Plymouth Breakwater & Waterfront

After I left the 9/11 Memorial, I headed downtown to take a walk before the weather turned ugly.  

Advertising for the Pirate Tour.

In all the times I was up there, I had yet to walk out on the long breakwater that sticks out into Plymouth Harbor.  Figured it'd be a good day to do it.

Once off the wooden bridge on the rocks, it was not only windy, it was hurricane-force windy.

A lot of graffiti on the rocks....mostly obnoxious but I did like the shark.

Looking back at town.

By this point I was really getting scared I was going to get blown off the rocks.  I was so grateful for that cable because I was gripping it like grim death. I wanted to go down to the end but decided to turn back.

I know this looks creepy, like I was down on the rocks near the water, but I took it at the bend in the breakwater.  Believe me, I was still holding tight to the cable!

This is looking across the water at Long Beach.

And the tip of Long Beach.

Still sunny where I was

But bad weather was moving in fast

I was starved so I stopped at Cabby Shack for a quick grilled chicken Caesar salad.  It was so good.

I love how it's painted inside.  A couple of years ago, I posted a pic of the orca whale painted on one of the other walls.

This guy was next to my table.

Like I was going to pass up a Cupcake Charlie's!  I ate that on the walk back to the car.  Oh sweet funfetti icing goodness!  How I love thee!

Playing Catch Up

Now that my cold is finally over, I have been throwing myself into a lot of projects, both cross stitch and cleaning.  My back was still killing from all the yard work, so I spent a couple of afternoons in my recliner knocking this beaded ornament kit out.  

Quarter to show scale.  There is a whole series of these beaded ornament kits by Mill Hill and I want them ALL!!!!!!!!

Cleaned up the metal futon frame and got some cushions for it, but I think we are going to get thicker ones for the seat and Russell wants to elevate it somehow because it is way too low, even for me.  I'm still in the market for a couple of chairs too.

A few weeks ago, Jaime and I were PMing on Facebook about music and I mentioned that I saved a ton of You Tube links to newer songs that I really loved, but I hated the thought of having to buy entire CDs just for one song.  I'm not savvy enough to do iTunes or anything like that.  I joked that I missed the days of 45 records.  She told me to send her all the links to the videos and she could easily download and burn them to discs for me, from which I could make my beloved mix tapes. She sent me 5 discs a few days later!!  I spent a few hours listening to them and writing down what's on each disc.  Then I got some blank tapes off Amazon.com.  I'm going to be a busy girl!!!  I'm so excited!!! 

Spring cleaning is in full swing in the house.  We got new a/c units because the others are almost 4 years old and run 24/7 from April to November.  It was time for new ones.  On Sunday, I did the laundry room, bathroom and craft room.  Plus did what I could to tidy the storage room.  I was some exhausted and went to bed at 8:30. Got up at the crack of dawn on Monday, thanks to the noisy birds, and got going by 7 to the laundromat to wash the comforters, do the grocery shopping and errands. Then it was time to clean the bedroom which took 2 hours.  I did the livingroom yesterday and all I have left is the kitchen, which takes the longest.  And we also finally found a futon couch, right in Wareham too.  I wish we'd found it 2 weeks ago instead of making that wretched trip to Stoughton.

We were in Mashpee last week and I treated myself to a couple of Cupcake Charlie's cupcakes: Funfetti and carrot cake.  They were sooooooooo GOOD!  My cupcake MO is to eat the bottom cake, then dig into the top with the icing. It's probably a good thing that CC is in Mashpee or else I'd be there every day!!

While organizing my stitching kits, I found this one that I started last November and put away because of the holidays.  I totally forgot about it.  It's a pretty quick workup.  I had to change the round red & green mint candy design because the ones in the pattern look like swastikas.  I just have the top and bottom to do.  These kits are easy to work on while I'm in my recliner on a heating pad after marathon cleaning!

My new futon couch came yesterday!  They dragged the old one outside which is being picked up for a dump run.  Pepper is having a lot of trouble getting up on this one and she's not at all happy.  I have to help her up sometimes but she is making progress on jumping up on her own.  Not sure what to do about this issue...I could try getting her a step or box or something but I'm not sure if she'd grasp the concept.  She really wants to be on the couch as it's more comfortable for her and I can't be here to help her all the time.  

"Ai not like, mama".

It's a lot bigger than the old one was....I barely have enough room to recline....but it should be fine. The mattress is thick so it'll work for sleeping a couple nights a week, although now that we are using the a/c again, that helps to drown out the snoring.  Still though, it's nice to have a better looking couch in the house; the other one was so shabby.  Now if I could just find 18" blinds to replace those shredded ones, I'd be set.

I am really eager to get back to my day trips and photography.  It's been a long winter and it's going to feel great to get back to it.  

Wordless Wednesday

Updates

 Since A-Z took up all of April, here are some pics of the highlights from late March to May.

The furkids remained goofy.

My bff/sister Michelle up in Maine told me she sent an 8 lb package to me.  What could be in it? OMG! It was my DREAM package!  Full of marbles, flat back glass blobs, tumbled glass, a glass etching kit and a huge bag of embroidery/cross stitch floss.  Plus 2 wire wrapped pieces of beach glass and a handful of abalone shell, tear-shaped pendants.  She's all about the fibre arts and knitting now and wanted to give her craft supplies a good home.  The marbles in particular are fabulous.  One of her friends did the glass tumbling and they look like beach glass.

In late March, I took my stepdaughter to Falmouth to pick up the awesome new ride she's leasing. These new cars are like Knight Rider "Kit" cars with all the touch screens, a back-up camera and futuristic key!  We had to wait for it to be registered, so we went to lunch and then for cupcakes at Cupcake Charlie's in Mashpee.  She had the lemon, I had the carrot cake and they were deeeeeelish!  I haven't yet obtained her permission to put any pics of her on my blog, so all you get are the cupcakes.  :-)

Years ago in CA in the 1990s, I'd made a sugar egg and always wanted to try another one.  I decided to do it kind of late: The day before Easter.  I had the wrong frosting and my toys weren't that good. I should have done it with vintage Easter ephemera images and next time I will.  I will also be sure to make the royal icing recipe because that will dry faster and much harder than the canned buttercream.

I also shouldn't have used pink sugar because the bunny was also pink.  Then I tried to dot frosting flowers on the back wall with limited success.  My icing piping bag sucks.  I need a better one.  It's been a month  and the icing points are breaking off, rather than hardening, so I may have to salvage the toys and scrap the eggs.

A baggie of Fimo clay canes surfaced when I was reorganizing my craft room for the umpteenth time.  I got them in about 1996.  I'd made a bunch of beads back then, but moved onto other projects and the canes got bagged & stored.  They have now dried out, so making beads with them was next to impossible.  The canes split down the center.  However, I was really delighted with what they looked like!  Reminded me of "Fordite", a faux gem made from layers of automobile paint that accumulated in chunks in the old auto factories.  

I was only able to make a few beads, which all had to be thick and all split when I ran a headpin through to make the holes.  But I love how the flat cross section pieces came out.

My stepdaughter also spent a great Sunday afternoon at my house, making cupcakes and watching 'Shawshank Redemption' and 'Erin Brockovich'.  I made her homemade mac & cheese and broccoli for dinner and of course we nommed the cupcakes for dessert!  It was her idea to make the batter purple.  She is the one who did all the work with them, including piping the frosting.  I was in charge of sugar.  I love that she likes to spend time with me. 

My job at the Wareham schools in the cafeteria is really pretty good.  I was dreading it at first but I like the fact that it's so fast paced and the time goes by wicked fast.  I've been called a few times now and it seems that I'll get called a lot as the school year comes to a close; I expect the kitchen will be brutally hot when June gets here. I also did my very first photography job for a friend of mine who had remodeled a cottage he & his wife bought last year.  It'd be cool if I could pick up more shooting jobs like that.  

After the snow finally melted, I scavenged some acorn caps from my mom's yard and made some more acorn capped beads.

And sprayed some shells silver. 

And made a supply caddy for my craft table out of a metal paint bucket covered w/ paper and ribbon, with a soup can covered with paper, and hot glued to the bucket.

And made a beaded bubble blowing wand, that works so-so.

In baking news, I attempted my first pineapple upside down cake, sans maraschino cherries because, well, we don't like them.  The way to my man's heart is through his stomach and I've been doing a lot more cooking and baking.  He lights up like a Christmas tree when I cook for him, too.  He mentioned liking this kind of cake and I decided to make it for him, from a Duncan Hines mix.  I was afraid of the flipping part but it worked without breaking.  It was so freakin good too.

This was another quick project.  Just use a punch on coloured tissue paper and decoupage to a votive cup.  I used the decoupage on the glass too because I thought it was supposed to dry with a matte finish but it didn't.

The year started off with some bad luck, but things have evened out for the time being.  Let's hope the rest of the year goes well!

Plymouth, Part 2

 And then the jet ski I rented got away from me..... ;-)

I wasn't about to leave town without visiting Cupcake Charlie's!!!  I needed a reward for walking around for 2 hours in the heat and humidity!!!

Chocolate chip! Om nom nom nom!!

Like I was going to walk past and not shoot a photo of this?  If I was still in high school, I'd return after dark to try and steal it.

Temple Beth Jacob.  I've never seen a Jewish temple in what used to be a church!

True story.

Pretty beach bags.

Stairs to burial hill.  I wasn't up for a hike up them in the warm weather so I'll save that for another trip.

I want this peacock.

And this table.