Winter Break Faves

How awesome that it's the last Friday of February??!!

That means just a few more weeks of winter!  Hallelujah!  I'm looking forward to warmer, sunnier days and things starting to grow.  How about you?

For now, let's pause and look back at the week to find FIVE of our FAVE blessings.  Mine were just little things.  Join in and link up at Susanne's site.

  I've been on Winter Break from teaching all week. It's been nice to just relax and have some free time.

image courtesy of Glens Falls Region site
The Hyde Collection/Museum
shown here on a Spring evening

• COLORAMA EXHIBIT:  Courtney (our oldest) and I had a mother-daughter date last Saturday while Dave was in Boston at a writers conference.  We wanted to see the Kodak "Colorama" exhibit which depicted many of the commercial art that hung in Grand Central Terminal Station during the 1950s-early 1980s.  Sadly, of course, we counted just two families of color in the art.  A sad depiction of the times and the media.  The exhibit was just wonderful though and we followed it up by lunch at a fave coffee spot in the downtown area.  Because the museum is only about a 35 min drive from our house, we were home by mid-afternoon to tackle some basement purging. I'm really thankful we had the day together.

Fine bone china from England
from my mother's collection
Courtney's is the left one, mine is the right

• PURGING and TEA TIME:  Courtney went through her stored possessions in the basement, as well as her closet of clothing.  I also went through my closet.  Between the two of us, we were able to donate SIX big bags of old dishes, childhood toys & games, books, and clothing.  We then re-organized the basement storage area a bit so that when Claire comes home from UNH in May, there will be more room for her college dorm stuff.  I also re-arranged the living room furniture and gave it a good cleaning, re-organized my kitchen counter tops and cupboards and gave the dining room floor ( hardwood) a good cleaning and polished the wood. We also enjoyed a steaming mug of tea in the tea cups we inherited after my mother died. Courtney had peppermint and I enjoyed Cinnamon-Vanilla. We were so tired but the tea revived us.  I'm so thankful we had the time to spend together!

• NEW FINDS!  Yesterday I spent the day in the southern Adirondacks in the town where my mother grew up and where my parents had a camp for us girls while we were young in the 1960s-1975.  I met my cousin Kenny for lunch in town and did some shopping at the country mountain store there.  I found these!  LOVE them!! The book is one for hikers with trail descriptions for the 54 peaks that are the "lower" high peaks...some of you may have heard of the Adirondack High Peaks....well, most hikers only do the highest 46.  These are the other 54 that make up the tallest 100 mountains in NYS which all happen to be in the Adirondacks.  I've only hiked 3 high peaks and several of the lower ones so getting this book is great for me as I've been wanting to tackle some of the other 54.  I can't wait!!  And the travel mug? well, it's always a plus to get a good coffee mug and the pattern just begged me to buy it!  I'm thankful for a nice day away from the house.

The Northville Lake, snow-covered and frozen,
Southern ADKs

to the right of the snowy driveway used to stand a broken down cabin...
....where my mother was born!
This road leads to where our summer camp used to be.
my cousin lives about 1 mile up the road.
  I'm related to many of the people who live there
either from my dad's side of the family or my mother's.

• READING TIME:  There's nothing more awesome than curling up with a good book and a big chunk of time.  I've had both the past week.  I spent so much time reading one day when it was cold, grey, and just blah outside.  I had no housework to do, no errands to run, and so I curled up on the family room couch with a cozy fleece blanket, after my treadmill workout, and just read for about an hour. It felt heavenly.  I'm thankful for restful times and good books to read!

top photo:  The Sacandaga River, under snow and frozen solid!
bottom photo:  Looking out over the Sacandaga from River Road to the hills
in the town of Hope:  southern ADKS

• TIME IN NATURE:  after lunch with my cousin, who lives right in Northville, he rode in my car to one of my fave spots outside of the village near where my Grandparents (dad's mom and dad) used to live until they died.  The photos depict the area where I've hiked in the past, during the summer months.  The top picture, if it was spring, would show a fast moving river.  I was in awe at the stillness of the land, the stark beauty, the deep snow (we only have a couple inches where I live an hour south of there).  We saw three deer on the side of the road as we headed back to the village.  Sadly, I was driving and my cousin didn't think to grab my phone to snap some pics.  The time in the fresh mountain air was just what I needed.  I'm so thankful I took the time to drive outside the village and show my cousin, who is NOT a hiker, a beautiful spot.  My car wouldn't make it much beyond where these photos were taken due to significant snow and ice so I couldn't take pics of the exact trail where I've hiked before.  It's very remote and doesn't get plowed well as most of the homes there are seasonal (summer only).

that wraps up my "Winter break" faves.

Whatever you have planned for this weekend, I hope it includes some of your very favorite things.

Happy weekend!