Postcard Friday - Madison sq and a beach

At first I assumed that this was Coney Island only because alot of the postcards in my collection are from NYCity - but now I don't think so. Maybe the Jersey shore?


I say Jersey shore because of the note on the back of the card " The run down here was simply great. The roads splendid. Enjoying it immensely. Love Tillie" And the card was sent to East 18th street in Brooklyn.
Well, knowing the geography well - you probably wouldn't write about driving to Coney Island - which is why I think that one of Eugenie's friends got adventurous and drove to NEW JERSEY - on those splendid roads and stayed for a time on the Jersey Shore.

Of course after all this conjecture on my part, and looking for clues...I finally noticed the postmark from...

Atlantic City, New Jersey.

I'm such a good sleuth~


This is a current picture of the night life on the Pier at Atlantic City - looks a bit more lively than the postcard.
This one is a picture of Madison Square in NYC - no writing on the back. But I just love it - look at all those horse drawn carts and the awnings on the windows. This picture is taken from the "Fuller Building" which is also known as the Flatiron Building in Madison Square. I don't have a postcard of the Flatiron Building but have found a few pictures of it now so you can see the difference between the Madison Square of 1909 and now.



This is the Flatiron Building now - in Madison Square. No sleepy town square anymore.


Happy Postcard Friendship Friday all.

A lovely award

Judy over at Tennessee Memories gave me this award - isn't it beautiful? Judy has great stories over on her blog - love the graveyard story about the man who was poisoned by his wife.

I am supposed to nominate 7 people; which is SO hard as everyone has a pretty wonderful blog but these get the award today....

Renee;Bibi, Jude,Casey, Cris, Laurel and Ces all of whom have lovely readable blogs (as do you all)

Sorry for such a not "happy" animal wednesday yesterday but I get so upset by animal cruelty that I sometimes freak out. I'm sure Jude knows that we are all thinking of her...

Animal Wednesday - a sad day...

Jude had a terrible experience when she lost her beloved dog. This post is for Jude - I've sent a donation to ASPCA for your Jose.
People who put down poison should be......

Yup - that's what I'm thinking.

In this time of recession - the animals are hurting and rescue places are running out of money - low donations. Please consider donating here - Bernie runs a wonderful rescue.

Go hug a pet...

The Closet of Dreams and Hopes

Sunday 8:00 AM
I decided to finally tackle some big chores today. No bike riding. No car drives. I need to finish off some items - they are weighing on my mind!

Therefore I am in the process of cleaning out the spare room bedroom closet. I never had a spare closet before, our homes were always old - which translates to small closets - if they existed at all. Every year I had to transfer summer clothes and winter clothes from attic to closet and back again. HARD work as closet and attic were a house apart with two steep staircases in between.

Now I have a spare closet and as soon as we moved into this house 6 years ago - I claimed it. Filled it with the summer clothes or winter - as the season demanded. But slowly, as life changed it became a closet of "when I lose 5 pounds" or "I love this even tho' it doesn't fit" or "I can't get rid of this even if I don't like it - mom gave it to me" . But in the past 6 years my beloved dog died, and I stopped those long rambling doggie walks. I broke my ankle. Grace and her family moved to NH - not as much play time with the boys. Went hypothyroid. Other nasty upsetting things have happened. And I gained weight and truth be told...got just plain FAT!.

Now, I'm facing it all. Bike riding and the gym for exercise. Minimal carbs. Thyroid meds. I feel like I am getting myself back. I've got a long way to go - and I do slip and slide my way to a "goal".

So I decided to tackle the spare room closet. It's daunting - for even though it is a regular sized closet I can manage to stuff enough clothes for a small nation inside. I use those vacuum bags - wow!

Leaving this house is the olive green skirt that has NEVER fit - as well as the puke green outfit that my red haired mom bought for me. (we have such different coloring). Also going are the pants that are too big - it's silly to pay 20 - 30 dollars to get them taken in and up when someone else could use them - and trust me - they are nice pants. I see how many tops I have - and I know that I only bought that many because the bottoms didn't fit. Out they go if I know I won't wear them.

It's daunting but therapeutic. I don't know if I will finish. I'm tired already,....

Monday AM
I ache from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. Not only did I clean that closet, but redid my main closet and the two coat closets. I have 4 giant bags going to Goodwill; more for the book dropoff place. I also decided to tackle all the things that I wanted to get finished, so I planted...and weeded...and finished a sweater...and straightened up my basement studio...organized my ATC's and wrote some letters. It was one of those days where you can't really see the fruits of your labors - but you know that it's done...and it feels good. I have been ignoring the need to organize for a long time. But it's not just organization - it's moving forward; accepting; planning; deciding. Does that make sense to anyone?? Have you done this yourself?

The boys are coming down next weekend to help redo and organize (again that word) the garden shed and perhaps the garage. We are hiring them for the day as they'd like to earn a bit of money this summer. I'm having them take everything out of the shed, sweep and vacuum, move things around and then put it all back in. I'm hoping for a warmish day, but not too hot. Slightly overcast would be nice - can anyone help me arrange this?

Someone told me that cleaning and organizing your space shows the need to control something in a world that is fairly uncontrollable. Frankly, I agree. I find it therapeutic to know that when I open that closet door, it won't be overwhelming; unlike opening the door on a confusing world. It's also about letting go and moving on in my opinion.

Next to go...the overflow in the studio....getting rid of stuff I bought when I started this art journey a few years ago. I no longer need or use the inks that I bought or paper or embellishments. Some lucky Goodwiller will get those. For me the trick is making the pile and getting rid of it quickly - otherwise I start to go thru it and it all moves back into it's original home.

It felt good to clean like that for a day...and it feels good to write about it.

New ATC's after a day filled with chores

more about the chores later ----

A relaxing day with lots of pictures

We went up to NH yesterday to watch one nephew in a track race and one in a varsity double header. The running nephew wasn't too happy with his time in the race that we saw, but I enjoyed watching him run, and complete the race. Of course...in my book he always comes in first but I understand the realities so didn't say much when talking to him. Poor thing was depressed a bit, who could blame him. Next came the double header - the baseball nephew wasn't playing for the first 5 innings. Finally the coach called him in to pitch, with bases loaded...and he hadn't even warmed up! We all thought it was ridiculous, but what could we do - yell at the coach??? Of course the other team got their guys home...so when we left at the end of the day, prior to the end of the second game, I would expect another depressed nephew. Ah well.... They're too old now to hug away their hurts, or soothe them with kisses and treats but I'm amazed at how much I still wish I could do that. I adore them as grownups - but still miss the babies that they were.

We left at around 4:30 and took the long way home thru little NH towns. First we stopped at the art store in Peterborough and I got these watercolor books. Perfect Miss Em sized books with lovely colors.
I was hoping to do some little antique shopping but everything there closed at 5:00 - just have to save it for another day.

I just had to take a picture of this house - it's so typical New England and I love the house proportions. It's snug looking and close to the ground - just what I like. My first house, the old one, was somewhat similar to this - very cozy - but not a ton of room. But I just get satisfaction from looking at the workmanship and proportions of these houses, and have a collection of photographs of them.


We kept driving and then stopped at a cemetery in New Ipswich - and I had to take some pictures of some of the headstones. First of all, I love to visit old graveyards. I love putting together the family stories - how many kids lived or died? How many wives did that guy have? Here are some interesting ones:

Don't you love this name? Do you think her parents really named her "Sally Scripture" or perhaps that was a moniker given later in life?


Here is her husband - with another strange name. Maybe he got the name "Supply" from being a supply guy in the army - who knows...



The family of John Pratt either had confidence in his final destination, or were giving him directions.

For some reason I liked Betsey's stone - and the name of her husband is so odd. "Heman" - do you think they forgot the "r"?


I like the ones that tell a story - this guy was born in England in 1752,and came to America in 1771 at the age of 19. He died at 77 - a good age for the day. He must have done well in whatever it was he did, because his headstone is pretty elaborate. His wifes' stone was right next to his and all is says is "Mary, wife of James, died on ..." I wonder - did she come from England with him? Did they meet here?
This one caught my eye. If you can't read it it says "Mr Gilman Spaulding, was killed with an ax by an insane brother". No birth date. No listing of a wife or family except the insane brother. And I love the "Mr.". How odd...

Don't you wonder who "Mamie" was? A servant? A slave? A dog? No evidence of anything - just this fairly elaborate headstone. On the bottom it says "He shall gather the lambs with his arms". A child perhaps?


Some "artistic" photos.






Does it sound macabre to walk thru these remote graveyards looking at names and stories? I hope not because to me it is anything but. It's peaceful and quiet yet you still have the human influence - telling stories, leaving their mark behind.

It was a peaceful, relaxing day - just what I needed.

Six Word Saturday x2

"Visiting with Friends is a good way to start the day - right"

I couldn't get this into 6 words - but I wanted to express how much I love my early morning routine of visiting blogs, seeing how people are doing, it's like a friendly little check-in every day. Thanks friends for helping me start the day...