Cheers to people who. . .

After leaving Weber County we entered beautiful Morgan County. Not big on population but big on beauty and charm.

Cheers to people who make deep fried ice cream that we ate at the East Canyon Resort. I think it must have been because we had been in the car for several hours and needed a break but this was a fun stop.

This dessert was ice cream, wrapped in a flour tortilla, deep fried and finally topped with cream and cherries (or strawberries if you'd rather). We ordered 2 for four of us and after we'd fought over who got the last bite we ordered two more. I am a little embarrassed by this--it wasn't the most refined or gourmet thing I've eaten, but I have to admit it was fun.


Yep, cheers to people who make "Silent Wind Chimes." Isn't that actually just a picture or maybe folk art--not to the folks at East Canyon Resort--there, they are wind chimes that have the audacity to not make a sound!

They were kind of pretty. (This picture does not do it justice though.)

Cheers to people who, put flowers next to RR tracks -- Morgan City, Utah

and put roads though mountains.

Rosie's Cottage

I received a phone call a few days ago from the woman who previously owned our house. Her husband died over a year ago and her health was in decline so late last summer she had to sell the house she'd lived in for decades. We bought the house on the last working day of 2011. She loved her house. My husband and I could tell just by walking through it. They had customized the house to fit their needs to an extreme degree. 

It has six small bedrooms, a dark room and his and her separate work/craft rooms. There was a rose motif throughout the house, the back door with roses etched into the glass, the trash compacter with a wooden rose stenciled on the handle, rose address tiles and actual roses, roses everywhere. 

I counted over 25 rose bushes just in the small garden in front, probably 20 in a similar garden in back and another 20 at least throughout the yard. 

We decided not to do anything with the roses until we had seen them bloom. I wanted to see and smell them and I am glad I did. We were in for an extravaganza of rose variations and boy oh boy, do they ever smell good. 


I've been trying to discern the types and it looks like we could have, Alba, Austin, climbing, floribunda, hybrid tea, miniature and roses that have gone to root stock, to name a few. I wish I knew the exact varieties --I am pretty sure there is a Peace Rose and my particular favorites are a yellow rose that smells faintly citrusy, a deep red with a wonderfully saturated heavy sent and the cabbage style roses that look like peonies.

Anyway, back to my conversation with the woman I now call Rosie (real name withheld because it's not near as fitting).  She thanked me for sending her roses. Unbeknownst to me--my very thoughtful and non-communicative husband had told the neighbors who are still close friends with Rosie that if they were going to visit her in the retirement home that they were always welcome to take roses to her. They did. 

Our conversation was very nice. She of course talked of her love for the house and we had a discussion on the cultivation of roses. I spoke of a recent infection of aphids that is now under control. She spoke of the things she loved about her historical home. I knew she had not been ready to leave, but circumstances forced her out. The conversation made me both happy and sad. 

I was happy that I shared the love of the house. It is simple, useful and charming. It is smaller than we were used to, but it feels right. It is slightly run down and we've been ripping out wallpaper, painting and putting in new light fixtures. We found beautiful wood floors under carpet and we sanded and waxed them back to life. The list is long of other repairs that need to be done--but nothing is urgent. It has a view of my beloved Mount Olympus and of our neighbors beautiful gardens. It is a family neighborhood with a strong community feel and one we are familiar with. My son can run and play with his friends at a moments notice. So much of what I love about the house is what she had loved about it too.















I was sad because life marches on, children move away, husbands die and our bodies fail.  I was sad because we've already made changes to her beautiful cottage that I know would make her sad. We took out the kissing dove bird bath in the front rose garden and other small statuary.  A neighbor approached me at church and asked me what I had been doing inside the house and I just mentioned that we are updating it a bit. She must have been a friend to the previous owners because she made the statement that "some day someone was going to do the same thing when you move out," like I had personally offended her by making changes. Even though it hurt my feelings it also made me feel good that the family who lived there previously had made an impact--were thought worthy of defending.  

The phone conversation ended and I was left with an overwhelming feeling of love for the woman. She just had to connect with us and check on her roses. 

We've left pretty much all of the roses in front untouched. We had to remove a couple that had gone to root, a few that were crowded against the house and crowding other bushes. The back has been a different story, we have removed quite a lot and I've said a silent prayer asking for Rosie's forgiveness.

Beautiful Morningside Heights in NYC

We went to NYC all of last week for my daughter's Senior Recital and graduation from the Manhattan School of Music. It was one of the best trips we have ever taken. Everyone was old enough to enjoy the trip and were really good sports, because we walked and walked and walked and walked--just like those pioneer children who sang.

I am always amazed and inspired by the city. When I traveled to NYC before my daughter went to school there I didn't love the city. When my daughter moved there I realized I just didn't like Times Square much, and that is where I'd mistakenly spent so much of my time.

I love my daughter's neighborhood, nestled at the bottom of Harlem, right next to Riverside Park and right in the Morningside Heights section of the city. The picture above is of the view from Grant's Tomb, right next to Riverside Park. Lovely to see so many people learning to ride unicycles on a sunny Sunday (only in NYC).

This area of the city is vibrant, ageless, intellectual, full of seminaries and full of energy from Harlem. Columbia University is near and there are many yummy affordable restaurants and lots of outstanding architecture.

Normal street view

I've become obsessed with front doors, because our new house really needs new ones. New York City is the place to be inspired by doors! These might be a bit grand for our 1960's rambler though.

 

The following pictures are of a courtyard at Barnard. Oh, to be a Barnard woman! We left just before President Obama gave his commencement address there.

Columbia!

Columbia, blending old and new

In most places in Salt Lake you have to get in a car and drive to get groceries and other necessities of life.  It is something that drives my daughter crazy when she comes home. Suburban sprawl makes for quiet neighborhoods, but I do think we miss out on something really nice. Every one of these pictures was taken just a short distance from her room.

We are all mourning--just a little bit--of her leaving New York. Maybe I'll learn to love Los Angeles--where she is off to next.

What would it be like to live here. . .Witch houses continued

Here are two more avenues houses that I have always loved and been a little afraid of. I passed the gold one every day on my way to elementary school.  I thought a Persian witch lived here.

This grey house is adorable now, but picture it as I saw it when I was a little girl, with peeling black paint and everything in disrepair. It was the only house that I was truly scared of. We always skipped it on Halloween.

What if I lived here. . .

One of the main reason I like to write stories is that I like to imagine what life is like in different settings with different people. I can't pass a house for sale or even rent without wondering what would it be like to live there. I can see possibilities in grand mansions and little apartments. So the other day I drove through the avenues and I saw this house.

When I was little and lived just a few blocks away I loved to walk by this house. I think it was yellow back then and I imagined that this was a good witch's house. There are a lot of witchy houses in the avenues, one in particular I would cross the street to avoid. I'll post a picture of that later. It was black with turrets and I thought it was very scary (now it's baby blue and really well maintained--disappointingly un-scary!).

Send a picture if you have a "What if I lived here house too."