The Weekend

The sun was starting to set as we made our way over the mountains Thursday afternoon. We were off on a dual mission: a visit to my oldest son and his family, and storytelling.

 The sun was shining on the western slope of the Alleghenies, but when we topped this mountain we entered clouds and fog. Larry had a close call with a deer that decided to cross inches in front of our van. Whew. That would have spoiled the trip!

At my son's house, granddaughter Grave was making snickerdoodle cookies from scratch to take on a school field trip the next day. Her class was participating in the annual pumpkin drop at WVU--their pumpkin plummeted 11 stories without breaking, the only survivor from her school's entries!

The next day I was off to Petersburg Elementary to tell stories to the second grade students. My son set this up for the wife of one of his friends at work, and it was a blast. We explored a tall tale, a scary tale, a Jack tale and some fun songs.

Evening found us at dinner at a good Mexican restaurant in Petersburg, and as we walked in we heard laughter--my son's friend, who had attended the storytelling session earlier, was re-telling a couple of the stories I'd told to his dinner companions. What a good feeling it was to know the stories were moving on with a life of their own!

Larry decked out the next morning to go squirrel hunting with Grace. He'd gone the day before while I was telling stories and had good luck. Grace wanted to go with him--she's a good hunter--and so they took off for a couple hours Saturday morning and came in with two more squirrels. I wish I had a picture of the two of them. Grace is a beautiful girl and she even managed to make her hunting outfit look like a fashion statement.

After breakfast we said our goodbyes and headed off to Morgantown, WV, following George's shortcut directions. They were excellent and we made good time, and also saw some lovely country as we passed through part of western Maryland and northern West Virginia.

 The day was crisp and clear in Morgantown, and there were lots of people at the MountainLair for Family Fun Day.

We met up with this young lady at the craft show. She'd just bought a cigar box banjo and played it for us. She was pretty good!

Then it was time to tell stories. I was worried about my voice--I'd been battling a sore throat and it was a challenge to sing and tell stories but I managed to get through it.

Then it was dinner with our storytelling friends Judi and Tom Tarowsky, John Mullins, Gina Marzetti, and Jason Burns (who was taking the photo).

And finally, homeward bound, heading toward the new moon and the west.

I did do a little junking while I was away: these were yard sale finds. The little desk needs stripped and a new lift-down top but it's a true primitive and charming. Larry will start working on it tonight.

Top details:

Dirty, dirty! But I know it will be beautiful when Larry's done with it.

This bowl was filthy too. Some brass cleaner and soap and water brought this Paden City Emerald Glo bowl back to its original state.

 And this one was covered with mold! I've never seen anything like it. I washed it down with bleach water to kill any lingering mold after the first wash to remove the mold. It cleaned up beautifully and I'm already halfway through painting it. Pics later this week.

Today I feel just blah. The sore throat turned to laryngitis overnight so I'm doctoring up to get it under control as fast as possible. I have a two-hour performance coming up Tuesday night so I need to be well quickly.

Right now, I'm heading back out to paint!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.