Maine 1…

We know our Maine vacation has started when we stop at Young’s Lobster Pound in Belfast for steamers and lobster rolls…We have learned to stop beforehand to stock up on Shipyard Ale…


Every year we debate why steamers and lobsters are so much sweeter in Maine than they are in RI…

Maybe it’s because of the colder water…maybe it’s because it is cooked in salt water….maybe it’s because we are on vacation…

…so yummy they didn’t need that melted butter…


 








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The last few years Young’s has been an annual stop…both coming and going if possible.

Birthday Week…

The week after our return from Maine was another birthday week for our family…Mr J turned four…

…and Miss E turned two one day later…

I used these as birthday cards…

Mr J’s only requests for his birthday?    A piñata…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…and chocolate cake…

Miss E was happy with everything …

chalk to color her feet with…

… a new tent…

…and lollipops…

 

Everything’s been different

   All the day long,

Lovely things have happened,

   Nothing has gone wrong.

Nobody has scolded me,

   Everyone has smiled.

Isn’t  it delicious

   To be a birthday child?

                   ---Rose Fyleman

Visiting Boston…

Before traveling to Maine Mr O , my sister, and I visited Mrs R while she was at work in the Boston Public Library…She works for the company that caters any events held there…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Her office is in the older part of the library…designed by McKim, Mead, and White, it was finished in 1895.  We enjoyed taking a self-guided tour of this beautiful building… and we think it would be a wonderful place to have a party!

The main staircase had a beautiful golden glow from the yellow marble…at one point there were architecture students sitting on the stairs drawing….Most visitors were taking pictures of the lions…

 

 

The Abbey Room is dark … with a mural painting, “The Quest of the Holy Grail”, surrounding the room…

 

The reading rooms …well they were just as quiet and peaceful as they were gorgeous…

Hidden in the center of the library is a courtyard…we bought lunch at the library’s Map Room Cafe and brought sandwiches outside by the fountain…Not only were visitors like myself taking pictures, but a professional photographer was there meeting several clients…it was fun to watch him and his assistant while we ate…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right next door to the library is the Prudential Center…It was such a clear day we decided to go to the restaurant at the top for the view…and a Cosmopolitan…

I do think Mrs R has a very interesting and exciting job…

Home Again…

Back from vacation, laundry finished, lawn mowed, refrigerator restocked…for some reason it is hard to return to the routine of posting to this blog.  Maybe it is the overwhelming number of photos that need editing, maybe it is because I have gotten accustomed to sleeping by 10PM, or maybe I am just plain lazy!   I do, however, still want to continue to challenge myself to improve my photography and to save a few memories while doing it …so I will get around to editing some of my photos and posting them here soon.

Maine Interlude…

For the next week I will be vacationing in Maine with friends and family and taking lots of pictures!   There will be no internet access at the house we stay in but I hope I have lots to share here when I get back…

At the RISD Museum…

If you don’t plan on staying too long, taking little ones to a museum can be fun. The RISD museum in the center of Providence is a nice size to visit…not too big. Of course it helps if you know that stair climbing can be better than any of the exhibits…

…and if any glass exhibits are out of reach…

…and if there is a big, empty room with just a wild carpet in it…

…and if there is a fun truck outside the window to look at…

…and if some of the sculptures are outside.

Later, a stroll by the Providence River…

…and cooling off at a fountain complete that cloudy Sunday.

Lars and the Real Girl…

Every once and awhile I see a movie that I just loved and don’t want to forget…Lars and the Real Girl struck me that way. I had this on my Netflix list for so long that I didn’t remember why I added it on in the first place…didn’t remember which review I read that got me interested…didn’t remember reading the plot line…didn’t remember if it was considered comedy or drama…Now I don’t know why I didn’t read more about it when it first came out. Sometimes you just need a movie that makes you smile…

It is funny, but it is more than a comedy. It is a very sweet and very quirky story of how a family and town reacts to the delusions of a lonely man. Well written and well acted, it doesn’t shove the reasons for or the consequences of the delusion in your face but lets answers slowly develop…Do I think a town this caring really exists? …No, but if it did I would want to live there…

Things I liked about this movie:

• Ryan Gosling…he made it real…

• The costumes…the sweaters! I couldn’t find a picture of the “horse vest”

• The accepting community – at church, work, or the mall!

• And the screenplay by Nancy Oliver…I always enjoyed Six Feet Under too…

Sweet 100…

Finally…

Mr J helped me pick some cherry tomatoes…

They just needed a little bit of salt…

…the taste of summer, even if very small…