Memorial Weekend~

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Beacon Hill- Boston

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Memorial Weekend

There is something about the cobbled streets, the quaint brick townhouses of Beacon Hill in Boston.

The way they proudly fly the Stars and Stripes.

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For those that have given the ultimate for our freedom and those that are still fighting~

We give Thanks.

Images:

Beacon Hill Homes

google search

Prelude to Summer~Memorial Day

~ Maine Veteran's Memorial Cemetery ~

Memorial Day weekend was always the prelude to summer. The family gatherings, special holidays and vacations.

Cottages are opened for the season, dates are set for coastal lobster bakes, the cupboards are well-stocked for frequent s'mores and life just becomes a little less hectic and a bit more fun.

It's important to remember the reason for the holiday weekend. The men and women that have fought and continue to fight to keep our country free.

It is a special day to remember those that lost their lives while fighting for our country.

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My Dad fought in World War 2~ he was a very handsome Navy man. Lucky for us, he made it home safely and met my Mom on leave in New York City~ the rest, as they say, is history. And a great love story was born.

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My birthday falls on Memorial Day weekend and back when that holiday was always on May 30th, there was always a parade-much like Memorial Day anywhere, America.

My Dad told me the parade was especially for me- my very own birthday parade.
Isn't that just the sweetest memory for a child?

My parents are both buried here at the

Maine Veteran's Memorial Cemetery.

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It is especially beautiful on Memorial Day.
The lanes are lined with large American flags and there is a flag at each site.

Let's not forget~

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... this parade is for you Dad.

My little Goldfish~

~Erin {in the yellow} part of the Goldfish T-Ball Team~

Probably ignoring the coach's suggestions and sizing things up on her own...

~Erin set for the play~

I love T-Ball for these little ones. No winners, no losers, no score. Each little girl does her very best and is proud to hit, run, play and learn the importance of sportsmanship.

All things in life should be so fair and so much fun!

Images:

Me

Eat Pray Love~

~Julia Roberts in India~

Did you see Julia Roberts on Oprah Monday?

She's such a great actress and seems to be very down to earth and steady-putting her children and husband ahead of her career.

She was talking about the upcoming release of Eat, Pray, Love.

Elizabeth Gilbert's book was such a pleasure to read and reread.

I am anxiously awaiting the movie, which is due to be released sometime in August.

I think it will be the perfect movie to see with a couple of girlfriends.

~*~

I also think it might be one of those DVDs that I will want to have in my collection to watch whenever the mood hits.

~*~

I love when Elizabeth was visiting Lucca, Italy and describes the figs...

..."But it's not just the meat that's wonderful in Lucca; it's the chestnuts, the peaches, the tumbling displays of figs, dear God, the figs..."

~Eat~


~Pray~

~Love~

Will you see it?

Images:

Search for Eat, Pray, Love

google

My file

Julia Roberts

Weekend Review~

~Saturday~

Our new raised beds were assembled this weekend and filled with a rich mixture of soils and compost. I am itching to get my hands in that soil and start planting. I've watered them down and have herbs ready to go. Next will come the long-range plans. Plant once on some things! Sort of the same idea as measure twice, cut once.

~Plotting my plots~
Pretty much all weekend


The above photo is very similar to what I would like to do with our back yard...
I would love to have the lawn dug up and have a series of raised beds and small in-ground beds.
Creating a cozy cottage garden.
All heavily mulched to cut way down on maintenance.
I have yet to present this idea to my DH for fear of a major eye-roll. My defence will be- although a fair amount of work at the early stages, there will be no ground maintenance such as mowing, weed whacking, raking, etc. And we are having a devil of a time with our young man that mows. And we all know I can't be trusted using a mower...
Wish me luck on this!




~Sunday~


While visiting one of the many fabulous garden centers in our area I picked up a good sized Rosemary...as my 6 year old plant was inadvertently left outside on an early frosty night last fall.

It will be a busy week of designing and shopping for the new raised beds along with planning my strategy on the major backyard renovation...



On Sunday I attended a lovely bridal luncheon.
We were served Kir Royales as we arrived and while introductions were made.
The luncheon was fresh, light and in season.
It was so much fun watching the gorgeous bride-to-be with her friends and bridesmaids.
I'm already looking forward to the August wedding on the coast of Maine~ we have reserved a cottage at the resort where the wedding will take place.
Who wants to think about driving home after an evening wedding?
~*~
It was a very productive weekend~ one that will give us lots of fresh vegetables, herbs and cut flowers this summer!

Thanks to my DH for his patience and all of his hard work.

I have a plan...

Images:

My files and google search

Goody-Goody Spin Pins

I love a good bun. I never was able to create the perfect bun so I was beyond excited when the infamous 'messy bun' became all the rage! That I could do!

Still getting all of the little ends tucked in was hard to master...but now~

Goody has come out with the...... SPIN PIN!

Never one to buy into hair gimmicks ever, but this looked like it might work~ and it does.

You actually screw the pins into the bun that you've made-one on the top and the other on the bottom. You screw them in close to the head and they hold!

My hair is longer than it's been in a while and with warmer weather coming, I wanted to be able to wear it up. But clips just don't hold my thick hair very well.

The Spin Pin come in a blond or brunette finish.

~Goody Spin Pins~

I picked mine up at Target.

~*~

Not available where you live? Try Amazon or email me.

I know- a pretty light post after being absent all week~

I did get some work completed, worked hard with my trainer, had several visits with the chiropractor, a day in the city ~ shopping all alone and lots of long walks.

Thanks for checking in on me!

Thanks to Goody

Dreamy Sunday~

~ Dining al fresco~

~ My Honda Metropolitan ~

It's that time again. When the days are warm enough to get out on my scooter- the days that I'm not feeling the cycling-love, the days that I just want to zip along and feel the breeze on my face.... and pretend, if only for an hour or so- that I am breezing along the dirt roads, lined with huge yellow sunflowers, on my way to a quaint vineyard.

And will return with two wonderful bottles of local pinot grigio- perfect for a warm day and a light dinner served al fresco~ among the olive trees.

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Or just maybe thinking locally and traveling down Rt. 202 between Winthrop and Monmouth- among the apple orchards- with a dream...

Images:

Tuscan dreams

Honda Metropolitan

Saturday Solitudes~

~The colors of Lucca~

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Happy Saturday~ Happy Weekend

Images:

flickr

My Tuscan Wedding

Read it and weep~

~Carolyn Quartermaine Script Fabric~

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I have posted my fondness for Carolyn Quartermaine fabrics before.

I especially love her 'script' collection.

Isn't this a dream?

I could go to google translator... but is there someone out there that can translate what this gorgeous settee is saying?

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I think it's saying..."I want to come live at your house!"

Image~ Courtesy of
Carolyn Quartermaine

Dark Chocolate at it's best~

O.K.- this is not my chocolate standard poodle Lucca. But after searching long and hard it is a photo that so resembles her. I tried taking her photo- but she is simply not up to snuff and wanted nothing to do with the camera. And the photos I did get- had red-eye which pretty much sums up Lucca's mood today! I just couldn't do that to her.

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We've had a day... that started Wednesday morning at 3:00!

Numerous visits outside and the B.R.A.T. diet for dinner and you get the idea.

She's been checked-out~ and needs rest, water and lots of love.

So please do check back with me-we need a little time to rest up, recoup, re-group and snuggle-her-well!

Image:

google search for a sweet Chocolate Standard Poodle.....

Wordless Wednesday~

~Lily-of-the-Valley~

Just now starting to peek through.

Some Like it HOT~

I love soup! I make soup at least once a week- from mid-August until mid-May.

It was cold here this weekend. Really cold! There were warnings for those Mothers to bring their special flowering hanging baskets inside Sunday night.

We wouldn't want to freeze our Mother's day gifts on the first night!

It's cold.

L.L. Bean rag socks to bed cold!

Cherry-stone pouch in the bed cold!

WHY did I just pack away my flannel jammies cold!

C O L D

This calls for a warming soup.

No matter how cold you are.

Do Not~ I repeat... Do Not double {or triple} the amount of chopped jalapeno for your soup recipe.

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And don't rub your eyes!!!

Images: Google search due to burning eyes

Happy Mother's Day~

~ Happy Mother's Day ~

Even if you aren't the Mother of a child, I'm sure that you nurture~ your parents or other family members, a special pet, your houseplants, a garden.

So celebrate this day and pat yourself on the back for a job well-done!

One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure~

I've been organizing, editing, purging and helping friends with a huge semi-annual sale of some pretty fabulous home goods.

Trick is....



Price your items, deliver them, do not stop, do not look around, DO NOT SHOP!
Because... One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure...

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... and there are some pretty fabulous things to be found at a tag sale of this size...
ohhh Dear!

Images:

google 'tag sale' search

The Sweetest Tweets~

How adorable are these sweet tweets?

They arrived on my doorstep in the nick of time last week!

The very thoughtful Kathleen over at Purple Flowers sent them flying north to cheer me.
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And cheer me they did.

Can you see the little fellow on the left that has just found his courage to kiss the little bikini-clad darlin' on the right?

While Mr. and Mrs. Big Bird look on...

I went 'shopping' in my basement and found these four saucers that make the perfect little back-drop for my feathered friends.

The whole family sits on one of the shelves of my chippy-painted cupboard that is in my kitchen.

Thank-You Kathleen for thinking of me- you are just the sweetest.

~*~

Please stop over and visit Purple Flowers- take a stroll through the gorgeous gardens.

Image:

My own

Corner View~ Gardens

~Nearby Garden~

On my morning walk with my two special pals I took the above photo.

Spring has arrived early in Maine, but I know we are still lagging behind some of you.

Our gardens are full of early spring bulbs and herbs. Still these gardens are showing us the very first stages of their beauty.

~My two walking pals and their pups Lilly and Bella~

There is a gentleman in our area that carves these mushrooms out of the remains of felled trees.
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For more Corner View- please hop over to Joyce's or Jane's.

images: My own

I've been fired! !!!

Earlier this spring I announced to my DH that I wanted to take on the chore of mowing our yard this year. Looking up from a raised eyebrow followed by an eye-roll, I got a "Ahh Huh".

I thought it would be the best way for me to get the job done to my satisfaction, in a timely fashion and what great exercise~ think of the steps I'd be adding onto my pedometer.

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So last weekend I got my first lesson. My DH is on his annual fishing trip in the Florida Keys and I needed instruction on this piece of equipment that I had never used!

I ended up mowing half of the lawn and then took a break.

I decided to finish it up yesterday morning. We had just had a large tree removed from our front yard and I needed to spruce things up a bit!

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One rock later, the mower coming to an abrupt halt, put an end to my summer job of being chief mower!

...and my DH has only been gone one day.

I decided to fire myself!

I wonder how much trouble I can get into in two weeks...

Images:

Top~ Vintage postcard

Bottom~ google search

I'm Cheating~

I am totally cheating today and asking you to head over to B-Well Report.

I have posted on food journaling and how it has helped me in making wiser food choices.

Jeanne and I invite you to stop in, join the fun, leave a comment, share a tip and surely with us working together we can all find the common thread to living richer, fuller and more active
lives.

In the last couple of weeks the support of these women has made a big difference in my attitude and the way I view my overall health and wellness.

I feel as though I have my team cheering me on.

We'd love to have you stop by.

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B-Well Report

Derby Day~

Well, Happy Derby Day!

I know some of you will be right there~ Ohhhhhh!

And some of you will watch and celebrate and have Mint Juleps at home close to the television~ Ohhhhhh!

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I, unfortunately will be stuck inside at an all day meeting. Who schedules these things?

May 1st, beautiful, warm and sunny Saturday, The Run for the Roses...

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If I were going to the Derby~ or a Derby Party, I would wear a chapeau just like this one.

...and I would want to have one {maybe two} of these!

Many consider Woodford Reserve Mint Juleps to be the best.

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~Happy Derby Day~Happy May 1~

Please tell me- do you have any special plans for Derby Day?

Images:

Chapeau~? my file

Woodford Reserve