Summer on Cape Cod Beach : Monomoy Island Review

This beach scene with the fluffy clouds reflecting in the puddles is a nice memory from the summer trip to the Monomoy Island, near Cape Cod. Monomoy Island is Wildlife Refuge and is a protected haven for gray seals, endangered terns and other shore birds. The island is a relatively short boat trip away from the shore. The island has absolutely nothing on it but wildlife, so bring a picnic and enjoy a day away from the hassle and bustle.  It is wonderful!

For photos with reflections visit Reflections and photos of the sky visit Skywatch.

First Night Celebration Review - Boston and best of other New England towns

First Night celebration began in Boston in 1976 by a small group of artists who sought an alternative way of celebrating New Year's Eve. Soon other surrounding communities started their own First Night celebrations. First night celebration consist of many music and dance performances (typically 30-40 minutes long), parade, ice sculptures, fireworks, puppet shows, story telling, and much more. I love music, so we typically go to as many musical performances as we can: classical music, organ performances, chamber music, world music, opera, choruses. Boston downtown is pretty compact and can be covered on foot within 1 hour. We can typically fit 4 performances a night with a pleasant walk between each location. The streets are full of revelers and are festive and beautiful.

After visiting Boston's First Night for many years,we have decided to try out other New England celebration.  There are more than a dozen towns around New England that have some First Night activities.

We found that out of all of them three others offer celebration worthy of consideration:

We enjoyed Portmouth First Night.  It has a fewer events that Boston but it very quite nice,  less crowded while still very festive.  And from my previous posts you know that Portmouth is one of my favorite cities to visit to dining options (but do make reservations in advance, the best restaurants are booked up  well in advance).

Chatham First Night Celebration is spectacular this year, it has more performances than Boston's first night.  First Night Chatham offers something for everyone – a circus, musicians, local artists, theater, opera, a giant bonfire, a clamorous noise parade, the Countdown Cod Drop, and a fantastic fireworks finale!

Worcester First Night is another celebration worth mentioning.  It has a nice collection of musical performances, dance performances, and two sets of fireworks.

Audio Book Review: McNally's Trial, Lawrence Sanders

I have never read any Sanders books before, I bought this book because it was on sale.  McNally's trial is a light and easy to listen to mystery.  It kept me entertained and interested.

The mystery begins when the main character is asked to find out why a funeral home began making a lot more money than before, in particular why they are shipping so many caskets to New York, Boston, and Chicago.

The hero often speaks directly to the listener, which works very well in an audio book, making you a "partner" in the case.  I liked it!

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Portmouth, New Hampshire - a great destination for a day trip

One of my favorite towns within 1 hour ride from my house is Portmouth, New Hampshire. It is full of interesting shops, great restaurants, interesting museums, and it is beautiful!  The town incorporation in 1653. It is named Portsmouth in honor John Mason, who was the captain of the port of Portsmouth, England, in the county of Hampshire, for which New Hampshire is named.  

Two of the interesting museums in Porthmouth are:

* Strawbery Banke Museum — a neighborhood featuring several dozen restored historic homes in Colonial, Georgian and Federal styles of architecture.

* USS Albacore Museum & Park — a museum featuring the USS Albacore, a U.S. Navy submarine used for testing, which was decommissioned in 1972 and moved to the park in 1985.

My favorite restaurants are:

Ristorante Massimo (Italian),  Cafe Mirabelle (French), and Popovers (eat-in bakery with the best Popovers). I also have to mention my favorite chocolatier Byrne and Carlson, as no trip to Porthmouth is complete without a stop there.

The photo in this post is Porthmouth waterfront, and it is my contribution to Watery Wednesday and Outdoors

Red Poppy Flower and Red Bush

This is a bush in front of my house - the red twigs and berries look great against the fresh snow.  This is my contribution to Ruby Tuesday (because it is red) and My World (because it is in front of my house).

My second contribution is a photo of my Quiltworks artwork "Red Poppy".  Red for "Red Ruby" and my art work for "My world" because artwork is such a huge part of my daily life.

Restaurant Review: Best Dim Sum in Boston

Best Dim Sum in Boston for the last year or two is Hei la Moon (88 Beach Street, Boston, MA 02111). You know it is undisputed best Dim Sum place because it always has very busy inside and outside. Most of the clients are Chinise and they know what good Dim Sum is! Every now and then we check out our old favorites, and they look rather deserted by comparison.

Hei La Moon is located just outside Boston's China Town on Beach Street, and it has no large English restaurant sign above the entrace. The first time we went there we had trouble finding it as we don't read Chinise. In fact, I think we only reason we found it was because we had a street number (from finding a review on line) and a hand-held GPS. It was a bit of an adventure! But we were rewarded for our persistance with an excellent meal! And we have been back many times since then. Hei la Moon has lots of fresh hot Dim Sum choices, and the best selection of seafood Dim Sum.  To help you find it, Hei la Moon is in the same building as the garage.

To see other restaurant reviews check "Restauraunt reviews" under Labels on the navigation column on the left.

Audio Book Review: Paths of Glory, Jeffrey Archer

Jeffrey Archer is one of my favorite authors. When the doctors told me to walk to help heal my back, I decide to buy some audio books to make my walks less boring. Path of Glory was the first audio book I purchased. I did not know what it was about, I purchased it just because it was written by Archer. And I was not disappointed! This book is the life story of George Leigh Mallory, a novel based on a historical figure and his attempts to be the first man to climb Mount Everest. He died in his final attempt, and noone knows whether he summited the Everest before he parished. This book kept me revited from start to finish, some parts of it were so interesting that I had to re-listen to some chapters, just to enjoy them again.  I was sad when the book was over, which is always a sign of a very good book.
After I finished the book, I came became a Mallory fan and looked up more historical information about his life and theories on how he died. I highly recommend this book! This book is a very good read and an interesting historical story.


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Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey, Jude Law)

The new Sherlock Holmes movie story line is Canon Doyle meets Dan Brown. The movie is not a typical detective story or mystery, it is an action movie with some puzzles along the way. Robert Downey Jr is an absolutely maverlous actor and is great in this movie as well. Jude Law plays Watson, and Robert Downey and Jude Law are terrific together. The relationship has been modernized into somewhat of a “bromance”. The dark cinematography is beautiful, made me wish I was there with my camera so I can capture it myself. The movie was not the mystery story I expected, but I enjoyed it never the less.


To see my other on-line movie reviews click here

Assymetrical Flowers

I really liked the asymmetric beauty of the flowers hanging from a flower box. It was neat to capture the flowers in different stages of opening.

To see more on-line flowers visit flowers today and to see golden colors see Mellow Yellow

Curious Donkey (Animal Photography)

This friendly and curious donkey found me at a local horse farm.  We went there to catch a little fresh air and to enjoy looking at the horses.  I was looking around through my view finder not realizing that he walked right up to me. I turned to the left and there he was right into my camera.  Heh heh.  Auto focus is a nice thing! It was turn and click! And then pet pet pet him on the nose :-)  Good donkey!

Holiday Photo : Christmas Apple Tree

I saw this wonderful decorated apple tree in the front lawn of a local apple orchard.  When I heard of the clear weather forecast I went for an evening ride with my camera and took a couple of photos.   I liked the black sky and the reflection of the bulbs and moon on the snow.

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope it is filled with joy and happiness!

For more wonderful photos visit Scenic, Sky watch, Reflections and Shadows

Amanda's Bunnies by Quiltworks

One of the reasons I love selling my artwork on line is that I get to "meet" people all over the world! Collectors of my artwork live in US, UK, Canada, Russia, Yugoslavia, Australia, Israel, Germany, Switzerland, and Netherlands. I really enjoy when they share little tid bits about their life.


This blog entry features Amanda's bunnies. Amanda lives in UK and loves animals. Bunnies have a particular place in her heart. The two bunnies in this posts are Anabel and Isabella. I enjoyed reading Amanda's stories about their personalities and mischief, and how the bunnies fit perfectly into their family. Both Anabel and Isabella have passed away, or as Amanda puts left over the Rainbow Bridge. I feel good that I was able to create a portrait of each and make Amanda full of good memories when she looks at them.

Cape Cod Porch with a view

I spotted this lovely porch with a view while walking around on the Cape. I thought it was picture perfect with its white rocking chairs, American flag, and the view of the ocean!  This is my contribution to Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday

Holiday Artwork - Merry Christmas !!

Just wanted to share photos of my Quiltworks holiday artwork - Merry Christmas everyone!

Not only do they feature the holiday themes, they can be used as Christmas ornaments, here is one of the photos I received with one of them on the tree .  Quiltworks pieces can work well as ornaments as they are pretty on both sides.

These are my contributions to My World and Ruby Tuesday

Snow and more snow!

It is snowing really hard outside right now.  We are expecting about 18 inches.  There are bands of snow with blizzard conditions reported on the news.  And we are still officially in the fall season!  The snowy tree is my contribution to Scenic Sunday.








As an antidote to snow looking at the these lovely blue streptocarpus flowers make me feel warmer!  Check out more flowers from folks around the world.  


I am participating in flower meme today, and one of the photographs I saw totally stunned me - a rose in the snow.  Randi, who has this beautiful flower in her garden, told me that it is a Helleborus flower.  I highly recommend that you visit her blog to see this stunning photo.  I found information on now to grow and care for Helleborus and hopefully next year I can have a winter rose in my garden!

Golden fall leaves are just a memory now.  This photo was taken about a month ago in Boston Public Garden.  For more golden colors visit Mellow Yellow.

Movie Review: Did you hear about the Morgans (Sarah Jessica Parker, Hugh Grant)

The story line of this romantic comedy is somewhat predictable. An estranged New York City couple (Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker) witnesses a murder and is relocated to small-town Wyoming as part of a witness-protection program.  They start by bickering but eventually make up. Hugh Grant plays the same character over and over again. Sarah Jessica Parker is pretty and frosty.

However I had a few good laughs along the way, so this was not the worst movie of the year.  This is not a stellar recommendation, but I did not hate it.

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Weekend Photos - Jordan Pond

 I am participating in Shadow Shot Sunday, where people share photographic images that feature shadows.  I am lucky enough to live a very beautiful New England.  100 miles in each direction one can find a large variety of points of interest: an ocean to the east, mountains to west and north, lakes all around...

This week's contribution from Acadia National Park in Maine.   The late afternoon and still water made for this perfect reflection of "Bubbles" in the Jordan Pond.  We had afternoon tea and Popovers with stawberry jam on the lawn patio of a Jordan Pond restaurant.  That was a perfect afternoon!

The second contribution is to  camera critters. 

This is Hedy and Hopper back in their favorite basket.  They loved tight places and would jam themselves into this little basket on regular basis.  Eventually they could fit only one at a time...  If they were to try it now they would only get their front paws in!  But alas, they lost interest in the basket along with other silly kitten habbits.   

18 inches of snow!

We are expecting 18 inches of fresh snow later on today! Oh Boy! Blizzard conditions are expected!  I am not looking forward to that at all!  I finished this very timely art work just last weekend - I feel a little bit like the bunny in my Quiltworks fiber art "Oh, boy, what is coming over there?"

Ripples and Reflections

When I saw this colorful reflection, I knew it was missing "something"... ripples!  Then I spent some time throwing pebbles and trying to hit the spot I wanted the ripples to be located.  Sigh. I don't have good aim, but I was persistant. Eventually I got the shot I wanted :-)
For more reflection photos visit reflections.

Mountain Passage

This gazebo is at one of the outlooks onto a mountain vista in New Hamshires's White Mountains.  For more Sky photos visit Skywatch

The photo challenge this week is to find creative Christmas decorations.  I picked this photo of natures Christmas decoration - another view of crab apple tree after the first snow.

Gnarly tree

I like tree silhouettes with their gnarly branches. 
Gnarly branches of the tree whose
twisted arms reach for the sky and beg for sun and rain, so their children leaves would come back.
In this Quiltworks artwork I pictures the sun coming up beaming through the branches, and a raven on her morning stroll.  More information on this artwork here.

Visit Quiltworks fiber art on Ebay

Christmas Kitten

Kitty cats are one of my favorites subjects for creating artworks.  They are cute and mischievous, and provide tons of inspiration.  This piece is called Christmas Kitten by Quiltworks. It was inspired by watching a friend's kitten get into the ribbons she was using to decorate her presents.  If you are interested in purchasing this artwork, you can find more information on Quiltworks fiber art  here.

Visit Quiltworks fiber art on Ebay

Waterfall in the Fall

This photo is from a hike in Royalston, Mass.
I picked this photo for Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday

Shy Bunny

I had fun with this shy bunny trying to capture the bashful personality!  This is another art work inspired by the rejection of the winter weather in my window :-)
This Quiltworks piece available for sale and you can find more information about Quiltworks fiber art here, it is a perfect stocking stuffer ;-)



Visit Quiltworks fiber art on Ebay

Colorful Rooster

On this snowy week I worked on a colorful Rooster, I needed something different from the monochrome picture I see out of my window!
If you are interested in learning more about this Quiltworks fiber artwork, you will find more information here in Quiltworks' gallery.

Fresh snow

Today's photos feature the fresh snow we got this week.  The first photo is contribution to My World and Scenic meme.

The second photo is "Last leaf" and is for Mellow Yellow and Flowers.

The final snowy picture is for Ruby Tuesday.  When I saw our crab apple tree covered by snow I thought it was nature's Christmas decorations.

Movie Review: The men who stare at goats (George Clooney, Jeff Bridges)

The story line of this movie sounded interesting: a desperate reporter stumbles upon a man who claims to be a former secret U.S. Military psychic soldier.  The movie starts out interesting and funny, I had a feeling that the real story is just about to begin, but it goes no where, and deteriorates into being boring.  At least Clooney was still pleasant to look at :-)  Overall,  I don't recommend it.

See other moview reviews

Horse Farm

This week we had our first significant snow, we stopped by a picture perfect horse farm, where I took some pictures for Camera Critters.  The horse is the picture is a stallion who won some dressage competitions.  Unfortenately, we did not see him perform.  By the time we got there the practice was over and he was enjoying his dinner!

Washington Mall

I took this photo in Washington. The sun was coming down quickly and I wanted to get closer to the Lincoln Memorial to take a better photo of its reflection. I recall running down the side of the reflecting pool taking photos along the way on the run.  Turned out that my favorite photo from that night was this one, taken early in my run.  I liked it because I have not seen a photo of the Lincoln Memorial taking from this vantage point.
For more photos with reflections and shadows visit Friday Reflections and
Sunday Shadows

Kitty cat in bed

I just finished this art work of kitty cat in bed, toasty between the covers!  If you like this Quiltworks artwork you can find more information in Quiltworks gallery.

First Significant Snow

This weekend we had our first significant snow. It was wet and sticky, perfect for making snowman and lacing tree branches with white.  I loved how the black lines of the fence looked against the fresh snow, and the sky almost matched the whiteness of the snow.  I thought this photo was prefect for Skywatch and Lines challenge.

Lucky portrait

This is Lucky.  Lucky has a cute habit of holding his left ear cocked, so he does not miss anything that is going on!  In the custom fiber portrait of Lucky (on the left) Lucky is captured in his typical pose, and on the right Lucky is posing in front of his portrait at home. He is so cute!

To read more about the process of creating Quiltworks custom portraits click here.