My Mom's kitty, Honeybee. (Thanks, Judy, for sharing the pic). I think Honeybee may be my step sister? Furry, in any case. And she is a sweetheart. Also oversees my Mom's artwork. And hogs her quilt. And keeps her company.
Here's my grandkitty, Isabella Sophia.
And my Buddah-like grandkitty, Stewart Ferguson.
This is the lovely sewing caddy that belonged to my paternal grandmother.
This sewing basket belonged to my great grandmother, Namine. When my maternal grandmother was nine years old, her Pa, who was a carpenter, fell off a roof and died a few days later. Namine and all four of her young daughters, Beatrice, Margretta, Elsie and my gram, Muriel, gathered themselves together and started a dressmaking business. They even made wedding dresses. 
Sometimes we sense things before we know them. Yesterday I posted a quotation that is speaking to me, big time, today.
How Peter got this hulking cupboard out of our smallish kitchen in Vermont, I don't know. Then he managed to move it across the breezeway and into the woodshed, where it awaits its next incarnation. 
This is what was left behind the cupboard, "lovely" paneling and a patch where an old window must have been, complete with clear vinyl and insulation flapping about the edges. We trimmed said stuff and filled and spackled. 
Much scrubbing with TSP, two coats of primer and two coats of paint later, voila! And after much fussing with cryptic IKEA directions, a new wall cupboard for food, a new work surface/storage unit and some shelves. (For you color fanatics, we used "palm springs", from Ace hardware).
Then a glass of wine at the end of the last day, soaking in the view, weary joints and a feeling of accomplishment!
Here's a picture of the Braintree Hill Meetinghouse, just down the road from our place in VT. It's a beauty, in need of a little TLC. The view from the front doors is spectacular, and the cemetery out back is full of lovely old stones. The Historical Society is housed downstairs, and it's only open a few times a year. We are looking forward to the time when we can get in to take a look.
This sign was just posted at the foot of our road, where it leaves the paved town road and heads up, up, up. Our road gets messier by the day, with deep ruts and wet muck. Yesterday the grader came by and dumped gravel in the worst places, providing a bit of traction. I love that the notice runs through May 15th! So many funky aspects to this part-time country life.
Peter gathered these beautiful pine cones from around the yard, downed by the wild winds up here on Braintree Hill. As a centerpiece, I think they are prettier than a crystal bowl from Tiffany's. 
There are sap buckets all over the neighborhood...a sure sign of spring in these parts. We are looking forward to the day when we can make our own maple syrup. Just not quite yet.
This is our porch, in greener times. Can't wait to get up there this afternoon. Peter went up ahead of me, yesterday and reports that the road is barely passable because of the MUD. But the temperature this morning was supposed to be near zero degrees, so maybe the road will be frozen again? I love Vermont!
The folks in Boston sure do know how to brew a pot of tea. They throw wicked good tea pahties, too.
This is the view from Lindsey's window at work on Beacon Hill. Sweet, eh?
We found the statue of Mary Dyer, whose twin sits in front of the Meetinghouse at Earlham.
We are in Massachusetts to catch up with family. We've had such a fun day. First to my Mom's, where my Aunt Margretta and Uncle David came by, then on to my brother's for an overnight. He is sprucing up the house where my sister in law, Ra, grew up...perched on the edge of beautiful cranberry bogs. 
Doug and Ra were married here, almost 26 years ago. Who needs a church?
Tomorrow we are up early, to head to Boston to catch up with Lindsey, of tree pruning fame!
Here's Lindsey and her Papa, pruning apple trees in the old orchard at "at bit of earth" in Vermont this past weekend.
She's a crazy woman!
And here's Peter, out on a limb.
Citrus for breakfast.
Whenever Hannah is home from college she gets into a baking frenzy. We don't complain. She spent the fall semester studying in Cuatla, Mexico and tonight she is cooking us a Mexican feast. She says it won't resemble Taco Bell AT ALL. Thank goodness! A gang of her high school friends are coming over, and it will be great to catch up with all of them, too.
Hannah, Gretta and I were out and about in the world today. First stop, IKEA, for a few items for the kitchen freshening project in VT. Lunch in the fun cafeteria, of course. 
Then on to the Yale Center for British Art, where we saw "Endless Forms Charles Darwin, Natural Science and the Visual Arts". At last week's gathering of our Speaking of Faith group, we listened to Evolution and Wonder, and one of my friends recommended the exhibit at Yale to us. Glad we went, it was full of paintings, artifacts and books related to Darwin's life and times. Of course, my favorite piece was a book printed in Edinburgh in 1821 called Werner's Nomenclature of Colours. It was full of little squares of color, with names and formulas for mixing next to them...the book was open to blues...Scotch, Prussian, Indigo, China, Azure. The charts were used for taxonomic descriptions of flora and fauna in the field. I covet the book. 
It was a sunny, warmish day in New Haven, here's a few pictures of pretty things we saw along the way.
No matter what art class I'm in, I seem to revert back to vegetables. In my fall art elective I made an art book called "Forgotten Veggies". These lovely veggies were produced in my Experimental Art class. In this class we focused on the necessities for life: food, clothing, and shelter. Although some may argue about the clothing aspect, I think we can all agree food is imperative to our survival. Seeing as I love beets and carrots, I made these out of newspaper, masking tape, and paint. The beets are a little larger than life and the carrot is just plain huge.
Branches pruned from our apple trees in Vermont, budding now in our dining room in SW Connecticut.
c) snow melting, even on the north side of the house
f) CHIVES in the garden
i) lighter, happier yarns, with a touch of silk (not so much wool)
This morning, Peter left for work with a cooler full of good food...fresh fruits and veg, a batch of lentil soup, a pan of lasagna, a block of Cabot sharp cheddar, naan bread, yogurt. He will head straight from work to VT, where he will meet up with Lindsey and a carload of rural minded refugees from Boston. This weekend they will all descend on the old apple orchard at the bottom of our property to do some pruning. We are hoping the trees will appreciate this TLC and revive their fruit bearing energies! I'm guessing a fair bit of Long Trail Ale will be enjoyed in the evenings, and there will be some geetar strummin' up on Braintree Hill.
Have you ever been really stuck on a project, then switched into avoidance/procrastination mode? My friend Judy posted about this problem lately and it really resonated with me. I had been trying to work out how to applique letters onto fabric to be sewn into a quilt. My free motion quilting skills (I wasn't even quilting anyhow) are not up to the precision these letters require. And using a conventional machine foot was not working either, fabric got pulled down into the feed dogs. After lots of experimentation I've come up with this method...old fashioned tissue paper under the piece, light weight "heat and bond" to join the fabric letter to the quilt fabric, open embroidery foot and smallish stitches, and of course, using the "needle down" option to get around those tight corners. Also helpful, adjusting the needle setting to the right. Later, I'll tear away the tissue paper, and sew the pieces together with the rest of the squares. 
We have been playing with Henry a bit more than usual, and he seems to be perking up. Here he is enjoying yet another one of Peter's pots. Henry is really into sniffing flowers. Today I am going to the vet's to pick up Calico's ashes, and we will bury them in VT once the ground softens up.
Our friend Margie came for supper last night and I gave her the muttons I knit for her. Since we are both such fashionistas (HA, HA, HA, HA!), we thought we'd have her do some posing, and do a photo shoot. Here she is, looking very fetch.
