It must be fall

                         ripe cranberries on the bog waiting to be harvested

I don't know where our summer went. Summer just seems a blur since my Dad passed away in July, but here we are and the leaves are now turning color and falling from the trees, the nights temperatures have turned nippy, pumpkins and scarecrows are everywhere.

My last ruby throated hummingbird left sometime Monday to start on it's migration. I am already missing these feisty little birds.

                                                                                             
                                           juvenile male just starting to get red on it's throat

it was almost dusk so the lighting wasn't the best the wings feathers look blue but true color is black. Ruby Throated hummingbird captured with it's tongue out

Last Saturday, September 20,2014 was the Alzheimer's Walk in Plymouth, MA (02360) and it was a gorgeous, sunny, warm fall day. The walk starts on the waterfront near the Mayflower and Plymouth Rock. This the 2nd year that I participated in the walk. My cousin, Cheryl, sister in law, Terry, daughter in law, Robin and niece, Julie and I walked for our team -Love of family and friends. My grandmother died from Alzheimer's and my mother has advanced Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's is such a devastating disease. It isn't to late to still make a donation to sponsor me. http://www.alz.org/   If you make a donation thank you so very, very much.

front..Terry, back row left to right Cheryl, Me, Robin, Julie

   Before the walk with the Mayflower boat in the background

  We went to visit my mother in the nursing home after we walked and brought her                   2 of the Promise Garden Flowers that we had personalized..

With fall comes the start of our cranberry harvest and this year it just seems so strange that my Dad isn't here with all of us.

my son Steven, ME, son Tommy and my Dad

The video below is one I took yesterday at one of our cranberry bogs. The bog is flooded for a wet harvest, and the machines with big reels knock the berries off of the vines and then the berries float to the surface where they are corralled, and then with a suction tube takes the berries off the bog into a truck where the berries are then brought to the Ocean Spray plant.

                                                        

click on the link below to view more cranberry photos on my picture trail site cranberry photos

Elaine

Milk Glass finds

I especially love the hens on a nest 2 piece candy dishes

Westmoreland Patriotic Milk Glass Plate

Do you like milk glass? I happen to love milk glass and have collected it since I got married in the late 60's. I know many think it's old fashioned, but not to me. Anyway, for quite sometime time now I have been going to Salvation Army, Savers, thrift, yard sales, flea markets looking for inexpensive pieces of milk glass. On my most wanted list to find is a pedestal cake plate.  

Several times a week I stop at a Savers store to see if any new milk glass pieces have come in. Most visits I find 1 or 2 pieces that are very reasonably priced.

Here are a some other pieces that I have found this summer. I have more but haven't taken the pieces of the boxes yet.
                                                   

large drink pitcher

candlesticks and cream pitcher

another grape design vase

basket  weave large vase

                           Below are some pieces that I bought earlier this year and I still haven't unpacked a lot more.

plates

  

night light base

What do you collect? Has your collection gotten out of hand, as you can see mine has. :-)  How do you display the pieces in your collection/collections?
                                                                     Elaine

My Dad

Hello my blogging friends. It has been a long time since I last wrote on my blog. So much has happened since my last post. If you have read my blog in the past you know that I did everything for my parents and elderly aunt for the past several years. My 91 year old mother suffers from advanced Alzheimer's and was home with round the clock care. In the beginning of June,  mom stopped eating, taking fluids, refusing her medications. Then my mom fell and she had some skin breakdown issues so we admitted her to a wonderful nursing home in Plymouth, MA. The grounds are beautiful, and you can look out most any window and see Plymouth Beach. The staff are all outstanding as are the meals. Once mom was admitted she started eating and drinking again, and her skin breakdowns are all cleared up. Mom has good days and bad days, but most days she still knows who I am and I am thankful for that.

Now to share my sad news. In the meantime my 95 1/2 year old dad remained at home. I would go over everyday to do his errands, make meals, and take him to see mom, but he was missing my mom and he wasn't feeling the greatest. In the beginning of July I ended up taking dad to the hospital ER as his belly was bloated and he couldn't keep food down. Dad was in the hospital with what they said was a small bowel obstruction and was in the hospital for 11 days. On the morning of July 7 th I ended up taking my husband to the same hospital and he was diagnosed with pneumonia. That same day my dad was discharged in the same condition as he was when he was admitted to the same nursing home as my mom. I was running back and forth home to the nursing home and the hospital.

A week later dad was in severe pain and his belly was even more distended. so once again my dad was admitted to the hospital. This time dad was in the hospital about 3 days when they removed fluid from his abdomen. The next day the doctor came in to tell dad that he had advanced GI cancer. Dad was discharged back to the nursing home on the afternoon of July 23rd on hospice and passed away July 25 th at 7:30 a.m.  We were all in shock. Diagnosed on Monday and dead on Friday. Everything was a blur as we made arrangements, especially hard was trying to explain to my mom what happened.
My dad would have been humbled and amazed because over 500 attended his wake on July 28th. Dad's funeral was on July 29th and the church was packed.

My dad was very proud of his service to this country in the Army Air Corp during WW II. My parents celebrated 68 years of marriage this past May. Dad loved and was so proud of his family 4 children, 12 grandchildren, 27 great grandchildren and 1 great great grandchild.

Dad was very proud of his Finnish Heritage and wrote and had a book published at age 89 of the Finnish Immigrants that settled in Carver, MA where he lived his entire life. Before my dads death he was the oldest living male that had been born in the town of Carver. Dad was a lifelong cranberry grower and member of Ocean Spray and our cranberry harvest seasons will never be the same.                                                                                                                                                     My dad could fix or build anything and was a carpenter before he started growing cranberries as his full time job. We were together a lot these last several years and he loved sharing stories of his youth, the town, people he met and knew and shared his knowledge about so many things with me. Dad enjoyed when I took him for frequent rides around the cranberry bogs. I would do a little birding while we were out and he loved the photos that I took of the birds. My brothers and I always said Dad had a much better memory than we do. 

My Dad was the BEST! We were truly blessed to have had him in our lives for as many years as we did, but it still doesn't take away the pain and sadness. It was especially hard walking into the house my dad built and we grew up in knowing that neither of our parents would ever walk through the doors again.  Love you and miss you dad with all my heart. XOXO

Elaine

A Sad Day

Hello my blogging friends.  I haven't been very good with keeping up with my blog. My days remain long and busy as I run errands for my parents and elderly aunt.

 My Mom is 91 and has end stage Alzheimer's. Mom has been home for the past 3 years with round the clock care as my Dad wanted, but a week ago we called hospice, as Mom wasn't taking her medications, eating and drinking very little. Friday, Dad and our family made the painful decision to place my mother in a nursing home in Plymouth. The facility is lovely on well landscaped grounds and you can see the ocean from many of the rooms. We couldn't ask for a better place for my mother. The food is wonderful, everything is spic and span clean, and all of the staff are awesome.
As the ambulance was leaving the yard to take my Mom to Plymouth, my Dad told me that it was the worst day of his life. My Dad built their house and they have lived in it since 1955. I was 7 when we moved in. Last weekend my parents celebrated their 68th wedding anniversary. My 95 year old father's health is fragile at this time.

The past week was more hectic than usual and to make matters worse, I broke off the porcelain on my bridge. Went to the dentist to see if they could fix it...of course not. The dentist had to remove the old bridge, put a temporary one on, and I left the office $900.00 poorer. When the new bridge is finished in about 3 weeks, I will have to pay the remainder. I hope insurance will cover a portion of the $3,000.00 bill.

. I've had no time for art, sewing or much of anything else, but when I have to run errands in Plymouth if the weather is good I take a few minutes for what I call therapy and go to the beach for a quick walk and to take photos of the osprey that are nesting. It is a chance for me to clear my head and take a mini break.

Recently the osprey chicks have hatched. I don't know if there are more than 3, but so far that is all I have seen.

3 osprey chicks

Plymouth, MA oprey nest close to the beach

Some Clematis that are blooming in my yard

double clematis

open double clematis

3 different clematis

That's it for now. Elaine