Porch Living

I've been doing some tidying today in anticipation of a small family reunion we are hosting tomorrow. There was little work to do in our living room, but the porch was a mess. We move onto our porch in the summer and I thought it would be fun to document what had migrated there.

Games....cribbage, thunderhole dice, bananagrams, and a homemade bingo-type game to help the girls learn their French.

The bird books. We currently have a big flock of Bluejays and a tiny hummingbird hanging out at the feeders. Our favorite, however is the Veery singing his evening song.

Handwork keeps appearing--cotton dishcloths, a cotton mesh shopping bag, a tatting kit, and some cross-stitch bookmarks are all in process right now. Can I confess? I learned to tat in 6th grade and now can't figure it out for the life of me.

Lou's big, fat suduko book gets use out here.
She loves anything with numbers.


It wouldn't be summer if somebody wasn't immersed in the stack of "Where's Waldo."

We linger so long that candles are often needed.


But really, none of this matters because what we're really doing these days.....

...is enjoying the antics of the newest member of the family....Calvin (as in Calvin Coolidge--and, I'll just say...for the record... that I, the historian, wasn't the only person who leaped at the name--Lou studied Vermont History this year and really liked Calvin, the man).

He was born at Kristin Nicholas's farm which turned out to be perfect as he isn't scared of dogs at all since his infancy was spent with 2 sheepdogs. We've had a very easy dog/kitten adjustment period. We're all in love.

So, here we sit on our porch--with sweaters--in July--listening to the rain--trying not to look at our rotting vegetable garden--knitting, tatting, playing games, doing French, and watching Calvin twirl about on the chair rungs, launch himself onto the screens, and snooze happily.

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In between the raindrops....

....we managed to pick the last of the strawberries yesterday. We got just about 20 pounds for $23 as it's the end of the season. It was a lot to wash and hull, but Hels and I enjoyed the work. It's a comforting sort of work--putting up.


We decided to just have strawberries and cream for dinner. The girls were so surprised and loved the novelty of it.


Today I made a small batch of jam. We aren't huge jam eaters, so I froze the rest of the berries for winter muffins, porridge, and scones. I have around 10 big bags of frozen strawberries now. That makes me happy.

Even if it is raining and due to drop to 40 degrees tonight, it feels a bit more like summer now.

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On the road with history

I've been on the road with teachers all week studying history. We've been exploring the stories of men and women who moved from their farms in New England and Europe to the great textile mills of Massachusetts.

Boating through the canals which powered the mills


Journaling at Walden Pond

"Meeting" Henry David Thoreau

Line dancing at a Greek Restaurant.

It's been a great trip! I really can't complain about my line of work!

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Summer Reading

After going through quite a dry spell of reading not-so-great books, I have recently gotten lost in a delightful set of summer reads--just what I needed for this summer wet spell New England has been having.

Soul Catcher was a pretty intense book about a slave catcher and his journey north to bring back two fugitives. I loved the characters in this book and the story of how they struggled to find the right path in life. I like Civil War fiction and this was a good one.

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane is the favorite of my summer reads so far. As a nerdy historian-type, I completely related to the main character (and had read all the Salem witch craft histories that she had read). The author's detailed descriptions of material culture, religion, and the craft of history were great. Plus, it had a pretty exciting plot!

Prayers for Sale is about a friendship between an elderly storyteller and a young girl, both living in a gold mining town high in the mountains. The stories of this special time and place are interwoven with quilting. The combination of history, storytelling, and quilting made it a fun read for me.
We have some summer read alouds going on as well. Lou and I are finally finishing Louisa May Alcott's Jack and Jill (which she has enjoyed). We're about to start Tom Sawyer (which she isn't so sure about). Helen and I have just started Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper, which she likes because she's such an Elizabethan England fan.

This is all part of our summer literary tour of New England, which I'll share about another time!

In the meantime, I'm needing some new books. I've got The Forgotten Garden and The Help on my list, but will need some more! Suggestions?

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Tutorial: needle-felted figures

tutorial: Balloon Lanterns

tutorial: neede-felted advent spiral

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