A Whirlwind Week!

It's so great to have company!  Friends we met and spend the winter with in Florida made their first trip to New England in their motorhome with car in tow last week.  Jim and Gail are full time nomads, on the road in their lovely 'home on wheels'.  They parked in our special place for friends in RV's who wish to visit us.  What a good few days we had showing them around and doing some things new to them.

One day we went on a mystery ride, enjoying finding some of our covered bridges, stopping to look at the Queeche Gorge and watch the amazing glass blowers at the Simon Pierce store there in Queeche..  Lunch was fun at a quaint little diner and then some shopping at Gillingham's, an old fashioned country store in Woodstock that offers all the hard to find things of yesteryear.  Then on home for a quiet dinner at home and a nice little bonfire on the back patio listening to the crickets and other night noises along with the crackle of the fire and its welcome warmth on a beautiful cool night.

The Windsor/Cornish Bridge

This is the longest wooden bridge in the US and the longest 2 span covered bridge in the world.

One morning we took them kayaking, another first for them, at a very peaceful, remote pond and had a picnic on the small island there watching the geese and scaring up a few ducks as we left.  Back home again and after a bit of a rest, we took a walk in the woods along the river to the falls about a mile from our house.  Here we were met by our son in-law Paul who drove us on to check out the bald eagle's nest. No eagle siting today... he often soars high above the meadow across from our house hunting for small prey that might be scurrying through the grass there.  We have never seen him swoop down to catch anything but sure is nice to see him ride the wind currents.  He is a lot quieter than the airplanes that pull the gliders up and let them go to soar like the eagle!  All this exercise makes us really hungry so we go to the Black Rock Restaurant to savor great steaks served on a VERY hot rock ... 700 degrees hot they say, upon which we each can cook our meat to our favorite doneness.  Sooo yummy! This too was something not experienced before by our guests.

Looking for the eagles

Another day was spent just relaxing and enjoying this near perfect weather we have been so blessed with.  In the evening, the guys went off to an antique show in NH and we girls had a little night out going to the little Scottish Pub nearby for a unique supper of Cock a Leeky Pie and a fabulous dessert resembling peanut butter pie with whipped cream topping.

It was a wonderful time we shared and we are so glad they decided to check out our part of Vt.  It was a real bonus to have such warm, sunny,
 blue-sky days and such cool nights so good for sound sleeping.
We hope they find many more fun things to do as they travel through parts of NH and Maine and that they stop back by around Labor Day as they wend their way back to Indiana and Kentucky to visit with relatives before heading to Florida for the winter months.

Now it is all quiet around here and time to pick the garden and make some jam and get back to finishing up some of my UFO's  (un-finished- projects) .

Hope you all enjoy these wonderful end of summer days.  Remember that " Today is a gift, that is why it is called 'The Present' "

Perfect Summer Days

This has been a perfect summer day here in VT.  The sky is bluer than blue... the eagle is soaring over the field that son in-law, Paul keep mowed.  She can see the little critters better that way if any should be scurrying through the grass.  I would love to see her swoop way down for a better look !  We can see her white head at times and then she climbs higher and just rides the breeze that is so delightful today.  I saw her fly over our backyard where I hang out the sheets to dry.  I guess she follows the river as she scopes out the fields and meadows.  Her nest is high in the big pine tree about 2 miles from our house, just off the river bank.  Some say she had two little eaglets there this year.  A couple years ago we were kayaking in that area and as we rounded a bend in the river, there she sat on the shore watching for fish.  A beautiful sight to see as she took to the sky as soon as she saw us.

We had a lovely weekend with the weather cooperating as we attended a graduation party for our step granddaughter, Lindsey.  The 'Vermont version' as we already enjoyed the CT party at the end of June. Angel and Paul did a great job with the food and we all had a good time playing the Bean Bag Toss game on the back lawn.  Great granddaughter, Brie gathered enough Maple leaves to weave into a necklace, (remember how we used to do that on a lazy summer day?)  We called her our Maple Leaf Princess and she posed and pirouetted for us in her green finery.

Our little Maple Leaf Princess

I was excited to have a visit last week from my friend Madelyn.  We were the best of friends way back in the Little Room at the old Perkinsville School years ago.  ( We only had the two rooms there at the old schoolhouse, with the little room for the first 3 grades and the big room for the upper 3 grades. Then it was off to Springfield for 7th and 8th grade and High School.)  Madelyn brought a lovely old heirloom quilt to show me.  It was so well made many years ago by her mother's relative.  It was a version of the Sun Bonnet Sue pattern only these were pretty ladies.  The very tiny, tiny stitches in the applique work were amazing and all hand done.  She also brought me a couple really nice rainbow trout that her husband had caught at the lake and one that he had smoked.  They were delicious !  I baked the biggest one and froze the other one for a treat later. Thanks Bill !

I never got to finish this post the other day!  Now, three days later I have time to sit and write a bit and check out other blogs etc.  Summertime can get pretty busy!   I am finishing up lots of small projects this summer and as I read my friend Cyndy's blog today I had to chuckle as it seems she is doing the very same thing!  We both had a batch of Comfrey/Plantain Salve in the works and I have finished mine up, with a yield of 10 jars of wonderful, healing salve.  The infusion with oil takes 4-6 weeks and mine was ready the other day to strain and add some beeswax and essential oil and pour into the little jars and tins I save up for the project.  I am looking for a source of the little tins and jars and the lip balm cases but everywhere I look on line, the price of the shipping is more than the goods !   This is SO ridiculous!  Especially since the weight of a couple dozen little tins is really minimal.  I'll keep looking and maybe I will find them at a Co-Op somewhere and save my shipping money!

Another project finished, or nearly so, I still have to put the binding on, is a quilt I started a long time ago and just now got back from the lady who has a long arm quilting machine and did the quilting for me.  I have another smaller one to finish up and that I will put on the quilt frame and tie instead of quilting the layers together.  I want it to be softer and a bit fluffier which the ties will accomplish.

SO, today I have to make pies for the big sale the Historical Society calls the Frippery, a great time of browsing around looking at all kinds of really nice things folks donate to be sold with the proceeds going to the Society.  The pie sale is a favorite and there are lots of yummy pies to choose from.

Have a great day, it is a nice rainy day here.  A soft rain falling is just what we need and it is supposed to be a nice weekend.   Blessings to you all and thanks for coming over !

Are We In The Tropics ?

Wow!  Has it been HOT and steamy this July!  We can almost see the grass growing. I am trying not to complain as the perspiration drips into my eyes and my hair is pasted to my scalp. Just looking at the very green world here and all the flowers blooming and happy makes me bite my tongue!  BUT I am really not a fan of hot weather.  We manage to stay pretty comfortable here in our house if I remember to close up the windows and doors when the thermometer on the patio reaches 72.  Fans help too.

Getting a lot of drawer cleaning and paper sorting/ rearranging  done on the hottest afternoons. A nice swim in a friend's pool was really refreshing on Wednesday. Dennis has been REAL busy this first month of his retirement, sorting and cleaning and tossing 'stuff'.  He says he has worked harder than when he was working!  We have become addicted to Root Beer Floats too!  Not so good for us but sure yummy!

Last night I worked on the Ham Supper at church.  It was a 'flaming success' and by that I mean it was VERY hot for those in the kitchen and for those of us serving too.  But many came out to eat even though it was a hot night.  Sometime during the evening, it rained and a breeze came along and took away a lot of the humidity.  Today is just a really nice, sunny summer day with the fresher air and the scent of fresh cut hay wafting down our road.  The butterflies are flitting about and there seem to be lots of Swallow Tails around this year.  Someone posted a picture on FB earlier this week which I thought very fascinating.  I saved the picture but didn't manage to save the writeup so I will just post the picture for you to see.

"All the 26 letters of the English alphabet and the numbers, 0-9 are found in the wings of butterflies.  It took Kjell Sandved 24 years to take pictures of the letters and numbers on live butterflies.  He visited over 30 countries in the process. "

If this tweaks your curiosity, you can Google Kjell Sandved to see and read more about his work.  He has a book that has great reviews called The Butterfly Alphabet.

It has been a very busy July so far.  We managed to take another trip to the Northeast Kingdom a few weeks ago to attend the birthday party of my cousin, Mick.  It was a much better trip, weather wise, than the last time, Memorial Day weekend, the weekend with the SNOW away up there.  This time the day was bright and sunny and HOT but not so hot atop Barton Mt. where there was a lovely breeze. Their garden looks great and the potatoes are doing well. It was a great party with lots of relatives, great food (Thanks, Donna Mae) and lots of good visiting and reminiscences.  We also stopped to visit the Gr. Grand Babies in Lyndonville. Two delightful little girls. And while in the Kingdom, I got to have another lovely couple hours with my friend Janie.  It was a really full day and not an overnighter this time.  We made it home by dark and noticed that it was much more humid here in the valley.

The View from the deck, on Barton Mt.

We didn't do fireworks this year, had a bonfire and listened to the boomers from Angel and Paul's back yard.  A friend tells us how lovely they were from away up at the lookout near the top of Hawks Mountain.  That would have been a sight to see.

Kayaking seem to be on hold this summer.  But SOON I hope to get in a trip to Grafton Pond some early morning, to paddle on the still water and listen to the loons, have a picnic on the big rock and have a swim.  I hope you are all enjoying your summer.

A couple quotes:

May I today live more simply
          .....  like the bread
May I today see more clearly
          ...... like the water
May I today be more selfless
         ......like the Christ

An Old Russian Prayer

                                                                "Be true to yourself ,
                                                                 For he who Trims himself
                                                                 To suit everyone else
                                                                 Will soon whittle himself away!"
                                                                                            Raymond Hull

A Special Day

Yesterday was a special day.  A day long awaited.  My hubby actually hung a sign on the shop saying in bold red letters...  RETIRED !  I thought I would never see it !  Oh, He will not be sitting on the porch in a rocking chair!  For one reason, the porch has a stone floor and doesn't do much for a rocking chair!  HAHA.  He will always be busy doing or fixing something as long as he is able to get up in the morning.  BUT, also hope we will have some time now to do some of the little things we have talked about but just never seemed to find the time to do.

It was a double good day yesterday as our wonderful son in-law also retired and today is an even better day as Paul and Angel are packing up the U Haul as I write this and by supper time they should be back HOME in VT for good!!   No rocking chair for Paul either as he is planning to have a small Tax Preparation business and work out of their home.

I am spending today cleaning out some cupboards and am about to tackle the desk!  Now that could take awhile so will have to get to that after lunch.  Cousin Judy posted a wonderful recipe on Face Book the other day and I think I'll share it with you.  I just took this nice crispy, easiest ever loaf of bread out of the oven and after it cooled a bit, had a slice.  It really is good and SO simple.  Probably best served warm and same day but won't know that till tomorrow.

Crusty Bread

3 C. unbleached all purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoons yeast
1 1/2 C. water

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and yeast.  Add Water and mix until a shaggy mixture forms.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12-18 hours, overnight is great.  Heat oven to 450 degrees and put a cast iron pot with a cover in the oven. While the oven heats,  pour dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and let set for about 30 minutes..  Remove the hot pot from the oven and drop the rounded dough in.  Cover with hot lid and return to the oven for 30 minutes.  After the 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake for an additional 15 minutes.  Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool.  Makes a lovely crispy crusted, tender inside loaf !

While cleaning out the desk, down the road comes the returning Vermonters!  Horns tooting and just SO happy to be home again.  Four cars in all,  Colleen driving a pickup, Angel in her car, Gary driving the U Haul and Paul in his car.  Then the work begins as we all pitched in and had them unloaded in no time.  A lot of things had been brought up ahead of time and taken care of.  Now Dad and I are home and they are still busy sorting and settling.  Moving is never an easy thing.  We did stop to sit in the breeze way and have some appetizers and a good visit.  God is GOOD!

Maybe the rainy days are over, as it hasn't rained at all today.  The air is cooler now and a great time to take a walk around the back yard, check out the flowers and the garden. Very wet gardens for a lot of folks.  Our soil is well drained so my garden is pretty happy with all the watering.  Pole beans are beginning to climb but the tomatoes are really slow taking off this year.

I'll leave you with a little snippet from Henry VanDyke's

A Home Song

'Every house where love abides,

And friendship is a guest,

Is surely home, and home- sweet -home,

For there the heart can rest.'

I hope you have peaceful thoughts, a restful night and sweet dreams.  Come by again soon!

June Equals Parades and Parties!

What a nice time we had at my 55th Class reunion weekend!  Our float was finished on time, thanks to all the people who came and helped to make it so good.  It won a banner for First Place, Humorous!!
The parade was a 2 1/2 to 3 mile trek from the south side of town to the Jr. high school on the north side.  About 22 of the 'Young at Heart' class of '58 walked along with the float and the bandwagon on which a classmate played his trombone ( a GREEN one, just special for the occasion, as we are so proudly the Green and White).  Having such nice music to dance along with was a real blast.  And we did dance part of the way!  We were all dressed in our cardboard boxes, depicting building blocks.  The theme of the parade was TOYS and we dubbed our float "The Block Party".  I guess the judges found us humorous in our 'blocks' just a-jumping and dancing around like youngsters!  Some classmates rode on the float and in the truck that pulled it.  Raggedy Ann was there, on the float.   What a nice day it was too for a parade, after a whole week of rainy days.  It was a really good parade too with many fine floats involving much creativity and a lot of work!

The three posters on the back show three of our best floats from other years

A bunch of Blocks

Fifty Five Years Later

by Dottie Ann Richardson

Guys in white sport coats and pink carnations,

(Remember the song?)

Or in white bucks and a pink shirt,

A comb in his pocket ... that wave to tame.

Ah ... remember Vitalis?

Starched crinoline petticoats, the girls wore,

With bouncy ponytails swishing,

Its the way we were;

Things of the 50's, in times of yore.

Fond memories remain

Of the magical times of our youth and prime.

For some, the years have been kind,

For some, life's highways rough,

Dreams illusive and peace hard to find.

We think often of the dear ones

Who have gone on before us;

You are never forgotten,

We'll pause to mention your names

And speak of you with kindness.

Through it all, special bonds we've forged,

This awesome class of '58.

We've grown close with the passing years,

We've shared our joys, our sorrows and tears.

Has it really been 55 years in all,

Since leaving those sheltered halls

Of our beloved SHS ?

Time sure flies, I guess!

Yet, here we are ... Still young at heart:

Together again, gathered from near and far,

To celebrate, to remember, to laugh and to love!

Bless us, this class of '58, Oh Lord above.

After the parade and a bit of a rest at home, we were off to the Class Banquet.  It was a great meal in a great place, decorated so beautifully by more hard working classmates.  We enjoyed our time to visit and catch up with those coming from afar.  We had as our guest  music teacher, Jon Nicholson who had so many of us in his class and in the band etc.  He came with his instrument and played for us the school song which he had written the words to more than 55 years ago!  This is still the school song today.

What pretty decorations!!

Mr. Nicholson

The Morning After Breakfast was equally fine, held at the Fullerton Inn and hosted by our classmate, Diana who couldn't be with us as she was called away to a medical emergency involving her son.  We were all so saddened by this and we're praying for a speedy and complete recovery for him.  We  all thank you Diana for your generosity.

SO having survived the alumni weekend, we move on to the rest of the busy month of June!  Sunday, being Father's day, our daughter and son in-law took Dad out for dinner  (and Mom too)!  That was a lovely treat.   Monday was appointment day and today some housework must be done!  Getting ready for a trip to CT this Friday to attend the graduation of granddaughter, Lindsey.  Such happy happenings!

Today the thermometer on the patio reads 80 degrees and I can hear some swimmers above the dam in the river below the backyard.  By the sounds, that water is mighty cool still!  I need to get into my garden before the weeds take over completely so maybe I will do just that now.  

Thanks for stopping by and checking out All Things Homespun!  Comments always welcome !

Keeping Busy

Oh my,  "the hurrier I go the behinder I get!!"  Somewhere I've heard this very true saying.  It seems like I am just hurrying along so fast this Spring!  Lots of stuff going on in May and now June events have my calendar days filling up fast!
This week is alumni weekend and for a couple months, plans have been forming for a great celebration for our class of '58.  The float is now the most pressing project.  We work on it once a week and this week, two work sessions are scheduled. The parade theme this year is TOYS and we are doing a "Block Party" using building blocks, big ones, and toys from our era, to decorate our float.  We've also built individual blocks big enough to wear (held up by suspenders) as we march along in front of the float.  It is coming along nicely and will be ready for the Saturday morning parade.  Can it really be our 55th class reunion??  Many classmates are planning to attend the Parade, the Banquet and a Breakfast which is being hosted by a very wonderful lady classmate, Diane, at the Fullerton Inn in Chester on Sunday morning.

Spring has truly come here in our valley.  With the nice rains we've had, everything is a lovely lush green and the flowers are all blooming. The veggie garden has been planted and things are up reaching for the sun. It sure is a wonderful place to be.

A Bouquet from my gardens

We made plans for a trip to the Northeast Kingdom for the Memorial Day weekend.  The weatherman was promising nice weather while we were in the planning stage.  We had three stops to make and needed to be sure we could coordinate our visits to convenient times for the folks we wanted to see.  The weatherman was way off in his predictions!!  It was rainy and cold but since plans were in place, we went anyway.  We took the Gypsy Wagon and planned it to be our first camping trip of the season. Things weren't too bad as we reached Lyndonville and enjoyed a morning and lunch with our grandson and wife and the adorable little gr. granddaughters.  We left in the late afternoon to go on north to Barton where we were to stay with cousin Mick and DonnaMae for the night.  No let up in the rain and  the further north we went the thicker that rain became!  We decided to take Rt. 5 instead of staying on the Interstate which gets really high up.  Good thing.... it was soon no longer thick rain but SNOW!!  Now who wants snow the last few days of MAY?   Mick's driveway was pretty muddy with all the rain and nice and greasy with the new snow on top of the mud.  (He lives on TOP of Barton Mt.)  But the little Gypsy Wagon did a good job and got us up there just fine.  By now the wind was howling as well and about and inch of wet snow had fallen.  We got all set up anyway and went inside for a nice visit and yummy supper and a good game of Double King Pead...an old Vermont card game.  Finally at bed time we trudged out to turn on the heater which warms the place up in a jiffy and get ready for a good night's sleep.  Something about listening to the wind on top of a mountain and the splatter of the thick rain lulls you right to sleep as you cuddle beneath the comforter and a warm quilt.

Sunday morning dawned with a heavy gray sky but no more snow.  Still a drizzle of rain.  I like mornings in the Gypsy Wagon as I get first my coffee and a bit later my breakfast served to me in bed. It is sort of a necessity as only one person can do good things in the tiny kitchen at once!

Enjoying breakfast in bed!

                Yes, that is a winter toque atop my head!  But I did get a good sleep and nice breakfast

I had made arrangements to meet my friend from many years ago on Sunday.  For many years I didn't know where she lived and last winter, heard she was back in Vt somewhere in the north.  As it turned out, she lives just a couple miles from where we spent the night on the mountain!  Isn't that amazing??
We found her house and we spent several hours catching up and reminiscing and having a great time. Dennis left us to our chatter and made coffee, read his book and took a nap in the Gypsy Wagon.  We were pretty well visited out and decided to come on home to our valley instead of making our other call which wasn't an appointed one anyway.  By now the rain had ceased and as we came south, stopped for a light supper at the exit 17 P & H truck stop, a really great place to get homemade soup and mile high lemon pie!  So our weekend ended and Miss Lizzie was pretty glad to see us home again.

Catching up and reminiscing 

I've been making a few jars of rhubarb/apricot/pineapple jam since we have lots of rhubarb.  This and the tomato spice jam are my favorites.   Rhubarb crunch is a great dessert too.  Quite like apple crisp.  The comfrey is abundant as were the dandelions this year so I have made dandelion salve and am drying the comfrey and plantain for salve making later.  

At the end of June, Dennis will be retiring and the Fix-It Shop will close.  It seems to be time.  He won't be just lazing around, can you imagine that!!  He will keep busy as it is his nature to do that.  Hopefully we will get in some good kayaking too.  And we have a few little trips and places to see that we haven't made it to yet.  Son in-law, Paul will retire the same day and it will be so nice to have them back home in their house here in VT.  He too will be busy and have a new business, tax preparation, with an office at home.  So many changes.  Someone once said, " The only permanence we know is change."   How true.  Change can be good and we hope it will be good for all of us.

Quote for the day:      

The grand essentials of happiness are:  Something to do, Something to love, and Something to hope for.       

WOW! It's Been a Long TIme

WOW!!  It's been a looooooooooong time since I've written in my blog!  We are back in good ole' VT and I think, I hope it is really Spring at last.  It appears to be.... the grass is really green and the forsythia is blooming along with the tulips and daffies. The geese are here, flying over the house a-honking, calling me  a lazy, slug-a-bed at 6:30 every morning.  I hear the robins singing as I cuddle down in the warm quilt to just wake up slowly and smell the really fresh air coming in the window left open just a bit even though the thermometer announces 32 degrees and there is ice on the bird bath. The really nice thing about Spring in VT is that by noontime it is sunny and that thermometer gets up to 70.
Today is a lovely blue-sky day with just a few wispy clouds.  We have the patio all cleaned off after the winter snow, the grill all uncovered and ready for service, the chairs all out and I am sitting at the table with my laptop FINALLY blogging again! 
It's been a busy four weeks since returning home.  Lots of unpacking and putting away, tax papers all gathered and sorted and given to my best-ever son in-law who does our taxes for us. Catch up time with Angel and friends and some spring cleaning..... yes, while the mood strikes I have been doing some of this.  Cleaning out some cupboards and closets, I have a few bags and boxes in the attic to take to the next rummage sale.
This is the beginning of a new era in our lives as my hubby has decided, with a lot of persuading and urging from his family, to really retire at the end of June this year.  We will take in the Fix-It Shop sign and get a new phone number.  Now that he has accepted his decision I think he is really looking forward to it.  The good Lord willing, we hope to take a few small trips here and there this summer with the little Gypsy Wagon, visiting friends and relatives and some places of interest we have never taken the time to see.
As we think back over the years, since 1970 when we first started the Fix-It Shop, we remember some funny things that happened.  One story that we never fail to laugh about is the time I went out chimney cleaning with Dennis.  We did a couple of jobs and the last one for the day was on the other side of Springfield.  It was a bit of a difficult chimney and after getting it cleaned, Dennis hollered down the chimney from atop the roof to me.  I was in the basement by the clean out door.  I wasn't sure just what he said so I leaned down close to the opening where the old soot and yuck lay waiting to be shoveled out to ask him what he said.  He thought I was confirming that I was to close the clean out door.  He then dropped a brick to see and listen to it fall, letting him know he had successfully removed a pocket of stubborn soot.  Of course I HADN'T closed the door and the brick fell pretty quickly and quietly down the clean chimney landing in a thump in that pile of soot.  That soot exploded into a great cloud just in front of my face!  Too late I slammed the little door.  He came down to empty the soot from the clean out and got a great laugh when, in the dim cellar lighting all he could see was a pair of eyes looking out of a black face.  I didn't think this was at all funny. Especially since soot is NOT easily brushed off or not washed off with just a splash of water from our water bottles.  SO  I had to ware my black face home, back up through town where there were people who could look into the truck and see this black faced lady out for a nice ride.  This was the very last time I went along chimney cleaning!!  The chimney cleaning business was sold a few years ago but was only one facet of the Fix-It Shop.
Sitting here looking over the back yard, I can see where I will be working this week.  Maybe if I get an early start, I can stay ahead of the weeds in the flower beds this year.  Some things need to be cut back too.  My little circular garden is becoming a big circular garden!  I haven't even thought about the veggie garden too much yet.  Need to get some good seeds but no sense in  planting until all these frosty mornings are past.  I have been looking at the seed catalog though.  While we were on a little ride earlier this afternoon, we stopped at a year-round farm stand and saw fiddle heads for sale there.  I didn't think they were ready yet.  So I will go looking for some after supper tonight.  I haven't had my dandelion greens yet either.  Spring just mustn't pass into summer without enjoying a few meals of these.

 Forsythia

 Blue-sky day in the backyard

So for today I leave you with wishes for a great spring and a couple of quotes to ponder. 

"The Joy of Living comes from a heart of Thanksgiving!"

"Until God opens the next door, praise Him in the hallway!"     found at God Vine on Facebook