Month: February 2016

Books (so far) of 2016

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flower

This has absolutely nothing to do with this post, but isn’t it a rather lovely shot of a hellebore from my garden?

Inspired by all of you who keep track of what you read (and manage to share it on the interwebs), I thought I might give keeping track of what I read in a year a try. It’s February and already I feel like I’m not doing so good at that, although I did manage to make a list the other day. However, given my tendency to have lists stuck all over the house on random scraps of paper as well as my complete ability to read a book and then either completely forget I’ve read it OR remember the book itself but forget the name and the author, I’m decided I’m going to try and keep track here.  According to what I remember, this is what I’ve read thus far this year: Continue reading →

Coffee Table Art Games

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In his retirement, my Uncle Kevin has become an artist. Mosaics are his thing, using small tiles, usually glass and often incorporating mirrors. In addition to selling them, he’s given them away to family and friends.  Every time we’d visit, he’d have a piece or two sitting in the front room for me to bring home. Unfortunately, every single time, someone else would walk in and end up claiming the piece(s) and so Kevin would promise to have one for me next time.

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Mr. Jefferson’s Gadgets

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My neighbor Charles is one of those fascinatingly entertaining people that abound here in Charlottesville. He is an extremely talented craftsman, with a wickedly cool workshop in his back yard that deserves its own post. ( I really thought I had some shots of the workshop, but I can’t seem to find them, so I’ll need to fix that!) Among the projects he works on back there are a number of fascinating reproduction gadgets for Monticello where he works as a guide. Many a cozy (happy) hour has been spent in Charles’ workshop as he shares his latest labor of love. Over the years, Charles has built a number of Jefferson-era reproduction gadgets, so when I heard he was going to give a talk on the topic up at Monticello, I immediately knew this was going to be a talk worth going to.reserved

Edie and I were officially guests of Charles – with reserved seats no less! A friend of mine from high school was in town, so I dragged him along as well. As I sat between the two of them, Chris directed me to take pictures of things, while Edie gave me the side eye every time she heard my camera click, so I tried to strike a balance that kept both my companions happy.

Charles had samples of some his gadgets, as well as a slide show illustrating some of his work and points. Over the years, he’s built the wine dumbwaiter currently in use in a display in the basement, a replica of the folding ladder used to wind the clock in the entry hall of Monticello, a camera obscura, an orrery and a replica of the portable desk Jefferson commissioned for himself, used in the writing of  the Declaration of Independence. Charles discussed the research that went into creating these reprodutions as well as things he’s learned about Jefferson along the way (he liked things that folded and things that rotated).  He shared with us in great detail the current rabbit hole he has fallen into – studying Jefferson’s Hawkins/ Peale polygraph No. 57.

 

The talk was very well attended and absolutely fascinating. At the end of his talk, Charles invited everyone up to come check out his gadgets, where there was loads of hands on exploring. Thank you again for having us as your guests Charles – it was an absolutely stellar talk and wonderful to see so many of your works on display. I do hope Monticello hosts more talks like these, as they are fascinating.

Coming undone.

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sweater

I knit this sweater for Pat a few years ago. I knit it a bit on the snug side and then proceeded to shrink it in the laundry. I may have done a decent job of knitting it, but I didn’t do a decent job of putting it together – look at how awful those seams are! The sweater as-is was unwearable by my husband, didn’t fit me and Edie wasn’t interested. So it sat on my mending pile for eons while I pondered what to do with it. Continue reading →

Recent Kitchen Experiments.

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I kept seeing mentions of banana bread pop up everywhere last week, so when I got up Sunday morning, it seemed like the obvious thing to make for breakfast was banana bread.  My go-to recipe for banana bread is from my 1980-something Betty Crocker cookbook. I don’t alter it much, with the exception of subbing in some whole wheat flour for all-purpose and excluding nuts. I am just not a fan of nuts in my banana bread and thankfully, no one else is here either.  To be honest, the only time we like nuts in our baked goods are pecan pie and grandma’s fruitcake muffins. Continue reading →

DIY Chili

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I made a really great pot of chili last week totally off the cuff, right down to the chili powder mix. It was during one of last week’s snow days, so when I realized I was out of chili powder, there was no heading out to grab some. I knew I’d read somewhere chili powder was fairly easy to make, so I did a little googling and a quick hunt through my cookbooks and came up with something. I scribbled myself a note on a scrap of paper and stuck it to the side of my vintage “dispensette” with a Hello Kitty magnet, which is my new favorite way to organize myself.

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“Fetch” is finally happening.

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Friday afternoon, ten of Edie’s girlfriends came home on the bus with her to attend her birthday party, which had been postponed from last Saturday afternoon, due to the weather.  Unfortunately, the change meant a few friends couldn’t make it, as neither could her father.  That left me solo, refereeing  eleven teen girls. Continue reading →