You are currently browsing the monthly archive for May 2011.
This is Katy (Katama) our Boykin Spaniel, she was our first dog to go to Martha’s Vineyard… actually our first dog to ever go on a vacation with us. Here she is on the Islander looking happy and eager to get on with her adventures.
She enjoyed her first dip in the ocean… running and barking and trying to catch an elusive wave or two.
At Katama/South Beach, the place she was named for she was a little unsure of the waves so she mostly romped along side of them.
A quiet morning at Edgartown lighthouse was nice after going to the beach, shopping and meeting people. Unfortunately it was Katy’s one and only trip to MV… a year later she was hit by a car and died at only 20 months old. Did you ever see such beautiful yellow eyes. She was a sweetheart and we miss her and love her.
And then along came…
Chappy (Chappaquiddick) our second Boykin Spaniel and our first boy dog. His first vacation at age 10 months was of course to MV, and he of course loves the beach too.
And Sengekontacket pond which is a little calmer then the ocean.
Relaxing at Vineyard Haven harbor is fun too… watching the ferries arriving and leaving and sometimes meeting an Island dog to chat with. This by the way is his mom Deb’s favorite picture of him.
Chappy had to visit the place he was named after too so here he is with Deb on Chappaquiddick.
Not many places accept pets but Bradys NESW and The Island Inn do and they’re great place to stay with or without your pet. Chappy says a few of his favorite stores are - Good Dog Goods in Oak Bluffs… the treats there are wonderful (especially the cheese ones and the peanut butter ones) and the people always remember him and sometimes get down on the floor to play with him. He also recommends the Black Dog for their dog biscuits… he says they’re droolicious.
Chappy’s been known to visit my blog from time to time… here are a couple of his posts:
On the very haunted island of Martha’s Vineyard.. in the town of Oak Bluffs.. in a restored Victorian home is a restaurant called The Sweet Life Cafe. In this house in the 1930′s lived a daughter and her mother. In this house the mother passed away. That woman was my grandmother and the daughter was my mother. I had never met my grandmother as she passed on long before my parents were married but I always felt a closeness to her.
A few years ago my daughter Deb and I decided to treat ourselves to dinner at the Sweet Life Cafe… we’d never eaten there but felt the time was right. It was around 5 o’clock on a beautiful cloudless and breezeless May evening so we opted to sit on the patio in the garden as it was empty and peaceful. We had a glass of wine and settled back to talk about our day and enjoy the pretty surroundings. The tables were beautifully laid out and each had on it a small hurricane lamp with a candle in it. We looked around and noticed that the candles on all the tables but ours were lit! Our waitress re-lit ours. The candle went out. Again she lit it. Again it went out. She came back with a new candle. Again out it went. Again she re-lit it to no avail. My daughter and I joked that our grandmothers were joining us and were definitely in a playful mood.
Later after we’d eaten I stepped inside the house for the first time ever. As I climbed the stairs to the second floor and headed down the hallway to the restroom I passed what had been three bedrooms and a feeling of comfort came over me. I like to think it was the spirits of our grandmothers.
Later that evening as my daughter and I were passing by the restaurant we looked in at the patio…… the candle on the table we had been sitting at was burning brightly !!
Every Saturday night at the Chatterbox Drive-In in Augusta, NJ you can step (or drive) back in time to the 50′s and 60′s.
Picture yourself behind the wheel of this beautiful 1957 Ford Victoria cruising down the main drag, Elvis on the radio… really cool daddy-o.
Or go back even further in time to this stunning 1933 Auburn. How’d ya like to put on your glad rags and take a spin in this beauty.
These are pictures inside the original Fresnel lenses that lit the Gay Head Lighthouse from 1856 until the 1950′s when it was automated. You can see these lenses, which are made up of over 1000 prisms at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum in Edgartown.
“One red, three white light our slumber through the night… Three white, one red bring us back home to Gay Head” Kate Taylor
On Oct 5, 2007 I did my first post about my obsession with the Vineyard. It is 4 years and 7 months later and I’m still finding things to photograph, and write about the place I love most in the world.
I chose to show the above picture of Martha’s Vineyard because it is the one and ONLY jigsaw puzzle I ever did. Really. What prompted me to do this one? It’s of the Vineyard of course. In all honesty I thought it said 100 pieces which seemed like something I could handle… only it wasn’t 100 pieces… it was 1000. It took me a long time but I did it and then I put a coating on it and framed it.
Originally the line under the the title ‘MV Obsession’ said ‘All Martha’s Vineyard, ALL the time’…but I changed it to ‘ALMOST all the time’. There are other aspects of my life I want to share on my blog but it remains at least 90% Vineyard.
So, what have I had to say about the Vineyard. There are 33 categories listed on the left side… I’ve highlighted just a few below. Click on any of them and wander around a bit.
ILLUMINATION NIGHT TOWNS THE TABERNACLE
and the ever popular and challenging…
TRIVIA QUESTIONS (let me know how you do)
Thus ends post #500… here’s to 500 more, or less 
This is my wall of Vineyard counted cross stitch projects. It has taken 11 years to do all of them. There were other projects done in between the Vineyard ones and I also did eight of the Vineyard maps during that time too. I thought I was done when I finished the sixth project but eventually there was one more to do. That one would be ‘Tisbury’ which is on the bottom in the center. I don’t know why I hesitated sewing ‘Tisbury’, it’s a beautiful picture what with the tree and its sweeping branches.
My daughter Deb has loved ‘Tisbury’ and so for her birthday I gave it to her and then set about stitching it. I started in November and finished it in April.
All done and ready to go to the framer to get the same frame as the others.
Tah dah… isn’t it beautiful
These are not the only Vineyard counted cross stitches I’ve done. The one closest to my heart is the Tabernacle designed especially for me by Deb.
The Tabernacle is my favorite place on the Vineyard for many reasons and so this picture means more to me than I can ever put into words. But I did once in a post you can read by CLICKING HERE . Go ahead, I’ll wait…… ok, good you’re back.
Soon there will be another counted cross stitch project to go along with the Tabernacle. This is also designed by Deb and was given to me at Christmas. I just started it in April and should be done with it by December…2012 or so
Care to guess what it is? Hint… it’s another of my favorite places in Oak Bluffs.
