Happy Mail

My friend, Frau, a German teacher always sends me a postcard when she takes her students on a trip to Germany.

Since people love to see the stamps, the back of the postcard. Frau owns German Shepherd dogs so I used one to cover her real name.  

Frau had mentioned she might be taking a group of adults to Germany in the next year or two, if there's interest. My hand is raised.

Vielen Dank für die Postkarte.

All the way from Trout Towne, the Tabbies and the FSG (Food Service Girl) sent an adorable card. I love the kitty on the return address label.

Inside, a fun, colorful hand-lettered, birthday greeting and a note from the Tabbies, Daisy and Makerull. Mac, those gel pens take a little bit of time to dry. You need to be patient before you walk across the note.

FSG also colored an awesome lighthouse, my fantasy studio. Thanks FSG and Tabbies, you brightened my day.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Himself moved the bird feeder away from the shed so the furry Wallendas don't have easy access to the seed. 

I filled the feeder just before some wicked thunderstorms rolled through. It's amazing how many birds flock to the feeder during bad weather.

A goldfinch shares the feeder with the female cardinal. She's on one of the back perches.

The male cardinal came for his turn at the feeder

A bunny came out for a drink and a nibble.

So didn't the squirrel. None of the wildlife seemed to be bothered by the vivid lightning and booming thunder. And a couple of those lightning strikes were really close. They made Quill and I jump in the sunroom.

After the storm, a magnificent sunset

with amazing

and

vivid colors.

Quill inspects Godzillini Himself picked from the garden.

That's an 18 in. ruler next to it.

A couple of volunteers from the Senior center came to help us weed.

The hydrangea isn't as showy as other years. Too much rain? Too much humidity? But it's still pretty.

Birthday month ended and since it's been so tropical, I put out a tropical garden flag.

I'm all set to Welcome the Beach when I leave for Camp Newport tomorrow

How does your garden grow?

The Friday Five Good Things A Day Late

 

Prissy at her 85th birthday 
12. August 2011

Five good things that happened this week.

1. I had a dream about Prissy. Probably because I was thinking of using her zucchini bread recipe. In the dream, we were going to have tea outside, but it was raining. The dream was so real. I felt as if I had been with her. I used her recipe with a couple of minor tweaks to bake 2 loaves of zucchini bread

2. Calli lets me know she wants a "cookie" (treat) by sitting in front of me and looking at me and the cabinet where the treats are kept. I gave her one of the hairball treats.  But she spit it out. Ptooey! I guess she doesn't like those treats anymore.

3. Errands and Harry’s for late lunch/dinner. I had the Coconut Shrimp and a Raspberry Lime Rickey

4. Some hefty thunderstorms rolled through. Knock wood, no damage even though there wre a couple of close lightning strikes

5. And another year around the sun

How was your week?

The Last July Birthday

 

Memory - A Spoof by Pam Peterson

for my birthday.

Throwback Thursday

 

From March 2012: My Theatrical Experience

When I was a sophomore (18 or 19 yrs. old) at Boston University, I was in Equus starring Brian Bedford and performed at the Shubert Theater. That is, I was in one performance.

My friend, Teague, was a theater major at Northeastern University. She asked if I wanted to see the play Equus. She could get us special student tickets which allowed us to sit on stage. We would be medical or psychology students seated in an amphitheater and listening to the psychiatrist (Bedford) describe his treatment of a disturbed young man, Alan. Perfect! I was born to the role as I was a pre-med student studying psychology. We arrived at the theater and were shown to our seats on stage.  We sat on risers with other students. I didn't know the play, but it was very exciting to not only watch the performance, but to be "in" the performance. Until...

Jill, a stable girl, entices her co-worker, Alan to go into the stable late one night. Jill pulls off her sweater and peels out of her jeans.

 Okaaay. I squirmed a little in my seat. It's nothing more or less that I haven't seen before.

And then Alan takes off his shirt.

 I fidgeted a little more which earned me a hiss from Teague. Sit still!

Alan fumbles with the waistband of his jeans.

Ohmygawd, he's not going to...And then my parochial school training kicked in and I was repeating small prayers (coincidentally called ejaculations). Jeez Louise! He's not wearing his Holy Fruitofthyloomies! Jeeze Louise! He's Mother Buck Naked.

I could feel the heat rising to my face and my ears were burning. My eyes were bugged out of their sockets like a cartoon character, the pupil detached from the iris, which was detached from the eyeball, all stretched beyond the character's nose. I was sophisticated. I had traveled to Germany. I was a pre-med major. I had studied Anatomy and Physiology. I owned a Merck manual.  I'd seen the diagrams of the male anatomy.  But the young man on stage didn't resemble those flat pictures, and he was obviously excited to be on stage.

Understand, this was Boston founded by Puritans. Boston where Hey, Little Suzie by the Everley Brothers was banned. Boston where I had attended parochial school,  where the nuns wouldn't allow us to sing Louie, Louie because of the suggestive lyrics.

I didn't know where to look, and I was sure my eyeballs were going to burst into flame. Then an angel saved me. In the first row of the mezzanine, I could see a man in a dark suit and white turtleneck. I focused my attention on his turtleneck until the scene ended eight days later with the psychiatrist mercifully wrapping Alan in a blanket.

So ended my theatrical career.

Whatcha Doin?

 

I'm packing for another trip to Camp Newport since the first trip had to be cancelled.

Whatcha doin?

T Stands for Tea Things at Blithewold

While on our way to the hotel for our trip to Newport, Rhode Island, Teague took me to visit Blithewold, a 45 room Summer "cottage" owned by the Van Wickle McKee family.  The name Blithewold is Old English for Happy Wood. The mansion is filled with family heirlooms and is surrounded by 33 acres of gardens and woodland overlooking Narragansett Bay. 

If you visit Blithewold, you can enjoy a Cream Tea on the porch overlooking Narragansett Bay.

Estelle Clements room

Coco Chanel frock with sherry glasses

Marjorie Van Wickle Lyon's room. She was the eldest daughter.

Augstine Van Wickle Shaw Toland's room, the youngest daughter

Augustine's toy tea sets

Bessie Van Winkle room, the Lady of the House

China service 

on display

 in the Butler's Pantry

Looks like coffee is on or maybe water for tea.

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.

It's Still Happening At The Zoo

Looking for something to do close by while the Eldest was still home, we decided to visit Southwick Zoo. The zoo is spread out over 200 acres and has over 850 animals. 

We have never been to the zoo as a family. When the girlies were little there was a Kindergarten field trip to the zoo. When the Young One was 8 years old, one of her school friends had a birthday party at the zoo.

Of course we picked one of the hottest and humid days to visit. We arrived close to lunch time. Most of the animals weren't active either due to just having been fed or it was too hot and humid to do much

A faded mural

Well-behaved Leos and friends patiently waiting to go home with a new buddy.

Day lilies

In the olden days, you could stick your head in Leo's mouth to get a drink of water. Now you can refill your water bottle.

4 Zebras stood on the compass points to keep watch

The flamingo in the center got his feathers ruffled about something

Behind the flamingoes, a black swan

Who knew their knees bent backwards?

An albino Wallabee

The kangaroo was too hot and tired to turn around. That's all, mate.