planes, trains and automobiles

Posted on November 4, 2019 by is there any more pie?
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Built in 1875 and lovingly protected and restored by the Friends of the Kingston Railroad Station.  Not even a major fire and the threat of demolition could destroy this landmark.

I took the train to Boston yesterday to meet My French Friend Janou at Logan airport and bring her back to Rhode Island for a two-week visit.

Oh, we’re going to have a good time!

But first I had to retrieve her.

The train is always lovely and South Station in Boston is a bustling, interesting place in the center of the city.  I decided not to brave the subway to the airport (I am not capable of learning new things at the moment), so I chickened out and took a taxi.

So easy.

What wasn’t easy was finding MFFJ at Terminal B!  I’d assumed she’d have luggage, so I headed over to the luggage carousel to meet her as she grabbed her suitcase.  Turns out she just had two carry-on bags and was looking for me at the terminal across the street.

We eventually found each other–oh, the joy of cell phones!!!–and popped back into a taxi to head back to South Station.  We had time for a snack before our train was announced and we were heading south to Kingston Station.

An hour later and there was Banjo Man, waiting to pick us up.  He had roast beef sandwiches and butternut squash soup waiting for us, the tired and hungry travelers.

Conversation and tequila in front of the fireplace would follow.  As would an early bedtime.

Today the sun is shining.  I think we’ll go for a ride and make sure the ocean is still there.

Posted in friends, rhode island, travel | 4 Comments

a little music on sunday morning

Posted on November 3, 2019 by is there any more pie?

Posted in family, music | 2 Comments

inhaling blue

Posted on November 2, 2019 by is there any more pie?

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While waiting for Banjo Man to join me at the car for a trip to the dump yesterday afternoon, I looked up.

Oh, what a shade of blue!

I grabbed my phone and took a picture, of course, but the color isn’t as deep a blue in the photo as it was in the sky.

I tried again, using a filter.

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Nope, not the right color either.

Are these better?  Closer, yes.  But the real thing was better.  As it usually is.

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So I leaned against the car, looked up at the sky and took many, many deep breaths.  When Banjo Man finally stepped aside he asked me what I was doing.

“Inhaling blue,” was my response.

My favorite color.

 

 

Posted in rhode island | 8 Comments

ghosts of halloween(s) past

Posted on October 31, 2019 by is there any more pie?

First of all, let me shout out a “Happy Birthday” to my brother.  Yes, his birthday is on Halloween.   And yes, there was always a party before we went out trick-or-treating.

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Six months old with his first Halloween ahead of him.

He looks very dapper in that hat!

Check out E.T.

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1982. I made this incredibly intricate costume for my eldest son.

Last month I brought E.T. to Texas, just in case anyone there wanted it.  And because Banjo Man had declared he was not going to store it for another 30 years.  E.T. was so big he had his own suitcase.

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I was so proud of this creation, but over the years Will figured he was being tortured.  Gee, I wonder why!  Do you think he’s scarred for life?

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1987.  Will had graduated from ladybugs to ghouls.   And Nancy was some kind of pink fairy princess.

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1982:  Miss Piggy.

And then there’s 1985:

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I was a witch–my “go to” costume for decades–but I don’t know what Banjo Man was.  But his pants were pink-striped.

Don’t ask.

And here’s one more:

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1982, in Hope.  I still have the coffee table.  Notice that Will is holding on to his “tail” while Ben is choking him.

Happy Halloween, everyone.  I hope you enjoy the candy!

 

 

 

 

Posted in family, just for fun | 2 Comments

sitting pretty

Posted on October 30, 2019 by is there any more pie?

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This was Banjo Man’s office chair.  So embarrassing.  (And yes, that is a Nebraska Cornhuskers Barbie doll in the corner–a gift from my son during his first year at the University).

We went to Staples Monday, as Banjo Man thought I needed a new and comfy desk chair to help with my aches and pains.  I absolutely did not want to commit to a new chair, but I saw my opportunity to replace his.  There was a sale.  His heart beat faster.  He sat in every single chair–twice–before settling on a gray leather beauty.

After grumbling about the high cost of pens and Post It notes, he had a good time joking around with the young man who assembled the chair and helped him load it into the car.

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Who needs foam now?  No one!

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He looks quite pleased, doesn’t he?

 

 

 

 

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turner in mystic

Posted on October 28, 2019 by is there any more pie?
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J.M.W.  Turner watercolor

We went to the long-awaited Turner exhibit at the Mystic Seaport Museum last Saturday.  It was the most beautiful day of the fall.  Barbara and Rod went with us, as they too were anxious to see this Turner exhibit (the only showing in North America), thanks to the Tate Gallery in Britain sharing over 90 works of the famous artist.

I think we’ll go back and see it again before it leaves on February 28.  There was so much to take in and study.

We also strolled through the “village”, visited the whaling exhibition, stopped in to see the figurehead display and roamed a gift shop or two.

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Ship’s figurehead.  Not your typical bosomy woman holding flowers.

I took this to amuse Barb’s grown children.

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Barbara makes me laugh a lot.  Can you tell?

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It felt so good to sit down.

The next day it rained.  Oh, did it rain!  Loud and constant, the downpour made it easy to settle into my office and work on the quilt.  And rest a bit.  I’m afraid my new cancer-fighting medication might be dumping some painful side affects on my slowly-healing self.  My newest mantra is, “At least I’m alive.”

I repeat that to myself many, many times a day.  It’s so true!

More gratitude and less complaining is my goal for November.  

Posted in friends, rhode island, the cancer fight, travel | 3 Comments

making progress

Posted on October 26, 2019 by is there any more pie?

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Banjo Man said this quilt would be a “pleasant jolt” to our visitors.  I think that’s hilarious.  Maybe that describes more than a few of my wild quilts!

And here is a picture I took in front of a restaurant across the street from the Post Office.  If this doesn’t look like fall I don’t know what does.

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How did they lift that giant pumpkin on top of the table?

 

Posted in just for fun, quilting, rhode island | Leave a comment

the woodpecker war

Posted on October 25, 2019 by is there any more pie?

It’s that time of year again.  The woodpeckers arrive and attempt to drill holes in the cedar trim of our house.

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The noise is really something, so several times a day Banjo Man and I open the back door or front door and yell, “Hey!  Get out of here!”

It’s good we live in the woods and no one can hear us but the woodpeckers.  Not that they care, really.  We’ll get a couple of hours of peace and then the noise–both the woodpeckers and ours– begins again.

I’ve read that installing something shiny might help, but neither my husband or I will be getting on a ladder to staple aluminum foil 15 feet high.

So we yell.   And wait for winter.

 

 

Posted in rhode island | 1 Comment

happy birthday to will

Posted on October 24, 2019 by is there any more pie?
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Aboard the Captain Morgan in Mystic, CT last month.

I call this “Will’s running for President” photo!  Let’s hear the speech, Will.  We’re waiting!

He’d rather go fishing.

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I call this Will’s “Hippie Texan Goes Fishing” photo.

Happy Birthday to my sweet Son #2, who brightens our world in more ways than I can count.

 

Posted in family | 2 Comments

a rainy day project

Posted on October 23, 2019 by is there any more pie?

I made this quilt top–a spiderweb pattern from scraps–a few years ago during a mini-nervous breakdown while writing my last three novels (THE HUSBAND SCHOOL, etc.).  My whining was well-documented here on the blog.  Unfortunately.

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This sucker measures 77″ x 77″ and it’s going to go on a huge blank wall down in the basement entry, which is also going to be our exercise room.  Banjo Man and I have gotten rid of a lot of “stuff” these past few years in order to turn the room from a dark and cluttered storage space into an airy and pretty entry/exercise room complete with a painted floor, rug, heating and television.

I was thrilled when Banjo Man asked if I had a colorful quilt for the wall.  Do I have a colorful quilt?

Oh, my, yes I do!!  Take your pick!!!

So today I am going to attempt to machine-quilt it.  There are a lot of layers of fabrics to stitch through so I’m not sure my sewing machine can handle it, but I’m going to try because I have no idea what to do with it otherwise.  It has been pin-basted and ready to go since last winter.  So after another cup of coffee I’ll get all my compression gear on and limit myself to an hour at a time–this thing is heavy–so I don’t aggravate the lymphedema.  It’s a good project for a dark and rainy day.

My visits with my physical therapist and radiologist on Monday didn’t go as well as I thought they would.  I’m losing the battle with internal scarring–from both the surgery and the radiation–and have to add different exercises into my twice-daily routine.  I’d been diligent with stretching but it clearly wasn’t enough.

Janet–my cheerful, chatty, opinionated physical therapist–lectured me on expectations, mine and others.  She warned that people would look at me and think I was fine because I look healthy, but she pointed to my chest and said, “But there’s a lot going on in there and you can’t live up to other people’s expectations.  This is going to take a long time.”

It was a lot to take in.  Especially the “long time” part.  I want to be all better NOW.

So I was pretty dejected.  The radiologist wasn’t all that helpful either.  Banjo Man tried to cheer me up with a chicken dinner at Cracker Barrel on the way home, but that didn’t work.  He even tried pointing out sweaters in the gift shop that he thought I should buy.  I tried on a couple of furry vests so he wouldn’t worry about me, but they looked awful or weren’t the right size and then–thank God–we were on our way home.  I needed my couch, I needed a pain pill and I needed a box of tissues.

I am still feeling very sorry for myself, but I’m trying to keep busy.  Janet taught me how to start building up my stamina and I am now doing short amounts of brisk walking on the treadmill every day.  It feels good.

One step at a time, I guess.  

 

 

 

Posted in family, quilting, rhode island, the cancer fight | 1 Comment