A Very Christmasy Day in Pennsylvania

I woke up early Sunday morning, December 20th (about 7:30 am), and decided that I would shovel the sidewalks for my friend Gordon who happens to be the owner of Carriage Corner Bed and Breakfast place in Intercourse, PA. I arrived there early yesterday morning as previously mentioned in other blog, and we put my tarp over my car to make it easier for us remove the snow off the car.


After I was finished with the removal of the snow from the sidewalks and my car, I went back inside to take a shower and pack up my stuff to be put in my car. Gordon started clearing the drivewy with his snowblower. After I took my shower and put on cleaner clothing, I went outside to take a couple of shots of the house and its surroundings.


Note that the sign was missing from its post - Gordon ordered a new sign and it is now being custom-made by Village Signcrafters at Kitchen Kettle Village. It was just spray-painted when we arrived at their workshop the previous day.

Across the street is a snow-covered field with tire tracks, and Gordon told me that there were a lot of noisy snowmobiles running around the previous night. Since I always remove my hearing aids before retiring for the night, I did not hear a thing at all from outside.  After I was done with the snaphots, I went back to the driveway, and lo & behold, the driveway's all cleared.

In front of the b&b is a gazebo.


Gordon shoveled the front walk twice on the previous day (Saturday), but I shoveled it the next day (Sunday morning).

I got back inside, took my sneakers & coat off, and went upstairs for breakfast with Gordon and his wife, Gwen. This table below looked very festive and inviting.


I forgot to show you what I had for breakfast the previous day, and I almost forgot to take a picture of the Sunday morning breakfast - blueberry waffles with bacon! I had a very nice conversation with both Gordon and Gwen - Gwen will be assuming next Jaunary her new position as a CEO of Friendship Community which is non-profit ministry serving the developmentally-challenged people in Lancaster and Lebanon Counties.

After a wonderful breakfast and long conversation, I left the place for the greenhouse at the Longwood Garden in Kennett Square. Although the roads were snow-plowed, some of them were still slippery and it took me over an hour to get there.


I bought the ticket for the timed admission, and a map which I did not really need - I have been to this place several times before.

Here's what it looks like when one walks out from the back of the entrance building - what a view!


Shown below are the two of the decorations that festooned both the front and back side walls.

Hiding behind the trees is a conservatory which is what I was heading for.


Normally, one enters this conservatory via the right side of the building, but due to the construction of the new plaza, the main entrance is in the middle of the front.

As soon as I got in, my eyeglasses got all fogged up and I had to wipe them. Good thing the camera lens was not fogged up. Here's the first room that I entered - oh wow!  I think I'd better be quiet and let you go through the photographs yourself.

Oh, psst, some of the butterfly wings do actually move! No, they're not real but they're animated to make it look real.











(whispering): These little trees (above) were done by children from local schools. Aren't they cool? And look at the purple kale tree (below right) and the bromeliad tree (below).

I LOVE these Moravian stars - I have one at home which was given to me by a friend.




Aren't these displays GORGEOUS?? Now you can see why I made a point to go there when I am in the neighborhood.  As I was walking on my way back to the parking lot, I encountered this rather large tree outside.

 From a distance, these white long sticks looked like icicles, but they're actually painted seedpods.

I hopped into my car and headed for the next destination, Brandywine River Musuem which is off the Baltimore Pike (Route 1).

Shown above is a former grist mill which was converted into gallery spaces.


I walked through the entrace "gate" (above), and then went up the steps and walked in.





In the lobby is a tall tree that goes up from the first floor to the third floor. On both sides of the tall tree are smaller trees. Across from the trees on the first floor is a beautiful view of the Brandywine River.

Here are the photos of the smaller trees decorated with "critters" made from natural materials by volunteers.





I bought the above ornament as a gift for my mom, and the below book for myself. I might make a few some day - only if I have the time!

The next destination I went to is a wonderful shop - Terrains at Styer's. It is not a typical garden shop - it's more of a lifestyle store - all kinds of things relating to the garden, plants, nature, and food.


I bought several star-shaped ornaments for one of my themed collections.

I also bought jars of prepared food as gifts for my mom: pickled green beans, red pepper pesto, organic Mediterranean spices, and spinach-artichoke bruschetta spread.


After I walked out of the "greenhouse", I saw this cool container filled with water and floating berries.

I got into the car again, and headed for the final destination - Bee Shay's studio for the holiday open house. Look at these colorful cookies made by one of her guests! There were plenty of food on the first floor.


I went upstairs to see the studio again - it is one of my favorite places to visit. Each time I come to this place, I always find something new - the objects were often moved or re-arranged.  Umm, it seems like that I am developing an affinity for round objects filled with anything - shown below is the third photo with round shape - a bowl full of shells.

I love this old drafting table placed in one of the corners.


Various objects - natural and man-made - beautifully arranged and placed together.

I sat down and skimmed through Bee Shay's new book, Collage Lab (below). It's great book - as soon as I get a copy, I will be writing a book review.


If you want to see more photos of Bee's studio in Lynne Perrella's new book, click on the left image below. As for the book (shown above) that I was skimming through, click on the right image below.

After I went through the Collage Lab book, I went back home safely. Wow, wow what a great day!!

Day Trip to New York State - Dec 12, 2009

Last November, I got an email from one of my book arts instructors at Center for Book Arts about her holiday show schedule, and I noticed that Carolyn was having a two-day open studio last weekend. I was one of her students in an independent projects class last winter. I decided to go up to visit her studio and to buy one or more of her handcrafted boxes, and at the same time, I wanted to visit other places that I haven't been to for quite a while. Last Saturday morning, my first stop up at the foot of Catskills near Kingston, NY was Carolyn's book arts studio (below):

I was the first visitor, and she was very happy to see me. A pot of water was heated, and we poured ourselves cups of tea. We sat down and chat for a while, and then I looked at the books & boxes that she made (right side of the photo - on black cloth). After I picked three boxes, I asked her if I could take pictures of her studio, and while she was writing up the sales slips, I took a couple of shots.

Here's what I bought from her - one box that will hold 150 photos, and two boxes - one with NYC map, and one with San Francisco map. Since I have gone to both of these cities several times this year, I am planning to go through piles of ephemera and stuff, and select the ones that should go into these boxes.

Here's what they looked like when opened.

Happy and satisfied with the purchases, I left the studio for the village of Woodstock, NY to do more shopping. It was good to see snow up there as we have none at my home - it felt more Christmasy.

I have been to this town several times before, but it has been a while since the last time I came. One of my favorite stores in this country happened to be Tinker Toys Too! which I considered to the BEST indie toy store in the country. It is a small store, but it has a great selection of cool and interesting toys - especially the construction toys, puzzles, and metal windups.

The displays on both sides of the store were festooned with paper cutouts.

Here's what I bought - that teddy bear is for my mom - one of my Christmas gifts for her. The rest of them are gifts for me (smile).

I have stopped at this holiday ornament store, but for some reasons, I didn't go there as my time was very limited. I already have way too many ornaments at home, though.

Look at that metal sculpture painted in day-glo colors - it does show up a lot more against the snow. And I went into the art supply store.

Across the street is a candle shop which I have visited several times before. It is really a delightful place - and there's one huge column of wax - several candles held together with drips.

Ye Olde Hippie Shoppe? I had to laugh. I remembered that one of my cousins went to Woodstock Music Festival in Bethel, NY in a hearse! I was not old enough to enjoy the hippie culture.

Several houses/shops were painted in several colors...

I have seen several clothing items with the name, "Life is Good", elsewhere, but this is the first time I saw a shop full of Life is Good clothing and stuff.

I noticed a sign at the right side of the sidewalk, and thought about picking up that house. But I don't have much room at home, and regrettably, I had to pass.

I decided to enter this gallery to check out the latest artwork.

There was a holiday sale, and also a group exhibition of various local artists. In one room is a special exhibition of one ceramic artist, Craig Wood, and I really liked his style. I bought a catalog there.

I noticed a sign inside of what it looked like to me, a coffee shop.

As I was walking on my way back to the parking lot, I noticed a discarded Apple box. I was amused because coincidentally, while I was at her studio sipping my cup of tea, Carolyn was telling me about a beautiful Apple store in the Chelsea section of New York City.

A chamber of commerce building - it has to be the smallest one I've ever seen.

I hopped into the car and headed west on Route 212 - never been on this section between Woodstock and Mt. Tremper.

It is a very scenic route - it ends at Route 28.

I got onto Route 28, heading north toward Phoenicia, and stopped at Emerson Resort & Spa. This silo below was actually converted into a large kaleidoscope. I was hoping to find the same firehouse-themed restaurant that I went for lunch a while ago but it is no longer there.

I decided to go inside the kaleidoscope store and see what's there.

As I was walking by, I noticed a nice small model - the memories of my travels in Switzerland came to my mind as I have seen several of this in Zermatt.

I got inside and I was wowed by the great variety of kaleidoscopes in various sizes and designs. I picked up a CD containing software for drawing your own kaleidoscopic designs on the computer. I haven't used it yet, but I will let you know what I think of it after I try it.

After picking up my lunch at Emerson Resort's cafe, I went back east on Route 28, and stopped at this bakery, Bread Alone, to pick up several loaves of artisan bread.

I also picked up toasted bagel with cheddar cheese - it was superb. I then continue to drive eastward, and got off Route 28 to visit Crafts People south of Ashokan Reservoir.

This place has four buildings full of handcrafts such as pottery, metalcrafts, baskets, glassware, jewelry, ornaments and many more. Don't let the external appearance of these buildings fool you - the interiors are really nice.

I showed you only three of the four buildings - the one not pictured here was the smallest one. I was so surpised to see the parking lot pretty crowded - never saw anything like that before. Anyway, the last building (above) that I entered happened to have a great collection of pottery, and I decided to buy a couple for myself and my mom as I was getting tired of white dinnerware.

What a great day trip it was. I went home happy and content with my purchases. I immediately got the dinnerware washed and ready for supper - my mom and I had a nice vegetable soup with sliced peasant bread from Bread Alone.

Notice: No compensations were received for visiting any of the places mentioned above nor for the endorsement of any product or food purchased.

December 13, 2009 - A Great Show at Pier 94

Author's note: this post was moved to here from another blog as I realized that this is more appropriate place for it.

Last Thursday night, I picked up the December issue of the ReadyMade magazine from the coffee table in the living room, and found this ad for a crafts show. I hemmed and hawed over whether I should go there or not. I then found out that this is the first time that "One of a Kind Show & Sale" is being held in NYC - it was held in other cities as well.

Based on the weather predictions and plan for going upstate New York, I decided to go there last Sunday. So, I got myself to the ferry terminal in Weehawken, NJ and while waiting for the 10:00 am ferry, I took several shots of the waiting area.

Right across the Hudson River is Pier 94 where the show was held - as pointed by the yellow arrow below.

I arrived on the other side of the river (Pier 79) and started my walk from 39th Street. I noticed a sticker behind a sign - very cool contruction toy-like model. What's CHC? I dunno. Do you know?

The Hudson River Greenway is both bicyclists' and pedestrians' heaven.

Right after I took several shots above, the batteries in my camera went dead. Oh, great! So, I kept on walking up to 55th Street, entered into Pier 94 terminal, picked up the show guide book, and showed the ticket which I printed out at home. By buying the ticket online at home, I got a 50% discount.

I went into the wearables section first, and then went to another section. Near the back of the terminal was an Esty.com counter - all kinds of "freebies" were on their table. I picked a beautiful letterpressed calender, postcard, two buttons, and a bumper sticker.

As I was walking around, I picked up postcards and business cards. Here's a few that I picked up:


1. furnace & flame - what I saw there were marine life beautifully crafted in glass: octopus, fish, seahorse, jellyfish, and others. They're unbelievably well-detailed.

2.aviva stanoff - I have seen her books and pillows elsewhere, and I was pleasantly surprised to see them there at the show, and I got a chance to meet the designer.

3. tabbatha henry - what's interesting about these ceramics is that they can be used as either luminaries or vases.

4. nancy nicholson - I love her stained glass works - urban scenes with architectural details painted in.

Oops...I forgot to put the number for the postcard below #2 & #3 (and above #6 - that's from Rebound Designs. Clever re-use of bookcovers as purses.

5. Monkey Chow - I love, love, love the illustrations and prints from aaron kovalcsik. Take a look at them in his Etsy shop.

6. glassboxguy.com - fun, funky & colorful glass boxes.

7. Case Island Glass - beautiful and colorful fused glassware - loved the squares!

8. rochelle weber - INCREDIBLE! At first, I thought they were done in tiles, but no - they're individually handpainted right on the canvas! That's a good thing, otherwise, the artpieces would be much too heavy for one person to carry it alone!

There so many more, but the above are some of my favorite ones, and I wish I could buy one or more items from each one of the above. So, I had to be content with a few. I was walking by one booth (The Storymatic), and I noticed a stack of cards in a box (below). These cards were used for playing games or as prompts for writing or telling stories. A few cards were placed on the small table, and one of them said, "deaf person" and my reaction was a bit mixed - I was both amused and a bit annoyed. So, I picked it up, showed it to the seller, and pointed a finger at myself as if I was telling that I am a deaf person. I wondered what kind of stories people with normal hearing have with a (or more) deaf person. Then we started to talk and I decided to buy one box.

As we were walking to a spot so that the credit card processing could be done, we talked a bit about ourselves, and I found out that she lives in Brooklyn. It's funny to see that there's something about the people from Brooklyn - they're so friendly.

The other thing I bought is a set of magnetic metal leaves, and this designer's from Montreal. I was telling a friend from New Hampshire that I am thinking of going this city next January or February, and she was there recently. I am hoping to go there soon. And the last things I bought were three books (two photo albums and one notebook) from another person who will be opening a new store in Brooklyn next year.

I was hoping to leave the show early enough to beat the rainstorm, but it was too late. The rain came sooner than expected, but I was smart enough to bring a small umbrella with me. Anyway, the show was really great, and I hope to go back there again next year.

Disclosure notice: No compensation have been received for the endorsement of any of the products or vendors above.

City Walks - New York City - Oct 11 2009

Last week, I went into the city for lunch with a friend from Texas that I "met" through emails. A friend of hers told her about my blog, and after she read my blog, she wrote an email to me and told me about her art students with hearing impairments. She came to the West Village for a mixed media class, and I decided to spend about two hours walking around the area before I was due to meet her at the Westbeth Community Center.

I have been wanting to get on the High Line. The last time I was there, there was a long line of people waiting to walk up to the elevated path as reported in my previous post dated June 21, 2009. I was just thrilled to be able to get on it so that I could see the city and its buildings from a different perspective. Shown below is the southern end of the High Line.

This is where I started my walk - on Gansevoort Street in Meatpacking District.

At first, everything seemed to be in various shades of gray...

until I got to the top of the stairs. That's where the colors started to change from somewhat drab grey to warm hues.

I walked south, and encountered a wonderful and peaceful oasis. I could not believe that it was actually an elevated train line.

Turning around and facing north, I started to walk up the path.

I love how the tracks and plants were blended together.

Interesting bench design.

At various locations, tables and chairs were placed for walkers' pleasure. Looking at the bright green chair, this described exactly how I felt in some social situations - being the odd person that stands out too much.

This structure holds up one hotel - The Standard Hotel. Love this "window" - a sure hit with many photographers.

I have no idea as to what it is, but I saw this cool structure on top of a building. I have seen it before - from the sidewalk.

Nice lounge chairs, eh? But it might not be comfortable after a while.

However, the chair provided a perfect background for the various ephemera that I got from the organization, The High Line, which I happened to be one of its charter members. I bought a map and a book - the other two were picked up from the "free" information table.

The line runs through the building which houses the Chelsea Market - a food and wine festival was in progress, but at this moment, I was not interested in food.

Details of the building - a former cookie factory.

Inside a tunnel is a wallful panel of glass. At first I thought they were old glasses, but after looking at the colors more carefully. I had a feeling that they were intentionally placed.

I walked further on, and found a plaque - I learned that the whole artwork was done by Spencer Finch. The title is "The River that Flows Both Ways", and the artist took hundreds of photos of the water's surface while on the boat that went up the Hudson River for 700 minutes (11 hours 40 minutes) - one photo per minute! You can read more about his work in this website. The whole thing will remain there until June 2010. As I came out of the "tunnel", I encountered many new buildings in this section - look at the colors! This building below is on the right side of the path going up north.

On the left is Frank Gehry's design. I have been watching the construction of this building, and I strongly suspected that it was done by Gehry, and after I got home, I watched a DVD documentary about his works and creative process, and found out that indeed, the design was done by him.

I looked at almost everything everywhere - the plants, the steps, the buildings, the public space, and the signs.

I was extremely impressed by how ingeniously this was designed for the public to enjoy the view of the street - I plan to be there so that I can get a good window view of the traffic jam during early evening.

And the stairs and ramps (wheelchairs and strollers) are cleverly placed in such a way that it is accessible to everyone.

Details of the thin wire fence...
I liked the way the chairs were arranged - by color.

I took several photos of this long sign and stitched them together.

After I passed the Chelsea Market, I went down the staircase just before the Standard Hotel.

After I walked under the High Line, I saw these cool windows and found out that it was the hotel lobby.

I love this form/texture of the window "screen".

The section that I walked on is the High Line's first section that was opened to the public last summer. Next section (second) is scheduled to be opened next year. Last year, I have been on the northernmost section for the sketching class. This last section is currently closed to the public, but you can see the photos that I took in this post. I am so pleased and impressed with the overall design - it is so well-done!