There’s been some secret stuff going on around here for a while. Since January, to be exact.
That husband of mine has been working on a very special gift for his Mom. A clock. But not just any clock. A grandfather clock with a very interesting back-story.
Grandfather’s Clock (click on the image for a closer look)
That talented Hubby of mine built this clock completely from scratch, using black walnut harvested by his grandfather.
The story is inscribed on the plaque above the clock face.
I’ll tell you more about the process and share some other pics, and a video of the presentation, in a later post.
The Story (text added below in case that’s too hard to read)
This clock began as a black walnut tree in the mid-1800s in Clearfield, Pennsylvania. The tree was harvested in the 1930s by Clair Hallock, who then had the wood milled and stored for a future project. Initially kept in Clearfield, he eventually moved the lumber to his then-home in Baltimore, Maryland. Clair, having decided that the wood was suitable for a clock case, purchased a clock movement from Keininger (one of Germany’s renowned clock makers) during an early 1970s vacation in Germany. The movement was stored along with the wood. Periodically, Clair talked about the clock and how he’d never found a plan that he liked. In time, he returned to his hometown of Clearfield for retirement. He passed away in 2008, never having realized his goal of completing the clock. The lumber and movement were passed on to Clair’s daughter Jeanne, who selected the plan that I used, along with Clair’s materials, to build this grandfather clock. I present Grandfather’s clock to my mother Jeanne, with much love and respect, Mike Kirkpatrick – May 2014.
As I said in my last post, after delivering us to Amy’s house, Annelies and Yves left. Their plan was to spend a day in Seattle before flying to Philadelphia to visit some other friends.
Natural Disaster Awareness
Friday morning, the grand kids headed off to school, and we got to hang out with Amy, TJ, and Shannon. We opted to visit Sumner, a neighboring town, that Amy had told me about.
It was a pleasant morning spent visiting as we perused the various shops lining Sumner’s Main Street. One of the shops is an Annie Sloan Chalk Paint stockist. Amy is interested in learning to paint furniture and stuff. In fact, since then, we visited again and I was able to give her a lesson. If you missed the painting post, it’s here.
Sumner is a nice little town. There were quite a few funky little shops that piqued our interest and gave us something to do for a few hours. We’d tossed around the idea of going into Seattle to see the public market, but Hubby and I were quite tired of touristy pursuits by that time, so we decided to postpone that until our next visit. We really just wanted to spend time with the kids.
Temperatures were mild that day (60s?), but the skies were quite gray. Here are a few images I captured in Sumner…
Wall Mural
Main Street Shops
Interesting Store Window
Family
Ironic Graffiti
Shannon, Me, and Amy
We had lunch then returned to the house for more visiting.
The next day, Saturday, was all about football. Joey and Gaige both had games that day. Joey was quite tickled to have us all there watching.
Checking to make sure we were watching.
Click on any image to see a larger view.
Missed Tackle
Joey (far left) is the smallest kid on the team.
Checking to make sure we were still watching.
The Big Take-down (don’t let his petite size fool you)
Action Shot
Holding
Temps that day were in the low to mid 50s, I think. By the end of Joey’s game, we were all quite chilly. Especially Shannon, who had ended her two-month tour of Central America before flying to Washington to visit with us. But we still had Gaige’s game to see…
Gaige was not happy that he didn’t get much playing time.
Action Shot
Candid
Brothers
Unfortunately, Brianna was under the weather, so we didn’t get to see much of her. She’d stayed home rather than suffering through two coldish football games.
Joey helped Shannon make dinner.
He’s a good helper.
He helped with clean-up, too.
Pretzel dogs, my favorite!
And that’s it for the September vacation re-cap. Finally.
If you missed any of the posts, there’s a list of links for you below.
TRIP Re-cap
Installment 1: In the Beginning (Friday, August 30 – Monday, Sept 2)
Eric and Kelsey came down for a visit on Sunday and stayed through Monday.
Their visit had NOTHING to do with the stinky linens, by the way. I just wanted to share these pics, too. To remind y’all that I do have a human family, too.
Sunday night dinner at El Toro.
It was a nice visit. They were kind enough to bring my favorite pear cider. Sunday night, we went to El Toro Mexican Restaurant for dinner. Afterward, while Hubby was watching football, the kids and I even got to play a fun word game.
Kelsey and Eric at The Bridge.
On Monday, I joined the kids for a delicious lunch at The Bridge.
Kelsey, Eric, and me at The Bridge.
Then we went home. Which is when I encountered that odd stench I mentioned.
Here’s When Things Got Stinky
Saturday, while at the WV Place, I pulled the linens out of that coat closet with the walls that need to be replaced. They weren’t wet-wet. They were barely damp. But I figured I’d bring them home for laundering just to be safe.
I tossed all of the linens into one of those heavy contractor bags. Just before we left, I grabbed our boots and shoes, which Hubby had put outside last weekend, and tossed them in the bag, too.
Ruined closet doors that Hubby removed during previous visit.
If I remember correctly, Hubby twisted the bag closed, compressed it, then crammed it into the trunk, which is below the bed of his truck. When we got home, I carried the bag upstairs and plopped it in our laundry room, open.
Today, after lunch, I decided to wash the towels. As I leaned over and started pulling stuff out of the bag, I was assaulted by an awful smell. Awful and strong.
No way linens would get THAT stinky, that fast. Or was it the shoes? I figured it had to be the shoes.
After removing all of the shoes and linens, I started sniffing the towels and sheets. None of them stunk.
Then I looked at the shoes.
UGH.
There was a dead mouse hanging halfway out one of Hubby’s shoes.
Good thing I’m not the squeamish type. Poor mouse. Based on where the shoes were sitting — close to one of the girls’ favorite hunting spots — I’m guessing they chased him/her into one of the shoes. It probably hid from me and then became trapped in the bag.
Of course, I had to take it down to the basement to show Hubby. Seconds later, K and Belle came flying into the workshop, noses in the air, looking for their mouse! LOL!
I was nice enough to let them both see the deceased before giving Mr. or Mrs. Mouse an abrupt burial at sea.
Let the Laughter Begin
Monday night, after the kids left, I went out to see a movie (August: Osage County) and have dinner with friends.
Selfie (courtesy of Kelly Ann)
Kelly Ann captured this shot at dinner. L-R are Kelly Ann, Donna, Janet, Dottie, and me. The movie was awesome. Dinner was good. But the best part? We laughed. A lot. This is a fun group of ladies. 🙂
And that was my Monday.
Today should be sort of eventful. We’re supposed to get a good bit of snow. It JUST started, so I am anxious to see how much we end up with. The more, the better, if you ask me.
What better way to jump-start/reinvigorate the blog than with a Year in Review post? I thought it would be a fun way to reflect back and remind myself what all happened in 2013.
In many ways, it was a big year. But lots of little stuff happened, too. Okay, maybe “happened” isn’t the right word. It’s fun looking back over the past year anyway.
Big Event #2 for the year was Amy’s University of Maryland graduation (May 11).
Amy and Family
It was actually Amy’s second graduation. This time, she earned a Master’s Degree.
Can you believe I left my camera home that day? Luckily we got some phone pics. Mike, his mom and I went to the ceremony. You’ll have to trust me on that, since we didn’t get pictures.
The third Big Event was my Dad’s move to Pennsylvania (June 22).
Last Picture of Dad Before Selling His House
And for Big Event #4… Amy and her family moved West (late-June/early July).
Hubby the Chaperone
Mike volunteered to fly along with the kids. Amy and TJ drove one of their vehicles across country together. TJ had driven his truck out in January.
Those were the big events. That’s a lot of change.
There are quite a few little things worth remembering, too.
I already mentioned April’s big event — Eric’s wedding. Since that is such a momentous occasion, it sort of consumed all of my attention during the month.
There was a lot of mental stress leading up to June’s big event, which was moving my Dad back to Pennsylvania. We managed to get him out of his Baltimore City row-house and into a mobile home situated very close to where he grew up in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Of course, other stuff was happening in June, too. Life goes on, right?
And we were mentally preparing ourselves for Amy’s end-of-month move.
July
Although Amy and TJ left at the end of June, the kids didn’t leave until July. That’s when Hubby flew across country with the grand kids. And then back home the next day.
Mom’s friend, Jill, visited from Indiana with her husband in July, too. Another event I neglected to capture with pictures.
Closing out the month of July was the attack on Belle. It was a freak thing, and she recovered quickly, thank goodness. But it was scary.
All through May, June, and July, I should have been doing some serious vacation planning. But there were other things occupying my brain. I do work full-time. And we had to get Dad’s house listed and ready to sell. Plus, there were a few painting projects.
August
Dad needed a “new” table and chairs for the smaller kitchen in his new house. I had some old chairs that he’d given me, so I bought a table at a local thrift shop, and then painted the table and chairs to match. K and I delivered them to Dad the first weekend in August.
Mike made a cabinet, which I painted and then we hung in our bathroom.
At the end of August, Annelies and Yves arrived from Belgium to join us on that vacation I was supposed to have been planning.
September
I didn’t blog while on vacation. We were so busy having fun, I just didn’t feel up to blogging. It takes time, not to mention mental energy, which after an eventful year, I seemed to be seriously lacking. So I tried to play catch-up over the next couple of months.
Installment 1: In the Beginning (Friday, August 30 – Monday, Sept 2)
Rehoboth Beach weekend. There’s one I never even mentioned on my blog. I’ll have to do a make-up post on that one.
Me and Diana
I’ve know Diana since we were in second grade together. She invited me to go to Rehoboth Beach, DE with her for the weekend. She and her husband, Brian, own a house there and needed to winterize the place. We had so much fun reconnecting, we decided to make it an annual thing. I have lots of fun pics to share, too.
November
I never did finish the vacation re-cap. But I did do some other fun stuff.
I completed another painting project, a visitor’s stool for my kitchen. A place for visitors to sit while I prepare food.
I got to attend a fancy luncheon, prepared by Eric and his classmates during his last semester of culinary school.
My other big project during the month of November was painting some kitchen chairs for my Aunt Bertha (Dad’s sister).
December
Before I knew it, December had arrived. And you know what that means. Holiday preparations. Shopping, decorating, wrapping, event planning… it’s always a hectic month. But I did make time for the second annual Santa ride. But this time I had an elf.
I believe I can fly…
Meet my new friend, Dottie. She didn’t hesitate at all when I explained the Santa ride and said, “Wanna be my elf?”
It was a COLD day.
It was fun! But cold.
Something else that developed throughout the year was a unique coming-together of friends.
I’ve been establishing friendships gradually since moving to Warrenton, but 2013 was the year they all came together. We had a few gatherings, many of which involved the husbands. And, oddly enough, discovered that all of the men and women get along.
Cray-cray Pals
Pictured above, L-R, are Ashley (holding baby Oakley), Dottie (Ashley’s Mom), Me, Kelly Ann (she owns Kelly Ann’s Quilting), Tim (one of our crazy Facebook friends), and Janet (owner of The Empty Nest). Our menfolk are not pictured. There’s my hubby, Mike, of course, Andrew (Kelly Ann’s husband), Bill (Janet’s husband), and Jim (Dottie’s husband).
That picture was taken during a New Year’s Eve party at Dottie and Jim’s house. We closed out 2013 and welcome 2014 together. I foresee lot’s of fun together in 2014. We’ll have to make a point of photographing all of the couples at some point.
One of the hardest things about moving to a new place is establishing friendships. It’s hard living apart from your family and friends. Making new friends doesn’t mean replacing your old ones, of course. It just means adding to your circle, broadening your life. One person can never have too many friends, right?
I’m looking forward to 2014 and have high hopes of fun times with friends old and new.
There are some big events coming, too.
Mike and I are taking his Mom out to visit Amy and her family in February.
Eric just finished culinary school. And, although he won’t be participating in the actual ceremony, he’s my newest college graduate. He and his wife will be moving to Spain in June. Temporarily, we hope. Spain is a culinary hot-bed, so he’ll be furthering his education through some real-life work experience.
Mike and I will be traveling to Europe at some point in 2014. We’re not sure of the destination yet, or the timing. But the trip will involve motorcycles as well as meet-ups with our friends Annelies and Yves (who live in Belgium) plus Tammi and Martin (who live in Switzerland). We’ll see Eric and Kelsey, too. We just have to figure out how, where, and when to bring everyone together. Should be interesting…
Plus, I’m determined to get out on my bike more. My poor ride was neglected last year.
That’s it for the re-cap. Wow, it WAS an eventful year. And I’m sure I’ve left a few things out.
Earlier this year — February, to be exact — Aunt Bertha paid Hubby and I a visit. She’d never been to Warrenton, so I got to show her around town, introduce her to some of my friends, show off all of my projects, and take her to a number of my local thrift store haunts.
Aunt Bertha and Me
She told me she’d been looking for some new kitchen chairs. The ones she had were too tall and cut into the back of her legs when she sat on one for any extended period of time. We didn’t find any while she was here, but I told her I’d keep my eyes open for her.
A few months later, I went to the Fauquier Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore and saw what looked to be the perfect size chairs. They were old (I’m guessing late-60s or early 70s), dirty, and ugly. But they were comfortable, were made of solid wood, and they only cost $20 each. Only three were available, but Aunt Bertha had another chair already that she said she could use.
First, I told her I couldn’t paint them. Then I decided I could, but it would be a while before I got to them. I have far too many projects in the queue!
One of the chairs, after being cleaned.
When I told her I’d paint the chairs for her, she asked if I would paint her table to match. And that fourth chair.
I told her yes, and said I’d paint a couple of the chairs here at home then take them up to her house, which is just outside of Lancaster, PA, and spend a long weekend there painting the other stuff. She lives very close to Dad, so that would give me an opportunity to visit, too.
The table and her old chairs, before.
The difference in the chair after a couple coats of Old White Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP) was quite dramatic.
Old White Annie Sloan Chalk Paint
It looked so much better, I could have easily stopped there. But to me, the real fun is in the details.
Yes, the details made the project take much, MUCH longer, but I wanted to do it right. I wanted Aunt Bertha to have a kitchen set she could really be proud of.
Chair with details compared to plain wood.
I forgot to do a before and after shot until after I’d already started painting the second chair.
This past Saturday, I loaded up the car and headed North. I wasn’t there long before we dove into painting the other two chairs and the table.
Me, hard at work.
Aunt Bertha, who turns 68 in February, helped a lot. I put her to work painting one of the chairs and then the table. Once everything had the Old White base coat, I gave her some quick training and then put her to work waxing. I feel horrible that I forgot to get shots of Aunt Bertha at work.
She really was a very big help. I could never have finished without her. What I thought could be done by Monday night, ended up taking until Tuesday. If she hadn’t done so much work, we would never have finished.
I didn’t paint the whole time I was up there, I visited with Dad and Aunt Pearl, too. And I actually worked from Aunt Bertha’s house on Monday.
I am horrible at estimating how long these painting projects will take.
Aunt Bertha’s cat, Missy, who she just adopted about seven months ago, really watched me closely the whole time I was there.
Missy
Finally, late Tuesday afternoon, the project was finished.
Aunt Bertha’s newly upcycled table and chairs.
After finishing the first chair here at home, I told Aunt Bertha she was going to have the coolest, up-cycled, shabby chic dining set in all of Lancaster County. She was quite tickled when she saw the painted chairs for the first time. And we are both very pleased at the final, end result.
Details
Details
We’ve both been kicking ourselves for not taking a picture of that fourth chair she’d already owned. A chair which my Dad had given her. Previously, it had belonged to my maternal grandfather (born around 1915?). It was originally a rocking chair, but my grandfather had cut the rockers off of the chair, which he always kept beside his bed. Most likely, it was already old when he got it. We’re pretty sure it is Black Locust, which is a very hard wood.
Before we applied paint, the chair was a really, really dark, walnut brown. Now, it’s much brighter.
Old, orphan chair.
The “new” dining set brightens the whole kitchen. And remember what I said about details? For some projects, adding details is what really make a piece or pieces special.
We distressed this chair a bit more than the others.
Details add an extra special touch.
And while watching Missy watching me, I had an epiphany. I thought she might enjoy helping. I wasn’t sure how Aunt Bertha would feel about it, but promised I’d do the dirty work in case it really pissed Missy off.
I had to assist a bit…
Missy’s paw prints will forever be seen on the seat of this chair.
Yesterday, I did something very different and very exciting. Exciting for me, anyway.
It involved an uber-fancy, free five-course lunch at The HCAT Institute at Anne Arundel Community College, “Maryland’s premier choice for hospitality and culinary education.”
One of the chefs preparing the meal was my son, Eric, who is about to graduate from the fully accredited HCAT Institute.
Eric and Me
Eric, who just turned 24 on October 1, is the youngest of our three children. Growing up, all of our kids presented different parenting challenges. I often tell people I survived raising three teenagers. Parenting is hard work!
Eric was the least-motivated of all of our kids. He’s very smart, but was a terrible student. He wasn’t exactly ambitious professionally for a long time either.
But, finally, that proverbial light bulb went off and he enrolled in a hotel/restaurant management and culinary arts program at the local community college. He’d always enjoyed cooking so his then-fiancee (now wife) Kelsey encouraged him to make it his profession.
He’s done well. Last I heard, his GPA was in the mid-threes. And, most important, he LOVES it.
Eric is just about finished his final semester. One of the things the school does at the end of a particular class, which I forget the name of, is have the students prepare a lunch for family and friends. The students are segregated into groups (they get to choose their own teams) and are tasked with creating a menu and then preparing the meal.
They didn’t choose the recipes, they developed the recipes. And they made all of the food completely from scratch.
Take a peek at the menu (click on image for a larger view). The meal wasn’t in an actual restaurant, it was in a classroom turned banquet room at The HCAT Institute.
The Menu
Eric was responsible for the bread basket and one of the third course options. The bread basket, pictured below, included Focaccia and Lavash (a super-thin cracker-bread).
Eric’s Lavash was seasoned with some sort of cheese and herbs. He told me the Lavash details, but I didn’t write that down. Sorry, son!
Focaccia and Lavash Bread
He also had to make some Brioche. More on that later. Rather than skip right to Eric’s “meal” offering, I’m going to show you images of the other meal elements. The students did a fabulous job.
The Amuse-Bouche
According to Wikipedia, an amuse-bouche is a single, bite-sized hors d’œuvre.
This one was described on the menu as…
Cranberry Marmalade and Goat Cheese Mousse on a Cheddar Cracker Spiced with Old Bay
Amuse-bouche is a French term, which can be literally translated as mouth amuser. It’s different from an appetizer in that patrons don’t order an amuse-bouche from a menu, it is served at no cost and is prepared according to the chef’s selection and specifications. Typically served with a complementary wine, the amuse-bouche is served both to prepare the guest for the meal and to offer a glimpse into the chef’s approach to the art of cuisine.
The Cranberry Marmalade was a nice complement to the goat cheese mousse, but I’m not sure the Old Bay added to the flavor. It was still lovely.
I forgot to mention that I was seated with Eric’s wife, Kelsey, his mother-in-law, Jane, and his biological father, Ron. Hubby couldn’t get away from work for the entire day.
There were two offerings for the first course, but we all chose the same dish, a salad.
First Course Salad
The menu described the salad as…
A Salad of Mixed Greens, Pears, Apples, Red Onions, and a Pear Vinaigrette. Accompanied with a Bit of Chicken Liver Pate on a Crouton.
The salad was delicious. Jane and Kelsey pronounced the chicken liver pate tasty, but I have NEVER liked the flavor of chicken liver. I tried two of the three pate-topped croutons, but it wasn’t my thing.
There were two second course offerings, too.
Option 1: Pan-seared Scallop
– and –
Option 2: Roulade of Rabbit
I was the only one to choose the rabbit since I typically prefer my scallops well-done to eliminate the metallic taste that you can get when the middle isn’t fully cooked.
I did get to taste the scallop, and it was delicious (no metallic taste). But I LOVED my rabbit roulade, which was described as…
A Roulade of Rabbit Served wirh Parsnip Gnocchi, Braised Red Cabbage, and Apple Chutney
It was truly delicious.
The third course offerings were…
Option 1: Open-faced Bison Sandwich
– and –
Option 2: Seared Duck Breast
Three of us chose the bison, which was Eric’s creation, and one of us chose the duck. Kelsey said she felt like such a traitor for choosing the duck, but Eric had previously served the bison at home as a test run, so she decided to sample the duck.
Not only did Eric have to develop the recipe, he had to prepare his dish yesterday, and was also responsible for the final plating.
Doesn’t it look beautiful? That’s my boy!
I always used to stress presentation to him, especially with salads. Not that I EVER made anything that looked that fancy, but I do enjoy making attractive salads. Food just seems to taste better when it is presented with care.
I didn’t taste the duck, but can say that the bison was fabulous. It was also my favorite dish of the day. And I’m not just saying that because Eric made it. Here are the details for the bison…
Open-faced Bison Sandwich. Served Medium-rare with Grilled Brioche, Fresh Baby Arugula and a Horseradish Napa Slaw, Topped with Shaved Onion.
All of the elements of the dish complemented each other perfectly. There was just a hint of horseradish in the slaw, which was good, because that’s one thing that can easily be overwhelming. As a whole, the slaw was perfect with the bison. And I usually avoid red meat that isn’t well-done. The brioche had a very delicate flavor, too.
Dessert consisted of this selection of House Made Chocolate Truffles.
Chocolate Truffles for Dessert
Clockwise from left were Hazlenut, Coconut, and Cappucino Truffles.
They were all delicious, but the coconut was my favorite .
Classroom Kitchen
Classroom Kitchen
Classroom Kitchen
As we were leaving, I snagged a few shots of the classroom kitchen with my phone.
Eric looks so at-home in the kitchen. He has truly found his calling. How awesome is that?
And, having seen him in action in my own kitchen, I know he has a bright culinary future. I won’t be at all surprised if he ends up teaching one day.
He and Kelsey dream of one day opening a bed-and-breakfast. Maybe it will be a learning bed-and-breakfast where guests go not just to vacation, but to learn how to cook certain foods at the same time.
I can’t wait to see where his talents take him.
Shannon, our eldest daughter who just happens to be a foodie-type, would have really enjoyed yesterday’s luncheon. But San Diego is a bit far away…
