Visit to the Cape

We just got back from a very wet visit to Cape Cod.  We went down to spend time with a friend before he moves.  And while we had hoped to do some ocean kayaking and some paddleboarding, the weather altered those plans.  We were grateful that we had about an hour in the morning before the rain began, since we hadn’t explored the Cape since moving here.  So we headed out to Chatham (pronounced: chat-um).  First stop was the beach!  It was gorgeous even with the cold winds whipping and the clouds from the incoming tropical depression hiding the sun.

Trying not to look as cold as we really were.

The lighthouse at the U.S. Coast Guard Station at Chatham.

Some of the other sites of Chatham…

Now that’s a tree!

Exploring a couple of the shops in the quaint downtown area.

Window boxes spilling over with flowers.

It’s lupine season in New England, and their spiky blooms can be seen everywhere.  They look so beautiful when mixed with white wildflowers, or in this case a background of crushed oyster shells, a traditional Cape landscaping material for walks and driveways.

The beautiful, weathered-shingle architecture of the Cape.

At this point, it began to rain and photography became tricky,and apparently people-less, as everyone just rushed from building to car and back again for the rest of the day.  So no pictures of the guys rock climbing at the climbing gym, or of us all standing under a shelter and eating ice cream, or getting a tour of the Coast Guard base, or having dinner at the British Beer Company.  I did quickly snap the following sights for you though:

The Cape’s airport, which has a grass runway.

Here’s the trade sign of an antique store that Colette and I visited.

The antique store’s garden was beautiful even in the rain.

I hope you've enjoyed your brief, wet tour of Cape Cod.

Mother's Day

I hope you all had a lovely Mother’s Day!  We did!  After church, we posed for a picture on the deck.  Then we had grilled burgers and potato salad for dinner.  And German Chocolate Cake Gelato for dessert!  Technohubby and I made phone calls to our own dear, sweet, much appreciated moms.  A fine day was had by all!

Among the Daffodils

Last week I ran into a friend who lives nearby, and she invited our family to come over and pick daffodils in her small apple orchard.  “Bring the kids.  Bring the grandkids.  Bring a camera,” she said.  No need to ask me twice!  She is one of the best gardeners in town (as well as one of the sweetest people) and her gardens are just gorgeous at every season of the year.  So, today Felicity, Theo, Melissa, and I headed over to pick some daffodils.

The little boy and the big red barn.

Looking up from the orchard at my friend’s house, which was built in the early 1800′s.

Sweetness everywhere!

Like a typical boy, Theo had minimal interest in the flowers, but loved the stick he found and went around whacking at things.

The first apple blossoms I’ve seen this season!

Felicity spotted a small snake and called Theo to see.  She touched it with Theo's stick and it slithered away.  Just a harmless garter snake.

Examining the many different varieties of daffodils.

We’re hoping to go back on Mother’s Day and take more pictures!

Cool Aunt Points

Yesterday, I earned myself some “cool aunt points” when my niece and nephew received these from me.

Did you know that you can mail almost anything?  As long as you can affix postage to it and address it, you can mail it!  So, I took two empty plastic soda bottles, cleaned them, dried them, filled them with goodies, taped them very securely with packaging tape, addressed them, and sent them off to a couple of cute kids.    Some of the contents included: packages of Jelly Bellys, an inflatable globe, headbands, a nose flute (yes, such a thing does exist!), an octopus leg finger puppet, bouncy balls, a set of jacks, glow sticks, and more!

Nantucket Homes

The homes on Nantucket are so unique.  They are historic.  They have charm or elegance.  They are family summer homes with names.  They have unique features.  Here’s a walking tour of the front doors of Nantucket.

I love to see what people name their homes and wonder how they came to settle on that particular name.

One of Nantucket’s more elegant inns is the Jared Coffin House, named for a prominent member of an old, Nantucket family.

I thought the "mailbox" at this home was quite unique.

It’s a very common sight to see beautiful sings painted with real gold.  This one bears the pineapple, the symbol of hospitality.

It’s fun to see the variety of door knockers on Nantucket.  In general, door knockers are much more common here in New England than in other parts of the country.  The style of this first one is what is known as a “classic New England door knocker”.

Many of the homes and inns on Nantucket are seasonal residences/businesses.  Most likely this is one, which had shutters over its front door, one blown open presumably by the storm with high winds that blew through a few days before we were there.  It has a great door knocker as well.

I love the varied styles of homes on the island.  Most are elegant or charming colonials, but there are some older, more rustic homes, and some Victorians as well.

An impressive entrance!

And last, but not least, is the entrance to the Atheneum, the public library on Nantucket.  It was standing on those steps, next to one of the tall, white columns, that I stood fifteen years ago and was just overwhelmed with a convicting feeling that I belonged in New England!  And here we are!  God is so graciously good!

Chipotle Night

Our family loves the food at Chipotle!  But every time I even buy a single burrito there, I have that sort of *ouch* feeling at the high price of the bill.  So when I found some Chipotle knock-off recipes online, I decided to give them a try.  Tonight we had a complete Chipotle knock-off meal!

We had Chipotle rice bowls (I know…they’re on a plate), and I set it up buffet style.  The buffet consisted of: Chipotle Copycat Cilantro-Lime Rice, Chipotle Copycat Barbacoa Beef, shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, Chipotle Copycat Corn Salsa, Chipotle Copycat Pico de Gallo, sour cream, my own salsa, Chipotle Copycat Guacamole, and tortilla chips.  Click on any of the above names to link you to the original source for the recipes, and you can have your own Chipotle meal!

By the way, I had actually made the Barbacoa Beef a week or more ago, and froze enough for this meal.  We agreed that it was even better from the freezer than it had been freshly cooked.  Win, win!

Celebrations

Hello.  The long-absent blogger has returned.  (I must confess that we are finished watching all of LOST, so that won’t be keeping me busy at nights anymore.)  We have also been extremely occupied with “celebration season” around here.  We have had a total of six special occasions at our house in the last two weeks.  We clean house, cook food, serve food, celebrate, and repeat.

The first celebration was Theo's 2nd birthday!  Felicity planned a really fun party (hosted at our house) with a Noah’s ark theme!  Colette made the cake, and all the animals came!

She planned a menu with foods in every color of the rainbow and animal crackers too.

Present opening fun with Aunt Colette!  She gave him an adorable red car.  Vroom, vroom!

A big two-year old!

The next celebration was our actual 25th wedding anniversary.  We celebrated at home as a family, and our kids cooked us a delicious dinner.

Next was the pre-Easter breakfast from my last posting.

Then there was Easter Sunday!  We used the antique lace tablecloth, the new Limoges(!), and even the antique crystal salt cellars and sterling pepper shakers.

Colette made Lemon-Raspberry Coconut Cake for dessert.  Yum!

Moving on to the next life celebration…Felicity’s birthday!  Sadly, the only picture I took of her all night was with her cell phone, so I don’t have it to share.  But she liked the pasta wrapping paper on her present, being a self-confessed “pastavore”.

And last night, we enjoyed having an overnight visit from some friends from California.

Pardon me while I collapse from fun!