Hammonasset

Hammonasset. Where do I begin? I first attended this event 16 years ago. 15 years ago I saw Lost & Found there for the first time. And I became a groupie. It was such an awesome experience for me to be able to see them back at Hammo again. When I was in college they were playing there about every other year. Then after college for one reason or another I have had to miss all of their return visits. But not this year. I was determined to go! I was ready to camp elsewhere in the campground and crash the event.

And then word came about Tropical Storm Hanna. At first we thought the event would be cancelled, but instead it was just held in an abbreviated format. The Friday activities went on like normal, and then the Saturday and Sunday events were held on Saturday at a local church, with the event ending at 6. We left a little after 1 so that we would be sure to avoid the worst weather.

So we get there Friday, arriving before it was completely pitch black, although it was after sunset. We got the tents up and then headed over for the concert, actually scoring some decent seats. After the concert I kind of hung around the merchandise table for a bit. I was off to the side, letting Michael do his thing. He was greeting all of the kids, "woman/man, what can I do for you". (Interestingly there were far more women than men.) The kids all were getting a kick out of it. Then he turned to me and said the same thing. I responded "Don't 'woman' me" (but in a friendly tone. I realize that may read kind of mean.) and then he immediately recognized me. I love that 15 years later they still know who I am. It's not like I haven't seen them in 15 years, but with everyone they meet, it's still nice to know that they remember me.

So we chatted for a bit, but then it was time for me to head back to camp and be a responsible adult. :) Our group sat around for a bit chatting, and I explained how I became one of their groupies. How I met them 15 years ago when I was in a small group that they were leading.

I remember we were playing a game where we had to say our name and something about ourselves, and then other people would ask questions. We knew it was time to move on to the next person when I would ask a really random question. I remember I was wearing my "cow" sweat pants. They were black pants that I had cut various holes in them and my white legs underneath made up the "spots" of the cow.

I told the group about how when I went to the National Youth Gathering (that's a link for the upcoming one) in Atlanta I had questionnaires with me for them, on the off chance that I ran into them. And how people knew I was looking for them, so they brought me over to them. How one of the questions was about what I should do with a yard of cow print fabric and that George had answered make a dress for his daughter, so I did. And then I made one for his second daughter as well.

I told about how I went to concerts every year at Valpo, and how then I've seen them all over NY and New England, and dragged Chris with me, so that even he knows the songs now. And I told about how excited I was to be seeing them at Hammonasset again so that I would get the extended concert experience. They tend to use a lot of the same jokes at concerts, so I was looking forward to new stories and witty repartee.

And then I was touched when Amanda and Brittany led our group in prayer, and they both mentioned their thanks that I was able to see Lost & Found again. I know I sound like a psycho groupie, following a band around 15 years later (I guess this is similar to Mel and her Donnie obsession), but I'm really not normally this bad. I think it was just the extreme joy of being able to see them at Hammonasset again. I don't think I get this way for normal concerts. And they were playing in Rhode Island Sunday night and I didn't feel the need to go to that concert.

So we went to bed Friday night. The air was very warm and humid. Somewhere after midnight the rain started. Then around 4am there was really bad thunder and lightening. I woke up and hear the girls talking. Turns out 2 of them had to get up to go to the bathroom. They got soaked!

Woke up in the morning and the rain had stopped. But of course everything was soaked. I think most people's tents had leaked so everyone was on the wet side. We packed up and headed to Friendly's for breakfast. Surprisingly the place was pretty empty. I've never seen a Friendly's that deserted before. After breakfast we headed off to the church, making sure we would be there in time for the 9:30 Lost & Found performance. We kind of kidded around about how I wasn't going to let the group be late. We got to the church and I grabbed seats for us in the second row, Michael side. (I had told them the night before about how for a while I would show up over an hour early at shows to make sure I had a seat front row, Michael side.)

Another tradition I have when I go to see them (although I haven't always done it in recent years) is that I give them a set list. Sometimes these are rather extensive. I didn't have time to prepare one in advance, so after the concert Friday night I quickly put one together with only 4 or 5 songs on it. I had given it to Michael, and later George asked if I had one yet. "Yup," I told him. "And #1 on the list was Alexander." He responded, "can there be a substitution?" Nope. Unfortunately I knew it wasn't going to be played, but I had to request it anyway. (It's an oldie that I love, and they used to play it all the time, but now they never play it.) But back to my story.... Friday night after turning in my set list I thought of two others I wanted to add, so when we arrived on Saturday I told them of my two new additions.

They played for a bit, and then we had some other programming that was part of the weekend. We had a break at one point and I went out to talk to them. I mentioned that if they were going to play anything from my set list it would have to be before lunch since we would be leaving afterwards. Then George mocked me for leaving at since apparently Hanna wasn't going to hit until 2am. I told him it wasn't my call, that it was our vicar's and he said that I should have her come talk to him so that he could set her straight.

So the next time they got on stage they talked about how an old friend of theirs had requested a really obscure song of theirs, and they played one from my list - The Hi-at Hotel". And then a little later the same thing, really obscure but their friend Chris requested it, and it was "Jesus Loves Me" complete with the hand motions made up by an 8 year old. They had done this song 15 years ago at Hammo, and I've frequently requested it since then, and they had never done it, until now. Yup, warm fuzzies. Here I was thinking they would be doing a different one since they had told me they would do two of my requests.

Shortly after that musical interlude was lunch. We ate, and then I gathered the group together for the annual photo with the band. (Like I was going to not do photos with L&F?!) And then it was time to head home.

We hit a bit of bad weather along the way, but it wasn't too bad. I think I'm glad that we left early though. If we had stuck around, who knows what the rain would have been like, and I don't like driving on the highway in the dark. And everyone was tired and was sleeping in the car, so it all worked out for the best.

It would have been better without the rain, but I think, all in all, it was a fabulous Hammonasset experience.

Two posts in two days...

First off, here are some Toadstool Baby Rattles, and no, I'm not pregnant. I started the rainbow one last week. Should have used size 2 needles instead of 3, but I didn't have any. As a result it's a bit big. Got smaller needles on Sunday and finished up the yellow one last night. I got a request for a pink one, so I'll have to see if I have appropriate yarn, and if not, head to the store before we head for Maine. I figure these will be a good vacation project. Also got a request for a couple of cupcakes.

Another project for last night was to bake this cake. It was for someone at work who has a birthday this month and she loves butterflies. She also loves pink and purple.

A little of this, a little of that.

It's been way too long since I've last blogged, so here's a rundown of what's been going on for the past month.

It started off with my work's summer outing at Kimball Farm. Yum! Such a fun place, and in addition to the fabulous icecream, the food was above average for a corporate outing-type place. The weather was as bit hot, but we took advantage of the free mini-golf. The line for bumper boats was too long, so instead we just had our icecream and then headed to NH for a night of camping with Tami and her family.

Unfortunately we only camped for one night. We had doctor appointments the next day back near home and didn't want to have to drive back. Turns out it was probably for the best as that Sunday I ended up being struck by a rather horrible summer cold. It was interesting taking pictures. I forgot how much kids move around, so I had a number of blurry photos since my shutter was open for too long. There also was lots of rain which made for an interesting camping experience, but I think we all still had fun. Maybe we can find a time to do it again?

Once again the ART scene shop built the set for Shakespeare on the common. The show this year was As You Like It. It really is a popular event. We got there almost 2 hours before "curtain" and we were pretty far back. I took these photos afterwards and was only lucky to get so close since Chris knew the crew. In fact, because of that connection we were able to have them move the trees so that I could get a picture of the plane. Very interesting cartoony trees. And if you're confused about why there's a crashed plane in the Forest of Arden, join the club.

The garden is progressing well. I've been harvesting green beans, and my tomatoes should be ripening soon. Cukes- only 2 so far. They haven't really recovered from all of the rain. Zucchini- not really sure. That's what the yellow flowers are. There are lots of flowers, but they don't seem to be doing anything other than flowers and giant leaves. Lettuce is done. It started to turn bitter. If only I could somehoe time things right so that the lettuce was ready when everything else was. And the broccoli- huge leaves, but nothing else.

And my mystery plant? Yeah, still don't know what that is. It's behaving like a day lilly, although doesn't really look like one. It looks more like an amaryllis, but it didn't come from a bulb. No clue. But it is pretty and adds some color to the front of the house, although it doesn't really look so good with the marigolds. Maybe next year I'll have to try a different color of flower in my barrel.



Can I just say, sometimes I really love my 300mm lens! It doesn't do well in low light situations, but being outside for the "Futures at Fenway" event, it did a phenomenal job. We were no where near the field, but I still was able to get fantastic photos!


It was a double header, with the Lowell Spinners and the Pawtucket Red Sox. We arrived a little late to the first game, during the second inning, I think. But then we got free baseball, since they ended up going to 12 innings. The Spinners won, which continues the tradition of the home team never losing when Chris and I go to a game. We ended up leaving during the 5th inning of the second game since I was way too hot. Our seats were in the sun and I was feeling very crispy. My face got a little burned, but it's not too bad. I can see my nose starting to peel already, so I think moisturizer needs to become my friend.

And Jeremy, this comment is just for you. We had parked at the Common, and walking back from the game my shoes were on the verge of giving me a nasty blister. So I took them off and walked down Comm Ave barefoot. And I had only been drinking water. See- I don't need to be drunk to walk barefoot down city streets. Attempting to walk on my hands? Maybe I need to have some alcohol in me for that one.

Mystery plant

In the spring of 2007 I planted 3 hostas in the front of my house. No hostas came up, but instead, this did. Last year it was just the leaves and I figured it was some kind of lily, most likely a daylily.

Here it is from June 23rd. I no longer think daylily, but I have no idea what it could be.




This one was taken June 31st. The stem is rather thick. Thicker than any daylily I've ever seen before. I start researching it a bit online and decide it might be a clivia.





The following photos of if in flower are from this past weekend.

I've since changed my mind on it being a clivia. The flowers are all wrong. Also, like a daylily, the blooms are only open for one day. However, the stem is still very thick and not like other daylilies I've seen.

Now that I have some pictures of it in bloom I think I'll be taking them to local nurseries to see if anyone knows what it is.





Edited:
Thanks to Rachel for the links to a place that has way more daylilies than I thought imaginable! Here are some options of what it might be. Let me know what you think:
SILOAM BUTTON BOX
LITTLE AUDREY
CAROUSEL PRINCESS
None of them seem exactly right, but they're pretty close.

Derby #3- a look at all the cars

Here are photos of all of the cars at the start of their races. Hope you enjoy! Good thing I took pictures of the scoreboard or I probably wouldn't have remembered who had which cars. You can click on them to view them larger.

Our first cars to race were Pete in yellow against DJ's Batmobile. On the right are York's cannon (the first of his 3 cars) against Siggy's blue/green/yellow car.



On the left we have two very short cars racing against each other! York has the tortoise and Boy Chris has the Jeep. On the right we have Jeff with the black and white car against Rosaline.


Mom Tedford in yellow raced against Dad Tedford in red. On the right is York's hare (which is a puzzle and comes apart into 4 pieces) and Willy's car, which won for fastest.



On the left we have Caitlyn in red and Evan with yellow and red, while on the right is Jeremy's American Flag with too many stripes racing against Michael.



Davis had Lightening McQueen and Lydia had Speed Racer. On the right is Elizabeth's pink/green car and Rosita's flag. (Seemed to be a bit of a theme this year. Rather appropriate seeing how it was the day after the holiday.) Lightening McQueen did not live up to his Cars fame and was the slowest car at our Derby.

On the left is Andrew's legal car in red, and the black/purple one is Caitlin's. On the right is Kristin's covered wagon and Billy's blue car.




On the left we have my car (dark green) and Siggy's chameleon and on the right are Dekota (yellow)and Sharon (snowflakes)




Billy's ship racing my car. We had an odd number of car entries (29 legal cars) so this car got a by through the first two rounds.

2nd Derby update...

I think these updates are going to have to come in pieces. With 210 photos from the 4th and 226 from the Derby, I'm a little overwhelmed with photos at the moment!

So here are the scoreboards:

fastest









slowest
(ignore the columns 2nd from left and 2nd from right. we didn't erase those names after we ran for fastest car)









illegal









and a perfectly attired race fan :)

Derby results...

Fastest car- Willy, upstairs neighbor (almost 4 years old)
Slowest car- Davis- son of Boy Chris' co-worker (3 years old)
Best in Show- Andrew (click this link for construction photos)
Illegal- Boy Chris' Dad

The best thing about the fastest car... the dad came down around 10:30 this morning to buy a kit and in a few hours he made the winning car!

Caitlin was faster than Billy....

Um, that's all I remember off the top of my head. I'm exhausted and heading to bed. Pictures and details coming soon.

Now you see it, now you don't!

See this tree? This picture was taken in December. That's a pretty big tree in front of our place.

Got home from work today and at first I saw the power lines that were down next door. Then I saw what was missing from in front of our house.


Yup- tree's gone. This is all that's left.

The long promised grocery bags...

After promising for a few weeks that I would post pictures soon, here they are. We used them for shopping today. This was a large trip, and I even had some extra bags. Guess I didn't need to make quite so many.




I've got 4 of the lemon "paper" style, and then 2 of the maps and three of the cupcakes, both of which are "plastic" bags.

Stop & Shop now has this new system where you take a scanner when you enter the store and then as you shop, you scan and bag your items. Then at the checkout just check the scanner back in and pay. In theory it's faster. And Chris really liked getting to scan everything. The produce department even has special scales where you weigh your produce and it will give you a label that you then scan.

They're here!

Aren't they cute? Awards for fastest, slowest, best in show, and illegal. Much more fun than the little ribbons/pins we've given out in the past.

Your order has been shipped...

Yup. That's right. Derby trophies are on their way!

I love getting messages like this. Especially when you're not entirely sure if the items will arrive in time. I actually told them I needed it a week earlier than I did just so I'd be sure that they arrived on time.

I just tracked it, and my package is in the state, and should be here tomorrow.

So now everything that I have ordered for the Derby has arrived or is on its way! This weekend we're going to go shopping and make sure we'll have enough food. And then I just need to sit back and wait for any mail-in entries to arrive. I wonder how many packages we'll be getting next week.

Rain, rain, go away!

So I know there are some parts of the country (the south) where they are wishing it would rain more, but I'm sick of it!!! The past few days we've had torrential downpours, and the forecast for the rest of the week seems like lots more of the same. Blech. I'm starting to think of what we will do it rains on Derby Day. Tarp attached to the top of the tennis court fence? Only works if no one shows up to play tennis.

I came home from work today and couldn't drive up the road. There was a tree down, right in front of our house. Wouldn't have been so bad if there wasn't a car parked right next to it. I wonder if the car was parked there before or after the tree came down.









And my poor garden! There is so much rain that the gutters can't keep up with it. Not sure if the gutters are clogged or if they are just full of water, but the rain is pouring off the side of the house and onto my garden. My beans, carrots, zucchini and cucumbers have all seen better days. Yesterday I tried to add more dirt (some got washed away) and propped the beans up a bit, but they were back to looking pathetic again today. I can plant more beans and carrots and I think I'll be ok, timing-wise, but I think it's too late to try to get more zucchini and cucumber plants.

On the plus side though, my broccoli looks fantastic!

It's official... I'm a dork

Yup. Big dork. I ordered trophies for the Pinewood Derby. And we have goodie bags for the kids this year. Kind of crazy.

Not doing so well with the making of the cars. Chris and I went to the shop on Sunday and I started. My simple car is more or less done. My fancy cars? Yeah, not so much. And of course I got bored pretty quickly working on them. We'll have to see how they turn out over the next few weeks. I'm guessing not so well.

LOAD? Going fantastically! Finished up the Christmas album last night. Have pictures ordered for a few more LOs, but then need to do some photo editing so that I can order the rest. Just not enough hours in the day.

Fabric shopping bags? I'll get pictures up here soon. I promise. I'm making two different styles (paper and plastic) and was going to wait until they were all done to post. The plastic ones are done, but haven't done the paper yet. Again, not enough hours in the day.

Bike riding? Went for a 10 mile ride on Saturday. Took about an hour or so. Quite the workout, especially since I'd already gotten a work out while skating that morning. And in skating we are starting to learn a routine. So much more fun than just practicing individual elements. Maybe one of these days there will be a new video to entertain you.

Healthy living

When did I become so green? First it was the vermicomposting, and now it's reusable grocery bags. Made some cute ones over the weekend, but then the power ran out and then I ran out of thread, so they didn't get finished. Photos coming soon.

Also, Sunday Chris and I went on an 18+ mile bike ride in 90 degree heat. My butt's a bit sore, and my legs are slightly jello-ish.

About the bikes... I drive past a bike shop every day on my way to and from work and thought it would be good to get one. I had Chris semi-convinced, and then our stimulus check arrived. :) Half of it went to credit cards, the other half went to bikes. Wow, they're expensive! And then there's all the extra stuff you can get. I got a cyclometer because I want to know how fast/how far I've gone, but I was good and got their cheapest model. And then we also needed a bike rack. We went with one for my car rather than the truck, which means we'll have to do some creative packing of the car when we head to Maine this summer (with bikes in tow). Usually we have the bed of the truck pretty much to overflowing, so it will be interesting to see how well we cram it into my care.

Derby and LOAD

So for the month of June, I committed to a challenge over on Tally called LOAD, or LayOut A Day. As of day 5, so far so good. In fact, on a few days I've made more than one thing. However, my variation of the rules is that it doesn't have to be a layout (it can be a card or something else creative) and as long as I work on something every day, that's ok- I don't need to actually complete it. So if you're interested in checking out what I've been up to, head over to Tally.

And in other news, the Derby invitations are out. If I missed you and you think you're interested, let me know and I'll send you the details. I still haven't started my car yet, and I'm feeling a little anxious about that. There's exactly a month to go, and usually I would have started by now. Granted I'm usually busy finishing things up in the day or two before (or day of) but I've usually at least started by this point. I think I know what I'm making, so at least that's a start. And I've bought the goody bags and contents for the kids at the Derby, but that probably doesn't really matter.

And with that, I'm off to bed.