This was sort of a toughie for me. I thought ‘cross’ as being symbolic for Christians. I was going through my Flickr shots and found this of a little lawn decoration which is now broken and thrown away. I am so glad I took a photo of it! I thought the ‘Song of Solomon’ verse was lovely.
This is a scary, bustling time here. Definitely the calm before the storm. Today I was moving plants and stacking chairs up. I filled both watering cans, a metal bucket and the garden cart with water. When you have a well, when the power goes out, so does the ability to flush a toilet. We learned the hard way back in 1998 when we didn’t have power for 3-4 days. Brian was getting water from the stream out back to use. Not a pleasant experience. I am making ice, but bought a bag for the big cooler. I did get to the store. We have several groceries stores within a 5 mile radius, so I chose one outside of Kennett and it wasn’t bad at all. It’s funny what people buy when they think they will be stuck inside. Other than water, lots of canned nuts were gone. Not a lot of meat was purchased. Like me, they are worried about wasting money on food that may spoil. I bought tuna, soup, crackers, pudding, celery, and other things that may be easy to eat. I figure we could do soup on the grill. I’ll have to be really hungry to eat it that way though. ; ) I cooked half a dozen hard-boiled eggs and also some bacon. I boiled up some pasta. I think we will be okay, much more prepared than all those years ago. We have lots of bottled drinking water. I’m more worried about my two large windows. I told Brian we need to make sure there isn’t any metal that will be flying around the yard. Of course another thing is 6-10 inches of expected rain that may have no where to go. We just had a lot of rain yesterday. Last year we had an issue with water pouring out of where the hole in the wall is for the well, not fun. I was thinking if we used the big funnel (we have) at the end of a hose and had the other end in the big sink in the basement, that may work or help. We have a few things to figure out, but I am worried about all the stuff in that basement. I’ve been wanting help to clean it out for years, we do a piddly clean up and stop. I do have a terrible dust allergy and I got pneumonia after putting Christmas stuff away last year. Not sure if that’s a connection, but it could be. It’s been smelling musty, so I put on the portable fan and spray Lysol aroun. If you don’t hear from me for a while, you know we lost power. I will try to ‘tweet’ until the phone battery goes (I’d have to charge it up again in the car) which shows up in the left side bar. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as I will you who may be affected by this monster storm.
Us in the audience!, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.
Sean and I did get down to see the taping of a local Philly chat show. It was lots of fun to be part of the audience. We got up at 6:30 am, left at 7:50 am and got there at 9:20 a.m.-that was close! We were some of the last people to check in, but we got to sit in the second row behind women and their kids who won a Phillies photo contest. They had added that stip on to their Facebook page and I do have some good photos of us at that smoldering game last year and Sean standing in the parking lot of the stadium. Sean tries to go to a game a year with his dad, but couldn’t afford it this year as he purchased the car. So this was a fun thing to do and he got to see the ace pitcher Cliff Lee.
I photographed these off the tv when we got home as they re-broadcast the show at 5 pm.
Who we came to see: Cliff Lee
Author and cook Cynthia Goch was on and made a few dishes-one of which was Eggplant Pizza. Here’s the recipe:
Me outside the studio with our goodies-a towel, a photo and a Chester County Women’s booklet (Sean gave his to my mom).
This will mark a first in our lives. Close to 2 pm, e.s.t. a 5.9 earthquake shook a wide area on the east coast up to Maine or even Canada. It originated in Louisa, Virginia.
Sean and I were standing near the dining room table and the china closet and chandelier started to rattle. Brian was home for lunch and sitting in the lounge chair and he felt it moving! It may have lasted up to 30 seconds. I thought a tree had fallen down out back! I called the neighbor and she felt it too. All we had to do was turn on the tv and we saw how widepread it was then!
We were on our way out to West Chester U. where Sean needed to get his I.D. before his classes start next week. We sat for a while, called the college and they said things were calmed down. We did decide to ‘roll’ there and Sean got his I.D. and we walked around the campus which brought back memories for me as I went there back in 1981-1982! : ) We then went by my late Uncle Don’s house which was sold a few weeks ago. There’s a dumpster in the driveway and many bushes have been trimmed. I helped clean up his yard (with either Brian or Sean) a few times. It made us feel bad, but life does go on.
We also got a little shopping in. I saw a PT Cruiser just like mine-same gold, but very customized with lots of chrome. I did take a photo. This is only the second gold one I’ve seen since I bought mine. They are certainly loved and enjoyed.
So things are good, I thank goodness the tremor wasn’t stronger. What an experience.
Well how could I not talk more about Chincoteague Island, VA? It’s a quaint little town that I’ve (well all of us) have never seen before.
I’ve always been curious about the wild ponies and I shared one of the photos of a herd we saw on the way to the beach. But we got to get up close and personal to a group of horses near the hotel that ranged in age from foal to 30! The sign said they were for sale. The tourists could buy them treats of alfalfa pellets and corn and put it in a few feeding boxes. The horses loved that! The little ones even started to fall asleep with their heads in the boxes.
One of the old mares had lost an eye this past winter. We felt so sorry for him, but he still begged for food. I think he’s in the back.
Their backs are really sunk in!
We thought this group of Mallards were comical. They apparently hang out near the horses and get the tiny pieces of treats. They were laying here resting with their headed tucked under their wings-well of course I stirred them up when I came to take their photo!
This seagull was hanging around the sliding doors of our room. Since he was so persistent, I tossed him out a Pepperidge Farm goldfish.
When he didn’t get anymore, he walked away in defeat:
We checked out and headed to the Museum of Chincoteague which just opened in April of this year. That was an interesting place! I would have loved to have some of the photos for collage. We participated in a scavenger hut to be entered in a drawing. This was a fabulous idea because we really looked at all the exhibits many times. We also got help from other guests.
These were probably the first taxidermy ponies I’ve seen (but have seen other animals in other museums). It was a bit weird to see Misty, the pony from the M. Henry book called ‘Misty of Chincoteague’. I didn’t know Ms. Henry bought Misty and she lived in Illinois for 10 years and went around to schools, etc. The other pony (darker) is Misty’s baby Stormy(both have been deceased for over 30-40 yrs).
A quilt with citizens names dated 1918!
Taxidermy duck:
Leaving Chincoteague, you see all these huge white satellite dishes. NASA has a place there! We zoomed past the museum and turned to go back.
Some fun shots of Sean:
We stopped off in Ocean City for lunch and then headed to Seashell City/Shipwreck museum in Fenwick Island, DE. This is one of those beachy gift shops I would have gone ga-ga for as a 10 yr old. They have tons of everything. I’ll show you want I bought in a later post. We always go upstairs to the ‘free’ Shipwreck Museum. The displays are so nicely done and it’s amazing what the divers find. I think some must have gotten very weathy from their finds.
Little childrens’ cups and saucers.
Dishes encrusted with coral.
Remember riding these outside of the supermarket. The dolphin is so cute!
We stopped several more times-the Rehoboth Beach outlets-went in The Gap store and got a few things; also walked around the Atlantic Book warehouse which is slowly shrinking in size. I only bought 3 books which are very nice. We ate a deep dish pizza at Pizzeria Uno and headed home. Whew! That was a long day on Thursday!
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Today I had to go to the eye doctor to get my eyes, mostly my right eye checked out. Both have been red, but the right one was terrible this morning. It’s inflamed and I have to use steroid drops in it for 2 weeks! I think some hair product was getting in my eye when I was asleep as I have that little bang on the right.
Sean and I will try to get down to right outside of Philadelphia to see the live taping of a local show called The 10! Show on Wednesday. You have to get there by 9:30 a.m., no small task for us. It’s about a 90 minute trip one way. Sean thought it would be a fun thing to do and a bonus for him, ace Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee is one of the guests! They are having a contest on the show’s facebook page and will pick someone tomorrow to introduce Cliff on the show. I mentioned that Sean hasn’t been able to afford to go to a game (which is true) and it would be a treat for him. Crossing fingers.
I’ve had a few days to unwind now, so I thought I’d continue my vacation post.
On Wednesday we checked out of our Ocean City, MD hotel and headed to the O.C.Inlet area. I love this area as it’s mostly ocean everywhere you look. We got comfy and a young lady lifeguard told us it was a ‘surfer’s beach’ to a certain point. If more than a couple surfers showed up, we were to move behind a certain area. They never did. There is a jetty in this area where people were fishing and a foghorn that goes off every so often.
We are pretty much the whitest people on the beach-lol! We all got some sunburn-Brian and Sean’s was more blotchy on their chests and tummy.
This it the parking for the inlet and boardwalk. Incidently, Sean is on the way home from O.C. from an overnight trip with pals. He stayed in a place that had an indoor skating rink!
So…we stayed here about 1.5 hours and then went for lunch and a little shopping before we headed to Chincoteague, Virginia. Sean’s phone GPS took us down some very rural back roads. We passed several decrepid houses, about 4 ancient cemeteries and acres and acres of corn or marsh. Another home had several ‘bottle trees’ like they have down in the south. I think they weren’t real trees, but like faux Christmas trees that were probably hand done. This is something I only saw for a few seconds.
This is what we saw when we were headed to the island:
We got to our hotel and were pleasantly surprised by this homey place:
The pool was half enclosed and there was a hot tub nearby. I’m the only one who splashed around in the pool!
We headed to the beach as we were early for check in. It’s about 5 minutes or so away. What a beautiful place! Even more ocean than O.C.!
We did see a herd of wild ponies on our way to the beach. That was a treat!
and with a zoom:
I wanted to see the Assateague lighthouse so we stopped there as it was minutes away from the beach. We were told while shopping to get ‘Off!’ by a helpful store clerk and didn’t think to spray ourselves before we started the trek to the lighthouse! I’ve never seen so many hungry mosquitoes. We did get some bites, I think I got about 7 that took a few days to show up. Here is the 140+ year old lighthouse. (We didn’t get to climb it though).
I’ll stop here and finish up tomorrow where I will show you the Chincoteague Museum with taxidermy of the real Misty the pony! I read ‘Misty of Chincoteague’ over 40 yrs ago!
PS-for Zoey!
This is a collage card I made last year, one of the first 4″ x 4″ ones. I did a woven background and used a ‘drink’ label.
This was my birthday a few years back. It’s the middle of November and I remember it being bitterly cold, like January. We almost had the Mendenhall Inn to ourselves. This was the place my high school had it’s proms back in the day (didn’t go) and always wanted to see it.
I’m ‘almost’ a teetotaler, but like a nice Apricot Sour or Martini once in a while. Just had a strong Peach Martini down in Chincoteague on vacation-here it is!
We take short vacations but really jam pack a lot of activities into that time! From stopping at our favorite sandwich place in Rehoboth Beach to seeing something new-we keep ourselves busy. When we got to Rehoboth, the sky looked like this:
It did start to rain, so we wondered into an arcade where the guys were attracted to the baseball games:
Brian has a good pitching arm from being on a team at one of his jobs. : )
Here is a sign to tell you about Rehoboth. Both Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb have ties (Kathie Lee’s parents parents had an inn there and Hoda’s mom recently bought a place there-they just had an episode there a few weeks ago)
Of the various beaches we visit, I love the little stores that line this area the best. Isn’t this a pretty pavillion?
We then hopped in the car (the rain was steadier then) and headed to Ocean City. It’s about 30 miles just to get to the outskirts of Ocean City, Maryland. We were staying on 13th and it starts about block 150.
Sean picked out this place and paid for one night. It was a good location, but we had a small room with double beds. I judged from the bathroom tiles it was built in the 1950s (as was the first apartment we lived in that had similar ones) and I was right-1954!
BEACH PLAZA HOTEL– Built in 1954 by Ethel Griffin Kelley and her son Harry Kelley, a former mayor of Ocean City. Richard Nixon and his family spent many vacations here. Bryce and Shirley Phillips have owned and operated the hotel since 1970.
They are renovating it and the lobby and restaurant are very lovely.
I’m not sure what the story is behind these ostriches on the front porch. There were plenty of rocking chairs to enjoy the beach scene too.
How clever was it to make the porch tables out of old Singer sewing machine tables?
We went down to check out the beach. Right before this photo was taken, a big wave came up and splashed my newly changed pants. What a shock!
That night we walked about 10 blocks! Whew! We had a pizza dinner that wasn’t too great and then Brian and I stayed in and Sean went to the young people’s night club. He rolled in about 1:30 am as he had to take a bus to the place. We finally got to enjoy some beach time on Wednesday. I’ll continue in another post.
I have some scrumptious Roma tomatoes roasting in not only their juices, but also, olive oil, a bit of garlic plus salt and pepper. Smells really good in here! I plan to freeze some, but also use some with pasta. The Romas (plum) are about twice what we normally get! Glad we moved the garden over!
Then I wanted to use a zucchini, maybe two, but alas, this recipe only called for 1 lousy cup. I am doing good using the zucchini anyway!
Quick to mix up with a base of butter and confectioner’s sugar. Glad I had some parchment paper (forget I did) as they came off of it nicely.
They are a bit crunchy from the cornmeal…not alot of zucchini taste, but good!
We’ve had a rainy weekend down here. We all did a lot of sitting and vegetating yesterday. Today I got my clothes ready for a little trip this week coming up. It took me an hour to decide and I think I need more than a tote bag, but it will do I guess. Brian is the one who has problems packing, like remembering to locate his swim trunks. I was making him try things on which he didn’t like. I like to have one dressy outfit, though not many people dress up to eat out. Shame on them!
Collages & Creative Goodness 