Visualizing Italy

The other day I was in the dentist's office for a 3 hour appointment.  It seems that one of my root canals (my teeth hurt just typing those two words) - well, there was a problem with the root canal and one of my teeth needed to be extracted because the problem had extended into the bone.  Lovely, right?  Anyway, between the extraction and bone graft my dentist asked me if I wanted to watch a movie or wear the very expensive Bose headphones and listen to Andrea Bocelli. 

Now, I love listening to all Italian opera, as well as to Andrea Bocelli, I mean, who doesn't?  But I've worn those headphones before and even those the audio is fabulous, every sound the dentist's tools make seem to be exaggerated 10x with the headphones - so I opted out of wearing them for this appointment. 

Instead, I decided to visualize my way through Italy, remembering the cities, towns and villages we visited this past fall.  And you know what, it really worked!  It was so interesting because one memory would lead me to the next, and the next, and so on, until my appointment was just about done. 

Since I really enjoyed my visualized trip back through Italy, I thought I'd share some of the images with you.

Lake Como, the town of Bellagio...and Venice....

Tuscany farmland and vineyards...

Florence from Michaelangelo's Hill...

The Coliseum in Rome...

Inside the Pantheon in Rome, looking up at the oculus...

FHFB and I love to travel, but we don't like being over-scheduled and tend to stay away from tours that have early morning wake-ups and lots of driving in a bus.  We tend to book a great hotel and with recommendations from friends and family, hire an experiened and affordable tour guide for a few hours - otherwise we prefer discovering things on our own. 

I usually have the restaurants already researched and reserved for dinner, (La Giostra and Garga in Florence and Pier Luigi in Rome, although I know that there are hundreds more wonderful places to have dinner!)

Our lunches are very casual and if we find a great aperitivi bar we might even end up missing dinner. 

We are planning a trip to Ireland in the spring.  My mom grew up in a small village called Kilmactranny in County Sligo, on the west coast of Ireland. 

We're hoping to see the thatched farmhouse that she grew up in and visit with some relatives that we haven't seen in many years. 

I hope you enjoyed my little travel post. 

Ciao, bella!

A Surprise in the Closet

I just got home from a Girl's Getaway with three fantastic women at the Molly Pitcher Inn in Red Bank, New Jersey.  We had a blast, and the days went by so quickly!  I've posted about Red Bank before and the wonderful antique stores located there. 

Rather than list all of the stores and restaurants we visited and include photos of some of the beautiful antique peices that I found, I thought I'd share a photo of something on saw on Thursday morning on my way down to breakfast that was very interesting but unexpected. 

Here it is:

Believe me, it caught me by surprise and of course I had to stop and take a photo.  

It looks like he was looking for somebody, doesn't it? 

He didn't seem to notice me though. 

Do you see the Mrs. standing demurely in the background? 

I also wanted to get in on Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound but I always forget that I need to post by Friday evening, so here's the photo I was going to use. 

It's a hibiscus flower that I photographed in Cape May, New Jersey last month.  I'm thinking about getting a hibiscus topiary for the farm - but I'm not sure where I would put it yet. 

I hope your weekend is going beautifully and that you are relaxing and enjoying time with friends and family.  My daughter is home for the weekend and we're taking her back home to Brooklyn tomorrow, hopefully stopping at some of my favorite food shops and boutiques as well.  

Ciao, bella! 

Baby Rowan's Quilt

A dear friend's daughter had her first baby in June, a sweet little cherub-faced boy named Rowan.  I wanted to make something special for this baby, and since I had retired in January I was determined to put together a baby quilt as a gift for the new baby. 

I found a quilt kit at a store called Quilt Addicts in Queensland, Australia and ordered it right away.  This quilt kit had all of the pieces pre-cut along with the borders - I posted a brief blog post about it as soon as I received the kit in the mail. 

Here are a few photos of the process. 

If you can sew a straight line you can put one of these together - really!!

The work station, my dining room table!

My sewing box, a gift from my mom before I was married.

Laying the quilt top on the kitchen table, pinning it to the batting and the quilt back, which was a solid piece of fabric.

I embroidered Rowan's name onto one of the borders, along with the date and our name, to make it more of a keepsake for him.

Here it is all finished, although you can't see all of it.  I took this picture before I knew how to adjust the camera for indoor lighting. 

This quilt is called an "I Spy" quilt because each triangle piece has pictures of things to find, just like an "I Spy" book. 

I hope that they have lots of fun finding the hundreds of little pictures hidden within each of the triangle pieces!

Cape May

Cape May, New Jersey has always been a favorite get-away spot for FHFB and me.  Way back when, when our two children were little, we would steal away and stay at one of the beautiful old Victorian bed and breakfast homes for a few days of total rest and relaxation. 

Several years ago we also began celebrating my birthday in Cape May, along with my very special birthday sister, Carol. 

Cape May has a lot to offer for the single traveler, couples and families.  This year we stayed at the Sand Piper Hotel right on Beach Avenue.  The location of this hotel is really fantastic, althought the rates are a little high during their peak season.  Here's a view from our balcony, sorry about the yellow van but you can see how close we were to the beach. 

FHFB and I really love so many things about Cape May.  Of course, the Victorian homes are magnificent, and staying at one of the Victorian bed and breakfasts is really a treat.  My favorite is The Mainstay Inn - to me it is the most elegant of all the B&B's we've stayed at in Cape May - it was originally the town's gambling house in the late 1890's.

We love staying at interesting hotels and inns when we travel, and will be staying at the Willard Street Inn in Burlington, Vermont in a few weeks - that is also a beautiful B&B as well and Burlington is a wonderful small city to visit.  But, I digress....

Here are just a couple of the Victorian B&B's in Cape May:

The restaurants in Cape May are phenomenal - our favorite is 410 Bank Street, located right on Bank Street!! 

Everything on the menu is delicious  - FHFB's favorite is the oyster stew.  410 Bank Street is also a BYOB so your cost for dinner is a bit more reasonable when you can bring your own wine.  This is the entrance garden as you walk into the restaurant:

It's sister restaurant is Fresco's, right next door!

Freda's Cafe is a little place that we stopped in for lunch.  Everything was delicious and freshly made. 

Another restaurant that has been in Cape May for many years is the Washington Inn.  It's a little traditional for us, but we were happy to see that they have added a wine bar to the restaurant, which serves a delicious small plate menu. FHFB and I prefer this type of dining to full out gourmet table dining - the more casual and the more options, the better for us.  The wine bar isn't mentioned on their website, but it's really worth stopping by.

Of course, if there's shopping, then you'll find me.  Cape May has some very nice shopping areas, the main area being a closed off street mall call the Washington Street Mall.  One of my favorite shops there is called The Whale's Tale - they have great jewelry - I picked up some earrings and a necklace by Holly Yashi - I love her colorful pieces. 

Here are a few more shops that are located on the Washington Street Mall:

I just loved this little window - isn't it adorable?  FHFB took this picture - it's the window to a little store called Bath Time and it's chock full of wonderful, luxurious things for the bath!  I know it looks like it's a kids store, but it's not at all, just whimsical.

Other shops out and about Cape May, but within walking distance are:

This is one of those stores for your pets.  I loved the window design in this store as well:

This little Victorian Mall is a bit outside of town but has a wonderful shop called The Bird House of Cape May, where they sell beautiful bird houses and bird feeders all made in the United States.  We purchased a beautiful little bird house with a copper roof and a great feeder for the winter.  The people there are very helpful and informative.

Other things to do in Cape May:

take a horse and buggy ride through town...

or ride the trolley.

One thing that we love to do whenever we're driving home from a long trip is to take the back roads, hoping to discover some interesting antique shops and restaurants.  We found just the thing a little bit out of town on old Route 9 in Swainton.  Dottie Page has a great antique shop called Ancient of Days Antiques. 

When we pulled up she was still straightening up from a wedding that was held on her property the day before.  The shop is actually a collection of small cottages all set on a lovely landscaped property. 

She has so many things that she also uses the backs of trucks to display some of it - all open with steps leading up so that you can go inside to poke around for something unique.  We purchased a set of antique dishes with the prettiest green design around the edges.  I could have spent all day there poking around.

I hope you enjoyed traveling to Cape May with me!

I'll be linking over at The Tablescaper for Summer Sunday!!

The Vegetable Garden at Frog Hollow Farm

Some of my blogger friends have asked to see photos of our vegetable garden. This is really FHFB's garden, he puts all of the blood, sweat and tears into it and I just pick the goodies, find delicious recipes for them and get to take photos of the beautiful harvest. 
This might be a little boring if you're not into vegetables and flowers. 

Let's take a walk!

Zinnias

Sunflowers - lots of different colors

Asparagus, resting and going to seed

Tomatoes - but they're turning red now!

Butternut Squash - first time we've grown it!

Cinderella Pumpkins - I just love these pumpkins!

Blackberries ripening - they take a while.

Rediculous zucchini - I mean totally rediculous!  I'm finding fantastic zucchini recipes in my Pasta Fresca cookbook.  There's also a grilled potato salad that includes grilled zucchini, radicchio (and goat cheese if you want to add it) with a mustard vinaigrette from and old issue of Bon Appetit that's absolutely delicious.

I can send you the recipe if you like! 

Red Onions - for FHFB's favorite tomato salad.

Basil and Green Peppers

FHFB dries a lot of basil and also makes fresh, delicious pesto for the freezer.

Italian Flat Green Beans - the best tasting green bean around!

Cucumbers and Beets 

Herbs - parsley, sage, oregano, thyme, dill and pineapple mint.

Thanks for touring with me - I hope you enjoyed our walk through the garden.

Ciao, bella!

Tomato Sandwiches

Okay, yesterday I was talking with another blogger about being in the moment, and yes, yesterday morning I was supposed to be focusing on my breath, my posture, keeping my shoulders down, tucking my tummy, tightening my butt, keeping my legs long, tightening my core (still haven't quite found that elusive thing they call the core) as well as focusing on my balance and my reach, and so many other things while at an exercise class on Monday morning. 

However, all I could think about was the tomato sandwich I was going to make with tomatoes from FHFB's garden as soon as I got home.

It was magnificent!! 
Aren't those two beautiful tomatoes??

Steamed Clams and Corn

Just had to post this very delicious dish from Martha Stewart's Living magazine August 2010 issue.

I made it for FHFB last night and he ate the entire bowl (with some help from me).  We also had a crusty loaf of semolina bread to help scoop up some of the delicious wine and garlic juices at the bottom of the bowl.  Along with a fresh tomato salad and a bottle of crisp white wine,  this dinner was easy and just perfect for a summer evening.

Lemonade and Lemon Cake for Friends and Summer Sunday

Today is kind of quiet here at Frog Hollow Farm, but we did have a short visit from some very good friends. They're married children are visiting from Colorado and Vermont, and everyone wanted to stop over to say hi and see the new back porch and bedroom additions to our home.  New Baby Rowan also came for a visit - he's 2 months old and is just the sweetest baby! 

I knew they group was planning on stopping by sometime over the weeked so yesterday I made
Ina Garten's Lemon Cake.

Lemonade seemed to be a good choice for a refreshing drink, so I had it chilling in the fridge since the early morning (I cheated and used frozen lemonade but it looks oh so homemade with thinly sliced lemons placed in the pitcher as well as some of my lemonade ice cubes with mint leaves. 

I pulled out some of my unmatched but very pretty antique cake plates along with some green glass tumblers for the lemonade and set it all on a little table on the porch. 

The dishes are a mix of Stangl and other odds and ends.  The short, green glasses have dragonflies on them and were a find at Home Goods last year.  The lemonade looked very refreshing in them!  The tablecloth is a vintage piece I found yesterday at a little antique shop in Belvidere, New Jersey called
Water Street Antiques.  FHFB and I were there to renew our passports!!  Nothing planned yet but we are hoping to travel to Ireland in June and then Sicily in the fall.

In the middle of the table I placed an April Cornell napkin.  I love the blue green and yellow hues in this napkin.  Wish I knew what the design is so I could tell you all. 

This lemon cake is easy to make and just screams summer!  I bet it freezes well too!!

Some lemony-yellow sunflowers and snapdragons from FHFB's gardens.  Aren't they lovely?  He is such a phenomenal gardener, and always plants flowers that are wonderful for cutting.

Hope you are enjoying your summer weekend!  Stop by Summer Sundays at The Tablescaper and at The Style Sisters for Centerpiece Wednesday.
Ciao, bella!