i love when i find love in unexpected places. i was recently at my mom’s house and i spotted this in the courtyard. i wondered how long it had been there, as i visit my mom every few months and had never seen it before. maybe your heart just has to be open to see such unexpected love around you ? whatever the case, it was a lovely find.
i am a lover of all things seafood, and mussels are one of the fastest and easiest meals to prepare. i ate a LOT of them in france this summer and had many “guess how many mussels in the bowl” contests on my facebook page. people were always WAY off . . . sometimes by 100 (THIS was a good one) ! i agree that a bowl of mussels can be very deceiving to the naked eye. here is a bowl of mussels that i made in vermont. can you guess how many were there ?
(answer = 53)
every time i go to boston, i stop by THE SOCIETY OF ARTS AND CRAFTS for some eye candy. i love this gallery. there is always a great exhibition in progress and the selection of jewelry is just EXQUISITE. i recently saw this show TWELVE ARTISTS, TWELVE OBJECTS and was very impressed by the works and the way it was curated. if you are in boston, i highly recommend a visit.
i love driving through new england. there is no shortage of cute road side markets and antique stores. we have one rule: whoever is driving gets to pull over wherever they want. needless to say, i do a lot of the driving !
august 2012
mount holly, vermont
i’m trying out acrylics again, and though it’s been a slow and rough start, i am taking to it a tad more than i first did in june. unlike watercolor, the fact that you can keep working on top of the painting over and over and over again is a definite plus. i also like that it feels more permanent in the end. i think that acrylic and i are actually going to be friends after all !
lake ninevah (in vermont) is the PERFECT place to kayak. the fabulous ninevah foundation conserves more than 3,000 acres around the lake, preserving the land and wildlife habitat. you can see loons, bears, moose, eagles, herons, and a lot of other wildlife. i’ve been in the lake almost every day this month swimming, kayaking, paddle boarding and canoeing. it really is a slice of heaven here.
i was so excited to find these beautiful green rocks on the beaches in provincetown. but i could only see and collect them when the tide was way WAY out (like 100 feet). i had big plans for these green beauties.
but to my dismay, once i washed them and really scrubbed them down, i realized that this bright luminous shade of green was due to algae, from being under water all of the time. what a HUGE difference this made. but once i got over my initial shock, i fell in love with them all over again.
august 15, 2012
plymouth, vermont
we went to the town where calvin coolidge lived called PLYMOUTH. it’s the sweetest and tiniest town you’ll ever see. every summer we go there (it’s 15 minutes from our house) to visit the plymouth cheese factory and to stock up on cheese. this is the second oldest cheesemaking operation in the united states and it was started by calvin coolidge’s father in 1890. you can actually watch them make the cheese right there in the factory. and next door to that is the plymouth general store where i bought this amazing fudge.
june 2012
villefranche, france
there was a beautiful little pond in the jardins de rothschild which was filled with koi. this was one of the most beautiful + stunning gardens i have ever seen. i can’t wait to go back, armed with my sketchbook and a whole lot of time.
one thing i love about being in vermont is the ability to really nest. we sometimes don’t go into town for a week at a time ! and almost all of our meals are home cooked. such a contrast from our real world, where we’re often working so late that there is no choice but to eat dinner out. it’s OH so little house on the prairie here. i love it.
we made it to vermont in time for a little cheese. this is one of my favorite times & places of the year: summer in vermont. we are very lucky to be able to live right on a beautiful lake for the month. vermont is the epitome of getting back to nature and staying far away from city life. i take my shoes off and just breathe in the beauty.
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