A Lovely Country Wedding

It was a great day, last Sunday.  It started out with a shower and some cooler air which was very welcome.  Soon it cleared and the sun came out, insuring a great afternoon for an outdoor wedding!
All the preparations complete, or nearly so by noontime.  Grandson Patrick and his lovely bride, Lindsay, so happy and excited and guests arriving.  I will tell the story with some pictures.  It was a very nice time and everything went well.

Introducing Mr and Mrs Patrick Richardson

Lindsay, Patrick and Selena

The Cake  by Auntie Angel

A reading by Auntie Angel

Good Job,  by friends of the bride and groom !

Such a sweet couple and Selena thoroughly enjoyed the day!   The 'kids' are back now from a honeymoon trip to the beach.  They have many good memories to cherish of their special day with friends and family.

Still the summer stays busy!  Today was Family Reunion day... Den's family and it is always a special time as we gather in the hills at cousin Tim's for fun and food and catching up with each other as another year has passed.  How the time has flown!  Keeping the generations in order takes effort!  There are so many now.  I think the oldest attending the party was 95 years young!  The youngest this year was probably around 3.  We were blessed with a lovely day, nice, warm and sunny but not hot nor humid.

So it's been a busy day and now it's time to rest.  I hope you are all having a good summer with some fulfilling  good times and that you are making lots of good memories.  

This quote is from Frank Kafka

"Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty in every age of life really never grows old."

 Here we are in mid July already!  Where is the summer going?  Such a busy one too!  Took our annual trip to the Northesat Kingdom the weekend of the 4th.  Had a wonderful time with our grandson and family and especially with the two little gr. granddaughters. They are growing so fast and amaze us with all they learn.

Then we spent a morning with my friend Jane and met her daughter whom I had not seen since she was a toddler. That was a super good time and they made us a lovely lunch.  Thanks, Jane and Sharon!
Then off to the top of the mountain to visit cousins, Mick and DonnaMae for the their birthday celebrations and some awesome fireworks displays, eight towns within a 180 degree range of view from their patio !,  Plus the great display put on there atop the mountain by the M. brothers! Thanks guys and also a big thank you to our hosts who put on a fabulous and yummy BBQ.
Then, next day we are off in the Gypsy Wagon for home.  Of course there is always time for lunch at Exit 17 at the Truck Stop!

The gardens are thriving really well, veggie and flowers alike.  We are preparing for a wedding on Sunday... Our grandson Patrick and his bride to be, Lindsay are planning an outdoor wedding.   The bridal shower was a couple of Sundays ago.  Everyone is all excited and we are hoping for the picture perfect day. Last session of therapy this morning for my ailing back.  Sure hope these have cured the sciatica problems!  Now for the final little wait for Pat and Lindsay's big day!  will write of the event and post some pictures later.   Enjoy the lovely sweet summer days The Lord has blessed us with.

Busy, Busy Days of Summer

What a busy summer so far and Summer has just begun!  It's been a lovely, lush and green time with glorious blue-sky days this week with temps in the 70's and a wonderful breeze every day.  The nights are a bit cooler and so refreshing with the open window and so conducive to a good night's sleep. Vermont at her absolute finest!

Getting older does have it's perks!  Not having to rush off to work and be inside most of the day is certainly a big plus!

The gardens are growing happily with the abundant rain, just as needed and sunshine in the right amounts too.

Angel belongs to a group that offers weekly home grown produce to its members with a pick up each Thursday.  She shares these goodies with us.  We've had the nicest, freshest and most amazing variety of greens imaginable this spring.  Lettuce of all kinds, a variety of Swiss Chard, Bok Choy, Tatsoi (an Asian green I had never heard of), and  kale, plus garlic scapes (another new one to me), plus radishes and fresh eggs.  Our own garden is doing well except for the yellow bush beans which only a few plants came up from the seeds.  We replanted these again and are waiting to see how this batch does.  The pole beans are reaching for the sky already and the cukes, summer squash varieties and tomatoes look fine.

Last weekend was Alumni doings in town and as it was Dennis' 55th class reunion, the class decided to have a small float.  The theme of the parade was "Landmarks" and they chose to portray Plymouth Rock.  They had a great time and were amazed to win the Most Humorous Award for their float!  This was probably due to the 'characters' that rode on the float!

Pilgrims, Marcia, Judy and Joe                                   Indians, Patty, Dennis and Donna

We all enjoyed a delicious dinner at the well attended banquet Sat. night.

On Wednesday evening we went to our gr. granddaughter, Julie's graduation from elementary school.  It was a lovely warm evening and the festivities were held outdoors under a big tent.  A great celebration of a great class.  Very exciting time!  Congratulations, Julie !!

This morning we went to my class breakfast, a monthly event at the local restaurant.  This time there were over 25 folks enjoying a fine breakfast and lots of friendly conversation.  Also a little celebration of my cousin Natalie's upcoming birthday.   Joannie outdid herself again with the decorations and favors as well as a little something to take home for lunch... her best-ever whoopee pies!

I am sitting on the front porch as I write this, loving the heady scent of the multi-flora rose hedge which is in full bloom with white blossoms and the tantalizing fragrance only the old fashioned roses have to offer.

Looking forward to tomorrow which is Vermont History Expo day, held every other year at the Tunbridge Fairgrounds. Our Weathersfield Historical Society has a nice display at their booth thanks to Ellen Clattenburg the curator of our local museum.  This year's theme is "Vt. Art and Artisans". Dennis and I will watch over our booth for the morning and then enjoy the rest of the day looking at other town's booths.  Always a nice time and the weather promises to be picture perfect just like today.  And in the 70's with friendly warm sunshine.  After the Expo, we will head a bit north to Vershire, away up on Darling Hill to spend the rest of the afternoon and enjoy supper with our friends there.

Later on, in July, we hope to travel to the Northeast Kingdom to see our grandson Thad and family and get some cuddles from the little girls. Then spend some wonderful time visiting with my dear friend Janie.  Next on up to the top of Barton Mt. to see cousin Mick and Donna Mae and enjoy the the view from the top of the world and maybe see some fireworks from area towns visible in the distance.

All this before the big event of the summer ... Grandson Patrick and Lindsay's wedding !  This will be here in our backyard or in the meadow across the lane from us.  Just hoping for a carbon copy of today for this happy occasion.


In the spare time around all this fun stuff, I have made a few jars of strawberry/rhubarb jam and picked some comfrey and plantain which I have drying and will be making my salve soon.

SO goes Spring and the beginning of Summer.  Favorite times of the year.  Still have to find some time to get on the water in our kayaks!!  Have to make time for that SOON !

Enjoy this wonderful weather, all the scents and sounds of summer and most of all, enjoy  each other.

A couple lines from Pete Seeger's "Rainbow Race"

One blue sky above us
One ocean lapping all our shores,
One Earth so green and round...
Who could ask for more !

Real Spring Has Arrived

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day and spent some time with family.  It is amazing how just a couple of weeks can make such a difference weather wise!  We have had such nice days and occasional rain showers and warm days have made our Spring a reality.  All the grass is green, green, green and the leaves are fully out on the big maples.  Flowering shrubs and bushes are lovely and the tulips and daffodils are beginning to finish their blooming time.  Lilacs are just popping out too.  Some have already planted their gardens.  We wait until just before Memorial Day and hope for no more frosts.  The soil is warmer now and the seeds will germinate pretty quickly.  Den has the garden all tilled and ready.

                                                        From the patio as the sun is setting.

Angel and I had a great time picking out plants at the greenhouse last week.  As the new potting shed is finished now, I was happy to do my potting there and all the pots, trowels and shovels were in one place with the new bag of potting soil.  I mix that in with my good dirt and some compost I have made. The plants seem to like it and thrive.   I got some nice hanging flower plants from my hubby, daughter and daughter-in-law for Mother's Day, they are all so thoughtful!

I am ready now to share a picture of that great new potting shed as it is all painted and ready to show off!  And here it is......

It is very airy and light inside too.  The back window overlooks the river, and was

a freebee that someone had discarded, can't imagine why as it is brand new and even has

the mullions in between the glass!  Pretty fancy for a potting shed I'd say, and looks like 

a picture window in this little building.

 The picture at the top of my blog was taken from that window. 

Den made me shelves and a workbench inside and places to hang things.

I have been out foraging for edible greens etc.  Had a meal of fiddle head ferns, which are not my favorite but plentiful so I have a meal of those once each spring.  Some people just love them.  Then I picked dandelion greens several times as they are really good.  But the newest I have tried is the garlic mustard that is actually a non native plant that is becoming very invasive here.  The leaves are lush and tender and the top most stalks are good too.  Gathering some for dinner before they get their little white blossoms insures a very mild and not bitter at all green to cook. If they have small beginning blooms it is still fine. I just pick them off the top and discard them.  Then they are cooked like any green and are as mild as spinach!  Can do anything with them that you would with spinach. Some make pesto with the leaves.  Along about August,  it is good to get a bucket and go in search of the seed pods that have formed and pick the pods containing these little black seeds.  It is these tiny seeds, so numerous, that keep this invasive plant producing and taking over.  By being so prolific they don't allow the native ground cover and other ground plants to grow and thrive.  Folks around here get together and have garlic mustard  pulling outings.  The plant pulls up pretty easily and huge plastic bags are used to gather them into.  Then they are tied up so no light nor air can get to them.  I guess some burn them.  Getting them before they go to seed is the way to eliminate them.

When they do go to seed, the pods can be picked and the seeds winnowed out, ground, and used to make a delicious spicy mustard!  I have a recipe and I want to try it this August.   Also can make a Garlic Mustard Seed Salad Dressing which I also want to try.

Also last week, we visited the greenhouse where our grandson is the production manager, Gourmet Greens.  We got a tour of how they raise pea greens, radish and sunflower greens and wheat grass.  These are then harvested and sold to the local co-op, a local distributer of organic veggies and some restaurants.  A very interesting organic operation!  I liked my samples and I think I liked the radish greens the best and they were great in a chicken sandwich!  Thanks Pat for the tour.

Last night was the last in a series of monthly Baked Ham Suppers that we serve at church.  It is always a fun time to work with friends on the suppers.  We serve a family style dinner to  anywhere from 65 to 105 people and a lot of them are regulars.  It is always nice to see them as sometimes it is the only place we do get to see them.  

On Friday morning we attended the monthly breakfast for the class of '58.  A great turnout of about 24 classmates and some spouses as well.  We all look forward to these great times to visit and catch up with each others happenings.

Soon it will be time to get the Kayaks out and go for a paddle!  Looking forward to that for sure.  So much to do ...  so little time!!  Farmer's markets will be starting soon too.  A great way to get home grown veggies, eggs, home baked and canned goodies and crafts.  AND great news for those who haven't heard ... Vermont is the very first state to now require labeling of food as to whether it has  ingredients that have been Genetically Modified!  Everyone has a right to know how the food they are purchasing has been grown.  Big chemical companies aren't happy with us for sure.

Enjoy your Spring ....  Take time to enjoy the friendly sun.

"Beautiful faces are they that wear

The light of a pleasant spirit there.

Beautiful hands are they that do

Deeds that are noble, good and true.

Beautiful feet are they that go

Swiftly to lighten another's woe."

                  From McGuffy's Second Reader

  

I Think it is Spring !

Spring is truly here!  I wake to hear the robins singing and after supper, the peepers can be heard down by the brook.  But still that nippy wind persists! And it has been really blowing lately!  The sheets on the line nearly blew away today!

 We have raked out all the flower beds and the daffodils are blooming.  The forsythia on the north side still isn't blooming.  Guess it is still recovering from the severe cold of winter.  The 'Project', the recycled Potting/Garden shed is coming along nicely. It now has shutters at the windows!  Today I picked out some paint for them to brighten up the little house.  Soon as we get the outside looking nice I will get inside and see about how to set up a place to pot my plants etc.
Yesterday Angel and I went to meet the newest little bundle of joy, our very first gr. gr. grandson, Jordan.  What a little cuddle baby he is!

I have been experimenting as I learn to make a more gluten free bread that really looks like a nice loaf of bread and tastes as good as the bread I am used to making and eating.  We are told these days that so much wheat with all its gluten isn't that good for us.  So, today's experiment was a success!  A seven grain bread with much less wheat and many other grains etc.  Buckwheat, corn, brown rice, sorghum flour, almond flour and oat bran.  It was delicious!  So guess I am glad I jotted down what I added to that dough so I can do it again next time. 

"If thou taste a crust of bread, thou taste all the stars 

                                       and all the heavens."             Robert Browning

And now this spring day has come to an end and it is time to toddle off to bed.  Sleep well all!

Home Is Where The Heart Is

Ahhhh....HOME!   Although I've been here since the last of March, at last I feel caught up enough to get back to writing my blog.  We arrived safely after a very nice trip on dry roads and 'calm seas' on the inside.  Miss Lizzie was a very good rider this time and only complained a couple of times in the afternoon when she had endured just about ENOUGH of the whole traveling thing.  Then she did speak up and strongly suggest that just maybe we ought to call it a day!  She seemed to take the strange overnight rooms in stride this time and didn't give us any grief in that department.  Of course she was feeling considerably better than on the trip south in Oct. while still recuperating  after having 4 teeth removed. She seems to know when we are nearing home.  She comes up front and tries to see just where we are.  We can see her anticipation!

It was wonderful to arrive and find the driveway all shoveled and even a path up the walk from the drive all nice and wide.  And to come inside and find Angel warming her feet almost in the oven of the old wood stove she had built a nice fire in!  It had warmed things up quite a bit and was such a nice 'welcome home' !   First thing to unload is always the cooler and acting as part of the ice for the cooler, is always a nice container of homemade soup of some kind.  That always goes into a pot and finishes thawing atop the wood stove in time for our supper.  SO  all that is finished and all 'stuff' is put away.  Cleaning isn't much of a problem as I leave things really tidy and the fall cleaning done.   We've spent time with friends and catching up on things. Been to a class luncheon and reconnected with my knitting group and attended the Daniel Plan classes. So it has been a busy month getting back into the groove.  Missed the sugaring time this year as it was a pretty iffy one anyway.  There was plenty of snow so no problem if anyone wanted to have some sugar on snow!  Passed that by this time.

Now I have a nice project started!  A sweet little Potting Shed for the back yard!  With a little, very clever engineering, my gifted-in-these-matters  hubby returned the little building that once he built for Angel for a playhouse and which later became a 'waiting room', to our back yard....and all by himself I might add! I heard him felling a small tree along our bank with which he made a couple of skids to get the little shed up onto for the haul across the way and around back. The awesome part was how he got the shed turned around and backed in where we had decided to 'plant' it !!  Using his garden tractor with a plow on the front to do the pulling and pushing and with a tiny bit of help placing some bricks under his levers from a screeching wife who was afraid that we would dump the whole thing over the bank!!  But now it is all set in place on it's rock foundation and has a new picture window installed in the back with a fabulous view up the Black River where the water falls over the Tolls Dam with Mt. Ascutney and Pine Hill as a back drop. AMAZING!!  Now I need warm weather for painting and making some window boxes for flowers and some little shutters for a little color.  When it is presentable, I will post a before and after picture and just may hold open house !!

We have also had a chance, at Family Sunday, which Angel and Paul host the first Sunday of each month, to get acquainted and collect hugs and cuddles with our little gr. granddaughter, Selena!  We only got to meet her once before leaving in the fall.  What a cutie!!

           Selena in her Easter Dress.

I wish you all a very Happy and Blessed Easter.  

"He knew me ... and yet, He loved me!

He, who's glory made all Heaven shine!
I was so unworthy of such mercy,
Oh, but when He was on the cross
I was on His mind!"

from a favorite Easter song of mine.

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING!

Well, the season is over lll both our season here in the sunshine and supposedly... winter!  For all at home in Vermont I guess that's questionable!  Especially, we here, with the new snowfall of today!  CHEER UP  y'all ... I have just packed Spring into the car in all the nooks and crannies, in the trunk, and just everywhere there was s bit of space and I will be bringing it home with us.  It will arrive with us on Monday sometime in the afternoon, so be watching.

It was a good season here in Sunshine village with our snowbird friends.  Dennis and all the WorkKampers accomplished miracles  remodeling 4 of the 5 units they had to work on this season and they look great.

I had a nice time too with all my snowbird friends.  Many are also getting ready to pack up and head north again.  It is always good to ger home.  Regardless of the snow still to melt.

We have new gr. grandbabies to cuddle and even a gr. gr. grandson to meet ... born on Christmas Eve, little Jordan, who is as cute as a button.

Jordan

And we need to get to know gr. granddaughter Selena whom we have only seen one.  All the photos attest to her happy nature and cuddliness. 

Happy Selena 

We are all packed and spent the afternoon visiting with friends who came over to say their 'so-longs'. Frank and Cy, and Charlie and Carol and Deb.  Tonight we will have our last little card games with Jack and Wanda.  Hope the girls win tonight... we need it !  Those fellows have won way too many nights this year !

So, Say a prayer for our journey.  Hope we have dry roads and safe travel.  We will see some of you SOON !!   

A quote from some unknown to me.

"When thou hast thanked thy God for every blessing sent, what time will there remain for murmur or complaint !"