first violets & secret garden quote

Posted on April 18, 2018 by Shanda

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For all the February babies, including myself, my son and my friend ~Thia~

Mary did not ask any more questions. She looked at the red fire and listened to the wind “wutherin’.” It seemed to be “wutherin'” louder than ever.

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I wasn’t even looking for them yet. We’ve had almost entirely cold cold spring temperatures. These grew in a warmer spot, by the kitchen door. Oh it was such an encouraging moment to see these first deeply rich purple wild flowers. I bent right down in the rain to pick them, knowing that soon there will be hundreds and thousands of them.

At that moment a very good thing was happening to her. Four good things had happened to her, in fact, since she came to Misselthwaite Manor.

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She had felt as if she had understood a robin and that he had understood her;

she had run in the wind until her blood had grown warm;

she had been healthily hungry for the first time in her life;

and she had found out what it was to be sorry for some one.

~The Secret Garden

Sarah and I have been listening together and enjoying it very much. A beautiful book.

“I found them in a book last night, these withered violets.”

I ended up closing the first spring violets in-between pages of poetry given to me by my friend Marcia, years ago.

____________________________________________________________

pizza dough recipe

Posted on April 17, 2018 by Shanda

By what magic does my mother make her fabulous pizza? I’ve tried for years but curiously enough, it is only recently that I feel as though there is hope for me, her eldest daughter, to follow in her footsteps.

I texted her last week to tell her I was going to make it but it wouldn’t be as good as hers and she replied, “Maybe I’ll make it too” and I said, “Then we’ll be the same.” and she said, “In spirit” and I said, “What do you set your oven to?” and she replied, “475”…..”on the lower shelf so it gets crispy on the bottom.”

Hours later, I sent her a photo of the results.

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“That looks perfect,” she wrote.

The next day she sent me a photo of the bottom of her pizza crust and it looked exactly the same. 54506716276__12E75B43-9D7E-4A62-A53D-E589479F86F1

This was the point of turning for me, from hesitant frustrated pizza maker, to confident and joyful.

I had given Seth, Sarah, and Michael each a lump of dough to make their own pizzas, too. It was the first time Michael had made a pizza. This was last week. When he came over again yesterday I asked them all what they wanted for dinner and he requested pizza again. In this way I knew it had been a good experience for him. Unfortunately I had already made it the previous night. Michael works at a boy’s home and is going to started cooking with the boys four times a month (on Saturdays). He started writing up a meal plan and Pizza made with Actual Dough was on the list.

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Sarah bragged that she “Ate seven pieces”.

Seth said “My stomach’s extended.”

Sarah said, “My taste buds are out.”

David and Caleb were so jolly after a tummy full of pizza that they ran around the house trying to pull each other’s, and Seth’s, pants down.

I’ve tried several recipes for pizza dough but this is the one that makes my heart sing.

Shanda’s Pizza Dough Recipe

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 T. white sugar
2 1/2 cups warm water
2 T. olive oil
1 T. salt
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
5 1/2 cups bread flour

Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water, let sit until creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in olive oil, whole wheat flour, salt, and 4 cups of bread flour into the yeast mixture. Mix in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. (I use a kitchen aid mixer). Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. (I leave the dough in the kitchen aid mixer bowl). Cover with a damp cloth and put in warm place to rise until doubled in volume; about 1 hour.

Deflate dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces and form into rounds. Cover the rounds and let them rest for about 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 475. Use a rolling pin (or hands) to roll dough into the desired shape, cover it with your favorite toppings. Place on bottom rack in oven until nicely browned, about 20 minutes.
recipe source: allrecipes.com

full & good

Posted on April 16, 2018 by Shanda

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Things That Have Been Happening Around Here Lately:

Rich has been away more than here. (business trips)
basketball with neighbor boys
Sarah had a brunch date with friends.
I bought a giraffe at an estate sale.
Someone gave me a gospel track — Rich said I must’ve looked in need of Salvation.
I yelled, “Get OFF the roof!”
I yelled, “WHAT are you DOING?”
One of our black cats ate a purple ribbon.
Sarah broke a rose fiesta bowl.
We had a warm weather day.
We had rain.
We had snow.
We had ice.
The boys had baseball practice.
We are listening to The Hobbit on audible to and from the fields.
Seth didn’t want to hold my hand on the sidewalk in town. (rite of passage)
This week is spring break.
David had an appointment this morning.
And is now back to bed.
I said, “If you ask me that one more time you are going to stand in the corner” to my 12 year old.

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’tis spring; come out
to ramble
the hilly brakes around,
For under thorn and bramble
About the hollow ground
The primroses are found. a.e. houseman

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golden edges

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bluebird sighting at the suet

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One morning I could hear a bird singing and I sighed, “I wish I could identify birds by their sounds.” The children got on the bus and a little while later I went to get in the car and was distracted by the bird that was making that same sound I had heard earlier! So I learned what it was, a Red Headed Woodpecker! I ran to get the camera……..

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It slipped the tip of its beak under the edge of the lichen to get bugs; making its calling noise the whole time.

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No human has a naturally red head THIS red.

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And then, a cardinal appeared.

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And a goldfinch. It was a lovely bird morning. I took the photos from the porch.

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The children spent the entire day outside on Saturday. In my opinion it was our first spring day. . . . .absolutely gorgeous weather, bare feet, fishing, turtles, basketball, baseball.

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Caleb ran to show me the turtle he and Jack found.

And like his big brothers before him, he named it and put it back.

And then they caught a nice fish.

I repotted some plants I started for my friends and family. It’s been fun collected different planters and pots on my thrifting adventures. I’ll have to do a blog post soon to show them off.

life is full and good

//easter sunday in orlando//

Posted on April 11, 2018 by Shanda

(I heard this song at the dentist with my son Caleb yesterday and liked it so much).

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April 1, 2018

It was Easter Sunday and we decided to take a day of rest. Rich read resurrection Scriptures to us in our hotel room that morning and then we slathered on sunscreen, put on our bathing suits, and headed for the pool.

Oh I forgot to mention that Caleb and Seth tried to play basketball first thing in the morning but came right back to the room because “There is an easter egg hunt going on, there are eggs everywhere even on the basketball court.” I noticed Sarah (who was still in her pajamas and in bed) perk up at these words, so I asked Caleb to “hop like a bunny and go get Sarah an egg”. We all laughed hysterically as he hopped out the door as only Caleb can, and then 10 minutes later, hop back inside the room with an egg and his front teeth sticking out of his lips just like the Easter bunny. We affectionately call Caleb “Moose” for a reason, his bunny “hops” were more like heavy stomping earthquakes and he quickly hopped/launched himself off balance and into the wall as he tossed the egg to his sister. “They were all gone so I told a man I needed one for my sister and asked if he would give me one of his. There were kids with huge bags full of eggs.” Sarah opened her egg to find a grape-flavored hard candy and was thrilled.

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Rich and I settled into pool chairs and very soon David was coming over to show me that he finally caught a lizard. (the round scar on his stomach is from a spider bite, chronicled on this blog about 10 years ago).

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David was very curious about the wild life around the pool. Now and then a duck or two would fly over to see if there were any crumbs to eat. David tossed one a potato chip and we laughed to see it gobble it down only to bob his head up and down forcefully to bring it back up. It landed on the pavement just as dry as it had gone into his beak.

David also saw a bird spear a fish over at the lake and came to report enthusiastlically.

My heart bursts with joy that he comes to share things with me so often. I love to hear his stories and the way he tells them is always unique and interesting. I am an eager listener.

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Sarah (in pink) quickly made a friend of a little girl just a year younger. Eventually I met the little girl’s mother. They had plans to go to a park that day but after seeing the girls swimming and getting along so well they ended up staying at the pool all day too. They had traveled to Orlando all the way from Ireland and it was fun to visit with the mom and ask her questions about her country.

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We eventually made the girls get out of the pool to share a hot dog lunch together. Sarah didn’t want to get out of the water and made sure to let me know that she “wasn’t done swimming yet.” I was so glad to have gotten the children goggles before our trip because they had the greatest time throwing a little plastic card into the pool and diving for it.

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Behind the pool there was a lake and Caleb was so happy to go fishing. He and Seth also played basketball for a while, too, and Seth was nicknamed “Seth Curry” by some other boys were were playing with them.

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After Sarah’s great reluctance to meet Disney characters at the park, I was truly intrigued to see that she got out of her beloved pool to approach the Easter bunny. But on second thought, I decided that it had more to do with the eggs than the bunny. It was the most adorable thing to see her and her friend get out of the water and hold hands as they walked over to the bunny for an egg. All in all, Sarah managed to bring home about 7 or 8 plastic easter eggs.

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I spent the day in my chair with my book, journal (pictured above) and various nice coffee drinks. The tallness of our hotel blocked the sun after a while so Rich moved to the other side but I stayed put. I would rather not roast myself; it was perfect in the shade and Rich always gets annoyed because I still get tan so much better than he does even though he stays in the sun.

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Eventually it was time for dinner so we got all cleaned up and headed to a steakhouse for a good meal.

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“Yeah but mom look, I’m not even in the picture.”

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What is it with boys trying to look cool and thereby not smiling?

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Handsome Caleb after a day in the sunshine.

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Someone take away that soda!

The boys had steak dinners. I had crab legs and Sarah had spaghetti.

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Even though we truly didn’t NEED dessert, the next thing we did was drive to a soft serve place for cones.

It was the kind of heavy cream soft serve that makes you feel full and sick after eating only half of it.

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It was a good ending to a relaxing day.

*********

What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven–and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future.

The Day is coming when you’ll have it all–life heal and whole. ~ 1 Peter 1

a long & fascinating Epcot account

Posted on April 10, 2018 by Shanda

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We went to Epcot on March 31st, Rich’s birthday. He had been looking forward to his Disney birthday for months.

For a breakfast treat, he wanted to get a coffee from Starbucks more than anything but had mistakingly passed by the one on our way to the park. Imagine his joy when, as soon as we got through the main entrance, there it was! A Starbucks right in Epcot. We had the children sit outside while we stood in line to get our special coffees.

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Next stop was the “Club Cool” building for CocaCola, which has been a highlight since we first visited Epcot years ago. If you lean in you can see the children walking in under the sign. (I was standing outside Starbucks when I took the photo).

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They had free samples of their slushy sodas. And then, the children taste tested all the soda “flavors from around the world”. I tasted a couple of them, too. Rich refused. He was content with his coffee.

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Caleb

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Seth

Nothing like the feeling of lots of sugar first thing in the morning!

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Sarah and I were happy to split from the boys and go our own way.

There were flowers in bloom everywhere we looked.

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We bought jewelry made by this nice lady, which she crafted from things in nature. For example, the red in my necklace is naturally dyed orange peel! Sarah picked out earrings. The interesting thing was the lady was originally from Connecticut and knew our hometown. While we were there, we also bought a map (Sarah is holding it in the photo) with Easter Egg stickers to put on each spot after we found them in the park. It became a fun highlight of our day.

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Here is the first one we found! Do you see it?

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And then Mary Poppins walked right by us!

By the way, Sarah had no desire whatsoever to meet any of the Disney characters who walked about in Epcot or any other park. She especially disliked the costumed animals like Chip n’ Dale, or Goofy, etc. I would have liked to take her photo with a princess but “No” she shook her head and planted her feet into the ground. I could understand so didn’t press it.

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I took a photo of the beautiful leather purses in “London”.

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On our way to “France” with the Eiffel tower behind us.

I was so heart-happy to have Sarah’s hand in mine on this day, always thankful that God gave us a second daughter. I told her so, too. It put a sweet smile on her face.

All of my children are a blessing and a joy.

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Each country had a lovely Topiary that I always pointed out thoughtfully to Sarah, who never seemed to be as impressed as I was. She was too busy looking for the egg.

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There it is!

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flowers in France

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thought of Joanna……with the teapots….

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“Take a picture, mom!” said Sarah. I called birds like these “Parasitic Birds” because they were just hanging around trying to steal food.

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Sarah was also given a fan to carry to each country for a stamp and a picture. It was a nice little “time out” throughout the day as she stopped to color.

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This is the table in “Germany”, the girl is coloring on Sarah’s flag. I had to take a photo because an old copy of Grimm’s Fairy Tales was on the table and I’ve been reading it to Sarah.

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We ate in Germany and watched the little girl next to us throw chips to yet another “Parasitic bird” (a duck this time).

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Norway! My favorite section of the park!

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It briefly rained. Good thing I had ponchos in my purse (#1 Mom). While standing in this line we made friends with the English family next to us.

I met a Viking!

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We met back up with the boys after going on the Frozen ride. Rich had gotten himself a birthday jacket from Norway and looked very handsome in it, too. We headed to the Norwegian bakery for some treats. I was told the Schoolhouse buns were the best so I bought one and enjoyed every single bite. In fact, I want more than anything to find a recipe and make them myself here at home.

Sarah’s Elsa cupcake was amazing. It was so big she couldn’t finish it so I had to take a bite. The cake was fluffy and homemade, there was chocolate filling and frosting, both wonderfully tasty. Seth and David finished it up.

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Orchids, the way they should look.

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Another pretty flower.

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We went to go ride on the Nemo ride and visited the aquariums where David made friends with the fish.

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And people started to get silly.

David now and David then. Same exact spot in Epcot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t stand it.

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Golden Hour in Epcot.

David in his “nerd store” (his words) he loves anime and greatly enjoyed the Mitsukoshi Department Store in” Japan.”

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Sarah and I picked out some candy. David got a shirt and a tea cup. The shirt is a long story. Months ago, I found him carefully cutting out a graphic and coloring it from a page he printed online. He wanted to transfer it to a t-shirt but had to stop when he realized regular paper wouldn’t work, he needed transfer paper. But then in Epcot he found the very shirt he had wanted to make. Sadly, as soon as we got home, he was wearing it when he picked up his half-wild cat who got scared and scratched his way out of David’s arms, cutting a hole in his new shirt with his very sharp razor- like claws. David said, “What about my arm?” it was scratched and bleeding. “Your arm will heal, but I’m the one who will have to mend your shirt, you’re special shirt you just bought in Disney!” Thus, David has a unique shirt from Disney, already ripped and mended by yours truly (and I did the best I could but it wasn’t a mending that could be hidden very easily).

We liked all the candy but for the green tea KitKats and the bean paste gummy candy. (ew)

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After the fireworks show we headed out. The park was closing so we were in a big crowd as we tried to keep up with Rich, who walks very purposefully with his long legs.

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I yelled for him to stop walking for a photo. Thanks, Birthday boy! It was the best day!

According to my step calculator on my phone I had walked 9.7 miles.

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David’s “after a long day at Epcot” greasy cheesy hamburger at 11pm!

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In fact, Seth started falling asleep right at the table. Rich and I felt proud that we had finally made our most active child tired.

magic kingdom

Posted on April 9, 2018 by Shanda

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I had flown down to Orlando the day before to meet Rich who was already in town for business. He looked so handsome leaning against a pillar in the airport at the end of the escalator to greet us. We spent the rest of that day hugging, settling in the hotel, swimming, and exploring.

The next morning we drove from our hotel to Magic Kingdom. Rich and I were looking forward to finishing up our parenting goal of making sure all seven of our children got to Disney in their childhoods. Sarah was the only one who hadn’t been; we had David, Caleb, and Seth with us too, and the older three were in college but we had taken them when they were little. In fact, it’s all on the blog. The only trip that I didn’t blog about was when David was a baby and that’s only because I didn’t have a blog back then (15 years ago).

We took the Ferry over to the park.

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A nice thing about the boys having already experienced Disney was that they could knowledgeably “inform” Sarah about all the things she would see and do. These types of conversations had been going on for weeks and she was very excited.

She and Seth kept their eyes on the castle all the way across the water.

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It’s always a lovely sight.

Okay—–honestly, Rich and I, now that we are back home, have already decided that never again if we can help it, will we go to Disney during Spring Break season. The crowds were next to impossible. There were some good things, however, as having so many excited people added to our own excitement. (It also added to the length of time standing in lines.) It was fun to hear different languages being spoken all around us and observing families from all over the world enjoying this famous destination. But it was a very vast sea of humanity. . . . .

Speaking of crowds, we only lost children twice. In fact, the first thing we did was lose children. And by “lose” I mean, it was all their own fault (a miscommunication of sorts). What happened was this: In the midst of a thousand other people, Caleb had to use the bathroom so badly that as soon as we got across the water and departed from the ferry boat we located restrooms. He and Seth ran just a little bit ahead of us into the men’s room, we were right behind them. Sarah and I went into the ladies room and Rich and Dave went in just after the other boys, who never saw them. Rich and Dave were still in the stalls when Caleb and Seth got done, so when they came outside and didn’t see us, they headed straight for the main entrance (just to the right of the lines) without any of us seeing them, either. So THEN, the rest of us finished up and waited outside the bathrooms. No Caleb, no Seth. Before we even knew they were “missing” my phone rang. They had immediately called me from a Security officer’s phone and found us. In a nutshell, they thought we had went to the ticket counter to wait for them to go to the bathroom.

The second time was similar. We were standing in line (a Very Long Line) waiting to go on a roller coaster. We could see the restrooms from where we were standing so Seth ran out of line to go to the bathroom and then got confused trying to find us again. Rich went to look for him just as my phone rang. Seth had asked the first couple he saw to use their phone. He was so close to us that I saw him talking to me on the phone. So I just yelled, “SETH over here!” gave the couple a smile and a friendly wave, and called Rich to tell him Seth was safe and sound.

So right away we knew that the children would be able to find us again if they ended up lost in the multitudes of people. Truly it was somewhat of a miracle that we didn’t lose them around every corner, it was THAT crowded.

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Main Street Parade

(we just caught the very end of it on our way to a ride).

Thunder Mountain.

It was so cute to listen to Sarah make plans with Caleb to sit together; and to actually have Caleb agree to do it was adorable. When we got home after our vacation was over, she had me print this very photo so she could take it to school.

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My beautiful travelers.

After a long winter, the sunshine we enjoyed in Orlando was such a treat. We just made sure to use lots of sunscreen.

We bought this photo from our next ride (Splash Mountain; Rich’s #1 favorite) to add to our collection. We bought the frame to go with it and it was nice that they could send our purchase to the front of the park for us to pick up at the end of the day. It’s now hanging on the wall next to a photo from Hershey Park, and one from Six Flags.

BD967BE0-EC96-4426-9855-52912599E529 “Before (sobs) and After (smiles)”

Sarah got the #1 Overcomer of the Day award for riding Splash Mountain even though she was terrified. The combination of water and a drop down was almost too much for her. That’s why you see me holding her like that in the photo.

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The Buzz Lightyear ride is a favorite.

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We didn’t buy this one but I thought it was the cutest ever with Rich’s big muscles and Seth closing one eye to aim and shoot.

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Waiting for the Presidents show, we enjoyed the displays of memorabilia. I took this photo of Projectile Points for Mom and brother Dave, only we call them Arrowheads.

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And of course the boys intently studied Teddy Roosevelt’s sword and asked me to take a photo.

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I did take my big camera with me to Disney. I took a handful of photos with it on this day, including this nice one of handsome Caleb with Rich in the background (in his own car) but after Magic Kingdom I left it in the hotel. I’m not saying I’ll never use it again, but I think when I have a bunch of other travel-mates with me and it’s a busy park it’s just easier to use the phone camera. It was more of a time to take candids for my family then to think about thoughtful photography. But I do love this photo of Caleb.

Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse; be still my heart.

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Standing in line for the Enchanted Tiki Room; “vintage” Disney at it’s very best.

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Fireworks to make all the sentimental grown ups cry. And I did, too. (We waited for them to begin next to another family. The dad was complaining almost in a desperate way because they had gone straight to the park from the airport and hadn’t even checked into the hotel. They were exhausted. He was wondering if the show would be worth it and almost didn’t want to wait. He wanted to leave to escape the crowds. But they stayed and later on during the show I could hear him singing along to the songs with his son up on his shoulders and I thought, “yes, it’s worth it.”)

Seth took this as we waited for Rich to get our photo; it was the last picture taken of our visit to Magic Kingdom. We had walked a total of 5.8 miles that day and went to bed at midnight after pancakes at Ihop.

Tomorrow I will share photos from Epcot.

fireworks to snow

Posted on April 6, 2018 by Shanda

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LAST FRIDAY we were in Florida smooching in front of a castle in Magic Kingdom,

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with four children waiting for us to stop so we could hurry up and get on the rides.

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At the end of the day last friday, we enjoyed watching sparkling fireworks filling the sky.

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THIS FRIDAY we are back home in Connecticut, with sparkling snowflakes filling the sky.

fireworks? snow in April? Both quite awe-inspiring and a little bit overwhelming.

cold feet

Posted on March 24, 2018 by Shanda

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I just got back from taking old cornmeal muffins to the chickens. I did what every other New Englander would do when it’s March 24, sunny, and 39 degrees. I threw on a jacket….and sandals.

Parker the Dog couldn’t get any closer to the hens because of his Hidden Dog Fence. He was very much longing for an old cornmeal muffin.

I have sent various children to the coop for the last three days and they all skipped back to the house cheerfully saying, “No eggs!” “None?” “No, they ate them!” “Did you check the barrel? They’ve been laying in the barrel lately.” “Yep, there weren’t any!”

Just to be sure, I also went in the coop. I found seven in the barrel and 3 each under two brooding hens.

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I put them into the same bag I had brought the muffins. By this time I was calling myself Stupid because my toes were turning pink and icy and I had sandy textured snow in my berki’s. There was a bit more darn snow than I had anticipated.

I kept my eyes on the warm dry dock as I slipped toward it, planning to warm my feet. Upon arrival, I kicked off my sandals to get rid of the snow and dry off. One of them slid right across the dock and….into the pond. Thank goodness for cork bottoms. While Parker stood on the bank and leaned across the water with his nose stretched out toward my shoe doing nothing, I also leaned over the edge of the dock stretched out my arm to retrieve it. “Stupid” I called myself. I tapped my shoes on the wood to get as much snow and water off before slipping them back on to walk back to the house, keeping in as many of the bare patches as I could. This must be why the children are always skipping into the house after they go to the coop.

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I washed my dishes and 13 eggs.

And put socks on.

SaveSave

church, salvage, my sweater, more fiestaware, art journals

Posted on March 23, 2018 by Shanda

Parker the dog woofed and woofed to let us know that our annual visit from the mallard ducks happened this morning. I opened the door to admire the ducks floating gracefully on the pond. He was still barking at the waters edge and I understood what he was trying to say so I called down, “I SEE THEM, Parker, THANK YOU!!” Caleb, coughing at the end of the couch, also understood, “It’s a sign of spring.” The ground is covered in snow and the pond has a thin sheet of ice over half of it but this faithful visit from our old friends cheered our hearts. It’s currently 31 degrees. I will be leaving in about an hour to go pick up Caleb’s school work so he can do it this weekend and not get too far behind. Thankfully, he is feeling much better.

As promised, this is a photo- blog- journal report on SUNDAY the 18th of March. Grace and I had slept together in a hotel the night before and Joanna picked us up for church at 9:45. At church, we enjoyed singing hymns, listening to Scripture, and hearing a sermon before heading out for lunch at a popular diner. Joanna treated us to a very filling meal and we sat by a big window, talking and laughing as we ate.

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Grace had a steak. Joanna and I both had huge de-constructed gyro salads. (SO good) (could not finish)

With very full tummies we headed out for a few hours of shopping.

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Olde Good Things was a huge warehouse full of architectural salvage. We walked through the door and immediately became inspired by the smells of dust, old wood, paint, rust, and metal, and invigorated by the cold temperatures of the warehouse. The building was stacked floor to ceiling with everything imaginable coming out of old hotels, buildings, churches, and museums of the past.

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There was even a horse hanging from the ceiling.

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We explored to our hearts content.

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And as typical of her, Grace climbed into every upper level, no matter if the floors were uneven and stairs steep and deadly. I kept expecting her to fall or have things fall on her. 18 years old and she still awakens the “I must keep my child alive” nervousness in me. She has always loved climbing, so much so that one of her childhood nicknames (which she hated) was “Grace Goat”.

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Some of Olde Good Things’ salvage jobs have been The Plaza Hotel in NYC, the JFK International airport, and Rialto Theatre, Times Square NYC. Check their website for all the interesting details. Joanna has been following them and visiting their warehouse for years. I was once again impressed by her design sense, she has great instincts and ideas.

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a feast for the eyes

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We were upstairs in a “door section” (the stuff was all very informally organized) I arranged Grace (in my favorite sweater) in front of a white wooden door, I imagine it must have been a back kitchen door as someone resourcefully covered it in blue linoleum.

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This upstairs floor was loose sections of open iron grating, giving us a strange feeling of fear, we were up so high but knew we were safe enough because after all there were thousands of doors, wooden pillars and posts, and so on. But then to see, instead of “safe” steps, an unsecured little ladder leading up to yet another level and the words BE CAREFUL WATCH OUT. . . . .it was amazing.

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Everything about this place was inspiring to all three of us.

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a treasure trove of old metal

***

NEXT STOP WAS

on and on vintage, antiques, repurposed, handmade marketplace

in Scranton, PA.

This place was wonderful, not just because of the stuff they sold, but because the owners were so warm and cheerful and obviously liked each other, their shop, and their customers. They were due to close in five minutes but happily stayed open for us. (!)

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Right away Joanna asked if they had fiestaware and the lady led us straight to a few displays. I wanted the vintage green covered casserole quite badly but sadly there was a big chip on the lid. It was 25 dollars. I did find two place-setting bowls in retired colors, Seamist and Chartreuse, still shiny and perfect.

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We wondered why These Happy Golden Years wasn’t in the box. Laura Ingalls Wilder fans for life!

The combination of the chair and the quilt stopped Joanna in her tracks.

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Lastly, Joanna took us to two local Indian grocery stores where we had a great time buying some snacks, drinks, and treats to take home with us.

We went back to Joanna’s house feeling full in every way; physically, mentally, and spiritually. . . . .

We had just an hour or so to do the one remaining thing on Joanna’s list of things she wanted to do with me during our visit.

art journals

She set to work painting pages in my book while I looked through her art book, and Chloe’s, too. Grace did her homework across the table. Steve and the older boys were in the living room and the littles came in and out to see what we were doing. It was cozy with beautiful music that Joanna turned on for us, filling the air with hymns and praise songs. . . .

She was on her mom’s shoulder like this for a long time. . . .so dear.

Joanna’s art supplies purchase recommendations for the next time I go to AC Moore.

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Behind me was the wall she started recently for the little ones. . .tiny art in tiny frames, carefully arranged way down low, eye level for toddlers. Just right for the small ones in the family. Mini-art gallery perfection.

Grace and I had to leave at 7:ish so that we could get her things from the hotel and take her back to college before 8. I took her to the grocery store quickly for some healthy snacks and drinks and some cash so that her Grandma and I could have peace of mind that she had everything she needed. I took her to school and helped her get her things back into her dorm room, taking away her Christmas tree. We hugged outside the building in the dark and even after all day of me saying “don’t forget you have to change out of my sweater before I drop you off” she somehow still got away with it. In leaving my beloved, I forgot my sweater. We had a good laugh about that the next day.

Thank you again for a great weekend, Joanna! I was touched by the time and thoughtfulness you put into making plans for us. It was truly appreciated way down deep.

And God bless you, Grace, as you finish up your first year of college.

quilts and fiestaware and salt cellars and . . . . . . .

Posted on March 22, 2018 by Shanda

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Good morning! I can’t wait to tell you all about when I took Grace back to college this weekend. But first a little update on the day so far. It’s snowing, for one thing. I have a boy home with the flu, for another. On a scale of 1-10 my mommy-burnout meter is at about a 6. . . .so thank goodness there was no snowday today or it would have shot up to a 9 I’m sure. I plan on a quiet day with Caleb, four cats, and the dog. Caleb is snuggled up with Parker at the end of the couch, wearing a flu mask. He looks much better this morning, although his eyes have a sad look to them, which is what prompted the doctor to do the flu test on Tuesday. He is looking out the window. He feels sorry for the birds, digging in the snow for birdseed, which we have run out of. He assures me that I can leave him at home while I go get more. “They depend on you,” he reminds me. And there goes the snow plow, rumbling by. Sherlock the orange cat is sitting on the windowsill also watching the birds (he doesn’t care what they eat as he would rather eat THEM) and our two black cats (adopted in December) are chasing a marble around the room like little spitfires. How two cats can make so much noice is beyond me. . . . . .

Grace and I left the house Saturday morning at 6:15, she was rather annoyed as I had said to her that we would leave at 8. But I could not sleep anymore so I woke her up and we drove away from home. It was very cold, quiet and as dark as night.

We arrived at Joanna’s house around 11:45 and we headed out to a few shopping destinations. The first one we went to was a shop/antique store in a building on someone’s farm property. The owners sell new items, with unique older pieces mixed in everywhere, so exploring was very exciting. I bought some new kitchen towels that I really love because after washing and drying them the hems around the edges did NOT curl (which I hate), I bought a vintage salt-cellar, white with a hinged wooden lid, and a few other odd and ends.

We LOVED the big heavy teapots on top of the wooden stove in the shop. This place was full of women shopping and we were very impressed that although it was out-of-the-way, it was apparently quite popular and visited by groups of enthusiastic customers.

It was such fun to include Grace and Chloe, our two beautiful young daughters, with us for the day!

If you would like to visit this quaint and lively shop it is called Feick’s Vintage Finds (click link for more information)

It was almost an hour drive from Joanna’s house but totally worth it! I would go again in a heartbeat.

On down the road to another antique shop. This one was called “Apple Wagon Antique Mall.”

I found an amazing beveled mirror framed in a grass green wooden frame (old) and a fiesta tripod bowl in persimmon (first time seeing one of them!).

Other things seen and noted:

Mortar and Pestle used to mix paints (old) that Joanna snatched up (she bought two on this day). Joanna has a great artist’s eye for things and knows just what she loves and what she would do with the items she sees, color, art, etc.

Grace saw this shelf of goodies first. She called me over and then said, “I won, Aunt Joanna!” because she was proud of herself for finding the first fiestaware of the day. The tripod bowl is not in the photo because it was already in my hands. I think what I’ll do is an instagram post of some of the things I bought. I was very tempted by the dark green small plates (6 dollars each) but I was trying to be a good girl and to be honest I already have a stack of like 15 small plates (but none of them are dark green. sigh.) Some of the shapes here are not fiestaware. They are made by the same company (HLC) but from a different line called Harlequin. The colors are similar but even the feel of the plates is different. Harlequin is much lighter in the hand. Some fiesta collectors end up collecting harlequin as well.

Vintage Button collections— made me think of my mom— but these were a little out of my price range. Aren’t they lovely? We would display them right up on the wall and admire them daily.

This is just one of the reasons why we love antiquing. It is a huge source of inspiration. Don’t you just want to find an old family black and white photo and put it into a bottle now? I know I do. . . . . .

This whole place was a treat to visit. The prices were encouraging and negotiable, and there were many unique things to see. Not to mention the homemade cookies and coffee-free to anyone who needed a pick me up, which was definitely us by that point!

The beautiful hands of the woman who totaled up our purchases. They even used a very old cash register that dinged when the drawer opened. This is one of my favorite photos of the day.

The girls each bought a red-covered book. Grace bought Robinson Crusoe and Chloe found a copy of Black Beauty. 2 dollars.

As we drove Joanna kept saying, “LOOK at the beautiful mountains!”

We drove to the middle of the town of Tunkhannock, PA for the final shop of the day and coffee. There was also an amazing mural Joanna wanted a photo of, and as it was St Patricks day, the green was very fitting.

“The Old Store” was small and cold yet I found a pristine round fiesta platter for only 4 dollars (in “Rose”)!!!

She was right about the mountains……..

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What a fun day we had all together with our girlies. I’m just so deep down thankful. Chloe is 13 and Grace is 18 but they got along like two peas in a pod. Like sisters.

A quick walk down the road, Joanna treated us to lovely drinks (I had a hot chai tea latte) in a warm ‘n’ cozy coffee shop and then we took one last photo before heading back to her house for pizza.

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