Okay, the following is a letter to the editor of my local "rag" in response to a Reader's Board query, "What it means to be a patriot today?" I'll let it speak for itself but before you send the patriot police please note the first amendment allows free expression in these great 50 states and although I am discouraged with the current state of affairs, there is no where else I'd rather live or die.
And a Happy Fourth to you, too!!
Meet Daisy & Dippy - a fine example of creative mosaic design executed by Cuyler & Bubbe (Daisy on right) and by Will & Bubbe (Dippy on left) during successive sleep-overs here at Bubbe's Fine Crafting Camp in beautiful Hingham. The boys are really delightful when taken singularly - I'm truly grateful for the opportunity of getting to know them better as little people in their own right. The boys are one very tight unit to the point I sometimes feel I have only 1 grandchild (Ebby) so it makes our time together even more special and now that they are happily ensconced in their new digs (13.2 mi. down the road) I'm looking forward to even more good times!!
Just hijacking the blog from Mom in order to bring you some photos from our first Crafting Day of the summer held earlier this week. Among the attendees: me (Jen), all the grandchildren and Ebby's friend, the wonderful Miss Pam and the wonderful niece Penny. Our goal: eat, drink, and be creative.
For the kids, the project of the day was mosaic birdhouses. Pam and Pen, both of whom came bearing plenty of creative supplies and nourishment, set out to create Wallpaper People a la Anahata. With Mom as the instructor (having made a Wallpaper person herself at Artfest in April), the girls were off the the races and created some wonderful work.
Mom decided to try her hand at bead mosaics. She painted a wooden box and then went about the intricate business of creating a butterfly out of beads and other mosaic materials.
While the kids may have been the only ones to actually finish a project, it was a lovely afternoon of art, friendship and inspiration.
And delicious homemade granola bars.
Yep, the kids are here in full force! We've been playing Crazy 8's like crazy, Rummy ad infinitum, Hose down, Whiffle Ball, beach going, and Go-Karts and Mini Golf. It's no wonder Bubbe is feeling the LOVE and the PAIN!!
8 days to go and kids move into new digs - not without aggravation from the seemingly reluctant sellers - this is when you are glad you are married to an attorney (Bob) and have a really good Real Estate Agent (Carolyn).. It will no doubt work out in the end but just another pain that didn't need to be...
Doesn't this look to be the idyllic summer pasttime for the younger set? The bellybutton belongs to Will as does the puppet (found in Bubbe's cellar clean-out). Here are Cuyler and Ebby readying their performance...
Ah, summer time and the living is sorta easy...
And moving on - the South Shore Arts Center Arts Festival on the Common with my dear friend Meredith who is a fine - truly fine - artist in her own right. Fun day - many great works of art and many fun vendors. We did our best to do our thing!!
My personal favorite among the many fine works at the Festival
A few quick shots of the front garden in mid June. Kinda quiet but pretty...
Jen et al arrived last Sat. after closing on the sale of their NC house, picking the kids up from school and tearing across state lines to arrive about sundown, to the delight of this Bubbe!!! They have purchased a lovely home here, two towns away with a magnificent piece of land (3.1 acres) and the boys will be able to walk to school!! Ebby will be starting middle school in Sept. and Jen has been very busy already visiting schools and setting up some fun activities through the Marshfield Rec Dept. for all three kids. Seems like it's going to all work out fine (Bubbe tends to worry). Various children have been staying here in stages as Bob has been up here since early May and sharing a "bachelor" apt. here in Hingham with Uncle Steven which he is now sharing with Jen and whichever child wishes to bunk in over there!! Ah, transitions.
Ebby at ten is great company. I don't think I need to say how happy I am that they are HOME.
A great road trip is the chance to explore new territory, meet new people and expand one's horizons. It helps to have a great travelling companion and few expectations about the destination - then it's ever so much the better when it turns out to be a fantastic take!!!
My friend Lynn & I went to Saratoga Springs, NY for my grandniece's senior art exhibit at Skimore College. This is her amazing art - big, vibrant, colorful, fantastic!!! I just loved this work! (yes, really, Audrey) - The 57 Studio Art majors' work made an impressive show, but this was the standout for me. My friend Lynn (who is an art teacher) & I also just loved Saratoga and made the most of our brief stay - when we hit a cafe (Scallions) which was totally furnished in Sticks furniture we knew we'd hit the jackpot!
Well despite a lack of publicity - no newspaper ads only street signs, these were the lonely leftovers from yesterday's plant sale. It was cold, damp & windy but we gardeners are a heartly lot and although there was not the usual waiting line at 8 a.m. I consider it a success and the coffers have a few more funds to pay my helper, Matt. As always, thanks to my friend Sue who always is ready to help me and was a great cashier and sign putter upper!!
The view through the dogwood. Mrs Robin has hatched her first chick and is busy finding canker worms to keep the baby happy. She is nesting in a wreath right on my deck. Slowly, she is letting me work out there without flying off in a huff!
Trying to record the garden this year week by week digitally - this is a view from the back terrace. Been doing a lot of work - the chiropractor is getting rich!!
GREAT NEWS!!
Mother's Day was a tad lonely BUT the kids will be back in MA by the end of the month. YEAH!
Their house is sold, Jen is busy packing, Bob is already up here working and they are busy looking at houses in Hingham and surrounding towns.
I will be sooooo glad when they are back! THe kids each did a painting and then gave testimony as to how Bubbe is special to them. Wonderful to read - I'll try and post tomorrow.
Oh and I bought a very cool Raleigh bike today at a yard sale for $10 and rode it 2.5 miles home with Sue shadowing me. Quite the ride - Jen admonished me about the helmet - will be purchasing one tomorrow.
These lovely ladies are called Blushing Beauty which they certainly are. May is in full swing in the blossoming department here at 219.
Hmm, I don't know why these shots are coming out so blurry lately... they don't look blurry in the garden (lol) woodland phlox here doing its thing.
This combination is one of serendipity -- I've just added the planter which will eventually house a bamboo fountain (just as soon as the maples stop shedding!!) and it's surrounded by osteosperum in the most yummy of colors but it all came together when the purple tulips bloomed. It's just these little things that make this gardener so happy!!
And last but by no means least, a shot of this very fun bag my Artfest friend Judi gave me - she especially thought the NO FAKE CRAP was fitting for me. When I carried it to a local Flea Market Sunday, no less than 6 people made a point to come up to me and express delight in the bag. THANKS, JUDI!!!
PLANT SALE SAT. and it's supposed to rain!!!
Giuseppina Cirincione: Collage Lost And Found: Creating Unique Projects With Vintage Ephemera
