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The snow that has been here for months was finally melting and then another storm arrived this morning. Here's the view from the door to the studio.
On a positive note, the sap is running as evidenced by this sap icicle!
On another positive note, we shipped thirteen rugs to a beautiful home on the water in Florida.
Here's hoping we soon get a taste of warm weather!
While most people stayed off the road yesterday due to our latest snow storm, my commute only requires a walk down the hill to the studio. That walk has been tricky at best, due to the ice and snow that refuses to melt on the path that Tom made with the snow thrower. Never the less, it was warm in the studio as I began the first of twelve rugs that will be shipped to Florida.
The view from the window behind me is a reminder that very soon, the bluebirds will be coming back to the house that Tom built.
There really is a pond and pool behind this fence!
The cardinals seem to enjoy the sun today as they wait their turn before heading down to the feeder.
We just bought another bag of sunflower seed for a total of 100 pounds since December. These two made a visit last week.
Spring is almost here, right?
It's been snowing for most of the day and there has been heavy activity at our bird feeder.
At one point I looked out and there wasn't a bird in sight except this hawk that was perched in the crabapple tree hoping to catch a small bird or two.
I'm thinking it was a sharp shinned hawk. He finally gave up and flew away and within thirty minutes or so, the bird feeder gang was back!
Birds hanging out in the crabapple tree in between trips to the bird feeder.
This is what happens when you toss out stale salted pretzel chips!
More snow on the way tonight!
A few weekends ago we attended a wedding in Ashland, New Hampshire. The short ceremony was outdoors. The temperature was 25 degrees and snow was in the air.
A bit of a "Hobbit" theme going on here!
The reception was in the groom's sister's barn!
A couple of heaters and some coats and boots kept all warm
Coats were shed when a great band out of Boston called Strange Changes began playing.
It was a great, fun time and by the time the evening ended there was over six inches of snow on the ground!
We loved opening our home to our wonderful family and friends at Christmas. What fun it was to eat, drink, and enjoy much merry making! Tonight will be a low key ushering in of the New Year. We think a fire, a movie and some Chinese food sounds just about right!
A Happy, Healthy New Year to all!!
We hope you enjoyed a Blessed Christmas Day! Here are some of the highlights of our Christmas season.
Our 9ft. tree being loaded onto the tractor.
Heading to the baling station.
Our two trees being loaded into the Patti Wagon.
Just a few of the many ornaments for the family room tree.
Our living room tree!
Our family room tree!
Our table set for guests the Saturday before Christmas.
The meringue mushrooms I made to go along with our "Birch de Noel".
Cider brought his family, our niece Meghan and her fiancé Erik.
Cider says "This sign doesn't refer to me, right?"
Niece Emily folding a napkin into a Christmas tree!
Christmas gifts and wine. It doesn't get better than this!
Wishing all a Blessed Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy, New Year!!!
Tom and I are looking forward to enjoying a snowy Thanksgiving day with our family.
Colorful Pilgrims given to us by my mom at least fifteen years ago
Candles that were given to us by my Aunt Bea and Uncle Bob at least 20 years ago. They used them on their Thanksgiving table in the early 1950's!
Happy Thanksgiving to all!!
I've spent the last couple of weeks weaving a 9'x16' and a 12'x14'6" for a master bedroom and sitting room for clients of Elizabeth Bauer Design. The rugs are on their way to Puerto Rico!
I've also just finished rugs for seven bathrooms for a client of Seldom Scene Interiors. These rugs are going to North Carolina.
I'm hoping to post the rest of our Asheville trip in the next few days!
Tom and I were headed back to our car after a fun casual dinner at WALK which stands for West Asheville Lounge and Kitchen. It was dark, and Tom had to move the car away from the bushes at the curb so I could get in. While I was waiting, I looked across the street to see what looked like a former garage used to fix cars. The large doors were open and I saw a bearded man among what looked to be a large amount of all sorts of objects. Intrigued, Tom and I walked across the street to see what exactly was going on in that building. Christopher Mello warmly greeted us and invited us in. Indeed, we couldn't stop looking at his collection of funny, odd, sculptural, and shall we say, interesting things.
Turns out, this is Christopher's studio where he creates all sorts of pottery including but not limited to, baby heads,(flying and otherwise) small skulls, which were still in the kiln, hearts, and acorns which could easily have been used on the set of the Hobbit movies.
The acorn we bought!
One could describe Christopher's domain as macabre, but the tongue-in-cheek design of his displays and his own sweet personality, turns it all into a fun "what's around the corner?" adventure.
Christopher Mello
We had a great time seeing all his studio had to offer, but Christopher also wanted us to see his garden. Well known for his great artistic ability, he is equally known for the fun and fanciful garden he has created. Our photos depict a much different nighttime view but Pam Penick has some great images of his garden in the daylight at her blog Digging. I was able to get a shot of the shovels that rim the garden.
One of the many fun and amazing things was the huge spider's web that was woven by Christopher!
I had great fun snapping photos of Christopher as he was "caught" in his own handiwork!
Thanks so much for the great tour, Christopher! Can't wait to visit again.
Spooky deer on our hill!
Happy Halloween!!!
As previously mentioned, our first day in Asheville was really stormy. We kept hearing warnings of flooding and possible tornadoes on the car radio. After our tour of the Grove Arcade, we decided it was time to duck into Carmel's for a late lunch. We had a couple of great salads and while we watched the wind blown people passing by the windows, we decided it was best to stay in town until the worst of the weather passed rather than get on the road. The lovely woman who was our server suggested we take a short drive down the street to Woolworth Walk. This is a fabulous art gallery and emporium featuring local artists and craftsmen and is housed in the former Woolworth building.
It's really well restored and features the original soda fountain.
Tom and I agreed that we loved everything we saw including these fabulous ceramic sculptures by Julie Miller Gootman.
I came around a corner and saw Tom looking at some beautiful feather balls by glass artist Kyle Keeler. We decided we had to bring one home.
How did he enclose those delicate feathers in that blown glass ball???
We just returned from a quick ( in days not hours) trip to Asheville, NC and its vicinity. On October 3rd, we decided that we should celebrate our anniversary (the 13th) by taking a few days to get to know this area that we had briefly visited eleven years ago. After about a ten hour drive, we arrived at our hotel, made a quick change of clothes and headed to Rezaz for our anniversary dinner.
Tuesday was a pretty stormy and windy day so we decided to check out a few landmarks in Asheville. The first was the Grove Arcade. Here's a brief history by the Grove Arcade public market foundation:
The Grove Arcade was the grand dream of E.W. Grove, a self-made millionaire who moved to Asheville in 1910. By 1915, he had completed the Grove Park Inn and become involved in other civic projects. Grove understood that a successful city needed a vibrant downtown. In the early 1920′s, he began plans to build an elegant new building to enliven the downtown of the city he had come to love. He conceived of the Arcade as “the most elegant building in America”—and as a new kind of retail center. Architect Charles N. Parker designed the Arcade, which was originally envisioned as a 5-story base with a 14-story tower, filled with shops, offices, and living spaces.
Grove died in 1927, two years before the building was completed. Only the base was built, yet at 269,000 square-feet, it was by far, the largest building in the region. When the Arcade opened in 1929, it quickly became home to a fine collection of local shops and services. Tenants included candy and cigar stores, a haberdashery, a public stenography office, fruit stands, millinery shops, beauty parlors and barbershops, a photography center, bookstalls and specialty groceries. Offices filled the upper floors. For 13 years, the Arcade was the center of commercial and civic life in Western North Carolina.
The Arcade was closed when the Federal Government took over the building as part of the effort to win World War II. Officials chose the building because it was large and located in a safe, remote place—important considerations in the war effort. Seventy-four shops and 127 offices were evicted with less than one month’s notice.
Following the war, the Arcade continued under Federal ownership and eventually became the headquarters for the National Climatic Data Center. Public support began to grow for a plan to return the Arcade to its original use. In the 1980’s, the government announced plans to enlarge and remodel the Arcade building.
The Grove Arcade was placed on the National Register of Historical Places during this time. In response to public demand that the Arcade’s historic architecture remain intact and the building be returned to its original function, a Mayor’s Task Force was established in 1985.
In the years that followed, more than a dozen private developers considered renovating the building. Both prospective developers and Task Force members discovered that the public space, which made the Arcade so appealing, rendered it impractical for a conventionally-financed private development.
A group of community leaders and concerned citizens formed the Grove Arcade Public Market Foundation. This not-for-profit, 501(c)3 corporation, had the mission of restoring the Grove Arcade to its original form and function. The Federal Government announced plans to build a new facility for the Climatic Data Center. The new Federal Building was completed in 1995, and plans for the Arcade to become Asheville’s new Public Market were refined. In 1997, the City of Asheville acquired title to the building under the National Monument Act and signed a 198 year lease with the Foundation.
Since then, the Foundation has seen to the restoration of the Grove Arcade Building and its spirit. The restored Grove Arcade opened in late 2002 and includes shops, restaurants, offices and 42 luxury apartments. The Arcade remains Western North Carolina’s largest commercial building and has become a wonderful new downtown resource for residents and visitors.
One of several spiral staircases that are no longer in use.
Another view of the amazing architecture.
It wasn't difficult to imagine the ladies and gentlemen of the day dressing in their best to shop at the arcade. More to come!
The bluebird box is cleaned and ready for next spring when this scene will be caught again.
The fish are still ready to get fed, but that will stop once the water hits 55 degrees.
The deer are doing a lot of foraging.
I'm missing some of those warm summer days, but on the bright side, we are getting some great color. The leaves on our sugar maple are turning very nicely.
The winterberry is decked out!
Pretty soon it will be time to light a fire!
Well it seems we are in rutting season. For those who are hunters or just people like us who have had a love/hate relationship with deer for years, the rutting is akin to mating. Early last evening, I noted a doe followed by two bucks in the front yard making their way down to the back of our property. I slowly opened the door to the patio and was able to get a photo of the first one. The spooky eyes are a reflection of the flash.
He then turned and continued down the hill, followed by this guy.
This was a photo from a few days ago of one of the two.
Once they got down behind the evergreens off our patio, we couldn't see them but we did hear what sounded like branches in trees smacking together. Rather, it was the sound of the two bucks having a shoving match with their antlers. The great photo below depicts what we heard, along with a lot of snorting.
Photo by Alex Robinson
We always say you never know what you are going to see around here, like this red tailed hawk that I've been hearing a lot all summer, but finally caught him sitting on the roof of Tom's shed.
Never a dull moment!
Many of you will have noted that I have recently updated my website. It wasn't possible to transfer my previous blog posts to this website, but I have saved many of them which I will intersperse throughout these blog pages. This one is a favorite because of its interest to so many. Hope you enjoy it!
I've been asked the question "how long does it take you to weave a rug?" at least a hundred (more like a thousand) times. Invariably, people respond to my answer by saying " I would have thought that it would take longer." My follow up is to say that the actual weaving is the creative and fun part. Before you can get there, you have to set up the loom. Ok class, are you ready? Here we go!
Winding the warp (vertical threads.) The sections are wound one at a time.
The warp has been wound on the back beam.
Threading each thread through each heddle.
Threading completed!
Now we pull each thread through the dents (spaces) in the reed.
Threading completed.
Warp tied to apron on the front of the loom.
Side view of loom.
Weaving in the header.
Header completed.
Cutting the fabric into strips.
Winding fabric on the shuttle. (Are we there yet?)
WEAVING! Let the fun begin!!
One rug done, onto the next.
There's another loom to set up. Are you ready to try your hand?
After a very busy weekend, Tom and I were sitting by the pond enjoying the amazing activity taking place. It seems that early evening is prime time for the birds, fish and frogs. The birds are bathing and drinking in the stream, the frogs are bug hunting, and the fish are begging to be fed. The bluebird fledges like to come back to check out their house to make sure everything is in good order for next spring, and probably to stake their claim.
A chickadee in the stream.
Frogs and fish.
All in all, it's a pretty idyllic setting. That is, until I went to open the gate to the pool area last night at about 5:00 and was stunned to see a Great Blue Heron taking to the sky from our covered pool! For those who have never seen these rather majestic and BIG birds, here's a great photo from the web.
My first thought was to check the pond. Heron are the bane of pond owners as they can empty a pond of all of its fish in very short order. Since this was feeding time, it would be normal to see all of the fish at the surface. Last night, there were none in sight. After sitting and talking (yes, they recognize me as well as my voice) I finally began to see them swimming about two feet below the surface. They obviously had been spooked by the presence of the heron and stayed at the bottom. This blog post by Full Service Aquatics, is one of the most informative I've read on the subject of protecting your fish from Herons. I felt it best to grab some netting and construct a make-shift barrier.
Feeling somewhat better, I went inside to start dinner. Noticing a lot of bird activity outside the window, I went out to see (this time with camera in hand) what might be going on. The heron had returned but was outside of the pool area walking in the grass. I was able to get this photo of it as it flew over the pool and pond.
I don't think we've seen the last of this "visitor"......
The home on this 350 acre farm in Williamsport, Tennessee was in disrepair until beautifully transformed by hs2 Architecture. The main part of the home was restored and a wonderful open space was added to the back.
I love that they opened the traditional living and dining room spaces while maintaining the structural beams and vertical framing.
The kitchen combines contemporary and traditional elements.
The kitchen opens onto the screened porch.
Love the stair treads!
Every feature of this house appeals to me, including the simplicity of the pool setting.
Perfect studio in which to set up our looms and start weaving!
The Lower East Side Tenement Museum is a wonderful re creation of the lives of immigrant families during the first part of the 20th century. We have been delighted to have been asked to weave a rag rug for the Rogarshevsky apartment. Here is a what the parlor of the apartment looked like before the addition of our rug.
The rug is 9' wide by 6' long, We ascertained that if the rug was woven by someone in the community, they probably would not have a loom much wider than three feet, therefore we wove it in panels and seamed it together.
Another of our rugs, a 4'x6' is in the kitchen of the saloon that would have been owned by John and Caroline Schneider. It is part of the "Shop Life" exhibit at the museum.
Click here to learn more about this wonderful museum!
Shorter days, longer nights, alas, the closing of the pool, as we head into fall. The Autumn Equinox, as pictured in this NASA Observatory photo, is caused by the tilt of the earth's rotating axis.
Back here on earth, there is still some great color in the perennial garden. This cleome plant has sprouted four new flower heads. Last year I ended up killing the cleomes I planted!
The Lantana is big winner, and the rabbits don't touch it.
The Flower Carpet roses mix well with the gentian blue of the Plumbago
An ornamental grass in full bloom!
Even the frogs are enjoying the cooler weather.
Happy Fall!
I love this barn which is on the property of the MacMurray ranch in Healdsburg, California. Fred MacMurray's daughter describes her love for the property that her dad, star of many movies, and "My Three Sons" fame bought in 1941: "The Legend Behind the Wines"
Rolling hills. Treasured traditions. Breathtaking vineyards. This is MacMurray Ranch.
At MacMurray Ranch, our wines reflect our passion for the special places that give us extraordinary grapes. Beginning with our home vineyard in the heart of the Russian River Valley, we also select grapes from other premier vineyards in the Russian River Valley and the Central Coast to craft exquisite Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay.
Our roots in the Russian River Valley run deep. In fact, our majestic ranch has been a homestead since the 1850s. Our modern history began when actor Fred MacMurray bought the ranch in 1941 and began raising cattle here. Today, Fred's daughter, Kate MacMurray, is intimately involved with MacMurray Ranch, helping us share the incredible story of our world-class wines.
Once again, I am drawn to the timeless beauty of a barn structure.
I love that the home on the property has been kept as it was when Fred MacMurray and his wife June Haver lived there. How could I not love that they had a rag rug in their living room!
As we head into the fall here in the east, how great is this spot on the ranch to enjoy a wonderful dinner, and of course some wine, with friends!
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