Bits and Bobs

You can tell it's the end of the week when we run out of cohesive story lines for the blog.  But here are some random shots that I thought you might enjoy.

Actually, this first one is rather sweet.  I saw this on one of my early morning walks.  The little hut says "made by Jack and his Dad."  I don't know what it is - a little house for a rock?  But I love it. Obviously it's a big hit with the rocks too - look at how many have lined up to enter!

I hope Jack and his Dad are building other things as you read this.

A chair, a book, a cuppa.  Bliss.

These are hanging above the doorway of a local shop that sells lots of socks.  

Looking for Sole Mates!

Last Friday Dixie and Piper (and Laura - not pictured here) came over for popcorn and an adult beverage.  Piper was fascinated by Woodman and kept licking his ear.  We watched various YouTube videos of last movie dance scenes (Dirty Dancing, Footloose, Silver Linings Playbook, etc) and Larry Bird videos.Who says we don't know how to have a good time?

TGIF!  Have a  great weekend, Dear Readers!

Great Gramma

Mom and I visited Oona last night, after grilling out on our patio.

It was really special to see Mom with Oona.

Atwood Boat Club

Dixie must have sensed what boaters Jen and I are, so she invited Laura, Jen and I out for Sunday jaunt down the Merrimac River.

You have never seen two bigger losers than Jen and I preparing for a few hours on a boat.

We scurried around the house preparing for the trip like Ginger did for her three hour tour on the SS Minnow.

The day was perfect, weather-wise.  Dixie's boat is in Jen's color palette.  Piper was fired up.  And Laura!  More on her in a minute.

Laura looked regal.  Like she was ready for her cameo on The Love Boat.

Her middle name is Fay, which seemed so much more appropriate a name for her bourgeois, elite boating persona.  Laura owned the river.  The rest of us got to ride on her wake. 

Captain Piper and I sharing a stick.

Dixie Doodle at the helm.  She proved to be a very capable skipper.

Her engine has been giving her trouble and when it shut down in the busiest stretch of the river, Dixie saved us by calling over a passing boat to tie into.  It kept us from careening into the the boats on the dock. I was as useful as a condom made of yarn.

The Atwood Boat Club!

The destination was the sand bar in Amesbury.  A little stretch of beach that only appears for a couple of hours on certain days.  A little sanctuary to frolic.

We met up with Dixie's best buds and family and had a lovely day.  

A very happy (and exhausted) Captain Piper

Jen and Laura taught the kids to appreciate fine cheese.  I'm sure they will have to apologize to the parents for creating three more cheese snobs.

'Have you tried the Delice?'

The tide rolled in quick.  The sand bar disappeared.  It was time for Captain Piper to board the boat and head home.

We now have savage tans.  Well, maybe not Fay.  Tans are for the proletariat, not the upper class.

Dixie reels in the boat as I help by standing on the side encouraging her.

Thanks, Dixie.  A wonderful day on the sea.

Show House

On Sunday Laura and I went to a local Show House.  It was a house that was recently renovated and then each room was decorated by a different local designer using products and furniture from stores in town etc.  You entered through the barn on the left.  Then walked through the walkway to the main house.

This is the view looking back into the barn.  They told us that there will be an auction to win a dinner party here.  I'm sure it will be too much money but I love the idea of having a dinner party in this setting.

To the main house.

They did a good job making each room look polished by homey.  (Or homely as the Brits say. )  Neutrals always seem like such a mature choice.  Of course, Bill and I like color.

This was one of my favorite rooms in the house.  Off of the kitchen was this butler's pantry.  They had flowers all around the sink as if the owner just went out to the garden and gathered them to cut for vases.  This dark picture doesn't do it justice.  Laura loved the granite counter that felt more like stone.  I loved the dark wood cabinets and shelving.

Coming out of the butler's pantry to look into the open plan kitchen and family area,

This is the entry way for the front door (remember, we came in the back from the barn. )  The walls of the entry way and the downstairs hall were hand panted with these blue smudges.  I'm not sure I'd want that but I did like the effect.  

Then looking up - the ceiling was painted bright green with a compass arrow pointing north!  

Upstairs now…and while I probably would not really want the individual items in this bedroom, I immediately felt the effect.  This room felt very calming.  I loved the dark blue walls and the tones of all the natural elements.

The nautical kid's room had a bed that seemed to be suspended from the filing on ropes but really it was on a base underneath.

The master bedroom had a stocked closet.  I was tempted to try on that gold number.

I didn't take a picture of the master bed room except one at the end of my post.  There were two docents in there and it seemed weird.  I was never sure if I was supposed to be photographing it so I tried to keep it on the low down.  And anyway, it was ill conceived.  The bed was too small for the space, we all agreed the wall behind the bed was the wrong color (peachy flesh). It was a dud.

This was the other bed room down the hall.  Again, neutral although the pieces in here were pretty unique.

Laura said she could envision me reading in this spot.  I was tempted to do so immediately.

Laura posing in the master bath.

Proof that I was there.

The house is actually for sale - without all the furnishings.  It's over 2 million.  Here is why.  You can see the Merrimac from several vantage points.  This is the view from the master bedroom.  I could definitely get used to waking up to that every morning.

A Visit from the Littles

Saturday started with a little shopping.  Joey needs to round out his Teacher Wardrobe for his new job in the Fall so he came to town to try his luck at some of the men's shops.  To prepare he spent the morning taking pictures of each piece in his existing wardrobe so we could find matching shirts etc.  I was very impressed with this!!  (We didn't take pictures while we were shopping but we found several needed items.)

And look who came over Saturday afternoon??  Baby Oona!

She didn't come alone of course.  Bret looks like a natural, doesn't he?  By baby #3 he's got it down pretty good.  He's an expert swaddler.

Malikai is a doting big brother.

Grampa Bill couldn't get enough of her. 

Uncle Joey got in on the action.

Oona is going to be spoiled as the only little girl in the family.

I'm just happy to have another chick in the family.

Meanwhile I spent the afternoon as the other half of The Prank Club.  Malikai and I spent the day making fake ice cubes out of cotton balls and scotch tape, hiding plastic poo in Grampa Bill's cigar box and making our own dribble glass.  It was really more of a steady stream than a dribble so I think we need to work on the design.  

But the day didn't end there!  Next we headed into town to meet up with Jen and Brian who came up for the night.

We had tickets to another Story Slam in the Tannery but we got there late and couldn't get seats together.  At the intermission we tried to talk Jen into getting on stage to tell a story but in the end she didn't get up.  Then over dinner she told us all the stories she thought about telling, no doubt regretting her decision not to do it on stage.  

It even cooled off while we were in the show.  No complaints about this summer Saturday!

Two Nights - Two Sides of the River

On Thursday we had plans to meet up with friends, Holly and Dan at The Deck.  

The Deck is right on the water facing the Port but we never got that close to the view.  The place was packed!  We spent an hour waiting at the bar and then we were seated at the table right next to the bar in the back - far away from the river views.

There is water out there somewhere.

Good food and a fun night!

So then the next night Bill and I had nothing in the house to eat (I haven't mastered the art of buying enough groceries to last a full week and we put Blue Apron on hold until the fall) so we had to go out again…this time to Michael's which is across from The Deck.  Except this time we got a table right away (despite also being crowded) overlooking the river.  So here is a view of where we were 24 hours earlier.

After dinner we strolled along the boardwalk. 

We sat and listened to the couple on the left singing and playing guitar and violin - they were really good.

 Why aren't we doing this EVERY NIGHT???