KnitPony

South Carolina and Pennsylvania

One of the problems I have in posting is that I am always forgetting to download photos – because what good is a post without photos?  Another problem is that I forget to take photos because I am busy, don’t want to ask people to stop for me, etc. 

A few weeks ago I visited two friends on the east coast.  I first spent a few days with KC in Landrum, SC.  After a scare at the airport when I thought my bag was lost, it was an easy drive to her home.  Then we started talking and it seemed like we didn’t stop for two days.  We drank wine, went antique shopping, spent over an hour at Random Arts in Saluda while the owner kept showing us different techniques, visited Hendersonvilles and Greenville, hopped into and out of shops.  I was fortunate enough to be able to watch a riding lesson for KC and her daughter.  They are both such talented riders. 

Then I hopped onto a flight up north to visit Shari.  She lives about an hour west of Baltimore in Pennsylvania.  I loved the area she lives in, full of farmland and rolling hills.  The leaves were changing colors, the town is full of historic buildings but she lives in a brand new subdivision.  We mostly ran errands, but what fun.  She took me to the Amish market – the Amish come down from Lancaster on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.  Everything looked so yummy there.  We visited the barn were they board their horses, I was able to met Kira’s new horse, Ellie Mae.  On Saturday, we ran errands to find the rest of our Three Blind Mice costumes for a Halloween party we went to with another Las Vegas friend, Susan, who moved to Maryland last April.  We visited a market which sold mostly local fruits and vegetables, cheeses, the best apple cider and wonderful sandwiches.  I want to go back and look around her area more.  I am wandering if I would like living there when Mel finishes school and we retire.

I had never given much thought to living anywhere else or retiring but I am getting a bit of wanderlust.  I don't think I want to move back to California - the fires scare me.  I would want to live somewhere away from a city where I could see the stars, which in California is prime fire area. 

These women are so wonderful.  I feel blessed to have them in my life.. 

So Excited

I am so excited.  Tomorrow morning I am flying to South Carolina to visit my dear friend, KC, for a few days.  She asked what I wanted to do and I told her just poke around her part of the world.  We're going to visit downtown Greenville and I hope we will be able to visit Random Arts in Saluda.  I'll be tagging along with her to a jumping lesson for her and her daughter - I haven't seen her ride in soooo long. 

Then on Friday morning, I will be flying up to Pennsylvania to visit another friend, Shari in Glen Rock.  She's going to drive me around and show me how wonderful it is to live there.  On Saturday night, another friend, Susan is joining us at a Barn Halloween Costume party.   These ladies all lived in Las Vegas, I met KC and Shari through their daughters in Pony Club and Susan is KC's best friend.  I miss them and going on road trips with our daughters.  I'll be leaving Mel and AB at home.

Speaking of Mel, she attended her first high school Homecoming Dance a few weekends ago.  It felt like a rite of passage - for ME!  She went with a group of 18 kids; 5 boys and 13 girls - only two couples.  One of the boys arranged for a "party bus" to pick them up at one of the girl's homes, they went out to dinner, to the dance and then back to another girl's home for a sleepover (without the boys).  She had a great time. 

In this picture Mel's friend is showing her that Mel could be a chameleon and blend into the wall. 

Ellis Island: Ghosts of Freedom

During our New York City trip, last Christmas we visited Ellis Island.  After hearing so much about Ellis Island in films and books, I was excited to have a chance to go there.  We did not have much interest in stopping to see the Statue of Liberty (although it was very cool to be so close to it while on the boat).  While I was looking forward to touring Ellis Island, I wasn't sure how interesting it would be for Mel.  She found it fascinating and spent far more time examining the displays that I had anticipated. 

There was an exhibit of photographs by Stephan Wilkes of the unrestored Ellis Island buildings.  The photographs were fantastic, haunting and strange, full of green light and very organic feeling.  After we came home I looked for a book of the photographs but could not find one.   On July 1st, "Sunday Morning" on CBS did a story about the photographs - I found out there was a book.  It was published last October, I don't know why I couldn't find it before.  It's a great book, I highly recommend it.

Ellis Island, Ghosts of Freedom

Scottsdale

I had the pleasure of visiting Scottsdale last week.  AB and I took Mel and Whisper to a Jumper show at Westworld.  What a great facility - it makes me jealous that there is nothing even close in Vegas.   Mel and Whisper completed their classes each day by 9ish.  We would stay and watch some of the other jumpers, admire horses and then AB and I would take off for a couple of hours.  Mel just wanted to stay at the show with her friends and trainer.  We had lunch at a couple of great restaurants.  Olive and Ivy at just opened a few days before we ate there last Thursday.  The food and decor was great.  The pasta could be a bit thinner, but the flavor combinations were great.  On Friday we changed hotels so that we would be closer to Westworld, after we checked into the new hotel we drove down Scottsdale Road looking for something interesting.  We ended up at Keirland Commons and wandered until we decided that Zinc Bistro was the place for lunch.  We were not disappointed.  I had a wonderful duck confit sandwich with braised cabbage - yum!  We then did a little shopping before we headed back to Westworld. 

I found a lot of time to finish up some knitting during the driving and during the waiting parts of the trip.  Mel had a great time hanging around the horses and we managed to get some tack store shopping in for her.  I think I want a Schwinn electric scooter for my next horse show, someone had one there and it zipped around very nicely.

On Saturday AB and I found my grandparents' home.  I haven't seen it since my Grandma died about 18 years ago.  It used to have grapefruit trees in the front yard, all of the houses did in the neighborhood but they were all gone now. The house looked well loved with Halloween decorations and rockers on the front porch.    I'vd recently had dreams that took place in this house so it was funny to see it.  I chipped my front teeth on the street in front of the house when I was 10.  I can remember throwing stones at a wasp nest in the palm tree.  We ran inside, the wasps stung the mailman's head and we got in a bit of trouble.  We swam for hours every day, watched storms come in over Camelback and spent hours doing nothing.

I got nothing

I had big crafting/sewing plans for the weekend.  I was sending Mel and Whisper off to Pony Club camp with my trusted friend, her daughter and their horse.  They were supposed to depart from Vegas at 8 am - they didn't leave the barn until 8:30 but that's still OK.  AB and I went home and hung around.  Around 9:40 I get a call from trusted friend, "Guess where we are?"  - Ummmmm, let's see you should be between Stateline and Baker - nope they are only a mile from the barn!  Miscommunication and a need for Starbucks delayed the family they were supposed to be caravaning with.  I was so upset, the poor horses stuck in a trailer for that time with no movement.  It was 97 degrees at 8 am for goodness sake.

Finally they get on the road, but I'm still worried about them, the horses, the heat.  I had scheduled a pedicure and was sitting in the chair when I get a call from Mel.  They had a tire blow out on the trailer.  Everyone was fine, the horses were fine and they had help to change the tire but that totally sent me over the edge.  I could not concentrate on anything at all until I knew they were in Moorpark and had safely arrived at camp. 

So my weekend was supposed to consist of Saturday; crafting/sewing, pedicure, more crafting/sewing, shopping and dinner with AB; Sunday; crafting/sewing, napping, looking at some work I brought home, doing anything I want.  I wasn't able to concentrate on Saturday so it consisting of nervous knitting and staring at the TV and I wasn't in the mood to go out.  Sunday I went to the barn to get my spare tire from the trailer to bring down to Moorpark with me on Wednesday, then kept my shopping date with AB (it was shopping for him not me) and lunch.  I thought I would get something done last night but realized that there were excessive heat warnings in California and decided to make neck coolers to bring to the kids at camp. 

So tomorrow, AB and I are leaving at 4 am to drive to Moorpark.  I'm hoping that I can catch Mel riding, I heard she and Whisper were great on cross county.  We'll deliver the neck coolers, ice, more drinks, say hi to everyone and then head on to Santa Barbara.  I hope to hit a fabric store, knitting store and many other stores in Santa Barbara, we'll eat out, sit on the porch, walk on the beach.  AB does have to do some work there, but I'll survive....

South Carolina

We just got home from a week of visiting friends in South Carolina.  I wish we could just move our life from Las Vegas to South Carolina.  It was one of the most relaxing vacations I have ever had.  Visiting two old friends didn't hurt either.  It's funny that both friends ended up moving to the same state within a few months of each other.  They were finished with Las Vegas.  Visiting them I understand why.  It is absolutely beautiful there.  The dogwood trees were just beginning to blossom when we arrived in Landrum, there were so many colors of green in the woods.  The horses get to live on grass, not cooped up in stalls.  Their kids get to run around, catch frogs, play games, ride horses.  My friend in Landrum has a great house that looks out over their own private pond.  This is amazing to me, growing up in the suburbs of So Cal and then moving to Las Vegas - the idea of someone having their very own pond is just mind boggling.  They even have an otter living on their land and I saw it on my birthday.  It was a present to see the otter.  I can't be jealous because she's totally awed that she's there.  She said she pinches herself daily and it's like living a vacation every day.   One day there was a wild turkey in her pasture.

My other friend is down in Aiken.  She and her family are also having a great time.  We sent Mel's pony, Skippy, to live with her family.  Her horses look so happy.  She looks so happy!  Mel and her son took the horses for a trail ride right from their property. 

I love my life and my home but sometimes I wish I could look out and see fields of green and lots of trees.  At least I have friends who welcome my family into their homes and we can spend lazy days with them, drinking wine on their porches, watching our children play.  I'm very happy that Mel was invited back for a couple of weeks this summer.  She'll have such a wonderful time.  I'm thinking of a way that I can sneak back for a little bit too.  I want to see fireflies.