Oct5

Still here

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It seems the days are blending into one another as they get shorter. I’ve been trying to walk every other day at the park, though I did walk around the yard 4 times on Saturday. I noticed a few more people with the same idea yesterday as I parked after I had a brush with a curve-in my beloved Ina! I am so mad at myself for trying to back up 75 feet or so when a flatbed was in the way to the parking area where I really wanted to go. I forgot it curved at the end, and up I went and scraped the side of the tire. Brian was 5 minutes away getting ads and stopped to look and said it looked okay. I of course, checked out the front door first thing this morning and she was okay. I am not use to the car yet and certainly not backing up. I feel dumb, but at least no paint scrapes.
I am going to go outside and put fairies and gnomes away today as it’s going to be nice in the 70s. Just have to get going now.
And because I like to share photos, a nice store window in Cape May, NJ:

You can see my mom and Brian in the reflection on the right side. I don’t know who those other people are. ; )

Oct1

Photo Hunt Yellow and Covered

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Brandywine heirloom yellow tomato
Very yummy Brandywine heirloom. There are also ‘pear’ tomatoes that are smaller.
We have wild vines all over our yard, but here’s a creeping vine at Longwood Gardens about to cover this structure.
Metal Structure covered with vines
Here’s one from my yard about to cover my bedroom shutter.
Vines reaching up to shutter
Update-This is called a Purple Hyacinth Bean vine and I bought it from an Amish lady in Lancaster, PA.

Sep27

Quaintness

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Steps of The Poor Richard Inn, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

I don’t remember ever being near the beach at this time of the year, so we got to see pumpkins, mums and other autumnal decor. This is the steps of the Poor Richard Inn where we stayed back in 1999.
CapeMay gingerbread trim
Gingerbread trim is so pretty!
Mandevilla on lamp post of Victorian home
The landscaping was gorgeous. Love the Mandevilla on this unique lamppost. This home was built in the 1880s!
Bunny gazing ball stand
You know I love gazing balls.
Neat pumpkin totems at the Virginia Hotel
These are clever decorations. As mentioned below, this is the door to The Virgina Hotel where my maternal grandparents honeymooned in 1921.
Grandparents 1921 honeymoon hotel receipt
Cute elf butterfly catcher at the Poor Richard Inn
Cute elf butterfly catcher
Arcade at Cape May
The arcade where we played games in the summer of 1967

Cape May, NJ beach
The sky was rather ominious!
Tour trolley
Cute tour trolley. Missed the horse drawn carriages.
The Empress
‘The Empress’ what an amazing ‘private home’! I couldn’t get it all in one photo!

The Empress was built with the purpose of opening as a bed and breakfast. And yes, it is as neat and mysterious inside as one would expect– not that we’ve seen it first hand (the owner is out of the country) but we’ve chatted with a couple of people who have been inside and have had a look at the original blueprints. It has eight guest rooms, each themed after a queen – hence the name, “The Empress.” Each guest room has its own luxurious bathroom, also themed with regard to European tiles and decor. At the ground level, blueprints show a spacious parlor with a fireplace, an adjacent living room, also with fireplace, a dining room and big gourmet kitchen.
From: Capemay.com

Gazebo and garden of 'The Empress' home
The garden of ‘The Empress’
I have to say I was so exhausted from having about 7 hours of sleep in 2 days. I had tossed and turned the night before going to the beach and that night, even though we turned the lights off at 12:30, the air conditioning, light peeking in through the slants in the blinds and my mom being noisy (when she takes out her hearing aides, she doesn’t know how loud she is). We had a little trouble finding Cape May (feel dumb-a few towns over) as the GPS wasn’t working that great.
Here are a few scenes from Ocean City, NJ
Ocean City 5&10
Not too many 5&10s around! It was a cute store with lots of marked down merchandise that mom enjoyed going through.
Consignment shop window in OC
Neat window of a consignment shop
Nice beach day in OC
Not too bad of a beach day
Where we ate breakfast with the gang
Where we met the gang for breakfast…mom bought ‘a baker’s dozen’ of their famous cinnamon donuts and they didn’t last long-only had two in three days. The car smelled so good.
For sale in Ocean City!
If I won the lottery!!
Me and Heather
My pal Heather and me. Many of the ladies came down together and hung out together, just like high school. I hung out mostly with Heather (she was solo) and Sue and her hubby.
And last but not least, our photo booth shots-so crazy!
Photo booth photos
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Sep26

The road home

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Reminds me of a song…, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

We thought the sky was so unusual last night, that I took a photo through the windshield while Bri was driving on the Atlantic City Expressway.
We were tired today, but it was nice to see some familar faces and places. I will get to a post maybe tomorrow about the trip.
We had the heater looked at again. Water is now coming in our chimney, so the repairman thinks. He pushed a button and it came back on again, but we need to get the chimney capped.
I am going to get my dishwasher looked at. I’ve been handwashing dishes (Bri helps) since March. I was just waiting to pay off my microwave and a warranty for the clothes washer. Wish appliances lasted longer than 5 yrs!

Sep26

My mom Jeanne in front of the Virginia Hotel

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This is a lovely hotel in Cape May, NJ that is close to 100 yrs old if it isn’t already. We decided to drive another 40+ miles (was further as we took a few wrong turns)to see this Victorian town. I wanted to share this first as this is the exact place where my mom’s parents, Ruth (age 18) and Alan (age 20) honeymooned back in 1921 after running off to get married in Elkton, Maryland (as they were under age in PA). I think they may have had a hard time in those first few years of marriage as they had to live with parents. My Uncle Don arrived on the scene a few years later and my mom seven years after him. My mom got a little filled up when we told her where she was standing. I guess we should have gone inside. Back in 1999, Brian, Sean and I did have lunch here when we stayed in Cape May for a few days.

Sep24

Hello old gang….

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Do you see me?

List of peeps:

Janet, Angel, Donna, Debi, Betsy, Woody (spouse to Donna), Tom, Bev K., Jim (his house), Ruth, Julie, Heather, Lisa, Ray(spouse to Janet), Dianne, Joe (spouse to Sue), Sue, Kim, Ann, Janice, Bob, Tom K, Bev W and Scott (reunion guy and ‘chef’)-not shown-Janet B., Sue W (diff. class), Barb D (diff. class), Michelle, Linda (Scott’s wife), Kelsey (Janice’s daughter) and of course Brian.

Brian took the photo!

We’re down in Ocean City for a get together with some pals from my high school. It’s the 3rd year and I wanted to come for a change. We had fun seeing everyone. One of our hosts, Jim has a place here and Scott did the cooking. We had clams on the half shell (I didn’t eat) and tuna and swordfish plus some nice salads, etc. I made cookies and brownies.

We got to see this-actually a full rainbow:

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My mom is with us and didn’t come to the party. Bri took her some food during the party (only 5 blocks away). We may go to Cape May, NJ tomorrow. : )

Sep23

Happy Birthday Mom!

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My mom Jeanne turn 81 years young today! Since I am her only daughter, I am happy to spend time with her when I can get down to her house.
I’m trying to think of something from the past to share-like when Sean was born, she came out and saw we needed groceries. I kind of wanted her to watch him more, so I could rest (had an 18 hour labor and ended up with a C-section). She decided to go to the store for me and was gone for a few hours. Then when she was here she cleaned like crazy. She did give Sean his first bath. : )
Mom just loves to go to souvenir shops on trips. She especially loves pens and bookmarks with the name of the place on them, which I try to pick up when I go places she doesn’t go to.
Hopefully she’ll be going to the beach with us. I am also hoping Sean goes to so she isn’t stranded in the motel room while we are at my high school get together. I figure after a few hours, we’ll be ready to split and go a few miles to the casinos. ; )

Sep23

Homemade crockpot cheesy potato soup

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I literally yanked out the crockpot and tossed about four ingredients in to start with. Mind you, many were not the correct ingredients. I ‘should have’ used southern style cubed hash browns and I bought shredded ones. Also used veggie broth instead of chicken, but tossed a packet of chicken broth into it. I also added a touch of dill, garlic salt and parsley. It’s nice to have your dinner almost ready at 5 pm. I then whipped together the flour, milk and shredded cheese and stirred that in. I had a package for cornmeal and made that quickly. It was about a $7 meal! I’ve been challenging myself that way with the tight economy.