Carole’s Country Store Blog

I grew up in a middle class family in Springfield, viagra Delaware County, cialis Pennsylvania. My father was self employed and owned a body and fender shop, as it was called in those days. My mother and I were always close. I am her only daughter. Although we are alike in many ways, we are also very different. I love primitives and casual clothes, she loved lacy feminine clothes and beautiful jewelry. Yesterday I was thinking about what to wear to dinner tonight. We’re going out with our best friends of more than 47 years, for a new years eve dinner. I’m going to wear one of my mother’s big chunky rhinestone bracelets from the 1950′s. Because “bling” is so much in style right now, I thought you would like to see “the real thing”, from the 40′s, 50′s, and 60′s, and a couple that are earlier. I had all of her bracelets and pins tucked away in a box, when I thought how nice it would be to be able to look at them every day. Then I got an idea. I have a huge strawberry makedo, that’s been put away in the closet for a long time. I thought this would be a great way to display this jewelry, so I went and got it, along with a few old hat pins and began pinning everything onto the makedo. I love the way it looks and I wanted you to see it.

My mother wore this pin every Christmas and when I bring her here for the holidays, I always put it on her.

A few more broaches.

Talk about chandelier earrings! These belonged to my dear mother-in-law.

The two horsey pins on the left were mine when I was a young girl.

This pin belonged to my mother before she was married. It’s a marquesite pin, her initials, Violet Ena Burton.

This bracelet belonged to my great-aunt Mae. Probably from the 1920′s or earlier.

This last piece is a Limoge hand painted cameo. I think this is late 19th century.

New Year’s Eve is never dull, but nights like tonight happen just once in a blue moon, as they say. A blue moon or the second full moon of the month, is seen here over the Tower of David in Jerusalem’s Old City December 31, 2009.

This is a special new year’s eve because there is a rare blue-moon tonight Dec. 31st.

Once in a blue moon there is one on New Year’s Eve. Revelers ringing in 2010 will be treated to a so-called blue moon. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. But don’t expect it to be blue — the name has nothing to do with the color of our closest celestial neighbor.

A full moon occurred on Dec. 2. It will appear again on Thursday in time for the New Year’s countdown.
“If you’re in Times Square, you’ll see the full moon right above you. It’s going to be that brilliant,” said Jack Horkheimer, director emeritus of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium and host of a weekly astronomy TV show.
The New Year’s Eve blue moon will be visible in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Africa. For partygoers in Australia and Asia, the full moon does not show up until New Year’s Day, making January a blue moon month for them.
However, the Eastern Hemisphere can celebrate with a partial lunar eclipse on New Year’s Eve when part of the moon enters the Earth’s shadow. The eclipse will not be visible in the America.
A full moon occurs every 29.5 days, and most years have 12. On average, an extra full moon in a month — a blue moon — occurs every 2.5 years.
A happy 2010 to all.
Carole

I finally ventured out of the house yesterday. Our street was plowed but it still had lots of packed snow on it. The main roads were all clear, sovaldi sale and off I went. I passed Rockford Park down the street. There were tons of children sledding down the hills. All the sleds and the children’s colorful jackets made it look like a Currier and Ives postcard. It was a photo I really wanted to get. I didn’t have my camera with me, cialis but I was only a minute or two from home, so I turned around and got it. Started back to the park, when my oil light came on. I thought I smelled rubber burning. Back home again to get hubby to check the dipstick. It was dry, we had no oil in the garage, so I went straight to the dealer. After about a 30 minute wait, I was all set to go again. Off to see my momma. I walked into Rockland Place. There she was sitting at a table right next to her activities person. Guess she’s teacher’s pet. She was working on crafts, and seemed to be enjoying herself. I didn’t want to disturb her so I snuck back out, think I would come back tomorrow. On the way home I decided to stop by the Eutherian Mills With all of the snow, I knew it would look beautiful down along the Brandywine River where the mills are located. I wasn’t disappointed. Here are some of the photos I took. Enjoy!

HAPPY DAY
Carole

Well, viagra it looks like we’re having a white Christmas this year. The snow started here in Wilmington, remedy Delaware around 4 a.m. Friday morning. I got up early and spent the day baking. The smell of cookies, cherry pie and peppermint bark candy, filled the air. The fire burned all weekend, so comforting and warm. Of course, the smell of the Christmas tree is my favorite. The snow didn’t end until late yesterday, and when it was all over, we had almost 17 inches of snow on the ground.

Today the sun is shining brightly and the snow has already begun to melt. I took this picture a short time ago. The others were taken during the storm.

The stone wall in my back yard is about 2 feet high. You can see part of it still show in this photo.

Today I’ll be venturing out to see my mother. I’m assuming the roads are ok. We’ll see. I need to pick up some things at the grocery store. I want to make sure I get certain things in. I don’t want to take a chance they will be out of them later on. We are having a very simple Christmas this year. Not at all like the ones we used to have. Those days have left me with wonderful memories. There were fifteen of us around the dinner table, lots of laughs and tons of food, but this year will be different. Times have changed, but it’s all good.
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
Carole

Yesterday I had mentioned that I was going to Chadds Ford, cialis sale Pennsylvania to look at an antique I was thinking of purchasing for the store. Well, troche I didn’t get the antique, doctor but I did manage to get a photo of Andrew Wyeth’s house. I was so pleased with the way it turned out, that I am offering it in Caroles Country Store, as a download that you can print on your inkjet printer. After you make your purchase, you will get a link that will download a beautiful high resolution jpg. onto your computer, all ready for you to print. It will be a high quality print. Can you see the little red cardinal in the tree. I didn’t know he was there until I got home and downloaded my photos into my computer. What a nice surprise that was!!

This is another favorite one I took yesterday. It too will be available for download. I love the blue feather weathervane in this one. Your prints will be much clearer then they look on the internet.

I found this picture on the internet. You can see Andrew Wyeth standing in front of his house. See the blue feather weathervane behind him on the peak of his roof? That’s the one that you see in my photo. Of course, your photo will not have the “watermark”.

If you saw what I had to go through to get these photos, you would laugh. Creek Road is a narrow, winding road. Pretty dangerous. I found a place to park my car. It was at the end of a long driveway. I was so afraid the owner would want to get in or out so I had to hurry. I climbed over the barrier along the road and walked through the woods, bending down to avoid get stuck with sticker bushes! As the house came into my view, about 50 or more geese flew into the air. What a photo that would have been, but I wasn’t in position yet and my camera wasn’t turned on. I don’t know how I ever managed to get the photos that I did. I had to take them so fast, and plus, I was freezing!! I felt weird leaving my car, so I got back in a hurry. I have to say it was all worth it. I’m glad I did it. You know me, I’ll do anything to get a picture of something that I just love!
HAPPY DAY
Carole

I am sure most of you know by now that I live near Chadds Ford, view Pennsylvania, the home of the greatest American painterAndrew Wyeth.

Yesterday, my girlfriend, Carole and I spent the day together. We had a wonderful lunch at the Brandywine Bistro, and afterwards headed over to the Brandywine River Museum right across the street. The museum itself is a 19th century grist mill, internationally known for it’s unparalleled works of art by three generations of Wyeths, as well as it’s fine collection of American illustration, still life and landscape paintings. The photos above show part of the outside of the building. The sculpture was done by Michael Parks, whose studio is right here in Wilmington, DE.
To enter the museum, you walk through this beautiful courtyard.

Each year around volunteers get together and make wonderful Christmas tree ornaments, of natural materials from the area, which are sold in the museum store.

We had a wonderful time looking at all the amazing paintings by the Wyeths, and when we were done, we did a little antiquing up the road. I saw something wonderful, and I am on my way to look at it again. If I buy it, I’ll be selling it on my website store, and I’ll show it in my next post. Along the way I’ll pass Andrew Wyeth’s house. I am hoping to get a good picture of it, but it’s a narrow and kind of dangerous road, so we’ll see if I can pull over somewhere and take one. In the meantime, have a
HAPPY DAY
Carole

I know so many of your have been waiting for the 3rd doll in the series, sovaldi “The Face of the Queen Anne” by Julie Bailey. Here she is, capsule just in time for Christmas. Isn’t she wonderful! She looks just like a real 17th century Queen Anne. This wonderful series can only be purchased from my website store. She will be available in the store before the end of the day, so if you love her, don’t hesitate to email me at caroleholt@comcast.net for more information.
HAPPY DAY EVERYONE!
Carole

For me Christmas isn’t Christmas around our house without the Nativity Scene and Noah’s Ark, cialis and although I have eliminated a lot of the things I used to put out, search these two will always be a part of Christmas at our home.

Of course the Christmas tree is a big deal. I usually have two trees. One for glass ornaments, salve and one for the handmade ones, many made when my children were young. I never tire looking at them, they are so precious to me, but this year I thought I would have just the one tree and use only the glass ornaments. Yesterday we went shopping for our tree. It was freezing cold and the wind was blowing hard. We were able to find just the right tree quickly. I couldn’t wait to hop back into the car and get warm again.

We took it right into the house and put it in the stand. The tree is so pretty, I decided to keep it simple with just the garlands and white lights. I can always add to it if I change my mind again. We’ll see.

Blessings everyone
Carole

This morning’s paper had a headline that really caught my eye. It read, capsule researchers find a treasure: a letter from Jefferson.

The article talked about a letter written by Thomas Jefferson in 1808. This letter was written in response to a letter he had received, no rx telling of the death of Founding Father John Dickinson of Philadelphia and Delaware.

As you know, look Thomas Jefferson was the author of the Declaration of Independence. It is said that he had a grudge against John Dickinson for refusing to sign it. Who would know that he felt this way based on this newly found letter. Here’s what it read. “A more estimable man, or truer patriot, could not have left us,” Jefferson wrote. “Among the first of the advocates for the rights of his country when assailed by Great Britain, he continued to the last the orthodox advocate of the true principles of our new government and his name will be consecrated in history as one of the great worthies of the revolution. We ought to be grateful for having been permitted to retain the benefit of his counsel to so good an age; still, the moment of losing it, whenever it arrives, must be a moment of deep felt regret.”
At the time he wrote the letter, Jefferson was in the seventh year of his presidency. It was also 32 years after Dickinson turned away from one of Jefferson’s greatest works.
This letter was found by an aspiring student historian, only 22 years of age, while sifting through hundreds of boxes of archives, poring over a mountainous array of paperwork, letters and meeting minutes dating back to the 17th century. It was found in an unlabeled folder. The final page in the folder was a letter with an instantly recognizable signature at the bottom:Th. Jefferson. The student was only 22 years old. Can you imagine how excited she was to find such a piece of history! Anyway, I just thought you might like to know about this letter. I hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as I did this morning.
HAPPY DAY
Carole

Good morning everyone. Today is another full day. I want to visit my mother today. Seems I don’t have as much time lately to see her and it bothers me that I don’t. I’m doing the best I can, patient but with so many other things to do, sovaldi it makes it hard to find the time. My brother had a stroke and lost his speech. That’s a terrible thing to happen, no rx but I am thankful that it wasn’t worse. He is told that he will get it back but it could take six months to a year. I hope that’s true and pray that it won’t take that long. I gave a lot of thought about telling my mother. I decided against it. What good would that do. It would only upset her and I don’t want to do that. I told her he has the flu and that’s why he has not called for a while. She’s fine with that.

This week I’ll be decorating for Christmas. I think we’ll have a real tree this year. I haven’t had one for a couple of years, and I miss that wonderful smell. I have decided to decorate more simply this year. One thing I do enjoy is displaying my early dolls, bears, and some toys I still have from my childhood.

There will be some new items in the store later today, so be sure to have a look. This cute little kitty is one of them. The little wooden handmade violin is wonderful. I have owned it for over 30 years and decided it’s time to let it go for someone else to enjoy.

I love this old looking doll too, but she needs someone to adopt her and dress her for the holidays.

I have to run now. It’s getting late and the day will be half over before I know it.
HAPPY DAY
Carole