A Picnic..of Sorts

 The weather is so beautiful and mild that I decided to eat my lunch on the porch today. Just outside the porch, the ornamental plum is beginning to open its pink blossoms. I can hear insects buzzing everywhere and birds calling in the trees. It is quiet and peaceful and strongly spring! 

A memory came to mind of a similar, pretty day fifty-five or sixty years ago. Winters were so long where I grew up that we would revel in those first days of spring. We explored farther, ran harder, and generally leapt with joyful exuberance in those early spring days. 

Our little Woodlawn Avenue was cut right smack into the middle of a corn field on May's land, between two other farms. Graham's farm, May's farm, and Morford's farm all sat in a row of acreage on Third Avenue Extension. Our street was hemmed in with horses on the May's side, cows on the Morford's side, and woods and streams at the far end where the pavement dwindled into a tractor path at the dead end. The possibilities for childhood exploration were endless. We stayed closer to home in the summer and winter with plenty to do on our own street. But, spring and fall put into us the wanderlust. 

On one such mild spring day we kids decided a picnic was just the thing. We ran to our respective homes and asked our mothers to make us a picnic lunch. I still remember that mine was a tuna fish sandwich. We may have brown-bagged it or used our school lunchboxes and thermoses, I do not recall how we carried our lunches but we did not own backpacks in those days. We decided that Morford's Hill was to be our picnic destination. To get to the hill, we had to crawl under Morford's electric fence and across the field where their bull lived. It was a bit of excitement to first get under the fence without touching it and then across the field without the bull noticing. I knew the fence hurt because one time I hit it with the back of my neck and got shocked. I did not cry but it smarted. We flattened ourselves as close to the earth as we could in order to snake under that low wire. Usually one of us would keep an eye on the bull and tell the others when to run. The lookout job was usually given to an older cousin while we littler ones made the dash. We never did have an issue with the bull but that did not keep the fear of it out of us. 

Once atop Morford's hill, we found a good, grassy spot and sat down to eat. The hill gave us a birds eye view of our little street down below. I pictured my mother way down there in our house. I saw the trees and yards laid out from a different perspective than when we were there down in it. If we raised our gaze above our street's tree line, toward the west, we could see the top of the Capital building in Albany, poking up above the skyline. At that time, the Capital was the tallest building in Albany. (It would later be dwarfed by the South Mall buildings which stood much taller and were built in the 1970's). I did not like my tuna fish sandwich that day. I remember it tasted too fishy and it was a slight disappointment on an otherwise perfect expedition and picnic. I hope there was a cookie or something to compensate for it but I do not recall. I also do not recall what we talked about while we picnicked. My guess is that we were making plans for what to do next on that glorious day. 

Life was so simple then. Children had nothing to do but play to the limits of their imaginations. We played outside from sunup to sundown and went in only for meals or bedtime. So much has changed. Morford's Hill is gone as well as the entire farm. The hill was blasted down flat and paved over with the installation of Interstate 90. Cars and trucks flow at breakneck speed twenty four hours a day over our picnic spot. Graham's Farm and hill was plowed down and a townhouse community built on its acreage.

I live in a new peaceful place now, imagining picnics of long ago. I am glad for the quiet and the ushering of contemplation and memores it allows. In my memory, Morford's Hill will always be there to visit any time I like with a picnic. Today's visit was with a cheese sandwich rather than tuna fish and I remember those cousins and childhood friends at the picnic who were my entire world at one time. It is time to come out of my reverie although I do think I feel the need for an expedition coming on. 

March Enters As a Lamb, Daughter #3 Has a Birthday, and Little Chipmunk Lives!

 

Spring has arrived early with temperatures in the upper 70's and low 80's. Steve was away for two weeks and the time flew right by. I spent the entire first week on the new sewing machine (yet unnamed). It was a pure joy to create this and that. One evening, late in the week I sat down to watch a program and my right foot ached so, I could barely walk. I could not think how I injured it. The next morning when I sat back down at the machine I realized immediately that I had strained it by pushing on the pedal all week. I laughed it off. I will have to see about adjusting the fit of that pedal. 

Claire and Daniel took the boys on a cruise and Mari came up to spend the week in Virginia. She spent part of the week with her cousins and part with me. On Wednesday we went downtown and browsed the little shops. Then we went to Too Many Books and to Mellow Mushroom for lunch. It was a lovely afternoon and so fun to have one-on-one time with Mari. Usually Mari is fairly quiet but she chatted about all of her goings on and it was wonderful. On Friday we baked a birthday cake for Audrey following this recipe. It was an amazing cake and so delicious! Mari made the cake and I made the frosting. We did add a seedless strawberry jam between the layers. Audrey, Jared, Violet, Tess and Blake all came for dinner the next day. It was so mild outside, it reminded me of the week before Christmas when Cheslea's family was here and we were outside all day long. The kids took a walk, folded oragami, we all played Apples to Apples and ate food. The cake was a big hit and there was enough to send some home with each family. 

I sure do love this girl!

 

 

 Lastly, we finally had a sighting of our little chipmunk this week. We knew where it's winter burrow was and hoped it was fairing well all these months. After seeing it daily last summer and fall, it was strange to have it disappear the winter. I decided today to call it Charlie. Our grandson Charlie told me he was sad that I was alone (with Steve having been away and now out for the day) and how he wished he could keep me company but he lives too far away. I told him the chipmunk was keeping me company and making me smile and so I would name it Charlie.

Snail Mail, A New Sewing Macine, and a Dear Friend

 It took forever, but all of the grandchildren finally received my Valentines. I do not understand why the mail to New Hampshire takes so long. My last two mailings, which were only envelopes, took fourteen days and nine days, respectively. Anyway, I had so much fun making them and writing messages on the inside. Six year old Eliot exclaimed how much he liked his card and described all the details of it. Finally he exuberantly announced that I was his "second favorite grandma". Wait a minute...second favorite? I cracked up laughing. I told his mom I guess second place wasn't so bad except that with only two places to be ranked, it meant that I was last place. Lol! I said children's emotions are like the wind and ever changing. I expect I will be favorite another day.

A super big event this week was my purchase of a new sewing machine. I have been sewing on my Singer Fashion Mate 360 for forty-nine years! My sister Charlotte and I went in halves on it all those years ago. It still runs okay but like Steve said, I had been sewing with a stick shift and now I have an automatic. It is definitely an upgrade. I have had a few days to get to know the new Janome and I like it more each day. It is much more cooperative to work with and makes sewing more of a joy than a task. I finished piecing a Kim Diehl quilt pattern using fabrics from the Tilda Merry Little Christmas line. The dining room table hasn't gotten much of a rest these past few weeks.

 Lastly, I went to Eleanor's house this week as I always do. I realized that I have been going there every Wednesday for the last ten years (with the exception of illness or travel) . We get together for rug hooking but it is really so much more than that. I am between hooking projects so I had nothing with me to work on this week. That doesn't matter and I go anyway. Eleanor put the tea kettle on and said, "Tell me a story!" I always seem have plenty to tell and she is always amused. Eleanor will turn ninety-three next month and her husband, Frank will be one hundred this year. I love to hear their stories too. 

 

Pillow Finish, Signs of Spring

 

The 'Birdies' pillow is finished and went home to live on Tess' office chair. It was a fun little pillow to hook. (Pattern on linen by Maggie Bonanomi.) I piped it with some of the pinkish wool and stuffed it very firm.

Steve and I started taking walks again. If we walk up to Cahoon's old farmhouse and back it gives us two and a half miles. It was very cold on our first walk last week and we were all bundled up. The last two walks we only needed light, fleece jackets. Robins are gathering in flocks in the fields. It is encouraging to hear the birds singing in the morning. How is it that spring enamors us each year? We have lived it over and over so many times and it never gets old.

 

The end goal of our walk. This barn hasn't contained cows in decades but it still smells so good- like hay and manure.

I thought the silhouette of this cow looked like a primitive painting. to the right of the barn on the left is the chimney of the log building that used to stand there. Sadly, the log building fell down a couple of years ago.

 

This lovely horse lives across the road from us.

Le Creuset: Grief and Relief

 

Last August we bought an eight quart Le Creuset Oval Dutch Oven as an anniversary gift to ourselves. We already owned a smaller, round Dutch oven but we wanted a larger pot when cooking for family and friends. We believe that the meals cooked in enameled cast iron cook better and taste better. These pots cook more evenly, flavors blend better, and these pots can go from stove top to oven without question. These are investment pieces for a kitchen and we were excited to add this larger size Dutch oven to our one-piece collection.

We used it once or twice before the Christmas holidays and used it twice more when the family was all here in December and January. A couple of weeks after Christmas everyone was coming for Sunday dinner. I would be cooking for twelve so decided to make a large pot of beef stew. I also decided to cook it the day before, when I had more time and the flavor would be even better the next day. After the stew was cooked and cooled, I brought the pot to the basement refrigerator where there was more room to store it. I set the heavy, stew laden pot on top of the dryer so I could open the refrigerator door. In a split second the pot slid off the dryer and fell into an empty laundry basket on the floor, spilling the stew into the basket. My first alarm was the loss of the stew, which took all day to cook! Also, what would I serve the next day? Steve heard me yell and rushed over to help. We knew the laundry basket was clean, so we scooped the stew back into the pot as best we could. As I tipped the pot upright, I noticed blue enamel chips off the pot. Looking closer, I saw that not only was the enamel chipped but the pot had a crack all the way through! I was so mad at myself and felt sick over the permanent damage I had caused by setting the pot on the dryer top.

That evening, when the kids returned home, I told them what happened. Daniel Googled Le Creuset's warranty and it said that although this type of damage was not covered under the warranty, some people claimed that Le Creuset gave them a discount toward a replacement purchase. Given what it would cost to replace this pot, I decided to write Le Creuset and tell them what happened. My hope was that they might give me a coupon towards a new Dutch oven like some other customers had claimed. I emailed them photos and told them what happened. After three weeks I received a reply. It reiterated what the warranty does and does not cover and instructions on how to care for Le Creuset cookware. Finally, the sender wrote that they decided to extend a one-time only (their bold letters) replacement to me for my pot. What?! This was not what I expected. At most I had hoped for maybe a discount coupon. I was extremely grateful and wrote back to tell them so! They gave me two colors to choose from, peach and white. I chose the white and within three days, our replacement arrived. 

In a time when customer service from many companies is at a low, Le Creuset treated us better than we deserved. My friend asks me why I would ever spend so much money on a cook pot. I always tell her about how wonderfully they cook. Now I have two reasons; One, Le Creuset pots cook food better than anything. Two, customer service. I already know what recipe I am going to cook for our friends in our new, white, eight quart Dutch oven the next time we host dinner. It will include tomatoes and I know the white pot will wash up just fine. And I will never, ever set a pot on my dryer, ever again.

Still Not Too Old, A Note From Jack, Surprise!

 

I was relaxing in the living room when a quick movement out the window caught my eye. I got up to investigate thinking maybe an animal had run through the yard. But, there was nothing there. A few minutes later I got up and went to the kitchen window and I saw Steve walking back up the field pulling the sled he made. So that was him flashing by the window! I had no idea he was outside. He sledded all the way back at the top of the little hill and went all the way to the road! Those slippery skis on the bottom of the sled glide along on top of the frozen snow so nicely. He made a couple more runs before he crashed into the Viburnum shrubs with his head. What a goof. I told him he should not be riding head first. 

We got a note in the mail from grandson Jack to thank us for his birthday and Christmas gifts. We so rarely receive handwritten mail any more. I loved seeing Jack's handwriting and our address written out in his own hand. Handwriting is so personal and unique. It was almost like having a little visit from Jack himself.

We went to granddaughter Violet's basketball game. It is really fun to watch her little self play on the team. So cute! On the way home, we popped into Kroger for bread and happened to see fresh  rhubarb in the produce department! I was so excited that we had to buy some...and strawberries. The young man checking us out did not know what rhubarb was. I told him of all the delights of strawberry rhubarb pie or rhubarb compote and Steve warned him not to bite into it raw or it would be like a Warhead. He asked us if there was more for sale over there and that he might have to go and get some for himself. I made a pie as soon as we got home. Lucky for us we had vanilla ice cream in the freezer to go with it. We shared that pie with Tim and Kay and then I made another one on Sunday to share with Tess and Blake. That rhubarb made a lot of us happy. 

 

How to Fill a Week

 

Deer racks to the back of the property.

A round patch of hay for a bed.
 

 When Steve is away I envision the time home alone as a blank calendar to fill as I wish, until he returns. In reality, the week is not much different than when he is home, except I am doing for one instead of two.  Regardless, I try to make the best use of time and fill it up so the days pass in a productive way. It is a luxury to not have to stop and cook. This week I ate sandwiches, salads, and mini chicken pot pies I had put up in the freezer. I spent zero time cooking anything this week.

It is still snowy, cold, and frozen outside. We did have one sunny day in the upper 30's and it felt nice. I was surprised by the gentle snowfall we had all afternoon today. I wanted to be outside in it so I bundled up and put cleats on my boots and went for a walk around the property. It was peaceful and quiet and I was very happy to walk around in the snow. For a moment I longed to be standing on frozen Lake Morey in Vermont. I recalled standing there last winter on that vastness of ice and hearing nothing but the solitude of nature in winter. Back on on our snowy patch, I saw rabbit tracks and cat tracks. There were also many deer tracks, as usual. The snowy footprints made it easy to see how the deer follow a set path to and fro. Huge swaths of field contain no tracks at all and only a set area contain all the tracks. I followed these across the field to see where they led. They went into the thicket at the back of the property, near the graveyard. I found a bare patch on a grassy knoll and it was clear that some deer had bedded down there. 

My walk was over too soon and I went back inside. I finished working on Valentine cards for the grandchildren. I made a big, crafty mess on the kitchen table, even spreading supplies onto the floor. There was only myself to clean up after! I used You Tube video tutorials to cut, fold, and glue all sorts of colorful paper and trimmings into cards. It was fun! Some of the grandchildren are getting older but I hope they still appreciate a note from Nonni expressing my love.

 Earlier in the day I dropped off three items to be quilted to a local lady who does custom quilting. We discussed my ideas and I gave her pictures of how I would like them quilted. I felt like I was handing over my precious children to her, trusting that all would be well with them. I hope to write good things about the quilts when they are returned to me in a couple of weeks.