A little bird told me

 
It’s time for spring the little bird said and she is right.

The snow is almost gone and winds are blowing wild.

Our cat sniffs the air when the door opens knowing that there is a change coming.

Bare branches are begging for the warmth of the sun to encourage the buds.

Inside the artificial flowers will have to do till the real thing comes along.

New pictures from Tennessee

 
The kids are sick with RSV, a respiratory illness.

The Roaring Twenties...Bradford style

It's the bee's knees! Our final meeting for the Literary Club of Bradford took place this afternoon at the Bradford Club. The theme was the Roaring Twenties and the girls were sitting pretty with their flapper get-up! We enjoyed a fabulous meal...a salad of oranges, red onion and fennel with mustard vinaigrette, pork rollup with a caper lemon stuffing, a potato pave , and a wonderful filled sponge cake roll.

After our business meeting Sally Costic, a local historian, gave a humorous and informative talk on speakeasies, murders, and the goings-on in our progressive town during that era. Did you know that The Jazz Singer, the first "talkie" premiered in Bradford on the same day it hit New York City? And that we had an active Klu Klux Klan group, which insisted at that time it was just a social club, (despite burning a cross on the top of the hill). There were many gangster killings during that time.

We had a wonderful afternoon of fun! Our club meets from October to March. As President this year I felt that we had many great programs and a lot of great times.

To gain access to the "speakeasy" you had to know the password. Those who didn't were penalized by performing the Charleston in front of the group.





Do you know the password?
 


If it looks like we're having fun, we are!

SPRING, PLEASE ENTER THE ROOM

Welcome, Spring. and welcome to the tablescapers visiting here from Susan’s wonderful blog..Between Naps on the Porch.

Even though the snow is still hiding in the woods, under the trees, and in the humps along the roadways Spring has come to my sunroom. I couldn’t resist setting a little light colored tablescape today.

I just used a mixture of things I found around the house.

These antique berry bowls fit in well with the pressed glass plates. I couldn't find a charger that I liked so I put the plate on a pretty blue dish that I picked up at a flea market.

I used my white flatware and cut glass goblets along with a pineapple pressed glass candle holder.

The little tulip was a find at Ashcombe's near my son's house in southern Pennsylvania.

I moved this centerpiece from the living room and added a paperwhite in the center. (don't mind the blue tarp outside..it's hiding my lion fountain for the winter)


I set the placemats at each side of the table. (now you know we really don't eat that far away from each other, don't you?)


The napkin is just a paper one that I ordered online. I love the colors.

I hope Spring has come to your house too.

THE SNOW IS MELTING, THE SNOW IS MELTING

Call out the trumpets! Bang the drums! Line up for a parade in the streets!  All because the snow is melting. This should be a holiday in our town. Our temperatures got above freezing and most of the snow is gone.

Now it’s time for sugaring! Don has started boiling down maple sap to make that delicious, golden maple syrup!
His friends, Don and Charlie, are helping him collect the sap. This is just one day’s worth. There are two garbage cans full plus all of these jugs.

Where have I been?

Hello, I’m back. Hope you didn’t miss me too much. I looked at my blog today and realized I hadn’t blogged in a week. No particular reason, I guess I just got busy. Things like that happen. (plus I was down with a hip problem, maybe arthritis?) And I know you didn’t want another picture of snow. Now it’s Tuesday again and I’m back in stride. I feel much better today and ready to tackle a little spring cleaning. (Got to do it when you are in the mood, right?) I think today I’ll clean and dust my neglected living room. Since we added on we spend all our time in the sunroom and just pass through the living room. It’s about time to dust and shine and think about rearranging the bookcase items. Have you ever noticed that you don’t think things are dirty, but after you clean they shine so brightly it almost hurts you eyes?

Show and tell

Pictures say a thousand words. Here are some from Tennessee.

Sara was cutting teeth.

Scott playing Sean’s new guitar.

Chris brought Sean these lifesized Toy Story posters.

The birthday boy.

The Woody hat was great until he opened the Buzz costume. To infinity and beyond!

Sean with Don’s sister Ginny.

Ah, Spring?

This is March, crazy March, when Mother Nature just can't let go of her winter coat. She seems to like the cold and ice this year and is reluctant to shed this white blanket of snow. But I had one glorious day of summer when I went to tennessee this weekend for my grandson's third birthday. On Friday it was 73 degrees and sunny. How welcoming after seeing whiteness for months on end. Sean rode his toy four wheeler that I got him for Christmas all around their huge flat, fenced in back yard wearing nothing but a short sleeved shirt. Chris played with the dogs by throwing balls. Sadie loved being able to be free to run at full speed all over the yard.
Of course, it didn't stay that way. By Sunday when we left it was spitting snow and then in Tennessee and Virginia we ran into a regular snowstormy blizzard. We were afraid that it would be bad roads and hard driving all the way home to chris's house in Boiling Springs, but we got ahead of the front and only faced rain the rest of the way.
We had a fantastic weekend with the grandchildren. It was nice being with my fifteen year old grandson, Scott. He's very into music and played Ryan's guitar for us. Sara, who is 6 months now, had a rough time for two days because she is cutting her first tooth and chewed her fist and fussed a lot. I held her as much as I could and she is the best baby. she is smiling now as if to say..I'm really happy, but can't you do something about these teeth? Mom put teething lotion on her gums and pain medicine, but she still didn't sleep very much.






Sean was off the scale on the adorable chart. When he came out of his bedroom the morning of his birthday he asked his mother...is it my birthday today? when she said yes, he said, "And I'm not two anymore? (holding up two fingers). that's right. "I'm three?" How cute! (You had to be there to see his face. The party went well with games and treats and lots of fun. He was so excited to have the kids at his house. THe present he liked the best was the Buzz Lightyear costume. Before that he had his Woody cowboy hat on but the minute he opened the Buzz costume he put it right on and wore it the rest of the day and the next day too.

It was a wonderful week away from the sameness of home. Today we are coming back to Bradford where I expect more snow and cold temperatures. But I had a taste of spring and will hold out hope that soon we will see green grass and flowers.

In like a lion?

Today is the first of March and not like a lion at all with sunny skies and above freezing temperatures today (35). I do see a little patch of grass as I look outside my back window. Today I made chocolate chip, oatmeal and peanut butter kiss cookies in anticipation of seeing my grandchildren. I haven’t baked cookies in quite a while so it was an enjoyable task. Don is still working on the player piano and is coming along very well. He is almost ready to put it back together again. Soon we will be hearing music from the player rolls we have stored in our attic. I have been playing my other piano regularly since it has been tuned. It feels good to sit and play.

GOODBYE, FEBRUARY

 

There it was…ivy…just sitting on a Walmart shelf. It was green. It was growing. It whispered in my ear, “Spring can’t be far away.” Goodbye snowy February. Come on, Spring.