Old Sturbridge Village...

So what do you do when you have a mile long chore and project list? ......

You get the Heck out of Dodge!!!! No seriously, you do. I'll back track for you. My oldest son was scheduled to be at a cheering competition at Kings Island in Ohio. We bought him a plane ticket and he was staying with my parents. Last minute(Friday) half the team drops out and cancels. Way to go with team commitment (but that is another story). We had already bought the ticket, so he arranged with another girl who had also bought a ticket to have her get on his flight and they would fly out together. Then both stay at my parent's house and then spend Sunday at the amusement park. With her parents then meeting her there and my son would go home with my parents and fly home Monday. I of course had objected to to this whole trip from the get go months ago, but flying and staying with my parents was the best compromise. Anyway, feeling a bit odd and shall we say, nervous, about having my "baby" gone a thousand miles away for the first time, and realizing that none of my family was up to the chore list I had planned(we still have to finish my daughter's room, clean my sewing room, do yardwork, etc), I through caution to the wind on Saturday afternoon(1pm to be exact) and said "let's go to Sturbridge village".

I had never been there but had always wanted to go. So I called JellyStone, they had plenty of spots open, packed up the camper, and we were on the road by 5:30pm. It's about a 3 hour drive, so by the time we got there, we just had enough time to check in, hook the camper up, get a quick bite to eat at McDonalds, and go to bed. Next morning we got up and headed to Old Sturbridge Village. We at a fantastic brunch at their restaurant(not the one in the village, but just outside of it but still on the grounds). And to top off a great meal, we found out when the check came that the kids ate free! You just had to pay for 13 and up! We then went to the village. And I will warn, you this is a very picture heavy post.....

The pics aren't really in order, so I'll try to explain as I go. This first one is looking down the main commons area.

Some costumes in one of the buildings...
Quilt displayed in a stairwell...
Room set up for spinning...
More period dress...
One of the houses, which housed the above pics...
The Cooper shop, they made barrels, buckets, and milk churns...
Loved this red farm house... The Freeman house
Inside the barn of the red house
Sheep at the house...
Cattle...
I love the floppy ears of this pig, he looks so prim. I think I want to make a stuffed one of him(with out the stink)....
Inside the red house. They had racks by the fireplace to try things. The string you see happens to be squash.
Young girl getting read to work. The front of her apron was full of ash.
Inside the saw mill. It really cuts wood and they showed us how.
Saw mill men. They also put on a demo at the gristmill.
One of the workers in the pottery shed throwing a cup. He was new to this craft, so none of his work was in the store yet.
Two men squaring a log for a barn beam. My boys saved some of the fresh wood chips as sourveniers .
Men working on something in the towne barn.
Big house in town, called the Towne house...
Inside the front foyer. The wall paper was not my style. But apparantly they used quite a bit of it in the 1830's and it was all historically correct.
One of the parlors. Again, not quite my style.
Upstairs.
One of the bed chambers. Love the baby bed with canopy.
Notice the painting on the walls. Most of the upstairs walls were freehand painted with woodland scenes.
Quilt on rack to be quilted in another bed chamber.
I liked the colors of this bedroom best, browns and blues.
Kitchen.
ktichen
kitchen
Hubby and the kids took a stage coach ride. I stayed back with Mason.
This woman asked my boys to help her get water for the horses while they waited for the coach. They were more than happy to help.
My 4 yr old pumping water.
The horses getting their drink.
While they road, Mason ate his first apple. I bit the skin off half of it and then he gummed it and sucked on it. He loved it and was upset when it eventually fell to the ground. Look at that intense face and those huge baby hands, he's going to be a big boy.
One building contained over a dozen historic samplers. I took pics of most of them, but just too many to share on here.
This was the general store and the back room was my favorite(these three pics below). It was all wood and crock items and I just loved the browness of it.


Here is the front of the store...
Lots of fabrics and shoes.
The meeting house with candle chandelier..
Just an outdoor pic.
This was inside the "small house". The only building there that was reproduced and not authentic, but they did a good job of aging it. Again with the wall paper. I asked, and it was time appropriate.
Women dying wool...
Long shot of the wool area...
Goofy pic of kids...
My munchkins playing with a hoop and stick.
And playing flying hoops, this was their favorite game and we had to stop again on the way out and play it.
This is a far shot of the small house as we were heading out. We spent the whole day there and I don't think really saw it all. It was a perfect day though, the weather was gorgeous and the kids really seemed to enjoy it. I have a lot more pics and there were a lot more buildings than what I showed you. Including a store that you could buy stuff in, but it was packed and we walked in and out. I ended up going to the museum store by the entrance that was less crowded. Guess what, they sold Old Sturbridge Village fabric and dresses all ready made. The fabric was lovely and I would have bought some, but I couldn't spend $10.99 a yard when I just got their fabric for $2.99 at Marden's !!!! I can't wait to go back to Marden's and see what prints they get in next:)

All in all, I liked OSV, but I was expecting to see more antiques, especially after reading the history of how the place came about it. I think the best thing about the whole place was how my kids came out thinking. They want me to make them old clothes and my youngest daughter said she would love to work at a living museum. They really enjoyed it and I can't wait to get started on some period clothing for us all. Maybe I can get the whole family into reenacting!!!!!

Back at the camper, hubby made a fire and we roasted hot dogs and then smores. I stayed inside with the baby and read my new book.(the beginning about her childhood is a shocking )

Mason was a happy little camper as long as mommy stayed close by.
We left Jelly stone at 9 this morning as we had to be home in time to pick up my 16yr old at the airport. I would have loved to spend another day or two and explored the town of Sturbridge and go to the shops, but that can be another adventure.

So that is how we spent our Labor Day Weekend. Very spontaneous for us. And although we got nothing accomplished around the house, we DID make some very nice family memories.

Have a lovely, lovely, week,

Tiff

Busy...

School started this week, my 2nd and 4th graders started on Monday and my 7th, 10th, and 12th graders started on Tuesday. I had really thought I would homeschool this year, but I chickened out in the end. We will see how this year goes and go from there.

We squeezed in a quick trip to LL Bean to get new back packs this weekend and then ran around getting other errands done, all the while still working on my youngest daughter's room that got flooded by the washing machine. We painted the room, then tore up the carpet. Hubby and my 16 yr old son put down the new floor on Saturday. They were frustrated, tired, and complained a bit, but they did a good job and got it done. (THANK YOU Dear!!) Hubby then put in the trim work on Sunday. Now we just need to do some caulking and touch up paint and it will be done. Of course, we still need to finish painting her bed and cupboard white, but that will wait until this weekend.

Here is a look at her new wild floor. Ya, not so prim, huh? That's ok, it's her room and she has to like it for the 5 years or so. Plus, it's just a floating laminate, so it will be easy to replace when the time comes.

It will be a bit before I can show the complete "after" shots of the room, as there is still so much to do. And I am still working on and maintaining other parts of the house, and the little prince(aka Mason) has major mommyitis still :) And don't get me started on the outside of the house, I have so much yard work to do, but I'm waiting for the cool weather before I tackle that. Ok, enough whining.

Have a terrific day,

Tiff

Ohio Trip(Longaberger)...

I realized I hadn't shared our trip to Ohio with you. While most of the trip was spent visiting with my parents and going to little shops around their home, we did head over to the Longaberger Homestead. I had been there about 7 years ago and thought it would be fun to go again. Hubby and my oldest son decided to stay at my parent's home, as this wasn't quite their cup of tea, but my parents and the rest of us went. It's about an hour's drive from their home. I'm not a Longaberger collector, though I do have about 6 of their baskets. I'm happy they are American made, I just think the price is a bit silly.

So, as you are heading there, the first thing you see is their corporate headquarters building, a giant "basket" beside the freeway. You can see the handles peaking over the treeline a long ways away.

The kids thought this was really "cool".
Then it is about a 12 mile drive until you get to the homestead, out in the middle of nowhere!

Here is a pic of the some of the kids inside the main store right outside the toystore.
This is an old barn on the grounds. It used to house lots of craft vendors and the horse stalls held the basket makers who (for a fee) would help you make your own basket. All that is now gone, it's just holds some sale merchandise now and a small cafe.
Just in front of the main store is a "small" basket to take a photo in. Here are 6 of my munchkins with my parents.
The grounds are really beautiful and perfectly manicured. I wish I had taken more pics of them and the buildings. As you can see, we were one of the few people there. It was like being in an old fashioned town that was deserted. The store had barely anything it, not like it was 7 year ago. I fear they may be going under, or at least the homestead part of it. It's a shame too, because it is very pretty and quaint. It just so far out and they really don't have anything to bring the people in anymore(not in this economy).
Here is looking down the "main street". At the end is a GIANT basket of apples. (again, see the lack of people, this should be their busy season)
And here are my munchkins in front of it...
We didn't take the factory tour as the kids were getting hot and hungry, so maybe there were people and more excitement over there.

All in all, I'm glad we ventured out there, because I don't know how much longer it will be there.

Have a lovely day,

Tiff

Red Door, New Light, Fabric, and Veggies...

Ya, don't faint, another post from me so soon :)

I thought I had shared my front door with you, but I can't find the pics on my computer, so maybe me remembering taking the pics is all just in my head and it never really happened,LOL. Anyway, I ran outside and took these ones real quick. Sometime, back in June(maybe it was May, I can't really remember) I decided to paint the front door red. It was in desperate need of a paint job, as the stain on the door was actually flaking away. So I figured, why not red. So far so good and I really like it.

Sorry that I don't have before pics of this light, but I picked it up at a yard sale by my mom's house in Ohio. It was just a new brassy gold chandelier and the price was right, $5. A quick coat of black spray paint and I have a new light in my front foyer. You can see the old light in a pic in the post below. Now I just need one more light fixture for the upstairs hallway.

And here is the second "score" of fabric from Mardens. I just love that store now.
The chicky print is going to be matched with the butter gingham above to make a reversible apron(once I find a pattern I like).
And last but not least is this mornings pickings from my little front door garden. I still can't believe how much my small garden has given us this year. I have even had enough to share with a friend. I thought the zucchini and squash were done, but they surprised me with some more. We have had so much this summer, that when my 9yr old son saw this he proclaimed "Not more zucchini?!?!) And the green beans, they just keep on coming. I still have another row to pick, but I got tired of doing it this morning. The tomatoes are also abundant, I think I need to make some sauce from then.

All I have to say is, ANYONE can grow food if they have some dirt and seeds. I'm not a gardener or farmer, in fact I grew up on Mcdonalds and ham and cheese sandwhiches. But nature tends to itself and definitely provides if you give it a place to grow. And I love how I know that there is absolutely NOTHING on my veggies, just water and sunshine, I don't even use miracle grow. Ok, I lied, I did used crushed egg shells that I saved all winter. I put them in the soil. Not only did it add nutrients to the soil, but an added benefit was that it kept the slugs and snails away.
I'm off to do laundry. And I really need to clean my sewing room so I can make my curtains for my family room. But I really have a hankering to paint the kitchen cupboards :)

Have a splendid day,

Tiff

House Pics...

I was finally able to get blogger(or maybe it's my computer) to load pictures without taking hours, yay! I thought I would share some house pics from Memorial Day, yes, back in May, but I'm redoing things, so I thought you might like to see some "before" pics before I show how things look now(or will soon look).

These first few are my kitchen....

Mudroom...
Fireplace...
Small area in the family room...(the new color scheme drops all the red and totally changes the look, I can't wait to share it with you all).... Oh, and there is that hooked rug that I picked up from goodwill that I washed and washed and washed, it came out so well.
Front foyer...

Back deck, we had a barbeque...
Front porch with some of the kiddos...
I hope to get the house done soon(well, done for my mood now, because it will never actually be done,kwim?). At the moment, we are painting my youngest daughter's room, ripping out the carpet and redoing the floors. Not because she wanted it(though she does) but because the washer in the 2nd floor laundry room flooded and we HAD too. UGH! it happened right after our trip. Luckily our insurance is good, and they got a company in right away to dry out the upstairs and my craft room ceiling. We had two industrial dehumidifiers and huge fans in the house, with the areas blocked off and running for 2 days straight. Talk about noise!! Plus it heated the areas up to 120 degrees. But it did the job and hopefully no mold will come from it.

Well, I'm off to bed. I haven't had a good night's sleep in a week. I dream constantly and my mind never gets a chance to rest. You would think that dreaming means I'm sleeping well, but it's just the opposite. I feel so tired during the day because my nights are filled with vivid dreams that last all night. Anyone have a cure for this?

Blessings,

Tiff

Oh my. I went back to my "candy store" today. Yes, I bought more fabrics. One was the most adorable vintage chickie print(soon to be an apron). I haven't taken pics yet, but I'll share soon. I also hit some yard sales and went to Sherrie's store for the first time. If you are in southern Maine, you have to check her sweet shop out, it's filled to the gills with vintage goods. I bought and iron bunny door stop, so cute.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Tiff

My New Fabric Store/Score...

I think I should just really close shop for the Summer, because I am such a bad blogger while the kids are out of school. I need those cozy days of Fall and Winter to sit down with the computer and blog. I do apologize for my lack of posting, I'm even wicked behind in my family blogs.

I have a ton of pics to share of our trip and my mom's house but blogger is taking a very long time to load pics, so this is just a quick post to make any locals (or anyone headed up to Maine) aware of an AWESOME fabric source.

First I must say that I love junk/thrift stores, but I absolutely hate junky/nasty stores. You know the kind, those stores that are full of "new" stuff that is at closeout prices. There is a local Maine chain called Marden's that is one of those stores. I walked in one store and walked right out, it just wasn't my kind of place(I would rather buy old antique junk :P ). BUT, a new one opened up(in Scarborough) and I had heard about their fabric department. Not expecting much, my youngest daughter, Mason, and I decided to check it out yesterday. And let me tell you, I was blown away!!! I felt like a kid in a candy store. They had way more quilting fabrics and cottons than Joanns and everything was $2.99 or $1.99 a yard. It was all neat and organized by color and all up to date prints. They had reproduction civil war prints from Sturbridge village collection and Heritage Museum collection, along with Aunt Grace's 30's repro prints, plus everything in between. Plus they had hundreds of rolls of decorater fabrics for $1.99 to $3.99(I'm talking Waverly prints that go for $40 a yard!). I talked to the woman who cut my goods and she said they get new stuff in all the time and carry all the latest designers. I don't know how they can sell it so cheap. The stuff I got goes for 9.99 to 12.99 a yard online and I got it for $2.99, plus if you by 10 yards or more or take what left of the bolt you get an extra 10% off.

So here is what I found(I had to contain myself to a limit this trip).....

Are these not simply adorable?!?! I got three sets of these days of the week towel panels. I could stitch over them, but they look so good already I really wouldn't have to. Plus, they came with 4 potholder prints. They were $2.99 a panel, so for a complete set it cost me $6!! I found them online for $12.99 a panel. They are by Mamma's Apron Strings.

And here is my load of other fabrics, love the reproductions prints(they will become log cabin pillows and a quilt). The large yardage of blue in the middle is going to become a reproduction dress. The black and tan plaid is going to be fishtail swag curtains for my family room. And the scrumptious(in feel and look) spicey pumpkin yardage is going to be along Fall skirt for me and a table cloth(maybe two, one for my mom).
And I got these 3 prints for a baby quilt for a friend's daughter.
All the above were $2.99 a yard!!!! I really shouldn't share such an fantastic fabric source, but I couldn't keep it a secret from you all, it's just too good!!

Oh, and wait till you see new pics of my family room(new braided rugs for a steal by my mom's, new curtains that are being made, and new paint on the shutters). I'm really loving the color pallet.

Until next time,

Tiff

Interesting Evening...

The last week or so has been a flurry of work. We had our yardsale, went to a wedding(that my youngest daughter was in, and was lovely, I'll post pics of it later), and have been getting ready for our vacation. I made two new skirts for myself for the trip which came out better than expected. I copied them from a skirt that I already own and they were so easy to make, I'll share them later.

Admist all this, we had a horrible storm role through last night. We got over 3" of rain in a matter of hours, high winds, the most lightening and thunder I have ever seen from one storm in my entire life(no joke), and tornadoes(which is super rare for around here). It started with rain and an ominous sky, then my daughter saw our neighbor across the street taking pictures from his front door. I thought it was odd, I looked out our back windows to see what he was looking at. I couldn't see what he saw, I just saw what I thought were 2 funnel clouds towards town. I told hubby and the kids we need to get to the basement. The kids listened but hubby didn't. I don't think he really believed me. He kept by the windows looking at the storm. The clouds kept converging on each other from different directions, things we had never seen before, it was fascinating and frightening to watch. The power then went out. The rain kept coming in varying stages of intensity. One of the basement windows was open and the kids said they heard trees falling(which ended up being true). After 3 and half hours it was mostly over and the power was back on(I must say that CMP crews are good). My oldest son was at cheering during this and by the time he got his ride home, he said that they had to keep finding new ways to get here because the giant old trees that line the main road that our street was off of were fallen on the road. He said that the roots balls were the height of 2 cars. And many streets had power lines laying on them.

We are all safe, and I haven't hear any reports of injuries, but a barn did collapse at a local dairy farm, they got most of the mamma cows and babies out, but I think they lost one pair.

Now, here are the pics that my neighbor took(I stole them off his facebook page, he won't mind). Like I said, I didn't see this or how close this one was, I just saw two off in the distance. And I think if hubby would have seen this, he wouldn't have stayed upstairs looking out the windows!!

Never a dull moment around here.

Have a safe weekend everyone,

Tiff

Teacher gifts...

It's good to be back, though I do feel overwhelmed with all I need to catch up on in blogland. I haven't checked out my blog friends in so long, I feel like I'm out of touch with the world ;p

But I'll take baby steps and start with tiny posts of things I need to share on my own blog. Here are two teacher gifts I made for the end of the school year....

The first was for my youngest daughter's 6th grade teacher. I normally stop with gifts at elementary school, because by middle and high school, they just have too many teachers for me to give to them all. But my daughter was especially fond of this teacher, so we made her a quilted name banner to hang in her room. I guess she really liked it because she took it around to all the other teacher's rooms to show it off, with my daughter in tow. She told her it was the best thing she had received in her 22 years of teaching :) You can't really tell in the pic, but it was quite large, close to 4feet long.

And then I made this small lap/car quilt for another favorite teacher. She taught my 3rd grader this year and she had my 2 daughter's before him(she actually asks for my kids to be in her class, which they really aren't supposed to do, shhhh!)

Right now I'm in the process of drawing patterns for a special gift for a soon to be 4yr old girl who's party is on Saturday. My 2nd youngest son is invited to her party. I'll share the finished gift in another post. Crossing my fingers that it comes out as cute as it is in my head!

Have a lovely day,

Tiff

Ps, I've tried to reply to comments via email, but I don't think it goes through. Does blogger not work like typepad?

Happy 4th of July....

HAPPY 4th of JULY !!!

Hello everyone! Yes, I know it's been quite awhile, and I do apologize. We are all fine here and I thank you all for the comments and emails of concern. Things have just been busy... it started with the wrapping up of the school year, teacher gifts(which I will share in another post), field days, concerts, etc. Then trying to clear out the house for a major yard sale(which I'm still clearing out) that will be on July 16th and 17th(let me know if you want directions). Doing yard work, making presents for a friend's daughter's wedding(you will see in a later post), rearranging rooms yet again(yes, I know, I'm crazy). And most of my time is spent with my sweet baby who has acquired "mommyitis". I know I am biased, but he is the happiest baby I have ever seen and oh so cute. He can now roll himself across the floor and is beginning to tuck his legs under his bum when he's on his tummy, so I know crawling isn't too far off. Oh, and yet another reason for my absence is that we switched internet providers and it has been uber slow and loading pics is a nightmare.

But here I am, and I'm wishing you all a glorious 4th of July!!! It's also my son's 7th birthday. He came into this world with a bang, that almost took both our lives, and he still is a little firecracker.

We spent the day at a state park beach, it was hot, but the water was cold and refreshing. We then came home and grilled, and in a few minutes we will be heading out to watch the fireworks.

Here are some pics of the day...

The Birthday Boy!!!
We couldn't do beach excursions without our beach tent. It keeps Mason out of the sun and lets him have a place to hang out in his swing.


And just a quick shot after we got home and showered, he was enjoying some tummy time.
And last, these 3 little babies were discovered yesterday under our deck. We can watch them from the french doors in the daylight basement.
I'll try to be better about posting now that things are a bit settled down around here and hopefully the internet will cooperate.

With Love,

Tiff