a letter

Dear Man in Seat 40J on United Flight 938,

I enjoyed chatting with you as we flew from Denver to Chicago last week, and I feel compelled to write you a note as a follow-up to our conversation.

After you shared that you were returning home to Ohio from a trip to beautiful Telluride, Colorado, the conversation naturally turned to my destination. As I shared that I was off to Indiana to visit three friends for a week, you asked how I knew them and how long we'd been friends.

I know that the more I tried to explain, the more your confusion grew. As I told you that I was going to first spend time at the home of a girl I'd met on the internet,


but had never met in person, you just didn't understand.

You asked my why in the world my husband would let me jet across the country to meet a perfect stranger. You wondered if I'd let my own children do the very same thing.

Good. Points. All.

But somehow I just knew. I knew this girl was the real deal. I knew she was as fun and genuine and kind and special in person as I'd come to know her on her blog and through our email friendship.

I have to tell you....I was right. She welcomed me into her home like we'd been friends forever, and her family did everything they could to make me feel like I belonged there. I don't even think it was any kind of effort for them. They're just naturally that kind of people.

My kind of people.

As our conversation continued, I tried to steer things back to you and your job as a pilot.

But you were having none of that.

As you kept asking questions, it came out that not only was I meeting one virtual friend, but three. After spending a few days with Jen in her Cottage Nest, we would travel to Ohio to visit a huge Flea Market and to meet up with Jayme, The Coop Keeper,




and Shannan, the Flower Patch Farmgirl.


I could see what you were thinking. You were thinking, "Wow, she's meeting up with three potentially crazy internet predators. One was bad enough, but three?"

Well, 40J Man, let me set your mind at ease.

First, let me tell you about Jayme. As I'd gathered from her blog and our back and forth emails, this is a girl with a heart that's made of pure gold, a heart that's the size of the state of Indiana. Or the state of Texas, or quite possibly the entire United States. This was demonstrated in many ways, the least of which was the fact that she hauled half her kitchen, along with farm fresh eggs from her chickens, homemade bread and homemade syrup, to make a french toast breakfast in bed for all of us, hotel style.

Seriously. She brought her electric skillet and everything. To our hotel room in Ohio. We kind of thought she was joking, but girlfriend came through and we were so glad she did.

There's no doubt about it, the Coop Keeper is a keeper. A delight.

My time with Jayme was much too short-lived and I'm already looking forward to the day I will be visiting her house. We've already got a schedule and an agenda in the works.

After two days of the four of us eating, antique shopping and eating some more, Jen officially handed me off to Shannan and I spent the next three days at her lovely farm, surrounded by rolling farmlands, barns and silos as far as the eye could see, and Amish buggies with horses clip-clopping down the road. While the setting was as different as could be from Jen's village, one thing was exactly the same. I'd found yet another genuine and generous girl, with yet another genuine and generous family, that welcomed me into yet another lovely home like I belonged there. And this time I had the added bonus of getting some baby snuggling time, not to mention non-stop entertainment provided by one hilarious preschooler and engaging conversation with one awesome kindergartner, all intermixed with fun photography related talks with the famous Mr. Flower Patch Farmgirl himself.

Good. Times.

So your fears, while quite valid, were thankfully unfounded. And one rather ironic side note?......When you asked what brought us together, and I told you we were all, to a certain extent, photographers, (not quite the truth, but also not a lie - I just had a really strong feeling you wouldn't understand the blog world, and our two hour flight wasn't enough time to try and explain it anyway), little did I know that I would take hardly any photos of Jen's village or Shannan's countryside. And while I did take family pictures for my new friends, I took not a single picture of our girl time together. So much for the photographer angle, right?

To conclude, Man In Seat 40J on United Flight 938, this has become quite the novel, hasn't it? I do want to thank you for your concern. That was really very nice. And thank you also for providing me this opportunity to relive the amazing week I got to spend with my formerly virtual, but now real life Indiana friends.

Sincerely,

Teresa

so long summer

Wow. September first - you snuck up on me!

While Fall lovers are rejoicing, Summer lovers, (yours truly), are in a bit of a panic. I know according to the calendar we have several weeks left, but in my book, summer starts June 1st and ends the last day of August.

What better way to say a fond farewell to my favorite season than with ice cream cones and a couple very cute little girls.


Now of course I'm hoping my old friend Indian Summer schedules an extended visit to my neighborhood, but for today, I will say a reluctant goodbye to the long, lazy days that make my heart sing.


p.s. Little fingers adorned with chippy blue polish also make my heart sing.

savannah

Before the details leave my brain forever, I want to share a few last photos of our visit to the South.


The last two days of our trip were spent in Savannah.


Beautiful Savannah.


Even the name is beautiful.


When I think of Savannah, two things immediately come to mind.

Paula Deen - her face was everywhere - and squares.

Savannah is designed with a beautiful park, or square, every few blocks. I believe there are twenty some squares in all. What a brilliant way to design a city.


Some have statues or fountains in the middle. Some are fancy, some simple.

All of them had people on park benches, pet owners taking a stroll, and tourists snapping pictures.

In between the squares were block after block of beautiful homes and Spanish moss draped trees.


I don't have nearly as many pictures of Savannah as I would like. By the time we got to day five of our trip, my forty pound camera bag had taught me a valuable life lesson and had basically killed my photo taking buzz.


While the azaleas were almost done in Savannah, we saw beautiful wisteria and this fun little shrub.


If this isn't called Bottle Brush Tree, it should be.

Savannah is also home to one of the most beautiful parks I have ever seen, Forsyth Park.


My niece and I spent hours on a park bench there one afternoon, just visiting the day away.


We also enjoyed the beautiful drive to Tybee Island, and climbed the steps of the Tybee Lighthouse. It was hard to imagine the solitary life of the lighthouse keeper and his family. I thought these pictures, displayed in the house, were adorable.



For me, Savannah was very different from Charleston, but just as beautiful.

Dear South,

I want to be Southern.

Love,
Teresa

charleston, how do i love thee?

Let me count the ways.

This city has been on my go-to list for quite a while, and it did not disappoint.

I honestly don't even know where to begin or how to group the photos.

Should I group by color?


By street?


I wonder what my hubby will say when I tell him I think we should replace our paved driveway with cobbles.

Actually, I don't wonder at all. I'm pretty sure I know.


Should I group my photos by paths, drives and alleys that run perpendicular to the sidewalk where I am standing?


Or perhaps by really cool stuff growing up, out of, or all over even cooler stuff.


Speaking of growing things, more than a few houses had this lovely feature.


I wonder what my hubby will say when I tell him I want our wooden steps replaced with brick steps so I can grow perfectly manicured greenery along the risers.

Pretty sure I know the answer to that one, too.

Should I group by houses with an extra splash of personality?


Or by houses with owners who don't like tourists?


How about by amazingly gorgeous and grand houses.


Or perhaps by houses that are not quite so grand, but still beautiful in their own right.


Then, of course, we have the gardens.


When we visited the plantation, we were told we were there on the peak azalea weekend. We certainly couldn't have planned that if we'd tried.


Charleston was beautiful. Every single house and garden was a treat to see. I would have thought there would be a clunker or two, here and there, but not so.

My very favorite part of Charleston, and what I will remember most, has to be the windowboxes.


In fact, one day I may go back and photograph a book entitled, "The Windowboxes of Charleston".

Would you buy a book like that?

Yeah, me neither.


They were all quite different, yet equally appealing.


Usually, I'm drawn to colorful flower displays, but for some reason, this was one of my very favorites. The creamy white brick, combined with the black shutters, different shades of green and chartreuse, (I am not normally a fan of chartreuse in the garden), just made for a striking combination.


Whew! Is anyone still with me?

We spent at least a part of three different days walking miles through the streets of Charleston.

We also spent at least a part of three different days trying out various and assorted ice cream flavors. My favorite by far was the Coconut from Kilwin's. It was amazing. Apparently, Kilwin's is a chain, but alas, not one is to be found in my neck of the woods.

So sad.

All I can say to wrap up this photo tour is, if architecture, history, gardens, churches, quaintness, grandness, and beautiful agedness is up your alley, then Charleston is the place for you.

Charleston.....I will be back!

southern living

For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by the South. Southern movies, Southern food, Southern towns, cities and countrysides. It has always appealed to me.

(Out of my deep respect for the South, and perhaps more importantly, my weakness in the area of capitalization rules, I am making the executive decision to capitalize South and Southern. After Googling the rules, I am further entrenched in my capitalization confusion, and decided to err on the side of over capitalization. If I stew over it any more, this post will never see the light of day. Please send capitalization help.)


While I've been to Mississippi to help out after Hurricane Katrina, and Fort Jackson, SC for my son's boot camp graduation, this was my first true Southern vacation.


It lived up to all my expectations.


Beautiful scenery.


Gorgeous weather just perfect for strolls down flower lined walkways.


Tree lined avenues.


Live oaks.


Spanish moss.


The South dressed in all its finery. What could be better.

In a week, I only saw one drawback.

One potential downside to Southern living.

Do you see it?

Or should I say do you see him? (Could be a her, but it seems like it should be a him.)


How about here?




That's right.

Now this may be a normal sight for you Southern girls, but to me, it's kind of a big deal. I'm used to being on the lookout for bears/moose/wolves/mountain lions when I'm in the woods, but these slithery ankle biters quickly topped my list of animals I don't want participating in my demise. Being eaten by a wild animal is one of my biggest fears. Just going on a hike in the Montana mountains is an act of courage and bravery for me. My hubby once pointed out bear grass on a hike, saying "Oh look, bear grass", and in the time between the word BEAR and the word grass, I managed to scream and jump and my heart rate sky-rocketed. We now have a list of words that are banned while hiking. He promises if he spies a real bear or other threat to my existence, he will get between us, be my protector, and if need be, sacrifice himself and take one for the team. That scenario doesn't really appeal to me a whole lot either. Besides, what if he's walking in front of me, and the wild beast sneaks up behind me? What then? Or, what if..... Needless to say, he hikes by himself a lot.

Wow, I really didn't mean to go down the wild animal carnage rabbit trail.

Back to the trip.

It was amazing, truly perfect. Many more photos to come, but in the mean time, I will be watching Fried Green Tomatoes, Steel Magnolias, and Gone With the Wind.

(Pictures taken in the Charleston, South Carolina area. For specifics, click the highlighted links throughout the post.)

Have a great weekend, y'all!

p.s. For those who asked questions on the last post, I answered in the comments there.

meadow-brook girls

A whole new facet of Meadowbrook life has been brought to my attention. Books. Early this month, a dear cottage friend sent me this little gem.


Have you ever? I squealed when I opened the package. Who would have thought!

I so very much wanted to read it before posting about it, but as I don't want the month to end without sharing, I have only had a chance to skim the story.

Written in 1913, and also known as "Fun and Frolic in the Summer Camp", the story follows the adventures of Grace, Harriet, Hazel and Margery, four friends from the New Hampshire town of Meadow-Brook.

With a little help from Google, I discovered that the Meadow-Brook girls also have adventures Afloat, Across Country, By the Sea and In the Hills. I also came across the Bobbsey Twins at Meadow Brook. A new collection has begun!

Thanks for thinking of me Jen! I could not possibly love the Girls more.

granny's back

I always have a project going. Quilting, scrapbooking, and many miscellaneous Christmas projects...quite a few have been completed, and many more are unfinished in the cupboard. I tried knitting once, but was never able to relax and find my groove. I ended up at the chiropractor to fix the consequences of stress knitting and that was the end of that. I also tried, for approximately five minutes, to learn to crochet a baby afghan. My sister makes the prettiest little blankets, and it looked like fun. I never took up my hook though.

Yesterday, with the arrival of my Garnet Hill catalog, a new obsession was immediately born. I am in love with this (photo from Garnet Hill website) granny square (although I suppose it's hexagon) afghan.


My love of all things granny started last year with this scarf.


It was ridiculously priced at $68.00, so I simply admired it in the store. Apparently, everyone else thought it was over priced as well, and a full year later, it was on a killer clearance so I snatched it up.

I have to admit, I never, ever, dreamed I would be into granny squares. Some things from the seventies should never be seen again, but with the right yarn and color combination, I feel sure granny is here to stay.

Any other granny lovers out there?

Will it be easy to learn?

Crochet on.

a shocking discovery

I have recently had the most amazing revelation, and I have to share. Are you ready? I have discovered....that boys...and girls....


are different!

I know!

Last night, my youngest had a few of his friends stop by our house for dinner before the first formal dance of the school year.

It was so fun to see them all dressed up. It was also hilarious to see the differences between the boys and the girls. The girls were very excited to have lots of pictures taken.

The boys were not. All the boys were interested in was dinner.

The girls squealed with delight at the pretty candlelit table. The boys were not particularly impressed with anything other than what was on their plate.

Girls, take note - you have seen your future.

My son and his date have been buddies for a very long time. Last summer they struck the classic "if no one better comes along, we'll go to the dance together" deal.

Here they are - each other's last resort.


I absolutely love the dress. But my very favorite are the shoes. Pink Floyd Chuck Taylors. Who woulda thought.


Oh, to be young again.

p.s. Flash photography is evil. But apparently, the kids had some lame commitment during the day...school or something, so we had to make due with what we had.