thursday aug 6

Graycliff

On Thursday morning we had reservations to tour Graycliff....the summer home in Derby that Darwin D. Martin had Frank Lloyd Wright build for Isabelle. I have blogged about this home in the past so won't bore you more here. We had a nice tour and afterward we headed to East Aurora past the stadium where the Bills play in Orchard Park. We were on our way to have lunch at the Roycroft Inn in East Aurora. The Roycroft is an artist colony founded in 1905 by Elbert Hubbard, brother-in-law to Mr. Larkin, founder of the Larkin Soap Company. Elbert was born in Bloomington, IL and grew up in Hudson, IL. He came to Buffalo to work for the Larkin Soap Company. The Roycroft was a gathering place for artists of all kinds to live and produce their works. The Arts and Crafts movement started here.


The Roycroft Inn


my pink lemonade vodka cocktail

I was the only one to have a cocktail. Mary Jo and Donna had pomegranate tea. It was beautiful on the patio and we relaxed and took in the scenery.


quiche of the day


lunch is served on the porch


inside the inn

After lunch a little viewing inside the inn and some shopping in the stores of the colony.


and more inside


still more inside

Still more shopping on the main drag...no one should leave East Aurora without a trip to Vidler's five and dime and Fowler's Chocolates.


the girl with the pearl earring

At Vidler's I found this necklace painted by a Chicago artist. Her work is done on dominoes and scrabble tiles. There were some beautiful pieces and I settled on this one.


on a domino



Barb was able to join us for dinner. B was the lucky guy who got to escort four lovely ladies to dinner at Salvatore's Italian Gardens. Salavatore's is a Buffalo icon. A restaurant so gaudy with chandeliers, statues, vintage autos, etc, etc, etc. You would have to see it to believe it but the food is good and it is a fun place to see. On Friday morning Donna,Mary Jo and I took a walk and then sat around my kitchen table chatting until it was time to drive them to the airport. Their visit will be cherished in my memory. I hope it will be in their memories also.

wednesday aug 5

the Barton house

On Wednesday we had a 10:00 am reservation to tour the Darwin Martin House. I made the reservation for the 1 hour tour but should have looked more closely at the website and made it for the in-depth 2 hour tour. Now that more buildings are available for touring the upstairs of the DDM house has been left out of the 1 hour tour. The one hour tour includes the main floor of the DDM house, the pergola, conservatory and carriage house. The two hour also includes the second floor of the DDM house, the Barton house and the Gardener’s Cottage. All tours start in the new Eleanor and Wilson Greatbatch Pavilion.


Darwin D. Martin house

We had a very knowledgeable guide and interesting tour. I took lots of photos of the outside. Photos are not allowed inside.


the Gardener's Cottage

After the tour I drove us around the Delaware Park and surrounding area. The park is surrounded by streets and streets of mansions. This is the area where all the wealthy people lived when Buffalo was booming. It was nearing lunchtime so we drove over to the Larkin Building. I showed them around the building and my office then we headed down to The Chautauqua Café for lunch. After lunch I drove them down Delaware to see more mansions and we had to decide what we wanted to do next….shop on Elmwood, visit the new Burchfield-Penney Art Museum or hit a few wineries on the Niagara Wine Trail. We decided on wine so first off we went to NCCC and visited Bill in his office. I had him print off directions to Freedom Run and Honeymoon Trail which are right near the college. We went to Freedom Run first and tasted. It was fairly packed for a weekday. We had a cute guy pouring our wines. He was flirty so we flirted back and had a lot of fun. Mary Jo bought six bottles and had them shipped home. I bought 6 bottles and took them with me. This is the best place for dry reds out of all the wineries on the trail. Then we went to Honeymoon Trail. I liked a white called Vidal there so bought two bottles.


the stage in Delaware Park


dessert

Our planned evening activity was to attend Julius Caesar at Shakespeare in the Park. Outside venue in Delaware Park. So we left wineries and drove to Wegman’s to pick up things for a picnic. We selected two sandwiches to split amongst the three of us. Turkey with field greens and roasted red peppers on multi-grain baguette and chicken Caesar (appropriate) on herb baguette. Food Should Taste Chips in Sweet potato and in multigrain flavors, fresh peaches, Pinot Gris purchased earlier in the day and Wegman’s ultimate chocolate chip cookies dipped in chocolate.


the play

Mary Jo and Donna got a little cold during the play so I gave up my blanket (they were sitting in chairs) for them and stood during the rest of it. It was a bit hard to follow being outside and not being able to see too well. On the drive home we decided it was too early to go back to the room so drove on to Regal to see what was playing. We decided on 500 Days of Summer because it seemed like a chick flick and not something our husbands would mind missing. But it turned out to be so good. I really liked this movie. Back to the room. A little more wine and more talking then lights out.

tuesday aug 4th

Coconut Panna Cotta with Mango Glacee

I'm a little late blogging my fun vacation with Donna and Mary Jo. I had visited them in Chicago earlier this summer and they wanted to come see Buffalo. On Tuesday, August 4th, I picked Donna & Mary Jo up at the airport – just ten minutes from my house. They flew in from Midway on Southwest. The day was sunny and warm but very humid. We came back to my house. I gave them a little tour and we had Sangria on the patio. The Taste of Williamsville, a yearly event, just happened to be on that same day. We drove to the Hampton Inn on Main Street and checked into the suite I had reserved on the 4th floor. Kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom with 2 queen beds and a big Jacuzzi that we never used. From there we walked to Island Park to have lunch at Taste of Williamsville which used to be called Savor the Flavor. A lot of good restaurants but we seemed to gravitate towards two in particular. The Gate House and JoJo’s Bistro. We divided up most of the things we tried. Turkey burger with cranberry mayo, crab cakes, chicken Rockefeller, parmesan frites. I had cucumber white grape gazpacho and coconut panna cotta on my own. They had gelato. Then we walked up and down Main Street hitting all the shops.


three girls at Glen Falls

We also stopped at Glen Park where a lot of couples were sitting around talking or necking. I asked a guy from one of the talking couples to take our picture in front of Glen Falls. Both girls were anxious to see Wegman’s so we drove over and they oohed and aahed and wished they had a grocery store half as nice by them. They both bought a Koko lunch bag. Back to the room to drop off purchases and freshen up for dinner at Trattoria Aroma where we had stopped earlier in the day to make reservations for 7 pm. Donna and I both had a fish called walu which was incredible delish. Mary Jo had something chicken.



We called my friend, Barb, from the restaurant to see if she would like to meet us at the room and then head up to the American Falls. She did want to. Barb offered to drive and I let her because she knows the area around the falls better than I do. As soon as we pulled into the parking by the casino, raindrops started to fall.



We started walking to the falls anyway. It started raining harder and harder and we kept walking. Donna and Mary Jo shared the one umbrella we had brought with us. Barb and I just got wet. The storm kept getting worse. Thunder boomed and lightning bolts filled the sky. We hoped our rubber flip flops would keep us from getting electrocuted if we were struck by lightning on the metal bridges that crossed the rapids on our way to and from the falls. We crossed over to Goat Island and stood on the observation deck with the American and Bridal Veil Falls crashing on either side of us, mist blowing back in our faces, in the dark. Too dark to take photos but I tried to take this one of the rapids from the bridge. When we got to the parking area again, the rain let up. We were thinking that wouldn’t you know it…we had picked the exact worse time to be there. But the rain wasn’t done with us yet. It rained so hard on the way home we couldn’t see the road or the highway signs. That was the end of the rain though. The rest of the week was in the low 70’s with low humidity and plenty of sunshine…perfect for the rest of the activities that I had planned.

mandy

Take a big breath.


Happy Birthday Mandy, you adorable little thing.

relaxing on the patio

putting my feet up

Wearing a pair of my favorite flip-flops and noticing that I could really use a pedicure. Never had a professional one...maybe I'll treat myself to one.


Sipping wine, reading and phone handy just in case. Relaxing. How relaxing to relax.

places i have lived

Another Facebook thing got me to thinking about the places where I have lived. This is my first house in Middletown where I lived from birth until I went away to college. Funny...my present winter coat looks just like this one.


My college dorm, Dunn-Barton, where I lived during the entire time I was at ISU except for a short stint in a townhouse during summer school. Dunn-Barton was torn down in 2008.


the courtyard of our apartment in Schaumburg on Roselle Road


snowy view of our house in Roselle
I loved this house. It was built by a builder for himself. The houses on either side were built for his children. Our house featured many special touches like beautiful wainscotting, inlaid wood doors, Dutch doors in the kitchen


this beautiful fireplace in the living room...also a fireplace in the basement


and this fantastic wet bar in the basement


a view from the back


side view of our present house taken from the south


front of our present home

sunday in rochester

Sunday we drove to Rochester to lend a helping hand once more to Jay. When we arrived Jay was sawing backer board for the bathroom floor. I found Sara in the house arranging sunflowers in three big blue glass vases. She looked like a doll in her dress with a black top and black and white checked skirt. The flowers were for a baby shower that she was helping her mom give for the daughter of her mom's best friend. I held the sunflowers upright while Sara poked other smaller flowers and baby breath around them. I had a little gift for her that I had purchased at Vidler's in East Aurora while I was on vacation. Bookplates featuring baby golden retrievers like her dog, Kayn. She had received these three bottles of wine as a house warming gift. They looked so pretty sitting in the opening between the kitchen and dining room. I don't recall ever seeing a wine as crystal clear as the Gazela Vinho Verde from Portugal. I'll have to try it sometime. The Gato Negro Malbec looked good too.


one of the completed vases....the other two are in the box


the new light fixture in the landing


After a day of painting paneling on the ground floor for me and a day of preparing the bathroom floor for tiling for B and Jay, we sought out a cute family restaurant called Pixley's for dinner. This gorgeous mural was painted on the wall.


and this adorable cup of lemon chicken soup was served with the meal.

We started for home at 10 P.M. amid warnings for heavy thunderstorms. It started raining before we even made it to the thruway and we were entertained with one of the most spectular lightning shows I've ever seen all the way home. Cars were pulled over all along the thruway because the rains were again torrential. We have been having lots of rain and flooding the past few days. Finally we were able to respond to Jay's concerned texts that we made it home safely. Wish I could have caught some of that amazing light show to show you here.

florentine clay

Something needed to be done. Our whole upstairs hallway was the off-white you see here.


B and I agreed on Florentine Clay for an accent color wall. We picked the color up from our 30 year old Oriental rug you see here.


everything back in their places


some of my lusterware wall pocket collection


the edge of the mirror

a beautiful mess

too many bracelets


too many earrings


too many books


too many CDs

a little night visitor

One morning Toad sat in bed.
"I have many things to do".
"I will write them all down on a list so that I can remember them".
Toad wrote on a piece of paper: list of things to do
Then he wrote: sit on Auntie M's patio tonight

we sang we danced

we sang


we danced


we stole things


we bought t-shirts