Where To Start?

 Hi Dear Folk,

I seem to have succumbed, morphed over to Instagram.  I'm not going to berate myself I'm too old for that.      2021, where to start?  What to say?  A word that comes to my mind is "Endurance", we've just got to keep on keeping on.

2020 was a year of change.  Mr. B. lost his one and only job contract, then when COVID hit lost his little part time job, we both opted to get our Social Security, now being income less, and we had that option.  Thank goodness for options, when so many fellow Americans do not.  Our son moved out in the Autumn and thus we did an internal decorating and switching of bedrooms.  We're happy for him and for us, because so many children are moving back in and not out in this time of pandemic.  He went in with some friends and found a house.  The Boy is picky, had to have a basement for his sound system, a garage for his Miata.  I said did he leave anything for the other two boys?  He has the smallest bedroom, well so he should.  

I do like to have a project in mind, just the thinking about it, I find can give joy.  We got an awful lot done around the house last year, both outside and inside;  which I've posted over the months on Instagram.  My next project is the one hundred year old bathroom, which still has the original bath, open on two sides and not so bad, the original tile work.  Actually for its age it could look worse.  It has that old white brick tile and black edging, so black and white.  I'm going to keep that colour scheme.  

Needs new plumbing for the bath and shower, new tile, I'm going with white brick tiles again, but I'm thinking of black grout, not set on that.  Refinish the bath, I cannot imagine trying to get it out, you'd probably need a crane. An oval shower rail to enclose you completely, and keep the water off the tile.  It is in need of a new floor and tile, maybe black and white, similar to what's there now and a new toilet, one that really works.  Keep the carrara marble sink top, but I do not like the base, so want the builder to come up with some kind of stand, and have open plumbing underneath.

Over the sink will be a nice large mirror, right down to the sink, because for the past twenty years, I have only been able to see from my eyes upwards in the original medicine cabinet mirror.  Obviously a six foot man put it in, as it's just the right height for my husband.  To replace the under sink storage, we just found an Eastlake hanging wall cupboard and shelves on FBM, so that will go up over the toilet.

I do love wallpaper, so I'm thinking a black and white forest scene with animals, I'll know it when I see it, and of course that may change.  Well that's my next project, we'll see if it comes to fruition.  2021 here I come, one hundred year old bathroom.

I do have a project that should be finished by next week, which involves the basement.  I view my basement as the many headed hydra that keeps rearing up and has to be slain.  Why?  However many times I sort and get rid of things, there is still more.

I want just a nice open flat service to be able to do projects on, spread out and have room.  I have two old desks down there, so I'm going to use those, to define the space and behind them I'm thinking of hanging fabric murals so I have something to look at, rather than a basement full of basement things.  I need to do some wall and floor painting.  I've almost finished the crochet red rug, which I've decided to use in the basement.  My that took some yarn, a good project for left overs, but I think I'm up to fourteen hanks, and I wouldn't consider the rug huge, fortunately I had all that old yarn, that belonged to my friend's mum, had to be from the seventies.

I got to sit down at my new vanity the other evening, in my new bedroom, feeling like the lady of the manor.  I was getting ready for a Zoom Meeting where I was giving a five minute discourse, so felt I had to try my best.  I bought my lighted German design vanity mirror on FBM, where a lady said she was getting rid of hers, because it showed up every wrinkle, I know the feeling.  

Of course a hope is that at some point we can travel, but I'm not counting on it.  I could see possibly taking the trip we had planned for this year, which was a cottage all on it's own up in Maine.  As to a trip to family in England, if at all it would be the end of the year, and there're so many factors that weigh in on that.

I count my blessings, and you know I sometimes don't like using that word or phrase, I wish there was another one in the English language, because if you're doing better than someone else it kind of denotes that they weren't blessed and you were, and I don't think that at all.  

2020 the lost year, the lost generation, who knows, time will tell.  Moving onwards.

Take care, 

Christine

I'm Shoveling Snow?

Hi Dear Folk,

I did finish my patchwork and crochet curtains and I'm pleased with them.  I gave them a nice starch and an iron, which the crochet at the bottom especially needed because it was curving in, but after a good iron and starch it straightened out.

I think this fabric must have came from an old tablecloth.

Hanging in my hallway.

I used the pattern from this old seventies crochet book.

Two men in the house and I'm out shoveling the sidewalk.  Of course The Boy was at work and Mr. B. hurt his back shoveling the previous snowstorm, so who does that leave but the woman in the household stepping up to the plate as we so often do.  And of course who is in the house taking photos.  Yes you can guess.

The garden is nada on the flower front because of all this snow and cold weather, so I have been filling this void with some bought flowers and plants.  Tulips which when first put in water drank up almost the entire vase, they were so thirsty.

A miniature rose bush for a little peep into what summer will bring.

This little arrangement is still going.

I cleared up a counter top in my kitchen, where we kept papers and pens and things.  Now that's cleaned off I have another work counter which was needed.  I moved all the papers into the vestibule area by the back door, because we still need to keep these things for easy access in the kitchen.  It looks so much less cluttered.

I cleaned the top of my fridge and all the kitchen cabinets.  What a lot of up and down, I was exhausted.

The square tin with Nelson's column on the front was a yard sale find up in Canada.  As soon as I saw it I knew I would add it to my collection, mum had this tin, which originally of course had sorted biscuits in, but then was used for cakes and other goodies.  Each side has a different London scene on.

I was able to add my picnic basket up here, got rid of some things and just generally sort things out.

I love these little palm creations, that were given to me by a basket vendor in Maui.

A hummingbird and a fish.

I've kept some things up here, but later on I think they will go out in a yard sale.

I have plans for these three picture frames.  I liked these teacup card prints, but they have been up here for years and faded out, so time for a change.

I bought this little recipe book in England, more for the pictures than the recipes, although they are nice.  I'm going to cut three out and frame them.  These two pictures for sure and one more.

Christine

The Week That Was and Other Mundane Matters

Hi Dear folk,

Snow storm is in full swing and the way it's coming down I think it will be a big one.  All these pictures are from the past week not today.  Still spring is sitting dormant these buds on the rhododendron have been waiting for a while.

Our neighborhood is from the 1920's and I think when they built these houses they did certain plantings of shrubbery with them, and I do think the purple rhododendrons were part of that.  A neighbor has an absolutely huge one, although mine would be that big if we did not cut it back.

What have I been up to?  Well life isn't all glitz and glamor it's the every day small stitches of life that hold it together, all those mundane things that keep the boat afloat.

Mr. B. bought me this lovely bouquet and after trying several vases I eventually put them in a vase I inherited from his mum.  His mum died when he was four, really hard for him.  In any case his dad and step mom had kept a number items from their marriage stored in a barrel under the stairs, and this was one.

It was a wedding present in 1945, but I think dates back further than that, I would say what they call depression rose glass.  I appreciated having it.

Mr. B's parents were married in August 1945 between being sent back from England, where he was a flight engineer in B26 Bombers, and before he was meant to be deployed in the Pacific.  He was on his way across the country when the war ended.

Before being sent out to England he worked in Baltimore at the Martin Marietta plant and one of the planes they made was the B26 Marauder, where he worked on the engines, so not at all surprising that he was assigned as flight engineer on B26, The Widowmaker.

I finished the one patchwork curtain, trimmed in crochet and I am working on the second one for the other window.  It's hard to take a good photo when they are up at the window.  I used a new kebab skewer to hold them up, it works well and just slips in the hooks I already had up.  Threaded through the crochet at the top.

I found a nice edging crochet pattern for the bottom.  Mr. B.  said the hallway is darker with them.  Before I had wax paper up with pressed flowers in between, but they were old.  I had made them out of dried pressed flowers I collected in PEI and that's BFR (before Rob) so old.

Have you ever tried that for a window?  Taking pressed dried flowers and ironing them between wax paper, it is I think a lovely window treatment for a smaller window.

Enjoying the meter of my day.  Coffee and croissant by the fire, reading Expiation by Elizabeth Von Arnim; which is due to be released by Persephone Books next October.  As always I have the original first American edition from my local library.  They all know me, I'm the one who pulls old books out of unused shelving which exists on the top floor of the library, and someone has to be sent in to find it.  Love that they have them there, so special.

My little mug bought in Amsterdam, it reminds me of my paternal grandad working around his market garden and chicken farm.  He always looked like that with his trousers and braces and the other side has chickens on which you can just see in the picture above this one.

My boys have given me a pile of mending which I have procrastinated on, must get to that.

I have one project on the burner, but I don't want to count my chickens before they're hatched.  I filled out all the paperwork to apply to the local borough to build a garden shed.  I have a rough quote on it and will have it built from scratch, as it has to fit into a certain area and be in compliance with local ordinance.  I wished we lived somewhere where that didn't matter, are there places like that?  I assume so.

I went to the offices to submit them and pay the fee but they are closed until Friday for training, oh well!  I hope I don't get turned down because the fee to re submit is $550.00, and I don't think I'd contest it.

I'm not going to talk about my plans and ideas until I know that it is a done deal.  Well maybe a little.  I have old windows I want to use in the project that I've collected over the years.  Three circular columns that came off the house porch when we enclosed it and two sets of French door wood screen doors that came off also.  They are the original 1920's wood doors with windows that can be taken out and screens put in of which I have everything stored in the rafters of the garage.  Hope my vision comes to fruition.

Well that's the week that was and a little of what is.

Have a wonderful week.

Christine

Craft, Comfort, Colour and Crises

Hi Dear Folk,

I've been taking a little break from being online.  It's nice to step back and hibernate and go with the rhythm of the season.  Just posting a few things on Instagram.  If so you'll know the story of my roses just found outside my house last Saturday on the grass verge.  Someone wasn't happy with the apology.

Cooking hearty soups with dumplings.  Enjoying Trader Joes spiced coffee, which reminds me of the film Chocolat.  Gradually working on those cleaning jobs that need to be done, ticking jobs off the list.

Gifts from friends in the UK.  A tea infuser I named Oscar, I think he already looks a little inebriated  he probably needs a little tea to bring him round.  A lovely wall hanging from Gujarat.

Colours to cheer the soul in the middle of winter, bright oranges and reds along with deep burgundies.

Today was sunny, cold and still.  No wind just a beautiful quiet day.  It was good to get out, walk and breath in the cold fresh air.

To see sunlight and shadows on the dappled snow.

Hedgerows with hidden critters, waiting for spring.

Working on a little patchwork project, curtains for my front door side panel windows.  I am going to edge them in crochet, at least that's the plan in my mind.  I had some pieces a friend gave to me that were already cut out, so thought might as well use those.  The comfort of crafting is therapeutic and calming in a world of crises.

I've been listening to classical music more and more, I just don't want to listen to the news, and like the calming effect, not that all classical music is calming. So I've been keeping the Internet and Media at bay.

Although I have been viewing a few documentaries.  Such as DuPont Teflon poisoning in Parkersburg WV.  Did you know that 90% of the people in this world tested for Teflon come up positive.  They had to go all the way back to the Korean War and compare blood samples taken and kept from the soldiers back then, to get clean samples.  We are all unknowing guinea pigs.

Another fact is that Teflon is even used on some dental floss, the one I like the best.  Ease of use is not always the best for you.

Maybe I should just listen to the classical music.

Hope your weekend is good.

Christine

Us Americans At Play - Kutztown Folk Festival

Hi Dear Folk,

Mr. B. and I went to the Kutztown Folk Festival today.  I don't think I have been here since BR, before Rob, so over twenty-five years.  It is the oldest continually running folk festival in America.  We got an early start and were there before the gates opened.  It was not crowded at all.  When we spoke to one vendor he said the hot weather had kept people away.  Hopefully they will make up for it as the festival runs to the end of the week.  But is was nice to walk around without a crowd.

You see everything including a Rooster who walks around on a leash and is a ring bearer at weddings, what ever floats your boat.

This post is picture heavy and gives you a little view of a Pennsylvania country festival and the local crafts.

This little girl was so sweet eating her sandwich sitting on her dads lap and he has a nice smile too.

Lots of food and crafts local to the Berks County area of Pennsylvania Dutch.  The original people of this area were of German descent.  Dutch being a corruption of Deutsche.

Here I am talking to an old timer.  They had lots of little engines that chug along all up to about eighty or more years old.  Connected to a belt, they could run just about anything, a corn husker, a butter churn, an ice cream maker, a washing machine.  They were just ported around from one piece to another, where ever they needed to use them on the farms.

We had a nice typical Pennsylvania Dutch lunch, ribs, corn fritters, butter beans, followed by apple dumpling and a Kolo drink.

This bread oven has stood on the fair ground for over fifty years.

Country and folk music

Quilt section barn AC and all the quilts are for sale.  Quilt lovers may like the following photos and I always think it's interesting to see prices in different countries.

Isn't this lady so sweet, I loved the way she was dressed.  Step back sixty years country America, I can just see her pottering around in the kitchen, with the formica and chrome kitchen set.

The petting area.

What a face and what teeth.

These little rabbits were rather hot.

We bought a walnut wooden spatula, that Mr. B. wanted for the kitchen and we got our name burned on the handle for free.  Also I bought two little pots of goat milk lotion, one lavender and the other rose.  It was lovely to be out together, we seldom seem to have a totally free day into the evening.  I do now but Mr. B. doesn't.

On the way home we bought some local grown tomatoes and had bacon and mayo sandwiches, so good.  When I first came to the States in the seventies I couldn't believe the size of the tomatoes.

All these very hot humid days end in a 7:00 PM thunder storm, you can almost count on it.

Christine