Morning Routine

We don't really have a routine while on holiday but this picture kind of sums up our slow mornings.  Sun streaming in the window.  A cup of coffee on the table.  Annabelle getting a cuddle from her aunt, Sara.  Charlotte cuddling her monkey while watching something on the iPad.  And one of the dogs taking a break after her long morning walk on the beach.  I WISH this was routine.

MORNING ROUTINE

For many of us, adding coffee to our morning routine makes us less...fuzzy.

Mood

Mood?  Try crazy silly happy mood.  Thats what it feels like when you are reunited with your awesome cousin after a year.

MOOD

Apparently I am relaxed. (Apparently I need to polish my nails to hide the black fingernail).

MISTY FOGGY

Matt 'misting' the flowers for me.

Misty Foggy

This morning I enjoyed the sunrise with my early bird Annabelle.  Lots of condensation on the door which fits the theme for misty and foggy.

Minimalism

We are officially on holiday (vacation) with Sebs family.  This wall is the only minimalist thing about the whole house.  The rest of the house is filled with family photos.  Hundreds and hundreds of them.  Guess who took most of them?

MINIMALISM

One of my favorite themes so far.

Metals

My precious metals.  Worn around my neck.  Day in.  Day out.

METALS

Neodymium rare-earth magnets, also known as BuckyBalls. These little devils are really strong magnets and are hard to put down. Almost therapeutic.

Metallic

Boring theme.  Boring picture.  That's a Monday for you.

METALLIC

MATCHED PAIR

Matched Pair

Two peas in a pod.  Picked them up at the farmers market this morning.  Had to take the picture quickly, before Annabelle ate them all.

MACRO SHOT

Gladiola. I tried not to take a picture of a flower but I am drawn to their beauty. I couldn't help myself.

Macro Shot

Found a little bee enjoying our lavender this morning.

LUNCHTIME

If its summer, this is where you can find a lot of people from our town. Lunch at the front and ice cream to the left (best Cotton Candy ice cream in the northern hemisphere). I took this at 2pm and the tables out of view on the left were full. Its been around since 1926.

www.flosfamous.com

Lunchtime

Today is Friday which means I can eat lunch with Annabelle.  Translation:  I got lunch ready and placed it on the dining table.  Annabelle freaked out because she wanted to eat outside in the 90 degree heat.   For a peaceful lunch I was willing to move everything outside.  I get everything outside, we sit down.  Annabelle asks for ice in her water, so I go in and get some.  I sit down, Annabelle reminds me that she needs her bib.  I go back inside to get it.  Then she wants a paper towel for the mess. Finally, I sit down to  eat my lunch.  Except Annabelle declares she is "DONE" and wants to go back inside.  I guess my lunch can wait...

LOTS & LOTS & LOTS

There are 108 stitches on a baseball. Lots of baseballs and lots of stitches.

Lots & Lots & Lots

Today was Charlotte's pre-school graduation (yes, apparently there is such a thing).  There were lots and lots and lots of little tiny chairs and tiny people.  There were also lots and lots and lots of people crammed into a small room on a hot day.  Still, it felt cooler than our house... our A/C isn't working and the thermostat says 87F INSIDE!  So we had lots and lots and lots of fun running through the sprinklers.  Sometimes the theme seems to define the day.

LITERATURE

Where would I be without Harry?

Literature

Two summers ago, Seb decided he wanted to read all of Shakespeare's comedies and tragedies.  In case you were ever wondering, Titus and Andronicus is definitely not a comedy.  Personally, I have zero interest in reading a book that weighs more than my children.   But (and with all apologies to Will) this book DOES have its uses: It adds extra height when taking a shot that requires a tripod in dim light and it is great for flattening out maple leaves (for art projects, obviously) and fake money (that Annabelle crumples up).

Liquid

Water crashing into the bath.  Yes, the bathtub is black.  I might have mentioned before that we inherited a rather bizarrely decorated bathroom.  This looks about as turbulent as my stomach felt watching the last of the Group D matches today.  England 1 Ukraine 0.  That calls for another kind of  liqour liquid.

LIQUID

A bow from Carly's Corner which opened today. Thank you Lisa <3

Lightness

What can be lighter than a bubble?  Wish I felt a bit lighter... but our lovely friends came over for a Father's Day barbecue and brought along half of Fairways Cheese supply (really good stinky cheeses) as well as an entire pig's worth of Jamon Serrano.  Now friends like that... are real keepers!

LIGHTNESS

I was trying very hard to show lightness. I was hoping to use a feather in the pond filled with swans and Canada Geese but there were none.

LETTERS IN NATURE

I was so excited about this weekend's themes - the possibilities, I thought, were endless. But the days got away on me and it really was...meh. I think that's the only negative I have about this project: there never seems to be enough time in the day to really spend time on it the way I would like to.
"F" is for frantically finding fotos.

Letters in Nature

After being totally uninspired by the Y's and V's of trees in our backyard, I took nature into my own hands.  This one is for the blog!

Letters in Architecture

Mrs. Z - this one is dedicated to you!  Our dear friend and most loyal blog reader!    Must admit I arrived in the city an hour early for my dinner date just so I could walk around and look for letters in architecture!!  It's official.  This project has taken over my life!

LETTERS IN ARCHITECTURE

I was very disappointed in my results of this theme. I went to the Village of Patchogue today and came up empty. I did find the letter "A" in the trellis of this house and to the left, a letter "F". Can I use the right side for the letter "T"?

Leading Lines

An absolutely beautiful evening.  In the distance is the bridge where I took my rainy "chair" picture.  Isn't it amazing how different everything looks in the evening sunshine?

LEADING LINES

There is some story behind this piano which is at the library, however, no one knew what family it belonged to from Oyster Bay. They emailed the former director of the library who is in Italy at the moment to get the back story.

LAUNDRY

I was going to bail today but I know someone who was nudging me along. "Don't give up" she whispered. "Not today."

Laundry

Every Thursday is a big laundry day around here.

LARGE

Getting ready for the Mattituck Strawberry Festival tomorrow. Hope they get better weather than today.

Large

On the left: A small 4oz glass of orange juice
On the right: a large 16oz glass of orange juice.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that kids aged 1-6 limit their juice consumption to 4-6oz per day.  PER DAY!!  They also recommend that kids aged 7-18 limit their juice consumption to 8-12oz PER DAY.   The Mayor of New York recently proposed a ban on all sugary drinks larger than 16oz.  He is being ridiculed by many but I see no problem with this at all.  I saw an article in the New York Times about the whole issue and they quoted a couple of people who were upset by this propsed ban.  This was my favourite quotation (from a 22 year old mother of two) "If I eat a cheeseburger and fries, i'm going to get dehydrated and that little cup (16oz) is not enough."

I don't even know where to start....

Landscape

There are so many lovely landscapes to choose from on my drive to work but I was running late so I didn't take a single picture.  Later on I heard someone in the office say it was about to pour so I quickly ran out, drove a mile down the road to this rather depressing site by the railroad and took a picture.  Then the heavens opened and they haven't stopped since.

LANDSCAPE

I pass this lonely spot in the middle of Patchogue. I always have an overwhelming urge to stop my bike and walk as far as I can see.  I prefer a country landscape to a city every time. I wish this theme was a day earlier or a day later when I work out East.

Kitchen Utensils

WARNING: NERD ALERT!  I might not get excited by handbags but THIS pair of scissors really tickled my fancy.  I added chives to a pea, feta and potato rosti yesterday (because I could!) and today these chives will be going into my salad.

KITCHEN UTENSILS

Joy

Meet Sara, Seb's sister.  She brings a whole lot of joy into our lives.

JOY

Today, the house is empty. The boys are out with friends, Michael is at work :( and Eric is on his way. With some extra time I thought I would try to do something that fills me with joy- the hammock, a good book on the iPad, Ranier cherries and a cold iced tea. And the weather is just how I love it - hot, hazy and humid.

ITSY-BITSY TEENY WEENY

My Mom gave me these minuscule shells. I like the zebra striped one and the white one with the point.

Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny

These are "worry men" and they are teeny.  Back in October, Charlotte became convinced there were monsters under her bed.  I tried everything to have her believe otherwise but nothing worked.  Until one day we went to a Mexican restaurant...they gave us one with the bill after dinner and told us to "tell him your worries before you go to bed."  I told Charlotte about it and we started ending our bedtime routine asking the worry man to "please keep the monsters away."  But Charlotte is the QUEEN of delaying bedtime and the list she had for the worry man started growing every night.  Just to give you a sense "Dear Worry Man please keep away the monsters, the witches, the dragons, the pirates, wolves, mean cats and mean bunnnies...."  you get my point!

Isolation

I was totally stumped for this theme until my friend told me that her son was going to have to be in isolation... with coxsackie virus.  Suddenly it brought me right back to my clinical days in the Bronx... entering the isolation rooms for patients with tuberculosis. I had to wear a very air-tight mask that bore a slight resemblance to this.  .  Tricky taking a picture like this in the mirror!

ISOLATION

Today on my Friday walk on the beautiful grounds of The Bayard Cutting Arboretum, I saw this magnificent heron. He/She was alone at the edge of the water and stood there just until I lowered my camera. Then, took off low across the lake.

www.bayardcuttingarboretum.com

Interior

We spent a good chunk of our morning with Annabelle at the pediatric otolaryngologist (hardest word I have had to spell on this blog yet).   This is a picture of the interior of the office, where we waited for a long time.  And the picture is of the inner ear... fitting the theme again.  From here I went straight to a work meeting which was so frustrating... I wish I had know about downtherabbithole sooner.

INTERIOR

As soon as I saw the theme for today, I immediately thought of this tiny store. In it's former life, I think it was an alleyway, connecting the two stores on either side. This is my dear friend Kathy at her daughter's wine store, Down The Rabbit Hole Wine Boutique, in Sayville, NY. It is so small that, as you can see, she can easily touch both sides of the store walls - even if the wine rack was not there! It is quaint and decorated beautifully. She has wine tastings for people passing by and they know their stuff. If you are ever in the area and need a bottle of wine, this is the perfect place for you.

www.downtherabbitholewines.com

INTERACTION

She is the most loving dog you could meet.

Interaction

I didn't have much interaction with real people today...
Charlotte might have a future as a puppeteer.  The story line was pretty compelling.