A Little Getaway - Part 2

My husband and I recently took a short trip to Pennsylvania. You can read about the beginning here.

First up this morning was a visit to the Boals Mansion in Boalsburg, PA. Boals Mansion began as a farmhouse over 200 years ago and expanded into the mansion that is there today. It has been continually owned and lived in by the same family for over 8 generations. We have visited many old houses and museums but this one was different than any we had seen because it had so many original furnishings and items. According to the guide, they are still discovering unopened trunks and boxes in the basement or attic. I guess that's what happens when the house stays in the family generation after generation - it never has to get cleaned out.  

Besides the house, the grounds had a centuries-old chapel from Spain that had been dismantled and rebuilt on the grounds. One of the Boals' wives inherited a castle the chapel was attached to and she had it brought to PA. She also happened to be a descendent of Christopher Columbus and had some things belonging to him and his son.  It was only a few years ago that they found many letters and documents from the 1300 and 1400s among the things brought from Spain. Unfortunately, the house and chapel were pretty dark, so I didn't get many pictures (at least ones that weren't blurry.) 

The main house

On display in various rooms, were dresses found recently
 in the basement in seven unopened trunks. 

The original door to the chapel. It was made
from walnut with mahogany insets.

They occasionally still hold masses in the chapel today.

Almost as interesting as the mansion was this giant fungus we found on the lawn.
 Notice the quarter on top of it for scale.

After our very interesting morning, we headed north to Bald Eagle State Park for a little hiking. Bald Eagle Park is located on a lake and has multiple water activities such as boating and swimming. However, the season was over for those, so we had the park almost to ourselves. We hiked along the Butterfly trail and actually saw three butterflies on the few flowers that were still blooming here and there. That's a clue that more flower pictures are coming.

It was the day for interesting fungi.

We saw lots of black walnuts everywhere. This picture is in honor of the
Black Walnut Festival held in my hometown every October.

After a good hike at the park, we headed back to State College. We didn't make it in time to watch marching band practice again, so we consoled ourselves with ice cream at Berkey's Creamery on campus. The ice cream was made with milk from cows raised at the school. We topped off our ice cream for dinner meal later with leftovers from lunch. 

A good day overall, a very good day. 

Next time, I'll tell you about the sites we saw along our way home.

A Little Getaway, Part 1

This seems to be the year for Ward and me to take small trips. This time we went north to central Pennsylvania to the area around State College upon the recommendation from a friend.

The first day started out bumpy with a forgotten wallet and heavy traffic from a big accident. Even with these annoyances, the 3 1/2 hour drive went well. After checking into the hotel, we found our first destination - The Penn State Arboretum. You know me, I love gardens and this one did not disappoint. It was beautiful with winding paths throughout. And while exploring the arboretum, we heard something that excites me almost as much as gardens--the drum cadence of a marching band. We followed the sound and ended up watching marching band practice for a while. Even with the starts and stops, it was still a fun thing to view. After that, we explored a nearby town where we had dinner. I'll tell you more about the town on another day when we had a return visit.

I had battery problems, so I only got pictures at the arboretum, but I got plenty of those. Below are a few, she says using the word "few" very loosely. 

The thing I noticed the most about the landscaping was all of the plantings were layered. I knew the concept but had never seen it so beautifully executed in so many ways.

Datura metel

The gardens emphasized the importance of bees.
This bee house was one of many bee habitats we saw.

We were lucky to hear this impromptu lecture about how a beehive works. The beekeeper, who was visiting with his mother-in-law, was quite knowledgeable. 

This was the only rose still blooming in the fragrance garden.

This was a new-to-me black-eyed Susan. 

Also, a different kind of sunflower that I had not seen before.

This garden telescope was part of the Children's Garden, perhaps, my favorite part of the arboretum.

Model of coral in children's area.

Simulated cave environment in children's area.

Next time, I'll tell you about day two when we went indoors to explore local history.

Thankful Monday, October 11, 2021

 I am thankful for autumn color. 

While many of our summer flowers are done, like these coneflowers, others are still blooming. BTW, these coneflowers are waiting for visits from goldfinches who love their seeds.

The zinnias, like this red one, reseed themselves every year and provide color for months.

As do these pink ones. If you look carefully, you will also see a wild, volunteer tomato plant that spread far and wide including reaching out of the top of the trees behind it.

The Mexican sunflower is still pretty in orange blooms.

And these yellow cosmos have been blooming for months.

These volunteer marigolds are getting leggy, but still providing brilliant blooms.

This pink cosmos was supposed to bloom during the summer but just produced its first flower a couple of days ago. Better late than never. :)

These yellow mums produce prolific blooms every fall.

These purple ones survived a planting from last fall. Mums, these days, usually don't come back, but I plant them anyway and sometimes I get lucky. (You may notice more of the tomato plant I mentioned earlier.)

These mums were a nice surprise, also. I got them last fall from Miss Landers.

We planted these anemones in the spring. We haven't had these before and I really like them.

We plant begonias every year along the front sidewalk. This year they were pink, but these volunteers came up in from of them. The last time we planted red ones was three years ago.

The only thing I planted in pots were pansies, a favorite for fall and spring.

Soon we will get our fall color from the trees, but for now, the flowers are doing their part very well. And for that, I am thankful and for the fact that we haven't had a frost yet, which has allowed this to happen.

Ward and I are off again for a couple of days' getaway. So, until next time...

Tuesday 4 - Kitchens

 This week's Tuesday 4 is asking about kitchens. Join me if you like.

1.  They say the kitchen is the heart of the home...tell us about YOUR kitchen. What is your favorite part of your kitchen? 

Our kitchen is a fairly typical suburban kitchen. It has the original 30-year-old oak cabinets, Formica countertops, and vinyl floor. It also has the original built-in microwave from 1989. The microwave still works but is very weak, so we have a countertop model that we use. The rest of the appliances are about 15+ years old. We turned our dining room into an office, so this is also where we eat.

Our 31-year-old microwave.

I'm not in love with any of it, but I'd say my favorite part is the window over the sink. We have positioned bird feeders right outside of it, so there's usually a good show being put on by the birds. I am also happy with the dishwasher because it gets things much cleaner than our old one did. I don't know if it's the machine or the water difference, but it's a pleasure to unload clean dishes instead of ones that have to be rinsed or rewashed.

That doesn't present a very warm, cozy feeling that is often associated with kitchens, does it? We are not food-centric here either with cooking or eating so that might be part of the reason.

 2.  If money were no object, what would be your "dream kitchen"? That's a hard one because my mind needs parameters to imagine something and money is always an object. So I'm not sure what my dream kitchen is but I can tell you what we are going to do when we redo our kitchen in the near future. (BTW, the near future is a relative term because we started the process last January and are still waiting for construction to begin. Supply chain problems and a boom in construction have been the major reasons for this.)

Unlike what you see on HGTV, we are going to keep the same basic layout and we are not adding an island. However, we are closing off one door and widening another to help the general flow. We are also taking down the cabinets over the peninsula because they totally block the view of our table. Presently when working at the counter, it is difficult to talk to anyone sitting at the table is. I am also looking forward to full extension drawers because it's difficult to see what's in the back of any of the drawers we currently have. We're getting better lights and a more durable countertop. In case you haven't noticed, we are very much driven by function. Luckily we have someone who is helping make sure that it looks decent, too. :) 

I guess my dream kitchen would have a wall oven and microwave built-in, but in the space we have, that's not going to work.  

tvline.com

3.  Tell us about a favorite memory from your kitchen, or from a kitchen in your past, perhaps your mother's kitchen or your grandma's kitchen? So many memories of the kitchen I grew up with, but I'll share just one. We usually had supper around 5 pm when my father got home from work. Afterward, my parents would retire to the living room to watch the evening news while my sisters and I did the dishes. While we wouldn't have admitted it at the time, we enjoyed our time together. We spent much of the time singing songs occasionally with simple harmonies. I regularly sing many of these songs today. There was also a fair amount of bugging my oldest sister. I knew just what would drive her crazy like singing MaryAnn's version of "I Want To Be Loved by You" from Gilligan's Island. Also, one of my favorite ways to goof off, while supposedly was drying dishes, was to soak the labels off of cans, tear them into pieces and put them together like a jigsaw puzzle on the front of the cabinets. When they were wet, they stuck well. When you're young, you will do anything to avoid work not always thinking through that it's still going to be there after you're done playing. 

While good, these beans were
 not as good as Dee's.

4.  If you could invite anyone in the world (either past or present) to come to visit with you in your kitchen, who would it be, and why? Once again, this is a question that needs parameters. Of course, I would love to sit down again with long-gone relatives(my mother and grandmothers come first to mind) or many of the world's movers and shakers from the past. My brain is about to explode with the possibilities.

But being the ever practical one, I'd say that I'd like Dee to visit my kitchen. She worked for a while helping my mother after finishing her regular job as a cook. She is a wonderful cook especially with the country cooking that I grew up with. First up would be her ham salad for lunch and then chicken and dumplings for supper with beans simmering for tomorrow.  

That's it for today's Tuesday 4, so until next time...

Thankful Sunday, October 3, 2021

 I woke up with my mind busy with thankful thoughts so I thought I would share a few of them.

1. I am thankful for later sunrises. While the shorter days of fall can have drawbacks, I am thankful that it no longer gets light at 5-5:30 in the morning. No matter how long I've been in bed when it starts getting light, my body says that it's time to wake up. Now I have almost another hour more of darkness in the morning than I did during the summer. And the added bonus is that I see more sunrises. 

2. I am thankful for a newly painted basement window. We had all of the windows replaced in the house a couple of years ago - that is all except the basement windows. Recently we noticed the paint peeling on the outside of one of them. With good weather and organized supplies, we were able to take care of that window yesterday afternoon. It's a nice feeling to complete a job the same day you start it.

3. I am thankful for the wonderful autumn weather. For a week or more recently we have been having lows in the 50's and highs in the 70's. Just about perfect.  I am thankful to live in a four-season climate which helps me appreciate all of the variability of our weather.

4. I am thankful for healthy turnip plants. At the end of August, I planted some turnip seeds. They all came up and looked healthy. When I thinned them, I replanted the thinned plants to see if they would survive the transplanting. It was not looking good for a while as all of the leaves totally died. However, new growth has come and the patch is twice as big as it started out. 

5. I am thankful that my 88-year-old father-in-law can live independently. While he appreciates help with several things, he is still able to manage all aspects of his life. What a blessing for everyone. And I am thankful that Ward and I get to spend today with him. 

So it's time to go. 

Until next time...