Summer in Connecticut ~ The Way We Like It.

Heading out to the Long Island Sound on our friends boat, we pass the Port Jefferson Ferry .

 We docked across from Fairfield Beach to watch the fireworks but God has surly set off His own display giving the man made kind alot to live up too!

 America the Beautiful ~ Happy Birthday to Our Dear Country!

 Coming back in to dock ~ we pass the Bridgeport skyline.

Around our house we like hydrangeas, 

                                                              and mussels.....

 our grand dogs Daisy and Jake (not shown are also Cutlet and Taylor).....

 and my son Franky and future son Tony chillin'out out in the backyard.

                We like to eat.....   (Ashley, Cheri and Frank pictured)

and meet friends and family at Captain's Cove Seaport in Bridgeport....

where they have great fish and chips and silly statues!

 Farmers markets...

 fairs on town greens...

American flags waving....

and my boy's first jar of his homemade pickles that he made from the cucumbers in his garden....

These are the good things that summer is made of here in my corner of the world.

Time to Catch Up!

Hi Friends!

 
Let's catch up!
It's been a while since we chatted but the last couple months have been all about Jake.

Our 15 year old Brittney needed some pretty extensive surgery for a tooth infection that had travel up to his eye area.

Then the week before Thanksgiving ~

    he went limp, couldn't eat or stand.It turned out to be an ailment called  Vestibular.

Except for a bit of a crocked walk ~ he's so much better.

Thank you Lord!

I have been working and creating ~ when I'm not farming on Farmville.

An adorable gift and basket shop The Wishing Well  in the BEAUTIFUL town of Sandy Hook, Ct is now carrying my work.

They offer a Well Baskets ~ healthy food baskets that you can have shipped as well.

My items are not listed on line but in their "brick and mortar" location.

I had a very short deadline to get some things in before Christmas ~ here are a few of those items.

Inner Child Doll

Paris Chic Organizer

Classic Scottie Dog Mini Quilt

This is a crazy quilted pouch I made for my Aunt Sarah......

and one made for my friend Debbi

My girls and I attended a Halloween Party hosted by a dear family friend for the United Way.

I had not planned on attending ~ I met my girls at their friends restaurant across the street to drop off a gift

and they convinced me to go.

I jumped in my car and high tailed it to Walmart (getting pulled over for not having my lights on ~ oops!)

I grabbed one of those cheap looking costumes ~ paid for it ~ then drove to a local church parking lot on the way and got changed in my car.

I was praying that same friendly police officer that pulled me over WASN'T in the area!

I arrived looking like a misfit but it was dress up after all and we had a BLAST!

This is Jaci , me and Cheri (my twins!)

Me and ALL my girls! Jaci, Ashley, me and Cheri

Ashley designed and created the dress she is wearing!

Jaci and Cheri

Tony and Cheri ~ Tony was a "chick magnet" ~ get it?

I am still dog sitting my son's dog Daisy.

This photo cracks me up ~ Jake and Teddi were sleeping and Daisy was bored out of her mind!

Teddi trying to look cute so Momma will give him a treat!

Teddi jumped on the chair after Thanksgiving Dinner and was appalled he wasn't getting anything!

Daisy with my son Franky ~ not minding at all that Cheri's beagle Cutlet is getting VERY fresh!

The Thanksgiving Dinner

And now the Christmas season!

Jake and Teddi are napping in the chairs in my sitting area ~ listening to some Kenny G.

I hope your holiday season has gotten off to a grand start!

We are certainly all going a little crazy right about now but DO stop to enjoy the sights and sounds all around you!

Wonderful Day Kyacking With Franky in Rhode Island

I was so excited when my son invited me for a day of kayaking in Rhode Island ~ a less than 2 hour drive from our corner of Connecticut.
We left at 5:30 am do we have to and I was happy to do it!
The forecast was grey and rainy but the rain held out and we even had bit's of sun shining through.
My son and I feel comfortable just being quiet together at times.
We were mind full of all the amazing birds ~ singing and carrying on.
We found the coolest coral ~ I don't recall ever seeing it before!
The location was amazing ~ a bay on one side where we spent time in the boats ~ and the Atlantic Ocean on the other.
After we put the kayaks back on his truck ~ we spent some time on the beach.
We were so hungry for seafood at this point ~ we left about 2pm and went to The Chowder Pot in Branford , Ct.
What a great meal and prices! PLUS ~ they serve baked potatoes at lunch time which racked up some big points for me!

Rhode Island Beach Link

The Chowder Pot

Road Trip to Virginia ~ Tappahannock, Fredricksburg, Rappahannock River

A few weeks ago ~ I was thrilled to take a road trip ~ just me, myself and I ~to see family in Tappahannock, Va.
I wish I could have traveled by sea but instead ~

it was via the New Jersey Turnpike.
Of course I am used to the usual 1 hour back up ~ always around Exit 8 for some reason.

I only wish I had not been so absentminded about my gas.

I was on empty and miles and miles of traffic ahead in a dead stop.

I did what I always do ~ prayed and asked the Lord for some extra grace for not having filled my tank.

One hour later ~ I made it right to the pump.

HE never lets me down!

I arrived at Tappahannock, Va ~ 9 hours after leaving Connecticut.

I had never been here but could feel I belonged.

Many of my ancestors from both sides of my family were from this area ~ fishing the Rappahannock River and raising their family's up and down this stretch of Va.

I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Tappahannock.

This is a very small town and I didn't expect much but was pleasantly surprised!

It was spotlessly clean ~ many offerings for free including breakfast, pool, gym and computers in the lobby area.

The little Historic District was lovely.

This is the Rappanhannock River ~

I stopped my car under the bridge and tried to picture my ancestors going up and down this river.

It felt so wonderful to be here ~ kinda like having a dream of a place you loved when you were a child.

I felt like I was revisiting instead of visiting for the first time.
I had a wonderful visit with my family all day Saturday.

They are wonderful folks ~ down to earth, country through and through.

I left at dusk for the hour ride North to Fredricksburg, Va.

I arrived at dark so it took me a while to find my Inn ~ The Kenmore.

Many of the streets are one way so it was hard to find at night.

I was starving when I arrived but the only place that was still open to dine was the bar.

Oh darn ~ I felt funny going to a bar alone but hunger ruled. I remember thinking at 50 ~ I can do anything!

I ordered a salad ~ leaving my glasses in my room so the bartender had to read me the menu to me ~ how embarrassing.

After I ordered ~I noticed my glasses were hanging out of my shirt the whole time!

It was a very nice place and what interesting people !

I will start at one end of the bar and work my way around ~

- there was a woman who's Dad had been a pilot for many of our presidents.(Nixon was his favorite)

- A well known 80 something year old piano player and his attractive wife, (on his way out of the bar ~ he played a short but beautiful tune on the bar piano)

- a young couple who were celebrating there 1st wedding anniversary ~ both lawyers,

- a young cute curly haired kid who seemed to have consumed one to many energy drinks,

- a man who's brother in law almost beat the the Iron Chef on the Food Network.

We all had SO much fun and such lively conversation ~ I didn't get back to my room till midnight!

It was the most unexpected end to the most wonderful day ~ back where my life had began generations before me ~ I was home.

Now if only this could have been my house!

This was the chandler above my bed ~ (pic's of the room didn't turn out)

The dining room where breakfast was served ~

The front porch of my dreams ~ (I thought of my pal Pat Winter when I was sitting here)

After breakfast ~ I checked out early ~ left my car at the Inn as parking is difficult ~ and walked to the downtown area.

The homes along the way were beautiful......

with beautiful gardens to match.

I walked around for 2 hours in the 100 degree heat ~ waiting for the museums and shops to open

(it was Sunday)

...and ended up with a case of heat stroke!

I made it to one museum when I had to find an air conditioned restaurant and sit there for over an hour until I was up to driving.

I still had to drive to Lancaster, Pa that day so headed out on the road ~ ton's of traffic as I was in the Washington DC area ~ and prayed once again for God's grace and help to get me to my destination.

Here are a few other pic's I took in Fredricksburg before I got sick ......

gorgeous magnolia's.....

lovely alley ways ~ so common in these southern towns.

Even the trees are steeped in history.

By the time I reach Baltimore, Maryland ~ I started to feel better.

Just as I was within 20 minutes of my hotel in Pa ~ a terrible storm hit the area.

The black sky turned everything dark as night. Since I drive a convertible ~ I was concerned about falling trees.

I passed several but those wonderful angels kept me safe.

By 7:00 pm ~ I was rocking in the wooden rocking chairs on my hotel porch ~ as the sun pecked back out just in time for the sunset.

I reflected on the last few days, it truly did feel like such a wonderful adventure.

Tomorrow morning ~ I would be waking up in my beloved Amish Country.

Breakfast at the same place we always brought the kids. Their childhood seems as though it lives on here ~

I see their faces in the children whose glance I catch.

I feel their tug on my leg and hear there excitement as a Amish Buggy rides by.

Maybe it is these memories that draw me back to this place time and again ~ as much as it is my love for the people here.

for more info on the places I visited ~

http://www.baygateways.net/general.cfm?id=138

Rappahannock River

http://www.essex-virginia.org/ta_walk.htm

Tappahannock, Va

http://www.visitfred.com/

Fredricksburg, Va

http://www.co.lancaster.pa.us/lanco/site/default.asp

Lancaster County, Pa