Rainy day at the beach ...and my kitchen

I'm glad so many of you enjoyed my last post with photos of my kitchen! It's actually been about 10 years since we remodeled so the appliances are definitely looking a bit dated. The microwave should be sputtering out any day now and the dishwasher died long ago, thankfully.

We used to have harvest gold counter tops with dark pink cabinets. Now it's a grey speckled laminate with white painted cabinets and crystal knobs. Best thing I ever did! After 10 years the cabinets could definitely stand to be repainted.

Here are pictures from right after it was completed. Note, I wasn't much of a decorator back then . . .



Remember, this was 10 years ago. Needless to say a few things have changed decor wise, and it does have more personality than when I took these photos, but I am thinking it's time for the brass bin pulls and crystal knobs to go!

A few of you mentioned my sink, which I still love after all these years. It's the Hartland sink by Kohler and you can find it here. I don't think the price has changed much. What blew me away when we bought it was the price of the basin racks, over $30 each! However, they have saved my sink from being ruined by scratches. To keep it white and shiny I clean it with straight bleach or Clorox Clean-up.

A few of you also mentioned the valance over the sink. I made the 2 in the kitchen, along with most of the valances in my house. It's much cheaper, and more custom, than buying from a store.

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Okay, on to today's post!

I took all of these photos this past Monday, in the rain. Before posting them I added a touch of Cross Processing in Picnik to each image, for added interest.

See, rainy days and Mondays really aren't that bad.

They aren't if you're at the beach anyway ; )

A tree lined road that I think is so pretty. Many of the homes that reside on this street are historic. Just behind me is the end of Jenness beach in Rye. Hopefully I'll remember to come back and photograph this street in the late spring when all the leaves are coming out.

Finally our temperatures are looking up!!!



YIPPEEE!!!!

Dreary summer days

They said it would rain, and it did. Three days of rain and drizzle and cloudy skies were rather depressing after such a warm, sunny summer, but we really needed it.

With the storm came a LOT of wind! On a trip to beach one afternoon this week I was so surprised to see a huge flock of Tree Swallows, dodging and swooping over one of the water inlets next to a restaurant.

I pulled into a parking spot and tried photographing them from inside the car but it just wasn't working. It was one of those winds where it's difficult to just open the car door! Plus the mist was falling and I don't like getting the camera wet.

Finally I had no choice and had to jump out of the car if I was going to try to get any shots at all.

The shots I did get don't really convey the sheer volume of swallows, but believe me, they were in the hundreds.

They kept flying down into this bush . . .

. . . they they would all fly back out again in formation. So cool!

Speaking of cool ... I love this sign

I had to take the shots below through the windshield of the car, in between the wipers wiping back and forth. It was raining pretty good at this point so there was no way I was getting out.

Wind surfing looks so difficult. It must take incredible strength to hold up the sail, especially in weather like this.

Today it's a whole different ballgame. Warm, humid, and sunny!
It makes me a very happy girl : )

* The girls and I are headed out to the local Farmers Market. We've also had the good fortune of watching the Blue Angels fly overhead in preparation for the local airshow this week-end! Lily was chasing them across the yard, barking her head off. LOL!