rounding it up

So I finally actually got onto my underwear rack for a first spin. It has the added benefit of looking at my hummingbirds, at-long-last-blooming crape myrtle and River Resorts, aka the cafe, through the window.
  A little music for you. Pink's Dear Mr. President, dedicated to George Bush. If you close  your eyes, it works today. A round up of some of this year's protest music that I haven't listened to yet, selected by a friend. And not music, but a protest video taken in Greater Downtown Block Island called Grim Reaper Meets Granny.

dirty business

 I can't bear the news. Just the lineup of the Republican coronation makes me barf. Not to mention this about Block Island and the Summer From Hell. So instead, I am going to treat you to my recent socializing. Since most of you can't! Yesterday I visited Randy and Virginia for the first time since I've been here. Virginia has been here (to plant me some elephant ears among other things) but I hadn't seen Randy. And was he a sight for sore eyes! He had been using old motor oil to treat lumber and was pretty well covered with it. Virginia showed me her (mostly) cat collection of ceramics, and the dog collection. And we sat on the porch swing and yakked. It was grand.

birthday boy

Isaac is seven. I am not there. I will not be there for Camilla's tenth birthday either. I miss my kids!

some assembly required

My new exercise bike has arrived. It was enough exercise running after the UPS guy down the street and getting it out of the box. Now all that remains is assembling it and somehow moving it upstairs to use to hang my underwear.

floating

 So this happened. The cousins from New Orleans arrived to entertain me. They were en route to Chicago where Glenn and Michael's daughter, Avery, is finishing up her last semester of college. Thanks to Bill Dugan, they had their own digs a block away, and all was well. They brought boudin and other sausage treats and barbeque from Memphis and other treats. But the greatest treat was, of course, them!
   Meanwhile there's this. Sounds like my other two places of abode are falling apart. The Upper White Side, NYC. And Block Island. I think I'll stick with the Ozarks for a bit.

strange bedfellows

So the above landed from Amazon in the same package. Hannah said, "Lucky the mouse didn't eat the peanuts." There's probably an Instagram account in this concept of odd shipments, but I don't have the energy! Feel free to comment on any of the peculiar packages you have had recently. Now that we're all having everything shipped.

when worlds collide

So I went to the PO to mail the postcards above. And parked behind the guy below.

empty rooms

I am heartbroken. In a terrible summer on Block Island, with the volunteer EMTs already overextended from moped crashes and drunks, yesterday they had to attend the worst accident they had ever seen. It was 12:30 pm when a Jeep came around a curve, kids hanging out of the doors or windows and plowed into a telephone pole. One kid was sheared off and killed instantly, another gravely injured. The 17-year-old driver was taken into custody for DUI. It was a horrific event that makes every parent, particularly those of teenagers, terrified. I feel so terrible for all the families involved.
  And I fear the girl who was driving was one of my tenants. I heard it through the grapevine, and Ana went over to the house to check. Things had been hastily packed, but there were three pairs of sneakers and a couple of suitcases still there. They have been coming for seven years, since the kid was ten. How will she be able to survive this? A life sentence of remorse.

more about food

 What are we supposed to make of this? Deviled eggs for sale in a package? I have never heard of such a thing. But, hey, they are a pain to make.
   However, I did make egg salad with local eggs and could have made deviled eggs instead—the peeling is the hard part, especially with fresh eggs. And then I put some of the produce to use in a salad.

local truck

Bringing home the harvest

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the customers come to Mary.

Several of my local friends (Bill, David) told me I needed to get with Mary for her produce and plants. It turned out she lives just a few miles from me as the crow flies. And what a beautiful operation. Huge gardens, major irrigation, greenhouse, plants everywhere, the whole shebang. Even a parking lot and outhouse.
   Here is what Maranatha Farm  has on offer this week. Don't know if you can see that link. Directions here.
   So now I am looking at a pile of produce that there is no way I can eat. I'm thinking ratatoille, obv. But also gazpacho. And then there's this eggplant recipe that looks fantastic.
   Meanwhile, however, I think it's too beautiful to eat. I'm just admiring it.

as the day wanes

Someone said they had never seen a picture of this chair without a watermelon in it. So here it is.

 

Another picture in the gloaming. But that's my brother Chris in the chair, not a melon.

In Block Island news, the ferries are running again after a brief visit from Isaias. Johnny battened down the hatches at Claudia's, and all is well. Erin lost power in Providence, but Hannah didn't. New York was pretty much spared, but Long Island not so much.
   Hannah says you know you've made it when your husband (and his motorcyle), your car and your backyard appear in a Lowe's ad.  Chris shot, of course, and you can see it here. And BTW. you shouldn't be shopping at Home Depot anyway.

Ambiance at Erin's in Providence, which she is renting from Hannah. She put some stuff in Hannah's freezer on Forest St., but the ice cream was a lost cause.

primary colors

 I believe it to be primary day in Missouri. This is your opportunity to vote for the most awful Republican candidate. Me, after receiving this flier, I'm rooting for Jaret.

the report

My brother Chris fished. He caught itty bitties but had a good time.

My sister-in-law Lynn kayaked. Actually, we all did.

And Dugan generously donated his digs on the river where they slept.

Lynn did some painting at Blue Spring. No, I won't tell you where it is.

And she also made a peach pie!

And then, after a week, they left and I am very lonesome. They made it back to Santa Fe in one 15-hour day.

Leonard Bucknor, an artist and a gentleman

In memorium.  Mr. Bucknor, aka The Captain—and to his children, Christine, Ann, Carla, Patricia, and Wayne, "Daddy"—was a loving and lovable person. We were lucky to know him, and will miss him always.

Art made of bamboo roots.

The Captain holds court on his veranda at Dowling House.

On one of many road trips where he took care of us all.

cloud gathering

A whale of a cloud!

 Pretty sure you guys either are or soon will be sick of my cloud pictures. I am not. I am entranced by the skies here. But as a sop to other sensibilities, I have added some local color: Winchester dude checking out guns at the grocery store.
   And there you have the Ozarks in two frames.

Masked. Sorta kinda.

tailgatin'

The minnows were intrigued with my new water shoes.

 It was hot. What better than a swift river to lie down in? And picnic. And drink beer.  And talk. It was just like the kitchen table only with minnows. I finally had people to go to The Slab with me. Alison was down from Kansas City and open to a diversion, so she and David came out. We had salads and watermelon and fried chicken but ate very little of it. We could have, though. I drove the truck down to the water and put down the tailgate.

Alison enjoys a sophisticated beverage.

meanwhile at the shore

 My brother-in-law Johnny sent me the aerials, which appear to have been colorized. But you can plainly see in the one above that his vision of a freshwater pond in the shape of Block Island has reached fruition. Check it out on google maps. The two houses on the left are mine. The barn is his.
   The picture below has not been colorized. It was sent to me by the tenant at Claudia's Surf City from my porch. The two yachts reportedly belong to David Geffen and JK Rowling.
    I have been getting inquiries pleading for space at my houses in case I have any cancellations. Meanwhile there was another fraudster collecting money for renting my place. The woman was wise enough to check VRBO and call me, but she was still out the money.
   Block island has been discovered.

View from my porch. Geffen's "Rising Sun" is said to be 452 feet long. 

 Maybe the island has been too much discovered. This is the roadside in front of our place. And apparently the volunteer EMTs and tiny police force are in crisis mode. Per this article.

Overview of oceanview

what is this?

 So this thing was in the drawer. I'm assuming I bought it. It looks new. But I have no freaking idea what it's for! Any ideas?
   The sign below is both a sign of the times and a pretty good representation of what its like around here.

the immediate neighbor

I love this picture of my nextdoor neighbor, Jason, and his dog, Chopper. (Do you suppose his motorcycle is named Pitbull?) He's always yelling at Chopper to get away from the road, but Chopper isn't but six months old and doesn't listen that well. Jason has planted peppers and tomatoes and put a porch on his house since last year. His mother owned a rock house across the street that was wiped out in the flood and was too costly to put back together, so the town mother gave him this modular place. Jason lived in the Goose when he was a teenager.

the immediate neighborhood

The Goose, as seen from pergola most recently used as parking spot for B and B.

My hidden deck, with the cafe and it's unintelligible hours across the street.

The cafe, clearly blessed. As why wouldn't it be with the chapel right next door.

The Chapel. You can just see my truck, parked at the Goose, in the background.