Throwback Thursday - Thanksgiving

 From November 27, 2014

Remnants of Thanksgiving 1967 at Uncle Mario's

Left to right: Ma (seated), Auntie Emma, Auntie Phyllis, Auntie Olga, me, Uncle Tony, Uncle Jack

 Here we are waiting for Round Two of eating. Have a little something before you go home. Another plate of lasagna or eggplant Parmigiana. Maybe a turkey sandwich. Another slice of pie, fruit and nuts, or Auntie Emma's pizzelles  (Italian, anise flavored, waffle cookies)

If you celebrate the holiday, have a Happy Thanksgiving. If you don't celebrate the holiday, have a fabulous Thursday.

A Wish

 

May your day be Merry and Bright

Second on the Second - Behemoth Blue Morpho Butterfly

Photograph and by-line: C. J. Kennedy

 From January 7, 2013

Behemoth Blue Morpho Butterfly Menaces The Back Bay

Friday afternoon, a giant blue butterfly terrorized workers in Boston's Back Bay. The giant insect clung for an hour to the side of the Prudential Tower. The butterfly's wingspan dwarfed the width of the 749 foot  structure. The Pru, completed in 1964, was once the tallest building in the city.

No one seems to know where the insect came from or why it landed on the 52-story building. Local entomologists are speculating the Blue Morpho was attracted to the iridescent blue coloring of the glass and aluminum skyscraper.

Structural engineers have been called in over the weekend to ascertain the building's integrity.

It's your turn to play. From Elizabeth: Now it's time to share your Second on the 2nd.  The rules are quite simple and everyone is welcome to join the fun look back.  All you have to do is bring back a post that you are especially proud of, or perhaps one you shared before anyone knew your blog existed.  Any post, any genre, any artistic endeavor is acceptable.  Join hosts Bleubeard and Elizabeth to see what else is being served up the Second Time Around.

Throwback Thursday - Repeat

 

From May 5, 1016:

When The Brother lived in Harriman, New York, a small town in the foothills of the Catskills, Ma, Dad, and I took a trip to visit. The Brother took us to see the United States Military Academy at West Point. We walked around the beautiful campus. Got to see a bridal party posing for pictures at the chapel.

Here's a picture I took of Dad with his four year old grandson in front of the decapitated statue of General George Patton.

After leaving West Point, I couldn't find my beloved, Bollé, aviator sun glasses. It wasn't until several years later while going through photographs, I found where I had left them.

Throwback Thursday

From 2. July 2015

4. July 1987. In the shopping center parking lot, lining up for the town Fourth of July parade. Dad was voted one of the Seniors of the Year by the Natick Council on Aging. The Nephew got to ride in the float car, too.

Dad loved that sport coat. Somewhere there was a Volkswagen Beetle without seat covers.

T Stands for St. Patrick's Day

 Dad's birthday was on St. Patrick's Day, March 17. He always joked he was more Irish than the Irish. As long as I can remember, we always had a birthday bash for Dad. Sometimes small, with immediate family and sometimes, large with extended family.

Festive St. Patrick's Day insulated hot and cold drink cups. Since Himself and I don't drink coffee, Ma bought a small coffee pot like she had at home so when she came here, she could make coffee. I've been told I make horrible coffee.  The little coffee pot perked its last many years ago so when The Brother visits, he would stop at the Dunkin' Donuts down the road apiece and get a Box of Joe (An insulated, cardboard jug of coffee that serves 10. )

In the photograph, The Eldest, 6 years old, and 2 year old, Young One help Grandpa blow out his birthday candles on his 75th birthday. We celebrated that birthday on Sunday, March 13, 1994.

This year, Grandpa would have celebrated his 99th birthday. Buon Compleanno, Dad!

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.

How Do You Like Them Apples?

Himself stopped at the grocery store to pick up some apples. He decided to try a new (to us) variety, Honeycrisp. Honey Crisp. I think it's all one word. He bought 4 Godzilla-sized apples. All 4 barely fit inside the basket. The average circumference was 13 whopping inches! Wonder what kind of miracle grow the orchard used because it will take a village to eat just one of these apples or you'll blow your carb amounts for the week.

My friend, Erica Vetsch, likes this variety. They are the state apple of Minnesota where she lives. The apple has a nice texture, like a MacIntosh or Granny Smith (my favorites). It was good, sweet, but not as tart as I like. Seems like a better apple to eat out of hand than to bake with.

Have you tried this variety? Have you ever seen an apple this big?

Hi, Ma!

While visiting Boston a couple of weeks ago, I took a walk along Newberry Street. This street, in the Back Bay, is filled with trendy, apparel stores and boutiques. One of the window displays caught my eye, a couple of dozen, old, Singer sewing machines. There was also a sandwich board advertising the Boston School of Fashion Design.

Ma was a seamstress so the sight of all those old Singers made me think of her. Or she sent a message to say hello. She also took a few classes during the late 1970s and early 1980s at the Boston School of Fashion Design.  I was the model for many of her classroom projects. In one class, she had to make her own pattern and then sew the garment. She asked me what I wanted. I was working as a computer programmer/consultant at the time so needed business attire. I asked her to make me a blazer with a Chesterfield (velvet) collar. And she did. A beautiful black tweed blazer with black silk lining, black velvet collar and covered velvet buttons. I can almost fit into it, again.

Waters Farm

The Farmhouse

Friday, Red had a change of walk venue surprise for me. She's a board member for the Waters Farm Preservation in Sutton, Massachusetts.

Red had a few things to check on at the farm. She figured she could kill two birds with one stone. Take care of business and get our walk in at the same time.

Waters Farm was built in 1757 by Stephen Waters. The  original 1,000 acre farm was an apple orchard and the Sutton Beauty apple was cultivated. This apple was prized for its hardiness as it could stand up to the rigors of being shipped from Sutton to England without rotting before reaching its destination.

Over time, the farm land was sold. In the mid-1970s, Dorothea Waters Moran gave the town of Sutton the last 120 acres with the original farmhouse. The Waters Farm Preservation is dedicated to preserving the agricultural roots of the community and the beautiful countryside. Check the link above for upcoming events.

View of Lake Manchaug from the front of the house

The Memorial Garden dedicated to those who have volunteered their time to the WFP

Sun dial

Stone wall and advertisement for a stone mason

Queen Anne's Lace blooms despite the drought

Granite Quarry

Dinner Bell? Fire Bell?

Drought and Gypsy Moth Catepillars take its toll on the Sutton Beauty apple tree

Kitchen Herb Garden

Well and pump

Perennial Garden outside the Darling Barn where events are held

Stone wall with plowshares

Sleigh

Walk up through the field and back to the house

Watts Gnu??

Apparently, Google is no longer supporting Picasa Web Alburms where Google blog pictures were stored. Now, Google has a new feature Google photos, another photo cloud feature. Picasa support ended in May. Yeah, I'm behind the times.

Picasa Web Albums are still available as Photo Album Archive in Google Photos. That's good because I sometime recycle images for the blog.

So, I somehow arrived at a download for Google Photo program which will back up photos from designated folders on my computer. Ok, that's cool. All the photos got uploaded by date. A nice feature. And somehow the program automatically changed my default browser from Chrome to FireFox. Not cool, but easily fixed.

Checking out some features from collage and animation to see if they can be easily installed as images on the blog.

Not impressed with the collage feature as it only allows 2 to 9 images. You don't get a choice as to how you want to arrange the collage. There are no templates to choose from. Just a window pane.

Not impressed with the animation feature. Multiple pictures can be choosen, but no control over speed of animation and no fancy, fun transitions.

Throwback Thursday

When The Brother lived in Harriman, New York, a small town in the foothills of the Catskills, Ma, Dad, and I took a trip to vist. The Brother took us to visit the United States Military Academy at West Point. We walked around the beautiful campus. Got to see a bridal party posing for pictures at the chapel.

Here's a picture I took of Dad with his four year old grandson in front of the decapitated statue of General George Patton.

After leaving West Point, I couldn't find my beloved, Bolle, aviator sun glasses. It wasn't' until several years later while going through photographs, I found where I had left them.

Throwback Thursday

Ma loved hats. She grew up in the era where women wore hats when they went out. This is the hat she had for Easter,  26. March 1967. I'm not sure she got to wear the ensemble for Easter that year as it was most likely too cold to wear the light coat.

This photograph was taken on my Confirmation Day, 1. May 1967. I thought Ma's hat looked more like a beehive. I drew Ma and her hat for the 2014 29 Faces Challenge.

Throwback Thursday

When I was in elementary school, 17. March, St. Patrick's Day meant a day off from school. I went to parochial school, and St. Patrick was the patron saint of the school. We had to go to the 8 AM Mass. The nuns would take attendance.

After Mass, as you left the church and walked by the Mother Superior, you had to say, "Top o'the morn' to you, Sister."

"And the rest of the day to yourself." she would reply.

That meant we were free for the rest of the day. We would go home by way of Sussenburger's Bakery for a doughnut and a cherry tonic (soda) until the bakery closed in the mid-1960s.

Two days later, on 19. March, we'd repeat the process minus the "Top o' the morn'." 19. March is the feast of St. Joseph. He was he patron saint of the order of nuns who taught at the school.

So, Top o' the morn' to you, and the rest of the day to yourself.

Throwback Thursday

When we were 6.

Throwback Thursday

If you grew up in Natick and moved out of the area, you might not recognize the intersection of Route 9 and Oak Street.  The jug handle turn is gone!

 The image is a screen capture from WHDH-TV 7's traffic camera facing West. Three lanes of traffic on each side of Route 9 with a left and right turn lane. The exit by the Scrub A Dub has been blocked off.

The new configuration was supposed to help the traffic jam on Route 9. It probably would work if the lights at McDonald's, Oak St. and Overbook Dr. were in sync.

Throwback Thursday

Out of the parochial school uniform in 1969 and into another uniform 1970. First day as a Candy Striper at the local hospital. I was assigned to work in the coffee shop or in the gift shop. I was 15 years old.

Throwback Thursday

June 1988, All dolled up for Himself''s
10th  year class reunion at Holy Cross
Ma made my tent dress

Twenty-seven years ago today, I went into labor with the Eldest.

From the labor room, I called my friend, Teague, to see if she could record Robert Redford in The Electric Horseman. (I had priorities) Silly noob, I thought by midnight, we'd have a baby. Twenty-four hours and a C-section later, we had a bouncing, baby girl.

Throwback Thursday

4. July 1987. In the shopping center parking lot, lining up for the town Fourth of July parade. Dad was voted one of the Seniors of the Year by the Natick Council on Aging. The Nephew got to ride in the float car, too.

Dad loved that sport coat. Somewhere there was a Volkswagen Beetle without seat covers.

Throwback Thursday

8th grade graduation, 17. June 1969.  The photo is over exposed. The dress I'm wearing is not white. Ma picked the lace dress I'm wearing in Not My Favorite Color. I'm also wearing white lace gloves.

Throwback Thursday

My escort and I posing for Prom pictures outside my parents' house.  8. June 1973