Weekend in Massachusetts Part II

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that we went to an incredible museum in Deerfield, MA, the Flynt Center, and promised to share a few photos from our time there. For a small location the museum had an impressive collection of artifacts from the 1600s to the end of the 19th century.
The patron of the museum and co-founder of Historic Deerfield, Helen Geier Flynt, spent 60 years collecting artifacts, and her passion for early American is evident in this extensive collection.
The collection consists of lovely furniture, pottery, everyday articles and textiles. I was immediately drawn to the textile collection which presents examples of embroidery, woven silks, bed hangings, coverlets, quilts, costumes. It is amazing to think of the talents of our ancestors working with so many less materials, the value of those materials, and most importanly, light. I can't imagine working with a needle and thread with cold fingers by candle-light.

Obviously all pieces in the collection were behind glass and they were hard to photograph - I took so many pictures but unfortunately only a few turned out.
The shoes in the first photgraph were stunning however I can't imagine how impractical they were, not to mention uncomfortable! Aren't they just lovely though?


There were many articles of clothing, from beautifully and intricately detailed stitchings on muslin under clothes to heavy silks. I'm so disappointed that my least favorite piece of clothing, this green dress, was the only clear photograph. None the less, it is gorgeous, however I preferred the simpler clothing. It was so interesting to note the ever changing style of dress too. Much like our fashion is constantly changing, theirs was too.
The best, in my opinion, were the samplers and crewel work. The were incredible works of art. Just look at the detail in this piece and the one pictured with the shoes. It is amazing that the colors have remained as vibrant and intense as they have over the years, thanks to somone's careful preservation.

I hope I have an opportunity to go back and spend more time in the Flynt Center. If you are ever in western Massachusetts, I highly recommend a trip to Deerfield - you won't be disappointed.

Fun Friday!

Happy Easter!

Weekend in Massachusetts

We were in Massachusetts this weekend visiting our daughter, Katie. We have not seen her since January when she left after winter break to go back to school.

It was so great to see her and it was like a mini vacation.
That's Katie with George and her boyfriend, Corey, in front of the map at Historic Deerfield.
We spent a good part of Saturday in Deerfield, about 20 minutes north of Amherst, MA. It is one of many historic areas in the state which was lovely and educational. It was a nice way to spend the day, learning and exploring.

As you can see, it was a beautiful day, but very chilly - in the 30s and windy. What does one expect in New England in March though!

I love colonial and traditional and nothing says colonial New England like a saltbox house.
Beautiful in my opinion!

I love all all of the colonial architecture.
Look at these old bottle windows we saw on a number of the buildings. Amazing!
I could not believe the slope on the side of this house - can you see it?
We spent some time inside a really impressive museum, the Flynt Center. I managed to get a few pictures, which I'll share next time.
It was a wonderful weekend and I hated to see it end.

Lonesome Soldier

I noticed this one lonesome daffodil last night when I came home. It is all by itself....none of the other daffodils are anywhere near ready to bloom however this one was so anxious to pop, there it was all by its lonesome self!

We had a very windy spring day today. It was almost difficult to walk when I took my walk at lunchtime. When I got home tonight, there was this poor lonesome daffodil, like a casualty of war, just laying in the garden.
I hope the calm environment inside will make it happy for another day or two.
We'll be good companions!

Happy Spring!

Happy Spring!
We have finally entered spring and in my area we are experiencing an unusual taste of June weather today - Sunny and in the 70s!

We have endured a terrible winter and I'm so glad for spring to be here. As a tribute to spring and some talented Etsy sellers, I'd like to share with you some of my favorites that say "spring" to me.

The Wind in the Willows from DornickDesigns. Just the name screams spring to me and I love the colors and the tree ready to burst with green.


Talk about green - don't you love this contrast of green and blue?

Vintage Compote from GingersGirl, a great new shop on Etsy.



How about this wonderful bird house?

It is so peaceful to watch and listen to the birds in warm weather. I would love to have this awesome bird house (just look at the detail) in my yard! This Primitive Chicken Hen House, by Birdhouseaccents is one of my favorite bird houses on Etsy.

Look at this adorable fairy window -

This window with flower box is just one of the many neat little fairy or gnome architectural pieces from NothinButWood. You won't be disappointed with their creative pieces.
I just love this funky ring holder and purchased one similar to it last year from TwistedRiverClay. I love having it on my window sill in the kitchen to put my rings when I do the dishes.


What a colorful spring pendant this is, Bloom Where You Are Planted by Tekaandzoe.


And last but not least, Karen Fields always delights with her bright and cheery paintings. My latest favorite of hers is Tree of Life Birds. Such magic and whimsy with Karen's use of color.



I hope you have enjoyed some of my favorites. Are any of your favorites inspired by spring?
Happy Spring my friends!

Fun Friday

Eggs!







TGIF and be kind to your eggs!

My Own "Vintage" Eggs

I know I have mentioned that even as a child I found so much pleasure in being creative. I will always remember the day I made these eggs. I was proably 10 or 11 years old so they must be at least 40 years old by now!
I decided to cover eggs and really challenged myself at an early age with this task. I used real eggs and put pin-pricks at each end and actually blew the liquid out of the eggs.
I covered each egg (a total of 6) with little squares of calico I cut with pinking sheers. There is no finish to these eggs, simply fabric glued onto the shells, however they have lasted these many, many years.
I keep them carefully packed away in an egg carton and marvel at them each spring when I take them out of the carton and enjoy them. These simple eggs have given me so many years of pride and pleasure. I hope you like them too!

Fun Friday

For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans...

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION:

Eat and drink what you like.
Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

TGIF my friends!
Hope you all have a great weekend!

She's Beautiful!

She arrived and she's beautiful!
I love her and feel so lucky to have this incredible painting!
I "won" her from sweet Silke Powers. Thank you Silke!
Silke is a talented artist and if you'd like to see some of her incredible paintings visit her Etsy shop, silkepowers. I can't wait to find the perfect space for her!
I have watched the evolution of Silke's work and I'm amazed how each piece is more incredible than the last. I just love Silke's style.

Our weather here has remained lovely. I have gone out the last 3 days at lunch and walked a brisk walk for 45 minutes! I may be able to get a walk in tomorrow too, hopefully, if the rain holds out. Rain is coming!

Snow, Snow Go Away!

What a beautiful day - 3rd day in a row and our 50-plus inches of snow are finally disappearing!

3 days of sunshine and 5-6 days of well-over freezing makes fast work of melting snow. It is 54 degrees right now (5:30 PM) and it was this warm yesterday too. Tomorrow is forecast to be a carbon copy. Finally pay-back for our awful record-breaking February.
I worked at the shop yesterday - it was a nice diversion from my regular job and I had not been there since December. The downside was I missed the beautiful day, but at least I could take advantage of it today.
Hope you all had a lovely weekend too.

Fun Friday!

Last night, my husband and I were sitting in the living room, and I said to him, 'I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug.'

He got up, unplugged the computer, and threw out my wine.

He's such a %#*+#&%!

32 Years Ago

Some days I struggle to find topics to talk about and think, I doubt anyone would be interested in.......

Being at a loss again tonight, and not blogging since Sunday, I've decided to share a photo of me from the past. This is me 32 years ago.
I don't often go on facebook however the other day my college class was sending stuff back and forth so I went on and enjoyed the pictures and memories from the past.
Anyway, here I am, 32 years ago in my senior year in college.

Shopping Bonanza

I had a great day of shopping yesterday and want to share my purchases with you.
I would much rather bargain and thrift shop than mall shopping any day but I had to run to by the mall to take care of an errand so I stopped into Pottery Barn looking around for ideas. I could not resist a bag of artificial pears for my dining room table.

There is just something about pears that I find so appealing.

I quickly left the mall and headed for some fun shopping - at one of my local thrift shops.

In keeping with my quest for new accessories for our newly painted downstairs rooms I found this wrought iron plant stand for the dining room. We have a lot of black and this goes perfectly in the room. It is the perfect height for our lower dining room window too.

While I was checking out the woman behind me said it looks brand new!



I found this little shade for a lamp on my mantle - a total bargain at 75 cents!


Last but not least, I can't believe this cute pair of flats that looked like they have never been worn - another incredible bargain for $3!

A girl can never have too many pair of shoes!

I left the thrift shop and headed over to Pier 1 - my intention was just to look but I must admit, I have the best luck at that store finding bargains. I found this awesome Chinese red bird cage. I did not have my glasses with me and thought, I can't be reading this price right, but sure enough, my eyes were not deceiving me and it was 75% off! Sold - I had to have it.


And finally a whimsical little porcelain ball. There was a bowl full of different letters but I just grabbed one, an A for Anderson, and placed it on a single crystal candlestick. I love it!

My shopping adventure today was to the grocery. I thought I better buy food before I run out of money if I continued on with my decorating quest again today.
Hope you all had a good weekend too.

Fun Friday

My blog readers around my age should appreciate this -

Some of the artists of the 60's and 70's are revising their hits with new lyrics to accommodate aging baby boomers who can remember doing the "Limbo” as if it were yesterday.

They include:

Bobby Darin ---Splish, Splash, I Was Havin' A Flash

Herman's Hermits ---Mrs. Brown, You've Got A Lovely Walker

Ringo Starr ---I Get By With A Little Help From Depends

The Bee Gees -- -How Can You Mend A Broken Hip?

Roberta Flack---The First Time Ever I Forgot Your Face

Johnny Nash ---I Can't See Clearly Now.

Paul Simon--- Fifty Ways To Lose Your Liver

The Commodores ---Once, Twice, Three Times To The Bathroom

Procol Harum--- A Whiter Shade Of Hair

Leo Sayer ---You Make Me Feel Like Napping

Abba---Denture Queen

Tony Orlando --- Knock 3 Times On The Ceiling
If You Hear Me Fall

Helen Reddy ---I Am Woman, Hear Me Snore

Leslie Gore---It's My Procedure, And I'll Cry If I Want To

And Last but NOT least...

Willie Nelson ---On the Commode Again

P.S. Thankfully the weather predictions were wrong - in our area - a nor'easter did come through with high winds, but we only got about 6 inches of snow rather than the foot of snow that was predicted - like nothing compared to what we've had!
Yeah!

TGIF Everyone!

Oh, No! Here We Go Again!

Here we go again! Another big storm is hitting! Unbelievable!
From WPVI Weather - "TONIGHT: Clouds will remain thick with snow arriving around midnight. The snow will be light at first, but road conditions could still become slippery overnight. The low: 33.

THURSDAY: By the morning rush hour, light to moderate snow will be in full swing with new accumulations already underway. The snow will become more intense as we move through the day, and during the afternoon and night time, bands of heavy snow are likely. The snow continues through the night."

Give us strength!

Photo Challenge

My Creative Friends group is getting together this Thursday - yeah, I can't wait. Our challenge this month was to do something utilizing a photo.

I had a couple of ideas but every time I sat down to bring an idea together, I couldn't do it. I guess it was not meant to be.

Feeling under pressure Saturday morning I went through the drawer in the highboy where I have a large envelope of old photos and first found one of Katie's t-ball pictures. Of course I thought it was so cute and she was so cute at that age....and it hit me, why not use the mat that the team photos were in?!

The creative problem was solved, and I found 2 photos I thought would suit the openings in mat - the cutest photos of George and me when we were little!
I love the pensive expression and pose he has, and I love the happy-go-lucky, I don't have a care in the world laugh that was captured in my photo!

It was not a difficult or highly creative or artistic project but I'm happy with it and think it it adorable!

I'm also excited about getting together with the group because I'm introducing a new friend from work who is very excited about meeting the group, a lovely bunch of talented ladies!

The End Result!

We finally have our lovely new hall floor! Isn't it nice?
I have wanted to get a new floor in the hallway since we moved into the house, 20 years ago I might add.
Promises, promises.....we'll do it, or I'll get to it (since George said he could do it himself).
Well, he finally made the decision to do it and it looks lovely. I guess he figured while we were painting we might as well do it.
It used to be a dark brown linoleum floor (yuk). I did not get to take a picture of it because George took it up a couple of Saturday's ago when I was out running errands. Anyway, it turns out there was a white linoleum floor under the dark brown one, and then a nice hard wood under the white linoleum! Yeah!



We were really excited to see a nice hard ward floor underneath.

The story gets better - A couple of days later, while painting the hallway, he missed his step and knocked over a can of paint!

Can you believe it? Of all the luck! Thankfully he got it off where is splashed into the kitchen and a few other places, but could not work fast enough to do anything to get most of it up that fell right on that nice floor.
So, long story short, and unfortunately a few hard earned dollars later, we (George) put a new floor on top of it. It does look great, and we'll always have a story to tell about it!