An Introduction and Some Goodies I got in Vermont!

I want to introduce you to my Daughter In Law, Leslie's creative talents. She is very talented and passed this creativity along to my granddaughter. I love her work, it is unique, one of a kind and very well done. I have several of her pieces and love them! Her style is original and one of a kind, you will not find her work mass produced. She has started a little store on Etsy and I wanted to introduce her and her work to everyone who comes by to visit. You can visit her store by going to my sidebar and clicking on the little doll photo. I hope you will give her shop a visit and thank you!

And now for some of my treasures from our visit to Vermont

On Mother's Day my daughter gave me this photo of a little house in Vermont, she had taken it two years ago when she visited with us during a college family weekend. I use this photo as my screen saver, she had it printed and framed for me and now it is displayed next to my computer!


These are a tiny little bunch of Forget Me Nots I picked last weekend in Vermont. They were growing wild near the dining hall of the college and I found them growing wild in the yard. I added the little wild daisy with them. They are in a tiny salt shaker and I am happy to say they are still alive and are on the windowsill in my kitchen. I love tiny little bouquets of flowers, and my favorites are wildflowers, just picked and placed into a glass jar or old container, nothing fancy, just simple and sweet.

In my other post I told you how my son gave me a bag of wool and I had purchased some felting needles while visiting Stowe, Vermont. On the rainy afternoon waiting to go to the graduation I tried my hand at needle felting and made a little Pug and a Wire Haired Fox Terrier. We now have our Pug and I once had a Wire Haired Fox Terrier. They were fun to make, but it was no fun when I poked my fingers with the very sharp needle. My son said while taking his fibers class and making the little bear that is in my header photo he poked himself many times too! So, this is Zoe the Pug and Timmy the Terrier!


These are goodies I bought while in Stowe, a long table runner, a round table runner, some barn red candles, a bag of Vermont fragrant dried Balsam Tips (my son thought that was a waste of money, he said I could have gone out into the woods and gathered my own. . .) I love the scent and plan on using it in little primitive sachets, it is like having the spirit of Christmas year round. I also bought a grubby battery candle and wish I had bought more than one, the price was great and the store was having a big discount. And I bought two black hooks and a bag of flower seeds, which I planted and I hope they will grow.

My husband bought me this wonderful wool hooked rabbit pillow for the living room. It is a Warren Kimble design and I have another version in a small print in the living room. I have several unique rabbits which I keep out year round in my living room and this pillow made them more special.


These are two hand embroidered pillow cases, in perfect condition that I found in an antique shop in Montpelier, Vermont. I just loved the pattern.

Also in the antique shop I found this old license plate that I bought for my husband to add to his car related memorabilia in his den, he has a big collection of vintage matchbox cars and other matchbox related items along with odds and ends, and this is now part of that odds and ends collection!

And last, my daughter's best friend came with us to the graduation and she surprised me on Mother's Day with this little framed cross-stitched saying, which now proudly hangs in my kitchen above the sink!

So, I am now back in the real world at home, my thoughts keep going back to our trip and the wonderful memories I have.

I am about to create new and very special memories in a few weeks when I fly to Orlando and meet with my grandchildren and family at Walt Disney World! After spending a few days there I will be bringing home two grandsons, Sage and Cole who visit with us in the summer. I wish that I could bring home all four grandchildren. Two of my sons live in Florida, one now is living in Vermont, one is home along with my daughter. I wish we all lived closer to each other !

Wishes and thoughts

(The photo was taken in November when we went to Vermont for Thanksgiving.)
First, I want to wish my son, Keith, a very happy birthday. He was a leap year baby, I tell him that is why he is who he is! He is home this week from school and will be going back on Monday. He graduates from Sterling College, Craftsbury Common, Vermont in May and then will seek a new path to follow. He is my adventurer son, likes to travel and live his life doing his thing. He hopes to find a job studying the black/brown bears, he has spent summers in Minnesota working at a black bear sanctuary. He is majoring in conservation ecology and loves the outdoors.

Happy Birthday Keith, we love you!
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

This morning I entered two of my style Raggedy Ann dolls in the doll show.

In a little while we will be going back to look at all the dolls. I am

going to bring my camera to take some photos, I love

old dolls. I do not plan on getting anything this year

since I am having the crown moulding installed and back splash for the kitchen and fireplace mantel redone. We also want to get a new

chair for the family room and some sort of bookcase later on too.

***************

I have been slowly tearing apart the living room and dining room

so when the carpenter arrives on Monday he

can start work. . .my house is a mess, it is like

a maze trying to get to the upstairs.

I still have to take my stuff off the walls in the kitchen, but

I am going to wait until I have a room to move

the stuff into. I am anxious for my house to get back to

normal. . .I am an neat/clean freak and I am trying to not

look at the mess. I know I will love it when it is

finished, I have waited a long, long time to have this done!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Wishing everyone a great weekend!

My Dad-For My Family-To Remember Him

My apple napkin holder hand carved by Dad for me 40 years ago. I use this everyday!A trunk made by my Dad, my sister and I shared this for storage of sweaters,

after I was married and had my children it became a toy box and now

I use it to store seasonal displays for my family room. It is near my fireplace.

My Mom and Dad, this was just before I was born, the original photo was taken in 1947~!

My Dad working behind the counter at Quimby's Lodge/Inn in Vermont.The cover of the issue of the Vermonter where they had the article about my Dad and the bear. The article and a photo of Quimby's Lodge/Inn. A photo of my Dad and my oldest brother, with the bear.Quimby's Lodge and Inn, I took this when we went to visit two years ago, it has never changed. . .you can see in the photo of the article. Then we moved to New York, this was our farm house and my Dad, I still remember sitting on that front porch! This photo was taken right after he purchased the farm, he sent the photo to Miss Quimby and they kept it all these years in their photo albums.
My Dad's bank book, the last entry was July 16, my birthday, we then moved to New Jersey. The last amount was $50.00.

The first entry.My son with a black bear, in the summer he works in Minnesota with bears!~
The photo is dark, but you can see a bear on the left.

Today would have been my Dad's 106th birthday. I remember the day my Mom called to tell me that he had passed away, we had just moved to another state and I was thankful that I had been able to go home and visit him before he left us. He loved cardinals, they were one of his favorite birds, after my Mom told me that my Dad had passed away I looked out the window and sitting in a large pine tree with boughs heavy with snow was a bright red cardinal and he seemed to look at me and then flew away. Seeing the bird made the pain easier to deal with, I knew my Dad was in peace.

He could put a stick into the dirt and a plant would grow, he had a really green thumb and enjoyed gardening. He also was a woodworker and carved scenes of Vermont where my family once lived and he worked. One of his wood carvings won an Honorable Mention at an art show in Princeton, NJ. He was so happy and we were all so proud. I learned to use tools, garden and do 'man's work by hanging around my father.

Our family left Vermont to move to Cazenovia, NY, where my Dad bought a diary farm, I loved living there. For me it was my own personal adventure park, but it was a lot of hard work for others in the family. I have his bank book from when we lived there, it shows the first deposit made on February 23, 1951. The last entry, which happened to be on my birthday, was on July 16, 1956! Our income was from the sale of milk. My brothers had all enlisted in the Army and running the farm was too much for my Dad alone, so we moved to New Jersey where he worked at Walker Gordon Farms. He loved New York State and Vermont and he would call it "God's Country", for many years after we moved to NJ we would vacation to Vermont and Canada, in Canada we would visit my Mom's family.

He was sort of a folk hero in Vermont where he worked at Quimby's Lodge/Inn as a jack-of-all-trades, a fishing guide, he worked behind the counter selling tackle and fishing stuff and souvenirs, he helped care for the horses in the stables and doing whatever, wherever he was needed. There was a bear that had become a problem and was trying to get into the cottages, getting into garbage and then after the bear startled a horse throwing the rider to the ground the owner of the Inn, Miss Quimby, asked my Dad to kill the bear and he did with one shot. He was written about in the Vermonter and was a hero at Quimby's and in the villages around the area. Two years ago I went there to visit and the Inn has not changed, I was about 14 when I last was there with my Dad and Mom. It was strange going back, the new owner let me take photos of photos from the many photo albums they had. It was like going back in time and getting to visit with my Dad once again. The truth be told, he told us years later he never wanted to kill the bear, but he also felt if someone did get hurt he would have felt responsible. Now, many years later, my son goes to college in Vermont, about 40 miles from where my life first began. He has always had an interest in bears; in the summer, he works with bears! He is studying their habits and feels a bond with them. . .funny how life can take you down a road where it runs parallel with times of long ago.

My Dad may have been a hero for many because he shot a bear, but he was a hero to all of us. . .he taught us the meaning of working hard for what you need, to care for what you own, to respect others and be kind and caring. He would say that you do not have to enter a church to pray, that you can pray where ever you are and he said he felt the closest to God when he worked in his flower gardens. He was a loving Dad and I still think of him everyday.

Happy Birthday to my Dad

Love,

PS-I am not a sports fan, but I am hoping the Arizona Cardinals win the Super Bowl, just because of their name. . .Cardinals!

A House, Housework and Crafting!

Today I want to show you a picture of what I think is a lovely home in Vermont. I love houses, especially old houses that have been renovated. . .I love anything to do with decorating and have often said if I could I would own 3-4 houses and each would have a different country style. We love Vermont and it has been a dream of mine to move there, but it is just a dream!

I had found this home while doing an internet search and saved it in favorites because it is located in Craftsbury, VT and that is where my son goes to school. Yesterday before leaving to take him to the train station I showed him the picture of the house and said that in May when I go up for his graduation I was going on a hunt to try and find it! He looked and made a comment and pretended to be interested, then he STOPPED and said show me that house again. I brought up the picture and article and he said he knew exactly where it was because he stayed there for a night; his friend was house-sitting and had asked if she could have friends over until she became used to the house, the owner said fine, so my son and another friend went to stay overnight. He said I would LOVE the house, that it is just like in the photos. I was so surprised!

You can read the article here at the New Old House Magazine and see a couple interior shots. If you go to Sandra Vitzhum's website here http://www.sandravitzthum.com/hse3.html can see more interior photos and other projects done by her. She also did the library where my son attends school. I sat on the porch of the library looking at the views and did not want to leave! I was very, very surprised to learn that my son had been in a home that I find so charming! Maybe in the spring they will give me a tour! I think it is a great house.

Now, I have some house work to do, I think this is how I will get it finished today:

1. First I will open a new file in my PC

2. Then I will name it "Housework"

3. After that I will send it to the RECYCLE BIN

4. Once it is in the recylce bin I will empty the RECYCLE BIN

5. My PC will ask me, "Are you sure you want to delete Housework permanently?"

6. I will answer calmly, "Yes," and press the mouse button firmly....

And housework will no longer be necessary in my house! If only it could be that easy. BTW-My brother sent me the above!

Once housework is taken care of I will start my block of the month square, which I plan on making into a little pillow and I may make a few changes in the design though! Stay tuned for more.

Happy Sunday!

What I have been doing

After Christmas and all the holiday decorations are put away I like to move things around in my house. I display some special snow people, but I also like to move furniture from room to room. It is fun and the cost is free. Since my belongings all seem to go together it is easy to mix and match up the rooms.

My biggest rearranging was the bedroom. I am enjoying the warmth of the room for the winter months and come spring and summer I will go back to the lighter look.

I hope everyone is well. We are having dreary weather, cold and rain. My son goes back to school on Saturday and after a few days of adjusting to not having him home I want to start working on my dolls again. The time has flown by during his visit, next time we see him will be in May for graduation, and I not only get to see him I get to go back to Vermont! This spring will more than likely be our last trip up that far North. I will miss that very, very much.

The doll show will be coming up and I want to enter a couple of them there, last year three of them won ribbons, so it is something to look forward to. If they do not win I still have the fun of looking at all the old dolls, and maybe this year the old Volland Raggedy Ann will be there again. I brought my camera last year but the dealer did not bring her, I wanted to take a picture of her! Do you think maybe I can talk my dear hubby into buying her for me if she is there? I doubt it :(, but if she is there it will be fun to hold her again!

This is a photo of one of my snowmen along with a vase my daughter in law gave me a few Christmases back, I sometime float candles in it, or put one large candle in it or else I can add winter greenery and when my daughter brings me my red winter tulips I put them in there. It functions in many fun ways.

Wishing everyone a great day!

Home Sweet Home

This is the little house where we stay in Craftsbury Commons, Vermont. Our pug enjoying her nap by the fire. I loved these cows!

We had a very nice visit with my son. It was great to see him again, we saw him last July when we vacationed there. Our Thanksgiving Day was very peaceful and the meal I made was yummy! I thought having to cook in a strange kitchen would be difficult but in fact it was just like being at home. I guess we have stayed at this little house so often that it is becoming a home away from home.

The drive up was very nice, the weather was perfect and we did not have any bad weather the entire time up there. It snowed the day after Thanksgiving and it made the small town look like a Currier and Ives painting. This area of Vermont is like time has stopped, it is very, very quaint.

We did not do a lot of running around this visit, we went to the craft fair at Craftsbury Commons on Saturday, I wanted to buy a Made In Vermont Pine Wreath this was a must have for us! We found the wreath and I also bought two cute little cloth-stuffed elephants (they look like they were made with a Gail Wilson pattern), a primitive cross stitched kitty picture and some home made soap and beeswax candles. At an antique shop I bought one of those weaving looms for making potholders! I sat and made potholders while the guys watched football. Later I had them judge which potholders they liked best! I also did a lot of reading and walking, I love walking the country roads. When driving back from the craft show we stopped to take pictures of the sweetest cows, they have black faces and were so unique, I wanted to keep one.

The drive home was so opposite from the drive up. First, I was sad to be leaving my son and the state of Vermont, I love Vermont! So, my husband and I are both feeling a bit sad, but anxious to get home since we had to leave. My oil light kept flashing on my car and soon it went from flashing to staying on. I barely made it off the highway to a stop that had a little store and sold gas. They sold oil, so I bought as many bottles as I could carry while my husband stayed with our pug. . .after my attempts he finally got the oil cap off and filled the opening with oil. After waiting for sometime I started to drive again, I drove the county road and once I felt the car was driving "normal" I found the entrance ramp back onto the super highway, we were driving along and the same thing started to happen again, so I pulled off an exit ramp when I found one and we bought more oil, put it into the car and off we go, and then it happened again, this time there was no safe area to pull over so in the sleet and cold my husband was pouring oil into the car while standing next to construction cones where the road became very, very narrow. I do not know how many times I called my son and called my daughter to let them know what was happening and to pray for us. I managed to drive the car maybe 4 miles to the New York State thruway exit and the car would not move. . .I drove it for about 1/2 mile or so away from the exit and I was in the far left lane of a 4 lane thruway, we could hear the gears grinding from the motor, it was dark and sleeting, I tried to get the car into the right lane where I could pull over, I told my husband that this was it, we were not going to make it and I started to feel numb with fear, cars were zooming past us and my car would not move, I wanted to be home, at that moment I thought of my Mother and Father and asked them to please help, in my heart I knew they would hear me from up above, I then said please God, help us and prayed with my heart; the next thing I knew my car was in the right lane, a merging lane, but out of the path of cars driving fast past us and blowing their horns, as if I was doing this on purpose! I do not remember turning on my hazard lights, but then my husband went to turn them on and they were on, he said make sure you keep your seat belt on because we can be hit from behind. I then found my cell phone and called home and told my son what had happened and to keep praying and I then called my daughter and asked her to email my son in Vermont because I was to email home as soon as I got home. I did not want him to worry. It was getting very late and we should have been home by now.

My husband and I were both very upset and afraid, I was still feeling numb. It was odd, because I remembered thinking all this time about our pug, if we get hit will she run from the car, what will happen to her, we did not have her leash or collar on and she was in her bed in the back seat. I then thought that if we do not make it home will my daughter put away my Thanksgiving decorations before selling the house! Then I started to focus on positive thoughts and in my mind was planning on how I was going to decorate this year for Christmas. We were both very, very tired and hungry so I guess my mind was not working as it should!

I then called 911 for help, but we were both so upset we did not know where we were exactly. After what seemed like a lifetime a State Trooper pulled in front of my car and asked if we needed help, dumb question I thought, but said YES. Again, after a long wait a tow truck arrived. . .to make this long story short, I rode in my car on the flatbed of the tow truck and my husband rode with the driver, it was too cramped in the cab with 3 adults and a very frightened little pug. I settled her back into her bed, she was thirsty so drank water that I poured into my cupped hand, she was cold and wet, I covered her with a blanket and eventually she went to sleep. I found my coat and put it on and covered up with my husbands coat, it was very cold in the car. It was also a very strange feeling to be riding in a car that was on a tow truck also. The windows were all fogged up so I could not see where we were, I closed my eyes and just kept praying and thinking about how close we came to never making it home. About two hours later we were back in our driveway. A long and very scary trip home and I was so thankful that we had not been the cause of an accident and that we made it safely by the grace of God!

I learned this Thanksgiving that there is so much to be thankful for. On Monday I spent the day getting ready to decorate for Christmas and the entire day thanking God for hearing my calls for help and my dear Mother and Father hearing my pleas for help. I strongly believe that even if someone is not on earth, they can hear you and know when they are needed, like Angels.

My car is no longer able to work, the motor seized up and it cannot be repair. What upsets me now about this is a week before we left I took my car in for service and told my mechanic I saw oil spots in the driveway and garage, to look into that along with giving the car a tune up and topping off the fluids. When I picked up my car he said what he had done, showed me the sales slip and said that he changed the oil and filter and fixed the oil leak problem. . .Monday I told him that either he or someone who worked on my car did not fix the problem and how my husband and I along with our dog could have been killed or caused a major accident when my car stopped working in a very dangerous area of the New York State thruway. He said nothing! Now I have to look for a good used car and this is not something we had planned for and not just before the Christmas holidays, but I also believe that everything happens for a reason so we shall see.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and counted their blessings. Today I finished my Christmas decorating, except for our big tree, which really is not big, it is like a tall/skinny little pine tree you would find while walking in the woods, maybe in Vermont!

Some lovable old toys!

The first two photos are of an old bear and child's storybook. I love this old bear, I found him in an antique shop two years ago when we went to Vermont. The little bear belonged to my son when he was a little guy and that bear is over 25 years old. I had to put baby-socks on the older bear because his paws are so worn, the straw stuffing was poking through, there is no way he can be mended, but he is still very, very lovable. Also you can see some old cloth rag dolls, there is a sweet black doll, the doll in the middle is a Topsy-turvy, when you turn her over she becomes a blond! A very precious doll. The other one is also sweet, her facial features are embroidered on and her arms and legs can move and she can pose. The book The Forgetful Bear I found at an antique shop here.

When we were in Vermont we stopped at the Vermont Country Store, a fun place to browse. They were having a big tent sale and there I spotted the Camel with the Wrinkled Knees! Since I love Raggedy Ann and Andy stories and collect the very old hand-made Raggedy Ann and Andy style dolls I was thrilled to see him. My birthday was the next day, so I handed him to my son, I said here. . .you can buy this for me for my birthday! I also have one in blue, I should photo them together. He sits on top of an old china cabinet that I have some antique toys and part of my collection of children's storybooks. He sits there proudly with a few of my old hand-made Raggedy Ann dolls, one doll which is unique is the Indian doll who sits upon a rocking horse. This doll is fashioned from a character in one of the Raggedy Ann stories, he is so charming, very old and very well made. Then we have a clown doll that belonged to my son, this little doll is now 40 years old! I bought this a few weeks after I brought my son home from the hospital! It seems like yesterday! My daughter in law found the children's book The Children's 1928 Pitterpatter Book in the antique shop next to the house where we were staying in Vermont, this book is a filled with sweet stories. When my grandsons were here with me they enjoyed having me read from the different children's story books I have; some of their favorites were the Raggedy Ann and Andy stories. It is fun too group your collections and enjoy them! Sometimes I think I collect too many things (is that possible!)

Martha

Summer Time and the Living is Easy!

I cannot believe how time is flying by! My last post was on Mother's Day and I missed posting for my second son's birthday which was on May 16th! He was visiting family in Florida and I was preparing for my visit with my grandsons. He flew back home and brought the boys back with him. They will be going back home late July. Time just seemed to go by so fast.

You can see my grandsons in the video being little boys just out enjoying summer in my backyard, what can be more fun on a hot day than playing in a sprinkler. This is my first summer with both boys, I thought it would be difficult, but not one bit, they both are so sweet and fun to be with and they enjoy each other's company too.

They arrived in New Jersey on June 13th. We then went down to Florida for a fun and fast 3 day visit to Universal with my son Geoff (whose birthday will be July 13th) his wife and my granddaughter Micaela and little grandson Ash.

Geoff and his family are flying up to New Jersey on July 10th and on July 12th we will be driving to Vermont for an old fashion family vacation. We are staying at a quaint little cottage called Poebe's, a charming renovated little white capecod house ( http://www.neverenoughvermont.com/) where I have stayed before in the town of E. Craftsbury. We plan to take day trips to see the sites. I love Vermont, when we arrive I feel as if I left the rush of New Jersey behind and just enjoy the beauty the State has to offer. We will take day trips and visit different areas. I want to go to Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Vermont Country Store, the town of Stowe and Montpelier and on the drive up we always stop at Yankee Candle to browse around. We plan to have picnics at Caspian Lake in Greensboro, this town boast of having the oldest general store in Vermont. It is a really old fashion store that carries all the wants and needs of a Vermonter. (http://www.vaics.org/vaics-greensboro.html)

I love spending time with my grandchildren and hopefully this will create fond memories for them of their summer with their grandmother, or Grandmartha as three call me and the little one calls me Gamma! Both are music to my ears!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer so far! Enjoy your days, your family and all the season has to offer.

Martha

Happy Birthday to my Dad

My father passed away 33 years ago in March. Today he would have been 105. I learned so much watching him while he did repairs around the house, he was a "Jack of all Trades" and he could take any tree, plant or flower, put it into the ground and it would grow. I guess I learned the love of gardening from watching him. When he was working in his gardens you could see he was at peace. He called me "Little-Girl", (I wish that I was a little girl in size!) he would often say to me that he felt the closest to God while working in the flower gardens and he believe that one could pray anywhere, not only on Sunday in a church. He was a talented wood carver as well. So today as I sit and think of him and go back in time to when he was with us I am thankful that he was my father.

This photo is a photo I took from a photo album at Quimby's Resort in Vermont. My father worked there not only as a manager but as a tour guide. He was a legend in his own right in that area, he is still remembered in the Northeastern Kingdom of Vermont. There was an article written about him in The Vermonter, a Vermont publication. Two years ago I went back to visit this area, when I was a child we would go there every summer for vacation and to Canada to visit my Mother's family. It is odd how my third son decided to go to College in Vermont, Sterling College in Craftsbury, Vermont, which is maybe 60 miles from where my Father and Mother once lived and I started my life. At the time of his choice we had no idea how close it was to where my family started out.

Happy Birthday Dad!

One of my favorite places to visit is

VERMONT!

My son goes to school in Vermont and we enjoy visiting him up there. The drive is long, but the scenery makes it so enjoyable. Everytime I see the Church on the Commons it takes my breath away. . .each season it looks so peaceful.