Too Much Going On Including Pecans and Wallpaper

 

Ahh. I am taking a moment from all the chores that swirl in my brain to smell the daffodils. Tess brought them to me last night. She and her husband are enjoying their first home, which is a sweet little vintage bungalow in town. Whatever flowers had been planted there before them are now popping up. What a delight to find flower surprises in the yard!

We had our favorite corned beef and cabbage dinner last night. Meals that we only prepare once a year taste extra delicious. Of course we threw two pepperoni sticks to into the boil. They are my favorite! 

While dinner cooked, I carried up spring decor from the basement and tidied up around the house a little. As I made my way from room to room, I saw another chore at every turn. Windows need washing, screens need to go up, doors need painting, the lawn needs attention, old plants need to be pulled out of the garden beds, etc., etc. It was all I could do to not let the corned beef boil away unattended.

 

There is always such a list to do in the spring. It is of my own doing so I can't complain too much.  Steve did get cracking on the pile of pecans last night. His engineering brain is drawn to gadgety tools. He found not one, but two nutcrackers in an antique shop last fall for five dollars each. He bought both and he finally got to use them on the load of pecans from our friends Sara and Walt. Walt's parent's property in North Carolina has pecan trees growing on it and there was a bumper crop this year. We are very thankful to be given a bag!

In the long list of chores and projects is the current upstairs bathroom remodel. Steve is the handyman carrying out the work aspect of it. I hand him the materials. I forgot to take a "before" photo so I will wait and post more about it when it is finished in a couple of weeks. It involves a fun, whimsical, bird wallpaper. I hope it turns out the way I imagine it in my head. 

 

Weekend Getaway Frederick, MD

 

Harbingers of spring- Redwing Blackbirds always remind me of my father. I bought this card at a gift shop in Middletown, MD.

We had another fun, couples getaway this weekend. Our destination was Frederick Maryland. Two friends and I had just been to Frederick in January but this time Kay and I went with our husbands. 

The "rules" for choosing a destination are few. We try to make the drive not more than three or so hours from home for a weekend getaway. We also look for a place that has somewhere to dine out, a nice indoor (or outdoor for summer) space to relax in the evening, and something of interest for the husbands as well. Frederick has a vibrant downtown area, a few nice antique shops, plenty of restaurants, a few brew pubs, and many more little shops of interest.

On our drive Friday, we stopped for lunch in Strasburg, VA. Over the winter, Steve stumbled upon a restaurant during one of his drives home from a work trip. It is called, Blue Wing Frog. Ever since, he has been raving about one of their dishes called, Shakshuka. He talked about it frequently and hoped to eat there again one day. his was the day! The place has a fun, hippy vibe and the food is delicious. Steve had the Shakshuka of course, I had black bean and sweet potato quesadillas, Tim had a shrimp po'boy, and Kay had potato pancakes. After lunch, we crossed the street to a vegan bakery and bought delicious Boston Cream Pie cupcakes. We ate these while seated on a bench outside on the sidewalk. 

Arriving in Frederick, we stopped at Kathy Makers shop, Primitive Homespuns, again and then on to our rental. For dinner, we ate at Dutch's Daughter. It was definitely high end dining for us. We all ordered fish of one type or another and the food was delicious. Then, we settled in at our rental for the evening.

On Saturday, we made the rounds to three antique shops outside of town. We lunched at a brewpub and then worked our way toward Frederick. We ended the afternoon downtown at the Antique Emporium as well as several shops along the main street in Frederick. Frederick was a happy, bustling place on this Saturday with families and couples like ourselves. We visited a few gift shops and the Irish Imports store. A man played the fiddle in the store and it was all around fun. We needed no dinner after our big lunch so we relaxed for the evening at our rental. 

On Sunday morning we packed up and began the drive home. We stopped in Harrisonburg at a familiar antique shop called, Rolling Hills Antique Mall. Then we lunched on pizza at a place right next door. Two hours later we were home, but not before getting a coveted ice cream cone at Bruster's for my birthday. Two scoops! Butter pecan and chocolate turtle. As we made the drive home, Kay perused Airbnb to see where our next excursion might take us. We chose to go to Warm Springs, VA in a couple of months.

I spotted this Grenfell rug at an antique shop near Frederick, MD. It is large- maybe 24"x24" and priced at $185.00. The Grenfell hookers used the tiniest loops!

Violet Stays Over, Making Pysanky

   

Tess' first egg and Violet's jellybean egg.

Granddaughter Violet came for a sleepover last Friday! We met Tess at church and the three of us enjoyed a fish fry dinner at the Knights of Columbus fundraiser. Then Violet and I came home and made a blueberry pie for tomorrow's dessert. While the pie baked, we got into our pajamas and settled in with one of my absolute favorite movies, The BFG.  It is a wonderful children's story written by Roald Dahl. The BFG is a Big Friendly Giant who speaks in funny, invented words that still make perfect sense. He captures and befriends an orphan girl named Sophie and she helps him, with the help of the queen of England, defeat the mean giants. It is a clever, creative story with a happy ending.

     The following morning, we had a breakfast of biscuits and berries. Then Violet and I gathered jars from the basement and mixed up all the dyes to color pysanky eggs. I taught Violet how to play Battleship while we waited for Aunt Tess to come over. We spent the rest of the late morning into early afternoon making a dyed egg. It is a long, slow process and Violet displayed great patience. She nipped off to the other side of the table to draw when she needed a break from waxing her egg. Tess' husband, Blake, arrived midday and Violet's parents arrived mid-afternoon. We had chili for a midday meal followed by the blueberry pie and coffee. We sat around and visited, catching up on things. With all the sickness the kids caught after our Vermont trip, this was the first chance we have had to get together. After everyone left, the house felt very quiet again with just Steve and me here.

    Tess and Blake came back over on Sunday evening. Tess dyed another egg while I cross stitched and we visited. The next day I took some time to dye an egg for myself. I haven't made one in a few years and my hand is a bit shakier nowadays. Even still, I find waxing the eggs to be extremely peaceful and calming. The beeswax candle that is kept burning during the process and the beeswax that melts in the waxing tool (kistka) smells so good. The sound of the tool scritch-scratching on the eggshell is also a soothing sound. At the very end of the process, the waxed and dyed egg is held next to the candle flame in order to melt the wax so it can be wiped off. This step is the big reveal when the dye colors finally pop into view. I felt that this first egg was somewhat of a success and it gave me confidence to make another, when I get a chance.

Many designs start with dividing the egg in segments.

A kistka tool and a partially waxed egg. Yellow was the first of three dye colors for this design.

The final color, Huron Blue, with the wax still on the egg.

Holding the waxed egg next to the flame to melt the wax and wipe it off with a tissue.

The finished egg after the wax is melted and wiped off. Every stroke of the wax application is revealed. This is where a steady hand is appreciated. Even an amateur egg is pretty! Google "Pysanky eggs" you will see incredible works of art!

Friends of the Hart, Plum Street Samplers

 

This has been a fun pattern to stitch with its woodland animals, leaves and pomegranates. The blue hart that takes center attention will be stitched in next. As so often happens, the fabrics I am considering for a quilt are in the same color palette as the pattern I am stitching. I suppose the colors with which we create are a reflection of our moods or our current interests around our environment at a given time. I wasn't planning on these two elements being placed in the same room but maybe it will have to happen.

On another note, the wind was roaring so loud all night, I barely slept. It was a vibrating roar as it barreled down the mountain. This morning, it is perfectly calm like the wind was never even here.

The Green Velour Chair

  Winter and spring are duking it out as evidenced in the weather. We alternate between t-shirts and turtlenecks and we have to check the weather daily to see which it will be. The wind is still gusting which causes intermittent power outages. I felt really lucky to have the coffee already made this morning before the power went out. The rain was pelting the windows and running in rivulets down the glass. I took my coffee and paper to the bedroom chair which sits in front of the window. It was a cozy spot where I could read in the gray morning light and listen to the rain. 

I love this green velour chair. The chair was purchased sometime in the 1970's in New York by my mother-in-law. When Steve and I starting dating, the chair was in their living room. Back then it was upholstered in a green/blue pinstripe velour and I thought it was the prettiest thing. I remember that Steve and I were both so skinny that we could sit in the chair together. He will say that I was sitting on his lap but I remember us being scrunched side by side. At some point in the 1990's his mom gave us the chair. I left the green/blue fabric on it as long as I could. Eventually the arms became threadbare and it needed recovering. Twenty-five years ago I had it redone in the green velour that is on it now. It has always been our bedroom chair. It is an old friend. Sitting in it is like being wrapped in the arms of a favorite teddy bear. All four of our babies have been held on my lap in that chair. It is where I read, pray, say the Rosary, talk on the phone, nap, and cry some. It remains ever dear to me even though there is no way Steve and I could ever sit in it together. Well, maybe... if I was on his lap :)

Getting Ready for Spring

 Back home in Virginia, March has arrived on schedule with hints of  warmer temperatures and blowing winds. To me, it seems the entire winter has been windy even including a few power outages. 

I walked around the yard and took stock of what needed pruning, what needed feeding, painting, etc. It began to feel overwhelming. I acknowledged that I would rather continue to focus on the indoor projects and not have to be doing yard work yet. I went back inside and told myself it was too windy to work outside today. 

 Our order from the polartcenter.com arrived in the mail today! Tess said she wanted to dye more Pysanky eggs this year so I ordered the dyes. (We already have the kistkas,and beeswax needed to create the decorated eggs.) This will be a good transitional project to take us from winter to spring. It is also another diversion away from the yard work for a little while longer.

I decided to schedule parameters of what I need to accomplish before I can turn to the yard work. I need to bind the quilted tree skirt I sewed, paint the living room bookshelves, and help Steve get started on the upstairs bathroom refresh. I am mentally prepared to start checking things off. Ready or not, spring and all of it busyness is barreling toward us, carried by this wind, no doubt.

Some of our pysanky eggs from years past.

Playing in a Snow Globe- Lake Morey, Fairlee, VT

 

Lake Morey skating trail

Our trip to Lake Morey, Vermont was so magical last year that I longed to go again. Our group would be a little bit different this year. Last year I took our four daughters and eldest granddaughter. This year we included husbands and grandchildren. Unfortunately, Claire and her family couldn't come because they had already made other travel plans. But, Audrey and Tess made plans to fly up from Virginia with their families while Steve and I planned to drive. Chelsea and her family would drive over from their home in New Hampshire and join us for two days. The plans were made months ago and it was finally time to go!

 We had so much fun on the ice! In previous years, Lake Morey Resort took charge of clearing the skating trails on the lake. This year, the town of Fairlee took over the task. They still had a four mile trail cleared around the perimeter of the lake and they had two ice hockey rinks cleared. There weren't as many little, loopy trails in the center of the lake like last year, but it was still great. There was also more snow on the ground this year and the temperatures were equally as cold. 

The family coming along the trail

Seven year old granddaughter turned out to be an excellent skater. One vision that will remain with me always is of her arms windmilling to keep her balance as she zipped along. She loved the outdoors and kept right up with the grown ups. 

Night skating

On Saturday night we decided to go back out onto the lake at dusk. Snow was gently falling as we walked to the shoreline. Violet was being pulled in the sled and twinkle lights adorned the trees. All the day skaters were gone and we had the entire lake to ourselves. Steve and Audrey took flashlights and decided to skate the four mile lake perimeter. The rest of us played on the hockey rink, walked and skated some paths, threw snow, and made snow angels while Violet amused us. It was a memorable evening. As cold as it was outside, I never felt cold. The air was invigorating and I had heaps of energy. When Audrey and Steve returned to us, we made our way back to the inn for dinner. We repeated this outing on Saturday night. It was so peaceful and quiet on the lake with snow falling gently down. All of us preferred the quiet moments when the crowds were gone. We decided if we ever came back again, we would choose a week that was not Winter Carnival week. We like the quiet.

A couple of fun places we visited when it was too windy to be outside or we were tired of skating: King Arthur Flour was only twenty minutes away. We had lunch there one day and the food is fabulous. I use their flours and bake ware too. We also visited Quechee Gorge Village where there is the Vermont Antique Center, a brewery, and gift shops. We also stopped in at Chapman's General Store, right in Fairlee, VT. They have lovely jewelry, gifts, a large toy room, and much more. I must mention that on our drive to Vermont, Steve and I stopped at Ted's Fish Fry in Troy, NY., home of our college alma mater and where we met forty-six years ago. We love a good fish fry!

Tess and Steve

Walking to the lake shore.

In order to remind myself of the reality of this trip, I will make mention of the hard parts. They in no way overshadow the wonderful memories, but let's be real: Chelsea's three boys all came down with the flu the week of our trip. They could not come to the lake to play. But Chelsea was able to come and spend one entire day with us by herself while her husband stayed home with the boys. The snow. While snow is gloriously fun to play in, it is not fun to drive in. Our drive away from Vermont to go home was white knuckle for the first four hours. Cars were off the road, it was slippery and we went through a gallon of windshield washer fluid from all the dirty slush and ice that sprayed up from the road. One family's flight in was canceled due to weather. Luckily they were able to find another flight and all was well, but it was momentarily stressful. One of us caught covid and another the flu as we traveled home. It happens. I have a strong feeling we will still go back again one day. Those frozen lakes are magical and they draw us to them. 

Lake view from the inn.