Birthday Wishes

To my favorite brother:Guy- how very lucky all of us sisters are to have a brotha' like you. When we were little you were always leading with some fun game for us to play (krautniks anyone?) or some adventure to take us on (how about a motorcycle ride on Setucket?) And you're still as cool, creative and fun as ever. Hope your day is fab.

Things for fall

A mess of flowers brought in to brighten our table:
Beginnings of a gnome hat for Lilla. I keep knitting and ripping this one out over and over. Now I think I 'm finally on a roll. Playing with my shadow: a self portrait. I love autumn's late afternoon light.
Here's Rowan making a nest of the fallen leaves and pretending to be a bird.
A frost was predicted late last week, so I scurried to bring tomatoes and basil in from the garden. We've been eating a ton of tomatoes lately. I'm also freezing some whole as supposedly one can produce good tomato sauce in the winter from the frozen fruits...we shall see.
Harvesting lots of these cheerful yellow calendula blossoms for making a favorite salve.
Savoring time out of doors: playing, reading, snacking and relaxing:

Happy first week of Fall! And Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Going south

Like the geese steadily making their way southward- their classic v and clamoring honks overhead- we too journeyed south last weekend. And we settled in for a few nice days milking the last of summer.

A very hot day at the zoo in DC:

An afternoon on Papa's new sailboat. Strong winds kept us zooming along, the boat heeling and me a little anxious aboard with a wiggly one year old. On our last day, a quick jaunt out on the motor boat kept the thrill seekers happy:
We took hundreds of photos...and of course more than half of them went to the trash already. I'm still getting used to the digital SLR and trying to figure out all the new features and settings. It had been years since I last used a SLR, so I feel way out of practice. Thankfully, there's an auto button. And a trash button. Also, a funny thing happened after getting the new camera. Now we find ourselves with lens envy.

One more piece of summer

At the beginning of September, I was thinking about my blueberry stockpile...thinking that I didn't get quite enough berries in the freezer for the coming months. Thinking that I had missed the boat and would just have to settle with the berries I had collected, frozen and jammed back in July. But then last week a friend told me about a u-pick farm that still had berries. She said the picking wasn't great, but on a whim we headed out there to find plenty of berries still clinging to the bushes. Sweet, small, lovely berries. I couldn't get enough of the old-fashioned, self-serve scene: picking the berries in the overgrown hillside field full of bushes and the honor system payment plan of weighing the fruits myself on the farmer's porch and then dropping my money in the jar.

With purple stained fingers, we picked berries until sunset and brought home enough fruit to fill a gallon size freezer bag, eat too many fresh ones and make a blueberry pie (Mark Bitman's pie recipes are my favorite!).
And then just as I was beginning to accept the fact that summer was over, we headed south for the weekend to visit family. And my, it was one hot, full-fledged mini summer vacation. I'll have more on that tomorrow. Today I am unpacking (why did I think I needed so many long-sleeved shirts and pants?), organizing and sifting through nearly five hundred pictures from the weekend. We just got a new camera and  I can't restrain myself from clicking away.

Easy riders

All sorts of riding going on these days.
Ava's been riding horses on and off for years. This fall she begins a program at our local university to ride in their P.E. class. Very exciting indeed.
Rowan is a marvel on his bike. Last summer at only four years old, he stepped up to a two wheeler (no training wheels!) And this past weekend he moved on to a larger bike that was scored at a yard sale for a buck and lovingly fixed up .
And here's Lilla, hopping onto the "Wonder Pony." This was a great hand me down from friends and reminds me of the ride-on horse I had as a kid. I wonder if my childhood bouncy horse made it through all the rowdy rides from my siblings and me (is it somewhere in the basement Mom?)
As per my to-do list this weekend, I got on the sewing machine and made this little shirt for my girl. A supposedly quick pattern (Easy Mcall's 2889) sewn up in this light weight crab-apple print. The directions were simple, but the shirt came out a little wonky at first -and maybe still. Flaws included really long sleeves, an overly large neckline, and a too short length (I added a linen trim to make up for it). I ran out of time to make the linen pants that I planned on... hence the bare legs. Luckily the weather is still warm enough for such indiscretion.

Four things list

Sabrina (another one!) over at mamabee tagged me to do this. I'm giving it a shot, but I'm afraid my answers are not terribly exciting (gosh- I've hardly traveled out of the country and I think it's fun to sit at home sewing on a Friday night).

Anyhoo- Here goes:

4 things I was doing 10 years ago...
traveling cross-country
moving out of Ithaca, NY
chasing a one-year old
learning to crochet

4 things on my to do list for today...
go to the Ellis Hollow fair with my family
sew something!
take a walk
relax

4 things I love about my husband...
he's Mr. Glass Half Full
he loves me and appreciates the things I do
he's willing to learn new things and take risks
he doesn't mind cleaning the dishes

4 jobs I have had...
waitress
bookkeeper
newspaper girl
assistant to an Irish Step dance dress maker

4 movies I have watched more than once...
Harold and Maude
Spinal Tap
Good Will Hunting
Kiki's Delivery Service

4 places I have lived...
Cape Cod, MA
Washington, DC
Ithaca, NY
Somerville, MA

4 places I have been...
New Orleans
Portland,OR
Bar Harbor, ME
All over Florida- lots of times
I guess I'm not a globe trotter...maybe someday

4 places I want to visit...
Spain
Baja
Alaska in the summer
Denmark

4 t.v. shows I watch...
we don't have cable...
Does a Flight of the Conchords DVD count?

4 things you may not know about me...
I want to learn to play a string instrument (banjo?)
I don't take criticism well and cry too easily
I love Scandinavian design/style
I would love to hike the Appalachian trail someday

4 people I tag...
whoever wants to join in...I tag you!

A wedding away

With my sister's wedding inviting us back, we ventured again to Cape Cod before Summer's last hurrah. The morning after our late night arrival we joined my brother and his family and my youngest sis for a trek to one of the "Big Wave" beaches-those icy cold waters on the Atlantic side of the Cape where the large waves allow for body surfing, boogie boarding and even a few surfboards. I loved these beaches as a kid (feet numbing and all), but as a mother with small children I find them a little terrifying. Ava, however, can't get enough of the tumbling waves and begs to go each time we're near. This time the weather report and the skies did not look so promising:No matter...After a fortifying lunch at the Beachcomber restaurant (just a little hike up beyond the dunes), the clouds parted and the day turned into a beauty:But as fun as all the beaching was, the real reason for our trip was the wedding of my sister, Lea and Kevin, her mate of many years:
Aren't they lovely? The ceremony was set in a gorgeous sunken garden with the party following at this most amazing place:All in all a sublime weekend....except for the long car ride home...which had a few moments looking like this:Oh, my poor sweet Lilla is not in love with her carseat.

Endings, beginnings and celebrations

Where, oh where did you go July and August? Each year summer slips by faster and faster. As a child I recall the summer months lasting for what seemed an eternity, but now with a blink of an eye September is here and to be honest I'm not sure I'm ready yet.

Blogging has been on the back burner these last few months, but I'm ready to be back...when I can find the time. The last week and a half has been a busy one. First I got sick with that dreaded mastitis AGAIN. Though I normally avoid the doctor and most conventional treatments, I went ahead with an appointment and got antibiotics. With so much going on lately, I knew my recovery time would be limited. In the last week, two big days have transpired: a birthday for my big girl and and wedding for my little sis. Ava just turned 11 -eleven, I can't believe it- and we had a gaggle of girls over to help celebrate. They did spa treatments, went to the movies and had a sleepover. The whole birthday scene is becoming more grown-up as these girls get closer to adolescence. Here is a little glimpse of the day: After the party, we prepared for yet another trip to the Cape for my sister's wedding.
I'll share more on that tomorrow...it was a beautiful day and setting to celebrate the couple.