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Friday, February 18, 2011

The Kindred Spirits Visit













I remember the day I found the first internet Tasha Tudor group and I was so excited. I adored Tasha's children's books and art work and soon found many "friends" on the list. One thing lead to another and a new list was started~Take Peace~so I joined that one in 2006. In June of 2007 I traveled to Vermont to meet these ladies and attend a garden tour on Tasha's property. She was aging and still in her home, but too frail to meet visitors. It was unreal, but the very best part of it all was meeting these friends in person. I met up with LaVonne in the Chicago airport and that was the instant beginning of a wonderful friendship and a ton of laughs.
Winter is hard on people. Before I knew it, LaVonne had booked a ticket to visit in February from Montana and then it was Kristen's turn from Massachusetts! The Tasha group does a Valentine exchange, so I thought it was the perfect time to have a Valentine's tea for my friends. Clarice and her daughters from Washington asked if they could crash our party, so the tea party was soon filled to the max!
Jim decided he would get out of town to allow the girls lots of time and to just have a big slumber party. Our home is small and I only have one extra bed, so Kristen made up her bed on the floor by the woodstove each night. My husband is a sweetheart! How many guys would leave home, especially on their birthday???
I picked LaVonne up at the airport on Feb 9th and of course we had to have dinner at Tad's that night! Jim and her are crazy for chicken livers and I do believe they overdosed me. It was fun and I think they both got their fill.
The next day we were off to the bins for some serious shopping. I knew it would probably be LaVonne's only chance this trip to find cheap goodies for home. It was pretty good. We picked Kristen up that evening and she was wound up like a top! Boy, she needed a break! Of course we stayed up late looking at her show and tell, talking about Annabelle, fabric and all such other doll matters!
Friday took us down to Troutdale for a bit of shopping at the General Store and the antique mall. I think we frightened the clerk at the mall when LaVonne was talking about having to leave Annabelle's guns at home as she didn't think she could get them through security. LOL!
5:30 PM arrived all to soon and we had to be at Edgefiled, THE POOR FARM, for dinner. What a dinner....wow. The Black Rabbit offers wonderful gourmet meals with a local touch. Yummy.
Of course, we had to split the dessert combo plate.
Saturday morning brought a trip to my friend Bev and Roy's home for a tour of their dolls. I love going there any chance I get and it was magical to share it with my friends. Bev is a kick in the pants and Roy is so knowledgeable about paints and repairs...I know Kristen and him would have lots to talk about. Bev gave me another sweet Parian doll and I cried. She told me to stop blubbering. Crying would only give me chapped cheeks and I'd still have the same problem before I started crying. I was just so touched.
After all of the excitement, we drove Kristen to Corvallis to spend the night with her mom and dad. Such a sweet little couple. It was easy to see where Kristen gets all her many talents~such a gifted family. Her family was so happy to see her.
Jim came home for a night and took LaVonne and I to some estate sales on Sunday. We really had fun at one filled with sewing and crafting things. We were in that sale for an hour and a half...I've never been in a sale that long. Lots of fun stuff...some for resale, some for crafting, some for my retreats. We got back home, had show and tell and Jim was just leaving again when Kristen's parents returned her to us. I had some work to do for the tea party but those friends of mine kept trying to distract me after dinner. We are working on a Gathering for next year. We are hoping it will be in Iowa at Donna's tea place about a half hour from Des Monies. We are trying to find a mid point location this time. Pretty exciting and maybe a doll fair to go along with the fun. Oh, so much plotting and planning. I had to stay up until 2 AM to get things done for the tea.
Valentine's Day arrived and there was a flurry of activity in this little house! I now have LaVonne and Kristen trained in the kitchen for making tiny tea sandwiches and such. They were so helpful, I would never have made it without their help. Clarice and her girls arrived around 2 PM and then the fun began. We had tea and goodies and exchanged Valentine treats. We were getting a bit loud when the doorbell rang-it was my friend Nancy! I invited her in and then she asked what was going on as she could hear us down the street! Oh my. Such fun. Clarice had to leave and the party came to an end. Once again, my house guest pitched in and helped me clean up.
Then we opened our Valentine cards and gifts from our Tasha Tudor Valentine exchange. Such wonderful cards and goodies! A wonderful way to end the day and our visit. Kristen left Portland the next morning at 10:30 and LaVonne flew out later that afternoon.
An empty house but my heart is still full of friendship and love. I'll be waiting here for another visit!

5 comments:

LaVonne said...

I want to go back in time and relive it all again! Thanks for helping me do that!
Bless Bev's heart! She is a crack-up! You need to start taking notes when you visit her!

Kristen Strand said...

I wanna come back!!! Linda thanks so much for everything. I am almost rested up from all that laughing and carrying-on we did!

Robin said...

I loved reading this . I hope someday I can gather with you again.

Jan said...

It looks and sounds like you all had such a wonderful time. How I wish I could have been there too. Am looking forward to our gathering in 2012, hopefully there won't be a family emergency to keep me away this time. Thanks for sharing this very special time with us.

wilhelmina said...

Oh what a wonderful time you all had. Hope I can be there next time. Thanks for letting me see vicariously! Now down to brass tacks.....where did you get the Louise Henrick's book??? And is that Annabelle fabric....I'm fainting away here....xxxxoooW