The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1. Pastina in a little chicken broth best cure for an upset stomach

2. Fun visit with The Brother and SIL at the grand-nephew's 4th birthday party

3. A late afternoon doctor's appointment so Himself called in a take-out order to Harry's. Finally got some fried clams

4.  A visit to the chiropractor. He made me taller!

5. Teague Day. We went for ice cream at J.J's in Upton. I had a cup of German Chocolate Cake. Heaven!

How was your week?

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. We had a Skype date with the Young One.

2. In a box of art stuff in the basement, I found the Gelli Printing Plate

3.We celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary. We thought about taking a riverboat trip around Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg (Webster Lake). Rain was predicted.  I had to pick up a prescription so on the way home I stopped at the grocery story and picked up an eye roast, sweet potatoes, crescent rolls, and an ice cream cake. We stayed home, avoided the rain, hung out in the sunroom and watched old movies. I made a nice dinner, and we were content.

4.  Some new toys arrived

5. I gave the kitchen a makeover.

How was your week?

T Stands for A Mug, Postcards, and Teas

 Back in June on our first trip to Ogunquit this year, Teague and I ate breakfast at The Egg and I, and I was quite taken with the mugs. At the time, it was too busy in the restaurant to ask if the mugs were for sale.

Last week, back in Ogunquit and since our motel was across the street from The Egg and I, we walked over for breakfast. While waiting to be seated, I asked if the mugs were for sale. They were! So after breakfast, I bought two, one for each of us to have as a souvenir.

When I got home from my trip

Lisca's second postcard for the 11th T Day Anniversary had arrived. Lisca wrote the picture is from Gaudix, a town near where she lives and where she frequently shops. She had recently been there with her son and his family. She said, "It was so hot that I enjoy looking at the snow in this card. (it was 40 oC or 104 oF.)

While it's been very hot and humid where I live, it hasn't been that hot. Though to some it might feel like it was that hot. I don't really complain about the heat and humidity. Winter lasts so long. Summer is flying by and Winter is coming.

For those who enjoy the stamps, this travel stamp with the little people with their luggage and backpacks must be the postcard rate. The Correos, the postal service of Spain, did a nice job with the postmark. The card was postmarked in Granada on the July 23. It took about a week to get here.  Impressive.

If arriving home to happy mail wasn't enough, in Monday's mail this envelope and notecard from Lisca. The notecard has a picture of a market and a vendor selling garlic bulbs. It reminds me of when I was little and we would go into Boston to visit my maternal grandmother. Sometimes, Ma would have Dad stop at Haymarket Square where there would be vendors selling fruits and vegetables.

Inside the notecard were 3 teabags. In her note Lisca explains, Pukka is an English brand that has many different herbal teas. The Lord Nelson is from the European supermarket Lidl and it is a sleepy-time tea of chamomile, fennel, and valerian.

The third teabag is called Sex on the Beach and is a cold-brew tea. It immediately got dunked in cold water so I can try it after dinner while relaxing in the sunroom. 

Then because the first postcard I received had a slight mishap in Lisca's bag when her water bottle leaked (though it wasn't damaged), she sent this magnificent postcard of a toreador. Just look at those roses! 

Thank you, Lisca, for being my T Day Anniversary partner.

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.

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week

1. Friday is usually the day I change the sheets on the bed and do laundry. It seemed silly to fold my clothes and put them in the drawer when I would need them on my trip. So, I packed my suitcase for the Ogunquit trip

2. The Young One sent me a UPS tracking number. The package is schedule to arrive on Tuesday. I will have already left for Ogunquit so it will be a nice surprise when I get home.

3. Happy Birthday to me! Birthday muffins, Birthday pastrami on bulkie rolls, watching old movies in the sunroom, takeout from the Outback, ice cream cake. Godiva chocolates from the Eldest, something from Himself that requires assembly which he will do while I'm away, and lots of birthday greetings from family and friends. The Young One sent me the Pusheen image in this post.

4. Monday was a red letter day for Happy Mail

5. Tuesday was Ogunquit or Bust!

How was your week?

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1. In the afternoon, a bag of dog food was delivered to my front door for someone named L.  I posted on the town Facebook page if anyone knew her thinking that the address must be 4 or 5 houses away. Someone did know her and I was able to make contact. Turns out the delivery people weren't even close. She lived 4 towns away from me and she got my pet delivery of kitty litter liners. 

Himself suggested we put in a take out order at Bertucci's and meet L there to exchange the items. Perfect, we get our correct order and I don't have to cook.

2. The Young One didn't get the Mrs. Field cookies and Birthday Teddy Bear I had delivered (possibly due to the CrowdStrike outage), but she did get my card on time.

3. The cookies and teddy bear arrived a day after her birthday. They weren't late. They were just prolonging the celebration.

4. I ordered supplies for the watercolor class. The cheapest prices were from Jerry's Artarama.

5. I splurged and bought a package of Stroopwafels

How was your week?

T Stands for the 11th Anniversary of T DAy

 

Jigsaw puzzle subject image credit: jdross75/Shutterstock.com

Today, the T Gang is celebrating the 11th anniversary of T Day. My swap partner and our hostess, Elizabeth haven't received the items for the swap. I don't want to spoil things for them. As they say, check's in the mail. 😉

Happy Anniversary, everyone! 🫖☕🧋🍵🍶🍷🧃🍺🥤💦So grab your favorite beverage and raise a glass to T Day.

Thank you, Elizabeth, Bleubeard, and Squiggles for making Tuesday a day to look forward to.

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.

Rabbit, Rabbit, White Rabbit

 

Background image from Freepik

Welcome to Birthday Month and the new blog background for July.

We celebrate three birthdays this month: The Eldest, The Young One, and Mine. 

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1. Saturday per my request we had an early Mother's Day dinner courtesy of Harry's and then we watched  the new Doctor Who.

2. I received Mother's Day greetings from The Young One and other family members

3. One of my continuing students got the green light from his surgeon to take my class. It was so nice to see him.

4. I emailed the IT Manager to ask if I needed a special app to cast or mirror the iPad to the monitor in the studio. He said it would just be plug and play and he also had the Lightning to HDMI connector so I wouldn't have to buy one.

5. Himself's birthday celebration. Take-out from Outback,  made from scratch yellow cake with chocolate frosting

How was your week?

Today

 

The to do list for today: get a haircut, pick up milk, half n' half, ice cream, a birthday card for Himself, frost the cake, back to working on diplomas.

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week

1. My laptop touchpad can also function as a touch screen. I must have touched a button and the touch pad turned into a touch screen which drives me crazy. I finally figured out how to get rid of it. Simply press the F6 key.

2. The new Spring jacket with zippered pockets arrived. Now the car keys won't fall out of my pockets.

3.  Teague took me to an appointment in Boston. We took the long way home via Rte 20 (the old Boston Post Road) Such a fun road trip.

4. I was excited to see a monitor in Studio 102.  With an HDMI adapter, will I be able to connect my iPad to the monitor. I hope to be able to use the drawing program, Procreate, to demonstrate calligraphy and have what I'm doing on the iPad displayed on the monitor. I just need to get the adapter.

5. We had an early Mother's Day dessert courtesy of Himself. Chocolate covered pineapple slices and strawberries.

How was your week?

T Stands for Red Letter Day Celebration

March 6 turned out to be a Red Letter Day. For special occasions and celebrations, we like to go to my favorite Elaine's restaurant at the UxLocale

We started with Elaine's home-made, crispy, thin, potato chips with a sour cream and onion dip. After tasting Elaine's potato chips you will never want to eat any kind of chip that comes from a bag.

Antepasto

My glass of Prosecco. The Eldest had a glass of Merlot.

Mushroom ravioli. Mmmmm

For dessert, Brownie with Cannoli filling.

 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.

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. I had to pick Himself up at WPI and to wait an hour or so until he got out of class. I walked up to the Campus Center and treated myself to a Chai Tea Latte.

2. Happy Mail. A St. Patrick's Day card from Nan

3. We had our traditional St. Patrick's Day corned beef and no cabbage, and we watched A Quiet Man. It was free on Pluto. But surprise! They cut the ending to start Donovan's Reef, another John Wayne movie.

4. On impulse I purchased Celestial Seasonings Vermont Maple Ginger tea. It was delicious

5. After a brief hiatus, Teague and I finally had a play day

How was your week?

St. Patrick's Day Happy Mail

Thanks to Nan. She never forgets to send me a St. Patrick's Day card. I'm pleased to be an honorary Irish woman. Uncial (Celtic) lettering and a fun Mr. Snuffleupagus stamp. That has no cancellation mark

It might be St. Patrick's Day to the rest of the world, but today would have been my Dad's 105 birthday.  

PI Day

 

Happy Pi Day and Happy 145th Birthday to Albert Einstein

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1. Chat with The Young One. She was delighted to receive the package I sent with Chai tea pods for the Keurig machine, some  Holiday Joy tea I think she might like. 6 small battery lanterns in case they lose electricity, an embroidery kit and a pair of Muk Luks I found that she forgot to pack

2. Play day with Teague and lunch at the Wayside Inn.

3. Started a New Electronic Good Things Journal

4. First Footed for the First Time in 37 years!

5. Quill and I watched a documentary on what goes on in the minds of cats. He was very interested

How was your week?

T Stands For First Footing

 

After 37 years of marriage, Himself finally consented to be the First Footer. (His excuse for not wanting to be a First Footer in previous years was because he was asleep before midnight on New Year's Eve and we'd wake him up just before midnight so he could ring in the New Year. What a pork pie furphy!)

Anyway. First Footing is a Scottish tradition. The First Footer, the first person to cross your threshold in the New Year, brings good luck to the household. The First Foot should be a tall, dark-haired man. Being blond or red-haired is considered bad luck and harks to the days of Viking raids when a blond or red-haired dude on your doorstep meant big trouble. Himself has more white than dark hair, but we called it good.

The First Footer also brings gifts of coal/wood, shortbread, salt, bread, and whiskey. The gifts can be symbolic. Since this First Footing was a bit spur of the moment, I put together a gift bag for Himself to carry. The gifts he presented to the household were a coin, a couple of packages of cookies, a can of soda, and a battery. The coin represented prosperity, the cookies and soda to ensure food in the larder, and the battery a sort of fuel to provide heat and light.

Himself's mother had told us long ago there was also a ritual that the First Footer had to be dressed properly. Coat, hat. I think gloves and a scarf.  Himself wasn't really keen on this idea, so he donned a coat and hat. After the clock struck midnight, he took his bag of gifts and went into the front porch. 

After midnight, the First Foot knocks on the door. Three knocks is traditional, but the First Foot can knock on the door any way they please. 

I thought Himself would tap out Shave and a Haircut, but he went the traditional route. While all of this was going on there was a lot of giggling and laughing.

I opened the door and Himself greeted us with "A Happy New Year and Good Tidings to you and yours”. He researched what he was to do and say from  First Footing Hogmanay traditions and customs for New Year’s Eve celebration in the UK

I invited Himself in and said, "Peace to all who enter. Wipe your feet!" which was a line from the movie The Quiet Man. Yeah, it's about an Irish-American in Ireland. Ireland. Scotland. Tomato. Tomahto 😉

He gave his gifts to us and explained what they were for. 

I was required to offer the First Foot a libation. It's a faux pas if a beverage isn't offered and even more rude if the First Foot refuses the drink. Himself was offered a glass of Sparkling cider. Himself, the Eldest, and I toasted the New Year and then headed to bed.

Meanwhile. Quill was not happy that his bedtime routine had been upset because of the holiday. Normally, Quill and I head to bed around 10 PM. At some point during our festivities, Quill had gone to the bedroom and barfed on the floor by Himself's side of the bed and then unceremoniously barfed on my blanket.

With beginning the New Year by having to clean up cat yak, the year can only go uphill. Always look on the bright side of life.

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.

Wishing You

 

a wonderful day and may all your dreams come true.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

 I didn't have the energy this week to run around outside taking pictures of the garden. So a nostalgic post from this date last year 2022

One of the best things about the Christmas season in Boston if you were a kid growing up in the late 1950s and 1960s, was a trip into Boston to the Jordan Marsh Department store. If you were very good, your parents would take you to see the Enchanted Village. This was a series of animated doll displays. You'd wend your way through the displays and then you could sit on Santa's lap and tell him your Christmas wish list.

Before going home, your parents would stop and buy a box of Jordan Marsh blueberry muffins, the biggest, best, fluffy, blueberry muffins in the Universe. Recipe here.

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1. After the baby shower, we had dinner at the UxLocale.  Always nice to see Elaine.

2. Texted with the Young One. She had asked for her Christmas stocking to be sent along with a blanket I had made for her. I told her they went out in the mail. Earlier in the week, she told me they were going to look for a wreath, but most likely weren't getting a Christmas tree as not really a lot of room in the apartment. That made me a little sad so I sent a retro- ceramic green tree that runs on batteries. I told her it had been delivered by the mailboxes. They really liked it.

3. While at the grocery store, the elderly, male bagger told me I had pretty, curly hair. Yup, I still got it. Can still turn the heads of the old dudes. 

4. Errands, a late lunch at Uno's. Stopped into Kay Jeweler's at the mall to see if they could fix my watch bracelet. It just needed a pin and they had one in stock. Otherwise, the watch would have had to be sent out for repair which would take a month! The saleswoman took about 10 minutes to fix it and didn't even charge me!

5. I had to cancel Teague Day. At least I didn't bring her a stomach bug or a cold.

How was your week?

Gift Tag

 

Recently, my Niece (Himself's side of the family) had a baby shower as she and her husband are expecting their first child. Besides the baby gift, I put together a few things just for her. Tea, chocolate, shower disc, hand cream, lip balm.

I cut a tag using a tag punch and then doodled a Sunshine Girl in the style of Lindsay Ostram, Creator of Cuteness. I wrote a bunch of variations of Mother around the tag. The tag turned out very cute and the Niece was surprised to have something for herself.