A Day of Writing

Diane Hanna did it again!  That girl, in all her tulle and flounce, came to the store for two remarkable days of writing.  We filled the table with eager and fine writers; we filled the room with life stories!  Thank you to all of you who attend these workshops!  They would not be possible without you.  We will do it all again, for the fourth year, next February 2011!

Roseland Cottage circa 1864

The last Wednesday of February was not only a wet and windy one, it was also the day that had long been scheduled to head out of town for an adventure!  These road trips can’t be put off!  The Patch boys (Don and John) and I had cooked up a plan for what could only be expensive trouble.  We decided to travel to that little hidden corner of Connecticut called “The Quiet Corner.”  Oddly enough it isn’t all that far a journey from Boston.  The countryside is positively beautiful…even in a driving rain storm.  There are hills and fields and estates and lovely winter structures with  amazing old barns in their tumble- down state and ancient old and grand trees whose spines were quite naked and bone brown.  We went first to Putnam, the home of several antique shops.  Most were closed that day but one: a huge collective with some great treasure kept the three of us very happy for several hours!  I found nothing to buy and that is most unusual…the guys did just fine!  The whole of our time in the collective, the storm pelted the windows and streets.  Rain water rushed down the stone curbs joining forces with roadways…giving the whole of Putnam and our not so little antique shop the sense of an island!  Almost as if we had washed up there!

We loaded up Big Jane (my car) with their purchases and then headed into Pomfret for lunch at The Vanilla Bean.  Now that was utterly delicious…complete with a huge slice of German Chocolate Cake (served with 3 forks)….I hadn’t had a slice of that cake since my Aunt Bella who would have served a huge piece on a brown transferware plate and there would have been one fork!

On our way out of town, we passed through Woodstock, CT, and it is here that we came upon this coral pink “cottage.”  This was just plain jaw-dropping, breath-taking splendor.  What a gift for a wet, grey day, the last Wednesday in February!

Wally & Lulu sleep away the month!

It is true…this is a month that one needs to take a long rest.  It is the month I turn a year older, the month I question all those resolutions made just days before, the month I question owning a store (didn’t I tell you to talk to me in January about all that love of retail!).  January just isn’t pretty, no matter how much you might love the cold!

This bag says it all! Pictures to come.

Don, John from PatchNYC & Maren Rossman at Oleana!

If you haven’t been to Oleana, in Cambridge MA, you must go today…this very minute!  It is one of my favorite places for the best ever food!  Ana Sortun, the chef owner, also owns Sofra. Which is my other favorite for coffee, pastry, a wee treat of exotic luncheon fare.  Ana teaches a few cooking classes a year at Sofra and, on occasion, hosts tours to celebrate the cuisine of other cultures.  Though I have taken the classes, I have yet to do the food tour…not yet anyway!

Diane Hanna at Kiskadee Coffee shop in Plymouth, MA

So here is what I want to tell you about Diane…other than the fact that I am a big fan of her work.  She is a poet, a special and unique teacher and a remarkable talent who wears layers of netting and practical shoes.  She hosts a writers’ workshop each February at the store.  The dates this year are the 21st & 22nd…limit is twelve lucky people per day.  If you’re on my email list, you will be hearing about the event, if not, check out the website for details.  Join us with your blank notebooks and your pens for a day of magic!