We had to turn the boat in on Friday with a plan to continue our journey to Niagra-On-The-Lake to take in a play, one of many offerings of the Shaw Festival. We had tickets for the Saturday performance of 'Sundays at the Park with George' but thought we would break up the drive by spending Friday night at a bed and breakfast along the way. I found one online called Model A Acres which turned out to be absolutely perfect.The owners, Luverne and Ian Baron, are perfect in their role as hosts being everything you hope to expect: friendly, inviting, accommodating.We had a wonderful stay. The room Richard and I stayed in was cleverly decorated with a headboard made from genuine Model A car parts with working headlights.Hannah and Sarah shared a bed in the room they call 'the loft' located right at the top of the stairs leading directly outside.Jonah, as always, had to sleep on the sofa bed in that room and claimed that it was quite comfortable.The bathroom was really cute, decorated in the 'old car' theme also with a mirror made from the grill of a car.The spacious grounds displayed Ian's passion for models of old cars and old planes. Ian built all the cars and planes you see here; he's been building since he was 12 years old. These photos should give you a feel for the grounds. This one is actually a running car where as all the other cars above are just shells. Ian told us that the weekend previous to our arrival he had been, of all places, in Birmingham, MI, for the popular Woodward Dream Cruise. So he was just a mile-and-a-half away from where we live.A couple added bonuses to this B&B were the swimming pool and the trampoline. The girls and Richard enjoyed the pool and all the kids had fun bouncing and flipping on the trampoline. Richard commented that it was the cleanest pool he had ever been in.I caught Jonah mid-flip. This was the only time I've ever seen Richard get a bit nervous for his children during a physical activity.Thanks, Luverne and Ian, for a peaceful and relaxing stay. I would recommend Model A to anyone traveling to your area. Oh! I forgot the second 'B' of B&B. The breakfast was wonderful starting with an abundance of fruit, yogurts of choice, homemade waffles, and bacon...yum! It was delicious and Luverne made a point of taking special orders.
After leaving Model A on Saturday morning we headed to our final destination, Niagra-On-The-Lake, Ontario. There are a lot of cute shops in the downtown area and Hannah couldn't resist going a little 'monkey.' Hannah's oldest sister, Courtney, has called her Monkey as a nickname since Hannah was quite young so this picture was taken for Courtney.We walked around the quaint town and spent a little time at a park next to the water. I like all three of these pictures of the girls and had a hard time deciding which one to include. We were going to be in the car on the way home on Sunday which happened to be Sarah's 16th birthday so we made a point of celebrating during Saturday night's dinner at Kelsey's Pub.Jonah's last evening of being legal age.In all the restaurants in Ontario that we were in they give the choice of a smaller glass of wine or a larger glass. Pretty cool, I think.It was a fine vacation; now it's time to pack up our feet and head home.
Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, that is. Hannah spent the last 12 days at camp with her best buddy, Madeline. The kids must choose a 'major' at Blue Lake; Hannah chose to major in art (same as last year) but this year Madeline chose band (she plays flute) over art. Hannah minored in piano and Madeline minored in art. They shared a cabin, about 20X20, with 10 other girls and a counselor. Crowded space, hence the mess. More mess means more fun, right? Twelve days is a long time for Pebbles. You can see her here cuddling on Hannah's bed with Kiwi, Hannah's little stuffed kiwi. Poor Pebbles! She misses her human! Hannah made a few things out of clay: Her paintings: And her fibers project that won the 'all-around' award in the fibers medium. She calls it 'Robot.' The award certificate is underneath it.
We listened to Madeline and the concert band play some very wonderful pieces. My favorite was the locomotive piece. Here she is on flute, center blonde.
Since Madeline minored in art, she produced one piece and it was a doll she calls 'My Sister's Doll." She gave it to her sister, Julia, who was oh-so-happy!
Here is a series of pictures of the slab rolling process to flatten clay. Keep in mind that before I had this slab roller I rolled the clay out with a rolling pin. Do you know how LONG it would take to get a piece the size below rolled out by hand and how much wear-and-tear it presented to my already-compromised right wrist??!! I'm so happy now :)))
The slab roller... Readying the canvas in the slab roller... Punching the clay a bit to ready it for it's destination on the other side... Rolling the clay through... The last of it goes in... Peeling back the canvas... Viola! A nicely flattened slab of clay... And a very happy potter!
Check back here soon for pictures of what I've got in the works. I'm experimenting with a square bowl pressed into a textured form and I've got more garden-art mushrooms in the works. If you have ANY IDEAS AT ALL of what you would like to see me try to create, let me know. You may even be the recipient of such work! Thank you to Jonah and Richard for assembling my new slab roller. It was just the kick-in-the-butt that I needed to get my hands dirty again. I'll be designing roof tiles for the brick oven and post pictures of the progress. If you would like to see some previous work, check on my 'pottery' label at the left side of my homepage.
May is a busy month for us with three birthdays, all within 6 days. Hannah turned 13 on the 17th, Chelsea turned 25 on the 22nd, and Richard the big 5-0 on the 21st. We celebrated with a big birthday bash on Saturday, the 23rd, with live music, good food, and fire juggling. I tried to keep it a surprise for Richard but there was no way that I could pull it off. While Sarah, Jonah, and I were hanging the birthday banner from the garage, he walked out and we yelled 'Surprise!'
So, of course, what else would Richard think to do but write a speech! Writing is becoming his life of late (watch for his book "Surviving Cyber War" due out in August, I believe) so it just seemed an apropos time to pen a few words.
I just love this intelligent, humorous, caring man!
The race to the finishline is underway; the finishline being the end of the school year. This is such a head-spinning time of year with all the activities going on. I want to share a few videos and pictures of late.
Sarah and her very good friend Alissa Neff performed on stage for their very first 'gig.' They are both taught by Detroit's well-known blues guitarist, Robert Noll. Robert has played with some very big names in blues including Stevie Ray Vaughn. He's been around a long while kicking up some bad-_ss blues, if you don't mind me saying. Richard took lessons from Robert for a while, also.
Robert rented a bar for an afternoon/evening and had some of his students play. Here he is introducing Sarah and Alissa with their first song of four that they played. They did a great job and I'm very proud of them. I'll post the other songs as Richard makes them available.
Along with spring comes softball. Hannah's team is doing pretty well; I believe as of today they are 2 and 2. Here is a clip of Hannah crossing the plate after hitting her first home run of the season. She's a terrific hitter.
I've been able to start working on my gardens now that the Mother Nature is giving us quick shots of dry and warmer weather. I was working in one of the areas in the back today when the two cuties next door asked if they could come over. Of course, I love when they come visit and keep me company. They like to collect worms while I'm digging around in the dirt. Here are a couple pictures of Adorable 1 and Adorable 2.
The owners, Luverne and Ian Baron, are perfect in their role as hosts being everything you hope to expect: friendly, inviting, accommodating.
We had a wonderful stay. The room Richard and I stayed in was cleverly decorated with a headboard made from genuine Model A car parts with working headlights.
Hannah and Sarah shared a bed in the room they call 'the loft' located right at the top of the stairs leading directly outside.
Jonah, as always, had to sleep on the sofa bed in that room and claimed that it was quite comfortable.
The bathroom was really cute, decorated in the 'old car' theme also with a mirror made from the grill of a car.
The spacious grounds displayed Ian's passion for models of old cars and old planes. Ian built all the cars and planes you see here; he's been building since he was 12 years old. These photos should give you a feel for the grounds.
A couple added bonuses to this B&B were the swimming pool and the trampoline. The girls and Richard enjoyed the pool and all the kids had fun bouncing and flipping on the trampoline. Richard commented that it was the cleanest pool he had ever been in.
I caught Jonah mid-flip. This was the only time I've ever seen Richard get a bit nervous for his children during a physical activity.
Thanks, Luverne and Ian, for a peaceful and relaxing stay. I would recommend Model A to anyone traveling to your area.
