Happy New Year

Happy 2015

Happy Fall

Here’s the young guy now occupying our front porch…he’s great to have a conversation with

Not too scary looking…

If you can get past the curmudgeonly face!

Happy Holidays!

                        
                        Wishing all of you the happiest of holidays...

No matter how you celebrate...(even if it's by decorating Charles S. Parnell!)

                          Here's hoping you get enjoy time with family and friends...

                                  And enjoy a Happy and Prosperous Happy New Year! :0)
                                                                  

My Son's work

Painting is just another way of keeping a diary~Pablo Picasso

Tree Hug

Sometimes its the massiveness of life that blows you away. The scale in nature can hold you so profoundly.

On a recent walk in our arboretum, we came across this massive weeping willow near our beloved river. Contemplating its portly mass, it's hard to imagine the years of growth. While I learned to ride a bike as a child, the willow was here. Graduating from high school and wondering where life's trails would lead me, it was still here in its spot by the river. The year my husband and I became engaged, again it was here during our visit to find a background for our wedding pictures.

And today, 25 years later, as I stroll with my youngest daughter, like a sentinel, the willow remains perched for our pleasure.  We snuck under her limbs to admire the labyrinth inside, to sneak in a Mommy-daughter hug, enveloped in her protection. 

Images of Summer

Summer has been peaceful, warm...

We've strolled quite a bit enjoying the bounty...

And have spent most of the time with our toes nestled in the sand...

And I am not sure I'm moving from this spot, to be honest...:0)

Enjoying the Heat

The last six months of weather have been extremely unusual on our island. We’ve gone from more snow last winter than we had seen in decades to the wettest spring on record…

But, oh! The summer! Sunshine, sunshine, sunshine…with over 80 degrees daily! It has filled our wet, darkened souls with light and laughter. The joy of remembering the feel of heat on your back when taking a morning stroll, the warm feel of your dog’s fur as you give him an afternoon stroke in the sunlight, lazy afternoons preening yourself in dappling sun on a chaise…


Those months of dank have been worth these three full weeks of bone drying heat.


The biggest preoccupation is keeping the flowers (and birds!) well watered so they may enjoy the warmth, too! Join Mary's Mosaic Monday to see more! :0)

Heatwave!

"What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a state of continual inelegance"~Jane Austen

                      "When you build bridges, you can keep crossing them"~ Rick Pittino

Living Authentically in Summer

I know I should be spending tons of time outside now, enjoying the sunshine and warmer weather...but I just love how our den comes to life with the summer sun! Here's where we crash after dinner, put feet up to read the paper, grab a nap away from the afternoon heat... 

It's a place that may not always have the pillows just so...

Usually you can tell someone's been in for a rest...but mostly, I love how it holds the collection of our years here, with small pieces of memories all over the place...the china cabinet holds my grandmother's play tea set from when she was a girl, champagne glasses from our wedding, a replica of my husband's first boat as a boy...nothing pricey, just a reminder of who we are and why we are...

These three cuties my husband and I purchased on our Mexican honeymoon

My youngets daughter made this papier mache shell collection that I adore...my son, the small vase yielded from his young hands many years before he'd make his way to art college...

Three bobble head turtles, one for each child...

Like I said, nothing expensive here but valuable to us...and we derive comfort from it all...as everything glistens in the summer sun.

Oops! Think I hear my family calling from outside to join them, but I may just have to settle into a square of sunlight dappling on the couch for a quick nap...

Do you think I need sunscreen in here?! Haha! :0)

Mr. Brainwash mosaic

On a beautiful sultry Sunday, while on a visit to my art college son in Chelsea, we happened upon a loft exhibit of the Manhattan artist Mr. Brainwash. Mr Brainwash ("MBW") is a pseudonym for Thierry Guetta, a French street and pop artist who takes famously historic icons and amends the originals in slight or significant ways to achieve an ironic and often politically or socially biting effect.



We were very taken by his messages held here by a “pop” Alfred Hitchcock. What a unique perspective to share on Mary's Monday! 4 very different messages, each so very true, don’t you think?

Hammock Time!

Whew! I've enjoyed a nice long breather on my hammock! :0)

Happy Birthday to Me!

Another year for reflection!

Somehow as the years pass by, birthdays sneak up on you like an unwanted guest at a party; you see her  across the room, take a couple of special steps to avoid confronting her and sharing pleasantries, and just as you're busy at the buffet, grabbing another stuffed mushroom canape, Miss Birthday sneaks up along side your ear and whispers, "It's so nice to see you again!" And there you are, caught, having to confront another two digit number right in the face. Darn her!

When my family asked me what I wanted for my Happy To You, I really didn't know and came up empty. Cousins called and invited me out for cosmopolitans. What Birthday Girl could say no? But as I was driving home from a night of delicious red liquid beset in triangular glasses, I was beating myself up for not starting at least some laundry to make the weekend easier for myself!

Berating myself under my breath, I opened the door and I came upon the best present ever! A clean house! Cleaned by my dear girls and their Dad!

They straightened up the livingroom...

Shined up all the glass in the diningroom...

And waxed the bedrom furniture!

I even had a wonderful note on my bed pillow: "Sweet dreams about cheese..."

What else could a Birthday Girl ask for? Well,  my DH said he was running out for milk to be sure we had enough for the day...

and he came home with my College son! He had taken the train from Manhattan to visit his Mom for the weekend (and to go surfing, of course...)

"And isn't it nice to see you, again!", I'll say at next year's buffet when I meet Miss Birthday. "You know, you can put your two digits away, my dear...birthdays aren't about that, they're about the people who love you and the gifts they give you from the heart...care for another mushroom canape and a cosmo?"

Maybe, Miss Birthday, you are not such an unwanted guest after all! :0)

80 Degrees!

A surprise for us yesterday, an unexpected July day in April...

New York spring weather can be so crazy...at one moment, 45 and sleeting profusely and another moment, 80 and sunny...

And, of course, there's housework in any weather! But I needed to feel fresh air fill my lungs, sunlight on my face, so I grabbed Tucker, and off we went for a walk along the river! :0)

But, as you can see, I tuckered old Tucker out! It's been a long winter and we don't get out as much as his friend, Spot! I think we need a little more practice, Tucker! In the meanwhile, you just get cozy with that blanket! Back at it tomorrow, spring is here!

Happy Easter!

                    Happy Easter to you all! Enjoy the holiday! :0)

Broadway Mosaic

A colorful sharing for Mary's Mosaic Monday! During our recent school break, we took a trip to The Great White Way to see the Broadway show Mama Mia. The lights of Broadway are all at once captivating and breathtaking. You can hear people marveling in all languages as they rush off to a show or catch a bit to eat.

Starting in 2009, vehicular traffic was banned at Times Square between 47th and 42nd Streets, and at Herald Square between 35th and 33rd Streets as part of a pilot program; the right-of-way is intact and reserved for cyclists and pedestrians. Now the whole area is a pedestrian mall and you can actually sit in the middle of Times Square, in the middle of all the glitz and glamour, and have something to drink or eat! It's amazing... and if you ever get to New York, just a sight to see!

Mama Mia is a wondeful Broadway show for the entire family. The premise? A gorgeous 20 year old woman is getting married on a Greek island and invites three older men to her wedding...her mother dated all three of them during the summer the young woman was conceived and she'd really like to find out who her Dad is! Frollicking fun with plenty of ABBA songs to enjoy. At the end of the performance, the audience is out of its seat clapping and dancing-a ball!

I can't wait to go back!

Hammock Time!

Enjoy your hammock time today, rest up for the week ahead! Today in New York--50 degrees! We haven't had it that warm here since early November! Yeah! :0)

Quote of the Day

"Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed"-Storm Jameson

Zapped with a Bad Cold!

Just when I thought I'd made it through, I've been zapped with a bad cold/bug and am in bed. Yikes! I was this close to not being sick this winter season. Mother Nature's having the last laugh! :0)

My girls have been cleaning off the dinner table, my DH straightening up...it's cute listening to them whisper in the hallway outside my bedroom, giving each other instructions, trying to keep quiet. The house will never be put together the way I would. But just knowing they're out there trying to help out Mom gives me a warm, comfy feeling inside!

And they make a pretty good cup of tea, too! :0)

Metropolitan Museum of Art , NYC

Off from school last week, we forayed into Manhattan for a mini-vacation. To live so close to this incredible metropolis is truly a treat! If you ever get to New York City, do spend the day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

And it will be all day! The middle of my mosaic shows the Temple of Dendur, a fully reconstructed Egyptian temple given to the US. In one of the small frames to the left you'll see examples of the temple's hieroglyphics. The Met has this life-sized exhibit in an atrium overlooking Central Park. Gorgeous!

Another favorite stop shown in the lower left: the Greek Gallery. Streaming with light, it's so peaceful to examine these statues celebrating the uniqeuness of the human form.

There's Modern Art at the museum also. You can see my girls contemplating a Jackson Pollack painting. Viewing the strength of his drippings on such a large canvas is overwhelming! 

The upper right hand corner shows the facade of the American Wing. It is filled with actual rooms from original American homes and beautifully crafted furniture from all over the world.

Truly, there's something for everyone at the Met! And the best part? It is one of the least expensive treats in NYC...a small donation is requested at entrance but the best part was--last week admission was free for families! :0)

Now that's what I call a great mini-vacation!

Hammock Time!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend with your feet up--I sure will! :0)

Case of the Missing Brownies

We're going to a friend's for dinner this evening, so I made some brownies to take with me. Well, I'll just test one...(I tell the kids this is "testing for poison" and in no way indicates cheating!)

Stiff instructions to the people I live with: DO NOT TOUCH THE BROWNIES!

I went off to fold a load of wash and found this upon my return to the kitchen...

"Hey, who did this?" Silence.

Off to make the beds and saw this upon my return..."I said do not touch the brownies! Do you all hear me?"

"Not me, Mom, not me!"

"Don't know what you are talking about!"

Hmmm...Can't find a guilty soul...

"Now come on! There will be nothing to take to dinner!"

"Mom, we were just testing for poison...you know, just to double check..." Giggles.
Ah well, like mother like child...