a very Sampson holiday

I've had one last cold with the final gasp of winter around here, so Valentine's Day did not go as planned, but better. I was scheduled to make cradles at APS, which I postponed to next week. I made Ian buttermilk biscuits, scrapple hearts, and eggs over easy (like my love). He had to pick a building for this semester's historic preservation project, so I agreed to an architecture walk. The day was so warm and promising it made my soul feel better, if not my sinuses. 

I just noticed this string of abandoneds around the corner and fell in love. I want to buy them all, turn a couple into houses and the rest into our printshop, Gambrel Press, for their gambrel gables. I also found a few more great ghost houses (like ghost prints.) The second one even still has a fire place!

Our real destination was The Woodlands, a cemetery and mansion about a mile away. Hidden behind UPENN hospital nonsense and up on a hill, the cemetery and mansion have a strange view of Philadelphia. Most of the city is new superimposed on old, like the gambrel buildings. The view from the top of the Woodlands is like the new and old in relief, you can look across the Schuylkill to see busy highways and oil fields. 

Our walk around the grounds was quiet, like a hollow in the noise of the city. Though it was in the high fifties, there were charming, harmless piles of snow sparkling and winking at me. I thought maybe I do like winter.

The rest of the day was spent playing Carcassonne and watching SG-1. A very
Sampson holiday.