Saturday, August 31, 2019

Saturday Afternoon at the Movies

This idea came from a Facebook meme:
Over 10 days, post your 10 all time favorite films. What movie has really made an impact on you or what films can you watch over and over and never tire of? Post either the movie poster, DVD cover or even a screenshot on your timeline. No need to explain.

Only I had a hard time picking out just 10 movies so my favorites over the next few hundred Saturdays 😸 in semi-alphabetical order:me favorite films. What movie has really made an impact on you or what films can you watch over and over and never tire of? Post either the movie poster, DVD cover or even a screenshot on your timeline. No need to explain.

Only I had a hard time picking out just 10 movies so my favorites over the next few hundred Saturdays 😸 in semi-alphabetical order:


The King and I (1956) Yul Brynner, Deborah Kerr

If you haven't seen this movie, it's available for rent on YouTube or try your local library.

Friday, August 30, 2019

The Friday Five Good Things


Five good things that happened this week.

1. Enjoyed a Sundae lunch

2. Himself fried eggplant and zucchini. I put them together to make a Parmigiana. We make a great team.

3. Went to see Totoro with the Young One. We really love seeing the Miyazki films on the big screen.

4. The washing machine died. A valve wouldn't close and the machine turned itself on and filled up with water all by itself. 😱 Fortunately, we were home before the machine flooded the house. Too costly to fix, we bought a new one one along with a 5 year service contract.

5. The genealogy bug has bitten Himself. We went cemetery sighting to find his maternal grandparents' grave. And then out to lunch and a future T Day post. 😺

How was your week?

Thursday, August 29, 2019

This and That Thursday


On the way to class as I was walking down the path, 3 nuns were coming up the narrow path towards me. Suddenly, I was back in parochial school. I stepped off the path to yield the right of way to the nuns. As I walked past each of them, I mumbled "Good morning, Sister. Pard' me, Sister." Yup, you can take the girl out of parochial school but you can't take parochial school out of the girl. 😺


As happens when lettering, you inevitably make a mistake. Rather than re-letter the piece, mistakes can be corrected by carefully using an exacto knife. Valerie had an even better tool, an electric eraser. It was amazing how well it worked. She said the model she has is old and no longer made. Too bad. She also gave me a suggestion to use shell gold where I had made a mistake.


We had to take turns during lunch and dinner to say grace. Some of the graces were really beautiful sentiments of fellowship, the island. Hard acts to follow. For my grace, I sang a grace from Girl Scouts.

Bless our food, we share with friends today
Grant us peace and love along the way.  (sung to the tune of Make New Friends)

We also had awesome dessert. Fruit of the Forest Pie. Raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries. The chef knew how to bake a perfect crust, too. I love pie. 


After dinner, I had tea under a grape arbor with one of my classmates. Good tea, good conversation, and a beautiful sunset.


Tuesday, August 27, 2019

T Stands for Gropius House: The First Floor


Last week, I had a play date with my friend, Teague. Usually our play dates include a cemetery sighting, but thunderstorms were predicted for the afternoon. We were hanging out in Teague's sun room when she asked, "So, do you want to go to the Gropius House?"

"You mean like the Bauhaus?"

"Yeah, Gropius built his home in Lincoln, Massachusetts. It's one of the properties of Historic New England and I have a membership."

So off we went.


Gropius House is on the National Historic Landmark for Walter Gropius' was one of the most influential architects of the 20th. century. Gropius was the founder of the German design school known as Bauhaus.


In the mid-1930s with tensions building in Germany, Gropius accepted a position to teach architecture at Harvard University. He was allowed to leave Germany with his possessions, but his bank accounts and assets were frozen.

Helen Storrow, a philanthropist, (and if you're from Boston, Storrow Drive was named for her husband, James) heard that Gropius wanted to build a home in the country. She offered to lease him 5 acres of land from her property in Lincoln, Massachusetts which he could select the site he wanted. Construction of the house started in 1938 and Gropius, his wife, Ise, and daughter, Ati (12 years old at the time) moved into the house in 1939.

The house has sleek, clean lines. Utilizes native materials and sits in harmony with the land its build on. It was Gropius' interpretation of a typical New England colonial home with a modern twist. which included building materials such as glass blocks, cork flooring.

What's astonishing is this house is 81 years old and it looks very modern in style.


 A flagstone walkway leads to the main entrance of the house

The front entrance leads into a foyer. The innovative glass blocks provide privacy, but also allow light and the view of the front yard.


At the back of the foyer, the circular stairwell to the second floor with a view of the coat closet. It was designed to be open so that the color and texture of the clothing could be seen.

The color palette of the house is neutral with white/off-white, and grey with pops of color from artwork, textiles like wall coverings, bedspreads, towels



From the foyer, a peek into Gropius' office and a look into the living room beyond.


The cork floor. Acoustic wall covering and the cork floor make the house very quiet. Guests have to wear paper booties to protect the flooring. 


The double desk was designed by Marcel Breuer. Gropius wanted to share the office space with his wife, Ise. Her space is on the left and his on the right. A large window overlooks the front lawn.


View from the living room. Gropius was innovative with passive solar, placing the house in such a way to take advantage of the sunlight for lighting and heating. A special system of heating ducts to prevent the large, plate glass windows from fogging or condensation was installed. Those are the vents behind the radio antenna.


The fireplace. Gropius was friends with many artists of his day. Many when they came to visit, brought artwork as a gift. Some of the guests included Alexander Calder, Joan Miro, Henry Moore and Frank Lloyd Wright



More furniture designed by Breuer.


I liked the telephone and the old telephone number: Clearwater 9-8098


From the living room into the small, intimate dining room. 


Since I took too many pictures for one post, my drink reference is the coffee cups on top of the dishwasher in  clean up side of the pantry.


Opposite the clean up side is the serving side. The house is efficient. Lots of built-ins with clean lines. The cabinets he selected came from a medical supply catalog. A place for everything and everything in its place.


The galley style kitchen.


Besides teaching, Gropius also had an architectural business. In the corner of his office, he had a separate entrance for clients so they wouldn't have to go through the house. 

Next week, we'll visit the second floor of the house.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Monday, August 26, 2019

Ink by Number


After 2 1/2 hours, Ink's face emerges. Paint by numbers is like painting a jigsaw puzzle, and I find it relaxing.

 The picture is a bit pixelated, but I like it. I don't think I sent a high enough resolution photograph. Someone was too excited about the prospect of having a kit of Ink made up, she didn't thoroughly read the directions.

Total project time: 7 1/2 hours

Sunday, August 25, 2019

How Does Your Garden Grow?


Dedo and his faded hydrangeas


A mushroom that looks like a tiny, beach umbrella


The ferns are back. I had pulled these out a the beginning of the Summer



A beautiful sunset


The zucchinis are spent


A few tomatoes left


A pear-shaped cucumber


And the pepper that never grew

How does your garden grow?

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Saturday Afternoon at the Movies

This idea came from a Facebook meme:
Over 10 days, post your 10 all time favorite films. What movie has really made an impact on you or what films can you watch over and over and never tire of? Post either the movie poster, DVD cover or even a screenshot on your timeline. No need to explain.

Only I had a hard time picking out just 10 movies so my favorites over the next few hundred Saturdays 😸 in semi-alphabetical order:me favorite films. What movie has really made an impact on you or what films can you watch over and over and never tire of? Post either the movie poster, DVD cover or even a screenshot on your timeline. No need to explain.

Only I had a hard time picking out just 10 movies so my favorites over the next few hundred Saturdays 😸 in semi-alphabetical order:


The Karate Kid (2010) Jackie Chan, Jaden Smith

Friday, August 23, 2019

The Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week?

1.  Started a new series on Netflix Knightfall about the Templar Knights, conflicts with the Pope and King of France.

2. Had a play day with my friend, Teague

3. A trip may be in our future so we applied for passports

4. A student from one of the first classes I taught at the art museum came up to chat with me at a going away party for a museum colleague. The former student now works in the conservation department at the museum.

5. Another lunch out. Seems our new hobby is going out to eat after running errands.

How was your week?

Thursday, August 22, 2019

This and That Thursday

More from my Enders Island journal.


Tuesday morning started off with a thick curtain of fog. I could barely see the outline of the yacht club across the way. Fortunately, the fog burned off quickly.

Tuesday was the morning I also discovered a few dozens hundreds thousands of tiny,sea spiders (hermit crabs) commuting on their sand highways.


The gull claimed the steeple of the chapel as his territory. I called him the Holy Gully, a pun on an old song and a dance from the 1960s called the Hully Gully by The Olympics And that made me think of my Auntie Olga and Auntie Emma. They loved to dance the Hully Gully at weddings.

In the gift shop, I found some prayer name cards with the girlies names. I rarely find things with their names on them and spelled correctly, too.


The lightning cable to my iPhone/iPad died. Fortunately, Valerie had an iPad, and she brought her charger with her to class every day so I could charge my devices. I was starting a photography project on the island, but put that on hold until October. Taking pictures eats up the battery, and I didn't want to pester Valerie every time I needed the charger.

My salad smiling at me just cracked me up.


And the end of another beautiful day on the island.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

T Stands for 34


On Sunday, Himself and I celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary.  We went to the UxLocale, a favorite spot for us for special occasions. The restaurant is in a rustic setting. There's a patio, but it was too hot so the patio was closed. Sunday hours are only from 4 pm - 7pm so we got there just as the restaurant opened.


Inside it was cool. Chef Elaine used to work at the art museum. At the museum I called her My Favorite Elaine. She came over to our table to say hello, and she told me she didn't have any clams left for my favorite dish, linguine a la vongola even though she said she bought 50 lbs of clams for the weekend. She said next time to call ahead. So sweet she remembered what I liked.

There were other delicious selections on the menu to choose from.


The waitress brought a basket of bread and gravy (tomato sauce). 


I had a Rosé Prosecco for my beverage and Himself  had a coke. While we waited for the appetizer, we reminisced. Well, I did as Himself said he didn't remember much about the wedding.


After the bridal party went down the aisle, the doors to the church were closed and then opened for my entrance on my dad's arm. Just as the doors were opened, Dad whispered, "This is what it must be like?" 
"What?"
"Walking to the electric chair."
"Thanks, Daddy."


Himself did remember that he couldn't get the ring on my finger. It was hot inside the church. The fans at the front didn't really help. My fingers had swollen like little sausages. He was trying to put the ring on my finger, but didn't want to hurt me. I think he was afraid he would break my finger.
"Here. Give me," I whispered, and took the ring and jammed it on my finger. Himself reminded me that technically he didn't put the ring on my finger. "Tough, we're married." I told him the official time was 3:30 PM as I had looked at my watch.


We had the Wild Card Sampler Board as an appetizer.


In the limo on the way to the reception, a couple on a motorcycle waved at us and gave us a thumbs up. Himself was surprised I could remember something like that. It's a savant thing


The official photographer was a royal pain. She was crabby, and yelled at everyone because she wanted people to stand with their feet at a 45 degree angle. That's why my Mother-in-Law and us are looking at the floor. Terrified our feet aren't in the right position. I didn't want her as I had a friend who was a photographer, and I wanted him to take photographs, but she came with the wedding package. So she took the official photos, and David took all the candids.


Our meals came with a house salad. Elaine has such pretty presentations with her food.


We didn't get a chance to eat much at the reception. People were interrupting us with pictures or having to do some wedding thing like


 our first dance. Only You by the Platters 


And then there was the Father-Daughter Dance, Sunrise, Sunset from Fiddler Mother-Son Dance. Dancing was torture to Himself as he doesn't like to dance.


We didn't have to worry about not eating at Elaine's. Himself had Opah, a fish a bit like swordfish in a  chimichurri sauce. It was delicious. I got a bite.


and I had beautiful pan-seared scallops


The wedding cake was made of plaster of Paris. A chocolate sheet cake was cut and boxed up for guests to take home. At the time, the signature dessert of Lombardo's, where the reception was held was Cherries Jubilee. The lights in the ballroom were dimmed and the waitstaff brought in flaming bowls of cherries. The flaming concoction was ladled and swirled like a fire dance and poured over vanilla ice cream. Oooh, aaaah!



While waiting for dessert, I had a cup of tea

We didn't see much of each other at the reception. After going around to all the tables thanking people for coming, Himself went to chat with his friends, and I danced with The Brother, all my uncles, Himself's uncles, Himself's cousin and 


my dear friend, Derry.



I asked Himself if he remembered my Uncle Tony, singing and dancing. Nope. Uncle Tony rarely went to family functions, but he seemed to have a good time at our wedding.


For dessert, Himself chose Uncle J-J's Key Lime Pie. Also very yummy. 😋 Ask me how I know?


I had Vanilla Ice Cream and Almond Joy Macaroons. All to myself because Himself hates coconut.


I couldn't finish dessert so got to take the macaroons home.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.