New England - Day Two

Day 2 - We were off to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Museum and Library.  I can’t compliment the Park Service enough for their knowledge, helpfulness, friendliness, and on and on at not only here but all the places we visited.

Roosevelt’s home in Hyde Park, New York, called Springwood, is in a beautiful setting.   My header photo above is the view of what would have been the driveway.   

Entrance to the Roosevelt Museum and Library

Letters from everyday citizens to  FDR.

There was a special exhibit that focused on Roosevelt’s final campaign.  

FDR with General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Nimitz aboard the USS Baltimore arriving in Hawaii in 1944.

FDR addressing shipyard workers in Bremerton, Washington.   Spectators were shocked at the weight loss the President showed as well as his ashen and pained expression.   Later is was discovered he had an angina attack during the speech and despite great pain, continued with his speech.  For many years, Roosevelt was in quite a lot of pain that hid from even his closest advisors.  

Great selection of campaign buttons from FDR’s political career.

MacArthur’s returns to the Philippines.   On a person note, my Aunt was a WAC in the US Army and was in the crowd when MacArthur made his “I shall return” speech in 1942 after a US defeat.

FDR’s fedora

Approaching Springfield, FDR’s home

The barn, where as a child, FDR rode his horse daily

Beautiful grounds.  And 180 degrees from above, is the entrance to his home.

Spectacular views across the valley

Intricate carvings on a piece of furniture in the front hall of the home.

Carvings on the banister to the steps leading upstairs.

Sara Roosevelt, Franklin’s mother, decorated this room for the visit of the King and Queen of England in 1939. (Queen Elizabeth II parents).   It was called the Dresden Room because of the chandelier, clock and candelabra.  The photos on the piano are photos of dignitaries who visited.  It was customary to leave a photo with your hosts.

The Dining Room

The telephone

The Library where FDR greeted guests and dignitaries

His wheel chair in the Library would never have been in view when visitors were at Springwood.   Roosevelt designed the wheelchair himself.   He wanted something without arms and used the back of a kitchen chair to hid his need of a wheel chair and to increase the ability to navigate narrow hallways in the home. He used bicycle tires for the wheels.

I think this would be a great place to display smalls under the glass top cabinets.

Sara Roosevelt’s room

Eleanor’s Room.   Eleanor moved into this room after Franklin contracted polio in 1921.

FDR’s closet.

FDR loved this room because of the view if offered of the Hudson River.

Just to the left of the headboard is a phone that was a direct line to the White House.

The Blue Room, where FDR was born, weighing in at a whopping 10 lbs!

The Chintz Room where Queen of Elizabeth stayed in 1939.  The beds were made at the furniture factory at Val-Kill that was established by Eleanor.

Yes, there was a commode.   It is behind the door on the right.

The elevator used to move FDR upstairs.   It is a luggage lift installed by FDR’s father when he owned the home.  It’s intended use was to haul the steamer trunks of guests to the second floor.

Linen Closet - I’d love to have a linen closet this big!

View from exiting the second floor.

Charming screen porch off the Library

The barn.

Some of the many ribbons won for horsemenship

Stable

FDR’s tomb.   He is one of the few modern day presidents that is buried at his home and not in Washington, DC

This is the view down what was once the driveway to the home.

Within the museum, we saw the leg braces Roosevelt worn under his clothing to help him stand upright.  Weighing up to 10 lbs per leg.

This is what FDR’s private library would have looked like.

Below is a replica of how his White House desk appeared.  Notice the small flag on his desktop….

…it is a punch needle flag.

Now on to Val-Kill.   This was Eleanor’s Retreat.   If Franklin was not in residence at Springwood, Eleanor would be found here at Val-Kill.   It is about 2 miles from Springwood. 

Her dining table set with Franciscan ware in the Apple Pattern.  I know it well; it was my Mother’s pattern as well.

Eleanor’s sitting room.

Eleanor did not stitch but did knit and do needlepoint.   Sorry to say there are no pieces of her work on display.  

Val-Kill is the only National Historic Site dedicated to a First Lady.  Her partnership with  Val-Kill played an important role making Eleanor and her ability to empathize.  That  empathy contributed to some of the greatest social achievements of contemporary life: her tireless work for human rights, advancement of women’s leadership, and the drafting and passing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the support of meaningful civil rights progress in the United States, and the pioneering of infrastructure development through the New Deal.  Construction on Val-Killbegan in 1925 and was completed the following year. At the same time, they built an adjacent factory for Val-Kill Industries to demonstrate how a revival of handicraft traditions could support local economies. The Industries employed furniture makers, finishers, metal crafters, and weavers producing a range of goods. Under financial stress brought about by the Great Depression, Val-Kill Industries would close just ten years later in 1936. At that time, Eleanor Roosevelt converted the factory into a residence for her separate use.  

Following FDR’s death in 1945, Val-Kill became Eleanor Roosevelt's primary home. At Val-Kill, she surrounded herself with family and friends and hosted individuals who shared her diverse interests, including national and world leaders, activists, students, and local youth and students.

Other important structures at Val-Kill are the Stable-Garage, the Doll House, the Playhouse, and the swimming pool. The Doll House is a small wooden structure, originally located near the FDR Home and moved to Val-Kill by Eleanor Roosevelt in 1945 for the use of her grandchildren. The Playhouse, a one-story frame building, was built in several phases beginning in 1928 and was adapted for various uses, including a forge and metal-working shop for Val-Kill Industries.

On to the Vanderbilt Mansion.   Unfortunately….you guessed it.   It was closed.   They were decorating for Christmas.   We peeked in the windows of the front door and it look similar to what any of our houses would look like during decorating.   Boxes everywhere, sprigs of this and that, garland, Christmas balls…..albeit on a MUCH larger scale.  

Beautiful views of the Hudson River and Valley.   Built in 1895 this 54 room mansion was one of the earliest mansions on the Hudson.   At one time, the property consisted of 660 acres.

We left the Vanderbilt Mansion and went on to Staatsburg Mansion.   This was the home of Ogden Mills and Ruth Livingston Mills.  Built in 1895, this mansion has 65 rooms, 14 bathrooms and 23 fireplaces. Ogden Mills was a lawyer, business man and politician who served as Secretary of State to Harry Truman.   Another “grounds only” location.   

We headed north and ended up in Rhinebeck, NY for a stroll thru the quaint downtown area.   Two places I wanted to visit and you guessed it - one was closed.   Story of my life on this trip!   This was at A. L. Stickles 5 and Dime.   I heard it was a great store and was told to be sure to stop. I have never run into so many places that were closed for the day…..and I did my internet research ahead of time and none were showing as closed. 

The second place was Samuel’s Sweet Shop.  Owned and operated by Jeffrey Dean Morgan (of Walking Dead fame among other things).   So very much packed in this tiny coffee and sweets store.   I bought the kiddos these cookies that came with edible water color paints.   Too bad the cookies cracked into pieces on the ride home….nonetheless, they had fun painting then eating the cookies.

Somewhere along the way of this day, we managed a trip back to the cross stitch store as well as a trip to Michael’s to find some last minute fixings for the exchange at the retreat.

Day 3 - off to our retreat up next.

November - Day One - New England trip

I don’t know where October went but I guess 10 days at the beach made the month disappear and so it goes. 

And then I turn around and I am off again.   I am just in from a retreat at the Shaker Village in Enfield, NH.   Of course it was a stitching retreat.   Which was run wonderfully.    Jennifer and Merry Susan of Violets & Verses did a more than an outstanding job.  They truly went above and beyond and then some.  More on the retreat in the coming days but first, Day 1……    

In true fashion, when I travel with Stacy we did a ton of touristy things along the way.  This trip we added Vicki to the mix and she fit in just right. Unfortunately we struck out on the way up.   Misting and fear of heights keep us off the Walkway Across the Hudson. (Next time!). We stopped at Captain David Crawford’s house…..closed due to lack of staffing.  George Washington’s Headquarters - also closed.   We stopped at West Point but……didn’t stay long.   Four bus loads of 5th graders running and squealing was a great deterrent and back in the car we were after a quick walk thru the Visitor Center…..this was after we walked in a door and went downstairs to a hallway that said “badges needed for access……”. I think we may have been somewhere we should not have been and we did a to-the-rear-march and ducked out of there quickly before alarms or security came after us!

View of the Hudson River from the Welcome Center at West Point

You might think Day One was a bust but not so.   We somehow found a cross stitch store, Deer Hill Farm Cross Stitch, just outside of Hyde Park.  Pat, the owner was a dear (haha).  We enjoyed her and her shop so much that we had to visit the next day as well.    

We also found a large antique mart and spent time seeing all the things we have sent to Goodwill over the years, now for sale.  LOL   We saw some awesome things as good prices but I resisted……reminding myself it is the purging time of my life, not the collecting tome.

We stayed in a nicest, cleanest little motel in Hyde Park called the Roosevelt Inn.  We ended the first day with Margarita’s at El Guacamole in Hyde Park, NY.   

Stay tuned, more of  my New England trip to come. 

To and Fro

Just in from OCMD and  I’m off on another adventure in a few weeks.   I am heading out to Enfield, NH for a Shaker Stitching Retreat the first of  November.  Again no class piece to do just plain old fashioned stitching.  I am taking Garden of Stitches along to hopefully narrow the distance between me and the finish line.   Stopping Hyde Park for two days on way up.   Going to do the Roosevelt Library and Roosevelt home and other sites in the area.  

But back to Ocean City….

From sunrise to sunset, beautiful 10 days.

It was a great week and the weather was beautiful except for one rainy day.   Too cold for the southerners that attended but felt delicious to me.  It is always nice to see everyone outside of a meeting or classroom setting.  My second weekend was Jamboree at Salty Yarns.   What great projects we had.   First, from Beth Seal of Summer House Stitch Workes.   She taught this adorable block style pin cushion.  Second, from Janis Note of Noteworthy Needle created this origami like stitched piece that changes with the seasons.    And last but not least, we designed our own strawberry topper out of clay with Michelle Ink.  Michelle will take them home to fire and then will ship to us in November.  It was a great weekend of classes and now I have some new projects to start…..not!  

Quick photos of Beth’s finished project.   We worked on the Dorset Buttons in class…..a little fussy but awesome end result. 

 

I may have said no new starts for me but then I did  the obligatory pre-stitch and start that I promised someone I would do. I also started and nearly finished the Liz Matthews tree for our November Guild class.   The first half went fast but the bottom……well there is a lot more stitching at the bottom then one realizes until you get to the part.   Still, I am pleased with how much I finished.    

I started and almost finished the Civil War Huswif.   As soon as I am finished, I promised a stitchy friend that I would work with her to assemble the Huswif.   At the top, I have to finish the second line of the verse and add a family name from the Civil War.   In the middle, the pocket ‘flap’ is done.   At the bottom, the flag is much like stitching a sampler house….it goes on and on and on…..but overall I am very happy with how much I got done.  

On a whim, I took a bag of hexies to tack and assemble.   I figured it would be great to work on in the evening when the eyes were tired.   I am really happy I brought it.   I’ve got lots of hexies to add to my existing quilt top.  I covered ALL the templates I have.  This is what 80 hexies look like.   Great progress and they will make a big difference when incorporated into my quilt top.

As for shopping, not too much was purchased.  Some little do-dads, flosses and necessaries.   I did buy the Liz Mathew’s  Autumn Cloche pattern but not too much else.   It is not even on my radar to start.

Now I have to put myself in high gear to get the patio furniture stowed, clean up a couple or three garden beds and generally prepare the yard for winter.  

The 100 Days/100 Blocks quilt I am working on it coming along.   I pre-stitched a bunch of blocks prior to going away so I could continue to post on Instagram daily.  Now it is time to spend an afternoon cutting and catching up on sewing about 5 daily blocks to get back on schedule.   We are closing in on the end and I am beyond happy with myself that I have stayed on pace.  Well, I’d better not get too cocky….on pace so far.  

 

So that catches you up on my comings an going.   Thanks for stopping by.  Stay safe, stay healthy and keep on stitching.

Retreat!

And not the kind where you turn tails and run.   Unless that means running towards a great week at the beach with friends and fellow stitchers.  I am starting to laying out things on my dining room table to pack for my Friday travels  First up, is my semi-annual Guild Retreat followed by Jamboree at Salty Yarns the following weekend.   So it is a no-brainer to stay for the days in between.   Four of us rented a house of sorts…..It is a house that is part of the Lankford Hotel complex.  Sadly to say this may have been the last time we will get to stay there.  The Lankford has been sold and none of us know what the future will bring with the new owners.   We have been blessed and so very fortunate these last dozen years or more to a twice a year retreat at the Lankford. We have been catered to by those who own and run the hotel and all the other rentals.   So many memories of good times and so many good friends made.   We wish the family well on their next endeavor and look forward to a bright future for Sally, Sara, Mary and their families.

I am still encountering problems now and again with posting comments.   Shout out to Cathy B of With Needle and Thread - Sounds like a great road trip and retreat you attended.   And to Sue at I’d Rather be Stitching - Loved your tribute to the Queen.   She may be your Queen but just know she was loved world-wide.   And Carol as the Polka Dotted Chicken…just love seeing your quilting projects and your seasonal decorations.   Especially like your chicken with the party hat.  LOL

I have to tell you I am a bit happy with myself.   In early September I told myself, “Self, you are going to concentrate on some WIP’s and get them done!  No new starts!”    I  finished Red February.     I am not sure how I want to display this one but it is a finish.

Next I finished Christmas Rules by Primrose Cottage.  I am very happy this one is done and ready to fully finish for this year’s holiday season.

I managed the pre-stitch on the Friendship Tree, free pattern from Hello from Liz Matthews.  My guild is doing this as a one day Round Robin at the end of October.   I have the basket done and border outlined and I am ready for our first in-person meeting in over 2 and a half years!   I will pass it to friends at the meeting who will add flowers to my basket.

I want to stay on this path of wrapping up some loose ends on some UFO's but sadly I have to admit to a new start.  Not really by choice  and in my defense but by  truly my setting myself up.    I promised a friend I’d start the Civil War Huswif from Needlemade Designs so we could work on it together.   Well, when I set the date of October 15th as a start date it seemed so far away and YIKES! It is almost here and start I must do.   It is also on the dining room table waiting it's place in my luggage.   There really is not a terrible amount of stitching in this; the work lies in the assembly which is where she wants the help.  I also have the pre-stitch for a Guild project wee are doing at our November meeting.   With only two projects I should be able to make great progress.

October also brought me closer to finishing my 100 days 100 blocks quilt from Gnome Angel.   (I think I sewed #65 this morning.)  The ten minutes a day went out the window once I decided to add the sashing to each piece as I constructed them.  I then decided to start sewing the 4 x 8 and 8 x 8 sections together to make bigger blocks.   When I had enough blocks constructed, I sewed the 10 prepared blocks into a column joining the columns together as I could.   Taking little bites out of the work rather than saving the assembly until the end and trying to eat the elephant all at once is working.  Hopefully it means the quilt top will be finished not long after the last day.   I am looking forward to meeting with the gal that I will have long arm it and letting her do her magic.   First 40 blocks are assembled below.  I have the next 'column' assembled and ready to attached.   My selection of fabrics is from Aunt Grace and some solid kona cloth.   Aunt Grace fabrics are kind of 1920's - 30's style prints.  Best I can guess after adding borders, etc., this will be a queen size quilt.

I took the smallest amount of time to work on finishing.   This embroidered fall pillow was colored and stitched years ago.  I think it is called "tinting".   You actually use crayons to color the fabric and then iron to set the crayon and finally embroidering the outline.  (other steps are involved, so don't just try to color and iron.) I just never took the time to finish it.   It took less than an hour to machine sew,  turn, stuff and stitch the opening.   Why ask why……I’ve got nothing people.

So you may wonder where this motivation came from…..well truth be told I really want to start my Jackie DuPlessis project.  I promised myself that I would clear up some projects RATHER than drop them into the abyss of the Basket o' Shame.  Another motivator was  looking at my list of finishes for 2022 and it was kind of sparse.  I felt the need to put myself into high gear and get some of the dangling projects moved to the finished column.   You know, the ones you loved until something else shiny came along..   They also seem to be the ones that you pick up and say, hmm, I was so close why didn't I finish it?  I have two advent SAL’s starting December 1st and  I want those to be my only stitching obligations in December.   Come January, I will be able to start the Jackie piece with less guilt of what I have left in my wake.   That’s not to say there are still many o’ projects half finished bobbing in the water or totally washed ashore as I jet skied my needle through the fall. At least I can feel like SOME have been completed and moved off the to-do list.  

I am kind of in a movement now and think I  time might be well spent wrapping up some more WIPs’.   I have a retreat in Enfield, NH at the beginning of November and need to pull out a couple of WIPs to take with me.  One will be my year long SAL, Garden of Stitches.  I got a lot done but stopped at the last part of the September assignment.  I'm also in the finishing mood but I am saving that until November.

I told myself it is not necessary to have a new start at every girls weekend or retreat I take.  That's part of how I got into this mess o' projects.  And yet somehow I am starting the Civil War Huswif by Linda Vinson.   Ugh!   I digress……alas, there is no hope for me….

As always, thanks for stopping by.  Keep safe, keep healthy and keep on stitching.

September brings School Bells

And I was in class.   September saw me in OCMD for a Jackie DuPlessis class.   The project is beautiful albeit intense.   I debated back an forth about signing up knowing I have scads of unfinished class pieces in my forbidden closet of stash.  I also have so many projects in rotation right now and I want to finish up some WIP’s  before going astray. But sign up I did and it was all worth it.  What a great piece and what a fabulous teacher and person Jackie is.  I'm afraid I have crossed over to the dark side.   I can't wait to start but need to tame the hoard I already have.  If all goes well, this will be my January 2023 project.  Me thinks I need to sort and purge my current project basket again.

I also met Ann from Stitching Foolishness at the class.   So nice to put the face with the name and blog I follow.

Fall is around the corner.  School has started, pool is covered, flower beds are getting cleared up, cooler temps have come and the beauty of the changing leaves will soon be teasing our senses.   I’ve said it before but I just love the change of seasons.   I enjoy the weather of each season, yes even the heat and even the snow.   Seems to me when you have had enough of one, the next one is around the corner.   I am waiting for the arrival of some summer bulbs so I can get them in and will then patiently anticipate their beauty next summer.  That said, I feel that each year I am less interested in yard work.   This upsets me as gardening was my passion before stitching.  With the lack of rain we have had and the heat, I lost a few plants in  my back 40.   Seems I just have more on my-want-to-do-list that keeps jumping ahead of working in the garden.   ….to everything there is a season…..  

August also brought other great news.  Both my son and daughter got promotions at their respective jobs.  My son is now a lieutenant in law enforcement and my D-in-L is, well, she is an Electro-Chemical Engineer specializing in corrosion and instrumentation so I don’t know what she does but she is apparently doing it right!  

August ended with the Annual Thompson Family Crab Feast. All the family was here and the food was fabulous.    These times are great:  the heart swells, the kitchen shrinks, the memories created, the pounds on the scale increase, the laughter abounds, left-overs were endless and sent off in all directions.  It was the first time both grand babies spent the night without mom and dad.  For Raegan, let’s just call is an UN-sleepover.   She suffers from night-terrors so it was interesting.   She went to bed without any issues and was up in the morning happy as could be…..it was just the in between part.  

I spent some stitchy time on Christmas Rules from Primrose Cottage Stitches.    "Go sledding" and "Believe" are the last two sections to be done.   I'm feeling confident I can get this completed and fully finished for this holiday season.

I also put in some stitches on Red February from Sassy Jacks.   It is a good piece to work on when with friends as the count is large and there are no color changes.  I've got 70 more rows of the pattern to finish.  I'm not sure if I want to continue to work on it, or put it aside until next February.   I probably just ought to finish it since I am so close.

I participated in the HOD Mystery Halloween Costume Party.   Sign ups were in July, supplies gathered and then September 1st,  Cathy, Mrs. HOD herself, started the emails.   It was a great project.  Although I didn’t keep up with the every other day assignments I am working on finishing the project.

Even though I said I ws swearing off SAL's I have signed up for Moonfeather Advent SAL as well as Carol Ridyard’s Advent SAL.  Both start December 1st and continue until the 24th.   This is all I plan to work on in December; let’s hope I keep up with both.   For Moonfeathers, I signed up in late August fearing that mail from Denmark would take some time.   To my surprise, I received my package in under a week.  This is an embroidery project with each day doing a new section on what will eventually be a Christmas tree.   Carol’s i-Stitch Advent works much the same but with her emailing you each morning the next part of the pattern.  

I continue to daily thank the stars above for the wonderful life I have.  I can come and go as I please.   I have the means  to attend retreats.  I have tons of stitching friends and a few that don’t stitch but I still talk to ….lol.  I can take off for girl’s weekends at a moments notice.  My grand babies live only an hour away.  I have a happy healthy family with grand babies that think I walk on water.  Kids are successful in their jobs. Retirement is great!   Life is just plain good.

Up next month…..10 days in OCMD.  First weekend is my guild retreat and the second weekend is Jamboree at Salty Yarns.   And hey, why not spend the four days in between at the beach stitching with friends.  The ‘plan’ is for  extra days of stitching progress and NOT more time for more items to jump in my shopping bag.    

Hope everything is going well in your little corner of the planet.   Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching.