Stuart Avenue Inn Holiday Reading Picks
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Sunday, 20 December 2009 21:23 |
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Snowy, gray days, little sunlight, chilly temperatures , what better conditions for hunkering down with a good book. And you'll find a relaxing get-away than the Stuart Avenue Inn. |
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If you forget to bring your own, we've handpicked a selection of our favorites and sprinkled them around the Inn. From the dry humor of David Sedaris' Holidays on Ice, to John Grisham's take on a classic Christmas tale in Skipping Christmas you're sure to find something appropriate to the season. |
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We've included Henry Van Dyke's The Story of the Other Wise Man who also saw the Star in the East, and set out to follow it, yet did not arrive with his now more famous brethren. |
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And Isak Dinesen's collection of Winter's Tales a book of predominantly Nordic stories that was smuggled out of Nazi-occupied Denmark through Sweden, and printed for soldiers fighting in different parts of the world. |
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For laugh-out-loud , try Dave Barry's The Shepherd the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog and you won't look at the yearly manger scene the same way again. |
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For short seasonal mysteries we've got Night of Silken Snow and Other Stories by the Edgar winning writer Francis Nevins. |
Of course, I saved this year's favorite for last , Ed Buchart's Red Suit Diaries chronicling one man's real life journey from Marine to Santa Clause.
Best of all you can find these and many more Holiday treasures for you or for gifts at Kalamazoo's best used bookstore , Kazoo Books
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Tuesday, 15 December 2009 19:56 |
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With the first snow of the season, our thoughts turned to exploring some of the many winter activities in and around Kalamazoo.
We took a short drive to Vicksburg to visit Mott's Christmas Barn, a turn-of-the-century restored barn filled with gifts and crafts from bird houses to holiday decorations. They serve warm cider and free popcorn and peanuts while you check out their assortment of fresh boughs of holly and other greens, as well as very tasteful artificial garlands.
The second story loft is filled with ornaments, snowmen, stockings and other holiday decorating ideas.
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Virtuoso Horn Duo and the Sounds of the Holiday
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Monday, 30 November 2009 15:30 |
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 After a wonderful Thanksgiving meal served to an Inn full of guests, we turn to preparing for the holiday season in earnest. Boxes of ribbons, holiday fabric, ornaments and lights have been unearthed, and piles of greenery bring the smell of the garden indoors. With all the work ahead of us, music is essential. I love the myriad sounds of traditional classical, secular, sacred, orchestral, choral, vocal, new age, country, and contemporary holiday music - but the sound of brass is the sound I most associate with the season.
How fortunate then, that the Inn had the pleasure of hosting The Virtuoso Horn Duo(Kerry Turner, Kristina Mascher) and Friends (Kyle Turner, tuba/ophicleide, Lauretta Bloomer - piano) this past October. Kalamazoo was the last stop on their two-week whirlwind US tour, courtesy of Western Michigan's Horn Studio and Professor Lin Foulk. After two weeks of traveling, working, and performing together, they took full advantage of our spacious rooms -Ruth's Room and the Morning Room, and parlors to unwind and get that necessary breathing room.
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Friday, 06 November 2009 14:56 |
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After purchasing the Stuart Avenue Inn, Chris and I began assessing the adjoining garden – known as The McDuffee Gardens (after Alice McDuffee who lived on the lot and tended a nationally recognized Shakespearean garden in the 20s); also known as The Casteel Gardens (after the man who demolished the house in the 80s and landscaped a formal garden with meandering footpaths, flower beds, gazebo, and pergola); and sometimes referred to as "The-then-so-grand-now-so-sad-gardens" (after twenty years of intervening neglect). Trees intended to be pruned and shaped grew gangly and misshapen as they competed for light. Overgrown hedges lost their trim and shapely silhouettes. We tripped over stone edgings to forgotten flower beds. What to dig out. What to transplant. What to compost. These topics dominated our conversations.
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