February 30 in 30 Picture 1

Leslie Saeta, an artist whose podcast I listen to, holds two 30 paintings in 30 days challenges a year. I thought I'd give February a try and see how many I could paint!

Today's painting is of "The Farm Between" in Jeffersonville, Vermont -- a farm I drove by constantly as a little child and then always passed on the way to and from Grandma's house and the cousins. It's such a quintessential Vermont scene.

You can find the 30 in 30 link up on Leslie Saeta's blog.

A Parting Gift -- Part Four

The final part of the gift that our trip to Vermont became was the chance to spend time with my mom and sister! We've always talked about taking trips over the years but of course it is never practical to do so! Vermont threw us together on an unplanned adventure full of both old and new memories.

How do you like our matching sheepie hats? Thanks to Christina for those!

We had our own car to ride around in which proved very convenient! Mom was the designated picture taker.

Another thing we've always talked about but only done once before (15 years ago in Scotland) is stay at a bed and breakfast together. Nye's Green Vally B&B was so welcoming and so hospitable to us. Built in 1811 as a stagecoach tavern, this home is still welcoming travelers!

Mom and Christina had a room with the cutest Beatrix Potter border!

I had this room!

Laura would have enjoyed these cute little bunnies tucked in the bathroom:

Antiques abounded in this cozy place:

There were plenty of teas to choose from too!

Everywhere in Vermont this style of door latch is used. Whenever I come across this it reminds me of my childhood!

The bedroom doors were hung with antique children's dresses:

Outside it still looked like Christmas thanks to all the snow!

Check out the long icicles! We rarely see those here in Indiana!

And there were goats, a Shetland pony and a donkey. They were so cute!! (And they appeared to like Christina!)

Isn't this little donkey so sweet?!

Enjoying a cup of tea before the next adventure:

Breakfast was served in the kitchen/dining room along with any other guests (think skiers from International backgrounds!!!). 

Mom got to have blueberry pancakes -- just what Grandma made for us whenever we went back to Vermont as kids. Of course they are always served with real maple syrup!

One morning we drove through our old hometown of Jeffersonville and stopped here to see the old Windridge Inn where Amanda's mom would buy us cinnamon bread topped with a thick slathering of maple cream anytime we came into town.

Visiting our old house that my dad built was also on the list. Here's where it all started for me.

And the house dad built for Grandma next door:

Christina flew home Monday and after our airport run mom and I headed into the countryside to visit old friends.

Here's Courtney and I sitting at the same table we sat at when we were the ages of her boys! 

And our moms got to have tea together just like old times.

We even went out to the barn just like we did whenever I visited:

Only now it's Courtney's boys feeding the horse instead of me. :)

What lovely scenery they enjoy from their house!

Our last morning we headed over to Stowe because I had one more pilgrimage to make.

The Austrian Tea House at the Trapp Family Lodge (think Sound of Music Trapp Family):

Our extended family has a long history of coming here and one of my very earliest memories is attached to this place. Lunch seemed appropriate!

So did pictures of the lovely tea treats!!! Mostly we came in the summer and it seems pretty certain in my mind that the Black Forest Cake was what all wise family members ordered.

I convinced mom and Aunt Karen to split some Linzer Torte so I could vicariously partake:

And here's the main Trapp Family Lodge!

With a view out from the parking lot.

Affectionately known as "Bertha's House", this was another place I had to take a photo of. As a very young child my mom brought me here to visit her elderly friend Bertha. The smells and tastes of her kitchen pantry have lived on in infamy.

Cambridge Village Market was on the list for the times we crossed the street with Amanda and Ben to go inside or popped in with Grandma or my mom to buy something we needed.

Yes, our trip to Vermont was about as full as we could possibly make it. It was a precious gift that I will always treasure.

And, as we always did growing up, our last stop on the way out of town was back at Amanda's house to say goodbye. It seemed fitting it was our last stop this time too.

Chapters in life often open and close without much warning. I suppose that's why it's always best to savor the moments that come along today and not take them for granted.

A Parting Gift -- Part Three

“In friendship...we think we have chosen our peers.

In reality a few years' difference in the dates of our births, 

a few more miles between certain houses, 

the choice of one university instead of another...

the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting--

any of these chances might have kept us apart. 

But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking no chances. 

A secret master of ceremonies has been at work. 

Christ, who said to the disciples, 

"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," 

can truly say to every group of Christian friends, 

"Ye have not chosen one another 

but I have chosen you for one another." 

The friendship is not a reward for our discriminating 

and good taste in finding one another out. 

It is the instrument by which God 

reveals to each of us the beauties of others.” 

-- C. S. Lewis

The third part of the unexpected gift that came of my friend's death was the reunion of so many friends from long ago. I really don't think there is any other way that all of us would have ever met again in Vermont at the same time.

Here are our two families so many years ago:

It was a special treat to be able to worship Sunday morning in this church that holds so many memories from over the years and in which Amanda grew up (her dad was the pastor back then). There is a new church plant now meeting in this otherwise vacant building. 

The church was a backdrop in so many of our childhood pictures and it was the place I mentioned in  Christmas in Vermont.

There were many new faces in the pews but several familiar ones too. One of the best things about traveling is participating in worship with other congregations and being reminded that I am part of a family that is world-wide. The Gospel joins people in every place, every language, every culture, to the culture and language of heaven.

The stained glass is lovely!

And I had to go back to the kitchen since I have strong memories of its coffee scent and the old ladies who would be preparing for coffee hour.

Just across the churchyard is Amanda's childhood home where we spent countless hours together:

Some of our classic pictures in front of the lilac bush when we came back into town.

Looking out beyond the church and house to the Boyden farm in the distance (the same farm in my painting in the last post).

Amanda's memorial service was held in the early afternoon and was followed by a special time of fellowship. Here is "the old gang" all grown up now. Twenty-five years ago we sat in this very same room having Bible studies as teenagers!

Another friend: Courtney. Our friendship is also as old as we are.

And there is still plenty to laugh and talk about:

Amanda loved Vermont. And she loved maple syrup. It was decided that having a proper sugar-on-snow element to the evening would be a fitting way to honor Amanda's memory. This was yet another gift. I pine for maple syrup. I'm sure syrup runs in my blood, as it does in most people born in Vermont. :) But it's been since I was a preschooler that I've had a proper sugar-on-snow experience complete with pickles and donuts on offer.

Just look at that delicious, golden candy being poured out on that snow!

This is Ben, Amanda's brother, and his wife, Ilse. Ben was my very first friend (before Amanda was born). It was a very special treat to be able to visit with these two, meet their two girls, and catch up a bit.

Here I am with Kristen and Jason -- two of "the group" that actually married each other! How fun is that?! We were whipping up the extra maple syrup into maple cream.

Here are Kristen and I when we were very little.

And Erica, yet another friend! It's amazing to meet people 25 years after you've last seen them and still feel a close bond. 

I have all these friends because our mothers got together weekly for Bible study when we were babies and toddlers! Our mothers laugh at us because apparently, forty years ago, they were all into raw milk, recycling, and eating healthy too! ha ha ha!

 

Mention must be made of the gluten-free maple scones that were on the dessert table. They were so amazing and what a treat to have something we could eat!!!! (Note to self: be sure to make maple scones in the future!)

And here are Amanda's dear parents who invested so much of themselves in our lives over the years. How we pray for God's comfort to be with them in the days and years ahead.

Friendships are a great blessing. Hearing many of these friends share their memories of Amanda brings to the forefront just how important and far-reaching a friendship can be, and how important it is to invest in relationships.

I will always be thankful for Amanda's investment in our relationship and for the friends that God chose to bring into my life beginning at my birth to the present.

"Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold."

-- Author Unknown