What A Visit to Humarock Massachusetts

My sister Catherine and and brother in law Mark were at their beach house in Humarock Massachusetts this week and invited us for a visit. We could only fit in one night so we arrived in the late evening Thursday and watched a spectacular sunset from the back deck. This is the side of Humarock where all the boats enter and exit. Look at this sunset...the colors are fiery.

This is the deck off their bedroom that we were on to watch the evening light show!
In the morning on the other side of the house off the kitchen deck the sun rises over the Atlantic Ocean. When I woke to watch it, the sky was hazy so the sunrise was colorful but diffused. The photo below is when the sun was high in the sky.

Mark made coffee and we hung out a bit and then off to breakfast at the Sand's End Cafe. What a wonderful place. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. Catherine and Mark say the fish and chips are the best...I look forward to that another time. Breakfast was wonderful. The cafe has tables and chairs and is painted in yellow on the upper walls and the lower half is green wainscot...when inside you feel like you have stepped back into the 1940's. The cafe takes up half the building and the other half is a type of general store...newspapers, souvenirs, toiletries, sundries, food products, wine and beer and first aid items as well as so much more. If you are visiting or live in the area most anything you need is here. Everyone is dressed casually and later in the day kids in swimsuits is the dress of choice. Locals as well as visitors mingle. The owner Marilyn is a wonderful hard working gal...so if you are in the area drop in and support the local business. There is even live entertainment in the evenings.

Next a stop at the local souvenir shop...tee shirts, coffee mugs, jewelry, cards, CDs, shells and so much more are packed in the great shop...Humming Rock Gifts...I picked up a little something for Catherine and have tucked it away for a later date!
Next it was off to the Bait Shop...Catherine and Mark are avid fishers...they spend the whole day fishing and almost always catch their supper!
You have to walk down this wooden deck between buildings on the water to get to the bait shop...Crawford Boatbuiding is one side of the dock and peeking inside is a treat...this wonderful boat was in the process of being finished...the workmanship is exquisite. The place was closed so we could not go in...too bad but it was a pleasure to look through the windows.While Catherine was getting their bait of choice I took in all the sights...this bridge is closed to car traffic for repair work but you can see the traffic lights for boats are functioning and boat traffic is moving as usual.
When we got back to the house this is the same view as last night's sunset only in the light of day and the tide is up...the boat really moving right along.
People are already flocking to the beach. This is a rocky beach so rock hunting is very "lucrative". Catherine says there are loads of sand dollars as well and kids spend lots of times collecting.

Boaters head to this sandy water spot surrounded by high tide waters for some swimming and sunning.

Here is my husband Bob in front of the gift shop...he really would rather be eating this lobster than posing!


Catherine and Mark waving good bye from their bedroom deck...I am willing to bet that within 10 minutes they were packed up and off to their favorite fishing spot...their supper was lurking somewhere off the coast in the deep blue sea.

Thanks guys for a wonderful time...what a jewel of place to visit...


Elizabeth

Garden Gifts

Our garden is giving us colorful and healthy gifts on a daily basis. Finally the tomatoes are getting ripe. With all the rain we thought we would never get our usual daily basket full...this yield doesn't last long so we must take full advantage of it when it starts. The cucumbers are almost done which accounts for the unusual shapes and stunted lengths...they are still delicious and worth the extra time peeling around all the curves! Below is a photo of some of the days pick...the garlic was picked last month and we are enjoying it almost everyday. The roma tomatoes (plum shaped) are prolific right now and I made a delicious spaghetti sauce last week...romas make a delightfully thick sauce which I enriched with our herbs and garlic for heightened flavor.Today I sliced up different varieties so we could do a taste test...it really is hard to rule any of these tomatoes out. Starting at the top to bottom are red brandywine, jet star, yellow brandywine, lemon boy, and finally green zebra...

The other day I dressed this tomato dish with fresh mozzarella, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and fresh basil...DELICIOUS!!!!!Hope your garden is doing well...if you don't garden try to get to a local farmers market...these vendors have some wonderful produce and really need our support.

Elizabeth

Soggy New England

Wow! We have had so much rain...no one has to water their gardens or lawns. Hopefully we dry out a little. Not just rain but wild and woolly thunder and lightning storms to boot! My sister Catherine and I were out shopping last week and got caught in one fierce storm. We took solace under a bridge because the rain and hail (see hail below on windshield of car) was pelting us. Catherine started snapping pictures of our situation.

We weren't the only ones to stop under the overpass.

Everyone that drove under the bridge stayed under the bridge for quite awhile sitting the storm out.

There were at least ten motorcycles waiting as well. The water just poured down from the top of the bridge and the motorcyclists had to move to the other side to avoid getting soaked.

Water just gushed down the embankment...it was a waterfall in just seconds.

Once the rain subsided we headed home. The storm was following us and below is the field just about 1/4 mile from our house. I called my husband while under the bridge and he said it was dry and sunny...once we got close to the house the skies were black and we knew the storm was closing in on us. My father calls this tree a wolf tree as it stands alone in this field.

This photo Catherine took is just gorgeous of the tree line and storm clouds. Our house is just over the tree line on the pond...which seems to be a great attraction for lightning. No one wants to be outside when a storm hits.

This is another storm this week that dumped over four inches of rain on us during the day.

While I was taking some photos of this severe storm I could hear voices coming from the pond...I was in the house looking at our island in the pond. Then they kept shouting. I thought possibly some boater had gotten stuck out in the water or come ashore on the island and was in trouble. So my husband and I rushed to the island and found no one. So we took a ride looking around. All of a sudden these four kayaks come from under the bridge by our house...four young teenage boys paddling like crazy in the middle of the storm...guess they were trying to make a go of it to get home...I snapped a few pictures...scary thing is not one of them had a life vest on...apparently they are safe an sound because we never heard anything...Not a good place to be in the middle of a thunder storm.
The prediction this week is for good weather...lets hope so...the ground needs to dry out and I need to get some sun time on my float before this summer ends!

Elizabeth

Hot Time in the Garden

Nothing says summer like heat loving flowers like zinnias and dahlias...it seems the sunnier it gets the more these dazzlers perform. They just need to be deadheaded on occasion and watered sparingly. With this little bit of TLC they seem to respond with more delightful color and eye appeal.
Look at this beautiful dahlia...it is simply gorgeous!

More dahlias and zinnias...this photo spells summer to me!
I could stand in this spot all day long admiring the brilliant colors of these flowers. I love the stalks and leaves of dahlias...so shiny and strong. The petals on zinnias are so cool to look at and the colors are so vivid...there are no crayons in the box that can come close to the variety of colors zinnias display.

Hope your summer is going well...pick a bouquet of zinnias or dahlias and see how happy it will make you...or visit a local farm stand or farmers market and grab a big bunch...it will put a smile on your face and a bounce in your step to be sure!

Elizabeth

Garlic Harvest

This is the time of year that garlic is mature and must be picked and dried. There really is nothing better than homegrown garlic. Once you have grown your own using store bought is simply a step down. Come on into our storage shed to see some of our garlic bounty.

This is some of the garlic all dug from the garden and tied together and labeled so we know which variety we are eating. We store the garlic in old gladiola boxes. Gladiola bulb must be dug up in the fall and stored inside so we have these old commercial boxes from Europe that have screen bottoms and are perfect for garlic as well. Some garlic is delicious raw and in dips and some is better in cooked dishes. Once you develop a taste for the hotter varieties you can throw caution to wind and just eat any kind without holding back!

Once the garlic is nice and dry, we just gently rub the dirt off and the bulb is nice and white and clean. Some varieties have red in them such as German Red or Chesnok Red. When you slice into your fresh garlic it actually is so moist you can see the moisture almost pouring out of it...that is why it is so flavorful. We save some of the bigger heads to use for next years crop. It really is simple to grow. Take a bulb and divide the cloves from it. Plant a clove in each hole about 2-3 inches deep in the fall at the same time you are planting daffodils or tulips. Pretreat your soil with compost and manure as garlic is a heavy feeder. Mark each row so you know what you have. Cover your garlic bed with 2-3 inches of peat moss...this protects your garlic over the cold weather months and actually helps with weed control in the spring as well as moisture control. It is recommended that in colder climates that hard neck varieties be used. Don't get too worried if you see spikes of green popping up in the fall or warm winter spells it will not hurt your crop. In the spring continue to feed these hungry plants till about June. You will these incredibly cool curly spikes come form your plants...these are called scapes. The scapes are good to eat but I love to mix them with flower bouquets...I was advised to cut all the scapes off once they come and leave just on to use as an indicator. When this one scape stands up straight as an arrow this is when it is time to dig your garlic. I have found this to be a far more reliable indicator than judging when the leaves have browned and dried enough.
I am particularly fond of Music...this garlic has a wonderful flavor in all foods. This past weekend I made a boursin style cheese spread with fresh garlic from the garden and loads of fresh picked herbs (parsley, thyme, basil, oregano and chives) all added to cream cheese and a little butter with a touch of salt and fresh lemon juice all mixed in the food processor...suffice it to say none was leftover...the flavor of the garlic was delightful.

This is a wonderful old hornet's nest my nephew discovered and retrieved one fall on our island. He sure had a keen eye as it was very discretely hidden in the tree. We kept it hung in the greenhouse and then hung it in the shed. It has stored well here and hangs over the garlic, so thought I would take a picture and share it when I was doing the garlic. I love to look at it and I always think of Seth when I see it.

Guess you know what we are having for lunch today...fresh picked tomatoes and basil from the garden...the vinaigrette will of course have some fresh garlic in it topped with slender curls of parmeggiano reggiano...life doesn't get better than this.

Hope your garden is doing well...a garden is good for your health and good for your heart...I always feel so good when I come into the house with a basket full of fresh picked goodies...

Elizabeth