dodged one bullet but get two kicks in the head...

Well, I was supposed to have my surgery yesterday. I was so prepared for it, had my big girl panties on for two weeks (pee-ewe), but a problem reared it's ugly head at the very last minute and that problem is something that showed up on an echogram I had 18 months ago. I have a little valve issue that I've know about for 25 years but since it was in my records from the echo and I hadn't done any follow-up tests they wouldn't do the surgery. They all ran in the other direction which usually on my copy of the script. So I get to worry a little about the heart thing and then, if all goes well, I still get to have yesterday's surgery which I would have already had done by this time today. Can you tell I'm still feeling sorry for myself? You shoulda heard how many mothers I offended when they said the final no! Growing older is not for sissies, as they say. I'll be positive here and say I love almost everything else about being almost 50, truly I feel like my best self yet, but there are a few more nodules and such that go with it. Still I am so blessed and I pray that you are too.

Am I on a roll or a donut?

I don't blog for a week and then I guess I just make up for it. I am a batch worker, so today must be blog day (except for the cleaning, laundry, swimming pool for 3 hours!). Since I was snapping some new items for Etsy and my souvenirs I took these two too. I decided to put all my nature girls together in my dining room. My Character Constructions Collaboration, my fab Beth Quinn Fairy Jar Swap jar, and my sweet, sweet Little Melfie's seashore girl and shell collage.

And I'm finally getting around to my eBay/Etsy/Silver Bella/supposed to be my office/out of sight out of mind room. I recently purchased this wonderful antique judge print from PJ's Antiques and unearthed it yesterday to place along with a handmade finial shelf my friend, Dan, made plus a beeeutiful antique porcelain pink flower night light that sits on its own rusty base, plus a cool antique barometer that Nene gave me. This new little vignette is in my bedroom on my side where I can gaze at it and it makes me feel oh so perky when I've been grumpy. No roses to smell, well make some dadgumit!!!

Souvenirs from Oxford and such

Just wanted to share some of the souvenirs I got on our little trip to Oxford and St. Michaels. Matt and I always like to bring back natural souvenirs without disturbing the balance of nature as much as possible. Here's a cute little jar, vase? that I got from Coco and Company where I placed our goodies; sea shells, sea wood, pine cones, and sea glass. To top it off I added a tag with the where and when info and our room key which I'm sure the inn wanted us to have (even though they kept asking us if we'd turned all the keys in). You can see better from this picture what a fun funky shape this jar, vase? has to it and why it was on the "must have" hit list. It's an upside down cloche shape mounted on a pedestal and is a pretty sea green. I sneakily drove this time so I could stop at the antiques store where the kind owner allowed me to use his restroom last year. I had been threatened not to look around that time but was determined to have a nice, long look this time. I found this fab lamp with a clock in the base. The lamp works fine but I still have to tinker with the clock. If you know me you'll know that I'm happy if a clock time is right just twice a day! Just my luck, the tiny typewriter I had spied there last year was still there. It's just about 8" x 8" and fits in very nicely with my typewriter collection. I have three others in the room, one was Paul's grandfather's, one was my grandfather's, now the other two are "just 'cause". I also hit pay dirt at the shop snagging many antique figurines for great prices for my little collages-yippie!!!

And here's why coming home is good too...

As I said, we felt as though we had been gone so much longer than we had because we got to have so much fun and relax too. It was just a weekend getaway but very refreshing. I'm a real homebody so I'm usually ready to come home after a time anyway but what a treat I was met with when we returned! In the mail was the Bits and Pieces Swap piece that Mizt (Tammy Gilley, sorry Tammy, I have to give everyone my own nickname) made for me. I cannot do this justice but I think you can get the general idea of HOW FAB THIS IS!!!!!! Pink, I mean it's pink and it's spectacular and wonderful and inspiring. It's every wonderful thing! Thank you so much, Tammy, and to Jen for making this happen. Here you see it in its new home, yes superglued, Mellie. I'm lucky!!!!!

What a difference a bay makes...

Someone slipped a mickey in our water recently. That can be the only reasonable explanation for our behavior of late. I read in the paper late last week that Oxford, Maryland was hosting their 4th of July fireworks this last Sunday. Paul had been out of town and so I didn't mention it to him until Friday and Saturday he jumped online and made reservations for us to stay at the Robert Morris Inn where we had visited for the world's best crab cakes last year when we were in Cambridge. I'm totally in love with Oxford, Paul and Matthew like it very much. It's so quiet, really just inns, one little general store, one little antique shop, one little museum, a yacht club, and the ferry to St. Michael's. My favorite spot is the huge grass-covered, huge-tree-shaded, over-looking the bay park. We had our picnic then nap on the blanket on the grass under the huge trees while gazing at the Chesapeake Bay.

The only other things there are one fabulous, adorable, yard-filled-with-flowers-picket-fenced cottage right after another and brick sidewalks.

Just one photo of the many we took while waiting for dark and the fireworks. My camera couldn't get the fireworks but they were wonderful.

Little out of order but below is an image from the Monday morning sailing lessons for the mini-yachters.

My favorite park in the world...

This tree is on the inn property, you can get some sense of how huge it is with Matt standing at the entrance to the inside which is completely cave-like...

..."inside" the tree...

...and the tree plaque.

We took the ferry over to St. Michael's so I could visit my favorite haunt and the boys could fish. I actually made some pretty good casts, it's like riding a bike. Matt, however, outdid us by catching EIGHT fish. Yes, catch and release.

The boy loves water and the beach.

A boy and his dad fishing...

...while the mom sneaks off for my yearly summer sojourn to Coco & Company, a totally wonderful antiques plus the very latest of the very best of home decor. The mix of antiques and reproductions, soaps, even shoes, jammies, jewelry-in a nutshell-a bit of everything at its best.

Here are the interior shots I snagged...

St. Michael's is also a wonderful place but very touristy, lots of shops, tourists, cars, etc. It's a good place to visit for the day but Oxford is where to go to relax.

When we pulled up at home Paul and I had the same thought, it seemed like we had been gone several days instead of a day and a half. It was nothing but perfect. We did and saw so much yet also got to relax a lot too. I'm not sure how it happened in such a short period of time, I guess it was magic, just as it felt.