Thursday, December 13, 2012

Another Put A Bistro Set On It Moment

This sad little courtyard is at one of my museums. It's been cleaned up a little in the last year or so, but it needs a complete overhaul. I ended up talking with a visitor over the weekend about how her aunt used to be the caretaker at the museum in the 1970s. The aunt lived in the ell on the righthand side here. Her kitchen window was that first floor guy in the far right corner. It looked out on this courtyard, which the niece said was in much nicer shape back then. Can you picture it? A bit of grass, some paving stones for a patio, maybe a bench, and a nice little bistro set . . . I can almost see it now.

UPDATE:  Now I'm actually feeling inspired by this project.  This is the kind of thing I'd love to be able to do to update the look of our property and make the whole campus look more cared-for.  However, I'm leery of having the time and resources to work on it alone, so perhaps I can get a volunteer team together this spring or summer.  Here's another photo from inside the building (from those two joined windows straight back) so you can see more of the weedy mess.  But think of how nice it would look with some mowing, new plantings, and attention.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

#loveyourwork still

My office on Saturday.  I really can't complain ...

Monday, December 3, 2012

#loveyourwork, part 2

Just stumbled upon this 1868 print of Edinburgh's Grassmarket at work.  Love it.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

#loveyourwork

Yeah, this was the scene at my "office" this afternoon. I picked the right profession!

Monday, November 26, 2012

Par for the Course

Yeah, no big deal - just looking at the grave of an Indian princess on a Monday afternoon . . . I love my job(s).

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Portals

Some lovely little doors from two small buildings at one of my museums:


Friday, November 9, 2012

Another Selection of Images

The last few weeks at another museum:

October 17th delivery of small pumpkins for Harvest Supper and kids' Halloween Party

October 19th cleaning & prep of small cobbler's shop for upcoming 17th century programs

October 19th view of reproduction 1657 house soon to be completed/opened

October 22nd view of a sun-dappled copper beech

October 22nd view of haunted house preparations.  Love the Elvira at the end of the hall!

October 24th shot of medieval-looking hearth at 1657 house

October 24th - overly dramatic shot of marble bust at Harvest Supper.  I blame the red wine.

November 5th peek at the loft of the 1657 house.  I love that I get paid for this kind of thing!

Thursday, November 8, 2012

A Selection of Images

Here are a selection of images from the last couple of weeks at one museum:

October 23rd mixed media collage workshop for local seniors

October 30th hearth cooking program for intergenerational after-school program

November 1st scavenger hunt brainstorming & morning coffee

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Bistro Set Carryover

Wow - has it really been three weeks since I last posted here?  That's crazy, especially since I've taken some great images of my museums lately.  I'll try to post those in the new week or two, but in the meantime, let's take a page from my personal blog.  I'm doing a silly little series over there called "Put A Bistro Set On It" or PABSOI.  It's a play on the Portlandia episode "Put A Bird On It."  I always seem to want to put bistro sets in any little outdoor nook and that impulse carries over to my museum work, as well.  So here are three of my PABSOI images from my museums:

Come on, this little brick nook by the back door of one museum's visitors center totally needs a bistro set. To the left is a view of the river and the terraced lawn. I already sit on the bricks here to eat my lunch in nice weather - why not PABSOI?

This is the back entrance of one of my museums and the attached tenant apartment. We're renovating it right now for new tenancy. You know the incoming tenants would love a bistro set on this little slate patio, right?

This PABSOI is kind of a cheat, because it usually does have a bistro set in it! This is the courtyard of one of my museums and as of last year, we've had a nice metal 4-chair & table set right by the urn. My co-workers and I don't eat outside as often as we should, but it's nice to have the option!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Sun/Shade/Sundown

The 1710 house at one of my museums in the shade, full sun, and dusk.  All taken today - the first two this morning before 10am and the final one as I was leaving around 6:15pm.  And yes, I totally waited around this morning for five whole minutes for the sun to come back out in order to get the second photo!




Monday, October 15, 2012

Crazy for Vignettes!

I was at one of my museums to supervise a photo shoot today.  The combo of doing that and packing things away for the end of the season made me eager to design and/or photograph a few vignettes.  And then instagram them.  Behold!





Thursday, October 11, 2012

Vista

The view from my office window, sort of.  There's no computer or phone in here and so I rarely use this space. Wish I could more often, though!

Friday, October 5, 2012

Counterpoint

An sunny antidote and counterpoint to this.

Friday, September 28, 2012

Drear

A rainy, dreary day of one of my museums today.  This view out the attic window is lovely, but kinda dull, too.  We did have a few brave visitors, but it's been pretty quiet and I have a cold.  Just wanted to post this as a counterbalance to those days where I'm all "museum work is the most exciting thing ever!"

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Green, Red, and Gold

Afternoon granola bar break @ the museum today. Can't complain about the view!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Antique

A neat Civil War vignette before a lecture at one of my museums tonight.  I was helping the curator and the speaker bring some artifacts downstairs and snapped this quick photo to post to the museum's Facebook page.  It's fun when my love of tinkering with photos blends with my museum work!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Swirly

Helping the curator pack up textiles from a talk, I noticed this skirt & bodice.  How lovely is that fabric?

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Al Fresco

The lunch table I set up for the volunteers I was supervising today at work.  Not a bad lunchtime view!

Friday, September 7, 2012

Glow

One of my historic houses at dawn.  I was in town very early to see the President and had to snap this shot of the front facade washed in early morning light.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Interlaced

I did a program on lacemaking and lace crafts today for kids and it was really nice.  I bought a bunch of different size doilies and lace ribbons, fashioned a few sample/inspiration crafts, and then let the kids run wild!  I was really impressed with their creativity.  Here are some of the end products, with a historic lace pillow in the background for contrast.

Friday, August 17, 2012

View

Just wanted to show off the back yard of my Friday office.  Not bad, yes?

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Show & Tell

Hooked rugs of my great-great-uncle's creation at the museum for a rug hooking workshop.  :)

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Light on High

So, I've been away on vacation, as you may have guessed.  I was able to take three weeks this year and it was lovely!  We got back on August 5th and this week has been very busy with catching up.

Too tired to post more tonight, but check out this cool roof from the round barn I was in today.  I took my summer camp kids to the New Hampshire Farm Museum and it was pretty cool.  :)

Friday, July 13, 2012

Idyllic

Quilts for camp lunch in front of a 1710 house. What are YOU doing @ work right now?

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Come Sail Away

The main sail of the gundalow Piscataqua, during our trip on the river today.  Rough life, huh?

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Rolling on the River

I got to spend almost two hours down on the Merrimack River today, taking my summer camp kids fishing.  I really wanted to post a photo of one of the little girls posing with her bass and a grin, but I felt creepy posting photos of other people's kids.

Instead, I Instagram'd this shot of the river, looking upstream and the following conversation ensued:roguestell

me:  Where I was around noon today (whilst at work). :)
(college friend):  You always seem to go to such nice places whilst at work!
me:  That's very true! The perks of museum and historic site work. :)

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Fish in a Basket!

I'm getting ready for summer camp to start next week at one of my museums.  The week's theme is sailing and nautical history, so I'm starting way back, with the Native Americans who lived here first.  Hence the stuffed fish in a basket also filled with nets and plummets!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Quilty



Two lovely quilts from different exhibits at two of my museums. Both are running this summer and highlighting women in each town - one showcases women's artistic work from the mid-seventeenth to mid-twentieth centuries and one focuses on women in the Civil War. Both include awesome sewing pieces like these quilts.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Lean Back

Now that is a chimney with some serious lean.  Everytime there's a big storm, we keep expecting to hear it go!

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Domicile

We've had volunteers in this room over the winter, painting the floors and refreshing the exhibit.  I know having a fake potted plant is a bit silly, but I really love the way this corner of the room looks now.  It looks actually lived in.