14 Birthdays

Fourteen years ago Martin and I officially started our journey together. The first morning of the rest of our lives happened to be my 34th birthday  (this makes all calculations very easy) which happened to coincide with a pheasant shoot that Martin was attending. It was an early morning mixed with happiness, jet lag and a long ride to a estate some where in Oxford,  England.

Martin gave me a pair of diamond earrings and dead pheasants that day.  I will always remember being WAY under-dressed. I have to say the English can be ridiculously refined. I should have dressed for the jewelry not the stomping through the countryside.  As we sat down to a full English breakfast my grey sweatshirt, looked highly out of place among the fine crisp linen cut crystal and gleaming silver. Thankfully the rest of the day was spent in the muddy fields where I was looked only slightly worse than the beaters who walk through the wood rousting the birds.

It has been the best 14 birthdays of my life!

October on the Beach

A classic Nor-Easter has been blowing hard for a few days now,  except for that, October has been pretty darn wonderful this year.

Yes, October on the beach is a glorious time when the beach once again belongs to the loco locals, AKA me and my sun goddess friend, Elena. On October 17th we had a private beach, except for the occasional bundled up beach walkers. Although the temp with windchill was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit we topped up our tans, toasty in the sun behind our wind block.  I even got in an hour of body surfing.  I love my wet suit! 

I did a bit of work too. Martin and I gave the house a fresh coat of paint before we moved back in.

 And then a bit of local sightseeing with my crazy friend. Just after I took this photo we discovered the restaurant behind us "17" ( FYI they serve breakfast cocktails) After a great breakfast with a beverage, we walked it off in downtown Newburyport, MA.