Showing posts with label Aunt Katherine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aunt Katherine. Show all posts

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Sunday from Shore to Lake


Today I started off on the blustery sea shore and ended at the old family place on the lake. Seemed liked two different days!



Crashing waves, seaglass covered by the night's stormy sands and still finding the remains of Irene wrapped here around a piling. It seemed almost as windy as the hurricane!


So off we went. NEW Fairfield. A little cottage that has been in the family since the 1940's. Mostly unchanged except for absolute necessary improvements! No drinking water, no shower but wonderful views of the lake from the dock and boathouse top.





A pristine, unadorned location. We are lucky to still own a piece of this lake.



Inside, the old croquet mallets, the wall of fame - the original owners, my great uncle and great aunt along with other Hayes family photos and memorabilia. A turtle shell, an old fan, trinkets, feathers, paintbrushes and of course playing cards.


My mother and her siblings (she is the far right beauty with the big white bow). An art project of past...saved with a found feather. We pretty much have a rule - no TV, no internet etc. Just crafts, reading and lots of cooking in the outdoor fire pit.


Sweetcake Mountain hiking trail meanders up a wooded path behind our place. 


And when we reach the top we see our lake. Candlewood is a large man made lake, a valley flooded back in the 40's (I will make sure of the exact time). Islands seen here were tops of hills. Cemetary Island across from our dock was an actual cemetary! The others seen here we call Sand Island and House Island...and beyond are Candlewood Shores.


The woods are so different than my home by the shore. Bird houses, leaves underfoot and the quiet!!!


The cottage is always a work in progress...but not too much! Old paint colors remind us of the past.


A marker by our door that we have never figured out but to us, it is truly the trail end anyways, end of day and time to relax.

A view from the screened porch. Welcome to the Lake. Well said.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Sea Pottery



I am not sure what other collectors call it, but I have dubbed the wonderful shards of broken pottery, dishes, ceramics & tiles I find, Sea Pottery. Worn smooth by the action of waves, tides, sand and stones, these always unique pieces offer us a time to imagine. Imagine what they were part of, where they came from. Were they on a shelf, in a cottage swept out to sea? Or were they discarded as trash? Was that piece someone's favorite bowl? Do I daresay that finding a piece of Sea Pottery is almost more exciting than finding a piece of blue seaglass?



In addition to Sea Pottery, I have found larger pieces of Sea Marble! These fragments of a long ago counter top or foyer floor are usually found after a rough storm. Heavier than their smaller cousins, seaglass and sea pottery, it takes a mighty wave to launch them from the depths onto their sandy resting places. Here, the white sea marble is nested with an old, round marble trivet that came to our home cracked and thought of as "washed up". Never fear, crazy glue saved it from the dumpster it was bound for! Of course, the whole collection resides on a marble topped Victorian coffee table from Aunt Katherine. I will somehow scan her paintings and tell you a little about this Great Aunt of mine in the future!