napkin rings and a mayonnaise bowl

Grandma has officially moved into an assisted living facility near my brother, sister-in-law, and parents.  She's not happy about it this week, but last week she was doing okay so the hope is that it is just adjustment jitters.  Much like how I got a little homesick my first week at college, living in a small corner of a room shared with three (turned out to be wonderful) girls.  Assisted living is like college in some ways - meals are designated at set times like a college cafeteria, and you have "classes" you should attend (but don't have to) in the form of planned social functions.  But I know this is a huge transition for a 90-year-old woman with a very independent spirit.  So keep your fingers crossed for Grandma that she settles in and feels at home very soon.

Preparing for the move, the beau and I helped my parents pack up and clean out a bunch of stuff from Grandma's house.  These "P" napkin rings (my new married initial) came home with me.  She particularly wanted me to have her wedding crystal, and so I packed it carefully and have already been trolling eBay and Replacements for pieces to fill in the set (just bought a mayonnaise bowl off eBay since Grandma had the stand and ladle, but not the bowl anymore).  I've also added some pieces of crystal to the wedding registry, although I know getting fancy crystal glasses for our wedding isn't the most practical thing to do.

P.S.  Didn't my grandmother get married in a more refined time?  I mean, a mayonnaise bowl, ladle, and stand was part of her crystal service.  Really?!

winter weekend

I've just started reading a book about mushrooms and am not ashamed to admit it.  I promise not to bore you with factoids about mushrooms and mushroom hunting and mushroom identification, but let me say that fungi is pretty interesting.  And prolific.  And I'll leave it at that.

With a now-functioning oven (a 15-minute repair by a trained professional), I celebrated by baking jelly donut cupcakes from Veganomicon.  Kudos to any vegan recipe that recommends you actually bypass the healthy, organic version of raspberry jam in favor of the sugar-laden, artificially-flavored kind.  Usually vegan recipes can get a bit crunchy-granola (even for me), so I'm liking Isa and her recipes more and more.

We had a bit of thunder snow on Saturday night, but it let up in time for us to attend an early Valentine's house tour of early-20th century homes in Richmond.  Talk about some historic house eye candy!  The ticket also included appetizers from local restaurants at each house and a wine tasting from the offerings of Cooper Vineyards in Louisa, Virginia.  Although I couldn't eat most of the offerings, I did like my wine.  We even stopped by one of the featured restaurants for dinner afterwards (The Empress), where I enjoyed a vegetarian version of a Caesar salad with grilled romaine and a vegan seitan dish with greens (don't worry - the beau balanced out the scales of meat-eating).

Did everyone enjoy their winter weekends?

bluebird

This weekend was a fun one.  Capped with a lovely dinner and movie with one of my girlfriends.  The newest version of Jane Eyre.  We were chilled by the English gloom of the film, but such a beautiful (although bittersweet) story and period costume/set eye-candy to boot.  Sigh.

Also attended the Sustainable Family Dinner Table event in Beaverdam, Virginia on Saturday - great talks including one by Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms and workshops like one run by  Southern Seed Exposure on seed saving.  I purchased some seed packets - basil, beets, and sugarsnaps - that I plan on direct-sowing as soon as I can get the garden ready.

I'm home with the sniffles today.  Nothing major, but enough that I want to keep my germs from my coworkers.  I was going to do some work remotely, but the server won't connect on my work laptop and so I am resigned to actually taking a sick day.  The backyard neighbor (Steve) just started up the lawnmower and the windows are wide open with a cool breeze blowing in the scent of fresh-cut grass.  One of my favorite smells.  The weather reports call for low 80s today and so I am thinking I may be sick and sniffly as I weed the veggie garden and ready it for planting.

This little bluebird needlework was a flea market find a while back.  I picked it up for $4 already framed and it definitely makes me happy - such a cute little bird sitting on branches of berry/flower clusters.  It just reeks of spring.  And with the birds singing outside the window, it seemed like an appropriate image to share today.

Snow, soup, and Marmion

My recent trip to New York seems like a semi-distant memory, fading slowly away like my Wicked manicure. A few years ago I spent almost two weeks working at my museum's loan exhibit at the Winter Antiques Show, so returning to the show also meant I could revisit at least one of my favorite foodie haunts. With limited time, I sadly skipped Alice's Tea Cup and instead ran to Hale and Hearty for a steamy bowl of curried cauliflower and chickpea soup. Perfect for warming me after a trek in the snow.

The last evening in the city caught me roaming the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art into the night, running through a snowstorm from the subway to lose myself in the period rooms for hours. Aside from playing with the iPad exhibit labeling, I also stood quietly for a few minutes, soaking in the painted paneling of the Marmion parlor from King George County, Virginia (just down the road from Fredericksburg). Paneled circa 1756 and painted circa 1770-1780, the room comes alive with urns and swags of flowers that skip across doorways and frame beautiful pastoral scenes. Sigh.

And then back on the train for the trip home. Swathed in my bamboo wrap, watching the snow-covered world go by, and losing myself in the gardens of Versailles.

tidbits

When my grandmother moved from her house into a condo a few years ago, she began to give away tidbits of family goodies to her children and grandchildren. Now, my family doesn't have 'heirlooms' per se, but we do have some things that are sentimental and quirky. My brother got the frosted glass martini set (although one glass was broken due to my grandmother's very careful packing of it in paper towels) and I got things like a carnival glass vase and old ornaments. I think they may have been my great-grandmother's (my mother can confirm?), but they are all beat up and I'm surprised they passed the editing of my grandmother, who either throws away or spray paints anything with a little bit of age.

I don't trust them on the tree, but instead have them piled in a bowl on the coffee table (just next to the pine cone elf). I love the colors - pinks and teals and mustard yellows. I especially like the ones with little frosted sleigh-riding scenes.