Easter Past

Monday morning-grey and foggy again.
But yesterday, Easter Sunday was absolutely perfect in every way.
Warm sun(it got hot!),
everything in bloom(saw my first dandelions pushing through a crack in a sidewalk),
the sound of what seemed like EVERYONE in the neighborhood outside all day long.
I took a drive down to Westerly again, to deliver the paintings I am entering in an art show(will find out Thursday if they are accepted or not--fingers crossed!).
The image above is a favorite of the bunch of photos I took in Westerly's Wilcox Park--my daughter(looking like a Von Trapp girl in that dress) in among the blossoms.

More later.....

One year ago.....

..on this date.

Out of curiosity(and because I couldn't get my brain to think of anything to write about tonight), I went back in my archives to see what I was doing/writing about exactly a year ago.

I wrote about and shared some photos from Wickford, a village near me.

A favorite place to just walk around,

sit and have some coffee or ice cream at an outdoor table,

do some people watching

do some duck and/or swan watching on the bridge

do some real or "window" shopping.

I had wanted to go there yesterday, in fact, but with the gusty winds I decided against it, and ate take-out falafel and drank French Martinis in the backyard instead.

The photo above (from last year's post), shows the corner of Brown and Main Streets. (clicking on it will give an enlarged view)

I have taken numerous photos of this same corner. Something about it--the brick building,

the fact that there is a used bookshop behind the green door,

the iconic "Main Street" sign post,

the red fire hydrant,

that there are almost always pedestrians(two-legged and four-legged)congregating there

appeals to me.

What were you blogging about a year ago? Has your life changed drastically, looking back? Mine hasn't changed much at all. That could be a good thing..or a bad thing.

What a difference....

...a day makes. Yesterday looked and felt like December. So cold and windy and grey and wet. The sea was churning and absolutely wild. I could hear it all the way from our house all night. I had to bring my seedlings and plants in pots indoors because of the cold. As soon as I got up and looked out the window this morning, though, I saw that it had turned around completely. Sun shining brightly, and when I let the dog out, I immediately felt the warmth. So strange how it could all change so dramatically in twelve hours. I wore flip-flops, exposing my white toes for the first time this year, as I walked Jewel. Supposedly, R is going to quickly clean up her room(although I hear her singing along with Adele behind her bedroom door, so I am not sure if she is actually picking up in there, or singing in front of her mirror), and we'll go do something later on(lunch outdoors by the river in Wickford, or a walk down to the bay with the dog?). I have freshly baked coffee cake to eat for Sunday brunch and the second episode of the new Upstairs Downstairs to watch tonight(for both of these things, I have Rosemary to thank, for inspiring me to bake and to watch). I might write a letter. I might finish cleaning out the garden beds. I might just sit out back in a deck chair and let the sun soak into me. ** update: turns out, it is way too windy out there to sit, unless you don't mind your hair being blown into your eyes every second and the sound of clanging windchimes from every house on the street(maddening), and not even being able to keep a book page open because the wind keeps flipping it.

I did go into the record shop yesterday(and bumped into Mr. F there) and bought the latest CD from Bettye LaVette(my sister has raved about her)--"Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook". Her version of The Beatles "The Word" is the best I have ever heard(it is the first song on the album, and I'll have to become better aquainted with the other songs on it).

Scented 13

For my Thursday 13 list this time, I have listed 13 perfumes I have pulled out of storage now that its spring. I have packed away the rich, spicy ones since I want to lighten up and wear my more floral and airy scents now.

1. "Ferre" Gianfranco Ferre (starts off with a pineapple note and dries down to a powdery iris)

2. "Oscar Bamboo" Oscar de la Renta (very different from anything else I wear, and just plain "pretty" but I wish it lasted longer on me)

3. "Skin Musk" (my old drugstore favorite--been wearing this since the 80's when it was made by Bonne Bell)

4. " Duende" Jesus del Pozo (I love this one so much, I even wear it from time to time in winter--such a driftingly soft and soapy scent that always makes me happy)

5. Terranova "Rain"(another oldie-but-goodie-a lily-of-the-valley and musk scent that smells green somehow))

6. Terranova "Sakura & Green Tea" (I am wearing this one today)

7. "Max Mara" (sugared lemon and magnolia)

8. "Noa Perle" Cacharel(I like this one on foggy, rainy days--it has a hazlenut note!!)

9. "Always" Avon (tulips and melon?)

10. "Wish Of Luck" Avon (cheap but cheery!)

11. Marc Jacobs "Essence" (creamy gardenia overload!)

12. Cerruti 1881 Lumieres d`Ete (a fresh breeze)

13. Elizabeth Taylor "Violet Eyes" ~~I can't believe I like this one so much and never would have thought I would be owning and wearing an Elizabeth Taylor scent which I always thought of as "old lady"(even though, yes, yes, that is probably the category I belong to by this time), but this is amazing! It actually makes me think I am smelling the color violet(but there aren't any violet notes in this, interestingly enough. Its like wearing a soft, violet hug, actually.

Spring Fever with Martinis

These pics are from last Sunday, when Mr. F and I spent the afternoon strolling around Newport and had a few martinis at The Red Parrot. All in all, a slightly indulgent, barely warm(cool breeze off the harbor) early spring day. I took these photos, mostly on Spring Street(walking on the sunny side of the street, of course) as we walked back from the Red Parrot.

This centuries old house appeared to be vacant and abandoned....

Masses of purple crocuses blooming in a little square in front of the White Horse Tavern, which at one time was once run by a pirate!--a little history:

Frances Brinley constructed the original building on the site in 1652. In 1673, the lot was sold to William Mayes, and the building was enlarged to become a tavern. The building was also used for large meetings, including use as a Rhode Island General Assembly meeting place, a court house, and a city hall. William Mayes, Sr., obtained a tavern license in 1687 and William Mayes, Jr., a well-known pirate, operated the tavern through the early eighteenth century. The operation was named "The White Horse Tavern" in 1730 by owner Jonathan Nichols.

During the American Revolution, Tories and British troops were quartered there around the time of the British occupation and the Battle of Rhode Island.

After years of neglect as a boarding house, Newport's Van Bueren family donated money to the private Preservation Society of Newport to restore the building in 1952. After the restoration, the building was sold and once again operated as a private tavern and restaurant. As of 2011, it still remains a popular drinking and dining location.

Mr. F's white chocolate and espresso martini.

I had a French Martini, made with Chambord, vanilla vodka(yeah, I had no idea there was such a thing, either), and pineapple juice, and I liked it so much I have since made it at home.

**

*1 1/2 oz vodka

(I used vanilla vodka since that was how they made it at the Red Parrot)

*1/2 oz Chambord Liqueur

*2 oz Pineapple Juice

**

Shake this really well in cocktail shaker with plenty of ice--the pineapple juice gets nice and frothy, making this drink almost creamy.

To end...a Blogthing quiz(haven't done one of these in some time):

You Are a Blue Martini

You may have had a difficult time earlier in life. You are highly sensitive and a little cautious. You are a reserved and careful person, but you don't let that stop you from doing your thing. Old fashioned and conservative, you carry yourself with dignity. You don't embarrass yourself. You are attracted to powerful people who have a good deal of influence. You wouldn't mind some of that rubbing off on you.

What Color Martini Are You?

Swampin'

Pussywillow (Salix discolor)

After dropping R off at here driver's ed. class at 8:00 at the University campus in Kingston this morning, I met my sister for a walk(turned out to be a two hour long one!) through the Great Swamp Management area nearby.

This 3,475-acre property near West Kingston in southern Rhode Island includes 2,600 acres of forested wetlands in the floodplains of the Chickasheen, Usquepaug, and Pawcatuck rivers. Red maple, Atlantic white cedar, red oak, white oak, white pine, and American holly are important tree species. The Great Neck, a higher-elevation drumlin near the center of the WMA, was farmed and pastured before being abandoned in the early to mid-1900s. The Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife manages Great Swamp WMA for wildlife conservation, hunting and fishing, and compatible public recreation. Waterfowl, American woodcock, ruffed grouse, Northern bobwhite, whip-poor-will, osprey, Northern harrier, New England cottontail, Eastern cottontail, beaver, bobcat, river otter, fisher, coyote, red and gray foxes, and white-tailed deer are some of the wild species inhabiting the area.

from http://www.timberdoodle.org/node/74

Swampdog

Lucky Jewel got to come along, and was in all her glory as a true bird dog on the trails and along the shores of the swamp itself, sniffing out waterfowl, deer and who-knows-what-else scents. She also had fun chasing Canada geese into the water . We spotted osprey(fish eagles) overhead, some carrying giant branches to add to their nests. Although, from these photos, not much looks alive and green and growing yet, the trees were full of birds and their birdsong, and we spotted some trees--shadbark and I *think* witch hazel(not entirely sure)in bloom.

This is me sitting on a (cold as) stone "chair" along one of the trails.

Some green showing in a boggy place among the still-bare trees.

Vernal pools, unseen, deeper in the woods were the source of "spring peeper"(Pseudacris crucifer) frog sounds(one of the earliest signs of spring here, and usually loudest--a true chorus--at night). Interestingly, while looking up the correct Latin classification name for the this frog, which all my life I had always only known them as "peepers", I learned that on Martha's Vineyard they are called "pinkletinks". Heh.

Listen to the peepers here.

Typical New England woodland --rocks and stones all over, sometimes with trees growing out of a split rock like this one.

Yes, the landscape is flat.

Jewel, sniffing away, and my sister, Angela.

That's all there is....

Just a few more photos from the Public Garden(and one from Newbury Street) in Boston.

The fresh green and blooming atmosphere in the Garden made it feel as if you had stepped into Monet painting at times. The city--besides the throngs at Quincy Market and the Aquarium(the line to purchase tickets to get in was so long, we didn't bother) was kind of quiet, it seemed to me. Maybe the absence of flights coming in from Europe because of the problems with the volcano ash had something to do with it?(still heard lots of different languages there, but interestingly, mostly German this time!) The stores -both low end and upscale--were for the most part empty. A sign of these struggling times.

Of course, I had plans for more of an interesting blog entry earlier in the day, but I am so gosh darn tired today, so this is all I can manage.

Boston and all the walking wiped me out.

Or maybe being 47 and 6 months old is wiping me out.

Standing on my feet all day at work for seven hours is making me feel old and tired.

Also making me feel tired(and a little depressed)-- knowing that my only week long vacation of the entire year is still yet to come(end of July) and feeling like I could certainly use that week right now, and also thinking to myself,

"Is this how I should be living my life? Just little spurts of free time...a day or so(every once in a while--a three day weekend), but then never truly long enough to be entirely free from thoughts of work?"

Kvetch..kvetch...I know. I shouldn't.

Other things in my life are good, including my good health(for the moment, and I am truly grateful for that), great little home and family. Most days I am pretty upbeat and okay with the way things are. They could certainly be far, far worse.

Still...there are those days when you think,
"is that all there is?"

Public Garden, Boston

Just leaving a photo from yesterday's day trip to Boston. I'll have to come back and write more, since I didn't manage to blog yesterday.

A photo tour ...

Another photo tour of Wickford--seems like I make it over there to walk around most weekends. Already, there is a touch more softening green seen in this harbor view(compare it to the photo I took of it just a few weeks ago...)

I am always taking photos of doors no matter where I go. This time--a red one and it seems whoever lives behind it hasn't been home in a while.

A fairly iconic image, I think--the metal mail box and the white picket fence.

There is a man sitting on the porch of the house beyound the gate and the first garden. I hope he didn't mind my getting him in the photo.

Poor cute doggies! My dog would never stand to be seen in a get-up like this.

Corner of Main and Brown..............

Two of my favorite houses in the village.....

Antique toy soldiers seen through a front window...........

The Old Narragansett Church, built in 1707. Yes, it's a church (no steeple, I know...) with box pews inside and a cool old wineglass pulpit and an organ built in 1680(sent over from England by Queen Anne) , which is among the oldest organs still used in services(Episcopal) in the United States.

Another view, from near the old cemetary.

Early Spring Wickford Stroll - Redux

Before the latest deluge, I spent a sunny, crisp and cold Saturday morning (last weekend) walking the streets of Wickford, after meeting my sister for breakfast(we ended up eating at some crazy redneck diner that was attached to a liquor store!! I swear I thought I saw someone drinking a beer with their breakfast at a table when we first walked in, too..) What's interesting to me is that almost a year ago, I spent a Saturday doing the same thing and blogged about it here, with photos. So, these photos turned out somewhat the same, since it's before Easter as in the April 4th blog from last year.

Even though it was cold, many of the shops had their doors open wide to let the fresh spring air in, and flowers, books and gifts for sale, set up outside on the sidewalk.

Walking down Brown Street towards Main.

A view from inside the shop, Different Drummer--a place I seem to think has been in business since I was in high school. At one time(eons ago), this shop used to sell these handpainted brooches I used to make.

This wooden mermaid is offering a "pearl" of a ball of yarn on the steps of a yarn shop called The Mermaid's Purl.

The window box in front of Village Reflections--another shop that has been in business forever--same nice owner (she told me she's been there for 26 years), with always affordable cotton clothing and gorgeous(and affordable, as well) jewelery.

Easter, right around the corner......