Flowers & Fluppies

I never noticed the lilacs at this stage before! I took this pic at the end of April.  It's been slow going this year for flowers.

I was fixing some homemade chicken soup one early morning when Russell was sick, and wondered why my "sous chef" wasn't right at my side, hoping for a piece of chicken.  Then I remembered I forgot to fold the futon back up.  Peeked around the corner to see this.

First time Sagan's ever put comfort before food.

Gorgeous bright orange moon on May 2nd.

Unfortunately I dumped all my cut branches and stuff right on top of the daffodils, of which there are many this year.  More than I've ever seen.  Yellow, white with orange and yellow with orange. They are very pretty but I screwed up and put all the yard waste on them.  I didn't even know they were there.

2 red tulips are out front.

Rose of Sharon on the side of the house.  I wish this would last longer too.

Grape hyacinth.

P. Pepper Puppypoo chillin like the adorable doggie she is.  I'm still looking for pet stairs to put near the new couch but Petco was sold out of all the tall ones and the only other one they had was flimsy and small.

Sagan sez, 'Oh HAI mama!  Ai can haz bewwy wub?  Pweeze?"

Our brother in law passed away, and this was the amazing floral arrangement at the celebration of his life.  He was a Wampanoag Indian, and my SIL found all those turkey feathers a couple of days before the memorial.  They did a fantastic job of working them into the arrangement.

Finally, I shot this at my sister in law's house on Mother's Day.  Not sure what they are but her yard is loaded with them!  

Wordless Wednesday

New Campus, Boston Common & OMG My Poor Aching Feet

After I left the Poe statue I continued down Boylston Street and was surprised to stumble on Emerson's new campus.  I totally forgot that they moved to this part of town.  To me it seems very crowded and cramped compared to the brownstones and dorms on Beacon.  But at least the whole campus is one place, instead of being as spread out as it was in the 80s.

Of course I had to stop into the bookstore to pick up a couple of souvenirs.  In my day the bookstore was awful, and in the basement of 100 Beacon Street.  It was tiny and cramped and stuffy.  There was a nicer store that sold tshirts and stuff in the Student Union.  Now it's all in one Barnes & Noble and is very nice.

Turning the corner onto Tremont Street, I noticed this ancient cemetery in Boston Common.  If I knew this was there in the past, I totally forgot about it.  I really didn't remember ever seeing this before.  

Across the street from Boston Common is this awesome tilework on the Masonic Lodge.

Another statue in the Common on the Tremont Street side.

By this point I was really humping it to get back to the bus station....it was 12:40 and the bus was set to leave at 1:15.

Downtown Crossing again.

Uh-oh!  The British are coming! The British are coming!  

Wow what a great day!  The weather was perfect...not too hot at all but comfortable for this epic walking tour.  And that's what's so great about Boston, you can do the entire city in just a few short hours (if you skip museums and tours).  I made it back to South Station by 1:00 pm and home by 2:30. My feet were absolutely screaming when I got on the bus and my back kinda went out a little bit too...this was an ambitious first walking day trip of the year. This is a map of the area I visited with a poorly drawn red line to show where I walked.  Started on the right side, worked my way to the top, then over to the far left and back to the right.  No idea how many miles it was, but I'm guessing at least 4-5.

I hope you enjoyed my tour of Beantown!

The Public Gardens and EA Poe

One of the reasons I wanted to get to Boston ASAP this spring was that the Public Gardens were in full bloom and it truly is a sight to see.  I entered the Gardens through the Arlington Street gate at the George Washington statue.

That is one of the famous swanboats.  I did it once many years ago in the mid 80s and hope to again one of these days.

Next thing on the list was the new Edgar Allen Poe statue at the corner of Boylston and Charles Streets.  Although he is associated with Baltimore, he was born in Boston and apparently hated the city.  He is facing the direction of the home in which he was born, although I did not venture down to see it.  

The Telltale Heart.

The Raven.

And some quotes embedded in the sidewalk as well.

 Phew! What a tour!  Almost done!