Survived Memorial Day weekend craziness

I've been too busy filling orders to blog this past week, but that's all behind me as I shipped off 3 boxes today and 2 yesterday.  Whew!  But I'm not done, because I have a bride who wants more stuff. 

I took some time off during the weekend of Memorial Day and had a wonderful time.  The weather cooperated beautifully.  Carla, my youngest daughter arrived Friday afternoon, and the rest of the gang got here later that evening from Philadelphia.  We cooked a half turkey on the grill that day, and it was demolished before our eyes!  so good!   The next day we made chicken Spiedies ( a local favorite).

Saturday, most of the gang headed up to Ithaca to shop and hang out.  Others stayed behind to relax in the sun. 

Sunday some of us went to Greenwood Lake and rented a boat.  It was truly great fun!  I was planning to just relax under a tree and read, but at the last minute decided to go out on the boat.  I felt like a kid again. 

 

 Monday afternoon, everyone left to go back to Philly except Carla, who stayed until Tuesday morning.  That evening, just she and I sat out on the deck chatting and enjoying the night air.  At least until we heard something rattling around in the recycle bins downstairs and we hightailed it back into the house!  We got a report that a bear is in the neighborhood, so we weren't taking any chances. 

 The weekend was stupendous with great food, and even greater relaxation.  I took the day off Tuesday after I took Carla to the bus depot, then it was back to work filling orders on Wednesday.  I just finished up the other day, and spent yesterday packing and printing shipping labels.  Now I need to start working on the garden.  A neighbor roto-tilled it the other day, but it's literally full of rocks.  Oh, what a pain, but I have to get some veggies in the ground soon or I won't have anything to put up this fall!  And I still have flowers to plant, and landscaping to prune and clean up.  So much to do! 

Memorial Day Weekend

I think I'm ready for the onslaught this weekend.  Shopping done, flower boxes planted, laundry clean, dog washed..  My daughters and their friends are descending on my country home for a long weekend of partying, camping, hot-tubbing, campfires, good food and all around relaxing.  I'm going to fill up the blow-up pool too!  I plan to put them to work hauling dirt for my herb garden and general yardwork before I let them relax.  Is that not fair?  I'll post in a few days when things get roaring fun.

Snowy Winter and other stuff

I've been busy and very neglectful of you, Blogger.  I apologize.  So here are a few pics to update you on what I've been up to.

Making color samples: 

examining footprints in the snow:

hauling wood for the stove

Relaxing (daughter and friend)  I only go out at night

Enjoying the snow

homemade soup and English muffins.

A little catching up to do

As they say, feast or famine, and it's been a feast the last few weeks.  Labor day was barely over when I started receiving wedding orders.  Everyone is getting married in October!   I've completed 2 orders and the last one is almost finished and should ship out this Saturday. 

At the last minute, I also received a call from a repeat wholesale customer for a rush order for the Atlantic Antic show 

http://www.atlanticave.org/  I participated in this show last year, and although I won't be there this year, my candles will be.  They will have someone else's name on them, but my old logo, so if you see something that looks vaguely familiar, you'll know why!  So to all my NY crafty friends, I'll be there in spirit. 

Life is going on.  I finally unpacked my boxes from work the other day.  They've been sitting in the closet since July, so I decided it was time to see my former work life again. Actually, I needed sheet protectors and post-it notes, but let's be a little more dramatic here.....It was kinda sad... 32 years of my life in 3 boxes.  Pretty pathic, huh.  The mementos I keep are usually small, some stones, small gifts, a few pictures.  My cube was pretty spare.  Oh sure, I have boxes of documents, stacks of awards, ancient paystubs (I wonder how I survived on that paycheck?) but I shredded stacks and stacks of papers before I left.  I've moved around so many times, that I never took anything I didn't need.  So this stuff is still sitting right where I left it.  One of these days, I'll put it away somewhere, maybe when I'm snowed in.  

Today had its moments. We finally had our new hot tub delivered.  For some background, when we bought this house, it had a hot tub, a super top of the line hot tub.  Unfortunately, the previous owners left last summer and they didn't winterize it, so it developed a small leak and one of the filter pumps was frozen.  Over Labor Day, we had a houseful of kids, and it was disappointing they couldn't use it, so since the deck is customized and built around the spa, we decided to buy a new one instead of getting this one fixed.  The spa is situated on a raised deck, about 5' off the driveway, so it took 4 guys and a forklift to get the old one down and the new one up.  It was pretty amazing to see these guys working in the drizzling rain.  It's all set, as soon as we install another supporting post underneath the deck and get the electical situated.  So come snow and freezing cold, you know where I'll be.  A few candles, of course,  to light the way, boots and a warm wrap, I'll be basking in the next snowstorm. 

Replacing the spa was a secret from my kids, so I posted the pictures on my FaceBook page, waiting to see who would see them first.  My daughter in Philly saw them first and said she almost had a seizure.  My other daughter in NYC heard about it from her sister, so they're both ecstatic.  Our family does surprises, and I could tell you a few stories! 

So there you have it, a little update on my life and times.  Tomorrow is shopping, Lowes and working in my studio.  Some day, when it's pristine, I'll post some pictures of how it should look.  Right now, it's a private haven for me to work, create and contemplate.  It's my life, and I like it. 

Today was a sunny day - finally!

Yesterday rained all day, so imagine my delight when I woke up this morning with the sun streaming into my bedroom! I was up at 7, and as is my usual routine, drank a cup of coffee while watching the morning news, and got a 2nd cup, checked my email and FaceBook and other sundry items. We went to Lowe's the other day and I bought a bunch of herbs, but couldn't plant them yesterday because of the rain. But I had no digging tools! A kitchen spoon just doesn't cut it. So off to Ace Hardward down in town I go to pick up a trowel and a new spigot that was broken due to ice last winter.



I decided to clean out a big flower box on the deck. It was filled with dying strawberry plants and chives. So I dug out most of the berry plants, trimmed up the chives, and had a nice big space in the center for my 8 herb plants. It was nice sitting in the sun, playing in the dirt. I got them all planted and hope they survive until next spring when I can move them over to a kitchen garden I'm planning on the other side of the house.



While I was busy planting, Shelly fixed the faucet and it doesn't leak! So, being as it was such a nice day, we decided to finally fill the hot tub on the deck. It took about an hour or so to fill. Looks good so far. So we flip the breaker and turn it on and voila! it works! Mind you, this is a new house, so we're still trying out all the toys.



Well, it immediately turned an awful green within the hour. We seem to have a slight problem with the filter, plus we think there was old water in the lines, so tomorrow we're off to the dealer and will probably drain the icky water and start over. Fortunately we have a well, so the water is free, but cold. brrrr 57 degrees!



Well, after a long eventful and beautiful day, it was time to relax with a long tall gin and tonic. It was the first this season and it was sooo refreshing! What a wonderful day.

We bought a landmark

This adorable little village I moved to boasts less than 1000 residents. So it stands to reason that everyone knows everything about everyone. I'm finding this out first hand. It started with the realtor, then the inspector, and now the neightbors we have met.

I went to the Post Office for the first time a few weeks before we moved so I could have any mail held until I got my mailbox up on the route. The clerk asked me if I bought the big blue house and I said, oh, you know it? She proceeded to tell me she lived 2 doors down and she was my neighbor!

The other night I was out getting my mail, and the kid who mowed my yard before I moved in stopped by on his 4-wheeler and introduced himself. He told me all about the family and said they had 2 daughters about his age and that he had spent a lot of time at the house. He also lives 2 doors down in the other direction. Yesterday, while eating lunch and watching the news, I heard a knock on the door, and it was our neighbors next door. We can't see them because of the woods, but they are very nice! They live here 6 months and in Florida the other 6 months in their camper.

The other day, someone pulled into the drive and asked if I wanted to keep the hot tub on the deck. Of course, he knew the previous owners who had told him the tub was being sold with the house, so he thought he would check. Obviously I want to keep it - my kids would skin me alive if I sold it! And besides, I'm envisioning a holiday party with all my family enjoying it this winter in the snow.

Anyways, the previous owners apparently were very wealthy by local standards and had big lavish parties. It's definitely a house for entertaining. Not only is there a huge deck with lights and hot tub, there is also a large picnic pavillion with 10 tables, chairs and umbrellas which were left with the house. It even has a commercial heater. There is so much electrical lights, speakers and sound system, it will take months to figure it all out.

In any case, the couple have divorced and I hear he is now very sick. Their business in town is for sale, and he's disappeared. They were apparently very well known in the area. I think we have a reputation to uphold. The wife lives nearby, and I'm sure she has driven by more than once to see if her old home is being tended to. I hope she's not upset that we cleaned up all the vines (very gothic looking) from the deck. Now that it's cleared, we plan to have it sanded and painted in a natural brown instead of the light grey. And we're keeping the grass mowed. Ah yes, we bought the Bianco house.

This is the before:

This is the deck now:


Obviously it needs some work, but we're making progress!

Things, they are a-changin'

I'm about to set off on a new adventure sooner than I thought: retirement. We've found a house in Whitney Point NY which fits our needs perfectly. Big spacious contemporary house with all the amenities I could ever want on 2 acres, half wooded.

The living room is a huge vaulted room with an entire peaked wall of windows facing a humongous deck with flower pots, benches and a hot tub. There are 4 bedrooms, some with decks. An awesome Italian kitchen with a commercial stove with 6 burners, 2 ovens and grill, and cabinets I will never fill. The counter tops are a dark gorgeous mottled marble. The floors are all marble, ceramic and hardwood. And there's a sauna.



I can't wait to lounge on the deck in the cool summer evenings, sitting in the hot tub with a cocktail, listening to the noises of the country above the gurgling of the tub.

During the day, I will tend to my garden. I'll have vegetables galore that I will can in the fall, and flowers littering the yard everywhere you look. There's a pond in the back yard that I will perhaps make into a koi or lily pond. Maybe I'll even add some goldfish or a turtle or 2.

In the fall, I will rake the riot of leaves and put up food from my garden for the winter. We'll stack wood for the fires we will have in the wood stove to heat the house when the wind chills the air outside. We will be cozy.

In the winter, I will sit at my knitting machines and make scarves, hats and sweaters. I will sew to my heart's content. I'll make my candles to build up my inventory for the craft shows I will sell at in the spring. Maybe I'll get my torch up and running and start making lampwork beads again. I'll read a lot and watch the snow outside on the deck. I'll run out to the heated hot tub to bask in the invigorating winter air.

In early spring, I'll set up a planting station to start my seedlings for the garden. And start the cycle all over again.

Ahhh, retirement.