A Visit to Port Norris and the Bay Day Festival

Some weeks ago, we took a trip to visit my daughter in Port Norris and attended Bay Day, a yearly festival held in Bivalve, NJ to celebrate the history of the oyster schooners.

Schooners like this one were sailed out to collect the oysters.

The bay as seen though the windows of the office of the oyster shed buildings of Bivalve NJ.

One of the bands that entertained at the festival.

An old church still standing in Bivalve. I have photographed this building many times over the years and it still fascinated me.

A Flower Day

This is the walkway up to my patio. I have a Butterfly bush that overhangs the walkway.

My Hibiscus, it is as large as a dinner plate, but only last a couple of days, but oh how lovely for those few precious days.

I call this my sister's planter, I just love the five faces each looking a different direction. Each year I try to get the best flowers for it, and I think I did well this year.

Morning Coffee

Is there anything like your first cup of coffee in the morning.? This morning I poured it in my favorite cup, went to the refrigerator for my Silk, started to pour when I noticed this bubble floating on top. I took a closer look and noticed that the whole kitchen was reflected in this little bubble, as though it was a fish eye lens, well you just know I had to go grab my camera and record this tiny reflection of my world. This may not seem like much, but it sure made me stop and think of how much we take for granted and miss because we are so busy. Our visual world is so immense, it can seem like sensory overload at times, but I just found this miniature world in the bubble of my coffee, and it made my day.

A YELLOW DAY

Yellow flowers and leaf from my garden

My daughter, Miakoda at a waterfall in upper New York state.

A Day in the Park

IN MEMORY OF JOHNAN

About seven years ago, we brought home three little kittens. We named them Thomas Henry, Madeline and Johnan. Thomas Henry is my cat, Madeline belonged to my second daughter, who moved away and took Madeline with her. Johnan belonged to my youngest daughter. She was alway a different kind of cat, kind of skitzy and shy, and she remained small and slender, while Thomas Henry grew big and plump.

This is Thomas Henry doing what he does best, sleeping.

We loved Johnan, I alway called her Jo-Jo. She would climb up on the dryer, then disappear down behind it to sleep awhile, climbing back out when she got hungry. She had a knack for picking the oddest places to sleep such as this empty shoe box, which she obviously didn't exactly fit in.

She didn't like to be picked up, and would choose when and whose lap she would sleep on.

I always loved the way she would curl her tail around her body and sit so perfectly still like a statue.

She always tucked everything so tight and neatly under her.

Thomas Henry and Jo-Jo were great friends.

Jo-Jo and Thomas Henry check out Nanook.

A couple of weeks ago, my daughter found Jo-Jo curled up under the dining room table, looking as though she had curled up for a nap. Sometime during the night she had died. We had just had her to the vet for her regular check-up and shots the week before. It is so heartbreaking, we keep wondering why, what could we have done, but in truth we had no idea anything was wrong. We miss her terribly and she will always have a place in our hearts. 

WE LOVE AND MISS YOU JOHNAN