One year ago.....

..on this date.

Out of curiosity(and because I couldn't get my brain to think of anything to write about tonight), I went back in my archives to see what I was doing/writing about exactly a year ago.

I wrote about and shared some photos from Wickford, a village near me.

A favorite place to just walk around,

sit and have some coffee or ice cream at an outdoor table,

do some people watching

do some duck and/or swan watching on the bridge

do some real or "window" shopping.

I had wanted to go there yesterday, in fact, but with the gusty winds I decided against it, and ate take-out falafel and drank French Martinis in the backyard instead.

The photo above (from last year's post), shows the corner of Brown and Main Streets. (clicking on it will give an enlarged view)

I have taken numerous photos of this same corner. Something about it--the brick building,

the fact that there is a used bookshop behind the green door,

the iconic "Main Street" sign post,

the red fire hydrant,

that there are almost always pedestrians(two-legged and four-legged)congregating there

appeals to me.

What were you blogging about a year ago? Has your life changed drastically, looking back? Mine hasn't changed much at all. That could be a good thing..or a bad thing.

Ladies Who Shop

As consumerist and crass as it sounds, my daughter and I have some of our best mother-daughter bonding moments when we are out shopping or simply looking around in shops.
She has never once turned down an invitation to go a store with me(heck--she even likes coming to the grocery store with me sometimes) and we both like poking around in the shops in the nearby village of Wickford. The last time we were there, I had told myself that we were not going to buy anything this time, but of course......

Miss R had to find this wallet in The Different Drummer and how could I not lend her the fifteen bucks to get it?!

Yup. A vinyl "candy dot" wallet. Almost looks like the real, edible kind.

Early Spring Wickford Stroll - Redux

Before the latest deluge, I spent a sunny, crisp and cold Saturday morning (last weekend) walking the streets of Wickford, after meeting my sister for breakfast(we ended up eating at some crazy redneck diner that was attached to a liquor store!! I swear I thought I saw someone drinking a beer with their breakfast at a table when we first walked in, too..) What's interesting to me is that almost a year ago, I spent a Saturday doing the same thing and blogged about it here, with photos. So, these photos turned out somewhat the same, since it's before Easter as in the April 4th blog from last year.

Even though it was cold, many of the shops had their doors open wide to let the fresh spring air in, and flowers, books and gifts for sale, set up outside on the sidewalk.

Walking down Brown Street towards Main.

A view from inside the shop, Different Drummer--a place I seem to think has been in business since I was in high school. At one time(eons ago), this shop used to sell these handpainted brooches I used to make.

This wooden mermaid is offering a "pearl" of a ball of yarn on the steps of a yarn shop called The Mermaid's Purl.

The window box in front of Village Reflections--another shop that has been in business forever--same nice owner (she told me she's been there for 26 years), with always affordable cotton clothing and gorgeous(and affordable, as well) jewelery.

Easter, right around the corner......

Saturday Morning

A typically blustery April day, with a few drops of rain and the sun trying to come out, but losing out to the fast moving clouds. A squick stroll through Wickford for some coffee and some window shopping.....

..then a walk through the woods with Jewel to the bay. It still looks grey and lifeless for the most part, but there were some small signs that it is spring. Pussy willows, skunk cabbage, birch catkins.

1. A lone American Holly in the cedar woods--green all year. 2. A stone wall from when this was farmed land. 3. A cedar tree's bark. 4. Some kind of white mushroom growing on a tree.