holiday – Page 3

Celebrations

January 19, 2016 | Leave a Comment

It’s Tuesday afternoon. Bob and I are sitting in a Starbucks in Ft. Lauderdale while he downloads new charts for Cuba and updates his ‘Active Captain’ app. I am looking through photos from 2015 and realizing how much we celebrated over the past 6 months. It was a very celebratory year, and my 60th birthday (just a few days ago) finished up the family milestones as the new year begins.

After Bob turned 60 in June (I was busy cooking and did not get any photos), I had some wonderful old friends visit in July. We’ve known each other for about 25 years, and we made plans to spend part of our weekend going to the NEWS (New England Weavers Seminar) conference in Northampton….. 4 women of a certain age going to a weaving conference! It was awesome! Here we are at dinner in Middletown on our way back to my house.

Then came our older son’s wedding in August. We almost never get photos of our two sons together. It was a rare and wonderful moment.

Right before Thanksgiving, Bob threw me an early birthday party since it was going to be one of those once a decade birthdays, and I would not be able to see my friends and family when the actual birthday happened. Here is chef Michael, just starting the hot hors doeuvres before dinner. What a night!

A photo with one of my old friends and three of my new friends–all weavers!

Michael is about to cut the cake…

And my favorite pairing: white wine and chocolate cake!

A few days before my real birthday last week, Bob and I had a marvelous dinner at Pistache in West Palm Beach. This photo is all about the dinner: duck breast in cherry sauce with truffle polenta…and the harbor park in the background.

While we are waiting for the weather window to sail to the Bahamas, I’ve been slowly honing my tatting skills. I’m definitely improving…and now I’ve got enough tatting to go across the back of my green T-shirt and start going down one side of the front V-neck! Only about a million more little rings and chains to go!

I worked on it a bit this morning before we came ashore.

Thanksgiving

December 1, 2013 | Leave a Comment

It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without some outdoor time, walking in the woods, putting the garden to bed, and (hopefully) having bulbs already planted. This is not the first time I’ve posted photos of these two lovely structures. There is moss growing on the cedar shakes of this pretty barn. I did not catch the light properly because (in real life) the moss was glowing vivid green in the soft light.

I can’t seem to walk by this house without taking yet another photo of it. It was a mostly grey holiday weekend, rainy and raw, but I seem to love the scenery along this walk in almost any weather.

The highlight of our walk yesterday was seeing the beaver that has caused so much destruction along the banks of this stream! He has not left a single tree untouched….busy guy! I was thrilled to see him, although I know you probably won’t! He reall is there, right in the center of the photo, just under the branches with the green leaves! Trust me!

Moss and lichen on rocks. Someday I’ll get just the right photo to begin a tapestry cartoon. This is intriguing, but the light is not quite what I saw yesterday.

At home I am re-mounting my Flax Spinner and getting a new silk warp ready for painting.

January 6, 2013 | Leave a Comment

The best made plans…. I’ve looked forward to being home so much for so long, yet I’ve spent almost the entire month at home sick! And I’ve had one rather big disappointment in a tapestry project…..

….but the upside is that in spite of being sick, my kids spent most of the month with us. It was beyond wonderful to have time with them! And I’ve gotten some weaving and some knitting done. We’ve had some awesome meals, and I guess I will credit being sick with what has kept me from gaining weight (always the silver lining, right?)….

So, with not much to show for myself, I’ll share a couple of good cartoons I stumbled on recently….

From the New Yorker

and from ecards:

I did my bit on fiber purchases. I have a wonderful LYS called Yarns Down Under, in Deep River. During my visit I learned that Filature di Crosa’s “127 Print” is being discontinued (sigh) so I bought two colors to make a cardigan. I bought the black and the periwinkle blue, and I plan to use them in a vertically striped cardigan based on “Designs by Judith” pattern called “Buenos Aires” that called for Manos del Uraguay.

So this takes a bit of imagination…. I am knitting not quite random vertical stripes in my two colorways instead of the two-color stitch pattern used in Judith’s design. I just love the shaping of this sweater and hope it will turn out well in a striped stockinette stitch. Although the gauge is the same, my fabric will be considerably softer since it is not a texture stitch. Wish me luck!

And while licking my wounds about my weaving disappointments, I found this in my inbox today:

“Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.” –Dalai Lama

Sunny St. Augustine

November 28, 2012 | Leave a Comment

We spent a lovely day ashore in St. Augustine yesterday. It was sunny, there were blue skies, and the temperature was in the 70s! Finally! This is why we headed south!

The Main Square on King St.

The oldest church in St. Augustine.

Flagler College

It was warm enough for an al fresco lunch at a Cuban restaurant!

Christmas in the main square. Yes, those are poinsettias planted outside!

…and the highlight for me was getting this shot from the fort of Castillo de San Marcos which I think might make a lovely companion tapestry to my “Terrace View from Skouros.”

We ended the day with dinner at Bistro de Leon as planned. Chef Jean Stephane Poinard’s menu was as delicious as we expected, and this years’ Beajolais Nouveau is quite good!

Day 78, November 27: St. Augustine, Florida

Holiday Lights

November 26, 2012 | Leave a Comment

We are in St. Augustine, Florida now, right as the holiday lights have been turned on throughout the city. Now I have to admit it’s beginning to feel a lot like…

It turns out that National Geographic made a list of the 10 best places in the world to see holiday lights, and St. Augustine is on the list. It’s in great company with beautiful places like Vienna, Brussels, Madrid, Kobe, Gothenburg (Sweden). In fact there are only two locations in the US on the list, and the other is not New York!

So, I feel lucky to be here. We walked the beautiful streets for a while last night and are looking forward to some great sight seeing today. The Flagler Museum supposedly has more Tiffany glass than any other building in the US. I’m looking forward to seeing that!

Tonight we plan to have dinner at a little French restaurant called Bistro de Leon.

What a difference a little sunshine can make. I’m looking forward to exploring this beautiful city, the oldest settled city in the US (founded in 1565, in fact). Generations of city planners have worked hard to keep the charm of the original Spanish settlement, and it’s lovely!