Mrs. Teabody Greets the Day

Heirloom Tomato Salad There's a definite autumnal feel in the air this second Friday in September and if the events of the past two weeks are any indication of what the new season will bring, then Mrs. Teabody needs to rearrange her closet and bring out her glad rags. Perhaps you should, too? What a social whirl! Leave it to one of Mrs. Teabody's favorite friends, the multi-talented Lady Beatrice, to sort a day for an adventure heading for the bright lights of Baltimore in Lady Beatrice's exquisite, if talkative, motor car. Lady Beatrice is nothing if not an adventuress of the first order. Mrs. Teabody is never surprised when she hears a ping on her little smart telephone only to discover that Lady B has sent her a photograph of an adobe house in Sedona, some uncomfortably precipitous "road" in  New Mexico, or the view from her Paris pied–à–terre. Why, this very week Lady B shall swan off to paint the steely Atlantic in North Carolina, and once again Mrs. T...

Sweet days of summer,  the jasmine's in bloom July is dressed up  and playing her tune   ~ Seals and Croft 1972 Good Morning, Gentle Reader. Did you wake with a summer breeze  dancing quietly to birdsong this morning? No suffocating, maddening heat. No trepidation about how to endure another sultry day. What a rare and wonderful seventeenth day of July! What a rare and wonderful summer! A typical conversation starter  these halcyon days is "How is your summer?" and Mrs. Teabody always hears such wonderful remarks, all with a common theme: summer of 2014 is one of the loveliest summers in memory. Look around you. There is green glory everywhere. The trees are puffed and laden with shade. Lawns that often turn to tan and brown look as lush as they did at first cutting. Amid all that green is a primer on the color spectrum. Porch boxes, borders, hanging baskets spill trailing petunias and callie in paintbox colors,  lime and purple sweet potato v...

How goes your summer, Gentle Reader? Before you remind Mrs. Teabody that "summer" is only a few days along, Mrs. T. shall remind YOU that in these parts "summer" begins with Memorial Day and ends on the first day of school. Aside from a few flash floods, a few too many thunder-boomers and a preponderance of ticks, Mrs. Teabody sees this June as an especially memorable one so fill the next couple days carefully so you have something celebratory to get you through  next February. Have you noticed the mural that hangs along Lincoln Way West next to Susquehanna Bank? Painted by David Henry it is a reminder to passers by of the current state of one of Fulton County's greatest treasures, Meadow Grounds Lake. Instead of the breathtaking 200+ acres  bowl of water, it is a somewhat barren landscape now. At the left end of the mural there is a gauge for the current level of local commitment to the $100K the area has been asked to raise to get the restoration started....

The First Knockout Good Morning from the sunny side of the mountain where most of the trees have finally unfurled in all their green and gold glory. Nothing can quite compare with the lushness of this little interval between winter and summer . Lawns are perfectly trimmed to best showcase the  ponds of bright green that anchor each dwelling. Hopeful pots and fanciful containers filled with palettes of colors bright and soft sit along rural highways and next to doorways. Porch and window boxes drip petunias and  hold up geraniums. Even the self-proclaimed "Black Thumb" gardeners usually hang a basket of flowers on a shepherd's hook to celebrate this season of growth.  Last but not least are those who garden perennially, who dig and fertilize and prune and  water deeply through all the seasons. Such are the Teabodys although they are no match for some of the master gardeners whose roses make the covers of magazines, whose gardens never seem to be attacked by glad...

Unruly April. Just when the woes and worries of winter were put back on the shelf, April decided to unleash her inner brattiness to herald the new season with  scary weather all around, especially in the midwest and south.  Mrs. Teabody joins you in prayers for all those falling victim to the wild and whirling winds. When the weather is bad, the Teabodys seek the comforts of home, rarely straying very far into the elements. One of those comforts is a steaming cuppa tea. Right now as Mrs. Teabody greets the day, she is enjoying Earl Grey Lavender and what a nice way to kick off the week ahead! The flavor and fragrance of a top quality tea served up in a fine china mug is one of life's great moments  and add to the fact that one may do so in one's pajamas just ratchets up the enjoyment . Enjoying that first post-sleep cuppa is a ritual Mrs. Teabody is happy to share with you, Gentle Reader, and it turns out that those of the inclination are also sharing it with one of ...

April showers, anyone? Forsythia and magnolia, anyone? It is foolish April up to her tricks and how can anyone do anything but love her? Lovely warm temps the last few days. On Saturday last, Mrs. Teabody's little shop received recognition for excellence in small business at a very public event. Mrs. Teabody was flattered to have friends and family in attendance and was asked to deliver a brief address which follows: Thank You, Betsy!  I knew there was a reason I picked you and your check is waiting in the car. Thank you to my friends and family and my dear patient husband for joining me me here tonight and a special thanks to  my landlord and friend, Glenn Cordell who  works so very hard to keep the Albert Stoner building looking  so beautiful. No one wants to see any derelict buildings along the town’s main street., and the idea that “Lodge’s Variety Store” would not have a light burning inside is almost too much to bear. Congratulations to all the hono...

How long have you been awake, Gentle Reader? Mrs. Teabody hopes it was early enough to catch a glimpse of the clear and starry sky because here at Chez Teabody at approximately 5:15 A.M. the Big Dipper was perfectly positioned to appear to be sitting upright on top of the adjacent mountain. Quite special, that. Special enough to warrant bare feet on cool concrete a wee bit too long. All has been put to rights with a pair of wooly socks and a nice hot cuppa "Dirty Chai." This lovely black tea infused with chai spices and enough cracked espresso beans to  slap one into consciousness is the bridge between tea and coffee and a lovely way to get excited about Moody April. Cool weather has kept buds on spring bloomers tightly furled. The catkins on the pussy willow and the green and yellow of Forcynthia keep close and small and even the green of lawns is far from realized. It's as if Mother Nature wants to remind everyone that she is still in charge. That being said, the...