Laughter is definitely the best medicine

 Ok, not to make light of a sad situation, but since it’s me that had the sad situation… it’s OK to laugh now, isn’t it?  Cause this is actually funny…and I give you permission.

Today I was at work and I got a text from my friend saying she was going to the vet (my vet) with her injured dog.  SO…. I had a favor to ask…. read on in the link below.

http://catchjoyasitfliesby.blogspot.com/2010/08/it-never-ceases-to-amaze-me-how-one.html

This is me and one of my best buds, Joey. (the one in the above-linked post)  Let me tell you a story about the photo below.

   A long time ago in a far away land  (ok, this same small town, but whatever)  there were two women who’s paths never crossed.  They never crossed because… she was the ex of the new boyfriend I had when I moved to this small town.  And even though I had nothing to do with their break-up, I was still  the next one.  And, you know.. that’s kinda awkward.  Especially awkward for me because I was the new kid in this one-horse town, and they had been a couple for many years.    SO… I was alittle intimidated by her and made SURE we never crossed paths.  It didn’t help that he never got over her.

    Years went by and the guy and I inevitably broke up, a very good thing because it wasn’t a good thing. I met my husband and Joey met hers and we are still married to those men today.

      Bear with me here…

     From time to time I would see her… in the grocery store, in the hardware store… we had babies on our hips or groceries in our arms…and she’d glance my way but then turn away quickly.  A SNUB!   She hated me, Good God, she did.  But didn’t she know I didn’t even KNOW her ex when they had their great fall?            So I avoided her more.

      More years… more avoidance… and then… The CALL.  I was editor of a local publication.. and she had a business she wanted to advertise.  She called to place an ad.   GASP.   I called her back…..
     
     We got to talking,   because we had to,   you know….. and … I asked her if she knew who I was.  She said she thought so, but didn’t know that she had ever SEEN me.   We thought we’de meet at the Town picnic coming up and so we did….  Sure enough, she had no idea who I was… and that really makes perfect sense.   The reason I knew HER… was because he still had pictures of her plastered here and there when I arrived.    And truth be told?  She could have given two __________  because she was so happy to be free of that relationship. 
       
        We are now great friends with so much in common. The above picture was taken in Newport.   There were three of us girls on that trip. We rented a room on Bannister’s Wharf so that we could spend a full two days there shopping and browsing and eating.  Missy took one bed and Joey and I shared the other.  As we turned in for the night thoroughly exhausted ,  we turned out the lights…..and I said… “If you had told me 15 years ago I’de be sharing a hotel bed with Joey, I’de sooner believe Brad Pitt.”  

   To highlight the irony further, in this picture I am wearing a pair of Joey’s jeans, because I didn’t bring long pants and it was cold down by the docks. They fit me perfectly.  I still have them,  and I call them my Joey Jeans.        Who woulda thought.
   
       
  

Before and After – Upstairs bedroom No. 1

 We started with this… both the upstairs front bedrooms originally had fireplaces. Two kids – not happen’n.
and this bathroom used to be where the front hallway is now restored.
So this….
is now this.
Old wallpaper.. it was actually quite pretty at one time..
Yellow is her favorite color…
She actually keeps her room this organized, always.  When I was her age, well…no need to go there.
She makes me proud.
 

                                                                  Ben is not impressed.

  Totally unrelated, if you’re looking for a great and easy summer recipe to use up those excess tomatoes from the garden, my friend Joey just posted two easy and delicious recipes… see for yourself at
Catch Joy As It Flies By.     I’m drooling over here!…..

You have to wonder….

 What the hell are they thinking?!

PORTIMAO, Portugal (AP)

A 14-year-old Dutch sailor departed in secrecy from Portugal Saturday on her quest to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world, avoiding the media because her manager said she didn’t want the attention.

Laura Dekker said goodbye to her father and friends at an undisclosed Portuguese port enroute to Spain’s Canary Islands or Portugal’s Madeira Island despite almost windless conditions in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Portugal, according to manager Peter Klarenbeek.

Klarenbeek said the girl was in good spirits as she started sailing her 38-foot ship “Guppy” on a trip expected to last a year or more. The attempt has been criticized by Dutch child protection authorities who questioned the wisdom of a child risking the world’s oceans alone.

“She said goodbye to her father and friends and she sailed away into the horizon,” Holland’s MasMedia company, which has exclusive TV rights to film her voyage, said in a statement.

Laura had been scheduled to depart from Portimao, and photographers and television crews from around the world were at the resort in southwestern Portugal but ended up with no images of the departure. MasMedia is documenting the trip with remote cameras mounted on Laura’s yacht and offered to sell the footage to anyone who is interested starting on Sunday.
A Dutch court last month released Laura from the guardianship of Dutch child protection agencies who had tried to block her voyage because of fears about her safety and psychological health.
 Masmedia’s director, defended the girl’s push to sail around the world, saying Laura is mature for her age and has proven that she can sail her yacht without help from anyone else after passing a maritime exam in the Netherlands for a vessel of her boat’s size.

She also insisted that Laura is uniquely qualified for the ambitious sea venture because she grew up with her father on a boat, and “is completely different from a normal 14-year-old girl.” Schaaphok said.

“She’s very wise and a little bit impatient, but she’s a very nice girl and she knows exactly what she wants,” Schaaphok said.

Laura’s first port of call will be picked based on wind conditions, and her departure came after she took numerous steps to reduce objections to the voyage =- including the purchase of a bigger, sturdier boat than the one she originally planned to use, and courses in first aid and coping with sleep deprivation.

She also used as evidence her successful solo trip across the North Sea to England.
In the end, the Dutch court ruled that her preparations were adequate and it was up to her divorced parents to decide whether to let her make the attempt.

The trip comes just two months after American Abby Sunderland, age 16, had to be rescued in a remote section of the Indian Ocean during an attempt to circle the globe. Earlier this year, Australian Jessica Watson, completed a 210-day voyage at age 16.

But while Watson remained at sea nonstop, Laura plans to stop at dozens of ports and may even return home to catch up on her studies before resuming her trip.

If Laura completes the voyage, any record she claims would be unofficial and likely to be challenged. The Guinness’ World Records and the World Sailing Speed Record Council have decided they will no longer recognize records for “youngest” sailors to avoid encouraging dangerous attempts.

 I applaud the Council for no longer recognizing “youngest” records. 

Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty?

       Friday the 13th waited a day to throw a wrench or two in my direction, and the karma hung on for a few more.  Funny how life does that, regardless of the date.   Just when you think you’ve got things under control and all is atleast OK with your world… the universe reminds you not to get too comfortable.

       This I know for sure… I ‘de like to be a person who sees the glass half full. I want to fully appreciate all that is good, and I have much to be grateful for.  I need to stop dwelling on and truly accept the things I can’t change and do what is necessary to take care of the things I can.   Life is hard, but it’s also a glorious opportunity. One of my greatest fears is that I’ll waste it.

 Wonderful words of wisdom  below that I found this morning…

 “You can live in a world of happiness and light or one of sorrow and darkness. Both worlds exist around you all the time. It is what you choose to see and give a voice to that will be your experience. The bad stuff will still be there, but you can at least give the good a nod of recognition. Focus on what brings you joy and peace. It may grow before your eyes.


Bloom where you are planted. Stop waiting for things to improve and find a way to hang curtains in the cottage where you live. Let in some light and air. Clean out the dust and gloom. Enjoy being alive. It is a marvelous thing to live. An endless sea of possibilities is open before you.”

 

Enter Mancave at your own risk

Because it’s sacred ground….  apparently.  Worshipped here are the Gods of the Cowboys, Patriots and the Yankees.  Women and small children generally not allowed, no unnecessary roughness, nail polish or idle chatter.  Exceptions are made for those serving beverages and pigs-in-a- blanket.  Oddly… pole dancing is not prohibited.

 The Mancave is located under the pool table/bar in the loft, and behind the family room fireplace, with a fireplace of it’s own.  As you walk in the side entrance to the house, there is a hallway that leads from the mudroom and downstairs bath to the kitchen on left, mancave and family room on right.  The built-in bookcases are along the wall behind the mancave and running into the family room.

Once upon a time, we went to Disney!  And we fell in love with  rhino and elephant carvings ($800.!??!) at Animal Kingdom.  We had them shipped home, because they were too large to take on the plane.  When they arrived, they were SPLIT… right down the centers of their bodies.  To Disney’s credit they reimbursed us once we shipped them back.  I found this guy months later for $25.  Thankfully sometimes you do get a do-over.
These bookcases line the back wall of the mancave, which is really the hallway into the family room.
My favorite Ikea pillows..they take a beating and wash well.
This chair was in the Staten Island apartment of an ecentric Aunt.  In  her eighties she dressed to the nines, usually played nine holes of golf on weekends, and traveled to the city in heels and furs! ..but no one had been in her apartment since her husband passed away.  She never cooked, NEVER CLEANED.. but kept a neat apartment. She didn’t use a vacuum cleaner for fear of sucking up what was left of the carpet. There was literally a trail from the door past the kitchen into the bedrooms..a trail where traffic blew the dust and shredding carpet to the side. The ceiling in the kitchen had water damage from the apartment above, and buckled to within inches of the top of the refrigerator. 
When she passed away, family entered the apartment and were aghast at the findings.  There were, however, beautiful antiques. This chair was among them. She embroidered the seat herself. 
The CHAIR.
 And that’s all I’m gonna say about THAT.

Shark Week

  It’s here again… and is it me or does Shark Week seem to be growing.. to like, a month long festival..just to torment me.

   My fear was first ignited with the  1975 movie  JAWS.. which was hideously irresistable to my friends and I  in the midst of our glorious adolescense.   (Sort of like The Exorcist, but we won’t even go there…)     Back in the day, the book was considered risque due to the skinny dip scene and the resulting ravaged and naked torso of the unfortunate young woman who’s hand was found sticking up out of the sand in the opening scenes. 

The  three mechanical sharks used in the first  Jaws movie were named Bruce
… after Steven Speilberg’s lawyer.   It never occurred to me while I watched that movie again and again…that the shark was fake.  
My family and I vacation on Martha’s Vineyard when we can get there, and every time we visit, we stop at the Shark bridge and watch the young people jump off into the cool blue waters.  I’m a swimmer. I’de like to do this myself!… but.. I.. just..can’t.  It’s where the film was shot, you know.  Bruce might still come for revenge..they didn’t kill him in one, two or three…and I didn’t have the guts to see four.

 Some things you may not know about Sharks:

* They’ve been around for about 400 million years – long before dinosaurs even existed.”
I can appreciate their resilience, really!.. but I think I’d rather live with dinosaurs.  At least we know how to wipe them out.  Just sayin.

“Sharks have the most powerful jaws on the planet.”
Wonderful.

“Sharks never run out of teeth – when one is lost another spins forward from the rows of backup teeth.”
I think Newt Gingrich has the same affliction.

“A shark may use over 20,000 teeth during its life.”
On unsuspecting surfers, divers, small boat operators,  swimmers and those poor harbor seals, I’m sure.

Now, what got me going on this tangent, you might ask?  

THIS VIDEO.. of a crazy surfer dude who decided to go back out after he had already escaped the damn things… and film them. Alone.   If I were there at that moment, I’de die of an instant panic attack, an easy lunch for Bruce.

Check out this great MSN Video: Surfer Encounters Sharks

THIS JUST IN:  Mark of  Marks Rants and Raves   gave me this little bit of pertinent information:

“Falling coconuts kill 150 people worldwide each year, 15 times the number of fatalities attributable to sharks,” said George Burgess, Director of the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File and a noted shark researcher.   “The reality is that, on the list of potential dangers encountered in aquatic recreation, sharks are right at the bottom of the list. ”

So..while you THINK you’re safe under the palm trees in your comfy beach chair, far from the terrors of the Great White Grip… there just might be a killer coconut dangling overhead….

I’ll take my chances with the nut, thank you.

Watermelon Limeade

    It’s true…I’m going alittle nutz with watermelon recipes. I think it has something to do with the fact that I have ACTUALLY GROWN A FEW MELONS this year, people. You have no idea what an accomplishment this is.  (although I’m not even sure they’re edible yet).     I’ve got houseplants, we have a vegetable garden, I’ve been taking care of  many creatures great and small for all of my years… but ask me how to grow a successful watermelon patch… and you might get a blank stare.. or maybe a diversion tactic… because for some ungodly reason… I SUCK when it comes to growing melons. 

 However… this year.. those vines are taking over the garden, and there are atleast six or seven melons that look like they stand a chance of making it to the table.  And this is happening in a thrown-together-last-minute-unfortified soil- because we’re impatient-   kind of garden.  Go figure.

 Here’s an easy summer drink for the whole family courtesy of Rachel Ray. 

Photo courtesy Google

Watermelon Limeade

1 seedless watermelon (about 6 pounds), cut into chunks

3/4 cup lime juice (10 to 12 limes), plus lime slices for garnish

2 to 4 tablespoons sugar

(1/2 cup of Vodka for those of you who want to add a twist)

Ice

Mint sprigs, for garnish

Directions:

1.Using a blender, working in batches, puree the watermelon with the lime juice.

2.Pour the watermelon puree into a large pitcher, add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Dilute with water if desired.  Serve over ice and garnish with lime slices and mint sprigs

Got Basil?

I love basil,especially when used to make Pesto. This is a great summer dinner recipe, enough to serve four as a main meal , and eight to ten as a side dish you can bring to picnics.  It’s always a hit and it’s good for you.

Summer Pasta Salad with Pesto Vinaigrette

————————————————————————–

For the Vinaigrette

1-1/2 cups lightly packed fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup fresh, finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano

3 Tbs. red- or white-wine vinegar

2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

2 tsp. finely chopped garlic

1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

3/4 tsp. kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

For the Salad

kosher salt

3/4 lb. green beans or wax beans (or a mix), trimmed and cut into 2-inch lengths

1 cup fresh or frozen peas

1/2 lb. dried campanelle, cavatappi, or other short, chunky pasta shape

1 Tbs. olive oil

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

3 Tbs. pine nuts, toasted

Freshly ground pepper

Make the vinaigrette:

Put the basil, olive oil, Parmigiano, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, and lemon zest in a blender. Blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste

Make the salad:

Put 4 to 6 quarts of salted water in a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat.

Drop the green beans and/or wax beans into the boiling water and cook until the beans are just crisp-tender, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the beans from the water with a slotted spoon, and transfer to a baking sheet lined with paper towels to drain and cool. Drop the peas in the water and cook until just tender, about 2 to 3 minutes for fresh peas (frozen peas only need a minute or so to thaw them). Remove the peas from the water with a slotted spoon and transfer to the paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain. Gently blot the peas and beans dry.

Return the water to a boil and add the pasta. Cook just until al dente, following package instructions. Drain the pasta thoroughly by shaking it in a colander and immediately pouring it out onto a rimmed baking sheet. Toss the pasta with the olive oil to prevent sticking.

Transfer the cooled pasta to a large serving bowl. Add the beans, peas, and cherry tomatoes and toss. Add just enough vinaigrette to moisten the pasta, taking care not to overdress it (you may not need it all). Add the pine nuts and toss again. Let the salad rest for 10 to 15 minutes to allow the flavors to meld and then taste the salad again. If necessary, add a little viniagrette and salt and pepper. Serve as soon as possible.

Before and After – Front Door, Hall & Stairway

   Originally the house had a center hall staircase with three surrounding fireplaces, the rear being the “keeping room”.  If you are facing the stairs, which are immediately inside the front door, to the right was the dining room and the left was a study.  About 50 years ago the owner of This Old House ripped out the stairs and installed a micro-mini bathroom in it’s place.   There was a narrow stairway up to the second floor dividing the kitchen cooking area from the rest of the keeping room. We took that out and put the kitchen island there instead.  Jeff and Mike came up with a plan to restore the old staircase design in the front hall and re-open the keeping room area.

Before – I loved this door, but sadly the wood was too rotted and not salvageable.

After… I love bullseye glass and it used to be very popular , fitting the time period of the house. They are a treasured antique now, but were once considered scrap.

  ” Until modern techniques were developed, one way of making window glass was to spin a blob of molten glass at the end of a tool called a pontil. Centrifugal force flattened the glass into a sheet, and when the tool was pulled away it left a characteristic bull’s eye mark.  The relatively flat glass on the perimeter of this glass pancake was carefully cut into pieces and sold to the high-brows who could actually afford windows.  What was left, the stuff with the bull’s eyes, went into lesser locations, like barns and sheds. “

Once inside the door… before the re-do, it looked like this…
 In this picture you can see the hallway to the left with the mirrored bathroom door open.
(Now the refurbished staircase)
Now that the frame has been put back up and center chimney installed, Mike, Dominic (electrician) and Jeff (old home restoration expert) discuss logistics for refurbishing original style staircase…
That’s my office to the left..notice Ben’s “baby gate”.
Upstairs hall..kid’s door entryways on either side…
looking down…
We used old hardware when possible, this on the cellar door just beneath the stairs…my favorite. How many hands gripped the handle, thumbs in the imprint there to open that door over the past 200 years..
These are my $5. fleamarket pillows, a small red and white check.

Fair Day

 Our first annual Artisan Fair was a success!  Beautiful weather,  ( a few Hail Marys and an Amen) and beautiful crafts from about 20 artisans. For those of you who are local and came down to support us, thank you so much, the best part of the day was getting to chat it up with friends and neighbors.  Our Artisan Gallery is a year and a half old now, and we’re still flying by the seat of our pants, but enjoying the process and learning as we go.  Some of my blog readers are frequent customers and they always support our events. I’de like you to  know how much that’s appreciated.

Below are some pictures of a great day – We plan on doubling the effort next year.

If you don’t have a Corn Bag, you really oughta get one… you throw them in the microwave for two minutes and have a great heat wrap for whatever your achy needs…. My friend Joey let us all in on this phenom..
Here she is talking to the Corn Bag makers.
 Odonata Seaglass Jewelry and designs… one of our most popular artisans…
Aritsan Maryanne D. makes these beautiful glass “Izzy Beads” which are compatable with Pandora, Camilia and Troll. They are a big hit in the gallery, as is Maryanne.
She’s a wonderful person…and NOT a RedSox fan.. YAY Maryanne!!
Pink Tulips handmade purses…
We had a rock’n organic lemonade stand….
By far, the best part of the day for me was to see the very happy faces of Joey, her son, and their new adopted family member, Daisy.  They had just come home from an adoption event in Canaan, CT. Daisy is a beagle-rat terrier mix from Georgia who was just days away from euthanasia.
The organization that rescued her was Companion Rescue…
http://www.companionpetrescue.com/
YAY JOEY!!!!!!