Whatcha Doin?

 

The Little Princess' vacation has come to an end. Whatcha doin?

T Stands for One on One Time with The Eldest

While the Eldest was visiting us in July, I got to spend one on one time with my baby.

After we toured the Jewels of the Nile exhibit, we stopped for a late lunch at Panera. We both had the Pick Two Options. She had Mac and a Citrus Asian Crunch Salad. I can't remember what she had for her beverage. Papaya something? Between chips, a roll, or an apple. She made the healthier choice of an apple.

I had half of the Napa Chicken Salad Sandwich, a Strawberry Poppyseed Salad, a bag of chips, and an iced tea. I would have chosen an apple instead of the chips, but the only variety of apple they have is Red Delicious. I prefer tart apples like Granny Smith or MacIntosh.

We had a nice lunch and chat. Since she lives so far away, it's something I have missed.

One of the things I had wanted to do while she was visiting was to go to the beach. The ocean .I asked my friend, Teague if she'd like to go along, too.

Turns out ocean plans didn't happen. A lot of the public beaches have restricted parking. Residents in the areas have complained about traffic congestion. Parking spaces are put into a lottery and you have to sign up online. Not only that, but day long passes go so quickly and only two hour passes are available. It means if the weather isn't a great beach day, you're out of parking cash as there were no refunds.

From where we live, it takes 2 hours or so to get to any of the beaches in Maine, New Hampshire, The Cape, Rhode Island or Connecticut. Neither of us wanted to take a long drive to stay at the beach for such a short time.

The weather was with us as it was a perfect beach day for a Friday. We thought the park might have filled up early, but there was hardly anyone there. Everyone must have taken their kids down the road apiece to the Breezy Picnic Grounds and Waterslides. No complaints from us. We even found a spot under some trees so had shade the entire day.

The water was so nice.

I was part way through lunch when I remembered I need a picture. Turkey, lettuce, tomato, and mustard on a bulkie roll, and an Arnold Palmer. Half lemonade and iced tea.

There was also fruit, chips, and oatmeal raisin cookies.

While wading through the water, I found a rock shaped like a heart. A souvenir of a perfect day

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.

WAM Jewels of the Nile

When the Eldest came to visit last month, we went to the Worcester Art Museum to see the Jewels of the Nile exhibit.

The day we visited was the start of a heatwave so the exhibit was quite crowded as people sought relief from the heat. The crowd made it difficult to get photos with descriptions.

The jewels came to WAM through a donation from Laura Norcross Marrs in 1925. Mrs. Marrs was a noted patron of the arts at the turn of the 19th century, and she was an avid art collector. On a trip to Egypt in 1908, she and her husband, Kingsmill Marrs met and befriended, Howard Carter. Yeah, that Howard Carter who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun. Carter advised them on purchasing antiquities, particularly jewelry which was legal at that time.

The Marrs collection was quite extensive and is on exhibit in its entirety for the first time in a century. 

The exhibit also had some interactive features such as being able to touch and feel various semi-precious stones. Rose Quartz for the Eldest because she loves the color pink

Lapis Lazuli for me

and Amethyst because it's pretty.

Hematite when polished is used to burnish gold leaf in gilding.

I didn't get a description of this painting, but this woman reminded me of Ma and the aunties when they got all dressed up with their earrings and jewelry.

Of course, I made sure to get a picture of the Cat

You should be able to embiggen the description of the Cat

A collection of glass make-up, perfume pots, and jars

Correspondence between Howard Carter and the Marrs. I was interested in the penmanship.

Carter was not only an archeologist, but also a watercolorist. Mrs. Marrs purchased many of his watercolors.

The Jewels of the Nile will be on exhibit at the Worcester Art Museum until January 29, 2023. If you're in the area, be sure to stop by.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Ugly buglies on the squash plants. The bugs look like white stink bugs.

The heat and humidity

taking their toll

Finally morning glories where they are supposed to grow

Clematis

A bumblebee enjoying a pepper flower

A squash

One of the snowball bushes looking like the pride of Morticia's garden

A wish and green grass. Grass is always greener over the leach field

A lot of New England is in severe drought. The ash trees are stressed and dropping leaves a month before they usually turn and drop.

Strong thunderstorms rolled through and brought much needed rain.

But it wasn't needed in the sunroom

This bucket was joined by 4 other pots and pans. I think we need a bigger boat.

If the leak in the sunroom wasn't enough, yesterday morning as I was taking a shower, no water! I'm glad I had pretty much finished and hadn't washed my hair. Himself went downstairs to see if he could figure out the problem. He found the circuit breaker had been tripped. He reset it and it tripped again. 

A call to the well company. Turns out two other households had the same issue. During the storm, there was a lightning strike that was very close. Quill and I were in the sunroom and we both jumped and ran into the house. Maybe the well got struck by lightning.

Fortunately, Himself has been emptying the water from the dehumidifier and putting it into empty kitty litter containers to water the garden. Not today, the water is being used to flush the toilet. The joys of country living.

How does your garden grow?

Fun Facts About the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

Atlantic cod; photo by Joachim S. Müller on Flickr (noncommercial use permitted with attribution / share alike).

The cod didn't make it to the official state list until 1974 even though it has been a symbol of Massachusetts for over 200 years.  A sculpture of one hangs in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1. First one at the hair salon to get my hair cut. No waiting in line.

2. A rainy day. Perfect morning for cleaning the kitchen and perfect afternoon to watch “The Sandman’

3. An order arrived a day early!

4. We went out to dinner with the Brother and His Wife to celebrate our anniversaries. The Brother and I were happy neither of us had to cook.

5. Had awesome restaurant leftovers for lunch

How was your week?

Engagement Card

 Our Nephew (Himself's side of the family) is engaged to be married next year. I wanted to send the couple a card, but couldn't find one that I liked. Somewhere years and years back, I had come across an etiquette rule (Victorian?) that it was impolite or bad luck to wish the bride to be "congratulations" and that was the only sentiment I could find in commercial cards. So, I made my own

"Happiness and best wishes on your engagement"

Envelope with Celebration stamp

Do you have trouble finding commercial cards you like?

Whatcha Doin?

 

My friend, Teague, and I are running away to the wilds beaches of Maine. (The reason blog posts have been scheduled for the rest of the month). Quill lends a paw with the packing.

Whatcha doin?

T Stands for the Dropped Dead Murphys Tour - Part 3

After a light, free breakfast from the hotel, we had one more stop to make on the tour. From the 1910 census records, Himself found the house where his  great-grandfather lived. After staking out the house, we headed South and the road home.

M, one of my classmates from Coloring Camp (Enders) had suggested stopping in Freeport, Maine to have lunch at the Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster Co. and we did just that.  I think she had mentioned that the restaurant was cash only so Himself hit the ATM machine before we left the hotel.

We got to the restaurant shortly after it opened and there was already a line and no spaces in the parking lot.  Fortunately, there was a handicap spot and Himself was able to squeeze in. The handicap placard is a life-saver, sometimes.

We queued up and placed our order. It was quite warm and sunny, but we found a table under an awning and sat and waited to pick up the order. 

The Eldest and I had mile high lobster rolls, fries (chips), and the most delicious blueberry iced tea. Maine is known for its blueberries.

Also in the order, Whoopie Pies to take home to the Kitty Sitters

View of the Harraseeket River. Behind me at the back of the restaurant was an upper deck to eat your meal. You could also buy fresh lobster to be cooked for you.

Before leaving Freeport, we made a pit stop at the L.L. Bean Flagship Store. I'm glad we stopped because traffic came to a standstill on the Southbound side of the highway just as we crossed the Massachusetts border. We figured there we be a lot of traffic heading North on a Friday afternoon taking people to New Hampshire and Maine beach and vacation destinations. We didn't count on two accidents to snarl traffic. At least we didn't have to worry about being home at a certain time. The Young One was home taking care of  Calli and Quill so we didn't have to have kittens about being stuck in traffic.

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.