An afternoon at Hildene

Hello to any and all who may still check this blog for updates. In typical recent fashion, any and all blog post ideas I've had have been put on the back burner. Today, though, I thought I would share some photos of a recent trip my mother and I took to Hildene in Manchester, Vermont.



Hildene was the summer home of Abraham Lincoln's only surviving son, Robert Todd Lincoln. It is important to note that President Lincoln never visited Hildene (as it was built 40 years after his assassination). The Lincolns were, however, familiar with the Manchester area. In the summer of 1864, Robert, his mother (Mary Todd Lincoln), and younger brother (Tad) visited the nearby Equinox Hotel as a retreat from Washington D.C. which was still in the throes of the Civil War.
Completed in 1905, the house was occupied by members of the Lincoln family until 1975. Photography was not allowed inside which was a shame as there are many lovely things to behold. Nearly everything is completely original to the house and Lincoln family. Even articles belonging to Abraham himself. Unfortunately, one of his signature top hats (and one of only three still in existence) was on loan to another institution. There was, however, a very nicely curated exhibit titled, "The American Ideal: Abraham Lincoln and the Second Inaugural." Focusing on key excerpts from Lincoln's second inaugural address accompanied by artifacts belonging to Hildene and some on loan from from the John Hay Library at Brown University, the exhibit engulfs its visitors and helps to exercise understanding of the president's words. What the war meant, the impact it had on the nation, and the forthcoming era of reconciliation and reconstruction are all there to contemplate while examining speeches, telegrams, photographs, maps, and engravings, etc.
Photography was allowed on the grounds which, now that the history bit is out of the way, I will go ahead and share. A formal garden designed by Robert's daughter is situated behind the house. If we had visited in June we would have been treated to thousands of peony blooms. Some are even the original plantings. A small conservatory occupies a knoll near the house. The property also features a farm, walking trails, and a fully restored 1903 train car (which we forgot to see). After Robert Todd Lincoln's political career (Secretary of War under both Presidents Garfield and Arthur and U.S. minister to the U.K. under President Harrison) was over, he served as president of the Pullman Palace Car Company. Next time: train car and peonies!







Did I forget to mention the mountains? The estate is surrounded by gorgeous views of both the Green Mountains in Vermont and the Taconic Mountains in New York.

Big City Afternoon

Last Wednesday, my friend Erin and I spent a long, but fun-filled day in New York City. I took the train downstate the day prior to meet up with her and from there we embarked on our adventure.

Light fixture in Grand Central Terminal
 

We didn't journey to the city to sight-see (though we did a little, of course. It's inevitable!) or to shop (again, inevitable, especially if one counts window shopping), but rather to see the Broadway production of Once.

Having been fans of the film for quite a few years now, we were eager to see how the story would be adapted for the stage. The production was still filled with the beautiful, raw, and honest songs fans of the film know and love (and also included a few new ones). I felt the writer did a fine job at re-telling the story and enhancing the plot with scenes and dialogue the film only leaves to imagination. We left the theater wishing we could see it again!

Clearly, I was entranced by light fixtures that day! The interior of this particular theater was really lovely.

After Broadway, our excursion also included a little meandering through Central Park and a stop at Ladurée on Madison Avenue for some scrumptious macarons.

L- R: vanilla, dark chocolate, lemon, and salted caramel. 

Consumed quickly and therefore not photographed: rose, violet, and coffee ;)

At dusk, we said our goodbyes to the city, caught a train that would take us to the family home we were staying in, and sleepily chatted while munching on veggie wraps and samosas.

Lavandula angustifolia

Last weekend my friend, E, and I made a return visit to the Finger Lakes Lavender Festival (last year's post can be seen here). We had such a nice time at the 2011 festival that we decided then and there to visit again. The drive from our little area of New York to the town the festival is in takes about 3.5 hours, but it's barely noticeable with all the pretty farmland and countryside to look at. Interstate-90 even runs along the Erie Canal for a while and we amused ourselves trying to recall the Erie Canal song we learned way back in grade school (we laughed more than we sang!).

Hat: Target, Sunglasses: TJ Maxx, Cardigan: H&M, Dress: J.Crew outlet 

Unfortunately, we've been experiencing really high temperatures (think 90F and above) lately with little-to-no rain, so the otherwise lovely lawns and pastures at the farm were dull and brown this year. And in my adamant refusal to use sunblock anywhere other than on my legs, I walked around nearly all day in long sleeves. I did bring a short sleeved tie-front blousey-thing to wear, in intervals, when the heat got unbearable and am pleased to say I made it through the day without getting sunburned (or a farmer's tan).

 

I picked another bundle of Royal Velvet culinary lavender to bring home along with a few other small purchases: soaps, a tote bag, honey, and lavender fudge sauce. One of the food vendors this year was selling lavender ice cream, so naturally I had to get some of that as well. It was delicious! Now, from food to funny: while I was sitting in the grass picking my lavender two different people approached me to take my photo. I found it rather amusing as one tried twice to get my attention before I realized what was happening while the other didn't. I just happened to look up and there her lens was staring me down. I have yet to come across any of these other photos on the internet - haha!

Adventures with Diana Mini

Last month, I spent Labor Day weekend with my dear friend Erin (formerly of the blog Ip & Audrey, she now uses Tumblr to post bits about writing and journalism). I brought my Diana Mini along for the ride this time. Here's a looksie into what we saw and did:

On Saturday, we took the T into Cambridge to stroll around and stop into stores we couldn't afford (think: Anthropologie and the Japanese import store selling Totoro things). We also savored our first pumpkin spice lattes of the season at Peet's. So good. In fact, it was the best I've had. A scrumptious Indian dinner followed. Samosas and dosas and Aloo Patter, oh my! Silly me forgot to adjust the settings on my the camera while down in the Harvard Square T station. These were the only salvageable pictures.

Sunday afternoon we skipped over to Ikea just for the fun of it. I had never been, so there was lots of oohing and ahhing on my part. Having lunch there was a must. After sitting down with my plate of Swedish meatballs, I pulled out Diana Mini ready to document the experience. The woman sitting at the next table eyed me suspiciously, thus increasing my nerves and decreasing my ability to center the shot. "Why yes, strange woman, I AM taking a photo of my food with a toy camera. What of it?"

Monday morning, before Erin headed into work and before I hit the road, we took a little walk (it's tradition) along the waterfront in downtown Plymouth. If you look closely in the right photo above you can see the masts of the Mayflower II. I climbed aboard the replica ship as a little girl, but haven't been on it during any of my last seven visits to Plymouth. Maybe next time!

Camera: Diana Mini
Film: Fujifilm 200

Smaller images were shared for the purpose of posting them side-by-side (hopefully they appear that way on your screens!). Larger versions of these photos can be seen by visiting my Flickr.

Lindenwald

This morning I took a short drive to nearby Kinderhook, New York, to visit Lindenwald, the home of the United States' 8th president Martin Van Buren. Did you know that Van Buren was the first president to be born under the U.S. flag? The previous seven presidents were born prior to the American Revolution and were therefore British subjects. Van Buren was also the nation's first president who spoke English as a second language, having grown up speaking Dutch.

Van Buren served as Secretary of State and then Vice President under Andrew Jackson before winning the 1836 election. Van Buren spent one term as President, serving from 1837 to 1841. It was during this time that Van Buren purchased an old Dutch estate in his hometown of Kinderhook, giving it the name Lindenwald. The above portrait of Van Buren hangs in the formal parlor.

During the tour I managed to snap a handful of photos (both digital and film, the latter to perhaps be shared at a later date), but didn't get too carried away. Taking photos can sometimes be a distraction and I didn't want that to take away from the experience at hand. The tour guide led us through three floors and there was much to see - more of which was committed to memory rather than snapshots. Below, however, are a few glimpses of what one would see upon visiting Lindenwald:

Bust of Van Buren in the Lindenwald library

A staircase leading to the second floor

A guest bedroom

President Van Buren's bedroom

This cane was an inaugural gift to Van Buren by his predecessor President Andrew Jackson. If you're up on presidential nicknames you might recall Jackson being known as "Old Hickory." I'll give you one guess as to what wood the cane is made of ;)

Finger Lakes Lavender Festival

On a whim one night about a month or so ago, I Googled ''lavender festival new york'' curious as to whether such an event existed in my home state. Much to my surprise there was one slated for this past weekend out in the Finger Lakes region. The Finger Lakes are long, thin lakes stretching out across the old Iroquois tribal lands in the west-central portion of New York State. The lavender festival was held at Lockwood Farm in Skaneateles, NY along the northern shore of Skaneateles Lake. An Iroquois term, Skaneateles is pronoucned ''skan-ee-AT-las'' (or ''skinny-at-las,'' by some) and means, appropriately enough, "long lake."

A friend and I left town early Sunday morning and drove the 3.5 hours out to the festival. We got there before the crowds and were able to wander through the rows of lavender without bumping into too many people. A small number of vendors were set up selling paintings, photographs, jewelry, pottery and the like. The farm has its own shop selling a wide range of all-natural lavender products. I treated myself to a bar of lavender & tea tree soap, a bottle of lavender spritzer and a jar of lavender fudge sauce (delicious!). I also bought a lovely watercolor print and matching greeting card set from one of the vendors. Oh! and I suppose I should mention the crêpe. I had the most incredibly decadent honey lemon lavender crêpe which I washed down with a refreshing iced coffee. It was by far the best lunch in recent memory.

Before leaving, I picked a bundle of Royal Velvet lavender. Royal Velvet is one of the culinary varieties and I'm already scheming up a list of treats to make with it!

We were also shown how to make a lavender wand (a sachet/decorative creation). The process was rather fun and easy. I wanted to do a tutorial for the blog with the lavender we have in our own garden, but the stems aren't long enough. Maybe someday!

It was truly a day well spent. The farm was beautiful, the lavender was deliciously fragrant and the atomosphere was one of both tranquility and fun. I took a wee video, complete with rustling wind and faint sounds of laughter, to share. Enjoy!




For more photos from the lavender festival, visit my Flickr.

Country idyll

All day I've felt the need for some color to brighten up this white winter day. I found just the thing while digging through some photographs taken a few months back: one of my favorite scenic views dressed up in autumn colors. This particular day was very fine and mild. The world of green wasn't ready to let go even with the oranges, yellows, reds, and browns pushing forth.

Do you see the grazing cows in the second photo? Aww! There are two roads running parallel through this country idyll in rural northwestern Massachusetts. I took these on the higher road behind an orchard that slopes down the hill. Part of the lower road meanders along a brook and posts a very low speed limit, which is fine by me as it allows more time to revel and soak in all the beauty. And not only natural beauty. There are quite a few old Colonial homes to please the gazing eye.

Camera: Nikon FM 10
Film: Fujicolor Superia X-tra 400