Mary's Salsa

 Thanks to Mary, a very talented lady who made salsa from her garden. She had a very successful tomato crop this year. Thanks so much for sharing.

                  Beautiful, so jealous!

I hope she sends me a jar!!!!!

Nice work! This would have taken me a week.  She said it took a couple of hours.  She is a pro.

Lunch Box Love

 Yesterday, was a scorcher...actually,  it was just sticky and muggy. We took a walk to the park but stopped into the little corner store to get slush. Such a simple recipe, ice and flavoring but it really does the trick on a hot day.  However, I prefer to eat it with a little wooden spoon rather than the the straw/spoon. Just thought I would give a shout out to Richie and his (so much cheaper than ice cream not to mention less fattening), Italian Ice.

 Fall is just around the corner and I decided to share some neat back to school items. My husband has a huge lunch box collection from the seventies and eighties. I picked out a couple that I thought were the best. Who didn't love the Partridge Family? Actually, I preferred the Brady Bunch. It was more entertaining for kids.

 Then of course we have KISS. They were amazing. The face make up was a stroke of genius. Just think of it, with the dubbing technology most performers use in concert these days, band members wouldn't need to show up. They could have body doubles. Really who would know. My hubby saw them a couple years ago and said they looked great.  One must admit, most folks gets a little bummed when they see their idols aging. It is a reminder that we are aging as well. Everyone should have the option to wear clown make up.

                                       I actually used this Bee Gees one in high school as a joke...sort of.  Made me want to throw an old banana in there and leave it in the car over night or longer. I can still smell that stale lunch box smell after neglecting to clean it out after a week of school vacation. Little kids(as well as teens) and perishable foods is a bad combo. I think this is the main reason you rarely find the thermos in vintage lunch boxes. I think they just became too moldy to salvage and it was easier to bring a dime for chocolate milk from the cafeteria.

 Awwwww, retro Candy Land. This one is so sweet. What a bummer it would be to find a squished tuna sandwich and an apple. It should be filled with jelly beans and candy canes.

This little green lunch box is a little fisher price toy, I believe from the late fifties. It was amazing to find it with the little thermos inside. Then finally, we have the classic plaid thermos. I wish we had the plaid lunch box that went with it.  People have really improved upon the school lunch concept. I imagine paper sacks sales are way down. They have so many creative solutions with insulated bags  to adorable Bento Boxes.  Hopefully, it will encourage American kids to develop better eating habits for the future.

Summer Fun

 I am pleased to say we have been very busy this summer, enjoying life and it's simple pleasures and everything summer has to offer. I am sorry I have been unable to focus on blogging but there is only so much beautiful weather before the long New England cold arrives. Above, you will see a really cool sand sculpture. It was on Onset Beach, Onset MA. I believe it might be left from the movie Steve Carell was filming there. The whole Onset Villiage was transformed into a really fun, tacky beach town with fake storefronts bearing inflatables for swimming. I wish it stayed that way but the movie sets disappeared as quickly as they arrived.

Here is a castle my boys made. The little bridge was created by weaving seaweed. So much integrity. The sea swallowed it up in a mater of minutes. The kids said seeing it destroyed was the best part.

 Here was a movie truck from the film being made. It was so exciting to see the stars in real life. The movie production part seemed long and tedious. I guess acting is hard work. Who knew?

 Here is a cute praying mantis, actually it was quite ferocious not to mention big. Wouldn't want to find that in my car while driving....eeek!.

 Here are a few of my cherubs frolicking at the beach in Marshfield, MA. We really lucked out with beautiful weather by day, crazy thunderstorms by night. The perfect combination of fun and excitement.

 Cute baby foot prints. My baby is almost two and totally loving the beach.

 Below we see one of the boys body surfing. They bought boards but the ended up not being used. The kids said they couldn't go as fast with them. It was a great sea weed free day.

 This was a visit into Boston to see the Tall Ships. They had so many cool and beautiful boats. We got to climb aboard one from Canada. It was so impressive, not to mention clean. It was a beautiful day for an activity like this. It was neat to see people from all over the world gathered here for the this event. Security was extremely tight though,. I guess that was encouraging, eliminating any chances for danger to occur.

 Here is a beautifully colorful picture of friends listening to the sailor tour guide.

                                                              Some sort of bomb holder.

 Here were the flags in the entrance to the port that leads to the cruise ships. I wish I was going somewhere exotic.

                                                                     Patriotic Blythe. Love her!!!

Here were some cute little candles filled with colored rice that the kids made. They were the perfect thing for the picnic table after a long day at the beach.