"Wetland Reflections" Awarded 1st Place Honors

I just learned that this photo, "Wetland Reflections", was awarded 1st place in the "Garden Views" category for Washington Gardener magazine this year. It was taken with my Nikon D7000 at Huntley Meadows Park.

A Paper Marbling Class at Cat Tail Run Hand Book Bindery - A Wonderful Experience

 
A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of taking a class in paper marbling with Regina and Dan St. Johns, of Chena River Marblers, at Cat Tail Run Hand Book Bindery in Winchester, Virginia.   It was so much fun!

Marbling had been suggested to me as a possible demonstration (beside Jeff when he is blackmsithing) at historical events.  While I loved marbling, the 18th-century process can pretty much only be done by a handful of people and I am not one of them at this point!  Dan St. John is one such individual, I should point out.  The historical process is very complex and involves much study and specially-handcrafted paints.  I hope to learn that one day, but suffice it to say, I still have much to learn with modern materials! Neither Jeff nor I believe in trying to teach something we aren't proficient in -- that's not fair to anyone -- so I am tabling the idea of demonstrating marbling for the time being.  Instead, I am going to enjoy it for myself!

Regina and Dan are incredibly patient and skilled teachers, and I thoroughly enjoyed being with them and the other students for two days.  There is a lot of bad marbling out there, and to see it done very, very well was a treat.  And, to learn some pointers from them was even more special!  Students came from all over the country because the St. Johns are so well-recognized in their field.

Some students had taken the same class for the past 4 years!  As for myself, I was a newbie and am still trying to avoid air bubbles in my work, but I improved over the two days and discovered a love of color and a love for the process.   I can't wait to learn more.

And, I want to mention that Cat Tail Run Book Bindery is an amazing place on its own.  Jill, the owner, and her staff are so talented and welcoming that it is a treat to drive down the lane and enter the property, where books are loved and cats roam the property.  While it doesn't come up much, I do have a master's degree in English Literature, so I am very happy among both books and cats!  Jill offers a slew of classes on book binding, as well, if you are so interested.

So, many thanks to Dan and Regina St. John, and Jill and the rest of the staff at Cat Tail Run Hand Book Bindery for a wonderful class in paper marbling!

Claude Moore Colonial Farm's July Market Fair: Day 1 -- Cooking Trivets, Turkeys, Fencing (and Much More)!

As always, we had a great time at Claude Moore Colonial Farm's Market Fair.  We demo for all their Market Fairs (the 3rd weekends in May, July, and October) and it is such fun to see all our friends and teach the many visitors, who often become our friends, too!   Here are some scenes from the first day of the fair:

Jeff decided that Day 1 of the Fair would be spent making cooking trivets...among all the other projects that he and Vince picked up along the way (we often forge custom pieces for folks who visit the fair).   I am eager to have a cooking trivet for outdoor or hearth cooking and Jeff hadn't made one of these trivets in years:

 

Anyone who has come to the fairs can hear the cry, "Bread...Bread for Sale" for days afterward!:

I would LOVE to remember what Jeff was discussing in these photos!: 

 Not only did we have two smiths working on projects, but we also brought along our kid-friendly anvil with smaller-sized tongs and hammer, and aluminium, which doesn't have to be heated in order to bend.  It's always very popular:

 

Love the camera with the historical costumes. It's the way I pretty much look at most of these fairs!:

 

 

Photos from Day 2 to come....

Funny Reenactment Photo -- Cannons are LOUD!

I knew the cannon was going to fire...I was ready....yet still totally surprised when the cannon fired.  As you can see, I jumped!  These are the times when it'd be really great to have a tripod.  :-)  Actually, this would be the perfect advertising photo for a tripod company!

Amazing Morning Light at Huntley Meadows

Jeff has been away at a blacksmithing class this weekend, so the boys and I have kept very busy, starting with a morning walk at one of our favorite places, Huntley Meadows.   Huntley Meadows is an amazing wetlands in the middle of suburbia and is one of the places I rarely (if ever!), go without my camera.  It is always different.  We say that if you don't see something amazing at a walk there, it is because you haven't been looking.

On this trip, we got up close to a Canada Goose and saved some toadlets that were trying to cross a gravel path.  I had pretty much drug the boys out of the house early because I didn't want to miss the light. On the downside, the turtles and snakes weren't out much, but on the plus side, there was great light!:

 

 

Open Hearth Cooking Class at the Collier House at Catoctin Furnace

We were blessed to spend the day at the restored Collier House (circa 1810) at Catoctin Furnace at an open hearth cooking class titled “Feast at the Furnace”.  While I have some experience with open-hearth cooking from working at Mount Vernon, I jumped at the chance to spend a full day getting more comfortable with fire management.  I cook a LOT, so the recipes weren’t my focus — what I really needed was a better comfort level working with the fire and to learn how to cook with coals.

 

Priscilla Rall put together the program, and it was amazing!  I am so thankful to have met Priscilla at one of our demos at the Market Fairs at Claude Moore Colonial Farm and she happened to remember from our conversation that I was looking for an open hearth cooking class.  She emailed me about the opportunity and we seized it…the whole family came.  Jeff intended to drop me off and take the kids hiking, but there was an open fire….and you know how he is about fire!  :-)  Plus, he became intrigued by a waffle maker and wanted to get it working properly!

The menu included apple pies, apple fritters, apricot and apple pudding, gingerbread waffles, toast, gingerbread, chestnuts, rabbit smothered in onions, fried sausages with apple and sauerkraut, grilled venison, ham hocks, freshly-churned butter, scrapple, the beginning stages of sauerkraut, and rice cakes.  It was a ton of food — when we got one thing off the coals, another took its place.   And, that was the type of class it was….you jumped in and got involved with whatever recipe intrigued you, and then moved onto another…and there were at least 4 recipes going on at a time. 

What an amazing experience!  If you get the chance to attend one of the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society's Open Hearth Cooking Class, please do so!  You won’t be disappointed.  

Announcing Our Spring and Summer Demo Schedule!

As spring begins, we are working at Mount Vernon and Jeff is teaching blacksmithing classes before the summer heat arrives.  If you are interested in a class or two, this is the time to do it!  We are still finalizing some details, but this is how our spring and summer demo schedule is shaping up:  

April 26 - 14 Fairfax Civil War Day (10 a.m. - 5 p.m.) in Fairfax, Virginia.  This is a new event for us, but we are excited to participate in support of Historic Blenhein. Plus, with cannons, living history encampments, period music by “Home Front,” tours of the Historic Blenheim House and grounds, hayrides, and more, it looks like a lot of fun!

May 3 - Wye Colonial Fair (10 a.m.-3 p.m.) in Wye Mills, Maryland.  This will be our 3rd year demo’ing at this lovely church festival, complete with wagon rides, a May Pole, good food, children’s activities, a Blessing of the Animals service and a beautiful church building. Last year, my kids learned to make char cloth at this event….we are excited to see what this year brings! 

May 18-19 - Claude Moore Colonial Fair (11 a.m. - 4 p.m.) in McLean, Virginia.  Our longest-standing demo, we don’t miss a fair!  Fencing, great food, wonderful children’s activities, very nice plants for the garden, all on a small-scale so it is enjoyable for everyone. 

June 7 - Raiders and Invaders (12 p.m. - 6 p.m.) in Leonardtown, Maryland.  This War of 1812 commemoration looks to be a lot of fun!  The event is June 6-8, but we’ll only be demo’ing on the 7th. 

From the event’s website: “Site of no great battles but with a whole lotta raiding going on by those ornery  British, the war years of 1813 and 1814 were pretty much a bummer for local folks.  Two centuries later, let us harken back to those years of raiding and invading.  We’ll bring you some serious history, but we’re throwing-in more than a dollop of tongue-in-cheek fun.   Find street theater, circus arts and invasion route boat tours—plus our own British Invasion—1960s style!”

June 21-22 - War of 1812 Fair and Reenactment (10 a.m.- 4 p.m., with evening activities on the 21st) at Jefferson Patterson Park, Maryland.  We’ve done this War of 1812 Commemoration the past two years, but this is a bigger, 2-day event that promises to be amazing. We’ve seen their reenacted battles before and they do it well!  

July 19-20 - Claude Moore Colonial Fair (11 a.m. - 4 p.m.) in McLean, Virginia. 

August 13-16 - ABANA National Conference in Harrington, Delaware.  Jeff is on the board of ABANA, but even if he wasn’t, he’d be attending the conference.  It’s a great way to see many different types of blacksmithing — what a learning experience!   

August 23 - The Battle of Bladensburg Commemoration in Bladensburg, Maryland (11 a.m. - 5 p.m., with additional evening activities).    This is our final 1812 event of the summer season and it promises to be a good one, complete with fireworks over the Anacostia River! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Surprise! One of My Photos Arrives as a Brochure from AHS

When I looked through the mail yesterday afternoon, I was surprised to see one of my photos as part of a brochure from the American Horticultural Society!  I did know that they had used this photo in one of their brochures, so it wasn’t a bad surprise at all, but it it was still a bit of a shock to be ruffling through the bills and junk mail, etc…and see one of my photos in the mix!  

It was a good reminder that spring is on the way, despite the snow and freezing rain still coming down this morning.  I actually dug out the seed-starting equipment and am going to start some seeds this morning.   

Eyes of Wonder on a Winter Walk

Getting out into nature with a child is an amazing experience….  it literally changes your perspective!