Hat Maker

Hi Dear Folk,

The Mercer Museum was built with all these little window lit rooms, I especially liked the light throughout the museum and in my photos.

I thought I'd start off  with the Hat Maker.  I did like the hat blocks used for felted hats and would love to get my hands on a couple, I know you can buy them but they are quite expensive, there probably are other ways to get around not having a hat block.

Not sure how all these tools were used in hat making.

Christy

PS.  My book Miss Grief came to grief when I left her out on Sunday night.  It thundered and torrential rain came down. I woke up with a start and realized that I had left her outside and it had been raining for a while now, I ventured out in the rain to rescue her, but oh too late. She did receive TLC but is suffering from acute PTSD, as Miss Grief is a library book and not even from my library, I will have to replace her, or pay for her.

Mercer Museum, Doylestown

Hi Dear Folk.

We have been in a heat wave last Saturday got up to 103F.  The previous Saturday we decided to visit the Mercer Museum, they were having an open house, which always helps the pocket book.  It was very hot and inside was even hotter as made entirely of concrete and no AC.  Except in the new museum extension a rather controversial piece of architecture.

Henry Chapman Mercer built this to house his collection of pre-industrial USA tools anything of interest that a working man or woman used in their everyday life or trade.

We climbed all the stair cases up, if we had realized we could have taken the lift to the top and come down all the staircases.

This is the structure of the building inside, made of all poured in place concrete.

These photos remind me of  M. C. Escher's works.

Looking across to the Michener Art Gallery.

Here you can see some of the Moravian Tiles incorporated into the architecture, from his Moravian Tile Works in another part of town.  Personally I would love a few of his picture tiles set into an old farm house kitchen floor, just a dream of mine.

Christy

Aldeburgh Beach, Suffolk

Hi Dear Folk,

Reliving happy days at Aldeburgh Beach.

Painting by Algernon Talmage - Silver Morning, 1932 Aldeburgh Beach

1997 Aldeburgh Beach, not a summer day, probably March.  Rob got a soaker and we had to Beg, Borrow and Buy items from the charity shop to kit him out.  I loved the little blue leather boots. lined with a green tartan, we found for him, he wore those for a while.

Christy

James Michener of South Pacific Fame

Hi Dear Folk,

James Michener was a prolific writer he had over six books that became number one best sellers over a fifty year period of time.  I think he is most famous for South Pacific, because of being made into the musical and then the film.

I have never read any of his books and he is definitely on my book reading list, starting with his autobiography.  He thought very deeply about discrimination, he was raised a Quaker.

This is a reconstruction of his Buck's County Office, where he wrote Tales of the South Pacific.  The room features the desk, chair, typewriter, dictionary and other objects from the office in James A. Michener's Bucks County home, where he live and worked for more than 35 years.

At this desk he wrote some of his best-known fiction and non-fiction works, including Sayonara, The Floating World, Caravans and Sports in America.

Other objects on his desk include two autographed baseballs from the Baltimore Orioles, a dog license issued in 1965 for his 9-year-old terrier, his Gypsy Witch Fortune Telling Playing Cards, and his Doylestown High School T-Shirt.

Christy

Michener Museum - Summer Weekends

Hi Dear Folk,

A few Saturdays ago we visited the Michener Museum.  They had a special exhibit on Fashion that came out of Philadelphia.

Looking across to Fonthill Castle

The Mercer Museum buildings used to be the old prison, above you can see a piece of the prison wall.

Christy

Old Record Players - Connecting With The Past

Hi Dear Folk,

Isn't it fun to connect with the past, especially when it's ones own family.  For years we have had Mr. B's dad's record collection as I'm sure so many do.  In any case while I was up at Ithaca visiting a stereo store with Mr. B., I fell in love with this old record player in a case, circa 1955 I think, so as a splurge I bought it, a girl toy.

Here we are Mr. B. is pulling out of the garage many of the old records his dad had.

Fast forward, two months,  Mr. B. phones me at work and says there is a surprise in the sitting room for you, and here at the thrift he found this.  A Crossley Stack O Matic a reproduction made in 2005 of an old style.  This is a little easier to work as it is automatic and you can stack several records to play one after the other.

We're having a lot of fun just listening to what his dad listened to from the forties to the seventies, that's the time span of these records.

Christy

Valley Forge Park and French Pastries, Summer Weekends

Hi Dear Folk,

Summer weekends just fly by, but here is one Saturday a few weekends ago.  The Boy was away and and gave us permission to to use his Miata, so we decided on a picnic to Valley Forge Park and then onto a French Patisserie that we hadn't visited in a few years.

Time to rake out crocheted blankets and camping blankets, plus the picnic basket, flasks and my Haleakala water bottle/hot drink flask love that with the moon-scape picture on it.  Baskets, are a passion, I also brought along my Amish basket, with journaling papers, pens, etc.

We like this spot with a view across the valley.  Swifts were flying in and out of the doorway of the cabin, they had nests in there, nice and dry.

Nothing like a convertible on a summers day, I don't need to have one but access to one now and again is fun.

We somehow forgot where the French Patisserie named Aux Petits Delices was and wandered along the strip of shops we thought it was in, in fact we gave up and I said "Oh just let me look in that Moroccan shop" and there it was right beyond that, a happy find.

Our tuck.

With a nice cup of tea.

Christy

The Frenetic Pace of Life

Hi Dear Folk,

Wow!  A day off and a wonderful respite from the frenetic pace of life.  Basically my major time has been taken up by two things work and gardening, therefore the absence, along with all the other minutiau of life.

Mr. B. has met up with a friend at Starbucks they will enjoy that time together, I am just chilling with a cup of tea catching up with all of you and thinking where to start on this post.  I think he's taken Rob's Miata, he'll have fun driving that.

We have had such wonderfully cool evenings and nights for this time of year and quite low humidity, so I'v been reveling in that.  We had both Cardinals and Robins nest in our little garden this year, the robins in their usual spot right by the back door in the honeysuckle and the cardinals at the top of the lilac bush, so not so visible, but it seems that the cardinals are sticking around and I see them every day numerous times going about their business, such a joy with their red flash of colour and their cheeky chirps.

Mamma Robin on her eggs.

My trumpet vine decided to flower after many years of not flowering, I did read somewhere that they need to be established for about five years.  So here I am waiting expectantly, I had given Mr. B. strict instructions not to clip of any extended tendrils, but I did not tell The Boy, yes you can guess, The Boy decided to do a little trim of the trumpet vine, mum to say the least was not amused.  Why do they get these crazy ideas in their head when the most they ever do in the garden is push the lawn mower around under instructions from Dad "the lawn needs mowing please get it done" yes I know, a poor quaking tendril had extended itself over the path, but need he have proceeded around the whole vine.  A view buds managed to hide themselves lower down, among the day lilies, and are now blooming and I may get an odd bloom here and there, but not what it would have been.  Roses did appear one night for his mother, a peace offering.  One of the tendrils that escaped I counted 23 potential flower trumpets, isn't that amazing.

Found quaking in their boots and hiding, amongst the day lilies and sage.

The peace appeasement present.  A lovely bouquet of lilac colored roses.  The above vase was Mr. B's mum's and special because she died when he was four.  The shape is just lovely for so many bouquets of flowers. and must have been much used because it has a few nicks at the top, but are not seen when filled with flowers. Below is a Swedish red glass rose bowl, which I picked up at a thrift many a year ago, I just love it, I think it's from the sixties and quite collectable now.  I always try and make a bouquet of flowers last as long as I can.

Trumpet vines are terribly invasive and you really do have to keep them under control.  They extend underground suckers and will show up all over.  One I have dug up and planted near the fence by my Simla patio.  My neighbor cut down one of the fir trees so now I have no shade or that much privacy on my patio, Mr. B. did put up a trellis along the top of the fence, but it needs more and a trumpet vine would do the trick I think.  Every day I look at it and its little head is lifting up more and more, so I think it will establish itself there.  They are a glory of colour when in bloom, mine is an orangey-yellow.

On the crafting front just a few odd things have been picked up in the evening.  Making Suffolk Puffs and working on my Crazy Quilt squares.  I was moving along quite well making Suffolk Puffs when I lost half a piece to my template, it just fell down where I was sitting, I was tired and thought I'll pick it up another day.  Do you think I could find it, no.  I searched and searched, Mr.B. looked.  Three weeks later , I look down and there is is, translucent yellow , against the yellow tile, it was camouflaged, yet I had looked, maybe it was the light, a different time of day.  It was so frustrating I was ready to buy another one.

My library never ceases to astound me, I come up with obscure Victorian writers and sure enough, they have one, two or even more of their books and originals too.  So I've been reading Constance Fenimore Woolson, the niece of James Fenimore Cooper, and I'm moving onto Isaac Zangwell, I've also been reading Elizabeth Jenkins, a mid century writer.  Some better reads than others but all pictures of the period.  For instance I never knew of the St Claire Flats in Michigan, they are in Miss Grief and other stories by CFW.  In fact I almost prefer her short stories, less convolution of long over blown plots.

My camera is backed up with all sorts of images from the past weekends, so where to start, but maybe working backwards rather than forwards would be good.

A cool glass of iced tea with mint, presented by Mr. B. after a long hot day in the garden, so good.  Reading Elizabeth Jenkins The Tortoise and The Hare, a most peculiar title and even after reading a review about why the use of that title, I still do not think that is suits.  I would love to have a conversation with the author as to her choice of this title.

Tea and Toast for breakfast on the Oak Tree Patio.  Using my Royal Winton cup and plate, along with my Brown Betty Teapot found up in Ithaca at a thrift, the genuine article, and as a bonus my crochet flower tea cozy fits even better on this pot than the one I had it on.

Reading Miss Grief.

While in Trader Joe's which I frequent about every other week, it's a lunch time run while at work, I saw these Strawberries and Cream Hydrangea's thought about it and went back and bought myself one, only $6.99 so not bad.  I hope it does well in the pot, newly acquired from Ollie's, and man handled home.  It sits by my Japanese Maple between the pond and the arch, were there is no lawn and the soil is bare and impossible to grow anything here because of all the tree roots, so I thought a pot would look nice, I might add a few more.  Actually you can't really see the size of this pot from the photo, but it is very large.  Made in Vietnam.

Just a tad past her best in this photo, but so pretty and the name strawberries and cream is most suitable.

I bought this Popcorn tree on a whim, and when you rub the leaves it does smell like buttered popcorn.  You see that fence post to the right, well that is where I have planted the trumpet vine and hopefully it will cover over all the trellis and give quite a show, oh dear will it take another five years to flower, probably.

Christy