Retroblog August 7, 1983

Today is August 7, 1983 Time 3:17 p.m.

HI! Two things happened nice this week. I had fun.

West Hartford Children's Museum
Lebanon Country Fair


Once again, my descriptive powers overwhelm me. Honestly, what was the point of even writing this down if I wasn't going to provide more details?

I apparently I figured that out, because the notes about the museum and the fair were added in later.

Knowing our summer schedules, this was probably a day-trip to the museum in West Hartford. We lived about an hour a half from that side of the state, and the boys were too young for sports camp, so Mom probably used this excursion to get us all out of the house. I don't remember much about the museum, but I do remember climbing on a giant outdoor concrete whale/dinosaur/fish structure, either on this trip or another one. With one girl who hated being outside and sweaty and two active little boys, Mom must have had a dickens of a time with day-trips. Chauffeur, wrangler, tour guide, parent ... How did she do it with three?

We most likely went to the fair on a Friday or a Saturday. Except for the explosion of fried food vendors, the fair probably was pretty much the same as it is now. I'm sure we spent a lot of time in the animal pens and not so much time on the rides. Again, knowing Mom's allergy situations, how did she manage with all the hay, hair, dust, and other allergens at a fair? Poor woman.

Summer Fridays 2009 - Part Two

I spent a lovely Fourth of July weekend up in Caramoor country. I never quite understood why so many New Yorkers fled the city environs during the weekends, until this year. There's only so much concrete jungle a person can take before they need to get out!

In effort to escape my apartment, the craft projects clamoring for my attention, and to stave off a repeat of the last two summers, I've made it my mission to be more social this year (see prior entries). As for visiting Caramoor, I also figured that after more than two full revolutions of the calendar, it was okay to spend an extended period of time at a place where I had spent so many hours of my life for 12 years. While you can't ever really go "home again," it's okay to visit every once in a while.

In addition to seeing good friends, catching up on news, reacquainting myself with verdant nature, and helping out in the office, I really visited to attend a series of concerts.

The first scheduled was to be an acoustic classical guitar concert by David Leisner in the Sunken Garden. Unfortunately, the weather didn't hold up, and the concert had to be moved under cover. If it hadn't, I might have been listening to music with views like these.
I could have wandered the forest at intermission, being enchanted by the foliage.
I could have watched the sunlight cast dancing shadows on the floors of the Italian Pavilion, or looked for butterflies floating through the Butterfly Garden.Before the concert, I could have wandered down to look at frescoes of the Greenhouse and the planting beds,
or gone and looked at the real thing. I could have inhaled the fragrance of wild roses on the hedgerow.
But really, I wouldn't have changed a thing. I still had time to explore the grounds the next day. The concert was perfectly lovely. It's so wonderful to attend concerts where the audiences know what to do and not do. Acoustic guitar under a tent can be tricky, especially when the humidity level is rising to 100%. But it was quiet enough to hear the nightingales, frogs, crickets, and blue jays add in their accompaniment to Villa-Lobos, Paganini, and Mr. Leisner's original works.

Mother Nature got into the act even more as the evening progressed. As a gentle summer storm began to gather and roll through the Hudson Valley, you could see lightening begin to flicker like fireflies outside the tent. Thunder began to be a backdrop to the music, and, in one case, was perfectly timed to the end of a work -- what the musician called "thunderous applause." The immediacy of the weather brought a sense of urgency to the concert. You didn't know which would break first, the end of the Allegro of the Paganini piece or the storm, with a crack of thunder and a tumultous burst of rain. The air got so lush and thick you could almost taste the night jasmine, like a light summer mouse or cotton candy.

In order to get ahead of the impending rain, some of the audience left before the encore--the most beautiful arrangement of My Funny Valentine I've ever heard. The appreciative hush at its conclusion was only broken by the breeze through the trees and a slow ripple of thunder that turned into wild applause.

A solitary walk back through the grounds in the dark allowed me to savour the experience. I slipped my shoes off and walked through the dewy grass. The smell of clean air and the peacefulness of the setting helped sooth my soul. I also stopped to take some deep cleansing breathes and to imprint the moment in my memory.

The downburst of rain that started just as we began to drive away washed away the remainder of my lingering stress, as well as the dust and dirt of the day. All in all, it was a wonderful way to start the weekend.

Summer Fridays 2009 - Part One

One of the best things about working at the Big J is that fact that we get about 10-12 Fridays off from June to August, in exchange for some of the Monday holidays throughout the year. This comes in very handy for vacations, explorations, etc. After working so hard for so many summers, sometimes I don't know what to do with myself with all this time off. In an effort not to sink into the horridly debilitating depression that clouded last summer, this year I made a list of places to go and things to try and do. Luckily the weather cooperated, for the most part, and I was often joined by friends, or persuaded by others to deviate from the list. Here's a partial sampling of some of the things that I did on my summer Fridays (besides going to the office and blogging about them!)

Lion Brand Studio

After reading about the studio for so long, I finally had a reason to be downtown. I planned my perambulations to include a walk over to the very lovely Lion Brand studios, where I spent some time ogling the wall of yarn, downloading patterns for projects, and ordering more materials. I tried not to be intimidated by the serious knitters and other crafters. I'm a rank amateur compared to those people.

Right next to the computers are some of the amigurumi animals that can be made by various knit/crochet patterns.

The front window display is changed up occasionally. When I visited, it was a knitted display of the New York City skyline and other notable landmarks/institutions.
There was even a knit replica of the Mayor knitting. Having just seen the mayor outside the office, this guy looks better and more approachable. During my walk-about downtown, I strolled by some very interesting window displays. Since I was on my way to the Lion Brand Studio, I was in a crafty state of mind.

These are a little creepy though.

I think I was so distracted by what I had seen in these windows, I almost completely missed the fact that I walked right by a very low key Spike Lee.

This trip also included an excursion to the famous Strand Bookstore. Now, I love books. I love the smell of old books. I enjoy reading. Unfortunately, I have a problem with narrow aisles and crowds. I like to browse without feeling squished and rushed. I also like my sci-fi sections not be regulated to the back tiny corner of bookstores. Sadly, I've also found that when you are looking for obscure sci-fi books you run into the dilemma that sci-fi geeks hang on to their materials, so the likelihood that you are going to find that rarity is pretty slim. While I did find a few things on my list, I have to spend more time looking on-line for my missing volumes. Maybe my real problem with the Strand that day was that it was a muggy Friday at lunchtime and everyone was hanging out in the a.c.?

Since I was starving and it was lunchtime, I headed uptown and dove into the Union Square Green Market. After the quick walk uptown, the inhaled dust in the Strand, the inferiority complex I had also picked up at the Lion Brand Studio, I was even more susceptible to the aromas emanating from all the food vendors hawking their wares. The breakfast radishes, cilantro, and lettuce that went in my bag were later joined by jalapeno cornbread, maple-flavored breakfast rolls, and chocolaty baked goods. If I had had a cooler with me, I would have picked up fresh cheese and homemade bacon. Somehow, after all the browsing and purchasing, I never did get an actual meal! Once back in Grand Central, I finally bought a Jamaican beef patty at Golden Krust. I've only been walking by it almost every day for three years. For under $5, a well-balanced meal of an ice-cold Diet Coke and very hot, fried dough and spicy meat is the best. thing. ever! On other rambles around the Upper West Side, I walked right by the former residence of famed composer, Sergei Rachmaninoff.

On another Friday, my good friend Jane (from Flax Hill Gardner) joined me in the City. We went back downtown, bought goodies at one of the MoMA design stores, had our nasal passages assaulted in a Lush store, were serenaded by mourning Michael Jackson fans, discovered art works in new places, and were reminded that a City of over 7 million people is just too darn small.

My list of places to visit this summer included the Pearl River Market downtown. This wasn't Jane nor my first visits to the store, but we couldn't resist going back. It's just a sensory delight. From the incense that wafts through the building, the rich brocades of the various shoes, jackets, and children's mandarin-style outfits, to the feel of the fine origami papers, and all the various blue porcelain-wares that I was lusting over, it was fun to explore the two levels of the emporium. It caters to tourists and locals alike. Not only did I buy the typical I heart New York stuff, but I finally got some spicy chili sauce to soup up the Chinese food that my local purveyor just won't make hot enough for me.

The true purpose for our trip this time to New York was to visit Peanut Butter & Co.

For YEARS I have been watching various Travel Channel Sandwich Paradise shows, not to mention Rick Sebak's documentary on PBS, and have seen this shop. It's ridiculous that I've been in New York this long and not gone. Now I can cross another thing off my list.

Luckily Jane I have different food tastes, so we were able to pick different things off the menu.

When at Peanut Butter & Co., you have to try the Elvis ("A grilled peanut Butter sandwich, stuffed with bananas and honey. Try it with bacon for that extra indulgence. Long live the King!") Jane had hers without the bacon.
I hate banana, but love bacon, so I had a specialty sandwich with their Mighty Maple peanut butter and bacon. Salty, sweet, drippy, goofy, and DELICIOUS. So good. (All of their sandwiches are served "homestyle with a side of Cape Cod potato chips and carrot sticks. Just like Mom used to make!") HA! My mother didn't put bacon on our sandwiches. Fried baloney maybe, but not bacon.Here Jane models the fab ring she bought at MoMA. We had a corner booth. Now when I see Sandwich Paradise again, I know exactly where we were sitting, and I can enjoy it even more.It was pretty busy when we were there. We weren't the only ones influenced by the Travel Channel as the clientele was pretty obviously all tourists. After a while Jane and I had more fun watching the construction workers from next door removing a door papered over with flyers. Of course, that may had more to do with the naked male dancer from Pilobolus on the posters than anything else.

After such a yummy lunch, you would have thought we were done with food for the day, but Jane indulged me in back-tracking to find the Baked by Melissa cupcake stall I had spotted on my previous trip downtown. The whole trip back to the cupcake stall was because I promised Casey that I would eat a chocolate cupcake for her, and I wanted to find a vanilla cupcake to eat in honor of Nie's birthday. These little tiny cupcakes are scarily addictive (and expensive too!). One bite and they are gone.

While I didn't quite fulfill my promise to either lady, in some respects the flavors at Baked by Melissa represent their lives a little bit more accurately. I bought a dozen or so with the intent of taking pictures of them in strange locales and for a photo essay for Casey. However, the subway ride and the heat and the humidity conspired to create what what can only be called a 'hot mess' in the box. Happily, after refrigeration, the gooey mess was still edible and was devoured in a New York minute.

Thanks to Jane for schlepping around with me to cross a few things off my Summer Friday list!

For more information about my summer Fridays, stay tuned or check out the Shushing Librarian's adventures.

Auntie Nettie's Merchandise 2009 - Part 2

In preparation for an upcoming Craft Bash with some colleagues, Auntie Nettie went through the shelves to inventory and document some of her latest projects for this year. Here are just a sampling:

#41: Midnight Blue Handbag (no photo)

#42: Orange Bobble Purse (no photo; as of 3/11, not available, gifted to family)

#43, #44: Black Confetti Clutch (on left)

#45: White Confetti Clutch (on right, not available)

(interior view)#46:Orange Jewelry Pouch#47:Orange Wristlet Purse (not available)

#48: Autumn Ribbon Spiral Scarf (not available)

#49: City Lights Ribbon Spiral Scarf

#50: Blue Hoodie Afghan
(no photo, no longer available; like #62 below)

#51: Metallic Granny Square Medallions
(no photo)

#52: Stuffed Bear (no longer available; was Toy Society drop, see here)

#53: Grey Fez with Silver Flower #54: Three Applique Flowers (no photo, not available)

#55: White Confetti Lipstick Clutch

#56: Stained Glass Ladder Scarf (not available)
#57: Metallic Granny Square Earrings (no photo, not available)

#58: Fuzzy Bear (not available)
#59: Rainbow Ladder Scarf (not available)
#60: Small Purple Chenille Purse (not available)
#61: White Puffed Afghan (as of 06/10, not available)
#62: White Hoodie Afghan (as of 11/09, not available)
#63: Hexagon Recycled T-Shirt Rug
(not available, it's my new bathroom rug)
#64: Red/Purple Hexagon Rug
#65: Purple Stuffed Heart (not available)
#66 & #67: Fuzzy Monkeys (not available)#68: Stuffed Block in purples (not available) #69: Stuffed Amigurumi Elephant (as of 08/11, no longer available, donation)
#70 & 71: Pink, White, Blue Afghans (as of 12/10 #71 not available, donated to fund-raiser)
(as of 08/11 #70 not available, donated to fund-raiser)
(41 pieces each)
in close-up
Stay tuned for updates on future projects.

If you see anything you like just drop a line or a comment.

Auntie's happy to give dimensions, prices, and care suggestions off-line.

Availability of items is subject to change without notice, especially after the Craft Bash.