Family photos

I promised my friend I'd take some family photos for her in the Berkshires. These are a few of my favorites.

Weekend Update

How can you not have a fantastic weekend with this many movies and this much junk food in the Berkshires?!?

Seen today in upstate New York

The Berkshires, located in the western parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut, is both a specific highland geologic region and a broader associated cultural region. The region is also referred to as the Berkshire Hills, Berkshire Mountains, and, with regard to its physiography, Berkshire Plateau. Sir Francis Bernard, the Royal Governor, named the area "Berkshire," to honor his home county in England.  Tourism is a principal industry, relying heavily on cultural art attractions and recreation.

Wikipedia didn't mention NAPPING, MOVIES, FOOD, TREATS, ANTIQUING, PROJECTS, or RELAXING but those activities will be in abundance.

To market, to market

Tonight my friend Diana taught a few of us how to sew Market Bags. They are easy! I got the cool blue fabric from IKEA. And, sorry about the bathroom shot but have I mentioned that the only doors in my condo are the bathroom doors?!

It's electric

Two months ago I opened my electric bill and saw $210.60. Yikes. I ran some red cardstock through my printer with that amount on it and taped it to my front door as a reminder to turn the heat down when I left.

One month ago I opened my electric bill and saw $249.13. YIKES!!! How did that happen? I turned the heat down, paid the bill and complained to whoever would listen to me.

Tonight I opened my electric bill and saw $158.33 and I'm dancing the Electric Slide!

Next season, please?!?

While waiting on the bus stop this morning (I wasn't about to drive to work in that mess) I saw this van and quickly dug my camera out of my purse and took a quick photo.

Go away, winter(s).

Bella's blessing day

My friend's baby Bella was blessed in the Arlington Ward today. Bella's great grandmother made her beautiful dress.

Wright's Chicken Farm

A few years ago my friend Erin told me about a chicken dinner restaurant in Rhode Island. It's been stored away in the "Places yet to experience in New England" part of my brain. Today I had the itch to get out of the state (which is convenient since there are six states close by) so I invited a friend and we drove to Harrisville, Rhode Island to have lunch at Wright's Farm Restaurant.









For $10.95 you get all-you-can-eat salad, rolls, french fries, pasta with red sauce and chicken (steak is $19.95). Simple and delicious. And the best people watching ever. It almost seemed like we had traveled to the mid-west, and back in time about 25 years (there are a few pockets in New England like that).









































I asked our waitress Sandie a few questions about the place. It seats 1,800. They have a banquet room (I'm not making an announcement but it might be perfect for a wedding reception). And she said there can be a 2 hour wait and suggested the best times to show up.

It was definitely a winner winner chicken dinner.

And the winner is...

..."Matt and Stef"! I'll get the picture sent to you soon. And happy almost Spring to everyone!

Dear Diary

I was talking to my niece Adrienne last night on the way home from work. She asked if I would will her some of my diaries so she could read things about her dad (she would also like my red refrigerator). I am flattered. I remembered I had written something about her dad in my very first diary and dug the cover-less battered book out of my crawl space tonight.

Braggy aunt

Look who's on the Ride for Research site!!!

Spring Fever

It was chilly today and I was wishing for Spring big time (I know, I know; it's at least a month away). Leave a comment on this blog post by Friday night at midnight and I'll have a random drawing for a 5x7 of this Spring-y photo.

Mismatched napkins

I made these tonight for a new friend. Who says napkins have to match?!

New cousin in town

Now that I'm feeling better, I finally got to meet my new cousin Cora who lives on the south shore. She's a month old this weekend. I took the first picture of her big sister Jordan holding her--lucky me! It was fun to hang out with Dave and Christine and have dinner together. I'm looking forward to our next get-together.

On my nightstand

She has 3 sisters and 2 brothers

Meet Rachel Wright. She's adorable and has that Wright look. It was fun to meet her today.

Quotable quote

Remember my friend Jean that I met in Maine? This week I came across something she said to me in December of 2004 (that I tucked away in my palm pilot):

"It doesn't hurt to be friendly."

Barbie turns 50

Is she holding her AARP card?!?

Christmas crafts in February

Last year my friend Elisabeth and I decided we were going to make Christmas crafts during the year and then we never did. Surprise, surprise. This year my friend Elisabeth and I decided we were going to make Christmas crafts during the year and tonight we did! We got together and made these pixies. They are easy and fun to make (the fun part is talking and laughing with friends). My friend Angi helped me a bit (thanks!). I know his eyes aren't evenly spaced and his arms are a bit floppy and his ears are kind of big, well, he's not perfect. But he's cute! We got the pattern from this site (unfortunately it is no longer available). We were talking tonight about what to make in March. Maybe Christmas aprons. Stay tuned for updates on year round Christmas crafting.

Her loves her mom

This is my little friend Darian who is eleven months old.

Quilt squares--done

Tonight I finished sewing the quilt squares together (there are 42 of them) for my next quilt. This is the view from my loft of about 32 of them (this quilt will be big enough for my bed). Next up is squaring up the squares and then sewing them together. I hope to get it done this week.

New Kid on The Blog

Meet Adler. My newest friend. He's a rock star.

I called a friend today and she asked how I was feeling and what I had been up to. I told her I'd be baking, cooking and sewing and she said:

"ELLEN PATTON IS BACK!"

Today's new recipe

I made lemon fusilli with arugula today and it was delicious. I should have invited someone over (that is a BIG bowl---it makes a lot). I'll definitely add it to my repertoire.

Later today: Frozen key lime pie!!!

I heart sewing

Today my friend Julie helped me cut out my next quilt and tonight I started sewing.
























I finished 15 of 42 blocks. I really like how the colors look together (and that all the fabric was from my stash) and am going to try to finish it this weekend. The pattern is called Triple Treat. The squares will be about 15" and will be flipped different ways. I think it's going to look really cool!

A few years ago my then boyfriend and I went for a drive (or "asphalt adventure" as we called it) to western Mass. I was just getting into making photocards and before we left I told him I was looking for a heart to photograph. I imagined a small heart over a barn door or on a store sign so when we happened upon this sign at a small town restaurant I asked him to stop the car and I ran around to take some photos. I think we were in Shelburne Falls, Mass. It was a better heart than I could have ever imagined!!

Valentine brownies

You can find the recipe here. They are delicious! I'm taking these to work tomorrow.

Primary Penny Parade

It was February. I was four. I remember the poster contest for the Primary Penny Parade. We had Wednesday afternoon Primary (this was back in the day). I don't remember if I had the prize winning poster or if I donated more than 9 pennies (and 2 fake dollars) but I do remember we took our pennies to Primary and someone mailed them to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City.

My morning commute on the red line

I decide I'll be a good citizen and take public transportation today (who knew that would be my first mistake?!). We get going and between station 1 and 2 I hear, "This train is going out of service. This train is going out of service. No passengers. No passengers. This train is going out of service. No passengers. This train is going out of service. No passengers. No passengers. No passengers. This train is going out of service. No passengers." We get your drift. The train stops. We all get off the train. We wait. We wait. We wait. Fifteen minutes pass. The broken trains leaves.  We wait.  We wait. A very crowded train approaches. A few people crowd on. Finally the door shuts and the train leaves. Another very crowded train approaches. I shove my way onto the train.  My morning commute continues. I am 30 minutes late to work (and quite annoyed at the MBTA).

My car is going into service and I'm driving to work tomorrow.  

Tomorrow I'm a Teacher

I'm teaching a parenting class in the morning (for moms in a few local wards) about fun things to see and do in Boston/New England. Maybe someone will bring me an apple!

Looking on the bright side of the bowl

Just when things were going perfectly (cough, cough), now my toilet won't flush. But, until I can get someone over here to help me fix it, lucky me, I've got TWO toilets!

I found this at an antique shop a few years ago. I'm not so partial to February but I do heart red hair and hearts.

Shoot myself happy

I'm not the only one that's been sick. My Canon D10 broke while I was on vacation in Oregon last week. I took the camera in on Saturday expecting it to take two weeks to be repaired but I got a call yesterday that it was ready for pick up. So I ventured out today to get it and am happy to have it back and working. And speaking of work. I've been out of work all week and may be home again tomorrow. I'm not going to lie; I'm going stir crazy. I can't wait to go back to work and get my life back!! I shot some photos of some of my favorite things from Oregon to cheer me up: See's candy, State Fair fabric, and some wooden LOVE.

Advice from the dr.

"You should get a bunch of movies to watch while you're home sick."

WHAT DOES THE DOCTOR THINK I'VE BEEN DOING FOR FOUR DAYS?!?

Craving

Quote of the day

I just emailed my friend that I'm still sick and this was her reply:

"There's something fierce going around, sister, and I think you caught it."

My Maine friend Jean

A few years ago during a day trip to Maine my friend Valerie and I stopped for lunch at McDonald’s in Wells, Maine. I got my food and turned to find a place to sit and a woman was motioning to me to come over to her. I turned around thinking she meant someone behind me but she meant me. I walked over to her and she commented on my “beautiful red hair” and invited me to join her. When my friend got her food she saw me sitting with these two old women and wondered what was going on. The four of us visited and became instant friends. The women were Jean and Julie.

[This picture was taken the day we met--Jean on the left, Julie on the right]

We sat and talked for over and hour about our lives and it was a delightful experience. Jean had been a widow for 25+ years. She told us about meeting her husband in Connecticut; he crossed a crowded dance floor to ask her to dance! She moved to Connecticut from Lithuania when she was a young child, speaking no English. I went back to visit Jean a number of times (we always met at the Maine Diner for lunch and then we’d go to McDonald’s for the dollar ice cream cone) and introduced her to some of my friends. One of my friends asked her if she had a boyfriend and she replied that she wouldn’t give any of her male friends a break. Another friend asked her if she got lonely and I will never forget her reply. She tapped her chest twice and said, “I like me.” She was content with her life; doing volunteer work, driving to the beach every day, going to movies and of course her daily visits to McDonald’s (there was a group of friends that met there every day!). A few days before Christmas in 2004 I received a letter from Julie informing me that Jean was in the hospital in Wells. I called her and she told me that her family was moving her to a senior citizen facility in Wisconsin, near her son. I drove to Maine on Christmas day that year to spend some time with her. She gave me a ceramic snowman that day that has a special place on a shelf in my kitchen. Since then we’ve been corresponding through letters. Even after a stroke she would write letters. She always told me what interesting things she was doing and that she missed Maine. I hadn’t heard from her in the last few months and wondered if she was doing OK and today I received a letter from her daughter-in-law that Jean died on January 10^th. I’m so glad that Jean motioned to me that day at the McDonald’s in Wells, Maine. I made a friend that enriched my life.

So many choices

Half-time show

No wardrobe malfunctions this year. Springsteen is a class act! Robes Patton was his biggest fan and I'm sure was dancing around heaven during tonight's half time show. Bruce is THE BOSS!!

Superbowl

This picture was taken of Elder Patton thirty years ago in France after the Steelers beat the Cowboys in Superbowl XIII. I still remember that he made a brief call home to see who won (he wanted to keep up with his career in sportswriting while he was serving as a missionary!). Robes loved all the Pittsburgh teams (not sure why this LA guy had such a thing for the Steelers and Pirates) so I'm rooting for Pittsburgh tonight.