New York Surprise!

The New Yankee Stadium

Before the crowds filled it all in!A wee bit o' Great Britain in Yankee Stadium!

Two weeks ago, Elizabeth surprised me with a ticket to go to New York City to see her graduate last week.
Commencement from New York University, held in Yankee Stadium, in front of thousands of people, with Hillary Clinton speaking, was something I did not want to miss!
So naturally, I was in a state as I rushed about preparing for the trip on one day's notice!


I am not a fan of flying. It is a necessary evil, especially for my family and me, because to see each other, someone must board a plane.
But in this instance, I didn't have much time to dwell on it and get all sorts of worried about it, so I was off in a blink of an eye and headed to New York.

Elizabeth earned her Bachelors' Degree two years ago, so I was not unfamiliar with such ceremonies. But this graduation was a very special one. Elizabeth has not had an easy time of it, earning this degree from the renowned New York University.

To begin with, it was against all odds that she made the short list for acceptance to the university in the first place. Her grades were above average, but she had no ready cash to pay the tuition costs and university fees, and the competition to gain acceptance is fierce.
But she was among a selected few to be invited to her Masters' Degree program, in American Politics, two years ago.
We were excited and thrilled for her when she made it, not realising what the next years were to bring.

As she prepared to leave Buffalo for the big city of New York, she was leaving family, friends, and even her pets behind. And she knew no one in New York City.

Upon arrival she discovered that the university had no available housing, so she was literally homeless.
While she struggled to find a place to live and a job to support herself, she had adjustments in virtually everything in her life, all while beginning her studies and learning to find her way around New York.
Eventually she found a home with a fellow student, and remained there for a bit, but things weren't working out.

She had a car and discovered just how difficult it is to live in New York and own a car, with parking problems, tolls for roads and bridges, etc.
She was working a full time management job at a large supermarket in New Jersey, Wegmans, all while commuting to school in New York, and living in Brooklyn.

Added to her burdens was envy. She was envious of the other students she met at NYU who were enjoying their studies stress-free. They were from privileged backgrounds and mom and dad were paying for them to attend. They had social lives and didn't work to support themselves. It was difficult for her not to be able to join in and have fun at university. For her, school was all work and no play. The contrast between her life and the lives of her peers was another factor in the weakening of her spirit. She wanted their life - if only for a week to take some pressure off of her.

Things were all falling apart and she wanted to quit and return to Buffalo. Elizabeth would call me in tears and wanting nothing but to go 'home'.
Many times it was compassion and a listening ear and a kind word to get her through it.
But sometimes it required 'tough love' and some harsh reminders of what life would be if she gave up and returned to Buffalo.

She would owe thousands of dollars in student loans with no way to pay it back and no degree to show for her money and time spent. Something had to give.
She needed a helping hand - a friend - and someone who believed in her, other than her mom.
And she found him: Joe.

Joe offered compassion, tenderness, his family, friends, and his home to Elizabeth.
His generosity enabled her to remain in New York without rent; just sharing some household expenses. She switched jobs to avoid the cost of commuting, and found a job with her former employer in political advocacy, that she could work from home.
She gave up her costly car and paid off all of her bills.
Elizabeth spoke with her college advisor and cut down the hours of classes she took each semester. She knew it would extend the time it would take to complete her degree program, but it would mean she would have less stress and she would be able to complete the program.

So the New York surprise was really no surprise at all: Elizabeth is a strong, talented, intelligent, and beautiful young woman who has made it through adversity and come out of it the better for it. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger.

Although battle scars may be in place, she can be proud that she remained constant and completed her program. Her life is forever changed for the better. And she has earned every bit of that degree while securing a better position as her journey through life begins.


She has found a true partner who has shared some of her life, has supported her and loved her, and who will soon become her husband. We love him and welcome him into our little family. And we thank him for helping our daughter during a time she needed a friend and someone to love and support her. Now if only we could get him to be a Buffalo Sabres fan . . .

Congratulations to our beautiful girl!
We couldn't be more proud of you.

xxx

Mom, Jim, Jon and Katie

Handmade in Malvern: The Emerald Grove

Malvern is a gorgeous little town in the Malvern Hills. We often visit there to go to the antique market and car boot sale held at the Three Counties Showground.

One day, when checking my conversations in my Etsy account, there appeared an invitation to become part of a new consignment shop opening in Malvern, called, The Emerald Grove.
The idea behind the shop is to feature handmade items from the UK to support local artists and promote a greener footprint.
I was so excited and honoured, to be asked to be part of this venture!

So Friday, Jim and I made the drive from Birmingham to Malvern to deliver the first of my, Wee Lucky Penny Books, to one of the partners in the shop, Anne.
We got to meet the lovely Anne, had a lovely conversation, got to mooch around the shop to have a look at all of the lovely things, and a short trek about town, too.
All-in-all, a very fine day, indeed!

Anne and her co-founder, Julie have done a fantastic job working on the interior and exterior of their lovely building, as well as all kinds of hours spent there setting it all up, and establishing an organizational system of records and contracts, website initiatives, and on-line accounts.
The interior of the shop spans several levels - (I have pictured only part of the first level below) and is warm with old wooden floors and filled with colour from all of the delightful handmade goods!
If you are in the area, please stop in for a chat and a look at all of the fabulous handmade articles in the store. You won't be disappointed!

I leave you with some images of the shop, the goods, and the proprietor.

xxx

MaggieMy wee books are packed and ready for the journey to The Emerald Grove!

Approaching the shop on Church Street


The front of the shop

Left front windowRight front window

True Love

I'm up really late again tonight, and I wanted to say so much about this book . . . but I guess it really doesn't need that much said about it. It is quite simple really.
Do you believe in love?
Do you believe there can be a lasting, eternal love for one other person here on earth?
Nonbelievers - just read, The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks.
I believe it is probably my favourite book and it is truly the most loving of all love stories.
If you've seen the movie, it is good, but is bereft of the beauty of the words and the full experience of the story.
Get it, read it, love it.

xxx

From the mouths of babes . . .

Have you seen the movie, Nanny McPhee?
The grandchildren were visiting today, and Katie, Libby, and Ethan settled in to watch it.
If you aren't familiar with the movie, the father in the story has a job as the town mortician.

In one scene, his eldest son visits him at work.
The scene is shot low, so that you see only the tagged toe of the corpse with the dad behind them at the head of the body.
So the son is looking towards the dad with the feet in between them.

It is at this point of the film that our darling, inquisitive, five-year-old Libby asks the all-important question:

"Why are the feet on sale?"

Enough said.

xxx
Maggie

Give Him Another Look

Charles Dickens: give him another look.

Trying to think of what might interest you in books for today's discussion, at first I thought, most people might be bored with what I am reading right now.
But after much thought, I realized that probably many of you have never read Charles Dickens, or, if you have, it has probably been, A Christmas Carol.
And even more than the reading, many of you may have only seen the movie!

Not that I am suggesting the movies aren't worth watching. On the contrary.
We recently watched the latest BBC version of Little Dorrit and I must say it was absolutely fantastic!
We enjoyed it so much, that we bought the DVD set to have as our own.
If you haven't seen it, borrow, buy or rent a copy - you won't be disappointed.

Back to today's book. Yes, it is true, I am actually reading, Oliver Twist.
No, a high school teacher is not twisting my arm, and yes, sometimes the language is challenging, however, the story - oh my!
The story is fantastic!
There is a reason this author has won so many hearts and his fame lives on over 100 years from his original publication dates, and his reputation for having written 'classics' holds true; his books tell marvelous stories and his characters are unsurpassed.
If you have never read Dickens, give his works another look. I am almost finished with Oliver Twist, so Little Dorrit, is next on my reading list . . . well, after the book I will talk about next week, anyway!
If you have read Dickens in the past, have another read. You will be glad you did!

xxx
Maggie

The Reveal!!!

OK so now I am all set and ready to go with my latest little creations!
They have been months in the making and I am delighted to be able to introduce them t you in time fr Mother's Day (US) and Graduations for students at University and High School.

Drum roll, please . . .
Introducing Wee Lucky Penny Books and A Penny for Your Thoughts books!!!



Wee Lucky Penny Books feature greetings similar to those found on greeting cards. Messages like, Happy Birthday, Congratulations, New Baby, New Home, Success, Good Luck, appear in their pages.
A Penny for Your Thoughts books feature poems, sayings, quotations, and thoughts.
Both book sets have all of the following:

• fabric covers
• string, ribbon, yarn, or trim closures
• acid-free end papers identifying the monarch and years of reign
• an over-sized vintage British penny with one of the following monarchs: Queen Victoria; King Edward; King George V; King George VI; Queen Elizabeth II
• pages with greetings and vintage illustrations or decorations

The wee little darlings can be custom ordered, and/or personalized.
Additionally, most of the books you see can be ordered in your selection of pennies.
Just email me with your requests at: luckypennybooks[at]gmail[dot]com

Watch for more styles coming soon and please take a look at my most recent Treasury!

More to come!
xxx
Maggie

PS - I have listed five Lucky Penny Books tonight and will add more tomorrow.
Today's additions include: Congratulations New Baby; Congratulations Graduate; Mother's Day; and two inspirational cards: one with a quote from Queen Victoria about overcoming obstacles, and the other about aging gracefully.

Wednesday Book Club: The Curtain Bible

I adore this book!
The simplicity of the designs; creative use and reuse of fabrics and linens; colours; and gorgeous setting makes it a must have - especially if you are redecorating.

Sharing is catching . . . in searching for a source for you to find copies of this fabulous book, I discovered more titles in the series by the same author, Katrin Cargill.
Soooooooooo it will be fun for me to look, purchase, and read some of her other fabulous-looking books:
Lampshades: Home Living Workbooks
Simple Soft Furnishings: 50 Stylish Sewing Projects to Transform Your Home
Katrin Cargill's Simple Curtains: Creative Ideas & 20 Step-By-Step Projects
A Passion for Pattern
Pillows: Home Living Workbooks
Bed Linens: Home Living Workbooks
The Home Furnishing Workbook: With 32 Step-by-step Projects
Embroidery: 25 Classic Step-By-Step Projects (Traditional Needle Arts)
Easy Country: A New Approach to Country Style
Swedish Style: Creating the Look
Katrin Cargill's Simple Pillows: Creative Ideas & 20 Step-By-Step Projects
Fabrications: Over 1,000 Ways to Decorate Your Home with Fabric
Painted Furniture: Making Ordinary Furniture Extraordinary With Paint, Pattern, and Color
Creating Cottage Style: Stylish Ideas And Step-by-step Projects
Contemporary Painted Furniture

I own a copy of The Curtain Bible, and love it, so I believe some of these these titles will also be coming home in the future!

xxx
Maggie

I Have a Secret . . .

This is a sweet little bird's nest found at my old home in Williamsville, New York

Thanks to all of you faithful followers who have been checking in these past few days only to find no new posts!

My apologizes are humbly given.

I have been working on something new - feverishly trying to have it ready for my Sweet Scarlett shop in time for Mother's Day in the United States. And graduation day, too!
Universities in the US typically have graduation ceremonies in the month of May, while High Schools celebrate their graduations in June.

My little secret has been in the works for a few months now, and although some of you are aware of it, no one knows for sure exactly what it is.
Well, except my sister in Florida! And two special ladies in California!

Please check back again soon . . . a a surprise will be waiting!
In the meantime, I will try to get to your blogs to catch-up with all that has been happening in your lives, soon!
xxx
Maggie

I call this the 'Daffodil Pub'. We came across it in our travels, on our way to Ledbury, two years ago. I have wanted to return ever since, but so far no luck!
Isn't it spectacular?

Wednesday Book Club

What if we all try to share a book we love on Wednesday?
Or maybe just when we have one to share - no expectations for participation every Wednesday?

I will begin with this one:

Bird, Egg, Feather, Nest by MaryJo Koch.

I have had this book for about ten years or so. I used it with my students in my classroom at one time. Since then it has been a fixture in my home. I bring it out every spring, and browse through it.

The book is one of a series of books the author has written, in similar formats.
Some of the titles are:

• Dragonfly, Beetle, Butterfly, Bee
• Seed, Leaf, Flower, Fruit
• Pond, Lake, River, Sea

When I moved to England, I shipped some f my favourite books, surface mail, to save on costs.
This was one f them.
It took about three months to arrive, along with my cookbooks and some novels, and a few 'coffee table' books, all culled from my huge collection, now scattered to lucky recipients.
The book is filled with detailed water colours of birds, eggs, nests, habitats, et all.


The text has all been hand written.
It is fabulous!
There are some for sale on ebay, Amazon, and half.com.
I know you will find this book both beautiful and informative.

xxx
Maggie

Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny arrived last night, bringing baskets to hide and jelly beans to scatter in baskets and candy dishes.


Jim and Kate had to search for theirs in the morning, (you are never too old to have a basket!) as did the grandchildren when they stopped by in the afternoon.
It was so much fun watching them all hunt for the little baskets filled with treats.


Libby found her basket first, and the look on little Ethan's face, was priceless!
He was so dismayed at not being able to find his!

Because Katie is here with us this Easter, we had no one to send us our Buffalo Easter treats of Niagara Candy chocolate rabbits, Merckens foil eggs, & Peeps. (also look at the peep show - it is unbelievable!)
But we did find some rather pleasant substitutes, so all was not lost.

Calls came in from our son in North Carolina and our daughter in Brooklyn, New York. It was so good t hear their voices.
We found out that Jonathan has found a new job, so we are pleased and happy for him and his girlfriend Stephanie, as they begin their lives together in a new city.
Our day was calm and easy-going, filled with family visits and laughter food and a bit of baking, too.

But my special Easter present actually came yesterday and during the week.

My sister sent us a lovely card, bringing some of the Florida sunshine with it.
And two dear friends sent us Easter greetings via snail mail, which were totally unexpected, and such a nice surprise.

Our friends, Maria and Frank, sent a fun Hoops and Yoyo card along with a gift. Their squeaky, high-pitched voices drive our Border Collie crazy, so there is an added element of fun for the dog, too!


And my dear blogging friend, Natalie Jo, sent me a darling kitty card with a special kitty fabric inside, too!
She said the card reminded her of me after she read the piece on Sugar Mice so she had to have it for me!
I am humbled by the generosity of others.
It is nice to think there are people out there who care so much about us and are thinking of us.
The true blessings of Easter are the friends and family we cherish and hold dear.

Blessing to you all,
Maggie

Garden Surprise

A rogue forget-me-not growing in our clay-filled wheelbarrow

Our dear friends, Dave and Ann were visiting over the weekend.
Dave was coming to help Jim work on the Morris Minor car we are readying for use this spring and summer.
This meant a bit of a rush in getting some garden furniture out and ready for the season, as we had been procrastinating in doing so, on the sunny days we have been enjoying.
Jim ventured into the shed and returned with the chairs, one by one.
They all looked rather normal, but one of them held a surprise!


Thinking it had gained a few leaves and twigs via the autumn winds, Jim peered into the crevice
of one of the chairs preparing to remove the debris before washing it.

Imagine his amazement, when looking down into the fold f the chair, he found a perfectly formed nest!
Indeed, the nest was empty, and looked clean, like once built, it had gone unused, but we absolutely loved the idea of the chair being used as a nesting place for birds when humans didn't need it over winter!
Our only regret was that it didn't seem to have a family yet, and it looked like, at least for this year, it was not going to have one.


Ann said some birds build a back-up nest, and perhaps that is what it was being used for.
If any of you can recognize what bird builds a nest like this one, please let us know.

And now I'll leave you with a few photographs of our back garden flowers to share with all of my gentle readers who live in climates still waiting for spring, and for those of you in the southern states where spring never visits.

xxx
Maggie

A gift from Ann - uh-oh - I have already forgotten its name!
You see them growing everywhere drooping over walls.
Absolutely gorgeous! I am so pleased she has gotten this for me!

A Bit about Easter

The umbrella, mentioned in a former post
Purchased in Witney, Oxfordshire, England

Three vintage, wooden, darling harbingers of Spring from Germany,
purchased from friends, Stephen & Gerry's Antique Shop, in Williamsville, New York

A German paper mache candy container rabbit and cart

My spring cleaning is almost complete, so I have done a bit of decorating for the season.
Here are some of the little things I set out at Easter and Springtime.
Some of them have been with me for decades, and have mad the journey with me across the Atlantic. Others are 'new' finds from England.
And some are actually and really new.

A Bunny Tray from my sister, Deborah, and a black-faced lamb from my daughter

I grew up in an area of New York State, with people predominantly from Germany, Poland, Italy.
So the customs I have are sourced from those influences.

Antique salt and pepper chicks I have had for at least 20 years Reproduction paper mache rabbit candy container, from Germany Vintage chick egg cups from England


New milk glass container on the left, purchased in Bourton-on-Water in the Cotswolds
Vintage white ceramic vase purchased at a car boot recently
Antiqu milk glass container on the right, purchased at an estate sale in Buffalo, New York

Easter would not have been the same without a bunch of Pussy Willows and Butter Lambs on the table. Chocolate foil eggs and trays with chocolate rabbits adorned the table when it was not being used for dinner. And, Mom always had some fresh stems of Forsythia in a vase.

We had white eggs from local hens, and coloured them each year. The Easter bunny hid baskets filled with chocolates and jelly beans and we searched wildly for them as soon as we were awake Easter morning.

Vintage and new paper mache ggs from Germany

When I had children of my own, I found an egg farm that supplied me with pullets - the tiniest of eggs from hens just beginning to lay them.

They were so small they fit nicely in the hands of my young children, and were easy to cover completely, with egg dye in a teacup.

Reproduction chicks, vintage egg; large vintage egg; two ceramic bunnies from Target

We attended church on Easter morning, too. I can still smell the flowers, and hear the hymns if I just close my eyes and listen.

A different type flower child pyramide from Germany Purchased on ebay in Germany

As an adult, I added new traditions to the old - most came from the Poles in our area.
A visit to an historic indoor farmers' market, The Broadway Market, (click on the name to g directly to the market, and also take a look at Hometown Girl for more images from it.) each Easter, resulted in a return home with bags brimming with freshly baked rye bread, butter lambs, Polish sausage, Easter ham, and some treats.

Two cabinets found in an antique shop in Evesham, England filled with Easter & springtime treasures

Television featured the annual egg hunt at the White House and the Easter Parades being held around the country. Later in the day, the movie, Easter Parade was shown, and was watched as we eagerly awaited our holiday meal.

Times are different now, but memories remain. Spring is a time of change, and hope, and renewal. It is when all things breath again and com to life after a long, dreary winter.
I hope these images add a little cheer to your day, too.

xxx
Maggie

Vintage German Pyramide with Flower Children
I traded an antique doll for this and have not seen one like it before or since.
It is one of my favourite things. It traditionally would have small candles in the little cups.