Anniversary Week!

This was not our best week to take off, it rained a lot of the time, so I was afraid to make any good plans, just to get washed out. If it was free, I might have, but for the cost of going to the island or Newport, I hated wasting money. Of course when we stay home, the sun comes out and when we go out, the rain comes, can't win.

We usually head north for the week, but with Moki on shots, I would have to pay more for our sitter or leave him with the vet, so for now, easier to stay close to home.

This year makes Forty Four years. It is funny to see how we looked then, Bill with his full head of hair, my dad told him he had to cut it, if he wanted to marry me, lol. That is short compared to the long mane, he had.

We spent most of our dry time, at the beach. The good thing was, we had the beach to ourselves, most of the time. Just being outside in the fresh air was a nice change.

Yesterday we got out late, after the rain stopped, but the fog was thick.

We did find some nice glass on Monday, we spent 5 hours that day, a bit of clouds and sun, so it was a nice day to hunt and enjoy the beach. We also walked the entire length of the beach, so I got some exercise too.

Yesterday we walked more, than hunted, but I did find some nice treasures. The blue piece is my favorite and Bill found a green heart shape. The oyster shell has two holes in it, not sure if it is natural or a piece of lost jewelry.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We finally have sun and heat coming in, but that also means, the crowds will be back.

New Blocks Finished!

I finally got the newest blocks done and some embellishments, I am thinking this will be a wall hanging so I am adding bells and buttons to make it fun. The hard part will be quilting it, but the good thing is I have my new machine and it will be able to quilt around any bumps.

I love this BOM, it is from Stacy of Buttermilk Basin. There are two more blocks, the W and the longer side piece, can't wait to see what is coming this month. Stacy is at a show so it should be coming soon. I will also have to start going through my stash to see what I will use on the sashing.

Here is how they look together, this one is for me;)

This weekend was the end of Bill's vacation. Saturday we had plans to visit the kids, then they changed it to visiting us and having dinner at our house so we had a cookout, they ate, Ivy fell asleep, the baby cried when I held him and then Nick finally warmed back up to me and we had some fun time together. I am hoping we can get Nick next weekend, maybe take him apple picking, he loves that.

On Sunday we had no plans, a storm was coming so we went shopping and bought our suits. It hadn't rained and I decided to go to the beach and just enjoy the fresh air. Bill went swimming and I just relaxed. We also got a show when hundreds of migrating starlings flew around the area in formations.

Here is one side of the beach, only a few people, best time to go to the beach. Blue skies and sun.

Here is the right side of the beach, cloudy and ominous. We spent a few hours at the beach and not a drop of rain, but behind us the storm had come in and rained at home, so the beach was the place to be. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. This week I am hoping to get Cheri's Blocks made, another fun quilt with wool. You can get her blocks on her Facebook group, Quilts by Cheri.

Vacation Fun!

Bill has this week off, since he worked straight for three weeks, he needed a break. So what to do, run him ragged driving me around to my adventures, lol. We started Saturday with hemming and hawing on what to do and finally decided to go to the beach for an ocean swim.

It was a bit cooler and the fog was rolling in but it was nice to get out for a bit, and the waves were picking up. Bill went out for a bit and played in the waves, then I went out and the waves got bigger. The area starts out shallow, then drops deep, then shallow again. I spent the time trying to get out the to second shallows while the waves kept pushing me back. I woke up sore today, it is definitely a good workout.

Sunday was the same thing, was tired from the beach but I wanted to get out so we decided to go to Jamestown for a stroll around the cliffs. It was a beautiful day and the tides were coming in and crashing on the rocks, a peaceful place to walk around and just enjoy the fresh ocean air.

Of course I had to find a hidden path that led to a rocky crevice and an island, so more climbing and exploring.

Today was our first planned day. We headed to Connecticut to visit a few places along the ocean. The first was Harkness State Park. We headed up a broad walk to the beach and enjoyed the views.

No swimming at this beach, so we strolled along the beach to the rocks at the point. The New London ferry was coming out of the Thames River to Long Island. A trip I took every summer to stay with my grandmother.

Above the point is the original home of the Harkness family, a Mansion with beautiful gardens. It is open to walk around, and they do tours of the inside of the home.

We walked around the area and found this fun tower. It is definitely worth a visit.

The next stop was a place I found last minute and had to take a look. It is Seaside Sanatorium that was built as a hospital for children with tuberculosis, then a nursing home and then an institution for the mentally ill and that is when it went downhill and they closed it down. They say it is haunted and now it is run down and the grounds are open as a park.

No swimming now but it is a beautiful area to walk around and Bean enjoyed being able to play a bit.

The next stop was our main stop, Rocky Neck State park. It is separated from the beach by a train track, so you go under the tunnel to get in from the parking lot. We walked outside the beach area to the picnic area and along the rocks.

We found a hidden cove with a beautiful sandy spot for Bean to play at. Wish I had bought our suits, it was warmer there and the water was nice, at least I got to cool down a bit. 

There is also a large pavillion so we walked up the rocks and along the porch. Of course I saw a sign on the other side that said, no dogs allowed in the pavilion, oops. Higher up above the picnic area and beautiful views of the Long Island Sound. 

We drove back through New London, saw a few lighthouses, the ferries going out and headed home. It was a long but fun day and the rest of my night has been busy catching up around the house, so no time to visit blogs, so hopefully I can catch up with all of you soon. Tomorrow is another day, who knows where we will end up;)

Weekend Wanderings!

First I would like to mention something a follower mentioned, about my previous post. On the word, It's, it should be Its, no apostrophe. I got the idea for the bell, then the saying since it had bell in it and looked it up to get the right saying, and I took one that had the apostrophe without thinking. I do that a lot and I know I write my posts without thinking and no editing, so I need to be more careful, since they do seem confusing, even to me.

With the lyme, I have days where I cannot remember what I did 5 minutes ago, forget words and mess things up, so you will have to bear with me on those days;) Other days I am back to normal, it is an up and down process but I am having better days, so that gives me hope.

One of the things that helps me feel better is getting out in the fresh air and exercising. Now that I can move again, I thought it was a good time to go to the beach. It is relaxing, lots of fresh air and swimming is one exercise where I can move freely without pain.

Bill had Friday off so we could go to the beach without the crowds. We decided to go to East Beach since we never get to go there on the weekends and there is limited parking. It is a strip of land that divides a salt water pond and the ocean. They also have two camping areas at the end, but no dogs allowed.

It was a beautiful day, the water was warm and very few people on the beach.

The tide was going out and that means more waves. It was fun body surfing in the waves, not so fun when I got slammed a few times when I wasn't looking, lol. The island in the distance is Block Island, that is where the ferries go.

Saturday we we went to East Matunuck Beach. This beach is harder to get to since the roads are narrow, but perfect for a Saturday. Not as many people as at the main beaches and great waves.

It is also a nice place for great views, the channel was to our left and we could watch the ferries that go to Block Island.

They also have large areas with salt water marshes behind the beach, and an area where the Piping Plovers nest. Great place to stroll along the beach and look for heart stones.

I was hesitant about going to the beaches on a Sunday, but we decided to go later in the afternoon and this time we went back to Roger Wheelers Beach. They have a larger parking area and separate sections so you can pick a spot away from the main crowds.

We parked at the end and walked up the dunes, figuring there would be less people.

The minute we got to the end, we ran into, wall to wall tents. This must be the party end, luckily they all set up at the main entrance, we walked down, closer to the water. The tide was going out so we were able to find a spot further down and enjoy a few hours, even with the crowds. Great place to people watch and watch the boats coming in. This beach is on the other side of the channel, that we were at on Saturday. We could watch the ferries as well as the fishing boats that came across, to unload their catch at the docks.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and if you would like to see my videos, you can check out my YouTube Channel. You can see more of the views and hear the sounds of the sea.

Weekend Wanderings!

After Friday's paddle, I crashed, that was a bit too much with the sun and paddling against the winds so we decided to do something fun without over doing it. 

Since we never get to the beach during the summer, except in our boats, we decided to go to the ocean and play in the waves. This beach is in Point Judith and the nice thing about it is, it is shallow, so you can walk out and play in the waves without dropping off.

The air was cooler at the ocean but the water was warm.

Going out to play in the waves.

Sunday I was still tired so I decided it was a good day to go to Mystic Aquarium. I haven't been since the kids were little and they had a lot of new things since we were there. We got a senior membership, so for the cost of two visits, we can go anytime for a year and bring Nick along for free, so looking forward to taking him.

They had a lot of beautiful sea displays inside, but it is hard to get good shots through dirty, scratched glass;) I think Jelly Fish are beautiful as long as they are not swimming in the ocean with me.

Not sure what these guys were, but they just looked funny and just sat in their little crate house.

Rock Fish hides with his surroundings. I was taking a photo and Bill was asking, where is it, lol.

I took a lot of photos but most were blurry or washed out from the sun, so next time I will try and go during a cloudy day or later during the day. I did take some video of the beluga whales, they put on a show for me and even made whale cries, but I cannot remember how to convert it for iTunes.

A new exhibit is the Titanic exhibit. There are a lot of fun interactive areas to enjoy and inside some of the rooms, you really feel like you are down in the deeps. Bill and I had fun being goofy on the bow of the titanic, but I forgot she was leaning forward, and posed wrong;)

To end the day, we went to another ocean beach. It was a beautiful day to go and not too crowded. This is East Beach in Charlestown, RI.

This beach was cold and deep, so I decided to sit in my chair and enjoy the views, perfect way to end the day. Now it is time for me to get back to a routine. Today I spent half the day cooking up things from the garden and the other half cleaning, so time for me to relax for the night and tomorrow I can get back to my sewing projects.

Speaking of sewing, I found a wonderful tutorial today. If you would like to make a fun and beautiful halloween bag, check out Christina's tote tutorial at Sometimes Crafter.

Weekend Wanderings!

Another beautiful weekend and of course the perfect weekend for paddling. Saturday was cooler, so we did a river paddle. Except for a few people passing by, we had the river to ourselves and the critters who crossed our path. We saw a beaver, a blue heron, hawks and lots of turtles but nothing that would sit still long enough for a photo.

The river is long and winding and passes under several roads and railroad bridges. This is an old trestle bridge.

We always stop at the state park, wilderness canoe campground. I think it would be fun to camp there, but it is really buggy at the sites which are up on the hill.

The blueberry bushes are all empty but their are grapevines lining the river.

Sunday was warmer so we went to the salt water marsh and paddled out to the breakers. We bought our umbrella and just enjoyed sitting on the beach.

We had our own little spot to sit and cool down in the water while we watched the boats go by.

The ocean is just over the dunes, a perfect place to walk around and enjoy the cool breezes.

On the way back, we passed this guy. I am glad I didn't meet him while we were swimming in the water. It is called a Lion's Mane jellyfish and they can grow up to 120 feet long with their tentacles.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, as well.