It's Friday!

Last Friday we were awaiting the arrival of family members from New Hampshire.  First long trip for 2nd granddaughter and her first trip to Maryland.  It took them 12 hours to make a trip that without two kids would take them 8 hours. They arrived in time for dinner.

I will share some photos soon once I block out granddaughters faces.  

The weekend involved a baby shower for our second daughter who is expecting in July.  I hosted it here in the downstairs winter garden.  The dining service catered the affair.  It was lovely.  Nice to know that I can still entertain despite having less space in the apartment.

The New Hampshire contingent stayed with us here in the apartment.  The futon queen size bed worked well in the den and they had their own ensuite bathroom.  Rented a pack and play from Vantage House for the 8 month old and a blow up twin bed mattress fit in the small hallway to the living room and made a cozy space for the 3 year old.  She'd fall asleep on our bed and then get transferred. Except for the very first night it worked perfectly.

I did more cooking than I have since we moved here.  It just worked better that way since daughter Emily needs gluten free food.  The kitchen though compact worked well, too.

Family departed on Wednesday and it didn't take long to return the toys to the storage space in the basement, return the pack and play and linens, and let the air out of the mattress.

A good visit was had by all.

Return to Woodlawn

Last Sunday Dan and I returned to the park that had the Underground Railroad trail.  See this earlier post about that.

We wanted to visit the buildings that weren't open when we were there on a week day.  Alas, we were disappointed to learn that the house is not open at all.  What is open is the magnificent barn which now houses a museum on the Quakers and slavery in this part of Maryland.

The barn is the only one like it in Maryland.

Here's a model of it.

Different exhibits explained its construction.

The inside walls were whitewashed.

Other exhibits told stories of slaves and the Underground Railroad.

Still other exhibits focused on the Quakers.

It is a magnificent building with now an interesting and important message about our history.

Disappearances

One day you're reading their blog and then you realize nothing has been posted in a long while.  Happen to you?

I had started reading this blog Meggie on the Prairie because I was interested in her trip to Scotland and all she wrote about it. [Dan and I are headed there at the end of September and we are trying to read all we can ahead of time.]  Now I see Meggie hasn't posted since the end of March.  Anyone know why?

Another disappearance was Amanda of Wildly Simple.  I loved reading about the escapades of raising her 5 children.  She also had such beautiful photos.  She hasn't written since last September when she wrote about her Grandmother's death.

There are others.  I have long erased the bookmarks to their blogs but I still have to wonder.   What happened to the connection we had while they were blogging?  Broken off that easily when one day they just stopped posting with no explanation why?

I know of only one blogger, Daphne of Daphne's Dandelions who wrote a blogging farewell.  She explained why too.  I was sorry to see her go but grateful that she told us why.

So here's my plea to bloggers out there, if you decide to quite blogging, write that last post to say good-bye.  I will do the same for you.

Church in a Carriage House

Joining Inspired Sunday

This church is across the street from where I live.

As the sign says its in a building that was once a carriage house.  It was built in 1811 according to the history here.

It is very popular for weddings.

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