Landscape and Flowering Trees

The expanse of space between where I was standing and the mountains just cannot be conveyed in a photo, but looking at this picture I took takes me back to my walk and the peace and the quiet that was in the 'hood.

As I was rounding a bend, I was receiving a soft floral scent in my nose. As I got closer, this tree had these blooms that were a beautiful deep pink color and the scent was so yummy, I stood there for a few minutes and took deep breaths, hoping I could embed the scent in my nostrils and my brain. 

I am not only a lover of flowers, especially scented ones, I am a big fan of plants that have interesting leaves to them, even if they never produce flowers. This tree not only had the gorgeous scent but also had these interesting leaves. 

I also met on my walk a black Mini Schnauzer named Jorgenson. I wish I had snapped a photo. He was friendly and interested in some love from me, until another walker came by that he apparently knew and then I was not thought of again as he went to that guy for some love. 

Tonight I sat outside on the patio with Chuck and enjoyed the warm breeze and setting sun. Although the mountains hide the sunset, the sky turned a silvery grey as the sun went down. 

Unfortunately, my days are numbered here and I will be returning home where I understand it is still near freezing temps, although they will have a heat wave at 40 degrees for a couple of the next coming days. Wooo Hoooo. 

Beauty and the Beach

Sunday was grey when we went to 'Chuck's Beach'. (our friend Chuck has named different beaches after himself and his grandchildren. These are accessible via dune paths.)

Wednesday was sunny and gorgeous when we went to 'Crab Beach'. (given it's name by Chuck due to the amount of Fiddle crabs on the inlet.)

Both days were awesome and because we're on Nantucket, every day is a beautiful day no matter the weather.

 

Visiting Nantucket

We were invited out again this year to spend a week on Nantucket with our friends Chuck and Carol that have a home there. Chuck likes to take us out to the beaches that you get to via the dunes. Deflate tires, rock and roll in the sand, get to the beautiful beach.

He refers to this beach has 'crab beach' because on the other side of this water way are hundreds of little Fiddler crabs going to and fro and hiding in their holes when we (predators) come along.

Hanz and Bug went with us, Weezie stayed behind visiting with my rescue partner Shelly. Weezie has been to Nantucket quite a few times before when I painted the home over a few winters. With her peeing issue now and her age, it was best that she stay behind.

Hanz and Bug enjoying the sunny morning outside while we read and sipped coffee...

Inside, Hanz and Bella (whom I've posted before while I dog sat for her) pose for the camera.

A sunset from the back deck...

Hanz and Bug enjoying the ferry ride back in the warm sun.

It was a very nice time of relaxation, 'family' dinners, good wine, beaches and sun tans, and at the end of the week, a Demolition Derby they have each year.

Next stop: camp.

Provincetown Here We Come

The month of August and beginning of September is all vacation time for us. I've wanted to take my motorcycle to Provincetown, MA, which is about a 4 hour trip by car, for a couple years now. I vacationed there for years in what seems like another lifetime and wanted to go back for a visit. The opportunity arose when a friend that rented a condo there had a 3 night opening. Perfect. Not too long, not too short. Off we went. 

The morning of arrival, this is my bike, a 1999 Honda Shadow ACE 750, I would like to get a bike with more cc's but don't want to give up the look of this one with it's vintage style. 

The beach about 20 yards away from the condo...

The morning of departure at 5:30 a.m. this is what the beautiful sky looked like...

Then home for a day and off to Nantucket.

Life's a Trip

Wow! been having lots of fun during my vacation time. Made our way to Nantucket after being in Wisconsin and enjoyed time with friends, relaxing and reading, sunbathing and playing Mexican Train which has almost become an addiction. 

Miss Lucy had some fun, too. Although Angela watched Lucy while we were in Wisconsin, she made the trip to Nantucket with us and stayed on for the following 10 days as we once again went back to Wisconsin. 

But I'll tell you about that in the next post....right now, let's enjoy some sun and beach time in Nantucket, and Lucy's happy face...really, it's a happy face, she'd tell you so. 

these beautiful photos were taken by my friend Chuck with his super duper digital SLR - Wowza!

Neosho and beyond

Time flies....finally taking a minute to tell you about a place we went to while visiting Neosho, WI. We went there for a wedding and a couple days after I requested that we take a drive to Nick Engelbert's homestead, and immigrant from Austria, where he mosaic'd his house and made garden sculptures. I have always been drawn to this type of work and love a book called "Fantasy Worlds"

I'd like to go to Barcelona, Spain to see Antoni Gaudi's work. Just amazing.

So we set out on our way to one of the nearest sites of mosaic/grotto type of homes. The nearest being 2 hours away. Many of the sculptures on the grounds are reproductions. The originals were breaking down and now reside at the Kohler Foundation. In 1961 Nick Engelbert died after a year of cancer, he had lived in the home for almost 30 years. He moved to his daughter's and son's-in-law in Maryland to live out that last year. 10 years prior to his death he took to painting on a regular basis, a very naive folk art style and pieces of these are displayed in the home and also at the Kohler Foundation. 

Here are some of the pictures we took while there:

Unfortunately, a part that no longer exists are columns with arches that were the beginning of his project. There were pictures of it on display and it would have been so cool if they were still there. They were part of the entrance to the grounds. 

The exterior is cement and rocks and the porch is a mix of rocks and shards of ceramic dishes, metal pieces, broken beer bottles and other trinkets.

The entrance of the grounds is this guy and his monkey, he takes the donations.

Original pieces displayed inside the house

this is part of Paul Bunyan that is no longer on the grounds but some pieces of the sculpture remain. Paul, himself, was 11' tall.

This art is one of two similar paintings done on a wall right before Nick moved from his home. 

Nick's wife was an avid gardener, which is one reason why he began these mosaic sculptures. Now, more gardens exist around each sculpture to help protect them from weather. 

When we arrived, a newly built large shed that is used for art classes was in progress of being mosiac'd by volunteers -- we were invited to join in. I put in a few shards and R's girls spent some time leaving their mark.

It was a nice afternoon, I'm glad I was able to convince the family to take this road trip...it really didn't take too much arm twisting as we all enjoy creativity. We had some trouble with cameras, though. R's sister's camera that we borrowed, stopped working, we thought it might be batteries. R went into the small town and bought some new ones. It wasn't the batteries. As I fiddled with it, the zoom lens opened, and then wouldn't close, and stayed like that. We couldn't take pictures but we could review pictures. I had my camera with me, just in case it might give me a break and work. It did for a few snaps and then did the purple haze thing again. So, like any reasonable camera owner would do, I threw it to the ground. Sometimes slapping it on my hand would jostle things to a working position but that wasn't happening....what else was a girl to do except throw it on the grass? After a couple times of doing this, it finally worked again and I was able to take a few pictures, as seen above. I was also able to get some of this drive in diner "we HAD to go to" due to a certain young lady's experience a few years back:

Back in the day (it's been around for 40-50 years) the waitresses wore roller skates and brought your food out to you on a tray that attached to your car window. They still have the trays but now they wear sneakers. Because it was a bit warm out, we chose to sit at a picnic table.

When I was a kid we had an A&W about 20 minutes from us and Mom and Dad would take us there for burgers and we ALWAYS got a root beer float. At Kilties we had the burger, onion rings and a chocolate swirl custard (it's not called ice cream I believe because of the whole milk and whole other ingredients) Later that day, I regretted that I chose to have a Kiltie lunch, I'm not used to eating that way and my stomach wasn't happy about my choices. But, it was a fun experience.

Next adventure -- Nantucket, MA.