OUR LITTLE PARADISE

Pollywog College. That's the name of the summer cottage that my mom and uncle own. It was named Pollywog Cottage, but my aunt called it college as a little girl and the name stuck. My grandfather bought it when my mother was a little girl and there hasn't been a summer in my life that I haven't been up there. It's on Long Pond in Plymouth and is heaven on earth.

The deck, on the front, overlooks the pond, but there is enough shrubby stuff in front of it to keep it private.

The beach from the end of the dock. From year to year we don't know how much beach we'll have. The winter snow can sometimes take it all away. There have been summers where we've had to put the dock up right at the end of the stairs down from the cottage.

We're on a cove, protected, but we still get to see some very cool action in the sky and the sun sets directly across from our beach. Nothing like sitting on the beach with a cold drink, watching the sun go down.

The flag on the screen is covering a hole to keep the mosquitoes out.

The oar is from a row boat that is long gone, but was really cool. It was big and felt like the shallop at the Mayflower.

Irises all over the place, beautiful when they're all open.

I consider myself to be incredibly fortunate to have had this place in my life and to be able to share it with so many friends.

HAPPY 68th BIRTHDAY MAMA!

WE GONNA ROCK DOWN TO ATLANTIC AVENUE

My mother and I drove down to the cape on Saturday to see my brother and his band play at the Barnstable Fair. His band is called The Atlantic Ave Band and they do a mix of covers. Neither one of us had seen them play, so we were psyched to be going.

My sentiments exactly! And it has nothing to do with being married to a bass player.

The guitar line-up. With this many six-strings, you get a nice full sound and the bassist was giving good bottom!

The audience with Mom singing along to "It's Five O'clock Somewhere". She's a big Alan Jackson fan and digs the Jimmy Buffett a little too.

My bro, winking for the camera, and the ever popular Vinny Conga on, well, the congas!

This little guy was dancing for the whole, 1 1/2 hour set. CUTEST!

Vinny, workin' it!

The bassist, groovin' through the whole set.

"She said don't hand me no lines and keep your hands to yourself"

A BRILLIANT IDEA, REALLY

The walls in the women's bathroom at Church in Boston. For some reason, women feel compelled to write on the bathroom walls when they're trashed, so this bar took the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" approach. I say well done!

THAT'S A BIG BARREL!

CARS,CARS, and MORE CARS!

So, this was the weekend of the car show! On Saturday we went out on the bike to see Paul and Teri at the grand opening of Teri's new Arts Center in Quincy.

Their boys Jake and Nick came out to check out the bike, and of course, try it out. After our visit with the Mangiarattis, we hit the road for Brookline and the Larz Anderson Auto Museum for Micro/Mini Car Day. This museum has a permanent collection located in a converted carriage house but they also host events on their sprawling lawn over the course of the non-snowy months.

When we got there and got off the bike the first thing we saw was one of Ian's favorite motorcycles, with a sidecar no less. It's a Ural from Russia.

How cool are hood ornaments?

A bug-eye sprite!

Ian in the reflection of a Nash Metropolitan's hubcap. Note the dice on the valve stem. Another cool detail.

As all the cars were tiny, I appear as a giantess, doing my best Carol Marol. Hitched to the back of this car is the tiniest camper I've ever seen.


Inside the carriage house is the permanent collection. I thought it very cool that each car had a mannequin dressed in the style of the day. This is a 1957 Corvette, 'vettes are my favorite car. If I had the money, that's what I'd get!

The museum houses cars that were actually owned by Larz Anderson. This is a shot of his limo from the early 20th century. It has all mod cons!


The headlight of one of his other cars.

And then there is a garage set up so you can see what it was like back in the day. They have some cars "in for repairs" all the tools, etc. that you'd need.

On Sunday, we hopped on the bike again and headed out to Dedham for The Bay State Antique Auto Club’s 38th Annual Antique Car Show. Touted to have over 1000 cars participating, how could we pass it up?!?

Aren't we all feeling THIS!?!

An Oldsmobile El Camino. Who'da thunk it?

Ian checking out one of the race cars, there were several there. I've never seen one up close before.

This truck is big and tough, would probably kick the asses of all those pickups with hemis.

Reflection in the hood of a 70s Celica. I love the pink and white car behind me.

This is the tail light of an Olds 98. I think my favorite car at the show. The owner was a sweetheart too.

Another cool hood ornament.

WTF?! So shiny, I like!

Love the interiors, so much character, makes today's cars look bland.

So, the weekend was beautiful and we did a lot of riding and we saw a lot of really cool cars. Can't beat that!

Oh, and I should really mention that Ian took all the photos (except the one he's in) and did a great job. He taught me everything I know about cars and cameras.