the boat they were on is some special, highly-desirable design built by blablahblah and blah blah that i'm supposed to know but have forgotten..i'll get the details later and fill you in. note the ever-present cigarette in second pic..the Captain (another Pat) was a smoker too! i suspect Mom knew that before she signed up. enjoying traditional fresh Maine lobster. good thing my brother Thomas wasn't there (who out there remembers the "It has eyes!! It's a monster!" incident from our previous and only family trip to Maine oh so many years back?) the crew was small…Mom was the only client for this trip, but a crew member brought her sister along as well for company..looks like the girls enjoyed the adventure (and those t-shirts) together.
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after a jet-lag adjustment in Boston, Mom was off to picturesque Camden, Maine to join captain and crew in her SeaSense women's sailing course. surprisingly good weather…no foul weather gear required. (i think she was secretly disappointed not to have to have donned that intense outfit). -
Mom's home! (and Patsy if you're out there..don't you know the first thing she did was hunt for that 5x mirror!) and my first order of business, while she naps..pictures! (and small prayer of thanks for the safe return of beloved digital camera. yes, i did miss you too, Mom). my darling Mike took her out for dinner during her stop over in Boston..those are some pretty big grins..wonder what they were talking about?! -
the best kind of friends are the ones who remember the little things that make you happy and then apply them regularly…nothing like mini gherkins to make my day. Liz is so thoroughly thoughtful. kinda took the edge off having to converse with a crazy person later in the evening.
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mom returns early tomorrow morning (9am)…pics and updates to come…
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little Italian mama driving me nuts continued…i've mentioned the first floor neighbors before…well, here today's installment of the story…the building was cut up for sale as individual apartments (condo-style) rather unfairly..the retired Italian couple on the first floor have a huge back garden, an extended kitchen with another terrace built (illegaly i might add) on top of it, the second floor apartment's original balcony (leaving it with none) AND ALL FOUR caves (basement storage rooms). which, though they claim it was just cleaning work..we know via the workers that they made those caves into extra guestrooms for their noisy grandkids (again, highly illegal). kinda piggy, don't ya think? not that i would mind really, i mean they paid for it, it is their home.
but this is an apartment building, a community…comprimise and neighborlyness required. (you can't leave the front street door open at all hours for instance just because you want a breeze in your place…which they do all the time, it's a SECURITY door people! as in keep it shut! and i know it was you that took down my very polite sign in three languages, that took me an hour, about keeping the street door closed)
but all they do is complain. ABOUT EVERYTHING. and they only stay here for three months out of the year! mom and i are the only ones who live here year round..the other three holiday apt. owners are happy to have us here for security, and seem to appreciate (in various languages) whatever help we can be and how gracious we are about the frequency of short term holiday renters coming and going and causing various amounts of disruption..we never complain, even that one week we had five drunken boat chicks partying all hours downstairs. so, why am i ranting about all this?
because, this morning, AGAIN, in her house-dress glory, she pounded (we have a bell like everyone else) on the door…i know she could hear i was in the shower..until i came out soaking wet. to hand me a bit of broken pot (about the size of a two euro coin) and look cross and wag her finger and give me a lecture for ten minutes in Italian. whaaa?
after apologizing profusely (for what?!?!) i went to investigate our balcony..well, the Mistral winds have kicked up again the past two days…the other night i brought in all the balcony furniture and put all the loose items, planters, etc. in safer positions. unfortunately, and entirely out of my control (it's the WIND!) a potted plant on the floor of the balcony tipped over and cracked..the wind blew a shard of it through the railing and down to the ground.
THAT WOMAN NEEDS TO FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO DO BESIDE DRIVE ME CRAZY. she should take up house-dress sewing or something. whew! this is a serious rant, maybe the heat is getting to me. -
the bickering and media-hijinx continue…
pretty damn funny though, if you ask me. -
amidst more than ten thousand alleged heat-related deaths in France, a famous ancient tree at Versaille is lost as well.
and then my downstairs neighbor has the gall to complain (AGAIN) about the tiny little trickle of water the airconditioner in the bedroom makes in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. i only run it from about midnight to 5am so i can get a decent night's sleep. it drips down on to her GARDEN for christ's sake. and only once in awhile..last night was the first time it leaked in two weeks. but, first thing this morning..there she is, in all her housedress glory, pounding on the door and pitching a fit. in Italian. how do you say "give me a break lady, it's a 101 degrees and we're all suffering! and a little water isn't going to ruin your precious EMPTY terrace!" in Italian? did i mention she's never out there anyway?! ugh. ok, rant over. -
(see Monday's entry below)
nothing in the mailbox yet, (it's too soon i know) but i have faith that i will see some handwritten letters and postcards soon..and i can't wait!
seems i may have one winner already, Aunt Maria had sent us a package regarding the McMullen family reunion a few days prior to my rant…not technically the idea, but i think i'll let her slide. -
after all of last week's social outings and frankly, a touch of laziness or heat-lethargy, i've been occupied with a number of paintings this week…four completed, two more in progress…but can't put them up of course until mom returns with the digital camera (please god let her not have dropped it in the sea)…
speaking of mom's absence..i haven't seen hide nor hair of Uncle Bert in two weeks..i finally got through on his mobile phone the other day so i know he's ok, but i've been missing his laidback charm since he's had to keep the boat in the other harbor in the neighboring town. (our spot in Port Vaubon in town will be available to us again on the 15th of Sept). he even missed pizza at DeCito night with Liz in her pink lipgloss…he was crushed when he heard that.
