Young At Heart

 THIRTY SEVEN YEARS AGO these men were part of a team.  They were boys who loved the game of baseball.  They were the Hazardville Senior Little League State Champions.  They went on to play for the New England title and placed 2nd after losing
2-1 to Maine.  I am proud to say that my husband, Vance, was a part of that team. 

The red jack in the picture is the 37 year old jacket that given to the boys after their State Championship win.  Vance still has his jacket too.

It was a long time ago, but they were not forgotten. Tonight these boys/men were inducted into the  

Enfield Athletic Hall of Fame!

 

Vance is in the front row, far right.

 

 

Vance is wearing a face mask to protect his mouth after getting his front tooth knocked out in an earlier game.

Vance (far right)

The newspaper said "We won't forget" and it was true.

 Some were balding. Some were grey. A few were deceased or unable to come to the ceremony for health reasons.  Their wives and children came in their place. 

At first glance, they did not look much like the young boys from 37 years ago, but as I watched them hug and reminisce about the past, the years seemed to melt away.  I could almost picture in my mind the young boys they once were.

Each of them received an engraved plaque  and became 
official members of the 
Enfield Athletic Hall of Fame!

Vance's mother, Alice, and cousin, Kathy were there to celebrate this great honor with Vance and me.

Ready, or Not!

Ready, or not!  As August came to a close, our house was chaotic getting ready for the new school year to begin. 

Adam, a college sophomore, was excited to get back to Middlebury College.  Back to his friends, stimulating teachers and classes, yummy food, and beautiful Middlebury, VT. 

Annie, a sophomore in high school, was finishing her summer reading, memorizing ions, composing an essay, and planning her outfit for the first day of school.

Kerry, on the other hand, was sleeping.  When she wasn't sleeping, she was working,  saying farewell to friends as they headed off to college, and trying to pack for her first year of college.  I could tell she was nervous, and I could totally understand because of my three kids, she is the lucky one who inherited my innate shyness.

 After a tearful good-bye to her friend, Jojo, the entire family drove to Burlington in two very full cars.  Kerry didn't feel like eating breakfast and had a sore throat, and she slept during the ride.























We arrived at UVM and a big group of people with green shirts helped carry her things to her room.

Kerry's room mate, Emily, was waiting to meet her. Then she left to allow us to figure out how to fit all of Kerry's things into her side of the double room! 

Kerry wanted a lofted bed, but we lofted it a bit too much!  It got lowered so she could sit up in bed without having her head hit the ceiling!

So we got her somewhat unpacked and left for the Hilton in downtown Burlington as Kerry headed off to a mandatory meeting of the Honor's College.

We had an early dinner and hung out in beautiful downtown Burlington.



 As usual, it had it's share of interesting personalities!

And Cows!

 With lots of reminders of what a great college town it is!

 We had a nice evening watching the sunset over Lake Champlain by the waterfront.

P

We picked up Kerry to have breakfast with her on Sunday morning before we left to go home, and she didn't look very good.  Her throat was even more sore, she had a headache, her neck hurt, and she was exhausted.  I could not leave without taking her to see a doctor, so Vance and I found a walk-in clinic in Winooski. Three hours later, it was confirmed that she has mono!

After so many years of taking care of her when she was sick,  it was sooooo hard to leave her alone in another state to face her illness and so many new "firsts" in her life without me. 

I know how difficult it will be for Kerry, but I also know that these mountains she has to climb alone will make her into a strong, confident individual.  And I know that each small victory will make her proud of herself.

I know all these things, because I REMEMBER.
 

Last Renovation Blog Entry

A month has gone by since my last blog entry.  In that time, I have acquired my glass bar top, and I have lost my microwave for repair.  I decided to take the display model from the store instead of waiting a month for a new one, and evidently something happened to it somewhere along the way.  Miele has not been very speedy with parts and repair.  It is supposed to be back and working on Monday.

The bar top is the finishing touch of the kitchen.  It is the perfect place to have a snack or read emails.  I love the look of it with the rest of the kitchen.  The glass is lightly frosted on the back side.  The pendant lights look very pretty and bright over the glass.
                                                                                                      

In the past month I have also made some gallery wrap pictures for the walls.  The three small pictures over the bar are photos I took in Italy and Paris.  The top one is a pizza we had in Tuscany a few years ago on our family vacation.  The middle picture is a lemon tree in Vernazza,  Italy.  The bottom picture is a raspberry tart from our trip to Paris last year.   

On the wall on the other side of the bar is a picture of Vernazza, Italy also taken on our trip.

 In the bathroom, since it is red and has a copper light fixture, it reminded me of Tuscany, so I made a gallery wrap with a photo taken at our hotel there.

When I began cleaning our old chandelier in the foyer, I realized that some of the light bulbs would not screw back in.  The electrician suggested we buy a new fixture for the foyer, and I was very happy because I no longer cared much for the old chandelier and it didn't go with the new style of the downstairs. I picked out a bronze chandelier that is very large and fills the foyer in size and light.  I also bought a large mirror for over the black chest in the foyer.

So I have been living and cooking in the new kitchen for over a month now and the choices we made for the new kitchen are being put to the test.  I can already say that all of the hundreds of hours of time spent planning and designing a kitchen that would be efficient for our family's needs and habits has paid off.  It has made such a big difference in how I feel about cooking and cleaning up afterward.  In the design phase I tried to eliminate everything I hated about the old kitchen - even little things that would grate on me such as lifting a stack of dinner plates to the upper cabinet.  Storage was very important to me too.  Choosing appliances that would make cooking easier was also at the top of my list.  But one of the most important aspects was to make the space inviting as well as functional.  I wanted it to be a place that our family would want to spend a lot of time in, both now and in the future when our grandchildren come to visit us.

I LOVE how the kitchen feels.  It is bright and cheery, both during the day when I can look out to my gardens in the back yard and the kitchen is filled with natural light, and at night when the LED lights are very bright and functional.  The abundance of color makes me happy too.  The lack of clutter is calming. 


Everything has a place to call home and is easily accessible.  Keeping the dishes and glassware in drawers next to the dishwasher makes the job of unloading so much easier.  Keeping all beverages in the small beverage refrigerator is soooo much better.  You just open the drawer and lift whatever you want out.  There is no struggle to fit things on the door, or worse yet, trying to get drink bottles out from behind food on the refrigerator shelves.  The sliding shoji screens are amazing.  They glide effortlessly and give me so much storage that I still haven't come close to filling its shelves.  And I don't have to run down to the basement to retrieve larger appliances that I don't use as often.  Everything is at my fingertips.


The appliances are mostly made by Miele.  With the exception of our problems with the microwave and the ice-maker, I am greatly impressed.  The one appliance that makes cooking so much easier and is sooo useful is the steam oven.  I had read a lot about steam ovens as I was planning the kitchen and almost didn't get one because of the cost.  But last year's display model was on sale for a better price and I decided to get that one. I have used it almost every day because it is so easy to use, clean, and cooks food to perfection. I have used it to steam vegetables, defrost meats, cook chicken, par-boil spare ribs before grilling, and reheat leftover foods such as rice and veggies. The pans are a breeze to clean because food does not get baked on.   It truly is one of the most useful surprises!  The induction cooktop is very easy to clean and heats pans extremely fast.  Being able to adjust the heat instantly is so handy.  But honestly, I don't use it as much as I used the cook-top in the old kitchen because I use the steam oven so much.  The built-in Miele refrigerator is also a favorite.  The air inside the refrigerator is filtered and cleaned so that the gasses that are emitted from fruits and vegetables are taken away.  Everything lasts so much longer before going bad because of this.  The double ovens are also amazing. No more smoke when broiling - you broil with the door shut and any smoke is magically taken away.  The internal roast probe is also convenient.  I haven't tried the rotisserie spit yet.


The whole process has been fun for me.  Everyone at Nutmeg Stairs and Cabinets has been pleasant to work with.  I would not hesitate to send anyone to them.  Jonathan Brown, the designer at Nutmeg, was fun to work with.  He was very good at suggesting things that would look good and be functional.  I never felt like he was too pushy, and he never made me feel like my ideas were stupid.  Being home every day, I actually enjoyed the cameraderie with the workers, and they were pleasant to be around. 

The time we spent living without a kitchen was so worthwhile!  I have been happy to be able to share the progress with my friends and family over the past few months.  I have decided to continue blogging about other events in my life, so if you are interested, stay tuned!

Here are some final images.                                                     
                             My Grandmother's step-stool.

 My happy cutting board!

And Momo, who loves to shed fur on my new rug - but she looks so pretty under the table!

 

 

Renovation - July 17

AND THEN THERE WAS LIGHT! The lighting fixtures finally came and Tim from Constant Power hung them last week. He also put my bathroom mirror up for me. The fixture over the table is from Hubbardton Forge and made from wrought iron. I LOVE it!



















The mini pendant light which will hang over the breakfast bar are from Tech Lighting. They are on a dimmer switch because they are really bright.














The light fixture over the mirror in the bathroom is also from Hubbardton Forge. The back is a copper patina look, with half moon white glass bowls with a strip of black wrought iron holding them in. It looks very pretty and kind of takes the edge off the contemporary look a bit, as does the distressed mirror.






















The rooster is a new addition to the kitchen. It's home is on top of the oven cabinet.














Adam bought this picture for me for my birthday in Burlington. It is a somewhat abstract watercolor of Church Street. It looks very pretty on the wall next to the entrance to the bathroom!



















In the coat closet area on the upper shelf I added some red baskets.













And now the foyer is getting a new look too. We were not using one of the cabinets that used to be in the family room. It was newly refinished in black. When I was putting the rooms back together, I asked Adam and Kerry to carry it in from the garage for me so I could try it in the foyer. I liked it. Then Jonathan from Nutmeg Cabinets came over and said he has the perfect lamp for the top of the cabinet. He was right. It has a nice shape and gives a more modern look to the foyer. Still to come is a new chandelier in the foyer and upstairs hallway (one thing leads to another when you are remodeling!)

Still waiting on the glass bar top - hopefully this week sometime! Then we will be officially done!

Renovation - July 7

Almost done! The dining room table, chairs, and bench arrived today from Now Furnishings. The chairs are covered in red and gold leather. The bench will be used for extra seating when we have a larger gathering.


We got the bar stools yesterday. They are made my Calligaris. The seats are a cushiony polyurethane foam and they have a lever on the side that lifts them up or down. The seat is a charcoal color.

















And Nutmeg delivered our newly repainted oak pieces that we had in the family room. They were honey colored oak prior to the paint job. They look much better now. And they match the kitchen cabinets.
















I got the pillows on the couch from Company C. This is where I bought the area rug for the dining room. They have very pretty things! The storage ottoman has a top that flips over into a table. They are from Crate and Barrel.













I LOVE my new clock. After literally hours online searching for a clock that would make a statement, I found it. It is easy to see from the dining room, kitchen, and family room.



So the whole downstairs is coming together. I have been putting things away, trying to find a good home for everything that is efficient. The dishes are very easy to reach in a drawer next to the dishwasher. Since there are no upper cabinets, the glasses and mugs are also in a drawer right next to the beverage refrigerator. And all of the utensils and knives fit in the top drawer next to the dishwasher for easy unloading. I have a few things on the counter, but I want to keep it clean for the most part.