How Does Your Garden Grow?

The scarecrow acts as a weathervane, but it's still creepy when the wind blows so the scarecrow suddenly faces the house.

More solar lantern decorations. Himself cut the bottom out of plastic Jack O'Lantern trick or treat buckets and then then fitted them with a solar path lantern. The top of the lantern looks like a witch's hat.

The Watcher

The Lone Marigold

Brilliant Fall colors. I don't know why everyone travels to Vermont, New Hampshire, and the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts to leaf peep. Colors in our own backyard are just as vivid and beautiful.

Colors and leaves no past peak.

How does your garden grow?

T Stands for Convo with Ma

A couple of weeks after Ma's September 2nd birthday, we made the annual trip for a visit. I could just hear her.

"You visit people you don't know, but you don't visit me."

I had to laugh because it was true. In May Teague and I went on a cemetery hop to Watertown to look for a relative of hers, and the last week of August while on our trip to New Hampshire, I talked Teague into visiting the grave of actor, Claude Rains. To make matters worse, I posted the story about Claude Rains on Ma's birthday, September 2.

"Now, Ma, we visit you at least 4 times during the year. We visit sometime between Easter and Mother's Day, around your wedding anniversary on the Fourth of July, around your birthday in September, and shortly after Thanksgiving before the snow flies to bring you a wreath for Christmas.

You are never forgotten. Besides, I never bring flowers to the people I don't know."

I pulled a rose from Ma's bouquet for Dad.

After visiting the cemetery, we stopped at the Cracker Barrel Restaurant for breakfast. I had their version of an Arnold Palmer which is half ice tea and half lemonade. I think they held a tea bag over the glass.

It was still unseasonably warm so no roaring fire in the gas fireplace. (No complaints from me on the hot weather, but Andy had been whining about it. 🎃)

Country kitsch on the walls so you can feel the love.

No matter what time of day you visit, you can get breakfast. I had scrambled eggs, bacon, fried apples, biscuits and gravy, and what I love most about breakfast at Cracker Barrel are the grits. Himself ordered deep fried pickles as an appetizer, but pickles early in the morning are not for me. He thoughtfully ordered beignets. There was also lots of food to take home, too.

No visit is complete without stopping in their gift shop. I was hoping to find some cool Halloween stuff. I mean it was only the middle of September and there was a disappointing table of Halloween stuff.

There wasn't a lot of Fall/Autumn stuff either.

The rest of the store was brimming with Christmas displays. Three months before Christmas! I only took this picture because the hedgehogs reminded me of Tiggy, my friend from Scotland.

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 Does Your Garden Grow?

One bright spot about the loss of Summer and the pains of Hell Winter

is the best holiday of the year, Halloween (and Ink's birthday)

Coleus gone to seed

A carpet of red leaves

And just like that the leaves

changed color

On the way home, Himself pulled over to the side of the road so I could take a picture of the magnificent sunset from the farm at the top of the hill.

How does your garden grow?

Happy Mother's Day

 From Sunday, May 13,2012

The Brother was fond of reciting this ditty for Mother's Day:

When me prayers were poorly said,

Who tucked me in me widdle bed,

And spanked me till me bum was red?

Me Mudder.

Who took me from me cozy cot,

And put me on me ice cold pot,

And made me pee when I could not?

Me Mudder.

And when the morning light would come,

And in me crib me dribble some,

Who wiped me tiny widdle bum?

Me Mudder.

Who would me hair so gently part,

And hug me gently to her heart

And sometimes squeezed me til me fart?

Me Mudder.

Who looked at me with eyebrows knit,

And nearly had a king size fit,

When in me Sunday pants me sh*t?

Me Mudder.

When at night the bed did squeak,

Me raised me head to have a peek,

Who yelled at me to go to sleep?

Me Fadder.

Happy Mother's Day

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?

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. We delivered Easter gifts to the Grandniece and Grandnephew. Then stopped at Harry's for a belly plate (me), scallop plate,(Himself), and a fish and chips plate (Eldest) for dinner. I couldn't leave Harry's without a Raspberry Lime Rickey and Himself had a coffee frappe.

2. We delivered Easter gift to the newest Grandniece. Her mom sent an adorable picture of her wearing the bunny ears and hugging the stuffed bunny. Apparently the stuffed bunny was a big hit

3. We received Easter greetings from the family. The Littles made a FaceTime call to thank us for the Easter gifts. Little Miss has been learning to read and Little Man is officially a big boy

4. I baked hot cross buns

5. Glad I had an early week play day at Teague's as a Spring Nor'easter with extra snow sidelined our usual play day plans.

How was your week?

The Friday Five Good Things

Image from USPS.com

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. Himself and I worked on the taxes. He did the taxes. I just verified what money came in and went out.

2. I tagged along to Himself's appointment only because I was promised breakfast out.

3. Doing some Easter shopping, the salesclerk gave me a great idea for Easter baskets for the Littles in the family

4. I needed some stamps. I thought I'd get a generic floral to use for bills that I don't pay through the bank like the oil bill. I asked for something with flowers and S gave me Garden Delights. Too pretty for the oil bill.

5. For five minutes the laundry hampers were completely empty.

How was your week?

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?

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. Calli whines at the studio/office door. Lately, she's been flying down the hall to get into the room when the door opens.  I put a baby gate up. She can see in and see me. She's not sure what to make of my cage, but she's not crying at the door anymore while I work

2. Market32 had pastina!

3. I connected with my cousin's daughter (first cousin once removed). We had a nice chat. She's in her 40s now and I felt ancient 😺

4. Himself gave me a solar powered cat mobile and temple bells garden stake for Valentine's Day. though The garden stake  was not what he ordered. He had ordered a cat with a bell stake.

5. Teague and I went out to breakfast. We tried stopping at First Bite in Grafton, but there were people milling around outside as the place wasn't opened. We found another place called Star Donut though the donuts were wiped out. I had a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich on a croissant with home fries. Yummy and very reasonably priced.

How was your week?

T Stands for Christmas at the Wayside Inn - Part 2

Back to the Wayside Inn to looks at the Christmas decorations and antiques in the Inn's museum on the second floor.

Beautiful needlework bed curtains and a quilt

Christmas tree in the large function room

Decorated settle

another rustic wreath

framed cross-stitched Santa

chandelier in the main function room

Snow people for Divers and Sundry

Antique desk

Around the room memorabilia along with the history of the Inn when Henry T Ford owned the property. One story, he had started a school for boys during the Depression. One graduate from the Class of 1938 recounted how the first day he arrived, he was assigned to pick potato bugs from potato plants. He wasn't having any of that so he began walking down the Post Rd. He got a mile or so away and then thought about the foster family he would have to return to. He said he turned around and went back to the school and he was glad he did.

One surprising fact was the December 1955 fire which destroyed the 2nd floor of the Inn along with hundreds of thousand of dollars of antiques.

My drink reference, the pretty, little tea cup on the antique desk.

Celebrating 50 years of the Sudbury Garden Club decorating the Inn

The entry way from the front door

Tower of gifts. I liked the Christmas tree shadow on the wall.

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.

T Stands for Christmas at the Wayside Inn - Part 1

Just after the New Year, I had a play day with Teague. I wanted to go to the Wayside Inn for lunch. We've visited the Inn many times before. Over 300 years of history and the oldest operating inn on one of the oldest roads in the country.

When we got there, I was happy to see the Christmas decorations were still up. The front entrance was beautifully decorated.

The wreath reminded me of Della Robbia sculptures of fruit. The pineapple is a typical New England motif for welcome. 

Christmas tree in the main lobby

Dining reservations desk. Just to the left you can get a peek into the Tap Room, now called the Little Dining Room. The Tap Room is cozy (i.e small) and less formal in decor than the main dining room. That table that you can see

was the table we were seated at. For my beverage, I had my  usual unsweetened iced tea with lemon.

I liked how the wreath hung outside the window cast a shadow.

We both ordered the Thanksgiving Turkey Panini. Roast turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mayo on a panini roll. Served with French fries, and a pickle relish. The last time we were at the Inn, we ordered this sandwich, but it was the most popular item on the menu that day and they ran out. 

Sadly, the sandwich and the service was disappointing considering how expensive the menu is. A basket of bread and muffins was placed on the table and all were stone cold. Not even heated up in the microwave.

The sandwich wasn't worth the wait. The turkey, real turkey, was dry, and the sandwich needed more cranberry sauce. The French fries were good.

The picture over the fireplace has the initials of member of the Howe family that ran the inn from 1716 to 1861. Henry Ford purchased the Inn in 1923, and was the last private owner.

Most of the decor is charming, rustic Americana.

Part of the Inn could use a face-lift.

A charming, primitive painting of the Inn and surrounding countryside with the chapel and the grist mill. I couldn't find the provenance of the painting and don't know the name of the artist.

In all the time's we have visited the Inn, we never knew there was a small museum on the second floor. Teague found a small sign in the lobby as we were leaving.

A room set up as it would have been in the 1700s. You would share the room and perhaps the bed with other travelers. A sign indicated that you could ask the Innkeeper if you could share the bed with the Innkeepers wife. How about that for a belly warmer?

Next week, part 2.

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.