Where to Begin?

Well, I guess it makes sense to begin with Saturday. First I went to the Publishing Fair at the Jones Library in order to bring Sisters In Crime New  England literature and (appropriately) blood tipped giveaway pens.

The speaker on the left, facing you, is Shel Horowitz.

Then it was upstairs to Special Collections to visit with Cyndi Harbeson, Curator, who was hosting a group of women who had bused in from Worcester.  (Later, she spoke about research techniques at the publishing fair.)

After that it was off to -- guess where? Why, the Farmers' Market, of course! I bought a fabulous red leaf lettuce that had been picked hours before.

Here's the status of the decorative pots on the Town Common. There really are three -- the one on the right (small) is not in the frame.

By then I was pooped and went home to do laundry and take a nap. Yay, naps! After Cyndi got out of work, I went to her apartment to help her install a window air conditioner.  Well, I didn't really help, but I encouraged the heck out of her! 

I convinced her that it would not fall out of the window and if it did, it wouldn't hit anyone.  I got to meet her cat Franklin who was a bit miffed that I smelled like Charlie the beagle-bloodhound puppy whom I met when going into the apartment house.  But Franklin go over it when his dinner appeared.

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So yesterday I had rolled the stand alone a.c. into my bedroom and hooked it up.  I woke up at 5:30 a.m. really hot -- the darn hose had fallen out of the window and was blowing hot air back into the room.  Ugh.

But Cyndi had organized an outing for Cathy V. and me, so I happily made a salad in anticipation of their arrival.  I also got a decluttering bug and I now have two bags of clothing and shoes to give to charity.  Cyndi, bless her, installed my window a.c. in the kitchen (it's cooling me right now).

After salads, we motored off to Granville, Mass. I had never heard of the town -- it's 36 miles away, south of Westfield.  We wound through rural areas and one quaint village with people waving flags on four corners.  (Today is flag day.)  I waved and, naturally, they waved back.  This mystified Cyndi because she was driving and she hadn't seen me wave.  She said, "I wonder why they waved to us." I was going to make up a story about a wild cult, but Cyndi had already informed me that I had to stop making her laugh while she is driving. (I was afraid to ask if she closes her eyes when she laughs.)

We were using my TomTom gps, but I had printed out Mapquest directions just in case.  Well Tommy didn't like that and she got quite strident at one point.

We had to go one exit on the Mass. Pike and we were all astounded that it only cost a quarter in tolls. I was amazed and confused. I didn't know there was that small of a toll! I did notice that the toll booths no longer have the basket that people used to love throwing change into.

So we were going to the Noble Cooley drum factory for an Edwardian tea.  Before the tea, Kandie Carle showed us, beginning with undergarments, what a Victorian lady wore. She even got someone from the audience to lace up her corset.  The poor woman began to bleed from pulling so hard on the laces!  Here's the finished (dressed) lady.

Kandie Carle is a wonderful raconteur and actress. She is also an historian and I enjoyed her presentation very much.

But I get ahead of myself.  I have pictures as we entered and they had exhibits on the top floor. After the presentation and tea, we happened to have Jay Jones, proprietor, sitting with us.  He ended up giving us a guided tour and showed us how the equipment worked.  Those pictures will have to wait until tomorrow.  I'm tired and have to go to bed now.  Cheers!