PROJECT BLACK - TAKE THREE

I have missed out on most of this project since I started late and was away on vacation. Today is the last day, but here is a picture of my granddog smiling. Her name is Ohbe as in Oh Be Joyful.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAUL ANKA!

PAUL ANKA THEN

PAUL ANKA NOW

Today is Paul Anka's birthday. I always know this (1) because it is the day before my father's birthday and (2) I was so in love with Paul Anka when I was 13 that any boy who looked remotely like him I immediately had a huge crush on. (Lynne, remember R.J.?)

Have a wonderful day, Paul!!

BACK HOME AGAIN IN DELAWARE

I am back from vacation and glad to be back in my own bed. Do you ever have that feeling when you have been away?

We were in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire which is a sweet little town on Lake Winnepasaukee. We rented the same cottage that we have rented several times over the years. It is on Shaw Pond which is really like a lake, but they call it a pond up there. The picture I have on the bottom of my blog is the view from the cottage. It has two bedrooms, living room, kitchen and dining area, one bathroom and a deck. We had a good time just being together -- my daughter and two grandsons and my sister and me. Except for two nights when my son-in-law came up, the husbands were left at home. We shopped, shopped, shopped, cooked in, ate out, the boys went kayaking, Cooper (my oldest grandson) spent time at the nearby camp hanging out with his good buddy. My youngest grandson, Ian, took me (courtesy of his dad) to the Wright Museum which is devoted exclusively to the WWII years with wonderful exhibits of life during that time.

Of course, there was the fact that it rained some almost every day, there was a tornado within a few miles of us (in which one person was killed) and the plumbing problems at the cottage for part of the week. But, we did eat some lobster rolls -- if you have never had one, you must. Delicious!

And today I wish my oldest grandson, Cooper, a happy 12th birthday. It was like yesterday that I drove from Delaware to Tennessee in time to be there when he was born. Happy Birthday, dear Cooper!!

PROJECT BLACK - TAKE TWO/VACATION PLANS

Here is the photo for today. I think I posted this awhile back after I bought this wonderful cast iron pot at a thrift store. Here it is again. This is the best pot for making fried chicken.

I am leaving tomorrow and won't be back until the 28th. I am driving up to Pa. to meet up with my sister and then on Friday morning we will leave for Massachusetts (driving). We will get to Andover, MA by dinnertime and stay with my daughter and then the next morning my sister, my daughter and my two grandsons and I will leave for Wolfeboro, NH. We are renting my favorite cottage on a little lake. (The photo on the bottom of my blog is the path from the cottage down to the lake.) No husbands along - just the girls! (Except for my son-in-law who will be there for a night because Saturday is his birthday.

I am in my usual state of mind before I go away. I worry about the dog and cats - as if I am the only one who can take care of them properly. My husband will be home and I have hired a neighborhood boy to walk Beau twice a day. I will still worry. And of course, what am I packing, etc., etc. I won't sleep well tonight.

I will take lots of pictures and will share some of them with you when I get back. Take care of yourselves while I am away.

YEA - I HAVE BEEN GIVEN AN AWARD!

Sherry, at Edie Marie's Attic has given me a very sweet award. I happened to be drifting around reading my favorite blogs and there it was before she even had a chance to tell me. What a nice surprise. Thank you so much Sherry.




Now it is my turn to pass this award to 7 fellow bloggers.


But first, the rules:


1. Please put the logo on your blog.

2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.

3. You must nominate 7 fellow bloggers for this award.

4. Add links to the recipients.

5. Leave a comment so the recipients know they have received an award.


HERE GOES - I NOMINATE:


1. Lynne at Lynne's Little Corner Of The World

2. Willow at Willow's Cottage

3. Tristi at Tristi Pinkston - LDS Author

4. Barbara at The Clark Homestead

5. Shelley at Building A Log Cabin

6. Tracey at Show Me State of Mind

7. Mary at Mary's Writing Nook

There are so many I could nominate, but several are already nominated, and if you are not please consider yourself one of the Brilliant Ones!

(If you read this and didn't know till now that I have nominated you, it is because it is now 11:31 p.m. and I am too TIRED and will let you know in the morning.)

PROJECT BLACK - TAKE ONE

I have found a lovely photography blog - Anna Carson Photography - and there is a project for this month that I am joining even though I am a few weeks late. I will also be on vacation for a week and a half and will not have access to a computer, but this should be fun anyway. I am not the best photographer, but it is fun snapping some pictures with my little digital. The idea is to take a color picture a day, but each picture must contain a black image.

See how high the gas price is here?

Telephone booths aren't seen much anymore around here, and this one looks very tired and neglected.

STOP BY FOR A GIVEAWAY!

Most of you who read my blog know that I love log cabins and small cottages. One of my favorite bloggers is Shelley at Building a Log Cabin. She is having a nice giveaway which expresses her love of nature and her new log cabin. Stop by and visit and maybe you will win the prize. I shouldn't spread the word because then I have less of a chance to win, but you will really love her blog and what she is giving away.

GAS MESS

What is the cost of gas where you live? The cheapest here for regular is $4.03. I hear it is still on the rise. Give me that drill!!

A BRIEF HISTORY

Here are some photos of the Lewes Historic Farmers Market which I attend most Saturdays in the summer:

The complex contains a group of original old buildings that have been moved to the complex and are representative of Lewes's history. There is a little general store, a schoolhouse (see the picture of the school bell), a doctor's office, etc.

Here is a brief history of Lewes, Delaware which I copied from the Lewes website:

Twenty-two years after it was discovered by Henry Hudson on an August evening in 1609, the point of land separating the Atlantic Ocean from the Delaware Bay, now known as Cape Henlopen, was selected by the Dutch as an ideal site to establish a whaling station. It was not an auspicious undertaking. The thirty-two settlers were destroyed by a group of local inhabitants, as a result of a dispute over a Dutch coat of arms the settlers had mounted on their settlements.

In 1682 (?), the land which now comprises the State of Delaware was conveyed to
William Penn by the English Courts at which time the embattled settlement was
named Lewes (loo-iss) in honor of the town in Sussex County, England. But
the travail was not over yet. The town was visited by Captain Kidd and other
pirates as late as 1698.

During the War of 1812, a British frigate bombarded the town. The
casualties were a wounded pig and a dead hen. One of the town buildings still proudly wears an embedded cannonball from the bombardment.

Take note of the green bicycle which will be raffled off at the end of the summer. I didn't win last year -- wish me luck this year.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!

HAVE A SAFE AND FUN 4TH!!!

Thank you to the Graphics Fairy for the vintage postcard picture!

A NEW BLOGGER FRIEND

I have found a new blogging friend. She is at Edie Marie's Attic and she is having a lovely give-away (her first). Click here and please stop by and say hello and join in. I found that we have violets, poodles, shabby chic and picket fences in common. Isn't this blogging world terrific?

MON PETIT JARDIN

I am not much of a gardener, but this year I thought I would make another attempt at a few tomato plants. Several years ago I planted some tomatoes and herbs. The herbs did well. The tomatoes did not. I tried for a few years and then gave up. This is what it looks like now.

Here is my new "petit jardin." Did you know I am French in my heart?

I have five tomato plants, several of which are cherry tomatoes. I have one pepper plant, one parsley, one basil, one lavender and one mint (that appeared out of nowhere from the old garden and I transplanted it). I hover over this little garden several times a day. Maybe, maybe, I will get a few tomatoes this year.

Which brings me to another subject. Are you avoiding tomatoes because of the salmonella scare? I have to a certain extent, but enough is enough. Now they say it could be something else. I wish I could grow all my own vegetables (actually there is nothing stopping me except the lack of energy to do it), have a few goats to mow the grass, and a few chickens to give me eggs. The goats and chickens aren't allowed where I live. Actually, cleaning up after three cats and one dog is enough. The goats and chickens might just be too much.

Here is also a picture of the blossoms on an old mimosa tree in our yard. The tree is not in the best of shape, but I love the funny pink blossoms that smell so sweet.

And here are some pictures of a local garden center that has wonderful produce and flowers. This is where I buy my tomatoes and corn.

Thanks for stopping by!

AROUND TOWN

I live equidistant between two small beach towns in Delaware. Both towns are considered historic, each in its own way. The towns draw tourists and vacationers from all over the East Coast and elsewhere.

Here are a few pictures taken within the past few days through my car window and camera lens. They are not necessarily postcard views, but just typical of what I see everyday. I'll continue to take some candid shots and share them with you.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BETH AND DALE!

Today is my daughter and son-in-law's 15th wedding anniversary. It is hard to believe it has been that long.

This is their love story:

Beth and Dale met while each of them were rowing for different boat houses on Philadelphia's famous "Boathouse Row." Dale was rowing and competing for the Navy since he was a graduate of the Naval Academy. He was a world class rower and even went on to coach at the Academy. Beth decided when she attended college in Philadelphia that she would learn to row. She worked very hard and in time she also excelled in the sport. They met, fell in love and were eventually married in a beautiful military wedding at the Naval Academy in Annapolis.

How could they not have fallen in love? Dale looked like Tom Cruise and Beth had long naturally curly red hair and the face of an angel. (Naturally, this is mother speaking.) They each are so good and kind to each other and they make friends wherever they go. I am so proud of both of them and especially thankful for the two sweet grandsons they have given me.

And so, Happy Anniversary to my sweet children!

MEMORIES, PRESSED BETWEEN THE PAGES OF MY MIND...?????

I now know I have lost my mind. Totally. Completely.

I have a cute little cup and saucer and a teapot, both with violets on them. Last night I saw them on a top shelf in my kitchen and I remembered that I thought I had bought a little sugar bowl to keep them company. I was picturing them together on a little tray for my solo tea parties (meaning that I am the only guest) which I never really get around to having, but I always think it is a nice self-indulgent thing to do.

Where was the sugar bowl? Did I buy it at the antique store I was in recently? Did I buy it on ebay? Didn't I put it up on that shelf already? Did my husband reach up there for something and accidently knock it down? Yes, maybe that was it. (As he had already done that with one of my favorite teapots.) He was probably afraid to tell me and he cleaned up the pieces and won't admit to it. Ok. So now I have not only lost my memory, but I am also paranoid.

I went to sleep thinking about that darn sugar bowl and awakened still wondering about how I could possibly forget whether I bought one or imagined it.

Just now I was reading my e-mails and there was one from a seller from an "Etsy" shop asking me a question about the sugar bowl I ordered. WHAT??!! Do you mean that I have not lost my mind - well, maybe partially. I checked my Etsy account, and yup, there it was. A sweet little violet covered sugar bowl still waiting to be delivered.

INHUMANITY

Did anyone read in the news about the 78 year old man who was run over by a car in Hartford, CT and NO ONE stopped. Not just the driver, but not even any bystanders. They just stood there and watched or walked by without doing anything. There he was -- lying in the street -- injured -- in pain -- NO ONE did anything. Someone on a scooter even circled around him to look at him and then drove away. Police assisted because they had been on another call and happened upon the accident. It was not known if anyone called 911.

What in the name of God was wrong with those people who witnessed this?

As I read the article, however, I stopped to consider all the people who DO stop to assist people. But this is Delaware. Maybe things are better here.

REMEMBER

I still have my mother's wedding dress. It is a handmade dress worn on her special day January 10, 1944. I also have one of my father's Army uniforms, possibly the one he wore on that day. Although he never fought overseas during WWII, there was at that time the strong chance that he was to be sent at any moment. He took that long train trip from the east coast west in preparation for a possible assignment in the Pacific. Those were scary times. Unstable times. You never knew what came next. People were married on the spur of the moment just as they still do in times of war and upset. I have two uncles who served overseas during WWII. One was a fighter pilot. One made a daring escape from German captivity. I knew a man who was a prisoner of war in the South Pacific in WWII and was tortured by being kept in a small metal box in the sun. My husband piloted transport planes full of soldiers and supplies to Vietnam during that war. We all have stories of someone in our families who served and died or served and lived to tell the story. Remember and honor them.

This memorial weekend when you see pictures of wives and family left behind by those who served our country, remember those faces. They could be you or me if not for the courage it took for our young men to "join up" and the bravery of them as they fought their last battle.

Remember the men who left here as boys and returned as men. WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf, Afghanistan, Iran.

Always, always remember.