What a re- union could do to an avid Gardner...

Went to a re - union in Canada, met friends from school, lead to open a FB page which lead to spent too much time finding friends...

Then it leads not to water my garden, being excused of tired of traveling, but truly spending time on internet...

Next we had over riped tomatoes which did not get picked for dinner...

The Melon cucumber was a blast didn't get photographed on a daily basis... too much time on FB finding friends...

 Parsley went to bloom and so did the Dill...

A trip to Big Apple

This spring break we took a almost a day trip to Big Apple! It was FUN bit was tiring. We stayed overnight at a hotel but did a lot during the day. Visited family, bought few cricket gear for Panduka, visited Guggenheim Museum, and a great lunch before heading home. 

The best thing was we were at home before 7:00 pm and went to bed early. It was a great road trip. Listen to music al the way and created fun playlists. Enjoy many sites on our way to NYC!. 

This was our very first time visiting the Guggenheim museum, we have visited the Museum of Fine Arts before. I love many of the modern pieces displayed by many artists but I have to agree I love Frank Lloyd Wright’s work. It holds many modern and contemporary art.

The museum, the building it self is a masterpiece. 

4 H Fair Middleborough, MA

This came to us through a girl at work. I decided to head over to check the fair. It was a long time that I have been to this kind of a fair in VA. Location was not to bad it was not too far but at the same time it was not too close. 

First exhibit we entered was the rabbit display it was pretty interesting. Their were many varieties of bunnies, which I have not witness before in my life. 

Next we entered the chicken coops, yes, and it was fun to watch. 

Nicolette, wanted to get her face painted as a pirate and then she was thrilled to get a sword as well! Later, I move towards the room where they displayed wining entries who had received the blue ribbons. It was very neat, the variations of entries from onions, eggs, quilts, pictures, to many more...

We headed home... our older one was a bit bored from the 4H fair I guess he is not a guy with that kind of interest as his mom!

Sandyneck Beach, Barnstable 2013

 

I hope this is could be a place for us to take our kids for a nice getaway from the busy week. Not a very sandy beach but rather rocky/pebble beach. I bumped in to a Puerto Rican lady at the beach, she was kind enough to share her story of collecting rocks which were  heart shape. 

She explained some of the pebbles are smooth enough for her to smash garlic in her cooking. Even though it was bit harder to navigate in this rocky beach there were many occupants. There was a family reunion and a fire pit. 

The sunset was breath taking to watch. I kind of like this beach, so far we have not designated a beach as our go to beach.
I guess we are still looking, we originally are Island dwellers, and  hard to please when it comes to beaches. I know as a fact, Sri Lanka is well know to its beautiful rolling beaches. I do miss the down south landscape. 

I did kind of fell in love with this beach mainly the landscape was very calming, closer to home only takes about hour and a half so give or take, few shops to view, and the crowd was much pleasant!

I enjoyed the cool breeze, wish I had a book, and love my new beach chairs I got last year from Target!

Both my kids stroll to the beach hand in hand to wade in waves. As always, the teenager was very protective of his sister. On the other hand little Nicolette, persisting on pushing boundaries to explore the beach with her new skill of dog paddle!

She insist that I take her to the waves instead of her big brother so she could have a little freedom to play. I enjoyed her requests so I can step into the cold water to rejuvenate my tired feet!

New England Aquarium

We took the kids to Boston, a trip to the aquarium was FUN! Nicolette was super excited to see the octopus. I could see older one did not care much, but enjoyed being outside with everyone. The weather was beautiful and it was packed. I wished we picked a weekday for much quieter and detail walk around tanks. 

I always get excited seeing the huge tank at the center of the acquarium and the gigantic manmade corals. The sea turtle was making his way to the surface of the water to get a fresh breath of air.Their were divers feeding and another was demonstrating the marine life and the water system of the newly renovated aquarium. 

The outdoor sea lions were much fun to watch. One sea lion was hanging out by himself. However others were entertaining the spectators by racing in the water and splash landing on rocks. According to the information they were all rescued from the nearby sea shores. The feeding was super cool Nicolette was very observant, she also had her first experience in touching a Rays. 

We left Boston, entertained by fish and full bellies with Vietnamese food!

Our Visit to the Cape...

During our visit to Cape Iran into this small shop. What caught my eye was the large wooden fish which was displayed outside. After admiring the fish from outside I headed inside and had a small talk with very friendly shop owner. She was a local and she explained that she uses the wooden spools in which the telephone wires comes in. They are kind of industrial. They get a second life through her work. I loved that idea. The name of the shop is called studio. I hope I am doing a better job explaining this. 

She was just playing with the idea and it was the birth of this wonderful store. She really has a niche for painting and does a terrific job in that. I loved her work. This is a little bit of Cape I wanted to share with you...

Camping...

This was our second camping trip for Summer. We decided to camp at CT which was a shorter drive but it was fun, relaxing, and laid back. I took the liberty to play with pictures I took during the trip. 

We stop by a farmers stand they had lots of fruits and flowers. I asked her if it is all right if I took some pictures and she said yes of course. I really liked the flowers and the fruits they looked fresh.

I have something for sunflowers they makes me happy. These were gorgeous! 

Quote of the day “ Plan less"

Enjoy!

Beach Fun…

 
 
 
Living close to one of the greatest beaches in East Coast was finally a dream come true to us. I have to admit it was a huge accomplishment for me. I LOVE the beach since I was a little girl. Best memories are built and made by the sea at least for me. Beach is something that has been incorporated for me to visit my grandmother when I was growing up. She was a wonderful person who has touched m heart very deeply in my life and I miss her very much.

Well my story here is we have not yet build up any routines to appreciate the beach we have. And we are still much unorganized visiting the beach. So I am working on this I know with all the crazy things going in my life. I am looking forward to do some creative activities at the beach. I would love to say right now we appreciate the beach as it is.

Little Nicolette loves the water and to hang out with her big brother. Niegel was always a water baby his love for the beach I don’t think I can put to words. For both of them it is a very special trip/treat going to the beach. We were at the gooseberry beach in RI. We have been there twice this year. Not yet our beach we are still exploring but we love this spot so far…
Love the ambiance around this beach and the town.

This time I was able to walk in the town and got a treat for myself as well. I love the art shops in this town. We have to make few more trips to the beach…

Quote of the day “cultivate an awareness of your surroundings”

Enjoy!

Camping in Seneca, NY…

Personalize a collage

Yes, with all the craziness going around we decided to go camping. This was well thought out and planned with friends. We booked the site without calculating how far the campsite was… Yes, but it’s all worth the effort… we decided to camp at the Sampson State Park in NY, I wanted to get away from over scheduling myself. Niegel was looking forward to camp since that is his expertise. Actually he has become an expert in camping.

I am pretty sure down the lane he kept his interest same way he could hold an incredible surviving camping show on discovery channel. Our heartfelt thanks’ goes to the Boys Scout of America for changing him for who he is.
Niegel and dad decided to cross the lake and finally understood that it was a task that needed more commitment and change their mind after crossing 2/3 rds of the lake. The temperate was so high I bet it felt good to be at the water.

Little Nicolette on the other hand had a blast with our friends little ones… At last someone at her age that runs… and can look right into her eyes makes a huge difference. We celebrated a wonderful B’day party at the camp. Little Nicolette decided to asks for “Happy Cake” every single day after camp. So we bought a cake from the local grocery store and had some candles “Just for her”

Seneca County in NY had a lot to offer… I wish I took the camera to capture some fun moments of wine tasting… Little Nicolette enjoyed organic cold grape juice which was insanely sweet. We took a long walk by the waterfall –gauge walk, immerse our feet in the cold water to cool the heat, and enjoyed the evening with more wine, bread, cheese, and much more… Kids had a great time running around… Unfortunately I had to do some chapter reading for school everyone else enjoyed the gorgeous weather… We enjoyed Sri Lankan food, tea, and milk toffee from our friends…

Beautiful Seneca County is nestled between Seneca and Cayuga lakes; the very center is called the Finger Lakes region. This beautiful county house lakes, beautiful landscape, to wine and in between.

Quote of the Day “see with your inner eye ,hear with your inner ear”

Enjoy!

Mansfield Town Fair…

  
We decided to head to the towns fair… this was a great opportunity for the in town small businesses. Town of Mansfield is a small town with diversity… we have great schools… shops… and the train to head Boston. This is one of my favorite features.

The total population in the town of Mansfield is about 23,184 the town has a great history to it and we enjoyed being Mansfield Town residents… I enjoyed the local salon they did a great job now my hair is short and looks great.

Quote of the day "fill your mind with healthy thoughts"

Enjoy!

Beach Art…

 
 We took our Aththamma to the Cape and it was a fun trip with fish and chips… long walks in the pebbled filled beach and cold water soaking up your toes…
We always bring back rocks and shells… so I decided to do some art with what we found at the beach not much but this is what we did…

Quote of the day “ develop extraordinary powers of observation”

Enjoy!

Changing Waters

 
 
 
 
This was one of the interesting, and complicated, exhibitions on display. The artist Nathalie Miebach has done a great job in incorporating so many aspects into her pieces such as marine life, weather pattern. Additionally the artist uses complicated basket weaving methods such as twined, coiled, woven and plaited. Show the intricate and complicated data in her work. It was fascinating to watch how the artist uses art as medium or language to think some ideas or concepts through.

At one point when I was looking through this piece all I wanted to do was is to know the numbers on these pieces and its relations. It almost look like the storm starts from the bottom and spiral its’ way up and can observe the collateral damage it does to the marine life.

In her own words Nathalie Miebach says that the basket weaving is a very slow process and it allows her t think trough some of the concepts and finds answers to the questions that come to her head. I personally agree with this since I am knitter I can think through some of the problems and work my way through complicated patterns. Not only that according to experts in neurological studies there have been tests conducted that repeating the same activity allows you to produce more endorphins. According to Nathalie it looks like she has found the perfect harmony in this medium to show the intricate detailing in the marine life in ME.

I was fascinated with all the details in her work, how she choose to displaying her work was amazing. According to the artist with a proper key you can read the data in her work like as a chart or graph. According to the artist the shape and the composition of the work is determined by the trends and the changers in the interpreted environmental information. This is more like an abstract visual interpretation or representation of the landscape. I thought it was interesting how the artist was trying to understand her astronomy class through the 3d work. It shows that she has a great interest in all of this work and how she was able to find UNITY in these two subjects together and yet to show art through her work. With a political science degree she later finds and incorporate ART I her work to convey her message was phenomenal work of art.
I choose the above creation because it reminds me of the tsunami which occurred in Sri Lanka.

At the bottom of the piece it shows a tail end of the fish and on the top it shows the head of the fish. It makes me think the velocity of the storm and its impact on the marine life. I thought this was very interesting and how the artist has maneuver the materials and her weaving abilities to illustrate this information in to 3d formation was very intricate. Not only that the lighting plays around this piece adds some depth to this work as well. Artist has done a wonderful and job in creating this in to a piece finding and giving the piece completeness was great and I personally think she has accomplish the goal of giving completeness to her work of art. As of the materials she has incorporated into these works are amazing from paper, plastic, wooden and the list goes on.

Quote of the day " walk softly,live gently"

Enjoy!

Portland Museum of Art...

 
 
 
 
This past weekend we had the opportunity to go to Maine. My first time to Mane. A beautiful city I guess in summer still the winter chills are wicked. However this weekend was not that cold. I wish my older son was with us he was in ski trip to NH while we were visiting Maine.

We had a great dinner at Dimillo's Floating Restaurant. According to locals one of the best and to my friend (thanks Kathy for recommending it). I had baked stuffed lobster and a steam lobster didn't finish it it was the twin deal but the food was GREAT and the service too! We enjoyed it very much so did the little one.

Next day morning we decided to got to the Portland Museum of Arts for many reasons... I am working really hard on my 3D Art class and wanted to expose my self more to art. It was a great opportunity for my little one to participate. This was all new to little Nicolette but she did a great job. I think she did enjoy the sculpture room a lot and it was truly amazing...

They had the Greek Gods sculpted in marble and it was breath taking. I cannot imagine the work that goes to it. Recently I have been reading more about art and getting my self familiarized with so many concepts.

If you ever to visit Portland Maine I would highly recommend you to visit the Museum of Art. if you have the time... The Children's Museum is right next to it. I couldn't take Nicolette to it I was exhausted by the time finish viewing all three floors. Loved the paintings and the photographs.

There was so much history in to the building. This museum was originally a house that they have tun to a museum I thought was very interesting itself. I have posted some pictures for you to view and in some areas you cannot use the camera to take pictures and flash cannot be use when taking pictures.

I would be definitely re-visiting Portland, Maine soon may be this summer for sure...

Keep visiting those who are out in the west coast. More museum pictures to come soon since the vacations are around the corner. Why not capture Boston... a great city to live. I can't wait for this summer, to take kids to Boston my son is all gang up to hit the Museums with projects... I am planning to take summer classes... I know isn't it too much... yes... but the key to this is balance... which is always a leaning experience...

Quote of the day "look for containment from within"

Enjoy!