An afternoon in Marblehead

I had an entire day off on Saturday. Well almost, I did a brief photo shoot for the Melrose Chamber of Commerce. Then I was free as a bird. I had lunch with my sister in Reading and then off I went to spend a little time in the lovely seaside town of Marblehead.

I drove straight to the beach. A few people had the same idea and I saw kids playing volleyball and people walking their dogs. The sunshine felt good and the smell of the ocean, well I love it!

The day was beautiful, a warm Spring day. It was rather chilly by the ocean so I didn't stay long.

These cuties were enjoying the day outside a florist shop. I just noticed the dog on the right could pass for a rabbit.

 Oh yes finally, it really feels like Spring! And everything is starting to bloom too. The seaside gardens were gorgeous.
                             

I snapped a few shots outside the florist shop Flores Mantilla. The owner came out to greet me. Probably because I had been talking to the dogs. She gave me a beautiful magazine about weddings. She had an ad in the magazine and she wanted to show it to me.

I love old typewriters so this one on display outside the florist shop caught my eye.

O'Rama's had  blingy jewelry that caught the sunlight.

I had a great time speaking with the owners of MacKimmie's. They sold scarfs, throws, blankets, and gifts in their shop.

I loved the entrance to their store. The front door was framed by apple blossoms. It was really lovely.

I love cozy blankets and throws. I have throws throughout my home. I usually buy inexpensive ones because of the cats. The kitties of course, take over the throws.

I have never seen such perfectly folded blankets! They certainly don't look like that in my linen closet! I bought a few gifty items but no blankets or throws. Kitty claws would ruin blankets such as these.

The owner of  MacKimmie's told me Haley's Market was a good place to eat but I was really just looking for coffee. Ideally I wanted to take a break ,and sit in a coffee shop by the ocean. Haley's was closed but I liked the sign in their window. I gave up on the coffee, most places closed at 5:00.

This house was pretty. The houses are close together in the historic section of town. Some are quite colorful and some have been updated considerably.

Many of the historic homes have signs like these displayed outside their doors. The original homeowner's name, date of construction, and occupation were listed.

I had a great time in just a few hours in Marblehead. I will return when I have more time to spend exploring.

My next post will be about another little daytrip I took, this time to Exeter, New Hampshire. Have a great week.

The Things I'll Never Forget

A little more than a week has passed since the bombings at the Boston Marathon. And there are so many things I will never forget.

I overdosed on television coverage. From the minute I heard about the bombings to the night of suspect #2's capture, I had been glued to my TV. Flipping channels on my remote from the local stations to CNN and Fox News. I had to know every detail.

The real time coverage of the shootout with police in Watertown was the height of my addiction. I stayed up until 3:30 AM Friday morning watching it. It was the closest thing to a real life episode of 24 I'd ever seen. Bombs and bullets in a sleepy suburb.

In the first few days after the attack, I noticed how quiet it was everywhere. People were watching the TV silently in coffee shops. People on the street not making a sound. Really what was there to say?

Until today, I did not even know who won the race. I wasn't even sure there was a women's winner. The race was stopped shortly after 2:50PM. The winners' victories had been stolen.

The heroic stories. Such goodness in this city. People running towards the explosions in order to help the gravely injured. The runners running straight to the hospitals to give blood. The volunteers who saved lives with their quick actions. And the hospital workers who took over where they left off.

The tributes at the Red Sox game and the National Anthem being sung by the crowd at the Bruins game. They sure brought me to tears.

The lockdown in the City of Boston- no subway, no trains, no taxis. A virtual ghost town for a day.
My own credit union had to close some of it's branches.

The beautiful town of Watertown which will be forever linked to terrorists. It was just unbelievable what went down there on Thursday night. As one news reporter said, "This is not Baghdad, we're in Watertown!"

A fallen officer's funeral which took place at my hometown church, the sight of my first communion and confirmation.

Five victims of the attack were from my hometown and they were all seriously injured. One grew up on the street where I live and I worked with his mother. Another is a realtor I know.

All of the dead were young people. Less than 30 years old including an 8 year old. I will never forget their faces. 2 beautiful women, an adorable child, a brave young policeman.

The tireless work of the local police, state police, SWAT teams, FBI etc. They worked around the clock to hunt down the suspects and keep everyone safe.

Mayor Menino who was recuperating from surgery on Marathon Monday, checked himself out of the hospital so he could be there for the city.

The governor who was always calm when reporting updates.  And the same for the Boston Police Commissioner. I love that man. He was so cool and professional.

The support from the entire country including personal emails to me from blog readers. It was very much appreciated.

I will never forget how anxious, sad, and terrified I felt. I know the sadness will last for a very long time. It will be hard to walk Boylston Street, knowing what terrible events took place there. It seems like ir was not that long ago that I had afternoon tea with friends at the Boston  Public Library.. Happier more innocent times. 

Today the funerals are over, the injured continue to recover and cope with their devastating injuries, Boylston Street is open again, the remaining suspects has been caught, and the rest of us try to move on. And we will, with time.

Boston, the day after

This is the cover of Sports Illustrated, the photo taken at yesterday's marathon. It's powerful and ugly and it makes me sad. I read a comment on a blog that said Bostonians are members of the terror attack club. NYC, Atlanta, Oklahoma City, Boston. I hate it.

All was quiet today as the events of yesterday sank in. It's surreal. Everywhere I went I noticed the quiet. Really what is there to say? We don't know who or why.

I think we are all finding comfort in hearing the stories of all the good that was done yesterday. And there was a lot of good done yesterday. We should focus on that. There were some real heroes on Boylston Street yesterday. Yes, we shall focus on that.

Percy the poser

The sun was streaming in the living room windows Sunday morning and Percy was all cozy in his favorite chair. He looked so handsome I just had to do an impromptu photo shoot.

But then he got all shy on me. That's so rare, he's usually quite the poser. I guess he was just enjoying the warmth of that sheepskin rug.

Looks like the photo shoot has ended. What a brief session! Til next time, sweet dreams!