The Pringle Plan: Just For Fun

Showing posts with label Just For Fun. Show all posts

Monday, February 3, 2020

Ships and Christmas Caroling at Mystic Seaport 2019

Mayflower II, Mystic Seaport, 2019

For years, I've been wanting to go to the Mystic Seaport, specifically to participate in the community sing-a-long of Christmas Carols. For one reason or another I just never made it, but this year all the stars were in alignment! I had friends who were eager to join in, the weather was cold but bright and sunshiny, and admission was free with the donation of a non-perishable food item for the local food bank. We had a wonderful time touring the exhibits and ships before heading over to The Common near the new Thompson Exhibition Building for an hour of caroling fun!

View of the historic district across the Mystic River

The Mystic Seaport's skilled shipwrights are currently working on repairs of the Mayflower II. A gift to the United States from Great Britain, Mayflower II was built in Plymouth, England between 1955 and 1957. The gift was intended to honor the friendship formed between the U.S. and Great Britain during World War II. The Mayflower II is an exact replica of the original Mayflower which sailed to the Wampanoag homeland, now known as Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. Once completed, Mayflower II will sail back to its home port at Plimoth Plantation, a replication village of the English colonists first home in America.

The Schooner Sherman Zwicker is also under reconstruction

The Mystic Seaport continues to be a real working seaport. Their specialty is reconstruction of historic boats and ships using traditional methods and materials.

The seaport uses the oldest wood it can find in order to be as authentic as possible. Don't worry - no trees were cut down for this purpose. Instead, trees that have fallen due to hurricanes or other natural causes are preserved and shipped to Mystic where the wood is dried out for months or years before it can be used.

Mystic Seaport's lumber yard

A better view of Mayflower II

Fishing Schooner L.A. Dunton

Steamship Sabino provides rides to tourist in warmer weather

Gerda III

Gerda III, a Danish workboat, played an important role in hiding and rescuing Danish Jews by ferrying them to the neutral coast of Sweden in 1943. The Gerda III rescued nearly 300 Danish Jews, as part of a Danish effort that ultimately saved 7,000 Jews - nearly the whole Jewish population of Denmark.

View towards the Mystic River bridge

This charming building is the life saving station

Me and Donna in front of the Lighthouse

The Joseph Conrad

Masts of the Joseph Conrad

Deck of the Joseph Conrad

The Joseph Conrad is used as a dormitory for education programs at the seaport, so we weren't able to go below deck. However, we did tour below deck on the Charles W. Morgan whaling ship. We saw the cramped quarters where crewmen slept and ate for months and years at a time. Up to seventy whales were caught, and processed in large on-board vats that cooked the whale blubber into an oil to be used for fuel in lamps. Once processed, the oil was stored in wooden barrels below deck. Once all the barrels were full the ship and crew returned home.

The Charles W. Morgan whaling ship

An inspiring woman! - She saw something she wanted to learn and now runs the blacksmith shop at the seaport!

After a quick tour of ship figureheads in the Wendell building, it was time to gather on The Common for Christmas Caroling!

Carolers gather on The Common in the McGraw Quadrangle

The crowd begins to grow...

...in front of the the new Thompson Exhibition Building

Fun hats

Eventually the crowd grows to over 1,000!

The choir takes their places...

...and the singing begins!

The caroling was led by Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies at the University of Connecticut, Jamie Spillane, and backed by the Museum carolers and a brass quartet.

There is such joy in singing, but with over one thousand voices singing, and bodies swaying - now this is Christmas spirit! This is definitely a tradition I want to continue to be a part of each and every year!

In two weeks, we'll continue our tour of the Mystic Seaport with a visit to the J.M.W. Turner Watercolors exhibit, where we thawed out our toes inside the warm and balmy Thompson Exhibition Building!

See books by Laura S. Pringle on Amazon

The Pringle Plan is a series of educational guides.

Monday, June 10, 2019

Painted Furniture Projects 2019

My latest masterpiece! An old dresser with a fresh new look.

Several years ago, I repainted my outdoor furniture, created a painted desk with a couple of file cabinets and a piece of plywood, and updated several pieces of furniture. It was my first summer of retirement, and I'd been dying to get these projects done for years.

This time it's a little different. We're getting ready to downsize to a condo, which means I've been selling and giving away items like crazy. The old deck set I had repainted a few years ago, won't fit on the much narrower balcony at the condo, so its gone to someone else's new home. Now I had to solve the problem of finding something to fit the balcony. The solution: A bistro set!

I saw this one in an antiques mall and fell in love! It reminded me of the type you would see in an old soda fountain shop. More importantly, it reminded me of one a friend had years ago. I remember sitting on the deck, sipping my very first glass of sun tea - with lemon! How I enjoyed the company of kind people and the views of the Connecticut River.

Here is the updated version. I can't wait to see it on the new balcony in a few more weeks. I'll enjoy the old memories of friends, as I create new memories on the Thames River.

While I was at the antiques mall, I also bought two dressers. The blue one pictured above will replace a wider triple dresser, and the white one below will be storage for a bathroom with no cabinets. Thank goodness for neighbor Tim and his gigantic truck, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get all this home. We set up everything in the garage, so I could take advantage of the work space before we move. Then I pulled in a few other pieces from the house that needed a fresh look.

The garage became project central. The plan was to finish everything: bistro set, two dressers, file cabinet, and pine cabinet, in two weeks. Of course that didn't happen, but I did finish the bistro set, blue dresser, and file cabinet.

I got a good start on this dresser...

...but the finish details will have to wait until after the move.

The pine cabinet I know I'll need for extra storage has two coats of primer and hardware and doors reinstalled. Since I can't decide which room I'll end up using it in, or what color I want to paint it, this will also wait to be finished after the move.

The old beat up file cabinet from the garage came out pretty nice and will go in my new office. I glued inexpensive frames to the drawers for a nice detail, painted everything white, and then added gold to the frames and hardware.

Over the weekend, we moved the furniture inside, rolled up the the plastic, packed the paints away, and cleaned the garage. Now, with three weeks to go, we're ready to get serious about packing!

See books by Laura S. Pringle on Amazon

The Pringle Plan is a series of educational guides.

Monday, July 23, 2018

Hot Air Balloon Test Run

The balloons are tethered to the trucks below.

What is it about hot air balloons that bring such joy? A recent TED Talk explained we find joy in round shapes, pops of bright color, symmetry, and a sense of abundance. I would add in the wonder and freedom of flight, no longer bound by gravity, a sense of floating closer to the spirit realm.

An hour wait in a long winding line

Arriving at the South County Hot Air Balloon Festival, on the campus of the University of Rhode Island, by 7:00 am I found I was far from the only visitor willing to pay $20 for a one minute ride!

Love the pops of bright color!

Aside from the joyous color, I wanted to test my past fear of heights. Would it come back, or have I long since conquered it? Merely standing on the ground taking photos wouldn't tell me. I had to go up!

Spheres in the sky

All three balloons in flight

Enthusiasts are grouped in fours, and prepared to use the step stool to climb in to the basket, as the previous group of four climbs out.

This is the one I rode in

A beautiful morning sky

Rides were scheduled for two hours in the early morning and then again for two hours in the early evening. This is when the wind is most stable for a tethered flight of one hundred feet. Thirty seconds up, thirty seconds down. Just enough time to snap a few photos.

Plenty of helpers from the Rotary Club

Morning sun

I had no trouble climbing in to the basket, but there are helpers there to assist if you do. The flight up was a breeze! No signs of my past fear of heights!

Our driver mans the controls

An inside view

From 100 feet up I can see the line of people soon to be disappointed

Coming down the basket was a bit unstable as the wind picked up and our driver called out to shut the line down - no more rides, the wind was no longer safe. We hit the ground, bounced up 20 feet, and came back down again. I made it!

The wind is picking up and we bounce a few times

Climbing out over the propane tank proved to be a little tricky as my foot got caught on the basket, but as you can see the balloon is secured with many helpers.

The ride is over! We're back on the ground.

So, was it worth $20 for a one minute ride? Absolutely! I tested my fears, enjoyed talking to people in line, and experienced the joy of flight in a colorful round shaped balloon! Now I now I'm ready for a longer flight!

Laura S. Pringle is the author of The Pringle Plan, a series of educational guides.

See books by Laura S. Pringle on Amazon

Monday, October 9, 2017

A Wee Faerie Village

What fun I had at Faerieville, U.S.A.! Located on the grounds of the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, CT, the tiny village is open September 30th - October 29th this year. Admission includes entry to the museum as well as a map of the village with scavenger-hunt-type-questions at each numbered stop. Built by volunteers, each faerie garden has its own theme and design. It's a great way to meet people as everyone takes joy in discovering the hunted item! I took more photos than seems reasonable, but I wanted to remember it all. I'll share a few of my favorites with you today.

Some are in trees.