“Happiness consists more in the small conveniences of pleasures that occur every day, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom to a man in the course of his life.”- Benjamin Franklin

I’m definitely living this quote at the moment. I am in New Bern, North Carolina for a work conference. New Bern is on the Atlantic coast and was the first capital of North Carolina. Before the Revolutionary War, it was the capital of a royal colony. This means that there is a ton of history here and being the history nut that I am, I was ecstatic to be let out early yesterday and have the afternoon to explore. I had one place in mind when I ran out the door: Tryon Palace. Tryon Palace was originally built between 1767 and 1770, as the first permanent capitol of the Colony of North Carolina and a home for the Royal Governor and his family. The architecture, the art, the gardens all make my heart go aflutter.

After touring the grounds, I strolled down to the historic district and was captivated by one of North Carolina’s first churches, which was surrounded by wrought iron fencing and included a pre-Revolution graveyard complete with Spanish moss hanging from the trees, slowly swaying in the afternoon breeze. Very ethereal and serene.

I plan to do some more exploring this afternoon. There are some perks to business travel!

Read Full Post »

Jumped on the wagon…or off the deep end?

I’ve discovered the wonderful world of fun and funky craft blogs and was so inspired that I went out and bought a sewing machine. My grandmother was a seamstress by vocation and my mom used to make my clothes when I was little, so I picked up the basics of how to sew a straight line and cut out a pattern. But, my mom’s machine had an affinity for eating thread like my husband eats chocolate (voraciously), so I gave up on the whole idea of sewing long ago. But, maybe my genes have finally kicked in (which, in addition to this new purchase, is evident by the gardening and compost box building I’ve busily been doing in the last few weeks) and I’m ready to give it another whirl. This machine, while used, is it least 20 years newer than my mom’s, and thirty pounds lighter, so perhaps it will be easy on a “beginner.” It was cheap and it’s old, but it’s mine!

Read Full Post »