Bonding....

...with mosquitos.  

We visited a sculpture park today and we all bought little mosquitos made out of recycled metal for our gardens.

Clyde, the sculpture, is quite a character....and very talented!

 

Many of his birds bob up and down and are very graceful.

I did love all his supply scrap metal.....

Flowers....

...fields, frogs...and a caterpillar!

A Splash of Color...

...on the table!  What a colorful treat this whole day was!

My sister Nancy is quite a gardener. She brought 10 different kinds of tomatoes from her garden to our gathering...so for lunch today we had a tomato tasting.

We also tasted 5 varieties of garlic rubbed on toast.

We also had these darling Mexican sour cucumbers that looked like little watermelons and ground cherries from her garden. The yellow cherries are inside the papery looking things.  Who knew? 

We had a side of left over Asian Noodle Salad from last night...a recipe LaVonn got from "The Pioneer Woman."  It was awesome...and so pretty.

We finished off the meal with frozen yogurt on peaches that Angie brought from Missouri.

And we did a 1000 piece puzzle this morning while it rained!

Gathering

Yes...

....I'm in Wisconsin.

Up Close...

Today I spent the day with my sister LaVonn...so I got to see the sunflower field up close!

Tomorrow we head north to Marilyn's for the sister gathering.
 

The view from the kitchen window...with the sunflower field in the distance.

Joyful Gathering

  Sister reunion in 2013

Angie, Marilyn, Becky, Nancy, LaVonn, and MaryAnn 

I just arrived in Wisconsin today for a sister reunion. The last time we gathered was in February of 2013 just before my sister Becky passed away from breast cancer. We literally scooped her up from the hospital for a weekend of games, cards, conversation, good food, and lots of laughter.  It will be bitter sweet without Becky...getting teary just thinking about it... but it will be awesome. This time we are gathering at my sister Marilyn's house in central Wisconsin starting Thursday.

Today was spent with my sister-in-law Carol and her darling boys Henry and Charles (along with Boomer the dog and the new chickens) who all live on the farm I grew up on.

I love seeing all the corn fields and all the wide open spaces.  I loved growing up on a farm.

Playing With the Map

I got good feedback on my map....and I wanted to add another one of our favorite spots in South Portland....the Bug Light.  

The dotted lines are my bike routes. (Paul rides everywhere....frequently to Portland Head Light and over the bridge into Portland...I'm more of a get where I'm going kind of biker.)  I can easily access the "Greenbelt Walkway/Bike Path" from our house...which mostly goes right along the water.  I also starred where we used to live in Portland.

Paul and I often ride our bikes to the Bug Light and sit and watch the harbor activity.  It's fun when we catch a cruise ship or a tanker...and there are always sailboats and ferries.

Some of the ships dominate the waterfront of Portland with as many passengers as the town I grew up in.

I zoomed in on this sailboat to give some perspective on the size of the ship.  Do you see the lighthouse looking structure in the background?  It is the Portland Observatory where they used to signal incoming ships to the merchants. My son Sam gave tours there this summer....talking about the structure...and the history of Portland.

100 Miles of Rope

I went into Boston this evening to celebrate my niece Clarke's birthday and see the rope sculpture floating over the Rose Kennedy Greenway. The Greenway is a mile and a half of city parks and walkways to connect people with the beauty of the outdoors....right in the middle of the city.

 The sculpture was designed by Janet Echelman and includes over 100 miles of rope and over half a million knots.  It weighs about a ton and covers about half an acre. It is suspended from three skyscrapers.

We got there while it was still light...and it was not quite as impressive. Still really cool...but the best was yet to come.

 

We had a nice dinner...walked around a bit...then once it got dark found a couple of adirondack chairs and just watched it for a while. There is lighting from the buildings on both sides that change colors.  It sways a bit in the breeze and is quite relaxing to watch.  As the lights change we found ourselves oohing and aahing like we were watching a fireworks show....but it was nice and quiet.

There is more information on this website including a time lapse video of the installation. It will be up through October.

The Blue Cupboard....

....wasn't always blue...and it had a top.

It was given to me by my good friend Linda who had it in her kitchen in her old house.  But there wasn't room in my kitchen...and the top didn't work very well in the living room.

         So I took the top off.

Then I found the drawers along the road, planned the wall art, and collected a few things to display. (this was the original arrangement)

     
         Next I sanded and primed it.

Finally I let it sit for a few weeks to cure.  I'm quite fond of my blue cupboard!  Thanks Linda! And thanks for all the other furniture pieces and treasures I have of yours in this house.