Ruby Tuesday ~

Ralph used a photo of a sign from our local street festival that I was going to use for Ruby Tuesday, so I found others with some red in them that I took Saturday at the 14th annual Derby Day.
I'll forgive him this one time. ;-)

Lookit all the rubber duckies. I should have gotten another for my collection.

I posted this photo below of the Sterling Opera House on Sunday but I figure why not re-use a photo I like? As you can see the weather was beautiful Saturday afternoon.

This is a friend who is part of Above the Realm paranormal investigative team. He was one of three members who were giving tours of the historic Sterling Opera House throughout the day.

I haven't participated in a while in Ruby Tuesday, but I'm back. See more photos featuring a little or a lot of red each week at Mary T's Work of the Poet.

Simply amazing

Something wonderful and unforgettable happened yesterday to me and Ralph. It was a beautiful day.

I'm going to write about it, but I'm hoping we'll get a photo e-mailed to us that I can use to illustrate the post.

And no, we didn't win the lottery. It's more important than that.

Balloons, crowds, and general silliness

As I mentioned here yesterday, I spent Saturday at the 14th annual Derby Day.

I had never been at a venue an hour before a festival started, so it was interesting to see the vendors hurriedly getting ready for their day, that feeling of anticipation in the air. (I'm easily amused I suppose).
At that point the skies were overcast and I thought that rain was on the way. Fortunately that wasn't the case. It turned out to be a lovely, sunshiny day.

I thought there was a good turnout, but I'll have to find out this week from the organizers what they thought about the how the day went.

Above you see the stately Sterling Opera House standing in the center of all the activity.
It's the same historic (and haunted?) 19th-century building that was investigated a few months ago by SyFy's "Ghost Hunters" team led by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson.
People were lined up throughout the day to get a chance for a free tour. It generated a lot of interest. I love that building.

These two wine bottles that Valley Arts Council member Billiejo of Prospect, Ct. transformed into incense holders were on display at the council's booth. Eye-catching!

So after helping at the booth a good part of the day I started to get tired, and by late afternoon I got out the camera to pass the time. These photos are what I call my balloon series:



Silly enough for you? There were more pix but I decided that was enough of that!

There also was a Mustang convertible being raffled off..here are Allegra and Ralph checking it out.

I think our daughter would like a vehicle like that. She sure looks comfortable in it. ;-)

Let the festivities begin

Squirrels are running around on the roof at the moment and poor Linus is going nutty. He keeps looking up at the skylight.
Go away squirrels!

In other news, I'm going to be "working" today at Derby Day, a street festival, here in southern Connecticut (for my out-of-state friends).
I'll be at the Valley Arts Council booth.
There will be live entertainment throughout the day, craft vendors, kids' activities and art exhibits in two indoor locations and more.

And free tours of the historic (and haunted?) Sterling Opera House. (pictured above)

Boo!

I hope the skies don't open up. The clouds look threatening. Go away rain!

Being lazy today ~ something from the e-mail bag

There was a whole bunch of church signs in the e-mail, but this was my favorite.

asdfghjkl;

Did that get your attention?

If not, maybe this will: QWERTYUIOP.

Being silly.

I can't seem to get into writing my online health journal these days. What I do know is that last chemo treatment 10 days ago knocked me for a loop.
Just so exhausting.

But I'm really grateful that I feel fine. And that I have an appetite.

So to sum it up, the side effects I've experienced are exhaustion and food cravings. And I know it could be worse.

{The online journal about my cancer journey doth continue...}

Sepia scenes ~ wheelin'

After I took this photo as we were leaving the Vintage Vehicles Antique and Classic Car Show at the Shelton (Ct.) Historical Society I thought it might just work in sepia.
The annual event is held on Father's Day, and dads get admitted for just $1. Proceeds benefit the educational programs sponsored by the historical society.

Here's Ralph, my classic car buff, rolling back to our mini-van on his own set of wheels. It was a perfect weather day for an outdoor event. It couldn't have been nicer out.

Ralph wrote about the car show here, for Ruby Tuesday.

I haven't taken part in Sepia Scenes since November, and I thought this week I'd make a comeback. It's good to get back into a photo meme.

You can see many more sepia-fied photos by visiting Mary T's Sepia Scenes blog.

Happy day after Dad's Day

Hope everyone had a fun Father's Day..we did.
Ralph even went out Saturday to get us a tablecloth for the patio table. Woo hoo!
We is FANCY.

This is about as festive as it got here. I posted on Facebook last night about the troubles Allegra and I had getting the grill going..we are convinced it's "a guy thing"!
But the coals were finally ready and we were able to make steak for dinner. And actually dine outside, the first time this year.

Dessert was Ghirardelli chocolate brownies with walnuts...yummy. Yes, it was a mix.

Happy Monday to all!

Not sure which is worse!

Feeling exhausted from this last chemo treatment I had Monday or...

having to go through almost two hours with no Internet this morning. Yikes.

It was frustrating. It must have been the heavy rain we had earlier that caused a "disruption in service."

Glad that's over.

Cue the violins

...because I am zonked.

My third chemo treatment Monday was a doozy. I feel OK but I'm just so tired.

I have several blog post ideas in my head, but I can't seem to write them. I feel like I need to save my energy to focus on work these days.
I've been trying not to complain, but I thought I would today...

The good news is that I only have one more chemo-fication to go...on July 5. Woo hoo!

{And so my online journal about my cancer journey continues.}

To end on a happier note, I once again share my guardian angel. She is on the wall right above the computer monitor, watching over me.

She's the creation of my artist friend Rich DiCarlo of Derby, Ct. I wrote about her here four months ago.

Shadow Shot Sunday ~ Showered with hats

Last Sunday I was given a "hat shower" at church. Several friends brought hats - nine of them - for me to wear now that 98 percent of my hair has fallen out.

It was so much fun to open the bags and find hats of every description waiting inside!
I've worn a few of them this week, but still haven't gotten to them all.

I want to thank Mary R., Mary M., Evie, Anne, Jeanmarie and Donna for the wonderful surprise and for your thoughtfulness! It was a Sunday morning I'll always remember.

To join in the shadowy fun visit our awesome Aussie friend, Tracy, who hosts this meme at her blog, Hey Harriet.

Survivors celebrated

A visit by these adorable four-legged volunteers, the pet therapy brigade as I call them, was just one of the highlights of a National Cancer Survivors' Day celebration Ralph and I attended this afternoon at Griffin Hospital in Derby, Ct.
The theme was "Another Year of Birthdays." We were treated to sandwiches, cookies, and cupcakes as well as a "birthday" celebration.
Our daughter stayed home with a bad cold, and missed the festivities. But there is always next year.
We won some door prizes, including a complete DVD set of the Indiana Jones movies, and candy-filled loot bags, just like a little kids' birthday party.
My surgeon, Dr. Zandra Cheng, was keynote speaker. She inspired me, as she always does.

According to the hospital's Web site: "A cancer survivor, as defined by the National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation, is anyone living with a history of cancer, from the moment of diagnosis through the rest of their life. "

So I'm one of those now..and have been for almost four months.
It's my new claim to fame, along with some 12 million other cancer survivors nationwide.

~ And so my online journal about life after a breast cancer diagnosis continues.

Wearing a hat inside

Yep, I been wearing mon chapeau in the house, except when I sleep.

haha!

That's because these ~~ flyaway~~ hair strands are driving me wacky.

Shadow Shot Sunday ~ melange

Some pinkness in our front yard.

Some purpleness next to the gazebo on the Derby, Ct. Green.

Outside the food court at a mall..I rarely go to malls; I was there on assignment Tuesday.

Shadows from a fence on the Derby, Ct. Green.

If you want to take a walk on the shadowy side of the street, visit our awesome Aussie friend Tracy's Hey Harriet blog each weekend and join in the Shadow Shot Sunday fun.