Red Barn Antiques Grand Re-Opening

I had gone down to Wells Memorial Library in Upper Jay today to do a little volunteer work. I usually scan old slides from the Archives room, but today the computer was "Out of Order" and my favorite librarian, Karen, was out as well.

Having already set a side a few hours to volunteer, I decided to poke my head in at Red Barn Antiques to see if Julie, the proprietor, needed any help getting ready for the Grand Re-Opening this Saturday. This will be their one year anniversary at the red barn in Upper Jay and to celebrate there will be a community pot luck and music to celebrate.

Julie put me to work right away carrying items to the new upstairs section and I was thrilled. As I windexed a case, I couldn't stop looking around. My eyes darted everywhere checking out all the amazing antiques.

I called my husband to tell him about my change of volunteer venues and told him about the danger involved with me working in an antique store/barn. I was as the expression goes, "like a kid in a candy store."

Julie, an expert on early plastics, educated me on bakelite and celluloid as we worked and I was thrilled to learn that someone as nerdy as I am when it comes to antiques lives just a few miles away. I restrained myself from buying today, but did not leave empty handed. Julie surprised me with some vintage milk glass spice jars as a thank you!

Come on down to The Red Barn Antiques & Artisan Gallery Grand Re-Opening Celebration on Saturday, May 22 at 5:30 PM. There will be a free music concert by the Pelletier Family and also, Larry Stone & Julie Robards (my new BFF). Bring some food to share at the Pot Luck and hang out with some pretty darn cool people in the community and a barn full of antiques. Does it get any better than that?

Gargoyle Celebration

The Gargoyles were holding balloons last weekend and I am not really sure why.

Was it a Birthday party?

Maybe the Gargoyles had an Anniversary or perhaps they were throwing a prom party?

Whatever the reason for the balloons, Happy Celebration!

Fresh Cut Flowers

After spending months in the cold garage, the garden scissors came out of hibernation and made their first cuts of the season.

Forget-Me-Nots

Lilacs

It might be cliche, but I always find that fresh flowers brought in from the yard makes our home brighter and brings a smile to my face. What do you do to bring joy into your own space?

Wake Up Call Cafe

I've written before of my love of chocolate and mint. This time, I fell head over heels for my favorite duet in the form of tea and it can be found at the Wake Up Call Cafe in Keene. If tea is not your thing, you can get your "wake up" with their espresso drinks and coffee.

For months, Drew had been stopping in before work for the Chocolate Mint Truffle tea made by Mighty Leaf and I had been dying to try it. I'm not much of a coffee drinker and there are times when I can't decide between hot chocolate and tea. I found this tea to be the perfect solution to my beverage dilemma. The mint wasn't too powerful and the chocolate flavor was just mellow enough that it didn't take over. Once again, a perfect marriage of two flavors.

The owner allowed me to take a tea bag home so I cold inspect it further outside of a mug. The packaging describes the tea as, "handcrafted silken pouches are packed with artisan blends of whole tea leaves, fruits, herbs, spices and flavors too big for ordinary tea bags."

My husband thought that the tea bag resembled "ladies underpants, silky and ruffly." Say what?! On a more serious note he mentioned that you can usually get two drinks out of one tea bag.

So, for a nice treat head on down to Keene and grab yourself a tasty beverage at Wake Up Call Cafe.

Zamboni Monday

For years I nagged the rink guys for a ride on the Zamboni. My day finally came this morning and it was way better than a ride, I drove it! Of course, I had no real camera to capture my dream coming true, but here are a couple camera phone pictures the mechanic took of me.

Here I am backing the Zamboni into the USA rink!

Then, I got to cut the ice and drive around real sloooooowwwwwww.

How did your Monday go?

Turkey Vulture Entertainment

A few weeks ago, we had an impromptu dinner with a couple friends. It was that night when we were in the kitchen that we noticed the large birds circling over our house and landing in the trees across the street. It was quite the show with the birds flying in one by one to roost for the night. It was definitely kind of spooky, but so cool! Without binoculars it was hard for us to figure out exactly what kind of bird it was, but occasionally they would fly towards us and we could see a flash of red. They had to be turkey vultures!

Every night since, the vultures gracefully fly in and settle in the trees for the night. I've read that they generally eat dead animal carcasses and serve an important role in the ecosystem because by eliminating the carrion, they prevent infection and disease. That's all fine and dandy, but it makes me wonder if the trees directly across from our house have an abundance of dead animal flesh on the pine needles below, definitely not a happy thought. Of course, my imagination always gets the best of me and the vultures probably just think the pine trees provide a nice place to sleep for the night after they are done foraging.

Last night, Drew finally dug out the binoculars and our friend Lori came over just in time for the aviary show.

If you are interested in watching our nightly turkey vulture entertainment with us, stop by between 6 and 7 pm. Oh, and beer and wine is always welcome.

Breakfast at Chair 6

My pre-school playmate and prom date came for a brief overnight visit. He arrived late at night and would be leaving first thing in the morning, but not until we had a proper breakfast and shared some laughs. So, I brought him to Chair 6 in Lake Placid.

When we arrived, the cook was also working as the server. We contemplated ordering the same thing because it would make his morning a little easier, but when we saw that the other tables food was coming out quick and everything looked so good, we changed our minds.

The server/chef arrived without a pen and paper and when Phil ordered the "BIG 6" the server said, "I'm good, but not that good." So, he returned with a pen and jotted down the complicated BIG 6 order which included choice of pancake (sweet potato), soft taco (sausage and cheddar), one egg (over easy), home fries, choice of bread (everything bagel), and breakfast meat (bacon). I had to write it down also because that's a whole lot of food for one breakfast meal.

I found Phil to be savvy about his meal. He took the egg and bacon and made a bagel sandwich out of it, ate his pancake, and took the soft taco to go.

I had the "Bunny Hill" and ordered it as a sweet potato pancake, over easy egg, and sourdough toast. I love their sweet potato pancakes, especially when they are a little crispy around the edges and the real Adirondack Maple syrup soaks right in. Delicious!

When we finished I asked Phil how he would describe his meal and he simply replied, "Good, home cooking." Honestly, I wouldn't have cared how breakfast turned out, it was the company that mattered.

Seeing Phil is a rare occasion, but when I do, I realize just how lucky I am to have a friend that can still make me laugh after all these years.

My Pal Phil