DoubleBoba Headed for Spain!

After the huge Nor'easter snow storm on October 29, that led to 5+ days without power....we finally have electricity again.
...and.... it's just in time for me to run off to Spain! Yes... I'm headed to Madrid tomorrow. Come on over to my new blog, DoubleBoba and follow along!

NYC thru my Eyes

New post over at DoubleBoba about my recent trip to NYC.

.....and next week I leave for Spain!! Come on over to my new blog DoubleBoba.com to take a look!

New Posts Over at DoubleBoba

Still following me on Terra Nova Design? Then you are missing my latest posts!
I've moved over to a new blog DoubleBoba
Come on over!!
http://doubleboba.com/

Transition to a new blog space

The time has come to transition my blog over to Word Press.
You can find my new blog, DoubleBoba, at
http://doubleboba.com/

Hurricane Irene Heads North

Today is Saturday, a week before Labor Day weekend. This is prime time to prepare for the arrival of the UMsss students later this week and the beginning of classes the day after Labor Day

I had planned to go into the office this weekend and move my things into my new space but Irene has changed all that. On Friday UMass announced that the campus would be closed all weekend due to Hurricane Irene, who is making her way along the east coast and looks to be following a more westerly route than usual. Although she is "only" a Category 1 hurricane right now (and may decrease to a tropical storm, before hitting New England) the winds and heavy rain are expected to cause significant damage and power outages.



So, instead of prepping for Fall semester today I "secured" my lawn furniture, re-filled my oil lamps and caught up on the laundry. Overall, it feels like prepping for a winter N'easter, when we get hit with 2+ feet of snow, except it is hot and humid.

Honestly, I'm hoping it will largely fizzle out before it gets to the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts, but I'm not counting on it. I'm also hoping that on Monday my garden (house, neighborhood etc) all look pretty much like they did today.

If you are in the path of Irene, stay safe!

Storm King Art Center with Jess

Last Friday Jess and I took a trip over to the Hudson Valley in NY state and visited Storm King Art Center. What an incredible place! The sculptures, the vistas, the fields and rolling hills. The day was complete with blue sky and puffy white clouds which certainly enhanced the experience. Fabulous!!


It was also great to have a little time away from the rush of daily life with Jess, who -- in just 4 weeks -- is headed off to Europe for 2 months. She and Ben will travel through Ireland and England, see Paris and backpack in northern Spain. Then Jess will spend a month in an art residency in rural Spain!

While we were at Storm King her $2000 Kickstarter challenge, to cover some of the residency expenses, was met! That became a wonderful reason to celebrate!


You can follow Jess here, if you would like to keep up with her posts before, during and after the residency.

The following day she and I went to R & F Paints and the the artsy, antique / vintage enclave of Hudson, NY. More on that in my next post!

Two Blue Gates - the painting and ours at Sweetside

I made a trip over to the Berkshires to my mother's for her 88th birthday last week. It was really fun to be able to take her out to lunch at Panera, where she had never been, and to share pictures and information about the lives of her grandchildren via their blogs and websites etc.

While there I also undertook a project she has wanted to do for some time, namely to re-paint the frames on two of her oil pantings, changing them from the yellowed-white to her favorite color - blue. One of these paintings was the Blue Gate painting done by my paternal grandmother, Margaret Brunjes, many years ago. As I mentioned in a previous post, this painting, of a scene in Rockport, Mass, was the inspiration for us painting our new gate, here at Sweetside, blue. I took a picture of the painting, sans the frame as it was still drying

Here's the painting....and here's our Sweetside blue gate.