Tuesdays With Tag - Perhaps A Ball Boy...

Brynwood's Taggart At The Court

 

Hi, Everybody!

 

I promised to tell you this week about an entrepreneurial idea I have. I'm thinkin' about workin' at the local tennis court. I could be a ball boy for all the tennis players who live in this subdivision.

 

It's Not That Big Out There!

I mean...look, it's not that big out there, and I'm pretty fast. I can zoom across the court to get the balls the players miss and take 'em over to a bucket on the sidelines. 

 

"Sheee?"

See? I've got game! Can't you just imagine me, runnin' like the wind, catchin' balls, left and right? I'd be savin' all those old folks the "bendin' over" part. ("What, Mom? Ooops. Sorry.") Never mind about that last part. Anyway, I can retrieve all those stray balls for them, and then they can pay me for my services at the end of each session. 

I haven't decided if I should ask for snacks or money. Mom says if they pay me in money, I can buy my own treats. That makes sense, right? Then, she told me I could pay rent, too. Um...since when is this a thing?

On further consideration, I might just sit and watch on the sidelines for a while and think on this. I mean, I'm only gonna be here for a little while longer anyway. I might be better off just workin' on my tan.

 

 I'll see you again in seven, 'til then...

"Live Like Someone Left The Gate Open".

 

The Ties That Bind...

Paneras Girlfriends (l-r: Norma, me, Terry and Alice. Missing, Kathy)

 

It was like old home week last night. I drove down to Port Charlotte to see my friends from our Fiber Divas group at Paneras. Kathy was also there, but left before we got to picture taking. (We'll be sure to get another shot of the group when I return in two weeks.)

 

We had so much fun visiting. It's been two years since I've seen them, and the group has changed a lot in that time. Dear Adele and Helen passed away before I left. Tammy, our founder, moved to Virginia. Ellen moved to Maryland. Margaret doesn't "snowbird" from Canada anymore. Beulah is over one hundred years old, but no one knows where she is. Doris is in assisted living in Venice, and Krisann moved back to Massachusetts to be near family, as did I. The only members of our core group who still meet are Kathy, Norma, Terry and Alice. We spent the evening remembering the days when we were all together, and the shared interests and stories that bound us together all these years.

Last night, a new lady, Eileen, joined us to learn how to knit. Kathy was sitting with her and had her knitting away by the end of the night. That's what we used to do together, and how our group grew to nearly two dozen members (during "season") on any given Tuesday. We would share our love of knitting and crochet with anyone who wanted to learn. I know they'll continue to do that, even as our little group changes.

I'm looking forward to seeing them again before we go back home, but this was a nice reminder of the dear friends we left behind, and what I loved about living here in Florida. It was really nice.

A Cottage On Nantucket...

I just had to share a few images of the beautiful cottage we stayed in while we were on Nantucket. My brother-in-law and his new wife had contacted all of their friends, who graciously opened up their homes and guest cottages (free of charge) to all of us coming to the island for the wedding.

Don't you just love the little stone birdbath tucked under one of the trees in the garden? I think I might try to find something like this for our yard at home. I really liked it.
Our cottage is owned by another artist on the island and is located behind the owner's home. It's set on a little hill behind the main house's backyard, and has a lovely little stone path leading to its front door.
This is a view across the front yard of the cottage...featuring a checkerboard patio with the perfect spot to sit and enjoy a morning cup of coffee.Don't you love the lichen and age on the bench under the pergola? I don't think I'd sit there, but it was lovely to look at.
This is the view of the owner's home from the front door of the cottage. It's quite a large house, and typical of Nantucket homes, is directly on the street with no front yard. There is only a narrow brick sidewalk and a granite curb between the house and the actual roadway.And this is the sweet garden growing in the yard between the house and the cottage. You can just catch a glimpse of the gate which leads to the street from the upper yard and guest house.
When we opened the front door, this was what greeted us. A warm, friendly and thoroughly quaint interior. Hardwood floors, and all the amenities one would want in a full-time home, let alone a guest cottage! Behind those wooden doors at the end of the dining room is a laundry room, and just look at the old cabinet on the left that was built into the wall for storage!
Wicker furniture and a day bed cum sofa all sitting on a gorgeous, old rug make for a comfortable place to sit and visit, or read a book. We did both! Just behind the little blue bench is the staircase leading to the bath and two bedrooms. There was easily sleeping space for six upstairs, with a twin trundle bed and two queen size beds...all spindle beds and veeerryy nice for sleeping.

We couldn't have asked for a more restful and commodious place to stay while on the island. I hope you enjoyed seeing just a bit of what we were able to enjoy while we were there.

Dinny - if you read this post, Thanks again for your generosity and hospitality. Words cannot express our gratitude for you opening your home and cottage to us for the time we were visiting.

Project Inspiration...

We've been home only three days,
and we're sure missing these sweet faces!

Today, I want to share one of my past projects with you.

I've done the photos as a mosaic to take up less space here,
but you can click on the photo collage to go to my Flickr album for larger images.

Handsome, Kes and I had taken a car trip spanning about 5,000 miles.

We started from home, and headed to the Natchez Trace Parkway (a place we'd been wanting to visit), as we made our way toward our kids and a summer vacation in Wisconsin. After a nice long visit, we took a ferry boat ride across Lake Michigan and then drove to Hiannis, MA for a ferry boat ride to Nantucket, MA to spend some quality time with Handsome's brother. After a week in Nantucket, we got back on the boat to "go back to America", and then drove the East Coast back into Florida and home. It was a great trip, to be sure.

This project involved a pictorial record of our trip for our grandson, who was then five years old. My goal was to create a visual record of where we went and the route we traveled as a teaching tool for him. I've captioned the individual images in the Flickr album so you can see how I created the cards.

Apparently, this project was quite a hit with Grandson, because not only did a five-year old boy not destroy this gift, he still has it in original condition over three years later! Nothing like a child to inspire a creative project. (Wait, don't they always inspire creativity? Yup, I thought so!)

Beautiful Faces...

Faces from our Wisconsin trip. Faces we love. Faces we'll be missing. Faces we hope to see again very soon. Not all of the faces from our trip are seen here. Busy schedules. Visits without my trusty camera. Loved and missed all the same. Cherished images of those faces burned in my mind. Beautiful faces.

A Cottage On The Lake...

We drove to Door County on Sunday just to spend two days with dear friends in Baileys Harbor. Kes made immediate and fast friends with their yellow lab, Josie, and the girls played the whole time we were there. Needless to say, Kessie, being about nine years older than Josie, is catching up on her beauty sleep now that we're back to "home base" from our jaunt.

Sunday was perfect. My friend, Pat and I managed to sneak away for a couple of hours to go to a few antique shops. They're especially beautiful in Door County, as the proprieters like to travel to Europe in search of special finds. I managed to locate and even purchase a few!

After dinner, all of us went to a great outdoor concert to see a group called Harmonious Wail. The group performs what they call gypsy jazz, "sublimely sung". All I know is that they were great fun and very musical. I'm so glad we were able to go. Check out their website later. You can listen to their music there and get a feel for our evening's entertainment.

Monday, Handsome and George left the house at about five in the morning to take the boat out for a few hours of fishing. After we girls got up at a more respectable hour, we drank coffee and caught up on our family news - having been a while since we'd seen each other.

When the guys got back, we all went to breakfast to the White Gull Inn in Fish Creek on the other side of the peninsula. We also went to a few quaint shops, including one in a big, beautiful refurbished barn! I was so proud of myself that I looked and looked, but didn't buy a single thing. Handsome was equally proud, as I was giving my credit card a rest from the previous day's shopping. We also went to Fine Line Design Gallery to see our daughter-in-law, Jessica's exhibit of watercolors. They were all so beautiful!

We went back to George and Pat's on Moonlight Bay, where they tried to convince us of our need to buy a cottage close by so that our families could spend more time together. Time seemed to fly and before we knew it, we had to reluctantly say our goodbyes.

All the way home we talked about great times with dear friends, and finding a perfect waterside property in Door County. For the foreseeable future we'll be dreaming of summers on the peninsula - our families joining us for long weekends, picnics and boat rides - in one of our favorite places...Door County...in a little cottage on the lake. sigh (Cue the Beach Boys..."Wouldn't It Be Nice?")

Green Lake, Wisconsin...

The year was 1981. This is a photograph of our boys and our two nephews. The four of them were happy to pose for Handsome's camera on our boat. It was a wonderful summer vacation spent together at the family cottage on Green Lake in Wisconsin. Their eyes still sparkle when they remember summers spent at their Grandma Ev and Grandpa Gurn's home on the lake.

Our nephews and their wives and kids now live on the East coast (New Jersey), while our boys still live in Wisconsin with their families.

This week, our elder nephew and his wife (along with their two daughters) have traveled to Wisconsin to share a week at a rental on Green Lake with our two sons, their wives and their children.

Unfortunately, months of planning couldn't find a free week that younger nephew and his wife (and two sons) could join the group. The original plan was to recreate this photo with all the boys - twenty eight years older. Our younger son is the owner of our boat now, so even though the mahogany is in storage, had our nephew been there, they would have been able to closely recreate the image. It would have been fun.

Instead, they are going to pose our grandson, surrounded by little girls, minus two cousins. It's the best they can do this time, but the dream to recapture that image with the original Fab Four will go on until it's accomplished. Perhaps next year.

We can't wait to hear their new stories of days and nights spent on Green Lake. Grandma Ev and Grandpa Gurn are, sadly, long gone, but they would love to know that the memories they helped create for our kids are coming to life again this week.