My Secret Garden

Greetings on a rainy Thursday afternoon :O)

I am posting one of my latest photography efforts. 

" My Secret Garden"

Last night I joined a local camera club. 

Everyone was so nice and people of all ages .

So I guess I was inspired to play around with some of my latest photos!

I always loved the book as well as the movie- The Secret Garden.

This gate to a garden struck me as an entrance to a mysterious,

lush oasis of vines and sprays and clusters of dewy fresh blossoms!

Just imagine Alpine Asters or African tulips growing around the cobblestone walk....

Oh well back to work.

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Hugs

Mary

Pinwheels for Peace

Hello friends!

Today is World Peace Day

My students and I worked together to create 

a visual public

 statement about peace!

For several days my art students and art club have

been busy making pinwheels!

The students drew all sorts of lovely designs

 and then

wrote words of peace on them.

We even made cute little Pinwheel pins for the students and staff to wear!

The following is from the Pinwheels for Peace Project site.

"Through the Pinwheels for Peace project, 

we can make a 

public visual statement about our feelings 

about war/ peace/

 tolerance/ cooperation/ harmony/ unity and, in some way, 

maybe, awaken the public and let them 

know what we are thinking."

"Imagine…  millions of pinwheels spinning in the wind – pinwheels in the United States, Great Britain, South America, Australia, the Middle East, Canada,  Africa, Europe and Asia;  pinwheels all over the world! – big pinwheels, small pinwheels;  pinwheels of all  shapes and sizes – colorful pinwheels, decorated with drawings, paintings, collages, photographs  – pinwheels with words of peace and harmony written on them – fields of pinwheels, pinwheels along roadsides, in schoolyards, in parks, pinwheels EVERYWHERE!  "

We held our breath when we first heard the 

weather forecast for today.

But, despite the predictions and early morning rain

 it turned out to be a

BEAUTIFUL day!

Some last looks at my Gloucester visit.

 

The Madfish Grille was highly recommended but we were way too early for dinner.

Next time for sure!

Such lovely and quaint homes and studios.

 

"Gotcha" again Jaylee!! 

Sunflower bows her pretty head.

 

Cool tables!!

 

The view from Kathleen Gerdon Archer's Studio

Jaylee and photographer
Kathleen Gerdon Archer

That is all for otday!
Have a great week!
:O)Mary

The Bass Rocks Inn

Here are some photos of where I love to stay when Im in Gloucester MA.
Its the Bass Rocks Inn.

The Lobby and all are in the "Wedding Cake House"

Several stories high.

Jaylee and I enjoyed eating our breakfast out side.

                                                              So pretty!

I love staying upstairs where the view of the ocean is so lovely!

The view from my room

Before we left Gloucester we went for a walk at the artist community.

              This adorable shop was our first stop.
Jaylee and I both indulged in some lovely handcrafted jewlrey!

We didn't run in for our usual sodas and snack here

On to the  next Gallery/ Shop

Can you imagine how lovely it would be here to have a studio 

and look at this scene EVERY DAY? (drool)

OKAY... I EVEN cannot believe we didn't stop in for an ICE CREAM?

Our view as we stroll along the artist colony

Back to Gloucester

Ahhh I found myself getting upset today and had to remind myself...
Why get so upset? Relax....Don't sweat the small stuff!

So I sat down and began to look at my photos I took this summer while in Gloucester.

Ahhhhh I could feel the muscles in my jaws relax...

Sunshine

Good morning!
Do not be fooled by my post title..."Sunshine"
We are being saturated with rain today. Flood stages and flood watches
in all our area. But, I see on the map so many towns and states are flooded far worse!!!
Pennsylvania, ...New York!!

Then on the other extreme there are the horrific fires burning down
in Texas!
All remain in my thoughts and prayers!!

The "sunshine" in my post title
actually was a reference to a cartoon I have drawn.

A friend recently mentioned she was being exhausted always trying to cheer
up a gloomly, irrevocably bummed out friend of hers...
To quote her...

I  get tired of always having to
"blow sunshine up her butt"...
What a vision I had of this expression!!!

PLEASE NOTE-Any resemblance to real persons, 
living or dead is purely coincidental.













(You know the type... The terminal complainer
"Oh Im so fat...I hate my job... I have no friends
Everybody is sooo mean to me..Why can't I have a BMW?
...Boohoo poor little me!!" )


•This cartoon was certainly not aimed at people with real depression
From genetics to illnesses and medications to major life events.
Depression is real! 


I shall end this post with a wonderful quote

“We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing  and appreciating what we do have.”

Frederick Keonig  Love, Mary

By the Sea Side

Hello my friends!

Yes I have just returned from the most lovely trip (mini vacation)
from Gloucester!
It was perfect weather despite the upcoming storm-"Irene"
Yes... we were back inland by Saturday morning.

While at Gloucester I stayed at the most wonderful Inn!!!
It is Bass Rocks Inn and looks out over the ocean! Ahhh

LOVED IT!!  And I can't wait to return again really soon!
Jaylee and I had a wonderful dinner
the first evening there.
We dined on the terrace at The Gloucester House

We were able to enjoy our dinner and watch fishing boats return

to the harbor.

As You can see ...Im having a Wonderful time!!

It was scrumptious!!

As was the

pitcher of homemade

Sangria we enjoyed!

A rare treat for me!

(Yes...probably the reason for my headache the next morning!)

The Gloucester House

View from our table -unloading fish

After dinner we were off with our cameras to catch the lovely ships at sea!

I have plenty of photos to share so 

please do come back soon!

Thats all for now!

Mary