All Souls……

I don’t get a chance to read much but when I do, I like it to be a book that is real. My friend Mary who is Irish, gave me this book recently and thought I would like it. it came highly recommended. I am only into the second chapter, but far enough to know I LOVE it and that it is fabulous!  Here’s a quick review someone wrote about it:

Michael Patrick MacDonald grew up in "the best place in the world"--the Old Colony projects of South Boston--where 85% of the residents collect welfare in an area with the highest concentration of impoverished whites in the U.S. In All Souls, MacDonald takes us deep into the secret heart of Southie. With radiant insight, he opens up a contradictory world, where residents are besieged by gangs and crime but refuse to admit any problems, remaining fiercely loyal to their community. MacDonald also introduces us to the unforgettable people who inhabit this proud neighborhood. We meet his mother, Ma MacDonald, an accordion-playing, spiked-heel-wearing, indomitable mother to all; Whitey Bulger, the lord of Southie, gangster and father figure, protector and punisher; and Michael's beloved siblings, nearly half of whom were lost forever to drugs, murder, or suicide. By turns explosive and touching, All Souls ultimately shares a powerful message of hope, renewal, and redemption.

My mother and father in law are Irish as well and I immediately called them to tell them of this book. They both downloaded it onto their touchpad and I pad. It was purchased through Amazon I believe for just over a dollar….good deal! it was written a few years ago and they are talking about a movie. Michael has also written another book that follows this called Easter Rising. His stories are riveting and all true. A bit like Angela's Ashes if you’ve ever read that….but more up to date. Great story!!!….thought I’d share……

That Crooked House….

My friend Jane and I were emailing each other recently and discussing this and that when I mentioned something about the Crooked House in Raymond, Maine. She had no idea what I was talking about and why would she???…she lives in England!! There is a company in that town that makes Crooked play houses for kids and more. Here’s an example of one….They made this one for the television show Extreme Makeover Home Edition. And this one is a double sized…..

Aren’t they just adorable? Here is a link to their website and to their story of why they started building them………….. Crooked Houses ……………

I am lucky enough to live close by the original place where all this started. Out front is a long crooked house by the road painted in bright colors. It always catches my eye. Next time I go by I will grab a photo of it. Did any of you know about the crooked houses in Maine?I wish I could afford a Crooked House potting shed! Now that would just be a dream come true. I also have a fascination with golf carts. Ever since my cousin Margaret, who lives on Peaks Island, picked me up at the ferry boat on one. Here’s a photo of it…. on the fourth of July a few years ago. It’s called the Slow Poke….that’s on the license plate. Usually it’s dressed up much nicer with a lovely colorful canopy on the roof. Everyone on the island has one or two and they drive them legally all over….especially during the fourth of July parade….they dress them up like this…and this….. Oh God it’s a lot of fun being over there on the fourth! So….my dream is to have a Crooked House Potting Shed that is also big enough to house my Golf Cart, that I would name Slow Poke 2 in memory of my cousin. Hey….a girl can dream can’t she?

My Blurry Dad…….

   Just recently we had something very exciting happen in our family. Most all of you know, that my dad was a musician, especially if you follow this blog. I know how hard it has become following me, since I am NEVER here lately!! Sorry about that…. But I digress….

My nephew Adam Landry is a music producer in Nashville. He produces a lot of cool bands. Somewhere in his studio he has a picture of my dad and another man from the 1940’s playing music together. A band that Adam was producing recently fell in love with that old photograph, taken while my dad was stationed in Rapid City, South Dakota, during WWII. My dad had not yet headed overseas. I have some similar photos of the two of them. The man with my dad is unknown to us, but is playing an accordion in all the photos. In each of them, they are fully engaged in song and instrument and appear to be having a ball. ~..~

The band Adam was producing asked our family for permission to use that old 1940’s photograph for the cover of their new album and we said yes. Because of copyright infringements and not knowing the existence of the “other man in the photo” they had a bit of a problem at first. Then it came to them….The name of the band is The Rouge and the name of the album is Blurry….. so what did they do???? They blurred out the cover and both of their faces. But we know, the guy on the right is my dad and he is now on every cover of that album all over the country!!! He would have LOVED that!! Here’s the album…..

  and here’s a link to a review of it….The Rouge Blurry Review  .

How cool is that???????????????????????????????????????

An award….For Me??…...And For You….

 

There's an award in blogland. It's the Liebster Blog Award, and I was recently nominated for it. I was surprised and honored that Dawn at vesselsmemories2.blogspot.com felt my blog deserved to be recognized.

The Liebster Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. "Liebster" is German for sweetest, valued, welcome and, or favorite. I think the nomination itself, is an award. It's certainly a nice way of recognizing and being recognized.

Thank you Dawn for nominating me….. http://vesselsmemories2.blogspot.com/

There are a few rules to follow...

1.  Each nominee must share 11 things about themselves. 

2.  Answer the 11 questions set for you and create 11 questions for the people you nominate.

3.  Nominate promising new bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

11 Things About Myself….

1. I could watch NCIS reruns all day.

2. I enjoy playing RPG’s on my XBOX.

3. I think birch trees are amazing and spiritual.

4. I lost my first child through a miscarriage at 5 1/2 months of pregnancy.

5.  I am a former smoker….over 30 years. Just over 3 years nicotine free!! Yay!

6. I have a deep faith in God.

7. I believe we all have psychic abilities.

8. I love to laugh.

9. I battled depression for a short time in my life.

10. My absolute favorite holiday is Christmas. I love everything about it!!

11.  I was the 8th grade champion of my schools’ spelling bee and I still can’t spell the word I lost on in the states!

And now for the 11 questions Dawn asked me to answer…..

Q. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

A. Playing guitar, sewing, playing xbox, finding new recipes, pinterest.

Q. Do you have a favorite quote?

A. Let Go And Let God

Q. The ocean or the lake?

A. Ocean of course!

Q. Do you have a favorite food or restaurant?

A. I just love bacon….LOVE IT!

Q. If you had to move, where would you want to go?

A. Hawaii

Q. Do you like sports, if so, what's your favorite?

A. Baseball….Red Sox Fan!!

Q. Pet peeve?

A. Drivers not using their blinker when turning! Makes me Loco!

Q. What kind of music do you like and do you have a favorite artist?

A.  I love most all music except for opera. Aretha has always been one of my favorites.

Q. A favorite movie?

A. My favorite the last couple of years was Spielburgs’ Super 8

Q. Do you text?

A.  Not if I can help it.

Q. What chore do you least like to do?

A. Cleaning the bathtub!!

I nominate the following blogs for this award ~

Dawn @ http://candgdesign.blogspot.com/

Jane @ http://northfinchley.blogspot.com/

Elenka @ http://downeastdoingstuff.blogspot.com/

 

Here are your 11 questions my fellow bloggy friends….

1. What’s your favorite season of the year?

2. What’s the most exciting thing you have ever done?

3. Best thing you ever ate?

4. What makes you crazy?

5. Do you believe in God?

6. What’s you absolute favorite hobby?

7. Favorite actor or actress?

8. Favorite meal including dessert.

9. What’s your favorite song from your teen years?

10. One of the most difficult things you’ve ever had to do?

11. What insect/animal scares you the most?

I’ll be back soon I hope. Life has gotten pretty busy this winter and both hubby and I got sick with a flu virus in between that seemed to just hang on. Some of you that I wanted to nominate (beyond the ones I did) already had over 200 followers!! So….good for you!! /See you all soon….. Debbie

Winter Mumblings…..

    Hello all….It’s 5:30 a.m. and why am I up at this Godforsaken time of the morning you ask? My husband is scheduled for a colonoscopy at 7:00 in Portland. Neither one of us slept last night. Why I didn’t sleep is a mystery, but the reason for his tossing and turning has to do with a possible flu, that curiously began last evening. Right in the middle of the great Colonoscopy preparations, he started getting the chills. Never having been through this before, he was starting to think it was lack of food! The orange Jell-O and the yellow Gatorade just weren’t cutting it! Being a seasoned contender at this (twice now!) I knew that wasn’t it. So….we will see what the day will bring….he’s just rising now and we will head out shortly.

    As some of you might know, I was hit with a bunch of spam. I’ve cleaned out most of it….I had a HUGE number of Anonymous spams about pills, enlargement devices, and other various crap that seemed to take over my blog! It really ticked me off. So….I had to disable the anonymous feature and I apologize for anyone that cannot get into the blog.There really was no other way around it. Having said that, I apologize once again for not being around here much! Some of you have come by anyway and I so appreciate that!! We had a wonderful holiday. I have been very busy with antiques I got from Peaks Island that I am sorting, researching and selling for a friend. Right now I am working on two good sized lots of Dollhouse Miniatures from the late 60’s into the 70’s. We will soon be listing them on Ebay. A woman from the island was quite handy when it came to crafting these wonderful little treasures. From old buttons,  antique pieces of jewelry, and great imagination, wonderfully unique items were created by her. Here’s an example of one of her many chandeliers for a dollhouse…..

The bottom is an old brooch with garnet stones. Above that is a combination of old jewelry. The stem are crystals and diamond (not real) studded jewelry pieces and the ceiling tile is hand painted….isn’t this something? They are mini treasures and I have a lot of them…it will be fun.

    I hope you are all well and I promise I will be by this week to see what you have been up to this winter thus far. Thanks for being so loyal and sorry for my absence! I am going to try and get back every week. Hope you are all well!!!