WEEKEND WALK-BY

I went to Holliston today to look at a couple of my favorite shops. Before I left I took a little walk to check out some of the homes.





Then I found a "Dead End Street". These were the only houses on this street; a "Street of Dreams", perhaps?

Talk about a house to get lost in, wow!

From the other side, not fond of the replacement windows, but what are you gonna do?

This one is my absolute favorite. So quintessential New England!

The rest of my favorite. What about that Carriage House??

Next door

Across the street

Picture perfect ( even if not perfect picture).The house at the "dead end".

Perhaps I should return to this street when the leaves turn in October.

WORDS OF WISDOM

Later edited to add: Thanks to Jean I have found out that that this was written by Pamela Redmond Satran and was first published in her "Glamour" column in 1998 and was written for women aged 30!! Does anyone even remember being 30?? The wisdom is good at any age, thank goodness and thank you Jean.

Janet

This poem, by Maya Angelou, was sent to me by a friend in an e-mail.
I blatantly copied it to send on to you, my dearest blog friends. I hope
that you enjoy it and pass it on to others. Enjoy this last holiday weekend of the
summer; I have my white pants in the washer waiting for their last hurrah, lol!


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
enough
money within her control to move out
and rent a place of her own,
even if she never wants to or needs to...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
something
perfect to wear if the employer,
or date of her dreams
wants to see her in an hour...


A WOMAN SHOULD
HAVE .
a youth she's content to leave behind....


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .
a past juicy
enough that she's looking forward to
retelling it in her
old age....
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..
one friend who
always makes her laugh.. and one who lets her cry...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a good piece
of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her
family...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..
eight
matching plates, wine glasses with stems,
and a recipe for
a meal,
that will make her guests feel honored...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE
a feeling of
control over her destiny..


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD
KNOW...
how to fall in love without losing herself..


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to quit
a job,
break up with a lover,
and confront a friend
without;
ruining the friendship...


EVERY WOMAN
SHOULD KNOW...
when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK
AWAY...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that she can't change the length of her calves,
the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that her
childhood may not have been perfect...but it's over...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she
would and wouldn't do for love or more...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW....
how to live
alone... even if she doesn't like it...


EVERY
WOMAN SHOULD KNOW.. .
whom she can trust,
whom she can't,
and why she shouldn't take it personally...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
where to
go...
be it to her best friend's kitchen table..
or a
charming Inn in the woods....
when her soul needs
soothing...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW..
What she can and can't accomplish in a day....
a
month...and a year...


SEND THIS TO 3 WOMEN....
You will have good luck for an entire day..


SEND THIS TO 6 WOMEN....
You will have
good luck for all of the year or if nothing else...
you know that you are truly loved and thought of by the friend,
who sent this to you...
and that she only wishes the
best for you and your life..


AND
REMEMBER:

GOOD FRIENDS ARE LIKE STARS.

YOU DON'T ALWAYS SEE THEM,

BUT YOU ALWAYS KNOW THEY ARE
THERE!!!!!!


Be yourself...everyone else is
already taken.

Later,

SHE'S BACK

Manuela, formerly of The Feathered Nest, has come out of blog retirement and has a new blog, The Pleasures of Homemaking. As always she has her spray paint handy and is ready to show us her gorgeous decorating and give us tips on living a bit more frugally. Stop in and welcome her back.

Later,

PATIENCE

Bob has winnowed the Alaska pix down to 691 so far. Hope you are not holding your collective breaths waiting to see them...could be a bit longer, LOL!

PARTIAL BATH REDO

My head is spinning from reviewing Medicare statements and finding that not all retirees live within their incomes. Enough said! Since I have not had much that is pleasant to post about I thought I would show the pix of my partially finished bath. It is not a big bath by any means, but those of you who remember my post about the spinach vomit sink will be glad to see some progress. We still need to get mirror, medicine cabinet ( which I am not sure I want), towel bars up etc. Also I need to find the perfect toile shower curtain that resides deep in my head where I can see it perfectly. Do any of you have that problem? I can picture it so perfectly and it may not even exist, lol. So, in the meantime I bought a funky stripe, almost madras type fabric, in the clay color to speed the completion along. It was only $25. and if you run to your local Homegoods you can probably see it in person! The color didn't come out very well, but the color is a clay/terra cotta color. Very nice with the crisp white. I am happy with my choices and I am sure you will agree that a brown and cream toile is just what I need, you do agree, right? As always, click for more detail.

Still need to seal the granite. See the soap dish and toothbrush holder? I bought those in Poulsbo, WA with Clarice.

I love the floor, the look of tumbled marble, but it is ceramic tile.

Really, it is NOT orange!


A little glimpse of the "not toile" shower curtain! Please ignore the shiny wallpaper in the hall!

FORENSIC ACCOUNTING

I was always good with math when I was a student. That was up until the time I met Abstract Math and Algebra and Logarithms. Once we got to that stage I lost all confidence in my ability and never took any math in college. Strange, but I have always loved working with numbers. Back in my banking days I worked in loan servicing and loved figuring out the interest calculations and escrow analyses. This was before the days of computers and I would probably not enjoy it as much if I didn't have to figure it out. Apparently the time has come to test my rusty skills. As I have mentioned my MIL was not financially savvy and never really knew what kind of money it took to run the household and now it is my job to figure it out. What are the current and projected expenses and what kind of money will she need week to week to feed , clothe and house herself?? Good questions and I will be poring over bills past and present and bank statements trying to come up with the answer. Wish me luck and for that poor woman who doesn't like to cook and hasn't cooked in years, well she may need a crash course in grocery shopping and cooking. She is welcome to eat here anytime she wants, but I suspect she will only take us up on our invitations once or twice a week and she wants no part of Meals on Wheels!





In more exciting news Susie Q has devised an award for her readers and since it has been a very long time since I received an award I am going to grab it. If you don't know Susie Q you really should get to know her. Not only is she fun and funny, but she is an excellent writer and photographer and all around nice person! Go visit her and tell her I sent you. Thanks Sue for the awesome award.

Back to the bank statements,

I'M A WINNER!!

In the midst of the sad preparations for the wake last Friday, look what arrived! I was too excited to take pictures, but suffice to say that it brightened an otherwise sad day.
I won a giveaway from The Summer Kitchen.

If you don't know Karrie and Karla and their Ohio shop, run over and pay them a visit. I love their music. I can't wait to listen to the Bing Crosby Christmas CD. I DO have to wait don't I? Hmmmm.... how long should I wait? I am thinking I should wait until the first Christmas merchandise shows up at HomeGoods. That should be about a week, doncha think?

Later,

TASSELS, SHE'S GOT TASSELS

Are these the cutest tassels you have ever seen? I think so...and they are only $13 -$15. Where you ask? Here at Bienvenue. Check out her Etsy shop and her blog. You will love Susie Harris. Tell her I sent you.

Later,

MORE CAPITOL HILL SEATTLE

Can you believe that this is an apartment building? It's U-shaped with a courtyard in the middle. I want to live here!

Later,

BEAUTIFUL NEW BLOG

Things are going well here. Bob has gone back to work and his Mom is doing far better than expected. Thank you for your kind support and prayers; you are all fantastic and your support means more to me than I can say.

My bathroom is going to be professionally painted on Friday; I have never had someone paint for me before, so this is pretty darn exciting. Then the contractor will come bck and hang the new light fixture, mirror, towel bar etc. Now I need to find the fabric for a brown toile shower curtain or buy a black toile which seems to be readily available.

While blog surfing a couple of weeks ago I came across this wonderful blog from Prince Edward Island. She has the most amazing gardens, which apparently are used for weddings and all kinds of get togethers. Just magical! Please go and visit and tell her I sent you. http://warrengrovegarden.blogspot.com/

BE BACK LATER

I just received word that my Father in Law, Antony Magina, passed away this morning. He is at peace now, but it is my Mother in Law that we need to worry about now. She is going to be devastated because she really didn't think he was as sick as he was.

Janet

LUNCH WITH??

I wanted to have a big lead up to my story about lunch in Poulsbo, Washington, with some pictures from her blog that you might remember or recognize, but being the clever woman she is all her photos are somehow protected and even when I save them from Google Images they will. not. download! Drat! Okay, now they seem to work. Do you recognize the "Headless Blogger"?

Delightful Hoosier Cabinet in the kitchen

A French tin I sent her last fall filled with acorns

Without further ado, I give you lunch with Clarice. I am sure that many of you know Clarice of StoryBook Woods. She is soon to be published in Somerset Life. She was very helpful when I set up my blog and was so very green. If patience is a virtue, she is a very virtuous woman. Anyway, I drove to StoryBook Woods and after a couple of attempts had Clarice stand at the end of the hidden driveway so that I would not pass it again, lol. She was right when she said it was hard to see until you were right on it! Storybook Woods is every bit as charming as the pictures she posts on her blog. I got the grand tour and then got to meet her sweet daughters, Chloe and Auberne ( sorry I don't have the accent ague on my computer for the proper spelling) and husband David. We dropped the girls and went to Poulsbo, a quaint Scandinavian town on the Kitsap Peninsula, for lunch at a place called Mor Mor Bistro. I had the crab melt which was heavenly, but they only give you half and I could easily eat three halves it was so good. Clarice, being the gourmet that she is, had the Lobster Ravioli. I can get delicious Lobster Ravioli any time in Providence, but Crab Melts are not a sandwich we have around these parts. And oh are they good, especially at Mor Mor.

Anyway, we ate and talked and talked , hope I didn't talk too much, but she is like an old friend even though we had never met and then we went in a lot of really cute shops and then we had dessert at a French Bakery. Chocolate Pots de Creme, OMG was it delicious.... just chocolaty enough, not too sweet. I want some more right now. And then we stopped at her Mom's house. Her Mom lives in a new community of Craftsman style bungalows within walking distance of downtown Poulsbo. I loved her and her house and all her decorating. She claims to have "East Coast Envy" and I have "West Coast Envy" so we would get along great. Maybe we can arrange a house swap!

That's it for now. My FIL is in the hospital again and my parents are coming Friday. My Dad is very allergic to paint fumes so the bathroom painting will have to wait. What a great excuse, huh??

Later,

Janet

PS. I couldn't upload my signature, so maybe Clarice's photos aren't protected, maybe there is something else wrong with the computer...eeek! Say it isn't so...please. Seems OK now, a brief 5 minutes later, go figure ;)

OUT OF ORDER

Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle

I am not sure where Bob is with regards to the Alaska pictures, but I can tell you that he took literally hundreds of shots. When they are ready for me to post ( a small selection), I will do so. In the meantime, let me regale you with tales of the trip.

Direct flight from Boston to LAX. This flight always gives me pause as I can't help but think of 9/11. But the flight was fine, had an expensive cheeseburger at Ruby's in the airport and after a couple hour layover we went on to Seattle. I didn't have a window seat for this leg of the journey so I didn't get to see much of the topography. Arrived in Seattle and took a shuttle to our downtown hotel near Pier 66. My son and his girlfriend met us and took us to Chinooks, a casual seafood restaurant at the fishing terminal. Super menu, but I was too excited to see Brett to concentrate on the menu. I had Halibut and Chips and a dessert called Burnt Cream aka Creme Brulee.

Spent some time Saturday morning roaming about Seattle and then got Bob's favorite clam chowder for lunch. Off to Alaska on Saturday afternoon. The Norwegian Star is certainly much larger and posher than the Norwegian Majesty which we have taken to Bermuda. Very nice, but who designs the decor for these ships? Nothing seems to flow in the lounges or restaurants and they are just gaudy, but I guess some simple decor on a cruise ship would too ordinary.

The scenery was beautiful, the weather...not so much. It was too cold to spend time on the deck so mostly I sat in a lounge and read countless books while occasionally glancing about for whales, eagles etc. I was not too successful in the wildlife department. Back to the weather....mid 50s and drizzly. I sure am glad I sprung for the wind/rain breaker and the fleece vest.

Monday was Ketchikan and there is not much happenin' there. We were docked for 5 hours, but we had walked the whole town and had lunch in 3 hours and it started to pour and we got pretty wet getting back to the ship. Tuesday was Juneau and I took Jerusalem's advice and went to Heritage coffee for a Mocha and went in a shop she recommended and bought a small print and some cards. We also took a bus to see the Mendenhall Glacier which is pretty darn impressive. That afternoon we sailed up the Tracy Arm Fiord and got as close as we could to the Sawyer Glacier, but there was too much ice floe for us to get very near.

Wednesday was Skagway all day and again it was cold and very windy ( little rain though) and again we walked the entire town and were done very quickly. As beautiful as nature is in Alaska, the towns survive on cruise ship traffic and cater to the souvenir crowd. Housepeeping isn't much fun there and I didn't take any pictures because it seemed mean. The bus driver that took us to the glacier explained how there are few roads and there is no way for people to get rid of stuff, so dead cars and all kinds of "junk" just live in the yards.

I am going to leave you with a few pictures I took of the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Seattle. This is where we stayed on the night we got back from the cruise ( and for a week last fall). Hopefully Bob has pictures of the Gaslight Inn, our resting spot for the night. For now be happy I am back and that I have a few pix for you, OK?




It is $1,250,000. Wish I could have stayed for the Open House> I could hear the vacuum running inside. Good seller!!

And next time I will tell you about my lunch with a soon to be famous Blogger.

Later,