Spring is Here Big Time!

 We had a busy but wonderful weekend. Friends came for dinner on Saturday and I made a delicious meal of Carnitas, guacamole, pico de gallo, etc. We had apple pie and ice cream for dessert. The kids planned to come for lunch on Sunday so food prep continued all weekend. I made a new-to-me recipe of Neiman Marcus Chicken Casserole for Sunday's lunch. It was excellent and everyone declared it a keeper. Because we have so many pecans on hand, I made a pecan pie for dessert that day. I was happy to have everyone here, sharing a meal, and sitting around with coffee and pie afterward.

The weather was sunny and mild but very breezy. We walked around the yard, pulled some weeds with my weed puller birthday gift, and played softball with Violet. I took the photo above in the side yard. I call it our trifecta: Butterfly Magnolia, Ornamental Plum, and Forsythia. The ornamental plum was all abuzz with bees. We could hear the hum of their buzz across the yard. We all stood under the tree feeling the hum and exclaiming how wonderful it was to see honeybees! We watched closely as they maneuvered over the blooms and laughed when they went fanny up inside a flower.

The Friday prior to the weekend, I drove a friend and myself to the Bedford Library where a rug hooking group meets each month. The Bedford Library is a very nice library and I always enjoy going there. They have a beautiful garden on the grounds. The pansies greeted us as we walked along the path to the entrance. Spring is greeting us everywhere we go. The white pear trees scatter the landscape along the highways and the Redbud is soon to follow. 

The ornamental plum from the upstairs bedroom window

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.