Playing and...

... relaxing after school.

Winding up Summer

The Clematis is still willing to flower.

This bucket left over from a live Christmas Tree,
came in very handy to grow cherry tomatoes.

Pretty Bell Peppers.

A bumper crop of string beans stretches over the bricks.

One tired Geranium.

These photos were left in my camera from the past 2 weeks.

What a difference even a day makes.

Now things look like the last picture...very tired and spent.
***

There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart. -Celia Thaxter

Climbing the Tree

Through the years this old apple tree has seen many children climb it's branches. This summer the boys figured out how to climb.
Some things just come naturally don't they?

Joyce Kilmer. 1886–1918
Trees

I THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

I scream, you scream, we all scream....

Just so you don't think that I live the life of a saint but as you know I wish that I did. After dinner tonight Papa wanted to take us out for ice cream. The kids were so excited and wanted monster mash sundaes and that made me want a hot fudge sundae too. I was in my pajamas so I stayed in the car while the guys went up to the take-out window. Papa knows exactly what kind of sundae I like (that's one of the perks for being married more than half your life). I closed my eyes and waited patiently for my treat to be brought to me. I really felt like a queen being pampered.
The kids come out squealing with excitement ...I sit up and grow a big smile. Papa hands me a LARGE sundae. The kids are so happy.
What kind of cruel person am I? Looking at this LARGE sundae in my hands should make me giddy. But my stomach starts punching me just looking at it. I open my mouth to say it's LARGE! I must have said it just the way I meant it.....because little daggers fired out Papa's eyes and I realized I was complaining.
He agrees...yes it is.
I don't stop. I add fuel to the fire... Have I ever ordered a large?
Don't eat it all.
What a waste.
It was on sale.
I pick at it with my plastic spoon. Then I dig looking for some hot fudge. Honestly there was just a sick amount of ice cream and only about a tea spoon of hot fudge.
Is there any fudge?
The girl is new.
Did you get any fudge?
Not much ..hey the girl is really nice she's just new here and doesn't know how to make a sundae very good.
oh.
By now the kids are sugared up, and cooped in the back seat. They're playing tug of war with a sweatshirt or something. One is laughing, one is crying...both are loud. Something is spilled...more laughing and crying. Papa gets out and fills a brown bag with everybody's bowl ready or not. We leave with both kids crying.
On the way home we stopped at a non demoninational church, ( see , I'm open) because I saw a circle drive. In the dark, under many bright parking lot lights we let the 2 boys out of the back seat to run the circle. It took 3 times around to tucker them out. They got in the car panting and friends again, too tired for horseing around.
My theory is if I'm going to consume 1,000 calories it better be just the way I like it. Which I would never want to anyway! What a waste.

100th post

Alright, because this is my 100th post ...I'm sharing this with you.... this is me.
I have on a Cape Cod Times T'shirt but I don't work there anymore I just like wearing free clothes. Speaking of free, I think it's a blogging tradition to have a give away for the 100th post. Sorry...I'm not having a give away. (this time)
I'll tell you some more things. I'm 54. As the earlier post says I've been married 36 years. That means I've been married since I was 18. I'm a mother 4 times and a grandmother once. I have grown up children and I'm also blessed or cursed depending on the moment with a younger child. So I'm starting all over again with the elementary school horrors. My family is basically my whole life. My grandson and son are 18months apart. They spend so much time together they're like brothers. I'm very thankful for everything. I don't want to take anything or anyone for granted.
I'm a Roman Catholic. I would like to say that I'm a devout Catholic but I'm sorry that I do miss Mass quite a lot. That makes me a very bad Catholic. In my back yard there's a little garden statue of Mary the Blessed Mother. For those of you who wonder about what these little statues are all about ... no they are not for good luck. No, they are not to worship either. Statues are not idols. Idols are worshipped and statues of Saints and Mary are just reminders of the person. They're called shrines. They are not graven images. For example..when you hang a photograph, you know very well the picture is not actually the person...it's only a reminder of the person. The feelings you have go much deeper than the picture itself. Same as a crucifix too. We do not worship the cross by itself. It symbolizes the greatest act of love ever known to man. We don't worship the image itself, because that would make it a god. Some people adore money. It's not money that's bad it's the way you perceive...........................
OMG what am I talking about here? I'm supposed to be telling you about me....not all of this.
See????
This is so typical. This is me....it's so much a part of me.
And I'm really - not even a holy person. I just am so aware of another realm.
When I was a little girl I wanted to be a nun when I grew up.
(Thank-God for the church's sake that I didn't!)
You know I didn't get these kids by being chaste.
Ok let's see what else ...........................................................I guess that's it for now anyway.
Except, one of the reasons that I do enjoy blogging so much is for this reason. I'm free to express myself without forcing my opinions on anyone else. I can feel free to be me and that's a great feeling. I love that we can all celebrate our differences.
Thank-you for listening to me. I appreciate every single visit. xox~Elaine
.............. With that said, I bet you can't wait to see my 101st post!

September 15th

Today is our 36th wedding anniversary.

nine eleven

One nation under God ...

September Mayfly

For those of you who are not acquainted, this is a Mayfly .

Considering a Mayfly has only hours to live,

together with the fact that this is not May,

makes hanging out on my door extra special.

Developing Patience

This is the kind of thing I have to look out for as I turn a corner in my house.

( It reminds me a previous post ... refridgerator art )

Xavier is carefully balancing each action figure.

This may look easy but it's not.

The slightest vibration ~

can cause a domino effect.

And that's just what happened as I turned away.