Vamos A La Playa

And I'm off again, tomorrow morning.

This time to Fire Island Pines. I take a train, then we take another train, then we take a jitney to the dock, then we take a boat, then we fill up a little red wagon with our belongings and pull it along the boardwalk to the house.

Then we breathe. No cars, only walking, or jogging or swimming.

One of my most favorite places on earth.

I'm bringing my camera (thank you Susan for the speedy return) my IPad and that pesky poison ivy.

I haven't been able to shave my legs or use a moisturizer since this was identified.

Not my usual beach look.

And I'm going to stay with my most style conscious friend.

Ah vanity.

But I'll be back next week, hopefully with pictures of paradise, though you can be sure I'll be photo bombing IG.

Well if there's wifi.

It is an island.

And the deer run free. I'm sure lymes disease is readily available this summer.

No thanks, the PI was enough of a souvenir.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of my favorite nursery in Falmouth,Ma, Brick Kilm Farm.Wish we were there.

 

 

And The Beat Goes On.....

I just said av revoir to Elle and her family.

Sadness lingers.

She was a constant bubbly joy.

I loved her, my neighbors loved her, my friends loved her.

She will be greatly missed.

We had a farewell dinner last night.

 

I made a heirloom tomato salad with watermelon, Bulgarian feta, fresh mint, salt, pepper, splashes of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and garden mint.

We grilled sausages and served them with my so called French potato salad.

Then my neighbor Nelda knocked it out of the park with a peach, blueberry and raspberry cobbler with whipped cream.

Some say it with flowers, we say it with food.

The French are off on a three week adventure, getting their kicks on Rt.66, from Chicago to Santa Monica.

Then they drive to San Francisco, overeat, and fly home.

As I write this there is a moving van parked in front, moving the neighbors across the street, who had rented for a year.

I will miss their energy, soccer balls everywhere, the little boy who kept a diary, the young wild dog Rocky who would chase Lucy around the yard while she scrambled over fences and ran up trees.

So again, changes.

I try and embrace them these days.

My life has been enriched by all the different people who have filtered in and out of it.

Thanks to Elle, I could get these pictures off my new phone and put them on the blog.

I can light a grill, make a pastry crust and tie a scarf , but I still don't speak a word of French.

And to her grave disappointment, I still don't have enough "products".

The shower is empty without all her scrubs and rubs.

And our house is empty without her.

But our hearts are bigger for having known her.

Bisous Elle.

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N In The Summer Sun

I went to the Cape. We ate and we ate.

Fried clams and green beans,

Lobster rolls and ice cream.

 We ate at a farm, saw some goats in a barn,

walked through fields of flowers and  hay.

We went to the beach, we went to the gym,

in a futile effort to try and stay slim.

 We read and we napped,

watched movies, walked laps.

With 3 little dogs on leads.

The skies were so blue, low humidity too.

A treat for a girl from the city.

I flew back all tan, my I Pad in hand.

Determined to bring back the feeling,

of time to be wasted and meals to be savored.

And friends to be held in your heart.

Then my phone up and died, I left my camera behind,

And I had a mysterious rash.

Poison Ivy it seems, has invaded the dreams,

of living beach life back at home.

Now I'm back and I'm itchy, so occasionally bitchy,

the saying, it runs through my head:

"Where ever you go, you take yourself with you".

And I guess you bring it back too.