Manchester By The Sea, Masconomo Park

Hi Dear Folk,

Who had heard of Manchester by the Sea, until the movie came at.  This movie was filmed in this town and surrounding locations on Cape Ann.

The sun was almost completely set by about 7:00PM here we are just after 6:00PM, the light this time of day is so special.  This is Masconomo Park.  I just sat and enjoyed the tranquility of it all.

These boys just didn't want the day to end.

Christine

Catch Up

Hi Dear Folk,

Off to work with the dreaded black boot on.

Still enjoying my flower bouquet.  I moved it into my Simla room to enjoy it as I sit there.

My Tup goes through different phases of her preference of where to sit and sleep, this is her most recent finding.  I had left the ironing board sitting out, as one does and had used it to cut out the leather cover for my journal.  She really likes sitting up here, I think she especially likes the smell of the leather.  I hate to disappoint her but it will be coming down soon.

I liked the old file I used for my Cape Ann journal, but have not been able to find anymore like that, so while looking around eBay I came across this.  I'm going to ask Mr. B. to work his magic on it.  It's not that heavy.

Must have been used in Flint, Michigan.  March 1943 during WWII.  I expect their water was better to drink then than it is now see here what happened to the poor people in Flint Michigan.

The Boy working on his car., before his cruise.  Last Sunday he said I'm going on a cruise with the Miata Group, it's a drive out west for an hour and a half, I'm thinking where's he cruising, what body of water is out there, the Susquehanna River?  Then he said we're driving the Dragon's Tail, then I twigged.

Happy weekend,
Christine

TGIF

Hi Dear Folk,

So happy it is Friday, did we all make it?

Yesterday was a night mare for many making it home by train from Philly, because some poor soul had decided to end their life on the tracks.  Many lines were not running at all, fortunately my line was and the train was only a few minutes late, but many were catching it in the hope of connecting at the Transportation Center which is almost an hour on the train before catching a bus.

My boss has been letting me catch the earlier train while I am wearing the dreaded black boot, so the 5:04PM train instead of the 5:45PM, I have also noticed that because this train comes in on another platform it seems to run more on time than the later train.  All SEPTA trains are preempted by AMTRAK trains when sharing the same line.  I think the line that my later train comes in on has more AMTRAK trains running on it and therefore is more often late.  That's my theory.  It was over twenty minutes late last night, according to a lady I ride the train with in the morning.  Joy of joys to go back to having to catch the later train. I love catching the earlier one c'est la vie!

It's a sunny day today, but a bit cool.  I love the Autumn light, it looked beautiful on the river this morning as I looked out of the train window.  Lovely warm ambiance to it.

I do love my Indian perfume.  Remember I said I bought Lily of the Valley a while ago and Mr. B. treated me to the Jasmine.  When I opened the package there was a little roller ball in there, which makes it very handy to apply.  I did not see that in the first package, but had found a little plastic doohickey on the carpet and had wondered what is that?  And put it aside.  Fast forward and the light dawns, so now I have that roller ball top on my Lily of the Valley perfume too.  Other wise there was a little dip stick if you want to call it that, this is so much easier.

Rob's GF is coming down for the weekend, they are attending the Renaissance Fayre, it's such fun to go too.  Mr. B. and I have been several times over the years.  One time when much younger I dressed up for it, that was fun.  I had an old Laura Ashley yellow, with white flower buds cotton print dress, and made a tall green velvet medieval hat with a white veil, it did look nice, unfortunately no pictures taken.  It was full length with a squared neckline.  Maybe I'll run across a picture of it on the internet.  I wish I still had it.

I was looking on NETFLIX last night when I ran across an Israeli cuisine film, and I thought that will be interesting, would love to try some, so I'm watching this show about this chef Michael Solomonov and what led him to Israeli cooking, when low and behold he has a restaurant in Philadelphia Zahav now I definitively want to eat here.  Funny how things come full circle.  He even has a cook book too.

Have a great weekend.

Christine

Fishermen's Memorial and Widows and Orphans Memorial, Stacy Esplanade, Looking Out Over Gloucester Harbor

Hi Dear Folk,

These pictures were taken late Saturday afternoon on my Cape Ann trip, before the unfortunate fractured ankle incident.

Gloucester's Stacy Esplanade looking over Gloucester Harbor.

Such a beautiful sky.  I parked the car along the side here and sat and had a cup of coffee and some biscuits.  In the above picture the traffic is stopped waiting for the draw bridge to be opened to allow boats to cross on the Blynman Canal.

This is the fishermen's Memorial.  Here is some information on it.

Resting on a granite base in the center of Gloucester's long, narrow Stacy Esplanade is the Gloucester Fisherman's Memorial. It is an eight-foot tall, bronze statue of a fisherman dressed in oilskins standing braced at the wheel on the sloping deck of his ship. It is positioned so that the fisherman is looking out over Gloucester Harbor. The English sculptor Leonard F. Craske (1882-1950) designed the sculpture, and it was cast by the Gorham Company of Providence, Rhode Island, in 1925. A small plaque on the north or street-facing side of the base reads, "MEMORIAL TO THE GLOUCESTER FISHERMAN, August 23, 1923." A larger recessed panel on the front or harbor-facing side of the base holds an inscription of bronze letters taken from the 107th Psalm, which reads:

THEY THAT GO
DOWN TO THE SEA
IN SHIPS
1623 - 1923

These are the fisherman that the film Perfect Storm was based on, drowned at sea 1991.  I'll have to watch that movie again staring George Clooney.

The Gloucester Tercentenary Permanent Memorial Association sponsored an artistic competition to commemorate Gloucester's 300th anniversary and to permanently memorialize the thousands of fishermen lost at sea in the first three centuries of Gloucester's history. In 1879 alone, 249 fishermen and 29 vessels were lost during a terrible storm. In preparing for the competition, Craske spent many hours aboard fishing schooners, sketching and photographing fishermen at work. His design was accepted and cast at a cost of $10,000. Generally acknowledged as Craske's finest work,

This is the Widow's and Orphan's Memorial.  I like the back view best on both of these statues, because their view is looking out to sea.

Feel my life is in fast motion with every Wednesday, my day off a visit to the doctor.  Yesterday was Orthopedic doctor and another set of XRays, and then Physical Therapy for an hour.  In the afternoon I had a pre-op visit with my local doctor for EKG etc, but was at 1:00PM and I thought 1:30PM so had to re-schedule for next week, honestly story of my life.  Fortunately there is enough time to do so before my op.

Since I was out I decided to stop off at Pier One Imports and stumbled upon a most lovely Indian candle holder, with coloured glass on the side, will have to take pics and show you.  Totally an impulse buy, you know how I love Indian things.  Price was good too on clearance.  Plus right time of year getting into winter, with the days drawing in, candles are lovely to cast a warming glow.  So last night I found two pillar candles and put them inside and lit them up.

It's beautiful here today and has been for several days.

Take care, Christine

Beauport House The China Trade Room

Hi Dear Folk,

This is the China Trade Room, it began life as a Medieval Hall, but when Sleeper came into possession of some hand painted rolls of wallpaper from the 1700's that had just been in storage, he decided to redesign the hall around this Chinese wallpaper.  To be honest I would have done the same, it is exquisite.  I would hate to have been the poor wall paper hangers though.

When McCann bought the house this was the room she changed the most.  I saw a picture of how the room was when completed in Sleeper's time and I must say the sitting room as it is now is much more cozy.  He had this pagoda in there that I can only describe as looking as if snakes were coming out of the top.

Here is a picture of how it used to look, lot of reflection on the glass.

Here is some history about that room.  All the items that were in this room are in storage.

Beauport has several two-story rooms, the most dramatic being the China Trade Room. It began life in 1908 as a vaulted medieval hall, dark and book-lined. In 1923, Sleeper acquired several large rolls of hand-painted Chinese wallpaper which Philadelphian Robert Morris, signer of the Declaration of Independence, had imported in the 1780s but never used. The designs illustrate the cultivation of rice and the manufacture of porcelain. Sleeper completely reworked the hall, filling it with light and replacing the carved balconies with gilded fretwork screens. He erected a large pagoda with a game table along one wall, and filled the room with low Chinese tables and benches.

When the McCanns bought Beauport, they so valued Sleeper’s arrangements that they changed very little on the interior, not even the arrangement of most of the individual pieces. Mrs. McCann did add some pieces from her own collections at several places. Some of her extensive collection of Chinese Export porcelain remains in a cabinet in the Cogswell Room, although most was given to the Boston Museum of Fine Art and the Metropolitan Museum in New York. 

The most significant change to Beauport occurred in the China Trade Room. The McCanns hired a New York firm, French & Co., to redecorate the room for more traditional entertaining. The wallpaper and gilded balconies were left untouched, but the rest of the room was emptied, the pagoda carted away. The decorator added an eighteenth-century English fireplace mantel of carved marble and suspended an enormous Waterford crystal chandelier from the middle of the ceiling. Chinese Chippendale furniture replaced the low benches, making the room more formal than Sleeper’s conception. The SPNEA interprets most of Beauport as it was in 1934, upon Sleeper’s death, but the China Trade Room remains as the McCanns altered it and is the most visible sign of their occupancy. 

Christine

Beauport The Library

HI Dear Folk,

Today is dull and overcast. I'm enjoying the quiet and might go out on a little yarn quest later.  I just want to say thank you to all my readers I do enjoy and appreciate the comments that you leave.  Wishing all a happy weekend.

You will never guess what Henry Sleeper built this room around?  He came across the window features, you think, built a room around drapes, well yes, they are actually hand carved wood to look like drapes.  He asked his architect to feature them and he designed a circular tower library.  It is called the Norman style book tower.

The flag hanging here is a Revolutionary War Flag.

Christine

Beauport House, The Octagon Room, Another Dining Room, Really

Hi Dear Folk,

Yes really, another dining roomThe Octagon Room.  I'm sure he must have used this room for other things too.

French red tin ware, that Henry Sleeper collected when in France and had shipped back.

Another painting done for Country Life, of this room, built for the octagonal table.

Tiger maple octagonal table.  I must say I do like tiger maple and birds-eye maple.

View from the Octagon Room.  Here is some further information about this room and A. Piatt Andrew, Jr.

Sleeper added the Octagon Room, or the Souvenir de France, in 1920-21, after his return from France where he worked with A. Piatt Andrew for the American Field Service. Its unique decorating scheme shows Sleeper at his most daring and successful. The room’s color contrast is striking, aubergine walls offering a dark background for vivid tiger maple furniture, a red-lacquer screen, red glass, books bound in red morocco leather with gold titles, and a large collection of red nineteenth-century French toleware. Sleeper commissioned an octagonal table and rug for the center of the room. A portrait of Lafayette ties the room both to Sleeper’s experiences in the First World War, and to the French support for the American Revolution, which helped end America’s colonial status. 

A. Piatt Andrew, Jr. (1873-1936), first introduced Harry Sleeper to Eastern Point in 1906; Andrew had designed and built his own house, “Red Roof,” there in 1902. A Harvard economist and later Director of the Mint, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, and U. S. Representative for fifteen years, Andrew was the first to sign the Beauport Guestbook in 1907. Both life-long bachelors and close friends, they shared many interests. Sixty of Sleeper’s personal letters to Andrew, covering his first decade at Beauport, have survived and been published as Beauport Chronicle.These, along with his correspondence to Halfdan Hanson, provide the most extensive written record available of Sleeper’s thoughts. 

Christine

Mission Accomplished

Hi Dear Folk,

Mission accomplished in the kitchen.  Lasagna made, peeled and froze the apples and pears, that Mr. B. picked up and made a Jewish apple cake.  Our family go to cake, always nice and moist with the apples and cinnamon.

This Sunbeam mixer is as old as Mr. B. 1956, 61 years old, and works beautifully.  I do have another Sunbeam mixer that was a wedding present 1981, 36 years old.  I like the sputnik type look to this one.  The early eighties colors were cream and brown.

Two frozen bags of apples and one of pears.  That will be nice to come at in the winter.

Christine

Workless Wednesday

Hi Dear Folk,

Today dawned dull and overcast, somewhat cooler but is meant to be back up in the eighties by the weekend.  October 10th is almost always sunny, I just remember that day over the years because it is our anniversary, and it usually dawns a sunny day, so a good day to chose for a wedding in our neck of the woods.

We all had to make sure all water related jobs were done before 8:00AM as they are turning the water off all day for water main repairs, I thought why couldn't it have been a work day, never mind.  Numerous containers are filled with water to hold us over.  We take running water for granted.

Monday was a holiday off work for me, but yet again I had to go to the doctor, hardly slept all Sunday night.  Poor Mr. B. got up and made a hot water bottle to help with the pain.  So Monday my fourth trip to the family doctor in a month, where I was prescribed another lot of antibiotics.  I don't like taking antibiotics, but some infections are cleared up with nothing else.  I always try to take a probiotic tablet and eat probiotic yogurt because antibiotics can do a real number on your stomach.  So with two specialist visits on top that makes six visits to doctors in about a four week period. Let alone, blood tests, eye tests and X-ray. I forgot the dentist, two visits there a cleaning and a whole set of X-rays, one deep filling but no root canal needed and it's not twinging me at all as the last one did for three months then settled down.  I haven't been that often to the doctor in the last five years or more.

I'm happy to report on the fractured ankle that it is slowly getting better, but not there yet.  Still wearing the black boot.  My boss has been letting me take the earlier train home, 5.04PM instead of 5:46PM which I love.  Just until the boot comes off.

Our health insurance gets renewed in Nov each year and as always it's gone up yet again another $475.00 per year.  It's now at about $700.00 every four weeks, not every month, just for my husband and I, with all sorts of co-pays and de-ductables.  Growing up in UK I will never understand the mentality of US health care.  You have to work to have health insurance through an employer, but if you're really ill, how can you work?  The out of pocket bills for all of the above have not started coming in yet.  $25.00 up front every time you visit the family doctor and $40.00 up front for the specialist.  So although you have health insurance you are actually worried about even using it.  I know folk in the USA know all about this.  Eat your hearts out though gas/petrol is $2.67 per gallon.  OK done with the whinging.  I know my little problems are so minor compared with others.

Interesting read on health insurance and staying in a job just for that at Cold Antler Farm Oct 6th post, for some reason I can't link to that particular post.

So I'm off to see what I can do with a bag of windfall apples and pears that Mr. B. Picked up.

Have a lovely day.

Christine

Poured on Monday, Popped up Tuesday

Hi Dear Folk,

It never ceases to amaze me as to the fungi that pops up around the old roots of our chopped down ash tree.  It's always different fungi.

Monday it poured with rain all day and this had grown by Tuesday.

What was so amazing is that when you looked closely it was puffing out spores, like tiny dust clouds, but could not catch it with the camera.  Mr. B. said they are studying this expulsion factor.  How does it do that?  Maybe it can be copied.

Tuppy also popped up for a little sunbathing.

These appeared too.  So beautiful, such forms and colour.

Christine

36th Anniversary Flowers

Hi Dear Folk,

Today the 10th October is our 36th wedding anniversary and look what greeted me on coming home from work, it truly was a lovely surprise from Mr B.

All these photos were taken in evening light.

I love tipping of ones hat to autumn but not totally, it's a lovely combination.

I just had to share this.  I'm off all day tomorrow, so have all day to enjoy it.  If you know what I mean.

Christine