What I Did Over my Thanksgiving Break

After feasting Thanksgiving Day, we got up at o dark thirty to brave the elements and people and do a little Black Friday shopping. Then on Saturday I had to go into work for a little while and then we decided to do this studio tour.  Getting a later start we decided to skip the furthermost studios ( which i had been to in previous years) and meet up with firends at the Holly Grove Vineyards.

Mom and I ready to do a little tasting!

Friends Carol and Steve who began the tour at the first stop in Cape Charles, met us there and we all had a great time. I have to say, I really enjoyed all of the wines we tasted and did a purchase order to begin to carry several of them in our restaurant.

Our next stop was Highpoint Glass Works where Ken Platt was doing a demo and serving hot spiced cider and cookies. Carol and I ordered handblown fruit fly catcher bottles. A very handy thing to have here on the shore come late August and September!

We then stopped by Copper Creations and watched Don Drew do his magic with copper. Carol and I were in awe of all his cool tools and antique rolling mills which he demo'd for us. We each purchased some of his yard pieces, I got a dragonfly, Carol got a crab sculpture, and some frogs. He then took us on a tour of his huge Koi pond and yard sculpures before sending us on our way with a box of scrap copper to use in our jewelry. He also invited us to come back and learn welding with him anytime. Sounds like a plan!

We went by the Onancock School which has been turned into studio spaces with other guild exhibitors before heading up to Bruce Hoover of As The Wood Turns. Dad and Steve especially enjoyed this stop as my Dad is a woodturner and Steve just purchased his first lathe to begin woodturning. After the tour ended we all headed back to our restaurant for an enjoyable dinner and a visit including having a cake to celebrate my parents' 52nd wedding anniversary before Carol and Steve headed back home to Maryland.

Happy 52nd Anniversay Mom and Dad and may you share many more!

Sunday my parents left my sister's house and came down to stay with us for the week before they get ready to go visit my brother in New Jersey. On Monday, we took a drive to the Blue Crow Antique Mall where I was renting a checkout counter display case for the past 2 years for my jewelry. I had made the decision to close it out and remove what I had left as it had become too difficult to maintain since it is about 45 minutes away from my home.

All in all it was a busy but very enjoyable long weekend!



Summer Ends...Fall Begins

The past 2 weeks we have celebrated many things.

The official end of summer, Labor day,  always marks the slowing down of our pace at the restaurant and is a welcome time. My daughter always has a picnic at her house and this year was no exception.  However, they surprised us with a cake in honor of our 30th anniversary and then my parents surprised us further, arriving from Florida to take part in the fun! 

Our family remembered how we enjoyed our visit to Ocracoke Island N.C. so they got together to give us a trip back whenever we can schedule it ( hoping the hurricanes leave us something to revisit!)

We spent several days at the beach soaking up the last summer had to offer. This is my favorite time at the beach, only a few people, warm water and temps in the 80's.

There are some things that never change, generation after generation

-kids will forever run away when waves approach

-They love to be buried in the sand

-they don't mind at all if you have to dig, redig and dig yet again, their little tidepool

By the third time while I was digging I asked my Mom why was i doing this again? She replied , "you are making memories" I told her to remind me of that the next morning when I couldn't move!

At one point while I was taking some pictures I heard all this ruckus behind me and turned to find that a flock of seagulls had ventured over to our cooler and stolen a bag of chocolate animal crackers and were dividing them amongst themselves. I'm sure someone has a pix of me retrieving the bag, thankfully, it hasn't surfaced!

We enjoyed the unexpected company and my parents left to return home this past sunday. On monday the 20th our son left on his first ever flight, a trip to Alaska for his new job ( started Aug 27th with LJT and associates, an electrical contracting firm for NASA, as a remote telemetrist)

He did well for his first flight and is very excited to be there. Can't wait to hear all the stories and see the pix when he returns. The aurora borealis is over where he is staying and I told him to take plenty of pix for me, i envy the opportunity! Our daughter ( pictured above with her boys) began nursing school on the 20th also. 

So we have had a busy couple of weeks and now I am playing catchup getting ready for ArtBliss this weekend, making charms for our swap and gathering tools and supplies!

So goodbye to Summer, and hello to Fall and all the adventures it holds!

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to the love of my life!

30 years ago today ( my we were so young then!)

Our invitation read:

This day I will marry my friend

The one I laugh with

Live for

Dream with

Love



I am happy to say that 30 years later I still feel the same way and more!

It hasn't always been easy but i'm glad we stuck it out and worked through life's trials and are getting to share in the rewards of our hard work.

Everyday i receive a thought for the day in my inbox and ironically this is today's , I thought worth sharing-

Friendship and Love

Friendships or marriages based on "dire need" or physical security are doomed to fail if each person in the relationship does not grow beyond his or her limited ways of thinking and reacting.

The ideal relationship is one in which each partner strives to grow. It is an ever-expanding commitment, mutually supportive of healthy interdependence. A healthy relationship encourages the seeking of wider mental and spiritual horizons; it is never threatened permanently by them.

TODAY Do I give my loved ones enough room to grow? Do I encourage my friends or mate to do things without me? Am I threatened by change or do I welcome it? Do I have the courage to do things on my own, even if my loved ones do not give me support? Do I have the courage and consideration to share my changes with those I love?

Let the purpose of all marriages and friendships alike be the deepening of the spirit and the enrichment of the soul.

You are reading from the book:

The Reflecting Pond by Liane Cordes