Time Flies

Where did the time go, is this really me teenage boy?


Christy

The Trout Hatchery at The Farm Park

 

Each year the ponds and rivers of the Farm Park are stocked with trout for the fishing season.  This is the fish hatchery area.  I thought the chain-saw fish artwork was great, plus the epitaph.


Christy

An Artists House

 

This is my friends house, she is an artist and studied at the Academy of Art in Philadelphia.  Her house is so interesting.  Especially her kitchen.  The center island represents a river.  The end where the birds are will be a waterfall and it will look as if it is flowing down a river, which is represented by the glass counter top, which you look though to see the creatures of a river below.

In the dining room she has old Mexican doors and a wonderful painted rustic cupboard from India.

The downstairs powder room is great, the tap water looking as if it comes from the falling water.  Plus the old wood work.

I always love to visit it's so interesting.  She has a wonderful fossil collection. Plus a some what eclectic South-Western theme.

Christy

Lunch With Candyce

Last Friday I spent a great day visiting a friend.  She always sets a lovely luncheon; which of course we got to talking and forgot to take anymore photos beside these.  I love the Denby set on the April Cornell tablecloth.  The cloth sets the set off.  The little tea cozy is one I bought in the UK.


Look at the lovely gifts she gave me.  We both love beautiful writing paper and different pens.  Plus there were some lovely cards Candyce made me.  Plus a Maisie Dobbs book to read.

We knew each other before we both had our boys in our forties, but then we had even more in common.  Rob was my first Candyce's fourth.  We could write a book on childbirth in one's forties.


Christy

Bo and I at a Friends Wedding

A photo of us together that I have always liked.


Christy

Old Buildings at The Farm Park

 

 

 

 We took a different walk at the Park other then our usual ones, this is one of the many buildings that are part of Park area.  Some of the old buildings have wonderful detail, or are just great in black and white.  I would love the slate roofed building if it were in my yard, what one could do with it.


Bo dumpster diving, no good finds.  It seems a little contradictory to say this is part of a park, but it was once all part of the State Hospital (asylum)


Christy

A Walk Around My Winter Garden

I walked around my garden today, now that all the snow has melted, to see if there were any signs of life and this is what I found.  Parsley, still hanging in there, snowdrops popping their dear little heads, sage bush not looking too bad, daffodils coming in for a show and the primulas just flattened by all the snow.

The lawns and garden are an absolute quagmire after the snow.  The pond is full of leaves and no signs of life yet on the Japanese maples.


Christy

Five Eastern Bluebirds

I was thrilled this afternoon when we went for a walk and saw five Eastern Bluebirds all at once, sitting on these little trees.  I have not seen an Eastern Bluebird for a couple of years so this was a rare treat.  This is my favourite bird in Pennsylvania.


So just some photos from our walk.  Today was lovely, sunny and no wind.  Yesterday was blowing a gale. although it was sunny.  It probably did a lot of drying of the ground after all this snow.


Christy

Life and Death

Ecclesiastes 12: 1 - 7  "...and the doors onto the street have been closed, ..."

It has been a very hard week.  A close friend died this week.  He was one of my husband's ushers in our wedding party and was dating one of my bridesmaids.  They married a year later.  After 28 years of marriage Al is now dead.


It was all very sudden.  All us girls although marrying, some having children, some not, living our lives, we can come together in an instance and pick up our closeness with each other, those are wonderful friendships.  We have been with Joni for several days, sleeping over and popping in and out.  


It's a time of grieving and remembrance.


Christy

The Oilily Jumper/Sweater

This is the jumper that I bought at the thrift an Oilily.  As you can see I have unpicked the seams up the sides and along the arms.  Now I'm going to have a go at crocheting in an extra gusset to make it larger.


All the recycling of older clothes that I have seen, is taking something larger and cutting it down, to a smaller size, but what about the other girls who need to take it up to a larger size?  So I'm going to have a go.


I love the colours in this, so today I must choose the yarn, I may not go with a solid colour, I may go crazy with a complimentary multi-colour.


Christy

Cold Today

Last night it was down in the teens Fahrenheit, sorry we're terribly old fashioned over here in not using Centigrade, but the sun is out, it seems to have been a long winter.  


Rob put some speakers on Craig's List, that he bought at the Thrift.  So he will be happy that the buyer a Vietnamese man with his little girl and cousin, came today and bought them. 

They all took their shoes off and went upstairs to look at the speakers, Tinkerbell had a field day investigating them, she does quite like shoes.  I hope they were not allergic to cats.  Funny enough Bo just said this morning how different the two are.  Tuppy just rushes to her breakfast food, but Tink takes her time investigating anything that has been moved, rearranged or new.


I'm thinking of seeds again, and know that some packets I have are several years old.  I will use some of these and buy some fresh ones from the dollar store.  Believe it or not if you get there early enough they have enough varieties to keep me going, in both vegetables and flowers. Plus I have seeds I saved from the actual plants from last year, I should have a go at growing those too.  And friends often share seeds, and starter plants.  The ground is still covered in snow.  I guess because the winter has seemed so long I think I should get planting, but it's only February.


If you'd like some little free printable seed packets  there are other places on line too, just take a look.


Christy

Mittens Made from Old Boiled Wool Jacket

These are the mittens that I finished, with some embroidery work; which I came up with.  The stitches are herringbone, blanket stitch, chain stitch, coral knot stitch and French knots.  It was fun working on stitches that I have not sewn for years, plus I learned some new ones. From my 1950s Anchor Manual of Needlework.

I was going to line them but it made them just too thick.  I finished them off with a couple of buttons.  I loved the blue one with the crest, but only had one, so thought I'd just stitch on a mis-matched pair.


I think they look a tad Norwegian.


Christy

Cocooned

Thank you for the well wishes.  Well I have been cocooned in bed for over two days.  I thought this flu would be one really bad day but it went into more than two days feeling really bad.  So now I'm feeling I must come out of this cocoon, since I am feeling somewhat better.  I already missed a luncheon appointment on Friday with a friend, and today Sunday we've been invited to a Superbowl party, not that I care about football, but I know they'll be a lot of old friends there and I just need to get out and smell the roses. 


Christy

Idle and Ill

Well it's Friday and I've spent the entire day ill in bed. This cold or flu, what ever it is, has been coming on for several days, but it just progressed and got worse until today when I had to admit defeat and go to bed.  I slept and read and slept, and the girls Tink and Tupp, slept and slept and slept, ya you'd be surprised if I said read to ha?  They don't usually get let on the bed but boy can they read circumstances and take advantage of them, then you don't have the heart to turn them off.


One advantage to hubby being home is that I've been waited on hand and foot.  Tea, tea and toast, hot milk, honey and whiskey, soup.  I can remember certain times when I've been ill and the family is all out and you have to get on with it, so this is a treat.


We had rain and an ice storm this week on top of the snow, so now it has this thick shiny crust on it;  which looks most peculiar.  We're meant to get more snow tomorrow.  Poor old Australia has had a terrible time of it, one thing after another.  The weather patterns have certainly been crazy.  


Oh my goodness I'm sounding like a true Brit and talking on about the weather.  Well I'm ready for spring and when I step out my front door and see my little bunch of snowdrops growing, I will know it's on the way.  Of course buried under the snow they probably are on there way.


I finished the mittens I was making.  I now have another project in mind. An Oilily jumper.  Oilily  is a very popular children's store, ridiculously over priced, but they also sell adult clothing.  They are known for their very colourful designs.  I found a woman's Oilily jumper at the thrift very pretty in multiple colours, for $6, but it's a tad tight, so I undid the sides and arms and I thought I'd have a go on crocheting in an insert, revamping the jumper/sweater. I've never tried this before and I have to find the correct yarn to do so.  I wish I had the yarn now because I'd start on it. 


Back in November Boosul Boy got a part-time job at a very upscale senior retirement home.  The type of place that has a cinema, hair dressers and it's own shops, plus several dining rooms.  Rob is a server, taking their orders and running out the appetisers, soup or salad, plus the desserts, the runners take the main course out.


We asked him what it's like? And he said it's like working on a cruise ship.  Rob can always hit the nail on the head.  We said who does he like serving best? He said the Asian folk, because they are the most courteous.  I'll have to remember that when I retire.  


He usually works three evenings a week, 4:00PM - 8:00PM, always a Saturday and the other evenings can vary except the evening we go to our Bible meetings, he always has off.  It makes for a long day  leaving for school at 6:50 AM. He gets paid a little above minimum wage.  Even that can add up though for a teenager who lives at home and has no expenses.  The buying power of teenagers in the States is huge.  Some parents just give their children what I consider to be huge amounts of money; which I think does them no favours growing up.  That's why big business can target that age group.

It's been pretty lean this last year, so he can now buy his own clothes, and he's thrifty with that.  And has been able to treat himself to a few goodies he wanted. Plus he will safe some of his check.  He's willing to help out in the family, as needs must.  It makes them think about sharing and chipping in.

Hubby has just brought up Italian Wedding Soup for me.  It's a beef broth with onions, garlic, carrots, spinach, tiny meatballs and an orzo type pasta, other small pastas can be used.  It's good.

So will eat soup and watch a Chinese DVD I have 'Raise the Red Lantern', so will watch that now.  Hope your weekend is good.


Christy

Boosul Boy doing his personal Bible study, with his faithful companion Tink and a cup of tea.  We have always studied the Bible with Rob from when he was born.  Proverbs 22:6  'Bring up a boy according to the way for him; even when he grows old he will not turn aside from it.'

A child needs to be taught values, standards and principles, because if you do not teach them, the world will.  As all those parents with teenagers know it's not easy.  But it's a whole lot easier if you started from infancy, building, building, building, the right foundation so when they do go though those hard years they have a Bible based foundation.


Christy