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Monday, March 28, 2011

Monday, Again

Is it just my imagination, or does Monday come around pretty frequently
these days?  I'm thinking about once a week. . . .

Howard and Dion and I had a busy four-day weekend.
On Thursday, we braved snowy New Jersey roads and headed for New York's eastern Long Island.
We were heading for our family beach house, meeting up with my sister Peg and her husband Bill.
Before we knew it -- if by "before we knew it" we mean "after 2 toll bridges,
The Bronx, and 2-1/2 hours" -- we were on eastern Long Island.
It's way flatter than New Jersey, but we don't hold that against it.
 Plus its trees are shorter.  New Jersey's trees could totally beat up Long Island's trees.
This is why we keep them on opposite sides of the Hudson River.
There wasn't much snow at the beach house, and it melted quickly.  That was A Good Thing.
Our welcoming committee, below, didn't stay long, but did leave calling cards; that was not A Good Thing.
We had all the needed equipment for a successful work weekend:
cleaning supplies, coffee maker, case of wine, and -- in the white box -- a dark chocolate and cheese coffee cake
from Junda Bakery on the main road in Jamesport.  If you have never been, go.  That is an order.
It's in an old house, looks a little spooky, but seriously . . . go.
My sister made us go, and we will be forever grateful.  And fatter.
 Breakfast -- freshly made black coffee and a sliver (OK, maybe a slab) of flaky
cheese filled coffee cake, thickly drizzled with dark chocolate, at the table in the dining nook.
 The sun rises across the inlet, pretty much every day.  The morning sparkle can be blinding.

In warmer weather, afternoon means a glass of wine on the deck, and our
traditional beach house Happy Hour snack: Cheez-Its.
Yeah, we are classy.  Sometimes we even get White Cheddar Cheez-Its.
Crazy, I know.   We are outta control.

 This weekend, we spent hours contemplating wall colors.  There are swatches taped all over the place.

Sea and sand -- that's the palette.
Nothing seemed perfect.

Too yellow.
  Too green.
 Too gray.
 Too blue!
 Too dark.

But we did agree on new kitchen flooring,
which I don't have a picture of,
and also on carpet for the living & dining area:
In person it looks very much like sisal.
 The hunt for the perfect wall color continues.  We want something that 
will reflect the beautiful light from the water, but not glow too much.

We had a good 4 days, with a crazy swing of emotions, lots of laughs and memories, but also a bit of
panic at the thought of the four "kids" being the responsible parties for this big house on the water.
And knowing we can't pick up the phone and call our Pop to ask, "What does this switch do?"
or a thousand other questions.

I think that everyone, no matter how "grown up" he or she is, must get that feeling
when both parents are gone; you are really on your own. 

When we got home late Sunday afternoon . . . our Wednesday snow was still with us!

till tomorrow . . . Cass




Cielo at The House In The Roses hosts
Show Off Your Cottage Monday.






And Mary (my fellow New Jersey girl) hosts
Mosaic Monday at her beautiful
Little Red House blog.

 Visit Mary here!

21 comments:

  1. GO JERSEY TREES! BOOYA!

    What a beautiful view from your windows and deck there, Cass! And yes, it's amazing how advanced in years one can get without feeling totally grown up... Thanks for sharing your sweet (and bittersweet) weekend at MM. :)

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  2. What a lovely post Cass and looked like a working visit. I particularly enjoyed your last comments. I have that feeling often.

    Carolyn/A Southerners Notebook

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  3. Yes - Mondays do come around to fast. Thanks for sharing your weekend. I have been known to really get wild and eat goldfish crackers with a glass of wine.:-D Yes, a flock of geese can get nasty and do a lot of damage.
    Have a great week.

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  4. What a lovely family beach house. Great view from it too. Have a nice week.

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  5. Oh my, now that is one awesome place for a family to gather and enjoy! I would think it would be neat having a working weekend! Thanks for sharing! Each time I drop in, I'm in awe of your old house, it's just lovely!

    Nancy

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  6. Ooooh--Jealous! I fell in love with Sand Motif (BEHR) it looks great in the sunshine, not too dark, not to light :)

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  7. Hugs!!! xoxoxoxo

    The view is great!!!

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  8. I'm sure this is a bittersweet time for you, Cass. But you are definitely going to keep yourselves busy! I know what you mean about the paint colors. We have floor to ceiling windows that flood the Great Room with light, that changes 1000 times a day. You will hit on the right color at some point!

    LOVE the view from your deck and the coffee cake sounds worth driving 800 miles for!!

    XO,
    Jane

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  9. Our Wednesday snow is still with us too - - - only now it's mostly Monday Ice.

    I just spent about 45 minutes in the driveway HACKING at ice with my shovel trying to get the REST of the stuff off the concrete that had frozen down like concrete slabs.

    BUT - - - the sun is out, and I can tell that spring really is making an effort to push old man winter out the back door.

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  10. Oh what fun you had. Lovely place to sit and relax after the work is done. V

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  11. Great post and I like how you think. Wine, cheese and chocolate. What more could a girl ask for? Thanks for sharing and have a wonderful week.

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  12. Sounds like a fun weekend -even with the work.:) The views are heavenly - totally worth any length drive, I think. I laughed at your Cheez-it comment- we do that here, too.

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  13. Well, you had me at chocolate cheesecake! lol A wonderful weekend for all of you..even if you did have to work a bit.

    I know what you mean about the feeling you get when both parents are gone. All of a sudden there is a "clutch" and you realize that you are no longer anyone's daughter...and then you realize that you are NOW the "older" generation. It's an odd sensation when it hits you. I understand exactly what you are feeling. xxoo Diana

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  14. Looks like you've got a handle on all the interior decorations! Can't wait to see the finished product!

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  15. It sounds like you had a great weekend, and remember, you are now the ones with all the knowledge....scary!

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  16. Kids will do fine, just like you are doing great!

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  17. I like the blue wall paper. If I was you I would move to the beach house and leave all the snow behind myself. I'm 52 these days and sure wish I could ask my dad or mom for advice almost everyday. We never totally grow up.

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  18. What a wonderful place for all of your family to spend time together! I know what you mean about phoning your parents...I have started to dial my mil a few times to ask a cooking question before I realize she's gone. It feels nice that my boys phone me now for so many of the same cooling questions!

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  19. You will have laughs and you will have tears
    BUT it can be done and I know you guys will do well.
    When my Mom's house sold Ken and had to clean her house out by ourselves. Thank goodness for Ken!

    Good Luck.

    Melinda

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  20. Please, will you give me some details about the carpeting you chose?

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