Heading North for the Summer
Just want to see the summer 2022 photos ....... click here
I decided that the 17 hr drive to Salem NY - thru DC, Baltimore, Philly, NYC, was pushing my limit at 73 so I flew Zac down to help with my drive up. I will definitely repeat this the next time I plan on driving up - It was so nice not to be so tired and tense for 2 straight days.
Besides Zac doing a few of my "Honey Dos" while he was home, he did find some time to enjoy the beach with his friend, Aaron, from Charleston SC.
We stopped driving after about 12 hours and stayed at Megan and Chris's House in Lincoln University PA
We safely arrived in Salem in time for Lucy's Graduation. She will be attending College of Charleston (I am hoping for visits)
Katrina, Lucy, Milo
After graduation - celebration dinner !
Katrina and Zac are still working on expanding and improving their VT house. Zac is turning an old garage into a bedroom. He has removed the slate roof, fixed the damaged parts of the roof and has gotten the framing done -- Now they are just waiting for an electritian to do his part. I am so impressed with all the construction Zac has the skills to do - I sure as hell didn't teach him. Before I finally bought myself a tool box - I would use a shoe or book as a hammer ..... All single women should have a toolbox to avoid the shame of using a shoe as a hammer or a knife as a screwdriver.
For one day I helped Katrina scrape and paint two walls of their house. Katrina picked a color I would have never picked but it really looks good.
Activities at SAW (Salem Art Works)
There is always something interesting going on at SAW - Summer started out with "Music on the Hill". Lots of locals, kids, food and beer trucks.
Then the artists start arriving - The first group to arrive were the college art majors that are 2 month residents. They live on campus, work for the rm and board and then create their projects during their free time. This group seemed to really like Zac's foundry section- so almost every week there was either an iron, bronze or aluminum pour.
Aluminum pour
SAW also had a grant that funded a 2 week stay for some VT & NY area artists. Local Salem teens also had a day program. They were shown and/or experimented with blacksmithing, stone carving, painting, welding, pottery, and glassblowing. In August "Salem 2 Salem" - the Germany/US artist exchange program arrives. Since I returned to Georgia at the end of July, I will sadly miss this fun artistic group.
NBOSS - North Bennnington Outdoor Sculpture Show
It was the 25th year of NBOSS - Zac has participated in a lot of them since he received his Masters from Bennington College. He actually won an award last year and was interviewed by Vermont Public Radio. (Sorry moms have to brag at some point in time) This year I got to watch the de-instillation of the 2021 sculptures and the instillation of this years entries. Gary, Anthony and Zac, our three artists from SAW all had large pieces to enter into the show. Interesting day !
March - iron flag - beginning of his sculpture
June - Finished sculpture
In with the new and out with the old
Peter Lumberg - one of the artists that has a lot of his large cement/steel sculptures at the SAW Park
Gary's, "Birdbath", SAW artist and my housemate
SAW has 3 of Mark di Suvero's sculptures - This year they are repainting them Supportive Friends
Last September's death of Margie, has been hard on all of our group. Our group dynamics have changed but the caring and love is still there. I couldn't seem to shake the Margie blues' which was quickly noticed by my friends. They have been going out of their way to engage and get me to sluff off the blues. The last 4 summers Margie had always come to Salem to visit - This year Paula, Maria and Mimi flew down to spent a week with me this summer. Don't worry I am very aware of how lucky I am to have such supportive friends. This type of caring is normal for this group. Sixteen years ago when I was in China and having a comparitively very minor blue period - Paula and Maria actually flew to Shanghai and Hangzhou to support me. Don't feel too sorry for them - they got to see a little of China and get some real nice deals on pearls! Wow what friends........
2006 Shanghai and my cheerleaders !
Pushy Paula required me to develop an itinerary for their Salem trip, so I researched and made sure we did a variety of activities.
22 - pick up airport -"Hatties" lunch -Tavern dinner & trivia (we didn't win)
23 -Lunch at SAW - Granville - slate Museum and Pember Library - The Barn for dinner
24 -Bennington VT -Mt. Equinox -Chocolate Barn - hotdog food truck - Northshire Bookstore - hardware store
25- Boat ride Lake St Catheines - Wine bar
26 Dorset farmer's market and Gardenworks lunch
27 Chill day and Revolutionary War graveyard - Mimi actually found Moncrief gravestones- her mother's family name - Dinner with Katrina and Zac at the Dorset VT Barrow's House
28 leave for Albany airport 10:00
In my Salem backyard with Zac (and Gary's Porsche)
This is probably why we lost trivia that night -- too many Star Trek Questions ! All your fault Paul !
In North Bennington VT - seeing the NBOSS - outdoor sculptures
Scenic drive to the top of Mount Equinox
Boat ride on Lake St Catherines
Revolutionary War Graveyard
Every morning we ate our breakfast on the front porch. We watched the birds and the 3 chipmunks (Chip, Dale and Mary) that hung around eating all the birdseed the bluejays would toss out of the feeder. SO BESIDES the toolbox that all single women should have - make sure you also have wonderful supportive friends. Thank you girls!
This one was Dale - recognizable because of his shorter tail.
4th of July - Salem Parade
Please note that Salem is in the middle of farming/dairy land, which will explain the huge tractors and other items in the parade - might be another reason Zac moved here - he loved Tonka trucks when he was a kid.
With all those artists - there are also lots of art openings.
These were all done by Paul - the guy that made us lose our Trivia game with all the Star Trek Questions ... I may not like his questions but I enjoy his art.
Zac, Katrina and the dogs came to the opening too !
Quinn's
This one was welded together by some of the teen day artists
Finally it was blueberry picking season - They were so plentiful I could pick 5-7 lbs in just an hour. Ava went with me one day.
With all the young artists living in the area - there always seems to reason to throw a party...... Mid July - Zac had a little B-Sides party for the artists - on the "back 40" at sunset.
Gary (besides all the work he does for SAW) managed to find some time to keep our toilet working, work on restoring a Morgan, catch a groundhog and captain us around on the lake. Thank you Gary for all you do.
Quick visit with Mimi and crew.
Mimi and some of her family had driven up for a wedding. They were sort of meandering back home by way of upperstate NY, and Niagra falls. They stopped at SAW for a tour and an ice cream cone at the Creamery.
Tom and Mimi
Joany and Paul
Glamping
Paula's family - the Galland clan - is large and the family tree is way too confusing to explain. Being friends with Paula and Bob means I have traveled with most of the rest of the Galland clan at one time or another. Steve and Lucy Galland have one of those fancy ass RVs and were camping at Lake George which is only about 40 minutes from Salem. They invited me to spend the night with them - so now I can say I have been "Glamping" and it was NICE !
First day we drove north to the Lake Champlain area - we stopped at a yummy apple store for a great apple caramel pecan pie and apple cider donuts. We stopped at Westport and had a nice picnic before driving to Crown Point State Park where we wandered around the old forts. Back to the RV then yummy steaks cooked on the grill which finished out our day.
Next day was a boat ride on Lake George in one of the tourist boats. Makes ya want to win the lottery and purchase one of those fancy houses on the lake - but the tent camping did look like fun in the "narrows" area.
Back at SAW - Katrina, Zac, Sarah and I celebrated my birthday with Bison steaks, kale and cupcakes. Then I flew home and picked up my real birthday present ........
I ordered my new Subaru Forester in February but by the middle of July it hadn't been delievered yet -- I was worried that I would be without a car for a while but 4 days before my flight I got the call from Todd, my sales guy, that my car had come in !
