Memorial day tradition

I spent countless hours of my youth in this pool. I swam with dolphins, dove for sunken treasure, explored with Jacque Cousteau, swam through hula hoops, did endless underwater handstands and summersaults, skimmed millions of bugs, leaves and salamanders out of it, and found solace in swimming laps for hours. I refused to go in it for a brief period during the summer when Jaws came out. On the hottest summer days I would stand in the water up to my shoulders and eat dinner with the plate resting on the side. As a kid I rode on the back of my dad while he swam and as a teenager I sat on the edge at dusk and flirted with a boy. 

I plan to find solace again this summer swimming.

9 AM 

5 PM  Let the fun begin!

Why did the turkey cross the road?

To get to the Memorial day picnic. 

Photo taken from my car after the turkey (seriously) crossed the road.

Blueberry crumble pie

Indulge me please with my pie construction photos.

dough ready for the fridge

rolled out

blueberries soaking

ready for the oven

all done!

Oh my tart!

Sunday's errands ended with a trip to the local bake shop.  Iced coffee and asparagus tart disappeared instantly.

I love errands.

Memorial day

Flags up!

Nashi remembers and thanks those who served.

Rain, rain go away

The last storm of May.

Dirty (foot)work

Before, I had sneakers.
Now I have work sneakers and good sneakers.
Let me clear up this point right away, neither are used for running. Ha, running. No.

Before one pair of sneakers did it all for me, got me places comfortably, took me on nice walks, let me chase my nieces and nephews around. Then I bought a house with a yard.

The first assault happened while picking up and burning fallen branches at my mother's house. At some point an ember landed on my sneaker and burned a hole through the top of the left sneaker. This new sneaker hole lets me judge just how hard I worked according to how muddy my sock gets and how many pebbles and pieces of mulch find their way in the sneaker. The weekly grass cutting has turned the soles bright green. The digging and mulching have made them permanently filthy. And since it has rained every day except for two hours this month, they are always wet. They smell nice too.

So now I have a second pair of sneakers and I feel a little like Mr Rogers when I come home and change out of my crisp white sneakers into my work sneakers. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, won't you be my neighbor? And help me weed?

Laugh track

I was at a luncheon the other day having a lovely time chatting and laughing when suddenly I heard myself laugh. It was like slow motion hearing, is that possible? My laugh had changed. Out of the blue I had a different laugh. I didn't try to have a different laugh, I had actually never thought about how I laugh. But suddenly it's different. How does that happen? For the next week I strained to hear myself every time I laughed. Always the new version. What decision was made and by what part of me to make a new sound when I'm happy or amused? I am baffled.

The Big E

Happy second birthday to E!

This little (or maybe not so little) toddler had the perfect party. Tables were covered in craft paper and set in the back yard under tall leafy trees that kept the sun and heat at bay. Everyone drew and played games with markers on the table tops and two of the sweetest teenagers taught me how to play lines and dots. The backyard had fresh, just planted flowers everywhere you turned, it looked ready for a magazine spread. The menu was ideal, not fussy, just right for a small crowd to serve themselves followed by the dream cake of a 2 year old. And all day all I heard was laughter. Toddlers, children, teenagers and adults all played and laughed together. Never a tear or a whine or a stomping of a foot. It was an enchanted party held for the smartest, cutest, most adorable little boy. And I'm NOT biased.

Steeping

Home again home again jiggety-jog

You know how you can be driving along thinking about something and suddenly you realize you drove all the way home without actually paying attention? Tonight was the first time I did that. I guess my autopilot mode finally knows the way to the new home.

Grass muppet

There was a brief lull in the constant rain so I mowed the back yard and used the new weed wacker to finally clean up around all the edges. When I was done I was covered in grass. Head to toe covered, like I had green fur. And after I finished cleaning out the underside of the lawn mower which was clogged with wet grass pulp, my hands and nails were stained bright green. Without thinking I wiped the sweat off the sides of my face and forehead which left my face streaked with green. Everybody cuts the grass, everyone. I have never seen a single other person turn into Oscar the Grouch or the Creature from the Black Green Lagoon in the process. I took off my now emerald green sneakers and went inside to clean the grass bits out of my ears. Grouch indeed.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Please note there is an absence of farmers market photos this week.
You are welcome.

Pleat me happy

Roberto Capucci
Art into Fashion
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Go now

The Capucci show is breathtaking, you actually hear people gasp as they move through the exhibit. Each dress is unexpected and astonishing and unique, it was a nice sensation to be constantly surprised and awed. For my birthday this year I want to go back to 1957 and wear the "9 gowns" dress.

Happy as could be I sat down outside the exhibit and found myself at the foot of the Great Stair Hall where Diana (formerly on top of Madison Square Garden, by Augustus Saint-Gauden. Thank you mom!) was looking over a jazz band warming up for the Art After 5 performance. The only thing better than listening to a jazz band is listening to them warm up. And if you know me at all you know I am happiest in a museum and I love jazz. Now if Matt Damon came over with a puppy I would have died instantly of pure bliss.

Aren't you the lucky one Diana?

Museum gift

My mother is the the President of the museum auxiliary and they tirelessly raise money year long. This year in addition to raising $5,000 they also purchased an original John James Audubon print from his work Birds of America, a collection of life-size prints. I was thrilled to attend their yearly luncheon where the President of the museum was presented with both gifts.

My mother presenting the check to the museum President.

Both presidents in front of the Audubon print.

I was delighted to be there to support my mother and hear her speak. Excellent job Mom! After lunch we were treated to Puccini sung by a wonderful soloist accompanied by the piano. Just lovely.

It's a wet, wet, Winterthur

When is the best time to go visit the 1,000-acre du Pont Estate? With 60-acres of gorgeous gardens? In the pouring rain? So glad you agree as that is exactly when we went.

In.  The.  Pouring.  Rain.

The rain was kind enough to slow to a drizzle for a few brief moments and we dashed about as much as we could.

As you can see the back of the 175-room Winterthur main house really isn't that much different from mine.

Again, the reflecting pool was so similar to mine that I felt quite at home.

Although they did accessorize theirs differently.

The peony garden was like stumbling into an english fairytale princess garden. I think their inspiration came from mine.

As big as a dinner plate.

We toured inside and out and after all that oohing and aahing we were rather famished. So off we went to the Hotel du Pont for a four-course tea. 

Lovely finger sandwiches topped with an edible orchid bloom, although at home I usually add two blooms to my daily afternoon tea.

In the end, stuffed and finally dried out. A fantastic day.

The Farmbulous market

I know, I'm getting pretty sick of the farmers market posts too but I can't stop myself. Could you if there was a tractor like this?

or if there were flower stands like this?

Ok, I'm done. 

For this week.

No promises on next week. I'm not that strong.

Apparently I am going to spend Mondays posting photos of everything I bought on Sundays

Farmers market eggs

 I felt like I won the lottery when I saw the green egg.

You look radishing today

This is the most ridiculously beautiful bunch of radishes I have ever seen. Magenta, red and white radishes with vibrant spring green leaves tossed on a cerulean cloth. I am so in love with this I am going to crawl inside and live in this radish bunch because nothing could ever be more beautiful.

Oh wait.

A vintage wicker basket filled with bouquets of red and white baby radishes no bigger than your thumb? Hail a cab, I'm moving in.

My neighbor is such a pig

Imagine my surprise when I turned the corner and saw this:

This little piggy was so busy chomping grass and happily wagging it's tail, he never even looked up at me.

My dogs however could not believe their eyes.

Color blind

This spring has been riotous with color. Every house has blazing shrubs and glowing trees. Each corner I turn onto has pink dogwoods, red azaleas, pure white bleeding hearts, deep red japanese maples and orange tulips. It seems spring has pulled out all the stops, it can't help itself but unleash all it's pigment at once. Or have the flowers always been this retina-burning bright and I just never saw it?

A dog's life

Some mornings I just don't want to get out of bed. My bedroom is pale yellow with white trim and feels so cheerful and calm. Apparently I am not the only one who feels that way.

Sleeping, go away.

Beauty rest, check!

Charlie's back!

I had three gold fish all named Charlie when I lived in CT. While I was moving to PA Sarah took care of them for me. Apparently Charlies one and two could not bear to be separated from me and the grief took them. Charlie number three is made of tougher stuff.

Charlie has agreed to give PA a try. So far the water here seems fine.

The return of happiness

Lily of the Valley transplanted from my mother's garden. I remember walking through the bed of Lily of the Valley when I was a child. These tiny white flowers stretched across the entire front yard and the smell was intoxicating. She gave me some to plant last week in my very first garden and it seems appropriate to start it with my favorite flower from childhood. Even more apropos that they mean "the return of happiness".

My new desk accessory

When a cold keyboard causes your fingers to become chilly while typing, a keyboard cozy does the trick.

And it conveniently rolls back when your keyboard has warmed up.

* Pink belly is extra

Night Train

The railroad tracks run through town and trains run periodically day and night. I can hear the metal clacking and horns in the distance from my house. My mother calls it an old-fashioned sound, the sound of a different time. I love it. I find it comforting. It makes my little town feel intimate, no matter where you are everyone can hear the same train going through.

Happy chickens = happy carnivore

Every Sunday morning just down the road there is a local farmers market selling fruit, vegetables, flowers, baked goods, poultry, meat, eggs, jams, salsas, cheese, with lots of happy people filling their baskets. One of the vendors is a chicken farmer who's birds are pasture raised on organic fields and grain. The chickens live in portable coops and are moved frequently around the fields. The birds are raised and butchered humanely, this concept has become very important to me. When you start hearing about bad animal farming practices and what really goes on at many farms it is terribly disturbing, so much so I could no longer read about it and I was very conflicted about eating meat. 


I started to read about farms that practice humane animal farming and butchering. The animals live the most natural life they can and the butchering is done in a way that causes the least amount of physical and mental trauma. This makes for a happy animal which makes me a happy carnivore.


Meals made from this weeks purchases:
Happy roast chicken
Patted dry, inside and out, seasoned with salt, pepper and stuffed with onion, orange, garlic, fresh rosemary sprigs and fresh thyme. Baked at 450 degrees until juices run clear. 

Happy eggs my way
Pocketless pita warmed, topped with sauteed spinach and two eggs over easy.

Blinded by the shrub

I drove by this azalea bush on my way home in the evening and had to stop to take a picture. It was vibrating with color in the dusk. If the sun was out when I saw it I would have called 911 to report a fire, if the sun was out when I saw it I would have thought Moses was somewhere close by talking to it, if the sun was out when I saw it I'd have to look at it through a pin hole in a piece of paper. Do you get what I am trying to say? 


This azalea bush was hella bright.

If you are so lucky

If you are so lucky as to live in a 109 year old house made of red brick one hopes it has a lovely shaded porch. And if you are indeed so lucky what does one put on said shaded, 109 year old, red brick porch? An Amish white rocker of course. Purchased at an Amish farm stand on the back roads of Kutztown. Now I am waiting for a hot day or a bowl of string beans that need snapping to put it to good use.

"The hurrier I go, the behinder I get." -Pennsylvania Dutch saying

Ornithologist please

Look at this beautiful little treasure I found in the grass. Is it a Robin, Finch, or Eastern Bluebird egg? I have no idea.

Mowing the lawn is NOT like vacuuming

The last time I mowed the lawn I was in my teens and it was self propelled. I am now very much NOT a teenager and the Neuton mower although lightweight is all "I'm not doing it, you do it" and "go ahead and make me".  A bratty, stubborn, little kid. Once I got over the shock of not being able to push it with my fingertips whilst sipping a martini and admitted I was going to sweat I was OK. Maybe because the mower looks so much like a toy I expected it to be more, I dunno, fun? Plus my front yard is on an 80 degree angle. It basically laughed at me while I was jamming the mower up it's alpine-ian banks. Still I am very pleased, first time I mowed the front lawn and all.

Before

After