magic christmas tree

this is about 5 hours after adding the "magic water", which smelled a lot like vinegar.

and this is what happened over night!!!

christmas is coming!!!

casey and chieko sent this lovely and delicious supply of rice cakes.  it SHOULD last a while, but ...  maybe not.

they also sent us a magic christmas tree.

you unfold the branches and pour in the magic water.   some magic has already started, but you will have to wait till tomorrow to see....

i want this

i went to the dennis stroll on sunday with laurie.  we found this darling little cottage beside the driveway next to one of the shops.  i want to live here.  click on the picture to enlarge it and see how cute it is.

pretty girls

                               bryana and gramma elsie

random photos

christmas tree 2008
giant snow flakes
little jerry in a tree
someone snapped a picture by mistake of the floor, but casey says the floors are nice, so here you go..... floor

hello blog checkers

well i just found out i have a third "reader"  not that there is much reading to be done on this blog.  hi aimee!!  (and casey and laura)

these are some cranberries, pilfered for me, from someone who shall remain nameless ( thanks jesse, haha)

harvesting 2008

how much do pirates charge for corn?

a buck an ear (buccaneer) hahahahahahahahhahahah

it's jesse's lunch again

i know you have really missed seeing what jesse has been having for lunch, so here you go.

salad

tuna

scali bread w/butter

boiled egg

banana

grapes 

curious george fruit snacks

cheese stick

almond m & m's

chips

cranberry circle cookie from trader joe's

soda (he has his own water, he tells me)

happy halloween

to my 2 devoted blog checkers

casey, you think your spiders are big!!!

4 more watermelons.... they needed to be picked before the weather turned

of course, they weren't all ripe

harvest

1 of 6 watermelons,  it wasn't the ripest, but the biggest.  it was good.  picked more today.  smaller, but riper.  yum

getting ready to harvest OUR watermelons

i should say.... watermelon... we have one so far.   

and i should also say, it is not nearly ready for harvesting

that is a quarter in the background

we may have TWO more starting

yay

i am a slacker

i went next door, (with permission) last month to pick some lilacs

this is the wisteria that never bloomed while we were living there
stolen lilacs, the ones we transplanted didn't bloom, it may take a few years.  i think we should put in the lease, that i can pick lilacs every year.
lady slippers, i found 5 in the woods between the houses
i don't know why the first 2 lines are underlined and i can't fix it

monteray

we took a drive to monteray on saturday, to the aquarium...  along the way we passed this beach.

devin and aimee

heading into the imax 3d theater to see "sea monsters"

san francisco

last week we went to california to visit devin.  he met us in san francisco.  

this is the giant hill we drove up.  and the giant line of cars.....

cable car crossing the road....

and finally we made it to the top of lombard st...... the crookedest street in the world

and down we go
 

pretty day

what a day.... i took bryana to school today and some of the kids were wearing shorts and they smelled like coppertone when they walk by.

and this is alexia.... she has her ears pierced.  i thought i edited out the red eye...

signs of spring

well it IS the nearing the end of april and we should be seeing signs of spring....

these seedlings are way bigger now, they are almost ready for outside



bryana making chalk drawings in the driveway

here is dad, burning brush

FIRE!!!

yesterday afternoon, cheryl and i were going to do some errands.
we stopped at the bank drive up window and noticed a little old lady going into the post office, the post office is just behind the bank.
we also noticed that her car appeared to be on fire!!
it was smoking like mad and then she comes out of the post office and starts to GET INTO THE CAR!!!! which is smoking even more.
well we went right over and insisted that she just grab her purse and get into my car.
meanwhile, i am on the phone with 911. they are asking what kind of car, what color, etc.... and i am thinking... IT'S THE ONE ON FIRE.... you can't miss it..
at this point there are actual flames coming from under the hood.
so they finally get there and stop out on 6A, because, i forgot to mention, the big mail delivery truck had also had a accident with another car (no injuries). this happened first, it had nothing to do with the fire..
so anyway, the police have arrived to handle that situation and now the firemen are sitting there, probably thinking "what fire? just wait till we get a hold of that prankster who called", but thankfully... some guy gets out of his truck and starts yelling to them "THE FIRE IS OVER HERE... THE FIRE IS OVER HERE"
and yay, they put out the fire.... and this lady is sitting in my car saying, i need to get some things out of my car, my cell phone, groceries, clothes...
she had just come from a dog sitting job and had books and bags and suitcases. she was very calm during the whole thing... i mean her car was on fire!!
so once the fire was out, we gathered her things and took her home. it turns out she only lives a couple of streets away from us.
such excitement.
oh and then we did our errands.

cape cod times

January 27, 2008
TOKYO — Chieko Iguchi and Casey Bean, both of Kanazawa, were joined in marriage at the Marunouchi Building. A reception followed at the Monnalisa Restaurant, Francais.

The bride, daughter of Fukuo and Kazue Iguchi of Minami-uonuma City, Niigata, was given in marriage by her father, to the son of Douglas and Barbara Bean of West Barnstable.

The ring bearers were Ayumi and Suzune Shimada, nieces of the bride.

The bride, who is keeping her name, graduated from Muikamachi High School in Minami-uonuma City and from Chuo University in Tokyo.

The bridegroom is a 1996 graduate of Barnstable High School.

The couple each earned a master's degree in teaching English as a second language from St. Michael's College in Winooski, Vt., and are assistant professors at the Kanazawa Institute of Technology.

They are planning a springtime honeymoon in Europe and are residing in Kanazawa.

old rug

ok i found a couple of pictures of the braided rug in the living room.. doesn't the new one look nicer?

new rug

i have been wanting to get a new rug for the living room, almost since we moved last year. (i can't believe it's been a year already) i love the braided rug, but thought the room would look nicer with something different. i put the braided rug in the bedroom. it looks lovely there.

so this is the new rug, i got it from overstock.com. saved a bundle and i think it is very very nice. i was going to put in a picture of the room with the braided rug, but it seems i haven't got one. must have deleted it.

what do you think?? pretty??