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.

Senator Ted Kennedy

During these Harvard days, Ted was more interested in football then politics.

Last Year we sold a Harvard/Yale college program on ebay and this picture of Ted Kennedy was in it. The scan is still in my archives... so I'm sharing it.

I have a personal Senator Kennedy story....
Years ago I worked at the Snack Bar in the Hyannis Airport . One Sunday a familiar looking young man with strawberry-blond hair came up to my counter and asked for a newspaper. We had about 5 different newspapers in stock, so I asked which one he wanted. The kid called out right across the terminal to his Dad...."Hey Dad, what paper do you want?" I saw that his Dad was Ted Kennedy and he gave me eye contact .... Then he called back to his son Patrick --- loud and clear ........."Cape Cod". Even from across the room he was an amazing presence.

Yep that's it! I got eye contact!
I didn't say it was an exciting story did I?
(Although it was quite exciting for me.)

this is random but-
Recently, I wrote that my sister Marjorie died. What I didn't mention, was that Marjie underwent the same type of malignant brain tumor as the Senator.

***

Missing someone gets easier every day because even though it's one day further from the last time you saw each other, it's one day closer to the next time you will. ~Author Unknown

A Warm August Evening...

walking the beach,

Xavier takes a moment to daydream.

And as the waves reach closer to him

he plays tag with the sea.

Gotcha!

All the rivers run into the sea;

yet the sea is not full. King Solomon

Fair Winds

Marjorie McLaughlin died August 7th. I'll always remember the date because it's my oldest daughter Nora's birthday. It was a year ago when we went to Florida to attend Marjie's wake and a beautiful reception the day after. I didn't "blog" about it then because during those days it hurt too much to think about, let alone write about. On that day, there was a huge bouquet of blue balloons tied with blue ribbons. Each person took 1 balloon and a sharpie marker. We each wrote our own personal last message to Marjie and then we gathered together outside and waited for the cue to let our messages soar up to the sky all at once. One of Marjie's grandsons named Owen who was very close with his "Nana Kitty", just couldn't bare to let the balloon go. He carefully ripped the ribbon down the center and as the ribbon tore it weakened. The last balloon was on it's way. A thin strip of the ribbon was left in Owen's hand and he held it like a treasure as if it were somehow a direct link to heaven. Marjie didn't have a funeral because it was her wish that her ashes be brought back to Cape Cod and immersed in the waters off Nantucket. Her daughters are the kind of daughters that would make sure their mother's dying wish be granted.
Just a few days ago they made the trip up from Florida carrying the "box". They hired a private fishing boat with a captain, who brought us to a certain spot off of Nantucket Island. Captain Joe dropped the engine and we waited for the boat to ease up. The longitude and latitude were duly charted and recorded and it was right there where we finally laid my sister to rest. Our brother Jack had the important task of making sure the job was done right. From the starboard side Marjie's ashes fell to the water and took to the wind. A sigh of relief mixed with pangs of loss came over me. There was a lull of contemplation as we gently rocked at sea ...before we headed ashore under an orange sunset.

***

Hard To See Shells

My son Tom brought me a gift from the beach...

he calls them "Hard to See Shells" ... thank-you Tom. xox

Ephemera

When I first heard the word EPHEMERA ( pronounced like if ) I thought it was a kind of glass. My husband the collector has since showed me otherwise. Ephemera has to do with collecting paper artifacts. Anything paper or paper related can come under the heading of ephemera, the word is a plural term. Love letters and diaries are wonderful examples and are treasured of course for their sentimental value. But when you really think about how much paper is thrown away it makes sense that something like the 100 year old Heinz pickle die-cut trade card would now be worth more than just a few bucks in this condition.
At first I laughed at how bizarre collecting paper is. I couldn't understand why anyone would care about or even put value on something so simple as a candy bar wrapper or an old ticket stub... but now I look at these items not only as art but as pieces of history. Each item is unique. Some items are common and easy to come by while others are harder to find, scarce or even RARE. The thrill is in the hunt. It's fun to find. The category is so open that inside the category are subcategories. A collector may concentrate on a specific topic for example trade cards or post cards. I'm particularly fond of metamorphic cards. These were advertisements that showed one picture but the same picture transformed into another. I have a collection of several antique trade cards that have frogs on them. Each one is different and they all are fun.

Through the years I've learned a great respect for this field of collecting. I hope this little chat has broadened your horizons. I'm not saying to save every cereal box...just one of every kind. ~wink~ Of course if you did, that would mean you are a " TYPE " collector.

to see more go to http://www.capecodcollectorsshop.com

New Online Shop

For a long time I've been toying with the idea of having an online shop for my husband. We have a little Maw and Paw shop here on Cape Cod. Actually...I guess you could say it's just Paw's shop because the only thing I do is occasionally dust and decorate. I tried to get our shop name for a web address, it's called The Collector's Shop. Although that url is available it's a premium name and it would cost a lot more than we can afford. So, instead of being The Collector's Shop it's called http://www.capecodcollectorsshop.com/ .

You are all invited to come see.

But the only thing is...there's really not much to see because I haven't added anything for sale yet. I'm just excited and wanted to share the news with you.

Super Hero

My Super Hero Son,

The strong and silent type.

Making Madonnas

In my profile I declare "I'm just me." Do you wonder what that means? If I went to your blog and I read that you were "Just You"...I wouldn't have a clue as to what that even means; unless I knew you already.

In my case it means that I'm kind of shy. I'm reluctant to tell you what a weirdo I really am so I just try to keep it short and to the point thus hoping you will think that by stating "I'm just me." I mean that I'm just like you too. I wish it were so. .... sigh ....

Anyway... there's no use trying to explain who I am because it doesn't matter. Like I said -- I'm just me. All that really matters is that you are welcome here and I'm very happy to share.

Now about this post....it was supposed to be about my art work and not about me. I like to needle felt. I'm so passionate about my art that I get a little insecure when it comes time to show it. I know I'm not alone when I tell you my feelings here, that it never seems done or ready or good enough or in the case of making Madonnas -worthy of it's subject matter.

These ornaments are inspired by the whole concept of unconditional love. This is my impression of our Blessed Mother Mary and Lord Jesus. I like creating this theme because it's soothes my soul. I'm more aware of my own creation. Much of my time creating anything is spent with hymns, prayer and supplication. Needle felting takes a lot of time and the mind does wander. So creating a theme like this helps me to focus on something of substance and to forget for awhile all worldly cares. I'm always amazed to witness clean, carded, raw wool be transformed from pure fluff into an object of art. In this case the object is also a soft reminder of tender love.

Tom's Big Catch

We were all excited for Tom when he caught this fish and cooked it up for dinner.

*******

Just imagine how many dinners this latest catch provided!

Tom's Large Mouth Bass

38" long weighing in at 20lbs

caught using a jig

This is the Grandpa who taught son Tom how to fish,

many years ago.

I'm sitting here on a rainy summer night snacking on these delicious salt and pepper pistachio nuts.

I have memories of eating the red kind of pistachio nuts and getting the dye all over my fingers, lips and tongue. Ugh! I can't stand that. I used to suck on the whole nut and crack it open with my teeth. Dear friends, no matter how big and open the nuts appear to be please resist the impulse. Do not use your teeth as a nut cracker. Here's a tip. Take an open shell and stick it into the opening of the hard to open nut and then twist it open. Voila! My sister Carole taught me this valuable lesson many years ago and I'm happy to pass this tip to all my fellow pistachio loving buddies.

Cut Flowers

Mmmm Mmm Good

My Back Yard

.

Summer School

I almost forgot the hours of fun I used to have playing school when I was little. Propping up stuffed animals as my students. My classroom was at the very top of a staircase and I used a Romper Room toy blackboard. My name was Miss Jean and at the end of each class I would recite the Romper Bomper Stomper Boo chant while gazing through a badminton racket for my magic mirror. .......sigh....... That was back around 1960.
I'm not sure how many of you can relate. Excuse me for reminiscing.

Here is a recent picture of Xavier and Dylan playing school in their own way.

I wonder if they will remember their soft cuddly students 40 or 50 years from now?