Charming carousel....

While eating an ice cream cone, I was looking at this carousel. Normally it is filled with riders, but it was early in the day and they were waiting for enough people to fill it for a ride. Although I have seen this dozens of times, I decided to inspect it further since it was at rest. As always, you can click on the photos to make them larger and see the details.

What a charming carousel! It is hand painted and has nautical and natural themes. The carousel has raised a LOT of money for charities over the years and resides at Lenny and Joe's Fish Tale in CT. Click on the link for the carousel and you will see over half a million dollars has been raised over the years.

Ice cream and carousels...old fashioned summer treats! It doesn't get better than that!

Enjoy the day!

(click on photos to see them larger)

A beautiful weekend...

It was weekend of wild weather and great beauty. Violent storms ripped through on Friday evening and took down trees and delivered heavy rains. By Saturday, it was a beautiful as it gets and really green.

Everywhere I looked, here was a photo to be taken. These were taken over two days and on opposite sides of the state. Miniature donkeys seem to be turning up everywhere and and I am enchanted with them. (They are sometime referred to as "dinkey" rather than donkey.) See how small they are compared to the bird house in one photo? They are not as big as Great Danes dogs that I have seen lately.

That beautiful home at the top of the page carried me back to another time, a different century. New England has thousands of old, old homes and I am a lover of early American architecture.

Now it is Monday and there is lots to do....and it is raining again. No matter...it is a fine day to be alive.

Enjoy the day

...whatever the weather!

How many dolls....

fit on a saucer? Those dolls on the saucer are all made by me....and there was room left over.

Overnight, the formatting for composing on the blog has changed dramatically. I suspect that it will take a me a while to figure it out...so bear with me!

The humidity has moved in and it is quite uncomfortable. I think many parts of the country have had this weather already.

Enjoy the day...

happy weekend!

Small variations on the usual themes....

After completing the little doll last week, I decided to make another.

I used a pattern that I assumed was the pattern I normally use. As I was turning it, I thought, "hmm....this seems a little difficult to turn compared to the last one I made."

I continued onward, stuffed the doll , and was just about to embroider the face when it dawned on me something was just not quite right.

Don't ask me why I didn't notice it sooner, but the doll is only 3 1/2 inches instead of 4 inches tall.

I will finish her but I am not sure she will have leather shoes. Half an inch might not seem like that much but in a doll this size, it is a considerable change. (Edie might get a little sister out of this.) But, I must tell you, I made one even smaller a few years ago and have not seen it since I made it. There are doll goblins around here, I am sure. Dolls disappear and reappear on regular basis in unexpected places.

And that sums up the way the week is going so far: small variations on the usual themes.

Enjoy the day..

and any variations of it!

Still raining....

It rained all weekend and continues to drizzle off and on. Despite the rain, it was still quite beautiful and the weekend flew by.

We frequently eat at Mystic Pizza, the restaurant that inspired the movie. That movie is a fun "chick flick" and the social commentary rings true today. In the past few years, the movie runs in an endless loop on both floors of the restaurant. Is the pizza as good as one would think from the movie? Better! I took a photo from the window in the booth we were seated. Normally, the street would be packed with summer tourists but the rain seemed to keep people indoors.

We were out and about the entire weekend despite the weather. We visited at an outlet mall and it was quite crowded because one can walk outdoors under the roofed walkaway and never feel the rain. In fact, I think shopping was the weekend entertainment--anywhere we shopped, there was wait in line at the check outs.

Happy Monday!

Enjoy the day!

Dollz.....

A new little doll

who fits in a ladle


and became a paper doll

This new little doll is for a friend. But, before she leaves the roost, I photographed her to make a paper doll for another friend for our weekly swap. It felt good to make a cloth doll again. It has been a few months since I worked on one. I wish that I could take better photos of glitter. She is a glittery gal and catches a lot of light. She is 4 inches tall and made from the same sized pattern as Edie, my travel doll.

The weekend is just around the corner. It's been raining off and on all week and the colors outdoors are just beautiful. It's as green as emeralds and I think there will be a lot of lawn mowing this weekend. Everything is growing like crazy! Not exactly sure what our plans are as of yet but I know wherever we go, it will beautiful.

Enjoy your day..

and have a wonderful

and safe weekend!

Late spring, early summer...colorz.....

After some record breaking high temperatures, recently we have been enjoying the return to very cool weather. I was going to pull the pansies out of the window boxes when they perked up and started blooming again. Pansies love cool weather.

The day that I purchased geraniums it was really bright and sunny and I was wearing sunglasses. The next morning, we woke up to heavy rain and in the gray weather, I observed that I had purchased orange flowers instead of red.

See the ceiling on the porch? It is painted blue which is a custom in New England and other parts of the county. There are several theories on this: that insects like flies will not gather on the ceiling, that it thwarts away evil spirits, and /or that even in the depths of winter and snow storms, one is greeted by eternal summer when opening the door. In any event, many of the homes in New England and parts of the East Coast have ceilings painted blue. (Not sure about other parts of the country.) We love this custom.

It is 48 degrees and very foggy here this morning. Looking forward to getting some things done around here today in the cool weather. It will not be long that people will complain about it being too hot! As for me, that is why I love New England. I love the day no matter the weather and every day presents a new experience with it.

Enjoy your day...

Enjoy your weather!

Shade grown tobacco for cigar wrappers

A domestic duck nap in a parking lot

Bridge Up at Mystic River

Anchor Memorial in Mystic

Summer scenes from New England...

Ever see shade grown tobacco? This used to be a common sight in parts of New England and has a long history. The fields are diminishing in numbers but will always evoke memories of a different time for many people.

It was quite beautiful at the shoreline and there was lots of traffic. It rained a lot lately so the sun brought everyone out. A bridge up will always slow one down!

Very busy weekend that flew by in a flash...and a busy day ahead..

Enjoy your Monday!

Popping in for just a moment.

I have never posted a giveaway before but this is so ADORABLE! I love Peng Peng's work.

Check it out here.

Okay....back to work here!

Paper Dollz....

My friend and I are trading paper dolls this week. Having made so many art dolls over the winter, I went for something more traditional. Then I made a card to hold them in out of scrapbook paper.

If you type "two pocket card" or double pocket card" in a search engine, there are lots of tutorials on how to fold them. I already knew how from being a Girl Scout Leader for ten years and always looking for cheap and easy projects.

If you put seed packets in the two pockets, you have a nice card to send off . But, this is not a new idea. My grandmother had a card like this way back in the 60's with two handkerchiefs in it. My guess is that this fold has been around a long time. I used a brad to hold mine together at the bottom, though it isn't necessary. The card will stay together without it.

Now that I am looking at it, the doll looks like a cross between a Betsy McCall paper doll (from the McCalls magazine in the 50's) and an Edith Ackley paper doll. Of course, these would be influential to me.


This has been a very rainy spring here. It has dictated outdoor activities from outdoor concerts to gardening. Not sure what this weekend will bring but we had a huge thunderstorm in the middle of the night last night. On the up side, it is great because the mockingbird doesn't sing in the rain. Yes, he is still singing loudly outside the window and apparently has not found a mate.

Enjoy the day..

be happy and safe

and enjoy the weekend!

Relentless!

We recently made a new acquisition....a squirrel proof bird feeder. It's one in a in a long line of alleged squirrel proof feeders we have invested in over the years.

Within hours of filling it, the onslaught started. As it turns out, the squirrels really cannot raid the feeder. The distance between the feeder and the cage is longer that their little limbs and the cage openings are too small to squeeze through.

There is something to be said for persistence. They really gave it a good try. On the downside, the vinyl coating on the cage has been chewed off and I suppose this might lead to eventual rust.

Wish I had this kind of relentless persistence. As it is, they figured out they can swing it back and forth until the seed empties out on to the ground two stories down. Where there is a will, there is a way.

Enjoy the day...
and may your solutions to life's quandaries
be as smart as a squirrel's!

Choo-choo!

It was a spectacular day yesterday. Though we intended to stay put and work around the house, we were off and running in the early afternoon. We stopped off at the Essex Steam Train station of on our way to Essex marina. Though we were too late to take a ride, we still had fun checking out the engines.

There were lots of antique cars on the road yesterday and I loved this one.


The Mary E schooner had just docked over at the marina, and it was wonderful to sit on a bench and take in the boats and harbor view.


We ended up getting Mexican take out food and eating at beach. It was just too beautiful to dine indoors. A fine way to end the weekend.

Monday, Monday.

Back to the work week!

Enjoy your day.

The picket project...

A while back I started discussing the picket fence Mr. Dollz was building. (You can see Mr. Dollz in one of the photos.)

390 pickets, 20 fence posts later, he has completed the job. By law, the finished side of the fence has to face our neighbor's yards and so it does.

As you can see, we live very close to our neighbors. We live in the historic part of town. Our house will be 100 years old next year, but there are houses from the 1700's in our neighborhood. Many do not have driveways since they were built before the car was in use. (Makes for an interesting situation since parking is only allowed on one side of the road.)

Many homes still have hitching posts in front of them. And... George Washington camped on this street and other streets in town. The camping places are all marked with brass plaques.

It was big job and somebody had to do it. Good job, Mr. Dollz! You saved us thousands of dollars and the fence is really wonderful!

I see the weekend is just about here...

so enjoy the day and have a wonderful weekend!

Cameo appearance....

Hank has just had a bath and is still slightly damp. I, his groomer, have bathed him and blow dried him. He should look good for as long as it takes from him to mess himself up again. Hank is a little piggy and can become disheveled immediately. He is 3 pound and 7 ounces of FIERCENESS, wild barking, and quirkiness!

Yorkies...not for everybody....but for those who like them, they are just the best.

Enjoy the day!

Art projects....

Chugging along here with art projects. My friend and I exchanged "button fairies" as part of our weekly challenge/swap with each other. They seem to be all over the Internet at the moment--and easy project made with buttons, wire and an image for the head made from card stock. I used a pipe cleaner and vintage buttons on the one I made.


We also exchanged little collages. In some of the craft stores, they sell canvases for $1.00. They have printed images on them for painting and are 4" x 4". We cover the canvases with gesso and use them for our small works of art. A money saver compared to art canvases for collage work. The little birthday cake was fifteen cents in the markdown bin. They look nice together in this photo.



My birdhouses are going to be on sale in a show in a couple of weeks so I have been working on them right along. Tried to photographic some of them outdoors since it has been very overcast lately. Have made quite a number of these--this is just a sample.


Yesterday I fell behind because I was following a robbery that happened in a town near my daughter and ended up in her neighborhood. The armed robbers shot at police and then abandoned their vehicle in the town where she and her husband and children live.

One of them invaded home and held a lady captive but didn't injure her. The second suspect was apprehended last night. The elementary schools were locked down and it was quite a long and scary afternoon. It ended okay with nobody being harmed. There are more and more bank robberies in our state as the economy declines. It is very worrisome on so many levels.

Much catching up to do today. Still have laundry and housework from last week when we were away from the house so much.

Whatever you do...

enjoy your day!

All good things must end...

Today it's back to work, back to regular schedules... and back to the alarm clock!

It was such a beautiful day yesterday that we dined on the shoreline at Costello's which is always a fun place to eat. No matter the weather, the upper deck is a great place with a great view. Since it is only open during the summer season, we try to visit a few times a season.

That country road in the last photo is in Quakertown. As it stands now, this road will remain unpaved since it is on private property. My husband's grandparents once owned this farm and he spent a lot of time on this road as a youngster. That big tree is lovely in any season and that road behind it is at the junction of the dirt road. Very peaceful on that corner.

Time to have another cup of coffee and start the week.

Enjoy the day!