Thursday June 21 - Derby Street Lunch

Carol and Bizzie had a great lunch at Burton's and got all caught up with news and shopping!  Perfect day.

Thursday, May 17 - Hidden Gardens of Beacon Hill

The Beacon Hill garden tour is always good, but this year was exceptionally great!  Great weather, great friends, and great gardens and homes made the day really special.  Even the guidebook was better than ever.  We liked that the map was large enough to read without glasses, and that the ticket was on the back cover so we didn't have to juggle two separate booklets.  Betty-Jo, Carol, Kate, Louise, and Pam all had a wonderful time walking up and down Beacon Hill. Check out our photos.   Favorite idea(s):  boot scrapers on steps, and a closet made into a desk. 

Tuesday, May 1, 2012 - 21 Cypress Road

Louise, Kate, and Carol went out to the latest flip in Wellesley to see the "before."  Another amazing Canavan project!  The photos say it all!   Favorite idea:  plant rescue!

Friday Dec 9, 2011 - Brockton House Tour

The Brockton Garden Club did a great job decorating for this tour.  The original owners built a small house for themselves behind the main house which they gave/sold to their daughter and her family.  The house(s) were well decorated and there were lots of references in the main house especially, to the shoe business so prevalent in Brockton history.  Favorite idea:  trees made from plastic bags and chicken wire.

Tuesday November 22 - Bread Swap

The bread swap at Kate's was a huge success. Everyone got lots of tastes with delicious coffee, and took home a nice variety to share at their Thanksgiving dinners.  Favorite idea:  make small size breads so you can share lots!

Thurs Nov 3 - 21 Cypress Road

Betty-Jo, Pam, Pat and Carol got a sneak peak at Kate and Joe's latest project in Wellesley. We enjoyed meeting the homeowner (seller) Margaret and getting all the inside information about the home from her - from the gum wood trim to all her paintings. Margaret invited us to come back again anytime.  Favorite idea:  a small room that starts out as a nursery and years later makes the perfect studio.

Weekly Basket Classes

Nantucket Basket Classes are continuing for the next few Tuesdays 9:30-12:30 at Kate's home. Classes are taught by Tim Cavanaugh. Cost is $20 per person, and you can provide your own materials or purchase a kit. Everyone is having a great time and making some beautiful baskets. Open to new and experienced weavers. Call one of us if you are interested.  Favorite idea:  twill patterns.

Thursday October 20 - Fuller Museum Basket Exhibit

Betty-Jo, Louise, and Carol saw a beautiful puppy named Charlie at Betty-Jo's home, and then went to see some beautiful baskets at the Fuller Museum in Brockton. There were 35 pieces by invited artists and 35 juried pieces. The baskets were unique and contructed from all sorts of materials, including zip ties! Photos of a few of them are here. Favorite idea: basket shoes!

Monday October 10 - Rags to Bags

Everyone who participated loved this event! It was a lot of fun to make the bags, and it felt really good to use up fabric scraps that were small and insignificant, yet too pretty to be pitched. This project was the perfect solution! It reminded me of my grandmother who was the original recycler - she made braided rugs out of old wool clothing, reused the wax paper bags inside cereal boxes to store things, put oval patches on jacket elbows, and never bought a pad of notepaper because she reused envelopes and the backs of greeting cards and such for her grocery lists and notes. Favorite idea: work like an assembly line - first cut all pieces, then sew all sides, then all handles, etc.

Friday September 30 - Cupcake Decorating

Betty-Jo, Carol, Kate, Louise, and Pam met in Kate's gorgeous kitchen to learn how to decorate cupcakes by Joyce White from Cakes of Milton. Joyce brought a kit of pre-baked cupcakes, frosting, and decorations for each one of us. We learned how to do 4 kinds of decorations with frosting, marshmallows, cookies, and candy. Did you know tootsie rolls can be used like modeling chocolate? Favorite idea: cut the tip on a disposable decorating bag like a beak and you can make leaves and flower petals (like the sunflower).

Friday September 23 - Opening Night of "George M"

Dave Merrigan gave a spirited performance as George M. Cohan, Yankee Doodle Boy and the Father of Broadway in this 10th Anniversary production by the Canton Community Theatre. The kids in the production gave added dimension. The singing was terrific, the dancing mesmorizing, and the acting grand. All in all a great night!

Wed Sept 21 "I Don't Know How She Does It"

Betty-Jo, Carol, and Louise had a great time at the movie, which was predictable, but funny. Favorite idea: For school bake sale, buy a pie, place it in a glass pie pan, squish it a bit, sprinkle with confectioner's sugar, and pass off as homemade. Favorite quote: Trying to be a man is a waste of a woman.” --Kate Reddy (Sarah Jessica Parker)

Thurs Sept 8 - Rainy Day Shopping

Betty-Jo, Carol, and Pam took a rainy day drive and went down Route 3 past Derby Street. We stopped in a couple of furniture consignment shops just for fun - it's amazing what they get for used furniture! Then we hit Boston Interiors which we all love - their stores are always styled so well. Our final stop was Homegoods/TJMaxx in Norwell. Scored the usual items plus this store has The Runway designer section like the one in Newton so we also found Kate Spade gray flannel flats and Prada sunglasses. Favorite idea: Don't donate - Consign!

August 17 - The Help

Barbara, Patty, Carol, Louise, and Betty-Jo all enjoyed the movie from Lux level seats, cocktails in hand! What a great way to see a movie! This one followed the book closely, and was filmed on location which gave it an authentic feel. Both Viola Davis (Abilene) and Octavia Spencer (Minnie) as “colored” maids toiling in upper middle-class white homes in the Jim Crowe Mississippi of 1962, and Jessica Chastain as a flighty but loving newlywed, are stand-outs in a cast where all were fabulous. Favorite idea: positive thinking for children - "You is kind. You is smart. You is important."

Wednesday August 3 - Chihuly at the MFA

Kate and Carol had a fabulous trip to the MFA to see Dale Chihuly's installation "Through the Looking Glass." Dale Chihuly was introduced to glass while studying interior design at the University of Washington. After graduating in 1965, Chihuly enrolled in the first glass program in the country, at the University of Wisconsin. He continued his studies at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he later established the glass program and taught for more than a decade. In 1968, after receiving a Fulbright Fellowship, he went to work at the Venini glass factory in Venice. There he observed the team approach to blowing glass, which is critical to the way he works today. In 1971, Chihuly cofounded Pilchuck Glass School in Washington State. With this international glass center, Chihuly has led the avant-garde in the development of glass as a fine art. Favorite idea: glass ceiling

Fall Planning

Time to start planning for fall events. Email Carol with your ideas and they will be added to the blog. Any interest in encore trips to Brimfield and/or Secret Gardens of Newport? How about a fall shopping day somewhere we usually don't go? A trip to The Best of Everything in Kennebunkport? Anybody know of a cooking class? Want to go back to the North End and revisit the shops we learned about on our culinary tour?

Monday June 27 - Babes with Boobs

Kate and Pam went to the Carney to experience their new digital mammography machines! Unfortunately we have no photos from this event. And no favorite idea!!!

Friday June 17 - Secret Gardens of Newport

Friday, June 17 Secret Gardens of Newport - Pam, Kate, and Carol had a ground hog sort of day...all but a couple of the gardens were the same ones we had seen in June 2009, so not only were the locations the same, but the plants and flowers were in the same stage that we had seen previously. Had it not been pouring rain we would have been better sports (maybe we just needed Louise to get us on the right mental track!). Tour guides were not in good spirits and refused to come out of their protected spots to check off our tickets and guide us around the gardens, so we were mostly left to our own, with our questions largely unanswered, including if there were any NEW gardens! In spite of the tour, we had a fabulous time, and lots of laughs, and are determined to purchase really cute umbrellas for the next one! Lunch at Amber Road was really good! Favorite ideas: drink holder in Adirondack chair, and rain chain. Click here for photos.

Thursday June 16 - WAFA Flower Show

The WAFA (World Association of Floral Arrangers) World Flower Show at the Seaport Hotel was an interesting event. Floral arrangers came from all over the world to participate in the show. Arrangements were very artistic and over the top! Carol and Barbara had a great day! Click here for photos. Favorite idea: lunch with a friend at a flower show!

Monday, June 6 - Coffee for Louise

Louise , Kate, Pam, Betty-Jo, and Carol all enjoyed saying good-bye to Louise! We get to say good-bye again on Thursday at Tower Hill! We all promised we'd stop by in Onset to see her over the summer! Favorite idea: Betty-Jo's yoga coffee pose.