking coffee with them that it is hard to stay in bed on such a beautiful morning. Everyone is hungry for a new day!
Have a good one.
Sunday, August 02, 2009
My Yellow Swallowtail
Three years ago I bought a butterfly bush. Lacking a better place to put it, I planted it in the garden. Without really thinking about it, I could not have chosen a better place. It was a small little plant, and I thought it would take root there, and I may have to move it. Not so. It has grown to be a nice large and happy bush, right outside my kitchen window. Now, what better place to view passing butterflies than right outside the kitchen where your spend time standing at the sink!
Today I was thrilled to see a Yellow Swallowtail butterfly. I have long loved these butterflies, and I don't see very many of them. One time I was sitting outside at our old place in Woburn, and a huge one landed near me and hovered for a few minutes. I thought it was an angel! The second time I saw one was in Kentucky. We were driving down a lonely country road and there were a whole flock of small yellow swallowtails, also on the same road, for reasons only they knew! I was very excited.
The third time I have seen one is today, right outside my kitchen window. These butterflies are not rare, and are not endangered, and most likely all of us have seen them from time to time, but I have seen them only a few times. What a treat to see one so close today!
Have a great day!
Today I was thrilled to see a Yellow Swallowtail butterfly. I have long loved these butterflies, and I don't see very many of them. One time I was sitting outside at our old place in Woburn, and a huge one landed near me and hovered for a few minutes. I thought it was an angel! The second time I saw one was in Kentucky. We were driving down a lonely country road and there were a whole flock of small yellow swallowtails, also on the same road, for reasons only they knew! I was very excited.
The third time I have seen one is today, right outside my kitchen window. These butterflies are not rare, and are not endangered, and most likely all of us have seen them from time to time, but I have seen them only a few times. What a treat to see one so close today!
Have a great day!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Barre, Vermont
I am in the process of choosing a memorial stone for my mother's grave. She died on March 3, 2009 and it is time for me to do this next step. In many ways, learning about granite, and planning this memorial stone has been very comforting to me in the past week. I haven't been planning this for a long time, but it just came to me that it was now time to do something about this. I have found what I want, and I am very happy. If that sounds maudlin, I'm sorry, but creating something that is meant to last forever has its happy moments.
I am going to order a memorial stone from a company called Rock of Ages, which is a big public corporation that is known for quality, durability, history and reputation. I have searched the web, and learned about granite and quarries and it is all really interesting!
Several years ago, I visited the Barre, Vermont quarry that is owned by Rock of Ages, where the granite is quarried. You can take tours, and there are huge beautiful cemeteries nearby where the Italian rock cutters from a hundred years ago practiced their craft on beautiful mausoleums and memorial stones in fantastic array. It is an incredible place. Next month, George and I are going to travel to Barre again, to see the quarry and take a tour and visit the cemeteries again for a weekend. It really truly is a beautiful part of the country...Vermont.
There are many varieties of granite, from very interesting places, and there are different grades, colors, etc., but the granite from Barre, Vermont, which is called Barre Gray, is one of the finest. Here is what they say about it on their website: "Recognized around the world as the finest quality gray granite available, Barre Gray is the ultimate long-lasting choice in any finish. Its unique proportions of quartz and feldspar make it unusually durable, moisture resistant and thermally stable." I am choosing this stone for my mother's marker because it is the finest available. To me, it is not the size in this matter, but the quality that is most comforting.
Many years ago, I spent a lot of time with two of my aunts, my mother's sisters, of which there were six. (My mother died at the age of 99 and was the last survivor of her nine brothers and sisters.) They were very interested in the graves of their husbands, and their family, and spent lots of time each month taking flowers to the graves to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, birthdays, etc. I am not able to go to my mother's grave often because I live so far away, but the least I can do is spend some time designing and purchasing the best memorial marker of it's type.
I have chosen Barre Gray, which is a beautiful medium gray stone. I am going to have this engraved with irises, in memory of my mother's love of her iris garden. She loved her irises and had many kinds and varieties of color and was never happier than we they were all in bloom and she could show them off to her friends and spend time admiring, weeding and dividing them for the next year.
I have talked to the only Rock of Ages dealer in Oklahoma, whose office happens to be across the street from the cemetery where my mother is buried, and he is helping me design and create the memorial with a two dimensional carving of irises. This memorial will be finished in September and George and I plan to take a trip to El Reno to be there to take pictures to share with faraway family. We will invite mother's friends and family who are still there to lunch to celebrate her long life.
If you had talked to me several years ago, I would never have dreamed that the process of choosing a grave marker could be a happy one, or that I would enjoy learning about granite and thinking of color and design of a memorial. Hopefully, it isn't often that we are required to think of buying a memorial, but I've decided to enjoy this process, and to look forward to seeing a beautiful and meaningful memorial stone on my mother's grave.
Have a great day.
I am going to order a memorial stone from a company called Rock of Ages, which is a big public corporation that is known for quality, durability, history and reputation. I have searched the web, and learned about granite and quarries and it is all really interesting!
Several years ago, I visited the Barre, Vermont quarry that is owned by Rock of Ages, where the granite is quarried. You can take tours, and there are huge beautiful cemeteries nearby where the Italian rock cutters from a hundred years ago practiced their craft on beautiful mausoleums and memorial stones in fantastic array. It is an incredible place. Next month, George and I are going to travel to Barre again, to see the quarry and take a tour and visit the cemeteries again for a weekend. It really truly is a beautiful part of the country...Vermont.
There are many varieties of granite, from very interesting places, and there are different grades, colors, etc., but the granite from Barre, Vermont, which is called Barre Gray, is one of the finest. Here is what they say about it on their website: "Recognized around the world as the finest quality gray granite available, Barre Gray is the ultimate long-lasting choice in any finish. Its unique proportions of quartz and feldspar make it unusually durable, moisture resistant and thermally stable." I am choosing this stone for my mother's marker because it is the finest available. To me, it is not the size in this matter, but the quality that is most comforting.
Many years ago, I spent a lot of time with two of my aunts, my mother's sisters, of which there were six. (My mother died at the age of 99 and was the last survivor of her nine brothers and sisters.) They were very interested in the graves of their husbands, and their family, and spent lots of time each month taking flowers to the graves to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, birthdays, etc. I am not able to go to my mother's grave often because I live so far away, but the least I can do is spend some time designing and purchasing the best memorial marker of it's type.
I have chosen Barre Gray, which is a beautiful medium gray stone. I am going to have this engraved with irises, in memory of my mother's love of her iris garden. She loved her irises and had many kinds and varieties of color and was never happier than we they were all in bloom and she could show them off to her friends and spend time admiring, weeding and dividing them for the next year.
I have talked to the only Rock of Ages dealer in Oklahoma, whose office happens to be across the street from the cemetery where my mother is buried, and he is helping me design and create the memorial with a two dimensional carving of irises. This memorial will be finished in September and George and I plan to take a trip to El Reno to be there to take pictures to share with faraway family. We will invite mother's friends and family who are still there to lunch to celebrate her long life.
If you had talked to me several years ago, I would never have dreamed that the process of choosing a grave marker could be a happy one, or that I would enjoy learning about granite and thinking of color and design of a memorial. Hopefully, it isn't often that we are required to think of buying a memorial, but I've decided to enjoy this process, and to look forward to seeing a beautiful and meaningful memorial stone on my mother's grave.
Have a great day.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Summer fizzles instead of sizzles
We have had very cool and damp weather all summer. Here it is almost the end of July, and it is 60 degrees and cloudy outside. We put an air conditioner in the bedroom window, but we only really needed it one night. I looked at the shelves of summer things at Rite-Aid tonight as I was walking through. Shelves of sand pails and shovels, hats, flipflops, picnic containers and plastic cups. They looked so forlorn. I'm sure no one is buying and there is going to be a lot of summer inventory left at the end of the season. Kids are already thinking about going to school. Many vacations were rained out, and when people wanted to be baking in the sun on the beach, they were huddled in sweatshirts at the crab shacks.
Oh well. Weather is a funny thing. You can't change it. I need to visit Oklahoma soon, and it has been 100 degrees there, with bright sun almost every day. Everwhere else in the country has been rainy. Oklahoma is the center and all the bad weather is circling around.
George and I are going to defy the rain and go to the Lowell Spinners Triple A farm team baseball game on Friday night. It is fun to go to Lowell and sit on the bleachers and look out at the green field and the dark night sky. We used to be able to buy tickets and walk in, but no more. Since Red Sox baseball tickets are $100+ for two people, lots of people are enjoying Triple A ball. I hope the rain stays away for just a little while.
Have a great day & night.
Oh well. Weather is a funny thing. You can't change it. I need to visit Oklahoma soon, and it has been 100 degrees there, with bright sun almost every day. Everwhere else in the country has been rainy. Oklahoma is the center and all the bad weather is circling around.
George and I are going to defy the rain and go to the Lowell Spinners Triple A farm team baseball game on Friday night. It is fun to go to Lowell and sit on the bleachers and look out at the green field and the dark night sky. We used to be able to buy tickets and walk in, but no more. Since Red Sox baseball tickets are $100+ for two people, lots of people are enjoying Triple A ball. I hope the rain stays away for just a little while.
Have a great day & night.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
A thousand games of Cribbage
We had a great time with the week long Cribbage tournament. We played from early to late (well, not that late actually)....and had a great time at a lot of different picnic tables.
Our vacation pictures
We had a great time on our vacation. We fished, cooked on the grill, took rides to Vermont to the cheese factory when it rained, and played lots and lots of cribbage!
The weather was a little iffy at the beginning. We didn't have pouring down rain, but we had cool misty days in the 60s. I bought a new navy velour jacket that says Pittsburgh, NH on the front. It is very cuddly and warm and just what I needed for those first few days. The cabin had a nice heater, and was very homey and cute. On the rainier days, we did lots of reading and I really got into a book called Vicksburg 1863 by Winston Groom. It was a wonderful book and George also read it, so we discussed the Civil War a lot, and talked about George's two trips to Vicksburg.
We caught three little fish and threw them back. We seemed to be on a vacation from fishing as well, and just didn't work very hard at it. We didn't work very hard at anything, frankly, and had just a very nice relaxing week!
Have a great day. Its good to be back.
The weather was a little iffy at the beginning. We didn't have pouring down rain, but we had cool misty days in the 60s. I bought a new navy velour jacket that says Pittsburgh, NH on the front. It is very cuddly and warm and just what I needed for those first few days. The cabin had a nice heater, and was very homey and cute. On the rainier days, we did lots of reading and I really got into a book called Vicksburg 1863 by Winston Groom. It was a wonderful book and George also read it, so we discussed the Civil War a lot, and talked about George's two trips to Vicksburg.
We caught three little fish and threw them back. We seemed to be on a vacation from fishing as well, and just didn't work very hard at it. We didn't work very hard at anything, frankly, and had just a very nice relaxing week!
Have a great day. Its good to be back.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
At last: Vacation time begins!
Our vacation starts tonight. They tried to kill us with work at our respective offices today, but we managed to survive and get out at 4:30 to breathe a huge sigh of relief. We spend the first vacation day tomorrow packing for the trip, making chili, mowing the lawn and getting the house ready to be home to two kittens alone.
Our plan is to leave very early on Saturday, the 4th of July, to try to beat some of the traffic fleeing the city. It is a shame, but we won't be in Colebrook, New Hampshire this year in time for the Boy Scouts wonderful pancake breakfast.
We are very ready for this vacation. On our way home we stopped and got seven library books. The weather looks like it is going to be moderately crappy, so instead of only shorts and t-shirts, we are also packing rain jackets, jeans and sweatshirts. The low in the evening is going to be 50 something, and the high may be 70. There are going to be peeks of sunshine, but it looks like it will not be a full blown summer sunny hot week like last year. Lots of thunderstorms passing by, and a few clouds. We hope for a little sun.
We actually don't mind. We are used to the changeable weather in the Northwoods, and it is fine to stay in the cabin and play Cribbage once in a while. Too much sun is bad for us, right?
So, adios, see you soon, wish me luck, and let's give a high five to George and Yvonne when they catch the big one!
Have a great week!
Our plan is to leave very early on Saturday, the 4th of July, to try to beat some of the traffic fleeing the city. It is a shame, but we won't be in Colebrook, New Hampshire this year in time for the Boy Scouts wonderful pancake breakfast.
We are very ready for this vacation. On our way home we stopped and got seven library books. The weather looks like it is going to be moderately crappy, so instead of only shorts and t-shirts, we are also packing rain jackets, jeans and sweatshirts. The low in the evening is going to be 50 something, and the high may be 70. There are going to be peeks of sunshine, but it looks like it will not be a full blown summer sunny hot week like last year. Lots of thunderstorms passing by, and a few clouds. We hope for a little sun.
We actually don't mind. We are used to the changeable weather in the Northwoods, and it is fine to stay in the cabin and play Cribbage once in a while. Too much sun is bad for us, right?
So, adios, see you soon, wish me luck, and let's give a high five to George and Yvonne when they catch the big one!
Have a great week!
Happy 3rd of July!
George and I are really looking forward to have the 3rd of July off. It is a great new holiday! It gives us time to pack for our week trip to the cabin (see previous post) and to get the lawn mowed in between rain showers.
The weather in the Northeast has been atrocious, and everyone is complaining about it. Dawn looks like dusk and the sun never shines. It is mostly rainy, with a few showers. It has everyone talking about canceled trips to the Cape and long days with their toddlers indoors.
We are packing our rain coats and our good attitude. We are obsessive about checking Accuweather.com and Weather.com to see if there is any sun coming out for our week at the cabin. Weather.com is gloomy, and Accuweather.com is mostly cheerful with orange sun graphics, so we look at that site most often! Our zip code up there is 03592, in case you want to see our weather at the cabin.
The list is now four pages single spaced, and I have been cutting it frequently. I did find a china teapot this morning that I think I can't live without. But we are taking only one fan, and only two chairs. (I wanted two fans, but now the weather doesn't look that warm. I wanted special smaller fishing chairs, but George says there is no room in the car.)
Anyway, vacation is coming, and we are very hopeful!
Have a great 3rd of July!
The weather in the Northeast has been atrocious, and everyone is complaining about it. Dawn looks like dusk and the sun never shines. It is mostly rainy, with a few showers. It has everyone talking about canceled trips to the Cape and long days with their toddlers indoors.
We are packing our rain coats and our good attitude. We are obsessive about checking Accuweather.com and Weather.com to see if there is any sun coming out for our week at the cabin. Weather.com is gloomy, and Accuweather.com is mostly cheerful with orange sun graphics, so we look at that site most often! Our zip code up there is 03592, in case you want to see our weather at the cabin.
The list is now four pages single spaced, and I have been cutting it frequently. I did find a china teapot this morning that I think I can't live without. But we are taking only one fan, and only two chairs. (I wanted two fans, but now the weather doesn't look that warm. I wanted special smaller fishing chairs, but George says there is no room in the car.)
Anyway, vacation is coming, and we are very hopeful!
Have a great 3rd of July!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
The Cabin List
Every year we go to First Connecticut Lake in northern New Hampshire for a week at the cabin. I think half the fun of going is planning for the trip. It is peaceful and beautiful and our cabin this year is very close to the lake, and off by itself a little near the woods. The cabins have everything you need to live, including pots and pans and dishes. But, that doesn't deter me from making a long cabin list of things I want to take. I am not really happy eating on cheap ceramic plates, and drinking out of old bar glasses. So, I bring plates, lucite glasses and silverware. I also bring a nice griddle, mixing bowl, wooden spoon, spatula, spaghetti server, and china cups and a teapot. I know this gets a little silly. I call it "Martha Stewart goes camping."
This year my cabin list is three typewritten pages. And I am trying really hard to keep it down. If I take too much stuff, we have to lug it all out to the car and into the cabin, and it makes the return trip that much harder. I'm really trying this year to cut out anything that isn't necessary. But that doesn't include leaving home the things we need to make life livable. I buy new Yankee Candles every year; one for the porch and one for the table, so that the cabin looks friendly and smells nice. I bring a fluffy bathroom rug, because I like stepping out onto a nice fluffy rug, don't you? I bring a big pot so I can make chili or spaghetti and don't have to rely on their old rattly pots and pans.
The rest of the list is things like clothes (I REALLY try not to bring too many clothes!) and fishing poles and tackle box, chairs, a cooler, the croquet set, books, hats (I limit myself to three), and boxes of food.
The food list includes butter, margarine,flour, salt and pepper, coffee, eggs, bread, cereal, fruit, hot dogs, steaks, cheese, crackers, greek olives, caviar, good olive oil....well, you get the idea. We won't starve. I also make home made chili and barbecue sauce and bring that.
I love my hobbies, and what better time to work on them than a long week at a rustic cabin. That part of the list includes yarn, needles, scissors, beading mat, beading lamp and a box of beads and thread. Oh, and the patterns.
Every year my birthday falls during our week at the cabin. That means that I bring the ingredients for a birthday cake, cake pans, frosting mix and candles. I mean, a girl has to have a birthday cake, right?
And every year George says the same thing: "I think we need a car carrier."
Have a great day!
This year my cabin list is three typewritten pages. And I am trying really hard to keep it down. If I take too much stuff, we have to lug it all out to the car and into the cabin, and it makes the return trip that much harder. I'm really trying this year to cut out anything that isn't necessary. But that doesn't include leaving home the things we need to make life livable. I buy new Yankee Candles every year; one for the porch and one for the table, so that the cabin looks friendly and smells nice. I bring a fluffy bathroom rug, because I like stepping out onto a nice fluffy rug, don't you? I bring a big pot so I can make chili or spaghetti and don't have to rely on their old rattly pots and pans.
The rest of the list is things like clothes (I REALLY try not to bring too many clothes!) and fishing poles and tackle box, chairs, a cooler, the croquet set, books, hats (I limit myself to three), and boxes of food.
The food list includes butter, margarine,flour, salt and pepper, coffee, eggs, bread, cereal, fruit, hot dogs, steaks, cheese, crackers, greek olives, caviar, good olive oil....well, you get the idea. We won't starve. I also make home made chili and barbecue sauce and bring that.
I love my hobbies, and what better time to work on them than a long week at a rustic cabin. That part of the list includes yarn, needles, scissors, beading mat, beading lamp and a box of beads and thread. Oh, and the patterns.
Every year my birthday falls during our week at the cabin. That means that I bring the ingredients for a birthday cake, cake pans, frosting mix and candles. I mean, a girl has to have a birthday cake, right?
And every year George says the same thing: "I think we need a car carrier."
Have a great day!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
More about Right Angle Weave
Yesterday I found a pattern online by Nancy Zellers and went to a bead store in Arlington to buy the right number of crystals and gold beads to make this bracelet. I started it at noon, and finished about four, so that didn't take so long! Practice makes perfect. This is definitely wearable, and I even impressed George!
Right Angle Weave
The moral of this story is: from little acorns mighty oaks do grow.
At the Bead and Button Show in early June, I rather impulsively signed up for a class called Rings and Bling, with a beautiful picture of a bracelet made with beaded rings. I show up for the class, taught by one of the great beaders, Jeannette Cook, and found out that I was in the right room, but the wrong class for me. Everyone was very nice, but I found out that Jeannette had sent an email to everyone who signed up for the class making sure that they were proficient at right angle weave before they showed up to try to make the project. Since I had signed up at the registration desk, I didn't have that information. I decided to stay and take the $140 (3 hour) class anyway, and Jeanette gave me kind and patient instructions on right angle weave beading. It was a little like showing up for a writing 101 class and find out it is being taught by James Joyce. Oh well.
I have been struggling to learn this weave, and decided to jump in with cube beads and try to make something. I have the next project all lined up, with pattern and Swarovski crystals, but I needed to get the rhythm of this stitch first. Everyone says that most people have trouble learning right angle weave, and I think they are right. But at least I had a famous teacher to help me as I muddled through.
Today I started and finished this practice bracelet. It is made with Soho cube beads in brown, closed with a black crystal. I don't know why I chose this particular shade, but I sort of like it. It looks like something Abby on NCIS would wear.
So, this is my little acorn of a bracelet, with lots of beautiful projects in right angle weave to follow soon!
Have a great day.
At the Bead and Button Show in early June, I rather impulsively signed up for a class called Rings and Bling, with a beautiful picture of a bracelet made with beaded rings. I show up for the class, taught by one of the great beaders, Jeannette Cook, and found out that I was in the right room, but the wrong class for me. Everyone was very nice, but I found out that Jeannette had sent an email to everyone who signed up for the class making sure that they were proficient at right angle weave before they showed up to try to make the project. Since I had signed up at the registration desk, I didn't have that information. I decided to stay and take the $140 (3 hour) class anyway, and Jeanette gave me kind and patient instructions on right angle weave beading. It was a little like showing up for a writing 101 class and find out it is being taught by James Joyce. Oh well.
I have been struggling to learn this weave, and decided to jump in with cube beads and try to make something. I have the next project all lined up, with pattern and Swarovski crystals, but I needed to get the rhythm of this stitch first. Everyone says that most people have trouble learning right angle weave, and I think they are right. But at least I had a famous teacher to help me as I muddled through.
Today I started and finished this practice bracelet. It is made with Soho cube beads in brown, closed with a black crystal. I don't know why I chose this particular shade, but I sort of like it. It looks like something Abby on NCIS would wear.
So, this is my little acorn of a bracelet, with lots of beautiful projects in right angle weave to follow soon!
Have a great day.
Otter Cabin
In two weeks George and I will be at our cabin in Northern New Hampshire. It is fun to think about. We have been going there for a week each summer for the last eight years. We take our fishing gear, a sweatshirt with a hood (it gets cool up there), our fold up chairs and lots of books.
It is very peaceful and this year we have reserved a cabin that we have never had before, Otter Cabin. It is the small older cabin just a few yards from the water. At night you can hear the loons, and it was a high point of our visit two years ago when we saw a mother Merganzer and her 24 ducklings swim by. Loons come very close to us when we are fishing off the dock in the evenings. For $50 we can rent a boat and go out onto the big lake if we want. Sometimes we want, and sometimes we don't bother. The lake is 150 feet deep in places, and the fish are very far down, so I wouldn't say that our chances of catching anything out there are very good. One year we surprised everyone by bringing in a beautiful 19" lake trout.
We love the fishing, and it is fun to concentrate on something entirely different than the stuff you think about every day. All we have to worry about is our line and whether our bait is still on the hook.
It is fun to putter around and look at all there is to see. We have seen bald eagles, loons, moose, deer, rabbits, and all kinds of things. The birdwatching is good right around the cabin too, and George always has peanuts out on the cabin steps for the resident chipmunks. TV is spotty, there are no cell phone towers, and there is only one station on the radio, so we don't even bother with all that. Instead we play Cribbage and read and just enjoy nature. It is a very quiet place, and all the people who like to drink beer and party stay somewhere else. The evenings are perfectly quiet and if you want to "party" the only place to go is a local pizza pub that is pretty quiet too!
It is good to be able to go this year and not worry about things at home. I'm really looking forward to long days in the sun with a good book, and some fun hikes and picnics. Canada is not far away, and some years we drive 30 miles into Quebec to St. Patrie to a favorite little restaurant where everyone speaks French.
I'm really looking forward to our quiet and peaceful vacation!
Have a great day!
It is very peaceful and this year we have reserved a cabin that we have never had before, Otter Cabin. It is the small older cabin just a few yards from the water. At night you can hear the loons, and it was a high point of our visit two years ago when we saw a mother Merganzer and her 24 ducklings swim by. Loons come very close to us when we are fishing off the dock in the evenings. For $50 we can rent a boat and go out onto the big lake if we want. Sometimes we want, and sometimes we don't bother. The lake is 150 feet deep in places, and the fish are very far down, so I wouldn't say that our chances of catching anything out there are very good. One year we surprised everyone by bringing in a beautiful 19" lake trout.
We love the fishing, and it is fun to concentrate on something entirely different than the stuff you think about every day. All we have to worry about is our line and whether our bait is still on the hook.
It is fun to putter around and look at all there is to see. We have seen bald eagles, loons, moose, deer, rabbits, and all kinds of things. The birdwatching is good right around the cabin too, and George always has peanuts out on the cabin steps for the resident chipmunks. TV is spotty, there are no cell phone towers, and there is only one station on the radio, so we don't even bother with all that. Instead we play Cribbage and read and just enjoy nature. It is a very quiet place, and all the people who like to drink beer and party stay somewhere else. The evenings are perfectly quiet and if you want to "party" the only place to go is a local pizza pub that is pretty quiet too!
It is good to be able to go this year and not worry about things at home. I'm really looking forward to long days in the sun with a good book, and some fun hikes and picnics. Canada is not far away, and some years we drive 30 miles into Quebec to St. Patrie to a favorite little restaurant where everyone speaks French.
I'm really looking forward to our quiet and peaceful vacation!
Have a great day!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Three little pigs.....er
I got to stay home from work today. I had a project that needed to be finished, and I took a day off to accomplish that. It was a beautiful sunny day. Looking out my kitchen window this morning, I saw a very cute sight. We have three...count 'em, three baby woodchucks living under our garage.
This is a disaster. A couple of years ago, we had a family of woodchucks with two babies, and I spent an unemployed summer looking at them and enjoying their antics in the warm sun. We thought we had gotten lucky and that our resident family of woodchucks had moved away. There was no real damage to the flower beds and vegetable garden last year. Of course, we didn't temp them with the stuff they really love to eat. Woodchucks love zinnias and lettuce and tomatoes and hate snapdragons, coleus and begonias.
We have tried lots of remedies to get our resident woodchucks to move on. Our neighbors have reported that they have woodchucks in their garden. We were quietly convinced that it is not the neighbors who "have" woodchucks, but that our brood of woodchucks prefer to eat out.
We will be going on vacation in two weeks. Our tempting little tomato budlings will be out there all by themselves, waiting for the voracious appetites of the three little pigs...er woodchucks.
This is a disaster. But, boy, are they cute!
This is a disaster. A couple of years ago, we had a family of woodchucks with two babies, and I spent an unemployed summer looking at them and enjoying their antics in the warm sun. We thought we had gotten lucky and that our resident family of woodchucks had moved away. There was no real damage to the flower beds and vegetable garden last year. Of course, we didn't temp them with the stuff they really love to eat. Woodchucks love zinnias and lettuce and tomatoes and hate snapdragons, coleus and begonias.
We have tried lots of remedies to get our resident woodchucks to move on. Our neighbors have reported that they have woodchucks in their garden. We were quietly convinced that it is not the neighbors who "have" woodchucks, but that our brood of woodchucks prefer to eat out.
We will be going on vacation in two weeks. Our tempting little tomato budlings will be out there all by themselves, waiting for the voracious appetites of the three little pigs...er woodchucks.
This is a disaster. But, boy, are they cute!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Cat on the ceiling
We are quietly sitting in the den tonight and boom, we heard a noise. Simba the athlete cat had jumped from a table to the top of the china cabinet. He is 7 feet off the ground, and at the very least that is a four foot leap straight up. And I'm sure this wasn't the first time he had done this. We waited to see how he would get down. Quiet as a mouse, he jumped from the top to the medium level on his cat condo, another six feet or so across the room. Foosh. Down. No problem. Supercat!
Have a great night.
Have a great night.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Home from the bead show
The Bead and Button Show ended on Sunday, and we flew home on Midwest. The flight was terrific and we were home on time and happy. I mention that because my flights to anywhere usually end up in tales of woe, but not this time!
The Bead and Button Show was awesome as always. We had four days of wonderful classes, and fun shopping for beautiful new beads from artists and vendors who come from all over the world. This is my fourth year, and I was better able to handle the big hall this year, and got around to almost every booth. There are 450 vendors, so that is no easy task. It was great to see friends I hadn't seen in a year, and to buy a few beautiful lampwork beads from the artists who I know. I also found the silver prices irresistible and stocked up on some beautiful silver pieces. I bought Hill Tribe and Bali, and visited some sellers twice to get more. The silver wire which I need for wire-wrapping pendants and for making Viking Chain were half the price of anywhere else, and I had dreams about going back and buying more, so I did.
It is wonderful to be with thousands of other people who love making jewelry as much as I do. We always visit the tool and wire booths, and talk about our latest favorites and see the new products. I bought a cutter and a round nose pliers to die for. These tools are the Cadillacs of jewelry tools, and it takes a few years to afford them. But they are so fine and precise and the cutters cut like butter. Incredible.
I have my work cut out for me to make more jewelry and get some pictures on the web and have a couple of jewelry shows. My creativity is unleashed and I have three new techniques under my belt; the right-angle weave stitch, silver metal clay and the double Viking Chain. Taking classes from the pros really makes you feel like a pro, and learning new techniques gives me confidence and the power to be even more creative. Time, time, I need more time!
Have a great day.
The Bead and Button Show was awesome as always. We had four days of wonderful classes, and fun shopping for beautiful new beads from artists and vendors who come from all over the world. This is my fourth year, and I was better able to handle the big hall this year, and got around to almost every booth. There are 450 vendors, so that is no easy task. It was great to see friends I hadn't seen in a year, and to buy a few beautiful lampwork beads from the artists who I know. I also found the silver prices irresistible and stocked up on some beautiful silver pieces. I bought Hill Tribe and Bali, and visited some sellers twice to get more. The silver wire which I need for wire-wrapping pendants and for making Viking Chain were half the price of anywhere else, and I had dreams about going back and buying more, so I did.
It is wonderful to be with thousands of other people who love making jewelry as much as I do. We always visit the tool and wire booths, and talk about our latest favorites and see the new products. I bought a cutter and a round nose pliers to die for. These tools are the Cadillacs of jewelry tools, and it takes a few years to afford them. But they are so fine and precise and the cutters cut like butter. Incredible.
I have my work cut out for me to make more jewelry and get some pictures on the web and have a couple of jewelry shows. My creativity is unleashed and I have three new techniques under my belt; the right-angle weave stitch, silver metal clay and the double Viking Chain. Taking classes from the pros really makes you feel like a pro, and learning new techniques gives me confidence and the power to be even more creative. Time, time, I need more time!
Have a great day.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Safron
It is hard to get a picture of Safari (we sometimes call her Safron). She is elusive and turns away when the light flashes. She is our smart and curious kitty, one year old. She knows everything and often helps George read the Sunday paper. He suspects, however, that she is only looking at the pictures.
Have a great day.
Have a great day.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Wire Lace Dragonfly pins
Last year at the Bead and Button show I bought some kits from Alacart Clasps to make Dragonfly pins. I never made them all year and I really wanted to try them before the next show. They are made with wire lace, wire and Swarovski crystals, and I got up at 5:30 this morning and made these. They are fun to make and rather pretty, don't ya think? I'm off to my local bead store to show the owner and see if she wants me to pick up some kits for her.
Have a great day.
Have a great day.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Just kitties and me
George is at a church Synod conference in Sturbridge for three days, and here it all about the kitties. I don't have to worry about an alarm clock. They hear someone rustle in the bed, and they are on it! They usually wait until about 5:30 for their big group hug however. Simba is always first. He angles himself over my body so his head is laying upside down and dangling off my side, and his belly is sticking up in the air ready for rubbing. I hold his head in my left hand and stroke with my right. I told George that petting Simba is like playing a guitar. This is entirely Simba. He loves to be petted upside down. He stretches out like the limber athlete he is. No matter if he slides off the bed, he just hops right up again.
Safari brings her string toys up and starts rattling the bells. Time to wake up, mom! She plays with anything she finds, and last night was having a gay old time with a plastic wrapper from a scarf that Mike bought me at the British Museum. Nice and crackly. Safari comes up on the bed in the morning, and squeaks just once, just to say hello. This is the only time she makes that particular squeak sound. And then, being the curious kitty that she is, she's off to look out the window, or find a bell toy, or wander to the top of the stairs to wait for me to get up.
I am driving to work instead of carpooling with George. That is a big deal. My car gets so little use these days that the brakes aren't getting enough lubrication and the brake light comes on. And they are new brakes! We really do have to take my car more often. Since George got his new Honda, my car drives like a haywagon in comparison.
Off to work. Thank Goodness It's Friday!
Have a great day. (Kitties, I'll be home again soon.)
Safari brings her string toys up and starts rattling the bells. Time to wake up, mom! She plays with anything she finds, and last night was having a gay old time with a plastic wrapper from a scarf that Mike bought me at the British Museum. Nice and crackly. Safari comes up on the bed in the morning, and squeaks just once, just to say hello. This is the only time she makes that particular squeak sound. And then, being the curious kitty that she is, she's off to look out the window, or find a bell toy, or wander to the top of the stairs to wait for me to get up.
I am driving to work instead of carpooling with George. That is a big deal. My car gets so little use these days that the brakes aren't getting enough lubrication and the brake light comes on. And they are new brakes! We really do have to take my car more often. Since George got his new Honda, my car drives like a haywagon in comparison.
Off to work. Thank Goodness It's Friday!
Have a great day. (Kitties, I'll be home again soon.)
Monday, May 25, 2009
A short trip to Maine
George and I decided to go on a short trip to Maine today to get some clams. It is a beautiful, cool, sunny day, and it seemed impossible not to get out there in it. The weather has been beautiful all weekend, and the sun is bright and the sky is blue. I have decided that my ideal temperature is somewhere between 67 and 72. Any hotter than 72 and I start complaining, any cooler and I'm still complaining! I get harder to please as I get older.
No trip to Maine is complete without a stop at a clam shack. We went just into York Beach to find this one, and it was homey and nice. The clams and my fish and chip plate were delicious, hot and crispy. We stopped at the Crate and Barrel outlet store at Kittery and bought a clear lucite lemonade pitcher...a sure sign that summer is coming.
George is napping, I'm blogging and getting ready to go read my book, a yummy one about Isabella de Medici and medieval Florence. Yum.
Have a great day.
No trip to Maine is complete without a stop at a clam shack. We went just into York Beach to find this one, and it was homey and nice. The clams and my fish and chip plate were delicious, hot and crispy. We stopped at the Crate and Barrel outlet store at Kittery and bought a clear lucite lemonade pitcher...a sure sign that summer is coming.
George is napping, I'm blogging and getting ready to go read my book, a yummy one about Isabella de Medici and medieval Florence. Yum.
Have a great day.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
The Bead and Button Show
I am getting excited about my trip to the Bead and Button Show in Milwaukee in two weeks. It is the largest bead show in the country, and besides having a huge market at the convention center in downtown Milwaukee, they have hundreds of classes taught by top notch instructors. I am taking two classes; silver clay and viking woven chain.
Just looking at the list of vendors makes me want to swoon!
Have a great day.
Just looking at the list of vendors makes me want to swoon!
Have a great day.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Linked In
Today I opened my account on LinkedIn. It seems to me that in a recession there are certain businesses that are going to thrive, and one of them is anything to do with networking. When I was looking for a job a couple of years ago, the counselors at the employment service were adamant that networking was key. It was a concept that was foreign to me. I didn't know many people that I thought could help. I did manage to expand my horizons and actually went on a job interview arranged by someone at my church.
So I have a LinkedIn account as of today, and I'm not sure what I will use it for, but communication with each other can't hurt. I'm thinking that there are a lot of jewelry designers out there who would love to be linked into each other. I've taken another first step to openmindedness and am trying something new.
Have a great day!
So I have a LinkedIn account as of today, and I'm not sure what I will use it for, but communication with each other can't hurt. I'm thinking that there are a lot of jewelry designers out there who would love to be linked into each other. I've taken another first step to openmindedness and am trying something new.
Have a great day!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Happy Birthday Michael!
Today is my son Michael's birthday. He was born a few years ago...something like 36 I think. Whose counting? It seems like yesterday. Michael was born on the first day of the Watergate hearings in 1973. I woke up at 5 a.m. with what I thought were contractions. I had thought that about three weeks before and had gone to the hospital and was sent home again. That cured me of any wish to rush to the hospital this time. I sat on our living room couch, and counted the contractions by the clock while I watched the first day of the Watergate hearings and all the machinations that went with that. It was a historically significant day.
There didn't seem to be much to do but wait. Finally, when the contractions were five minutes apart, I called Bob at work and told him to come home. He was there in half an hour, and we got into the car to drive to St. Joseph Hospital on the lake shore in Chicago. Bob had taken driving lessons just so he could drive me to the hospital, but when we got there we had to parallel park. Bob wasn't very good at that, so I got behind the wheel and finished the job.
The nurses were pretty sure that I would be there for a long time, and told us to relax in the room, and left us there. The contractions were strong and frequent, and I was pretty sure they were wrong. I called a nurse. They checked, and boom, I was being rushed into the operating room. People were flying around, and Bob came in the room in a blue shower cap and blue booties, which was very funny and I laughed pretty hard, and that pretty much did the trick. I was introduced to a doctor I had never met before. Things were going so fast I wasn't sure I needed a doctor. A very large nurse with a wide girth held onto me, and I pushed and Mike was born. It all went very fast. The nurses cleaned him off and handed him to me to lay on my stomach and I didn't want to ever let go of him. All in all, I was in the hospital for an hour and 45 minutes!
Mike was 9 pounds 5 ounces at birth, and I had no drugs of any kind. We did it all together. It was a day I will never forget and the best day of my life. He was happy and round and pink and hungry. I had to learn how to hold a baby at my bedside by a helpful nurse. I didn't have a clue, and Michael didn't either, so we learned together. He was a big happy baby, and beautiful in everyone's eyes, and he still is today.
Happy Birthday Michael. I love you.
Mom
There didn't seem to be much to do but wait. Finally, when the contractions were five minutes apart, I called Bob at work and told him to come home. He was there in half an hour, and we got into the car to drive to St. Joseph Hospital on the lake shore in Chicago. Bob had taken driving lessons just so he could drive me to the hospital, but when we got there we had to parallel park. Bob wasn't very good at that, so I got behind the wheel and finished the job.
The nurses were pretty sure that I would be there for a long time, and told us to relax in the room, and left us there. The contractions were strong and frequent, and I was pretty sure they were wrong. I called a nurse. They checked, and boom, I was being rushed into the operating room. People were flying around, and Bob came in the room in a blue shower cap and blue booties, which was very funny and I laughed pretty hard, and that pretty much did the trick. I was introduced to a doctor I had never met before. Things were going so fast I wasn't sure I needed a doctor. A very large nurse with a wide girth held onto me, and I pushed and Mike was born. It all went very fast. The nurses cleaned him off and handed him to me to lay on my stomach and I didn't want to ever let go of him. All in all, I was in the hospital for an hour and 45 minutes!
Mike was 9 pounds 5 ounces at birth, and I had no drugs of any kind. We did it all together. It was a day I will never forget and the best day of my life. He was happy and round and pink and hungry. I had to learn how to hold a baby at my bedside by a helpful nurse. I didn't have a clue, and Michael didn't either, so we learned together. He was a big happy baby, and beautiful in everyone's eyes, and he still is today.
Happy Birthday Michael. I love you.
Mom
Saturday, May 16, 2009
A new word on a Saturday morning
It is only six a.m. this morning, and I have already learned a new word. I think it is a beautiful word. It is a Yiddish word: Chazzerai: (khaz-zer-rye) literally, pig slop. Any kind of garbage, whether it's junk food, shoddy merchandise or stuff of little or no value. "I never watch TV any more. All they play is chazzerai."
I learned this word in an article in the New York Times. I read the newspapers online while I wait for something to happen on Farm Town. (Don't ask.)
I was reading an article about life in the Hamptons this summer, and the recession, and that people who are having outdoor parties are simplifying and are not decorating their party tents with a lot of "Chazzerai" I can see all kinds of uses for this word. I have a closet full of it. I collect it like a maniac. I have jewelry that I made that has too much of it. Pig Slop? Well, I guess you could call it that. I seem to have a lot of stuff around me that has little value to anyone else. I look around the room, and see many things that others might consider pig slop. But to me, it is a little nicer than that. It is my Chazzerai collection. I like it.
Have a great day.
I learned this word in an article in the New York Times. I read the newspapers online while I wait for something to happen on Farm Town. (Don't ask.)
I was reading an article about life in the Hamptons this summer, and the recession, and that people who are having outdoor parties are simplifying and are not decorating their party tents with a lot of "Chazzerai" I can see all kinds of uses for this word. I have a closet full of it. I collect it like a maniac. I have jewelry that I made that has too much of it. Pig Slop? Well, I guess you could call it that. I seem to have a lot of stuff around me that has little value to anyone else. I look around the room, and see many things that others might consider pig slop. But to me, it is a little nicer than that. It is my Chazzerai collection. I like it.
Have a great day.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
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