DUCS IN A ROW

I LIKE MY DUCS IN A ROW

(okay, for you motorcycle aficionados, this knobby tire is the front end of a BMW 650GS ).

I RIDE motorcycles. You may already know this about me, but I feel like I have to tell you. It's a passion. And then to top it off, you get to meet some really cool people! I have a BMW (Best Motorcycle in the World) and a Ducati. I met Bob and Jean two years ago at a Ducati Meet in the Middle Ride. A great couple who both ride Ducatis. Bob started a web page called Motorcycle-Vermont. Check out his site at: http://www.motorcycle-vermont.com/ My Red Monster 999 is just behind the Yellow Monster - I have a small Cafe Fairing.

The Parking lot at 12:00 noon

Photo by Bob LoCiero

On May 24th sixty riders gathered at Curtis' Bar-B-Q in Putney Vermont. This year's warm weather a refreshing change from the past two cold, wet and raining years. Check out the photos.

Check out the 9th Wonder of the world emblem near the T-Shirt.

Curtis' Bar-B-Que is a self-proclaimed Wonder of The World (the 9th) - What happen to the 8th Wonder? While it's hard to compete with the likes of Petra and The Colosseum, Curtis' does have something going on. Here he is hard at work on the grill.

Yes, he does operate his entire business from a retired school bus! Defiantly worth the drive. Exit 4, I-91, Vermont. 'Nuff Said!

Kyle had a play date, Snowball and Kyle!

i-woodz

i-woodz

Intelligent Wood Products.

My talented husband has been crafting some lovely cutting boards in his woodshop lately. These cutting boards are unique and each is a work of art. They are sold exclusively through MEDITRINA www.facebook.com/pages/chester-VT/meditrina-wine-and-cheese/340918306169 a great wine-cheese-beer shop in Chester, Vermont! I will walk you through the process. First the wood is dried (for years) then cut into board planks. He then cuts the planks and planes them down. Then he sands each cutting board by hand.

Here he is taking the the local Cherrywood and sands it down by hand.

Next, they get hand rubbed and oiled up with Mineral Oil (safe to ingest)!

Some more hand rubbing!

Here is a stack getting ready to go outside

Finally, they hang outside in the sunshine to dry and turn that beautiful cherry red color!

i-woodz

If you own and i-woodz board and want more information on the care, feel free to send me a post and I will send you all the information you need!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY & Quilt adventures in Wool!

Last Thursday was my birthday! My dad would say I'm celebrating the anniversary of my 29th Birthday! Someone reminded my mom - she always forgets, Seriously! My husband didn't forget! I got this awesome cake YUMMO! on a Happy Birthday Plate which came from none other than L.A. Burdick. http://www.burdickchocolate.com/ Go there I insist! Burdick is the best chocolate shop in New Hampshire and one of the top chocolate shops in New England. Trust me on this - I'm a Chocolate Expert!

YEAH!!

But enough about me - I started this project as a gift for my husbands' Birthday in February and just finished it. So I thought I would show it to you. It's a Wool Quilt. A really heavy quilt, because it gets really cold in Vermont. The wool blocks came from Johnson Woolen Mills. This mill, located in Johnson, Vermont has been in business since 1842. They have some very distinct plaids, and they make the warmest wool. I love in my warm wool pants from Johnson. The farmers used to bring their wool to the mill to have it woven into cloth. Here's their link: http://www.johnsonwoolenmills.com/. So I've taken the cloth and cut it into 6.5" X 6.5" blocks. I've stitched all the blocks together into rows, then each row stitched to each row. I backed the quilt with a very warm heavy weight and fuzzy flannel (gray).Here you are looking at all the quilt blocks, the two pieces of wool edging (black and Red) then the white is quilt batting and the gray is the flannel backing so you don't get itchy from the wool. The batting in between adds some extra weight to the fabric. (This is the kind of quilt that weighs 10lbs). So you can cuddle under it and keep nice and warm on a cold snowy night! So I've put all the blocks together, stiched at 5/8" seam. Then for the edging took made 1 1/4" for the edges (sewn on the bias as needed). I added both red and black for impact. I like the corners mitered (shown here). When you put a quilt together, you use ALOT of safety pins.


Did I mention when you put a quilt together you use alot of safety pins? You need alot more, when you quilt with Wool rather than normal cotton, because the quilt is so heavy all the layers try to move all over!

After I put all the rows together, I stitched each block in the ditch through all the layers on each block. I also stitched the ditch around the outer edges of the quilt to keep it in place.

Just for affect, I used some quilt ties (looks more authentic)!

So it's a few month late, but here is the finished product! Here's something to keep my honey warm in the winter! I love you Dan- Happy belated Birthday!

If this whole project seems too over-whelming, feel free to call Johnson Woolen Mills. They had some for sale for a while. I think they sell them in limited editions!

THE IRISH SUPERGROUP

The Irish Supergroup!! NO, not U2 - The other one "The Saw Doctors". Can't believe there is more than one Irish Supergroup?? Well they crossed the pond to bless us with their presence again this past week. I was lucky enough to win just one ticket. The lads seemed grateful for the burst of warm weather that graced Boston this past weekend. The show was at The House of Blues on Landsdowne. It was a great fun. The HOB accommodated the sold out crowd in Bean-Town proclaiming it's Irish Pride! Warming up the crowd for the lads was Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of dreams. The Docs came out and Leo immediately commented on "the ruckus here" with a chuckle. All songs played with enthusiasm and encored with seven additional songs! Check out the band if you aren't familiar http://www.sawdoctors.com/. As usual, they put on a superb show and my feet hurt a little from dancing all night!

We were right up front (as usual). The Docs have been in the studio cutting new tracks. Sure to be hits, we were lucky enough to hear "Taking the Train" and "Be yourself". Of course we were blessed with the standby crowd pleasers "N17", "Green and Red of Mayo" (up Mayo!), "Never Mind the Strangers" and "Clare Island".

This is Anto jamming on the Sax like nobody's business!

The N17 Stickers are still on Sale - $2.00 each or three for $5.00- Shoot me an email or leave a comment and I will get them out to you.

WE ARE NOT TOTAL SLACKERS - My Sister, Veronica and I arose early the very next morning, still half-deaf from standing too close to the speakers the night before, and ran a 5K in Plymouth. We made a good showing and climbed the big hill appropriately named "the jaw dropper". A nice 250' steep incline so high we could see PTown from the crest. Ahhh, but where there's an uphill climb, there is a down hill climb. NICE JOB to everyone who ran!

US AT THE FINISH LINE!! Still Smiling so it can't be all that bad!

For the Docs Fans I will see you all in August at the next show! Slan go foill!

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME: NATstown

I travel for my job. Although it's always work and it is never glamorous, some trips are better than others. This is one of those trips. Recently, I had a show on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. I love getting to travel into warm weather when it's still spitting snow in Vermont! And it is Springtime in Washington!

I love the architecture of this City! - The Capitol Building!

Here's the Smithsonian - American Art Museum Building

Also, I hate traveling alone, but it is easier when running from appointment to appointment. This trip I was very lucky to travel with another sales rep who sells hand blown glass made here in my little village!! Simon Pearce http://www.simonpearce.com/ ! You just cannot believe how lovely these products are ! Plus Karen is great fun.

I arrived very late on Wednesday night into DC and was disappointed that my dinner date had cancelled just before I arrived. BUT...... GOOD NEWS came when my friends called to say they were going to catch at Washington Nationals Ball Park! 70+ degrees, sitting outside and eating a hot dog (Hot Dawg!) Nats vs. Atlanta - Atlanta won this game after it went to 10 innings and was tied most of the night! YAHOO! Take me out to the ball game!

Here's the Gang - a bunch of Vermonters enjoying warm weather!

Tim, Joanne, Ronda (BFF), CJ and Bernadette!

I arrived late due to an optical error on the Metro (Okay, I took the yellow line instead of the green line)!

Great trip, great work accomplished and thanks for the memories!

I am sorry that I returned home late on Friday night - so late that I blew off the 6 mile up hill race (pouring rain, close to freezing weather) I signed up for - Sorry Charlie (that is the race coordinator's name) Maybe Next Year!

What's Growing On?

For those flatlanders (Vermont speak for out-of-staters) out there - today is Vermont's Green-up day (http://www.greenupvermont.org/). The state supplies us with trash bags and all the communities rally to pick up random trash that is revealed after the massive spring melt-off.

Today was a great day for Green-up day. It was warm and sunny and probably close to 70! I love this weather, it reveals all the glorious flowers growing in my yard - let's take a look together............

At left are these beautiful woodland flowers. They like shade and do not like to be transplanted. I have seen them in white and purple. I have no idea what they are, but I love them!

At right are sunny happy daffodils! Reliable, and the deer don't bother them at all (which I appreciate). We had snow earlier this week which did not help my herb garden - still surviving are the dill, cilantro, parsley and chive plants. The basil said "I quit".

I also have tons of Viola growing in large patches all over the front lawn which prevents mowing (YEAH) for a week or so.

And last but certainly not least, Forget me not......................